Chapter Text
“This has all been so tiring, all this war, all this violence, all this nonsense, all for what, a few drops of oil and a little bit of land?” Sam yelled as he leaned on the wall.
“I feel you man; I’ve been losing track of who and what we’re fighting for.” Said Jacob.
“Honestly, I don’t remember a time when we weren’t at war, we were always fighting someone for as long as I remember.” Said Alice who was lying on the grass.
“We’re all lucky to be here, I barely made it through.” Sam said while looking at his prosthetic arm. Its black armor gleamed in the light as his metallic skeleton showed through the gaps.
“So, what’s it like having a prosthetic anyways.” Alice asked.
“It’s not easy to say, but if I had to compare it to anything, it is kind of like a giant scar. It is defiantly something you are not used to and will take some time to adjust. It eventually becomes normal, but not the same.”
“Ok.” Jacob said in a saddened tone.
We all stayed quiet looking at the base ahead of us.
Tucked inside the bowl of a once active baseball stadium sits a refugee encampment. Civilians and all those who seek to avoid the war went here. Military personnel surveyed the stadium keeping an eye out for anyone looking for trouble, proudly displaying their assault rifles, showing their authority.
Here in the ruins of sport, the people here have lost everything, so a depressing atmosphere hanged in the air like a fog. However, some still try to stay positive, children ran around the tents playing whatever game they made up, and people sang songs aloud with whatever instruments they had brought with them. It was gloomy but it tried its hardest to shine, I strive to follow their path.
Within my backpack I grabbed one of the few things I had brought with me, my laptop. It had a plastic red protection case and some stickers on it. I opened it up and went to the music platform.
From there I selected one of my songs and began working on it, combining different beats and instruments, experimenting and probing my way to a completed song.
“Hey, can I get your opinions on something real quick?” Sam asked.
“Sure.” “Hit me.” Jacob and Alice said.
I then played the song; it first started smoothly with a simple melody of a piano. Then came in the drums of the beat. It was quieted and reverbed, sounding as if the beat was wrapped in a thin layer of cloth. From there a digital beat came in, complimenting the piano and allowing the drums to break free. It went quiet for a second before the beat came together again. The drums now went loose banging and colliding at an inhuman, chaotic rate, yet it didn’t overpower the other instruments rather becoming the melody itself with the other beats adding to it. The song played for a bit before coming to a close.
“Wow, that was amazing!” Jacob exclaimed.
“Thanks, I’ve been working on this for a bit, but I feel like it’s missing something.”
“I don’t know man, that was pretty sweet, what type of music was that?” Alice asked.
“It’s called breakcore. It’s a type of electronic music where a drumbeat is allowed to run rampant but still sound orderly. They also use this music a lot in Ultrakill.” Sam said turning his laptop around and pointing at a few stickers one showing V1 and the other Benjamin.
“Interesting.” said Jacob.
Alice then got up in revelation and turned to Sam. “Oh, I know what’s missing, vocals. Not like singing but more like chorus. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“That could actually work, do you guys know how to sing?”
Sorry man can’t even do karaoke.” Jacob said disappointed.
“Can’t sing that well, I’m more of a violinist.” Alice said.”
“I didn’t know that, can I record some of your songs to use.”
“Sure, if I’m able to find one, I don’t have a violin with me.” Alice said.
“Alice where are you?” A voice yelled somewhere in the encampment.
“Oh, sorry guys gotta go, it’s my mom.”
“Ok then, see you tomorrow.” Sam said.
“Bye!” Jacob yelled.
Alice ran off waving goodbye before disappearing behind a tent.
“I should be heading back soon don’t want my parents to worry.”
“Alright man, see you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
They gave each other a fist bump before Jacob went off leaving Sam alone. He let out a lonely sigh before he packed his stuff up and went to his tent.
He walked down the isles watching a dude jam out on a harmonica and few other people playing card games.
