Ch. 6: Adrian Peterson

POV: Adrian

“Adrian!” A familiar voice called behind me.

I turned around to see my best friend, “You’re back!”

“I missed you,” she exclaimed as she ran in for a hug.

“I missed you too,” I said, “but please don’t call me Adrian, or I'll have to call you Beatris.”

“Ew no, sorry Ari,” she giggled, "Hey, I rhymed."

“It’s fine,” I laughed, “so tell me about Miami!”

“It was fun, and really hot, but I wish you could’ve come with. I was bored out of my mind having only my parents and Jeremy to hang out with,” she complained.

“I wish I could’ve come too, but you know my dad would never let me go.”

“Yeah, I know… so what did you do while I was gone?”

“Well, I did a lot of reading. I’m going to need to borrow some more books,” I said with a pleading smile.

Bea laughed, “No problem.”

“I also hung out with Drake, Tia, and Ally, a little.”

“Ew, neighbor kids,” Bea cringed.

“They aren’t that bad.”

“I thought you couldn’t stand them.”

“But all that matters is you’re home now!” I changed the subject.

“Yeah, so what are we going to do?”

“I’m on a walk right now. Do you want to join?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said.

For a moment, we walked in silence, but Bea got tired of the quiet, “So how are things going with your dad?” She asked gently.

I sighed, “Crazy as ever. Why do you think I'm out for a walk by myself?”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok, just business as usual,” my voice trailed off.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine. He’s just in one of those moods that I’d rather be away from him.”

“Sorry, again,” Bea said softly.

“Whatever. Life is life. What can we do about it?”

“You could run away,” she suggested.

“And live where? With you? That’d be the first place he would look. Then he would take me home and be even more mad at me.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“I’m fine, really,” I assured her.

“Ok, but you know you’re welcome at my house anytime.”

“I know, thank you.”

“No problem.” She gave me a hug.

“Oh, here’s the park,” I said, “Do you want to swing for a bit?”

“Sure.”

We kicked our sandals off, walked through the sand to the old metal swing set, and hopped onto neighboring swings. As we swung, we talked about everything she did and all the books I read during her vacation.

As she talked, I admired Bea’s smile. She was always so bubbly; I relied on her optimism. Her dirty blonde hair blew behind her as she swung back and forth, and her brown eyes shone with excitement as she rattled off the fun things she experienced. I was so happy to have her back.

A chill went down my spine as the sky darkened, “Woah, it looks like it’s going to storm,” I said.

“That came out of nowhere,” Bea said.

We saw a bolt of lightning hit the ground just down the block from us, and we quickly jumped off the swings and ran out of the sand. From the corner of my eye, I saw some something odd appear near where the bolt of lightning struck. I stopped to look at it, and I saw what looked like a hole in the air. While I was questioning what it could be, creatures began stepping out of it. They were large, lizard-like creatures that walked on two legs, at least seven feet tall. A handful of monsters came through the hole before it snapped shut.

“Let’s go,” Bea yelled as she tugged on my arm, snapping me out of my daze. It started pouring rain, and people were running in all directions screaming in horror as the monsters began chasing them, claws at the ready. Adrenaline shot through my body in an instant, but I remained still as my mind struggled to process what was happening.

“What are those things?” Bea yelled.

“I don’t know, but we have to help these people,” I heard myself say.

“What? Us? How?”

“I don’t know, but I have to do something,” I yelled over the pounding rain.

I ran after the creatures crushing cars and knocking over road signs in their path as they chased after terrified people. They hissed and clawed at people, whipping their long, scaly tails like a wrecking ball smashing shop windows. I quickly glanced behind me and saw Bea following at a safe distance.

“Adrian, what are you doing?” Bea called as I approached the monster hoard.

“I don’t know!” I admitted.

I ran in front of one of the monsters and as I jumped up, I punched him in the jaw. “Ow!” I stumbled backwards and shook my fist as it pulsed with pain.

The lizard hissed and looked down at me. Rage filled its eyes. It swiped its claws at my face. I ducked. I hit a few jabs into its gut, biting back the grunts of pain as my sore fists collided with its thick scales. I took in quick, heavy breaths and chocked on the rain. As I was distracted, it knocked me over with a flick of its tail. I slid against the wet pavement on my side, which didn't feel great.

