3 years ago (The beginning of the invasion)

Day 1

The driving hours from Raleigh seemed to last the whole eternity, and Lily started to think about making a brief stop at the nearest supermarket. Visiting a bathroom as well as doing some walking wouldn't hurt now, since she also promised to get some supplies for her uncle Roger. The young woman thought about the crowds of people in the supermarket this Friday afternoon and cringed, "Damn, why haven't I thought about leaving before now? Yes, Lily, like your first time driving to Unc! Oh well, he'll be working for some more hours anyways..."

The sun was already up in the sky, hot and bright, the suburban houses she was passing by looked peaceful and quiet, just like always. Lily was just glad she could enjoy the last warm days when the gloomy sky doesn't make her sleepy.

A Walmart greeted her with its logo, promising some time in the air conditioned room and pleasure to choose some fruit and candy. After taking a parking spot, Lily rushed to the long desired W\C. The reflection in the mirror only showed the tired face and eyes looking enormous because of the light with slight black circles. A good rest could fix that.

The store had quite a few people in it. Some mothers with kids, elderly, some young trashy guys stocking up with booze – the type of men she avoided most. She quickly threw some bags of chocolates and apples in the basket and decided to call her uncle. Like always, this absent-minded scientist hadn't given her any grocery list!
"Hey Unc!"

"Silly Lily! You're just on time, kiddo! Are you on your way?"

"Yep, I am but your brain was so busy with the nuclear things that you forgot to say what groceries you need. I don't wanna run into the empty fridge when I arrive. Yogurt night, remember?"

"Sure! Crap, the list...Let me s..s.."

"Unc?! Are you there?"

There was no answer.

'Ah, goddamn connection is often horrible in supermarkets,' thought Lily.

She went back to the dairy and grabbed some yogurts and cheese. "Oh, yeah...bread, cheese...jelly...Oh, and peanut butter or my poor unkie will die!" She looked at her cell phone trying to see the new message from her uncle but there was nothing. The young woman shrugged and started to fill the basket with the stuff uncle Roger usually buys. After all, he was a father figure to her, one of the closest people in the family. Lily knew his habits and preferences all over.

The line at the cashier was huge, Lily could hear some folks grumbling. After five minutes of waiting, she lost her patience and addressed an old lady at the front:

"Hey ma'am, do you have any idea what is taking so long?"

"No idea, dear, looks like the damn system shut off. Let's see if they can fix it."

The tall shaggy man standing nearby looked at her, "Hon, don't you know the aliens arrived? Probably some satellite service got down, there is no cell phone network as well. I saw the news today, the ships were in the major cities. I went here to stock up with stuff, ya know..."

"Gosh, what kind of yellow press did you read?" Lily grinned skeptically. The alien appearance news was on like every week, and she has stopped to read them long ago.

"No, girlie, seriously, the whole thing stinks. I could agree with you if I only read a shitty newspaper or listened to my half-nuts neighbor but...I'm telling you, we all gotta move and hide! The governments don't seem to want do anything and stay idle, they probably think those ships are full of aliens who come in peace. Didn't ya check the news today? No radio in the car?"

"Yes," said the old lady, "I also heard something in the morning but I guess it was somebody's sick joke."

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at the shaggy man, "Oh, don't exaggerate! I think if it was for real they would have blew up the ships already."

Suddenly the power in the building went off. Then it was the sound like...an explosion? The sunlight from outside came through the glass doors of Walmart, it wasn't completely dark inside. In these dim surroundings, Lily saw the shaggy man's face went pale. He froze and whispered quietly, "It starting..."