Eventually he made it to his tent and went inside. Inside was his mother preparing some rations that they received. It was a soup, inside the orange broth is what appear to be some chicken carrots and potatoes. Not exactly the hearty meal but it does make do. Now that he thinks about it, he can't remember a time that he had a hearty meal.
“Hello sweetie, dinner is almost ready.”
“Ok, have you seen dad?”
“Not at this moment, he went off not to long ago for ‘valuable information’.
I went to the table that was slightly above the floor and fashioned up three bowls and spoons for when dad gets back.
“Dinners ready, can you bring the bowls here Sam?”
“Ok mom,”
I went to her and began filling up the bowls of soup. As I was doing so, I noticed some movement in the corner of my eye and saw that dad had come home.
“Oh, hey dad.”
“Sup kiddo, did everything got swell today?”
“Yeah, today was ok.” Sam said as he put the bowls of soup down on the table. He then went over to Dad and gave him a quick side hug.
“Hey sweetie, where have you been?” Mom asked.
“I’ll tell you guys soon, but honestly I’m pretty hungry right now, how about we eat first.” Dad suggested.
We all then sat on the floor as we ate our soup and some bread that the neighbor gave us. It was a bit quiet but peaceful.
“Alright, I should probably get the elephant in the room addressed. You know the Brooks, right?” Dad asked
“Yes.” Mom said.
“Yeah, Jacob’s family.” Sam said.
“Apparently, they had gotten word about the location of a bunker full of cryopods from a friend that help set it up.”
“What?” Mom said surprised.
“Yes, they’re planning on leaving here tomorrow morning and heading out, it’s about a forty-minute drive. Make sure you to pack up all your stuff we will need to leave when we get up.”
“Sweetie, are you sure this is the best idea?” Mom said concerned.
“Look honey, whether we like it or not, this world is ending. The war has ravaged the land and the seas are rising. If I didn’t think that this was necessary, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.”
The table quickly went silent after he finished talking.
“Hey dad, will there still be life on the planet when we wake up?”
“I-, don’t know. The best we can do know is hope and push forward.”
We all let out a tired sigh, we were all afraid of what waited ahead of us but what could we do about it?
Then from outside we heard a booming voice.
“ATTENTION ALL REFUGEES! IT IS NOW CURFEW! ALL LIGHTS MUST BE TURNED OFF AND ALL CAMPFIRES EXTINGUISHED! NO EXCEPTIONS!”
“I guess it’s pretty late then, we should probably be getting ready for bed now.” Dad said.
“Ok.” Sam said.
We all quickly put the dishes away and our supplies and went to our sleeping bags.
“Night boys.”
“Goodnight.”
“Night mom.”
“Goodnight Sam.”
“Goodnight Dad.”
Dad turned off the lamp that hanging on the top of the tent and we went to sleep.
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“Man, I’ve forgotten how many stars are actually in the sky.” said the first soldier.
“Yeah, now that the cities gone dark, there’s less light to flood the sky. Kinda sad, but somewhat beautiful.” said the second soldier.
The stood on top of the upper balconies of the stadium looking out for any outside threats.
“Hey, do you see that at 10-O-clock?” said the second soldier.
“Oh shoot, is that a missile?” the first soldier asked.
“No, that one is moving too quickly.” The second soldier replied.
They watched as the light quickly made a streak in the air before disappearing.
“I think we just saw a shooting star.” said the second soldier.
“Did you make a wish?” said the first soldier.
“Nah man, I forgot.” said the second soldier.
“Bummer.” the first soldier replied.
“Hey look, I see another one.” the first soldier said pointing to the sky.
“Wait, why is that one curving?” the second soldier asked.
They watched at the light curved downward and started splitting up dispersing smaller lights.
“Oh god, that’s not a star.”
They watched as another light came and dispersed, and the lights started moving towards the stadium.
“OH SHIT!!”
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A sudden boom was heard outside startling everyone in the encampment and woke up the Parkens.
