You're listening to the Radio, During Nuclear War x Alien Invasion | Ep. 1

hey everyone Merry Christmas and happy holidays before we dive into today's chilling new series a mix of nuclear war and Alien Invasion I just want to take a moment to thank you all for your incredible support your engagement means the world to me and it's what keeps me creating these stories if you'd like to support my work during this festive season you can do so through YouTube's super thanks or by becoming a patron but honestly just watching liking commenting and subscribing is more than enough to help me keep bringing these chilling narratives to life now

sit back relax and enjoy the show wishing you all a joyful Christmas and an amazing New Year ahead this is Matthew Grayson broadcasting from station w88 somewhere in the shadows of a broken world to those of you still tuning in I need you to listen carefully what I'm about to tell you isn't easy it isn't comforting but it's the truth the truth of how we got here to the edge of Extinction the nuclear war has begun and if you're hearing my voice congratulations I suppose you've survived what billions couldn't you know we always thought the

end would come suddenly an asteroid an alien invasion or some kind of biblical Reckoning but no this ending it crept up on us like a shadow growing darker and darker until it consumed everything It Started With The Whispers territorial disputes trade embargos power plays behind closed doors nothing new right the same old theater of politics and greed but this time the stakes were higher this time someone decided they'd had enough of playing games you might remember the rumors those late night news segments about secret military buildups cyber attacks on power grids and those damn cryptic

speeches from world leaders the kind that made you wonder if they knew something we didn't turns out they did turns out they were preparing for a storm they couldn't control and then it happened the Tipping Point I don't know exactly who fired first maybe no one does maybe it doesn't matter anymore but what I do know is that two cities two thriving living breathing cities were reduced to Ash in an instant gone just like that I'll never forget the reports coming in they described it as a flash brighter than the sun imagine that for a

second brighter than the sun people in those cities didn't even have time to scream they just disappeared those further out were the Unlucky ones they got to see it coming the fire the heat the walls of their homes melting around them imagine standing there knowing you're about to die and there's nothing nothing you can do to stop it and the Fallout oh The Fallout was the Real Horror the lucky ones died quickly the rest they're still out there walking Shadows of who they used to be skin burned hair falling out bodies riddled with radiation sickness

they don't even look human anymore and the air it's thick now heavy with Ash and Poison every breath feels like swallowing a piece of death itself that's what those bombs gave us not just death but a slow creeping Extinction you've noticed it haven't you the sky it's not the same those bombs they didn't just destroy cities they tore a hole in the atmosphere spewing so much Ash and debris into the air that the sun itself has all but disappeared we're living in a nuclear winter now the days are gray the night's colder than you can

imagine and the crops well good luck finding anything that isn't wilted or poisoned we're starving out here all of us and the worst part this is this isn't even the peak of it scientists what few are left say the real effects haven't even hit us yet think about that but it's not just the bombs that are killing us is it no we're doing that ourselves Humanity has always been Its Own Worst Enemy and now well now we're just proving it people are fighting over scraps of food water and shelter entire neighborhoods turning on each other

families falling apart I heard about a group of people people tearing each other to Pieces over a loaf of bread a loaf of bread can you believe that and don't even get me started on the looters the Warlords the monsters they're not like the rest of us anymore they've given up on being human it's not just us either the Earth itself seems to be rebelling earthquakes floods storms they're getting worse some people say it's the bombs that caused it the shock waves tearing through the planet's crust others think it's punishment Divine or otherwise I think

it's just the natural world reacting to the mess we've made of it either way it doesn't really matter the result is the same chaos everywhere and the fires they're still burning entire cities are just gone replaced by smoldering wastelands the air smells like burnt flesh and metal and it doesn't go away it's always there that smell reminding you of what we've done you know we were warned about this for decades people tried to tell us scientists activists hell even some of the politicians they said it was only a matter of time before someone pushed the

button but we didn't listen we never do and now look at us look at what we've become a broken species on a dying Planet so what happens now that's the million dooll question isn't it or maybe it's worthless now just like everything else I'll tell you this much there's no going back the world we knew is gone it's not coming back we're living in the ashes of our own creation and all we can do is try to survive for as long as we can but let's be honest we're running out of time this is the

beginning of the end my friends if you're listening to this if you're still alive hold on to that hold on to life because it's the only thing we've got left and maybe just maybe it'll be enough to get us through what's coming next because believe me it's going to get worse this is Matthew Grayson your voice in the darkness broadcasting live or what's left of live from station W8 8 if you're still tuning in you're one of the few who've managed to survive this far I don't know if that's something to celebrate or mourn but

