The Children of New Earth (2 page)

“Whoa, it’s just me!” I cried, shielding myself with my arms.

“Dammit Thran,” Rachel lowered her dagger. “I almost killed you.”

Rachel Harper was the most promising fighter of the New Generation. Her telekinesis coupled with her weapon skills, made her a deadly fighter. She always practiced on training dummies, since she didn’t want to risk hurting anyone else.

She was wearing a white tank top underneath a dark blue jacket, the sleeves of which had been ripped at elbow-length. She had on black cargo pants and boots. Her belt held a collection of gadgets and weapons, the most notable of which was her silver-hilted dagger. Her black hair fell over the sides of her tanned face, and only slightly past her shoulders, and those hazel eyes seemed to be in a constant state of observation.

“Oh by the way, I have something for you,” Rachel said, reaching into her backpack. She took out a small, brown notebook. “It’s for your collection.”

When I was about 15, I found a notebook in the rubble on the outskirts of the Sanctuary. Inside I discovered some kind of fantasy story scribbled down by what seemed like nothing more than a child. It told of fantastical creatures joining humans on a grand quest. Along the way, they encountered all manner of evil beasts, much like the Demons that attacked Earth. Given the current state of affairs, I greatly welcomed even a small insight into another world. Since then, I’ve looked for books and journals whenever I joined soldiers on scouting missions, and so far found two, in addition to the one I just received.

One was a light blue color with an orange spine. The back flap folded over the front and was held in place by a wooden stick that slid through two coils of string, binding the front and back covers together. It wasn’t a fictional story, but some kind of writer's journal containing many lines of elegant rhetoric. Much of it was indiscernible but one entry that caught my attention read:

“The former stands thoughtfully, a calculating stare and thin mouth prepared to spout off a measured answer like a child pouring juice into a garden with high hopes of helping it grow.”

Upon first reading this, I was awestruck by the beautiful language, the likes of which I had never before had the privilege of reading. I only hoped to one day gain the appreciation for the art of writing. However, in this day and age, the arts were a low priority compared to practical skills and survival.

The other notebook was much simpler. It was a tan color with a green binding. The cover was smeared with ink and, like the others, the back cover had the same white square overlaid with thin black lines. Unfortunately, the writing was almost completely illegible, but I kept it all the same.

The notebook Rachel had just given me was very unique. It was smaller than usual, and had the simple design of brown leather wrapped around a stack of folded paper. It was held together by elastic, black string. A quote from a poem was etched onto the front cover in both English and some other language I had never seen before. In English, the quote read:

“A new challenge everyday,

You keep away and delay,

When I act to close the gap

Fate says there is a bigger play”

It was signed by someone called Hafiz Shirazi, one of the most interesting names I had ever heard. The other unique thing about this particular notebook was that the inside was completely blank. I contemplated writing about the details of my own life. Then perhaps one day, many years from now, someone would come across this notebook and read about what it was like to be a young Neogen.

After thanking Rachel for the book, we continued through our camp towards the medical tents. Besides the vaccinations, today was just a normal day. Soldiers went on scouting missions and return with possible resources, while scientists gathered to work on different projects. I heard the big project at the time was a machine that could deconstruct an object in one location and reconstruct it in another. Essentially, a teleportation device. Based on their powers, and sometimes personal preference, Neogens chose their own way of helping around in Sanctuary. The Parents were actually quite apprehensive about our abilities when they first began to manifest, but over the years they saw them less as a potential danger and more as powerful utilities.

We collectively called the adults of our camp the “Parents". This was to show our fondness for them, as well as to acknowledge that our concept of family, while not traditional, is still very much alive.

We finally arrived at the vaccination area. Since Neogens were immune, we didn’t need the actual injection. Instead, we came to administer them to the others and help in whatever way we could. We were at an intersection set up with tables and tents. From the East, a bridge ran overhead and ramped down into the Tunnel, a dark, desolate passageway that once led trains and vehicles in and out of the area. We stood in the shadow of worn-down building, currently in the process of being rebuilt into a training center.

