Brother

• Mehakpreet Kaur
• Short Story
• 2018

‘No!’ every fibre in my body screamed when my little brother had a knife to his neck. This was too far, I must give in. I sank to my knees and put my arms up, ‘I surrender,’ I whispered, ‘just let him go’. The soldiers grabbed me and threw me in the back of the Jeep, heading towards their HQ. to their leader. To her.
‘Come on!’ I yelled behind to my brother, ’We have to get inside!’
‘Coming, Bella’ his 7-year-old voice whispered. He may be small, but he was very smart.
‘Mark, hurry the hell up!’

The night grew darker and darker, no streetlights and bodies everywhere. I was hoping to not find my parents’ bodies in the lump. I think Mark was thinking the same thing. Ever since that night when the aliens attacked Earth, we were never the same. Our house was stormed and raided, my brother and I escaped but my parents, they weren’t so lucky. I was so mad at them, random aliens coming and hunting you. You don’t see that every day, and that’s not even the worst, they wanted ME. A 14-year-old girl. A normal teenager. Why?

It had been 2 months since the invasion when the aliens found us. Mark and I were hiding in an abandoned apartment when the aliens captured us. They took us and separated us, but we fought back and ran away, but Mark wasn’t so lucky. Every time I think of that night, I think of his cute little face and those memories we had. We still have.

It wasn’t long till they found me as well, considering they have high-tech to help them. But they didn’t hurt me, they just showed me a tiny screen. A tiny screen with a big meaning. It was Mark, he’s alive! I thought but not till I saw the knife. ‘Surrender or he dies!’ the alien in front of me boomed.

They took me to their leader. She just walked around me, her eyes staring into my soul, eating me inside. ‘Well, Bella,’ she said, ‘The last human left, crouching on her knees before me! But tell me, how did a child survive?’
‘I’m not the only one left, Mark still exists and so does everyone else!’ I screamed, mad at her for everything she did.
‘in your memories, but yes Mark, very small isn’t he? But I have to kill one of you, Bella’
‘Please I love him, let him go! I will do anything, you can kill me!

The alien leader summoned her soldier to bring a gun and a screen. On the screen was Mark, hungry and tired. ‘I love you, Mark,’ I said, struggling I stood up, snatched the gun and shot myself. For Mark. It wasn’t that hard.