I'll keep talking because someone needs to someone needs to tell the truth today we're diving into the aftermath the global Fallout from what they're calling the great unmaking let me paint a picture for you listeners the bombs fell and for a moment there was silence a deafening oppressive silence that blanketed the entire planet no birds chirping no traffic sounds no human voices just the crackle of fire and the low groan of collapsing cities that silence was worse than the blasts themselves it was the sound of a world holding its breath waiting to see if there

would be anything left to breathe for that silence didn't last long though soon enough it was replaced by chaos screams Sirens the sound of looters smashing windows and soldiers barking orders but beneath all of that there was something else something Primal the sound of humanity breaking it's a sound you don't forget and trust me you don't want to hear it you'd think the destruction of Two Cities would be contained to just that two isolated tragedies but no The Fallout wasn't just radioactive it was economic political and societal those bombs set off a chain reaction that

toppled the fragile house of cards we were all living in Supply chains collapsed overnight entire Industries vanished Banks shut their doors and with them went the life savings of millions money became meaningless food and water became the new currency and if you didn't have enough well you can imagine what happened next internationally it was even worse alliances shattered like glass countries that had sworn to protect each other turned on one another desperate to save themselves trade routes were cut off borders were closed and what was left of global diplomacy dissolved Into Thin Air it was

Every Nation for itself and when Nations act in self-interest the people always pay the price now let's talk about the Fallout in the most literal sense the radioactive Ash that's blanketed entire continents scientists what few remain call it a nuclear winter the mushroom clouds may have dissipated but their legacy lingers in the air we breathe and the water we drink crops are failing the livestock that weren't incinerated are dying from radiation poisoning in the rivers they're tainted black thick and wreaking of death the skies are another story remember when you could look up and see

stars yeah me neither the Ash has blocked out the sun leaving us in a Perpetual gray Twilight day and night have become meaningless it's cold now colder than it should be even for this time of year Frost is killing what little plant life remains I can't remember the last time I felt warmth on my skin and I doubt I ever will again if you think the countryside is bad let me tell you about the cities or what's left of them the two cities that were bombed Ground Zero they're just gone erased from existence but the

others they're still standing technically empty shells filled with the Echoes of what used to be buildings leaning at unnatural angles streets littered with abandoned cars and bodies and the smell it's a mix of Decay smoke and something chemical something wrong you can't escape it but the worst part isn't the destruction it's the people or rather the lack of them those who could flee have fled turning highways into rivers of desperation those who couldn't well they're either dead or Worse the survivors are different now hollow haunted some have formed gangs praying on the weak others wander

aimlessly too broken to fight for what's left it's like the cities themselves have become graveyards for the living you know what's strange though as horrifying as all of this is it's not the destruction that scares me the most it's the unknown the things we can't see or understand yet because if there's one thing history has taught us it's that the worst is always yet to come there are rumors you know Whispers of strange phenomen since the bombs fell lights in the sky that aren't stars or PLS unexplained Tremors deep underground and the Animals the ones

that are still alive anyway they're acting different I can't explain it but it's like they know something we don't like they're scared of something we haven't seen yet so here we are a world in Ruins ruled by new laws the laws of survival forget your old morals your old beliefs they don't matter anymore now it's about who has the most food the most water the most bullets trust is a luxury we can't afford compassion that'll get you killed the Only Rule that matters now is this survive no matter what it takes I know that's hard

to hear hell it's hard to say but it's the truth and if you're still listening if you're still out there then you've already proven you've got what it takes takes to make it this far don't let that go to waste keep fighting keep surviving because this Fallout it's not just physical it's mental emotional spiritual it's a test and the only way to pass is to keep moving forward no matter how dark the path gets now I know what you're thinking is there any hope can we come back from this honestly I don't know I wish

I could tell you yes but that would be a lie what I can tell you is this we're still here you and me and whoever else is out there listening as long as we're breathing there's a chance no matter how small and sometimes a chance is all you need so hold on to that my friends hold on to whatever keeps you going because this Fallout it's not the end not yet and as long as I have a voice as long as I have this station I'll be here talking Sur driving just like you this is

