Awake

- First Strike -

  Tom and Andrew crawled on their hands and knees along the flat roof of a two-story school building. They reached the edge and peered down.

  “They’re everywhere!” Andrew shrieked. “It’s animal city!”

  “Keep it down.” Tom pulled him in before the monkeys on the sidewalk below noticed them. His index finger on his lip, Tom shushed Andrew. They waited a moment before peeking into the street again.

  The city block was full of animals. Monkeys were jumping up and down on cars. Snakes were slithering around trees. Bears and cougars were chatting at every corner. Ravens were perched on windowsills. A pack of wolves marched orderly down the road.

  “What’s that?” said Andrew, pointing at the back of a horse that entered the street.

  “Hand me the binoculars,” said Tom.

  “We have those?”

  “Yeah. Check the bag we got from the car. I’m pretty sure I put them in there.”

  Andrew unzipped the duffel bag and rummaged through their belongings. He found an assortment of things inside: his crossbow, a case full of bolts, clothes, snacks…and the binoculars. He handed the binoculars off to Tom.

  Using the binoculars, Tom was able to study the horse’s back more closely. “Hmm…according to my analysis, it’s a butt.”

  “A butt? Whose butt?”

  “Well, the pants bear a striking resemblance to Kate’s. The shape is about right too, I guess.”

  “You’re staring at her butt?” Andrew scowled.

  “Yes…no! I’m not! I mean, I am…but I’m not…” Tom sighed. “Never mind. Who cares about that? The important thing is that those animals are taking her away. And it looks like they’re taking her to the stadium.”

  “The baseball stadium?”

  “That’s right. They’re headed in that direction. The horse is moving rather carefully though. I think we have time to save her butt.” Tom scanned around the road some more. “I also see Genesis and Luna! Wolves are dragging them to another road.”

  Terminus hopped onto Andrew’s head and said, “I’ll chase after them and see what I can do.” He quickly soared high into the sky, chasing after Genesis and Luna.

  “Alright then,” said Tom. “That leaves us to deal with Kate.”

  “You got a plan?” asked Andrew.

  “A plan, huh?” Tom rubbed his chin. “I run in there and get her. You cover me.”

  Andrew said softly, “You want me to cover you? I don’t think I can…”

  “I don’t think this is going to work either, but whatever. If we don’t get her out of there now, it’ll be impossible to do anything when she reaches the stadium.”

  Heaving a sigh, Andrew said, “I wish I had your confidence.”

  Tom nodded and then quietly descended down the fire escape.

  Andrew turned his attention back to the street. Inside of him was a bubbling emotion of uncertainty that made him sick to his stomach. It was quiet. There was no one for him to talk to, no one to help him relieve his fear. Terrified, he wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks and gripped the crossbow tightly. He cocked back the string with a bolt in place. He closed his eyes, attempting to calm down. His breathing was unsteady so he took a deep breath to remedy it.

  Could he really cover Tom from up here? He had never used a crossbow in his life, or any other weapon for that matter. He had no idea about what angles to fire from or how to compensate for wind. He felt completely useless. But still, he couldn’t just abandon Tom’s effort. He continued to watch as Katie was carried over to the stadium. She was getting closer and closer to it, but there was still time.

  Andrew gazed anxiously at her from a distance. She wasn’t moving. Was she already asleep? Or was she…gone forever? Andrew grimaced. His body couldn’t stop shaking. There was nothing he could do to help her. He was angry with himself for getting her into this mess. What if she was dead? She would’ve been better off where he first found her. She would’ve been better off asleep. What did the animals want her for? Was she going to become food for them? He clenched his teeth. Seeing her helpless like that roused his anger.

  “Hurry up, Tom,” he whispered. “Before it’s too late…”

  Andrew waited a few minutes. Tom didn’t show up. Where was he? What was taking him so long? In a few seconds, the horse would be passing by the school building, giving Andrew the best position for sniping. But there would be no point if Tom weren’t there.

  Andrew got into a prone position and aimed the crossbow at the horse as it came directly in front. He looked through the scope and made sure his aim was dead on. On his left was the open case of bolts for when he needed to quickly reload. Everything was ready. Now he just needed the right moment to shoot.

  Tom wasn’t coming. There was no sign of him anywhere. It was too late to call him now; the horse was almost past the building. Andrew wasn’t sure about the limit of the crossbow range, but he was sure the closer the target, the better.