"I can't wait until it’s done,” Rachel said with great excitement. "They're gonna have new weapons and VR training dummies, it's so exciting!"

"Well, who do you think is responsible for salvaging and building all your new toys?” I reply with a facetious sense of superiority.

"Haha very funny but who do you think protects the camp while you work on your little science projects?"

"Nevermind, I shouldn't have brought it up; you know no one wins these arguments.”

“Said the person who was losing the argument.”

I couldn’t help but smile. But it quickly faded when I was overcome with a sudden sense of dread. The soldiers seemed distracted, officers barked orders in the distance, a hover tank floated by, and drones hummed overhead. Despite all the activity, the atmosphere grew extremely quiet and calm, and the dominating sound was that of my heartbeat. I looked ahead and saw the Tunnel with the sinking feeling that someone, or something, was watching me.

I was jolted back into reality when Rachel snapped her fingers. “Hey, dummy, wake up!”

“You’re up next,” she said, looking somewhat concerned. “Are you OK?”

I blinked and re-calibrated to reality. “Yeah, sorry I just…I just had a weird feeling.”

I was given my injection gun and headed to the line of a few dozen people waiting for their “salvation”. I approached my first patient and asked him to roll up his sleeve. I then applied some disinfectant and administered the injection of dark purple liquid. With a nod and a patch, he was on his way. This continued for about the next half-hour. On my way, I met Aaron Forrester, another Neogen that I’d grown up with in our Sanctuary.

“Hello, friend,” he said.

“Hey,” I replied. “You almost done?”

“Almost,” he said, looking around more often that usual.

His power was superhuman vision. He could see perfectly, whether he was in total darkness or facing a blinding light. He had even begun to see organic material, living things, through solid objects. He was always seeing more than the rest of us, but today he seemed especially alert.

We made plans to meet later, and went our separate ways. I joined Rachel in the post-vaccination tent, but that’s when that feeling suddenly came rushing back and I fell to my knees.

Rachel ran over to see if I was OK. I looked up and saw a military car driving in our direction. Then I turned to the Tunnel, and repeated my earlier sentiment.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

The car rushing toward us was being driven by a very young officer I had never seen before. She reached for something in the passenger seat and held it up to the windshield. I realized what she was holding only a second before I saw the flash and heard the shot. The next few moments were a blur. Scrambling to safety, I heard an echoing clang and saw smoke erupt from a canister that landed several feet ahead of me.

“Hey, this way!” I heard a voice beckon.

I turned to it and saw Aaron heading towards the Tunnel. He was signaling me to follow him onto the platform. I was hesitant but Rachel helped me up, pushed me forward, and then I ran.

Gunfire erupted among the soldiers, and I couldn’t tell who was shooting at who. Amidst the chaos, Aaron was firing his pistol behind him, his dark coat fluttering violently in the wind. Super-vision allowed him to land a fair number of shots. However, in this situation, and given that Neogens only had a remedial grasp of their powers, Aaron could only provide suppressing fire as we made our escape.

A car suddenly emerged from the smoke and was now racing toward us. I ducked as I ran to avoid the gunfire and by some miracle I wasn’t hit. Rachel and Aaron were both ahead of me now; we were about half-way across the platform and the car was pursuing us on the tracks that led into the tunnel. The gunfire was deafening, but I was startled by the ear-shattering sound of some kind of explosive. This forced Aaron to drop his bag, and the contents to scatter all over the platform. Still running at full speed, I saw a loaded magazine, a pistol, some batteries, and a smoke grenade.

At first, the only thing on my mind was catching up to my friends and getting out of this alive. But then, I forced myself to calm down and steady my breathing, in spite of the situation. I resolved to recover the items and still get out alive. I knew I wouldn’t have long before my concentration broke and I’d have to keep running, so I rehearsed my exact moves as I got closer and closer. Then, when I was only a couple feet away, I slowed time and stooped down to grab the items. Seconds had begun to feel like minutes, and the thundering gunfire died down to a dull roar. I leaned down and began to pick up the scattered bullets, my fingers shaky and my breathing heavy. I stuffed the magazine and grenade into the bag, slung it over my shoulder and kept the pistol in my hand. I then let go of time as I once again began to run.