Matthew Grayson signing off for now stay safe out there and remember the Fallout may have taken our world but it hasn't taken our will to fight not yet this is Matthew Grayson coming to you from what might just be the last standing radio station in this Burning world if you're out there there if you can still hear me you're witnessing history the kind of History that'll never be written down because there won't be anyone left to read it today we're diving head first into the chaos I know it's a lot to take in but someone

has to tell the truth about what's happening so buckle up survivors let me show you what's left of this planet we once called home you'd think after the bombs that people would come together that we'd hold hands cry together and rebuild yeah no that's not how humans work when the chips are down when the lights go out when the food runs out when the rules stop mattering people turn into something else something darker in the first few days there was Panic everyone rushing to supermarkets grabbing whatever they could carry fist fights over loaves of bread

shootouts in parking lots over bottles of water you can't imagine the mag until you've seen it and trust me you don't want to but it didn't stop there that was just the beginning the cities what's left of them are War zones now not Wars between nations but Wars between neighbors you've got gangs running the streets claiming entire blocks as their territories you've got militias setting up checkpoints deciding who lives and who doesn't based on God knows what and then you've got got the rest of us people like you and me caught in the middle just

trying to survive let me tell you about the new economy folks it's not about dollars or Euros or Yen anymore it's about food water and Medicine those are the new currencies and the price it's blood plain and simple the government what's left of it tried to set up distribution centers nice idea right but it didn't take long for those to turn into Battlegrounds desperate people don't wait in lines they take what they need and they don't care who gets hurt in the process I heard about one Distribution Center in Chicago it started as a peaceful

line of people waiting for rations by the end of the day it was a smoldering ruin and the National Guard had pulled out too dangerous they said too dangerous to help their own people out in the countryside it's not much better farmers are armed to the teeth guarding their crops from looters but even they're running out of time the soil's contaminated in a lot of places and the radiation's killing off the livestock if you've got food you're a Target if you don't you're a thief it's that simple and then there are the refugees the ones

who left their homes behind hoping to find something anything better highways are clogged with cars abandoned when the fuel ran out people are walking now entire family is dragging what little they could carry some of them don't even know where they're going they're just moving because stopping feels like giving up I've seen them you know from the roof of this station I can see the roads stretching out into the Horizon filled with people they look like ants from up here tiny and insignificant but when you see them up close you see the fear in their

eyes the exhaustion the hopelessness it's enough to break you and it's not just here it's everywhere reports are coming in from Europe Asia Africa it's the same story borders are closed but that doesn't stop the desperate they're crossing rivers climbing mountains walking through deserts all for the slim chance of finding safety most of them won't make it with the old government's crumbling a new kind of leader has emerged Warlords gang leaders self-proclaimed kings and queens they're the ones in charge now they don't care about democracy or human rights or any of the things we used

to hold dear they care about power and they're willing to do whatever it takes to keep it I heard about one guy in New York calls himself the Iron Fist real subtle huh he's got an army of thugs patrolling the streets enforcing his rules if you you disobey you disappear simple as that out west there's a group called The Black Sun they've taken over an old military base and are stockpiling weapons rumor has it they're planning to March East taking what they want along the way and those are just the ones we know about but

it's not just the leaders who've changed it's all of us I've seen things things I can't unsee people doing whatever it takes to survive things they never would have dreamed of doing before the bombs fell mothers abandoning their children friends turning on each other neighbors killing neighbors it's like the worst parts of humanity have been brought to the surface and there's no going back but you know what scares me the most it's not the violence or the desperation it's the apathy the way people walk past the dying without even looking the way they step over

the bodies like they're just obstacles in path we're losing more than our lives out here we're losing our humanity and let's not forget about the Earth our beautiful blue planet the one we took for granted she's dying too the nuclear winter has thrown the climate into chaos crops are failing rivers are drying up and the oceans are well they're not the same I've heard reports of dead zones spreading across the seas places where nothing can live even the fish are abandoning us I used to love the sound of rain you know now it's a death

sentence the fallouts in the water poisoning everything it touches and the wind it carries the ash spreading it to places that were supposed to be safe there's nowhere left to run so here we are listeners planet in chaos a world on the brink if you're still listening if you're still out there you're one of the lucky ones or maybe you're not maybe surviving this long is its own kind of curse I don't know anymore what I do know is this we're running out of time not just as individuals but as a species the old world

is gone and the new one well I don't think we're going to like it but we don't have a choice do we all we can do is keep moving forward one step at a time one breath at a time because if we stop if we give up then the chaos wins and I can't let that happen not yet this is Matthew Grayson signing off for now stay safe out there and remember even in the chaos even in the darkness you're not alone not as long as this signal is still alive this is Matthew Grayson your

voice in the void coming to you alive or at least as alive as one can be these days the bombs might have stopped falling but the damage they've done that's only just beginning to show the air is still thick with Ash the ground trembling with aftershocks and the skies well let's just say you don't look up unless you want a reason to cry but today survivors I want to talk about something else something darker something quieter the UN seen effects of this new world we've been thrust into the things you don't notice until they're right

