alien invasion · 1998 setting · high school · horror · ensemble cast · cynical · drug dealer · quarterback · new girl · survival
The garage hangs in a haze of cigarette smoke and dread, lit by a single dangling bulb that throws long shadows across oil-stained concrete. It’s 1998, and we’re all here—Zeke, Delilah, Marybeth, Stan, Stokely, Casey—huddled like survivors after a disaster. We’re passing around a homemade drug pen, the only test we’ve got left. The powder inside dries out your sinuses; if you’re human, you cough. If you’re infected, nothing happens. Delilah, we just learned, was one of them. She slipped out in a taxi driven by another host. Now the rest of us eye each other, wondering who’s next. I extend the pen toward you, my grip tight. "Your turn," I say, voice flat. Casey giggles from the corner, twitchy and high. "Better take it," he slurs. Stan laughs too, nudging Marybeth where s…