“What was that noise?” Mom said in a scared tone.
Outside some panic scream can be heard.
“We gotta move now. Sam, wake up, we gotta get up now!” Dad yelled.
Sam woke up in a tired confused state.
“What’s going on?” Sam said in a dazed state.
“I don’t know but we gotta go.” said Dad.
Just then another loud boom crashed outside snapping Sam out of his daze. They quickly grabbed their supplies and left their tent.
Outside people ran out panicking as fireballs dotted the arena. The speakers came on again booming its voice.
“ATTENTION ALL REFUGEES, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY! TAKE ONLY WHAT IS NECESSARY!”
Just then a light fell from the sky and aimed for the press box.
“WE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER MISSLE FIRE! EVACUATE IMME-“
The press box exploded into a fireball cutting off the broadcast.
Even more people scream and ducked from the explosion all running to the exit.
The Parkens ran through the chaos but as they went through a metal sheet flew by grazing Mrs. Parkens on the thigh. She screamed in pain and fell on the floor.
“Susie!”
“Mom!”
They both turned back and ran to her as she winced in pain.
“Are you able to move?” Henry asked.
“Yeah.” She said in pain.
Henry then careful lifted her up and supported her shoulder with Sam supporting the other.
“No Sam, you must go. You need to catch up with the Brooks.” Henry said.
“I’m not leaving you guys.” Sam asserted.
“No Sam, it’s okay, we love you, bug you need to go.”
“But Mom!” Sam said tearfully.
“Don’t worry son, we will always be proud of you, and I know that whatever you do, you will always succeed.“ said Henry.
They all gave a tearful hug before they let go and Sam ran. Weaving his way through the burning tents and rubble he made it out of the stadium and saw jeeps parked outside one with the brooks. As they departed, he quickly ran up to it trying to get on. Jacob saw this and stretched out his arm and pulled Sam aboard. As they drove away, he watched the stadium as another light came in and struck the front of the stadium causing it to collapse. They all watched in a horrified awe before Sam broke down in tears.
It was an excruciating drive to the bunker. He was in one of a caravan of jeeps with a large plower in the front ramming its way through rubble and abandoned shops and houses all full of life and memories now just rocks on the floor. Eventually they made it to the bunker and everyone got out.
Some people here were refugees while others were people of power. Towers and vehicles patrolled the area all wrapped in a barbed wire fence. We all walked forward, a herd of tired cattle being sent to the barn. We then descended a long stairway for what felt like miles, until we reached the bottom. The room was as big as a warehouse and inside were rows of cryopods and lockers. On the side of the rooms were doors and this is where we entered. Inside were cryopods and lockers but there were less her about 10 or so.
“So, this is it. This is where we’ll spend God knows how long, until this damn war is over.” Sam said.
“Yep.” Jacob said in the same tired tone.
“Is Alice here?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know, I told her about this place but I’m not sure if she’s here.” Jacob said.
They both let out a tired sigh as they mourned for her, clinging on the little hope that she is somewhere else in this bunker.
“Alright guys I need you two to listen to me very carefully.” Jacob’s father said. “We need to prepare for the cryosleep. First put all your stuff away in the lockers and your clothes except for your underwear. Then you will be given this shot and you will be put to sleep. Do you understand me.”
“Yes dad.”
“Yes sir.”
We went to our own lockers and put our stuff away. I put away my backpack, jacket, the rest of my clothes, and my prosthetic. From there we stood next to our cryopods, and a doctor entered the room. He went down giving each person their shot on the forearm before they were helped into their cryopod.
“Hey Sam.”
“Yeah Jacob?”
“See you on the other side.”
“See you on the other side.” Sam said as he gave Jacob an air fist bump.
The doctor finally reached Sam, and he took his arm and injected the sleeping serum. He helped him into the chamber and behind Sam watched behind sleepy eyes as the glass door closed shut and the sound of fluid quieted his ears and senses until he finally fell asleep.