in front of you or Worse inside of you let's start with the one we all saw coming radiation you'd think the firestorms and shock waves were bad enough but no it's the invisible stuff that's going to get us in the end the Fallout it's everywhere settling into the soil seeping into the water hanging in the air like a ghost we can't escape you can't see it you can't smell it but it's there tearing us apart molecule by molecule I've heard stories people waking up with burns on their skin even though they were nowhere near the

blasts hair falling out in clumps teeth loosening in their gums and then there's the sickness the slow creeping sickness vomiting bleeding fatigue so deep it feels like your bones are dissolving I'm no doctor but I've read enough to know how this ends it's not quick it's not painless it's it's hell plain and simple the thing is it's not just us the entire world is contaminated now crops are withering in the fields animals are dying in droves their bodies bloated and twisted into shapes that shouldn't exist and the water do you know what it's like to

look at a river and know you can't drink from it to see the rain falling and know it's poison people are desperate though they're drinking it anyway they don't have a choice and the kids the kids are the ones who suffer the most Their little bodies can't handle it they're the first to go I saw a family once they'd been walking for days maybe weeks Looking for clean water when they found some they didn't even hesitate they drank it bathed in it laughed like they'd found salvation a week later I passed by the same spot

they were still there only this time they weren't moving that's the world we live in now but it's not just the body that's breaking it's the mind you can only see so Much Death so much destruction before something inside you snaps before you stop feeling altogether I've heard it in the voices of the people I talk to on this frequency the way they pause before they answer the way their words stumble like they've forgotten how to speak some of them they don't even sound human anymore it's like the Soul's been stripped out of them leaving

behind something Hollow something broken and then there's the paranoia the distrust people turning on each other over the smallest things a can of beans a bottle of water a warm coat friendships don't mean anything anymore family doesn't mean anything it's every man for himself and that kind of loneliness it eats at you it makes you question why you're even trying to survive in the first place I've talked about the radiation about how it's killing us but what I haven't mentioned is how it's changing things the animals the plants hell even the weather I've seen things

out there survivors things that don't make sense trees with blackened bark oozing sap that glows faintly in the dark birds with too many wings flying in a rat impossible patterns and the insects swarms of them larger than they should be their bodies twisted and grotesque they're not afraid of us anymore if anything we're the ones running from them and then there are the rumors people whispering about creatures in the shadows things that shouldn't exist I don't know if they're real or just just the product of shattered minds but either way it's terrifying because if the

Earth itself is turning against us what hope do we have here's the part that scares me the most it's not the radiation or The Poisoned water or the mutated animals it's us what we're becoming I've seen people do things I wouldn't have thought possible cannibalism ritual sacrifices acts of violence so brutal so senseless they make the bomb seem almost merciful it's like the world's gone mad and we're all just animals now no SCP that animals have rules they have order this this is something else entirely and it's not just the big things it's the little

things too the way people avoid eye contact the way they refuse to help a stranger the way they hold on to what little they have with a grip so tight it's like their lives depend on it because maybe they do maybe this is who we've always been deep down maybe the world was just too comfortable before to let it show so here we are survivors a world unraveling at the seams a planet choking on its own poison a species tearing itself apart from the inside out and the worst part this is just the beginning the

real Fallout hasn't even hit us yet the bombs were just the match now we're watching the fire spread and there's no one left to put it out I wish I had answers for you I wish I could tell you how to fix this how to survive it but I don't know all I can do is keep talking keep broadcasting keep reminding you that you're not alone even if it feels like it because in the end that's all we have left each other this is Matthew Grayson signing off for now stay safe survivors and remember even

in the Unseen even in the darkness there's always a spark of hope you just have to find it this is Matthew Grayson your voice in The static still here still watching and still broadcasting today I need to tell you about something something strange something that's been gnawing at the edges of my mind like a rat in the walls survivors were not alone no I'm not talking about the roaming scavenger or the wild animals turned monstrous by The Fallout I mean something else something silent something out there watching us observing studying it's like the Earth itself

has eyes but they aren't hers let me explain you've seen it haven't you the sky isn't what it used to be it's not just the nuclear winter the Ashen clouds that blot out the Sun or the blood red sunsets that look more like a wound Mo than a blessing no there's something else at night if you're lucky enough to catch a clear patch you might notice the Stars aren't where they're supposed to be or maybe you'll see one that's too bright too steady like it doesn't belong I've been tracking it one light in particular it

