The Xuvarian Attack

It had been a year since the aliens that called themselves the “Xuvarians” took over our world. Many humans were either killed or enslaved, leaving just a few of us wandering in abandoned underground tunnels with nowhere to go. We didn’t have the means to attack the Xuvarians; neither bullets nor bombs harmed them. Their skin and armour were near impenetrable.

However, our luck seemed to turn for the better the day I met a man called Dr. David Avery. He suggested that getting a sample of Xuvarian DNA was our best chance at creating a weapon against them. However, that meant one of us had to let ourselves be captured by a Xuvarian—something which no one agreed to... until I did. I wouldn’t say I wasn’t scared; seeing those aliens catch bullets with their bare hands made my entire body tremble. However, I didn’t want to be forced to live underground for the rest of my life.

Dr. Avery was hesitant about sending a seventeen-year-old girl alone on such a dangerous mission, and even offered to accompany me, but I declined because he was the only one who could make a weapon against the Xuvarians. If he were to die, there would have been no hope for us. I left a note for my mom and snuck out of the tunnels at midnight. Not long after, I was captured near a park and taken to the nearest prison. There were many others being held prisoner there, including Special Forces personnel and politicians.

Among my cellmates was the former Head of the Special Forces, General Frank Edwards. I told him about Dr. Avery’s plan, and he promised to help me. The other cellmates declined; they feared the wrath of the Xuvarians. The next day, he asked for a meeting with the Xuvarian in charge of the prison. He came back with several strands of hair he had pulled off a Xuvarian’s comb. That night, we devised a plan to help me break out of the prison.

General Edwards distracted a guard and knocked him out by grabbing him by the shirt and bashing his face against the cell bars. We grabbed his keys and opened our cell and stole his weapons before making our way outside as the alarms went off. The General and another soldier led me through the hall as our other cellmates released even more prisoners and launched a riot to cover our escape. The plan was a success; the three of us escaped unnoticed and unscathed. My mom slapped me before she hugged me when I arrived at the tunnels. I felt terrible seeing how broken she was.

We immediately met with Dr. Avery and handed over the Xuvarian hairs to him. He worked on creating an “anti-Xuvarian weapon” during the following week, day and night, until finally, there was a breakthrough. He had managed to create a neurotoxin that would be lethal to Xuvarians alone, through both breathing and skin contact. We were set for victory.

During the next three weeks, we scouted outside and gathered equipment to produce more of the toxin, as well as weapons to match the Xuvarian’s guns. Afterwards, we launched scattered attacks, freeing more enslaved people to join the fight until, little by little, we gained the upper hand. We spread information on the rebellion and the new weapons against the aliens to rebels in other regions as well. It took us another long, hard year, but we finally overthrew most of the Xuvarians, forcing what was left of them to flee.