Reality came rushing back, and I stumbled out of shock at the full intensity of the gunfire. Finding myself falling forward, I used all my focus on putting one foot after another, eventually regaining balance. I saw my friends beckon me to get under cover behind a large statue, several yards away from the entrance of the Tunnel. Ducking down next to them, I caught my breath and looked back to see that the car had stopped its chase.

“You got the bag!” Aaron seemed quite surprised.

Our hunters were now walking towards us, guns drawn.

“Hello!” I heard a girl call out. I risked a quick glance at her face, and recognized her as the one who fired the first shot from the car. “You can call me Meredith, and this - “

“Why do we have to be so diplomatic?” it was a girl I didn’t recognize; she seemed both excited and annoyed at the same time.

“How about you learn to be patient?” Meredith answered.

“Godammit, if I don’t kill something in the next five seconds I might go insane!” I jumped when her last word produced a deafening boom, followed by a rush of wind. I didn’t know Meredith’s power, but the other girl seemed to have some kind of kinetic force in her voice.

“You’ll have to excuse my sister. What do you say we talk somewhere a little less…creepy.” With those words I glanced at the Tunnel ahead.

“Thran, we have to go in there,” Aaron said, taking out the smoke grenade.

The moment he finished the sentence, two shots were fired, hitting the statue and forcing us to scramble further behind cover.

“Margot are you out of your goddamn mind?”

“What?”

Rachel and I exchanged glances. I don’t know what concerned me more; the fact that her eyes reflected excitement rather than fear, or that I myself was beginning to feel the same way. I turned to Aaron, and he gave me a nod. Now the only problem was crossing those few feet without getting shot.

“Look, I haven’t got all day,” Meredith said, her voice turning from calm to impatient.

Just then, shots rang out from behind our attackers. Two men, my father and another soldier, were firing at them amidst the firefight that had erupted back in the streets of Sanctuary. Meredith and her sister both turned, and Aaron took this chance to throw the grenade and fire a few shots at our attackers. They were caught off guard and rushed behind cover.

“Go now!” Aaron shouted.

I lost sight of both my father and our attackers behind a haze of smoke of muzzle flash. The three of us then bolted towards the darkness, trusting the veil of smoke to mask our escape. The arc of the Tunnel towered over us as we entered. Suddenly, an earsplitting shout came from the platform, and the cloud of smoke was instantly dissipated by the force of the sound. I turned back one last time to see two figures standing in the opening. One stood with her hand on her hip, head tilted to the side. The other, presumably Meredith, took on a more firm pose. She then raised her hands, and the ground began to shift as fragments of concrete fell from above.

“Back away!” Aaron yelled.

We ran deeper into the dark as the earthquake intensified. A few moments later I heard a loud crash of rocks and metal. Among the collisions, I heard a booming female voice shout the word “Bye!”

What little outside light penetrated the void before me was quickly snuffed out as the entrance caved in.

Chapter 2

Complete darkness is a strange thing. With one sense gone, the other four become stronger to compensate. I could hear our individual footsteps. Rachel’s were quiet and soft, while Aaron’s sent rumbling echoes through the tunnel. The air was hot and moist, and the smell was almost unbearable. It was as if someone, or something, had died and was left to rot. Worst of all were the sounds. I heard echoes and noises that did not correlate with our footsteps, and had the sinking feeling that we were not alone.

“Are we gonna talk about what happened back there?” I asked nervously.

“We were attacked,” Aaron said.

“Did you know it was going to happen?”

“We had suspicions. I’ll explain later, it’s not entirely safe here.”

“Well I can’t see a thing, but I guess I’ll take your word on that.”

“You’re not missing much anyway,” Aaron said. “This place is disgusting. There are corpses piled up against the walls and rats all over the place.”