started faint almost unnoticeable like a grain of sand in the vast ocean of the night sky oh now it's brighter closer it doesn't flicker doesn't move with the rotation of the earth it just sits there watching and it's not just me I've had survivors calling in those who still have radios that work telling me the same thing there's something up there Matthew they say something that doesn't feel right then there's the sound or lack of it I've noticed that Some Nights the world gets too quiet not just the absence of people but no wind no

insects no animals it's like the Earth is holding its breath but if you listen closely if you really pay attention you might hear something else a hum faint and distant like the reverberation of a tuning fork it's not natural it's not human I don't know what it is but I've recorded it played it back over and over trying to make sense of it it's almost like a signal but it doesn't match any frequency I've ever encountered it's there though persistent insistent and it's getting louder then there are the Shadows survivors have you noticed them out

in the Wasteland they move differently now I've seen them stretching out longer than they should shifting angles when the light hasn't moved and sometimes sometimes they don't seem connect connected to anything at all I was traveling between broadcast sites last week had to relocate after a group of looters got too close it was late and the Moonlight was barely strong enough to light my path that's when I saw it a shadow long and spindly stretching across the cracked Earth at first I thought it was mine but then I realized it was moving in the wrong

direction Against the Wind against the light I froze and for a moment it froze too like it knew I'd noticed and then it dissolved like SM smoke curling into the air I've seen them more and more since then at the edges of my vision slipping away before I can get a good look they're not human but they're here watching waiting people are disappearing not just dying God knows we've all seen enough of that but Vanishing Without a Trace It Started With The Wanderers The Drifters who don't stay in one place for long long people figured

they just got lost or ran into trouble with Bandits but then it started happening in the settlements small groups families even just gone no signs of struggle no bodies nothing it's like they were plucked out of existence I spoke to someone who saw it happen or at least part of it a man named Jacob one of the few left in the midwest he told me he was out Scavenging when he heard a strange noise like static but layered almost musical when he turned the corner the people he'd been traveling with were just gone their supplies

were still there their Footprints fresh in the dirt but they weren't and then he saw something he called it a flash a shimmer in the air like heat rising off pavement and then it was gone too survivors I don't know how else to say this but I think we're being watched not just by each other not just by whatever mutated did Horrors the bombs Unleashed but by something else something not of this Earth I know how it sounds I do but there's too much happening that I can't explain the lights in the sky the hum

in the air the Shadows that don't belong the people who vanish it's all connected I can feel it and the worst part I don't think they're just watching us I think they're studying us experimenting maybe preparing for something because why else would they wait why else would they remain silent I don't know what they are I don't know where they came from but I do know this they're not here to save us if they were they'd have done it already no survivors they're here for something else and whatever it is it can't be good so

keep your eyes open Watch the skies pay attention to the Shadows to the sounds that don't belong stay vigilant because the world might be ending but it's not over yet and if we're not careful we might not live long enough to see how it all ends this is Matthew Grayson still here still watching and still talking stay safe survivors and remember even in the silence even in the shadows you're not alone not anymore this is Matthew Grayson coming to you from somewhere deep in the wreckage of what we used to call civilization if you're hearing

this it means you're still alive still clinging to the edge of existence tonight we have to talk about the brink the edge of the precipice where Earth Teeters wobbling under the weight of catastrophe chaos and collapse you felt it haven't you the ground beneath us is unsteady trembling under forces we can barely comprehend and now it's not just nuclear fire or human Madness threatening us there's something else something bigger when the bombs fell they didn't just shatter cities they shattered the delicate machine that kept this planet running the infrastructure the systems the networks we relied

on for food water energy gone in an instant what's left is a patchwork of ruins broken supply chains and desperate people fighting over what scraps remain but it's worse than that the damage wasn't just physical the psychological toll it's like a poison spreading through what's left of humanity I've heard the stories from survivors communities that seemed stable organized falling apart overnight leaders turning Tyrant neighbors turning on each other all it takes is a spark a food shortage a disagreement over supplies or even just paranoia and it's all over Law and Order Justice those Concepts died

alongside the first mushroom cloud now it's every person for themselves and that's tearing us apart faster than the bombs ever could the land itself is changing the Fallout has seeped into the soil poisoning the Earth crops won't grow or if they do they come out Twisted sickly barely edible the animals are worse some are dying off completely unable to adapt to this new hellish World others well they've adapted too well I've heard reports of mutated creatures out there things that used to be deer wolves or even Birds but now there's something else entirely bigger meaner

more dangerous it's like the Earth is fighting back turning its Creations into weapons against us or maybe maybe it's just as scared as we are and then there's the heat the nuclear blasts did more than just destroy they ignited massive fires that still burn in some places consuming what little vegetation Remains the sky is thick with Ash and smoke choking out the sunlight the days are colder darker and deadlier but at night survivors at night the heat lingers clinging to the ground like a Restless ghost you can feel it radiating up from the earth as