“Adrian!” Beatris yelled.

She ran up to the monster and punched it in the nose. “OUCH,” she whisper-screamed and held her wrist.

I jumped up and kicked it in the side. The monster slashed its claws around ferociously. Both of us managed to avoid the monster’s tantrum, but the other monsters began to notice us ganging up on their friend. Even though the monsters moved slowly, it didn’t take long for the mob to corner and surround us.

Beatris huddled in a ball. I stood in front of her, ready to put up a fight. One of the monsters swiped at me. I jumped out of the way, only to get my shoulder slashed by another one.

As I fell to the ground, one of the monsters croaked in pain and turned around, taking the monsters’ attention off of us. Bea sat up and scooted to my side. She cringed as she examined my shoulder. I wasn’t focused on my injury; I was trying to figure out what had startled the monsters. I saw flashing red lights through the gaps between the monsters’ legs and a blurry blob circling them.

One of the monsters suddenly exploded into a pile of ash and I saw a boy wearing a wetsuit shooting the monsters with lasers from his eyes. The blob stopped moving for a second and I saw another boy in a wetsuit.

“Beatris, am I hallucinating?” I asked.

“No, I see them too,” she said dumbfoundedly.

The monsters looked around in confusion as they were attacked by the blob. Taking advantage of their confusion, the other boy used his laser vision to zap them.

At some point, blob boy slipped and fell butt-first on the wet pavement. Laser boy helped him up urgently and spun around to be sure he wasn’t hit. Blob boy shook off his embarrassment and ran off into a determined blur again. Laser boy looked uneasy as he awkwardly aimed lasers at the monsters. He lost his footing a couple times as he switched between ducking under claws and jumping over tails.

Eventually, the wetsuit boys seemed to find a rhythm. The monsters slashed their claws around aimlessly as they were attacked from all directions, and slowly but surely, they were turned to ash.

Once the monsters were taken care of, blob boy was immediately at my side, “Are you ok?”

“Who are you?” Bea asked them when the laser boy joined, “How did you do that?”

“We’re here to help,” Blob boy said.

“I don’t need any help,” I told him.

“I seriously beg to differ,” he shot back and nodded to my shoulder.

Once he pointed it out, I was hit with a wall of pain and clenched my jaw as I took in a sharp breath. I felt the sting of the open wound pulsing down my arm, and I willed myself not to look.

“Ok, that’s a lot of blood. We need to stop the bleeding with something,” Laser boy said frantically.

“I said I don’t need your help,” I snapped.

“You look really pale. You’re losing a lot of blood,” he said.

“Adrian, let them help,” Bea begged.

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth.

Blob boy dug through his backpack and pulled out a t-shirt. He tied it around my shoulder as a temporary bandage and I winced as he pulled the knot tight.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Is she going to be ok?” Bea asked.

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

“I’m going to take her to the hospital,” he said to Bea.

“No,” I protested.

“You need it,” he said sternly

“Go, I’ll meet you there,” Bea told him.

He picked me up and ran to the nearest hospital, leaving Laser boy and Bea as two tiny specs in the distance.

Laying in the hospital bed was agony. The doctor took the t-shirt off my shoulder and cleaned out the wound, which was extremely painful. Then, she wrapped my shoulder in bandages and gave me painkillers.

“Is she going to be ok?” Blob boy asked her.

“She’s going to be alright. The painkillers we gave her will make her drowsy, but her body will be more relaxed, which will make it easier for the wound to heal.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“I’ll be back to check on her in a few hours,” the doctor said as she left the room.

Blobby sat in the chair next to my bed and awkwardly leaned close, “How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Invaded,” I groaned.

“Oh, sorry,” he backed away, “What about your shoulder?”

“It’s throbbing like crazy,” I admitted.

“Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.” I glared at him.

“So- I mean, ok.”

My eyes started to get heavy and I let out a yawn.

“Oh, are you getting tired?” He asked

“A little, I guess.”

“Ok, I’ll shut up then and let you sleep.”

“About time.”

I leaned back into the pillow as I yawned again. Blobby’s eyes met mine, and I gave him a glare as a warning to not watch me sleep. I could feel the drowsiness spreading through my body. My eyes slowly gave in, and I drifted off to sleep.

Photo Credit: Braxton Apana