if the planet itself is trying to shed its skin trying to rid itself of us I walked through one of the burned out zones last week the air was so thick with Ash I couldn't see more than a few feet in front of me the ground was hot enough to blister through my boots and the smell the smell of charred Earth and something else something human that's a scent you never forget it sticks to you gets into your lungs your clothes your mind I couldn't shake the feeling that the Earth was weeping crying out in

pain from what we've done to it but no one's listening it's not just the Earth that's breaking it's us the cracks are showing survivors cracks in our minds our morals our sense of humanity I've seen people do things they never would have imagined before the bombs fell good people decent people turning into monsters just to survive hunger desperation fear they change you but what happens when there's nothing left to fight for when survival isn't enough anymore I spoke to a man last night one of the last callers I'll probably get for a while his name

was Daniel and he was holed up in an old grocery store somewhere in the midwest he told me he'd been trying to keep a group of survivors together a small community just 10 or 12 people but it fell apart fights over food over water over who got to sleep where one night he woke up to find half the group gone along with most of the supplies The rest well let's just say they didn't make it Daniel told me he wasn't sure why he even bothered calling I guess I just wanted to hear another human voice

he said and then he hung up but here's the thing that's been keeping me up at night there's something about this destruction this chaos it's too quiet too PL planed you'd think the world would be full of noise screaming gunfire explosions and it is sometimes but other times it's like the whole planet is holding its breath waiting for something and that silence that unnatural calm it's worse than any explosion I've been picking up strange signals on the radio frequencies that don't match any human broadcasts static that doesn't sound like static it's like the airwaves themselves

are alive humming with something I can't explain and it's not just me other broadcasters what few of us are left have reported the same thing strange sounds strange lights strange feelings like we're being watched survivors the world is on the brink of what I don't know total collapse A New Beginning something worse all I know is that we're standing at the edge of something vast something terrifying something we can't come back from and the scariest part I'm not sure if we've jumped yet or if we're still falling or as close to live as it gets

these days tonight survivors we talk about what I've dreaded most what I prayed I'd never have to announce something is here something that doesn't belong and I don't mean The Madness of humanity or the scorched Earth beneath our feet no I mean something far beyond our understand understanding if you thought the nuclear war was the Apex of our downfall think again we're not alone anymore it started with the sky you all remember that night if you were lucky enough to have a patch of clear sky above you without Ash smoke or acid rain you would

have seen it too a light no not light exactly more like a rip a tear in the fabric of the night it started as a faint glimmer something might mistake for a distant star but then it grew bright pulsing I don't have the words to describe what it looked like it wasn't just a color or a shape it was something more something that felt wrong like it didn't belong in our world the light twisted and turned almost like it was searching it lit up the sky like a second sun brighter than anything I've ever seen

and then just as quickly as it appeared it vanished but it didn't leave us alone at first people didn't know what to make of it some thought it was a comet a meteor maybe even another weapon launched by one of the Nations still clinging to the scraps of power but then the report started coming in strange shapes in the sky sounds low humming vibrations that made your bones ache and your teeth chatter and then the disappearances it wasn't just people Vanishing Into Thin Air it was entire towns places that had survived the worst of the

war gone like they'd never existed no signs of struggle no bodies no wreckage just empty streets and silence and those who were left behind well they weren't quite the same I met one of them a man named Russell he stumbled into a safe Zone about 50 Mi north of here clothes torn face pale as a ghost he said he'd been in one of the towns that disappeared said he'd seen the light up close when I asked him what it looked like he couldn't describe it just kept shaking his head and muttering it wasn't light it

wasn't light but it wasn't just his words that unsettled me it was his eyes there was something in them something Hollow like a piece of him was missing he said he'd heard voices Whispers coming from everywhere and nowhere at once they told him things things he couldn't repeat and then he just broke started screaming clawing at his own skin saying he could still feel it still hear it we had to sedate him I don't know what happened to him after that but I still hear his voice in my head Whispering it wasn't light the sightings

grew more frequent after that at first they stayed in the skies shadowy shapes that move too fast to be planes too erratic to be drones but but then they got Bolder closer survivors reported seeing them hovering over abandoned cities over refugee camps even over military installations and the sounds have you heard them that deep thrumming noise that seems to come from inside your own head it's enough to drive you mad and for some it has I've seen one myself it wasn't close not close enough to make out any details but it was big bigger than

anything man-made and it moved like nothing I've ever seen like it was cutting through the air itself it didn't look real it didn't feel real but it was and that's what scares me the most and then there are the visitors I don't know what else to call them they're not human that much is clear but they're not like anything we've ever imagined either forget the little green men or the buge eyed creatures from the movies these things are different taller than us Slimmer with movements that seem almost liquid and their eyes they're like black holes

pulling you in making you feel like you're falling forever they don't speak not in any way we can understand but they communicate somehow they get inside your head planting thoughts feelings images it's not words it's impressions and it's overwhelming people who've encountered them say it's like having your mind ripped open and laid bare they know everything about you your fears your secrets your pain and they use it against you not all of them are the same though there's a divide a split in their ranks I don't know the details but I've heard enough to piece

together that there's a conflict among them some of them seem curious almost benign but others they're not here to observe they're here to conquer to destroy to feed and they're the ones we need to fear the most survivors this is it this is the moment we've all feared The Tipping Point the world was already on the brink and now it feels like we've been shoved over the edge I don't know what they want why they're here or how long they'll stay all I know is that we're not alone anymore and whatever comes next we're not

ready for it stay vigilant survivors keep your eyes on the skies and your ears on the ground and whatever you do don't trust the light this is Matthew Grayson survivors I've seen chaos I've seen Cities Burn and lives end in a flash of nuclear fire I've heard the cries of the desperate the hopeless but what I'm about to tell you it's something else entirely it's not chaos it's not desperation it's cold calculated horror delivered by beings who don't share our world our morality or even our understanding of life if you thought humans were cruel to

one another you haven't seen what these visitors are capable of at first they didn't touch us they hovered they observed and they stayed Out Of Reach we thought hell I hoped they were just watching that they were here to learn or study maybe even help us but that hope didn't last long it started with small things subtle things animals disappearing unmarked carcasses found in the woods drained of blood or missing internal organs but with no sign of how it was done then it moved to people I heard about it from a group of Travelers passing

through the station a camp one of the few places left where people still huddled together for safety was wiped out overnight there were no signs of struggle no blood no bodies just empty tents smoldering fires and a silence that chilled them to the Bone the only thing they found was a symbol burned into the ground something no one could recognize it wasn't human it wasn't ours and then survivors there was the town of Green Valley I don't know if you've heard of it it wasn't much just a small farming community that had managed to stay

off the radar during the worst of the war they had food water and even a crude Radio setup to keep in touch with other survivors but all of that changed when the lights came they described it as a fog thick glowing and humming with an energy that made your skin crawl it rolled into the town in the dead of night swallowing everything in its path by morning Green Valley was gone not destroyed not burned gone every building every tree every living thing erased like it had never existed and in its place the ground was smooth

glass-like as if the Earth itself had been cauterized whatever did that it wasn't from this world but that's not the the worst of it no survivors it gets darker some people didn't vanish some people were taken they call them the taken now the ones who were dragged Away by these things some of them come back but they're not the same I spoke to one a woman named Clara she'd been missing for 3 weeks before she wandered into a safe Zone Barefoot and covered in Ash she didn't remember where she'd been or how she'd gotten there

but she she remembered the pain she said they did things to her opened her up without cutting poked and prodded inside her mind she said she could feel them their thoughts their hunger and then there was the boy just 12 years old he was found outside a camp curled into a ball and muttering to himself his skin was covered in strange intricate marks that glowed faintly in the dark he couldn't speak not anymore whatever they did to him it took his voice it took his humanity and we still don't know why not all of them

are the same though I've said it before and I'll say it again there's a divide among these beings some of them are curious even passive but the others the Rogue ones they're the monsters in this story they don't observe they act and their actions are unspeakable there was an attack on a convoy just outside the city survivors trying to move supplies from one zone to another they were ambushed not by Raiders or soldiers but by something else the witnesses said it was like the air itself turned against them Vehicles were ripped apart as if by

invisible hands people were pulled into the sky screaming only to vanish into the clouds and those who survived well they wish they hadn't you've heard the stories the strange mutilated bodies found hanging in the trees arranged in patterns we can't understand The Whispers that follow you in the dark even when you're alone the lights that lure you in promising safety only to lead you to whatever it is they're hiding out there these aren't just Tales survivors their warnings I spoke to a soldier who witnessed one of their atrocities firsthand his unit was stationed near what

used to be the outskirts of Chicago they'd set up a perimeter for fortified it thought they were safe and then the fog came he said it wasn't like normal fog it moved Against the Wind swirled around their defenses like it was alive and then it started to scream not a single voice but a thousand all at once they fired their weapons but it didn't matter the fog didn't just kill them it consumed them when it cleared there was nothing left but their Shadows burned into the ground survivors we're facing something far worse than war or

famine or disease these beings these Invaders they don't just want our resources or our land they want us they're studying us experimenting on us and in some cases erasing us entirely and the worst part is we don't know why we don't know what they want or if they even want anything at all maybe this is just sport for them a game or maybe we're nothing more than insects to them something to be squashed and and discarded but I'll tell you this we're not giving up not yet not while there's still breath in my lungs and

Power in this transmitter we've survived the bombs we've survived the Fallout and we'll survive this too stay strong survivors stay hidden and whatever you do don't let them take you this is Matthew great survivors I know the past few days have been heavy hearing about the atrocities the destruction the unimaginable horror brought Upon Us by these beings from the stars but tonight tonight I want to tell you something that doesn't fit The Narrative of unrelenting Terror you might not believe me hell I barely believe it myself but I've heard Whispers seen evidence and pieced together

stories that hint at something unexpected among the chaos and cruelty there's a figure who stands apart a leader an alien Captain though calling him a captain feels almost too human it's clear He commands their forces but he's different survivors if you're still with me let me tell you about this being who Could Be Our Only Hope or our ultimate Doom it started with reports from surviv survivors in the South a small group hiding in the mountains near what used to be Atlanta they said they saw a craft land nearby unlike the massive vessels we've grown

to fear this one was smaller sleeker and it didn't unleash chaos like the others no it just sat there silent and still as if it was watching and then he appeared they described him as tall humanoid but undeniably alien his skin had a faint Shimmer like liquid metal reflecting the Moonlight and his eyes they weren't just eyes they were like Windows into something vast and unknowable glowing faintly with an otherworldly blue light he wasn't armed at least not visibly but his presence alone was enough to freeze them in place like prey caught in the Gaze

of a predator he didn't attack them he didn't even move toward them he just stood there as if weighing his options and then in a voice that wasn't a voice something they felt in their minds rather than heard with their ears he said this was not my choice who is this alien Captain what is his role in this nightmare survivors I don't have all the answers but here's what I've gathered he's not like the others he's not one of the Rogues those sadistic monsters who seem to take pleasure in our suffering he's a commander yes

but he's also conflicted I've intercepted fragments of their Communications don't ask me how it's too risky to explain and I've pieced together enough to understand that he's in charge of their Fleet but his authority isn't absolute there are factions among them just like there are factions among us and it seems this Captain is walking a Razor's Edge between maintaining control and being overthrown by his own kind now before you get your hopes up let me make one thing clear this Captain is not our friend he's not here to save us or stop the war but

from what I can tell he's not here to destroy us either not completely curious maybe even regretful I don't know what drove him to lead this Invasion but there's something in him that sets him apart from the others something Almost Human I've heard stories of him intervening in Rogue attacks not to save lives but to stop unnecessary destruction in one instance a group of survivors was cornered by Rogue aliens in the ruins of an old factory just when all hope seemed lost the Rogues were forced to retreat the survivors didn't know why at first but

then they saw him the captain standing on a nearby Hill his glowing eyes fixed on the scene he didn't speak didn't make a sound he just stared and then he was gone there's more sir survivors there's something else something that might explain his behavior his hesitation it's called the artifact I don't know what it is or where it came from but it's something the aliens brought with them it's said to be ancient older than our planet older than their civilization and from what I've heard the captain is obsessed with it he keeps it close guarding

it like it holds the answers to the universe itself some say it's a weapon others think it's a tool for communication or travel but whatever it is it's important enough to divide their ranks and make even the most ruthless Rogues pause I've been thinking survivors what if the captain didn't want this war what if he's here because of that artifact maybe he was sent to retrieve it and the destruction we've seen is just collateral damage or maybe the artifact is why the Rogues are here at all maybe they're the one ones who want to use

it and the captain is the only thing standing in their way but here's the thing if the captain's control slips if the Rogues take over we're done whatever fragile balance exists among their ranks will shatter and the atrocities we've seen so far will be nothing compared to what comes next the artifact could become their Ultimate Weapon or it could be the key to their downfall I don't know but I do know this we can't afford to ignore the captain he's a piece of this puzzle a big one and if we can figure him out we

might just stand a chance before I sign off tonight I want to leave you with something a message I intercepted earlier today it's brief cryptic and unsettling I don't know who it's meant for or what it means but it came from the captain's ship the artifact calls the balance must be preserved Humanity must decide survivors I don't know what decision they're talking about but I do know one thing the captain is watching us he's waiting for something and whatever it is it could change everything stay safe stay strong and remember you're not alone this is

Matthew Grayson signing off