  Time was of the essence. Should he fire or should he wait? His finger trembled on the trigger. He decided to wait for a second, and then he waited for another. He shook his head, cursed, and then pulled the trigger, wincing. At the very least, if Tom was indeed coming, he had to slow down the horse. Snap! Whoosh! Startled, Andrew’s shoulders jerked up as he fired his first shot, which was louder than he had expected. The bolt zipped through the air and landed right on the horse’s thigh. Neighing, the horse dashed off. Andrew cringed as Katie fell off its back.

  The company of wolves rallied together and began barking furiously, alerting the whole neighborhood. One of the wolves said, “We’re under attack! It came from above! Search the buildings! Search the rooftops!” Immediately, the wolves scattered left and right, like the shattering of glass on a hard floor in slow motion.

  Things were not looking good at all. Andrew dropped the crossbow and ran to the fire escape. Then he goggled at the bear, which was already waiting for him at the bottom. He headed for the door to the school and tried to open it. He tugged and tugged on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. He moved to the side of the building and glanced down the fire escape again. Monkeys were already climbing up. Andrew tripped over his shoes and fell as he sprinted back to the crossbow. Crawling, he snatched up the crossbow and tried to lock in another bolt. He fumbled around with it on his knees. His fingers not moving as fast as he wanted them to, he dropped a bolt and reached for another. When he finally loaded the crossbow, he swung around and, upon seeing several monkeys closing in, fired at them.

  He hit one of the monkeys in the arm. Dazed, the monkey sluggishly removed the dart from his limb and examined it. Andrew got into the rhythm of things and quickly fired bolt after bolt with a quickening pace. The monkeys shrieked as they tried to dodge the short arrows. Those that were hit limped drowsily before collapsing. There were no more monkeys leaping onto the roof. Andrew was able to keep them at bay, but he was still trapped there.

  Andrew cautiously aimed the crossbow around, hoping that none of the monkeys would try to get up again. As he did so, he felt a tap on his head. Then there was a loud knock. It hurt. Andrew flung his head back and saw a flock of crows dropping rocks from above. He ducked and tried to cover his head with his arms. Seeing that Andrew was distracted, the monkeys all got back up and charged him. His eyes wide, Andrew screamed. The band of primates tackled him to the floor, the back of his head slamming against the surface of the roof. Feeling rather woozy, he twisted and shouted, trying to escape. He could feel their little fingers clawing at his face.

  While he struggled to push the monkeys away, a series of flashes and loud bangs resounded, sounding almost like gunfire. The monkeys ran away in haste. Just then, sprawled face-up on the ground, Andrew saw a silhouette appear above him, blocking out the sun.

  “Are you all right?” said a voice, which sounded vaguely familiar to him.

  “Yeah…I think,” Andrew answered, groaning.

  “Good, let’s get you out of here!”

  Andrew wa
s hauled across the length of the roof. There were more loud crackles and fizzles that disrupted his hearing. Andrew wearily glanced at the ground. Burnt scraps of paper and plastic were littered around. Reading the words of a paper, he caught the word “Fire.” Fire crackers. He saw a white rat run past his vision and then heard a voice mutter, “I’ll hold them here! Get him inside!”

  Andrew laughed faintly as darkness fell over his sight. He was inside the school now. It was much cooler without the sun beating down on him. Although it was hard to see as his eyes were adjusting, he saw a figure urgently slam the door shut. Andrew blinked rapidly and stared as the person leaned over his face.

  “Andrew…you feeling okay?”

  Things started to get brighter and finally Andrew recognized the figure. “Yeah. Thanks, Kevin. You saved my life.”

  “You should save your thanks for Helios.” Kevin helped him up. “He’s out there right now fighting them off. I don’t know how much good he’ll do, but I hope he can escape.”

  They ran down the stairs and stepped onto the first floor.

  Kevin tapped him on the shoulder and gestured with his head. “The exit is close.”

  The exit may have been close, but it was not at all safe. The double doors that led outside were wide open. Wolves entered, forming a line that Kevin feared crossing.

  “Scratch that,” said Kevin. He did a three-sixty and saw more wolves on the other side of them. They were surrounded. “Any bright ideas?”

  Andrew suggested, “The classroom?”

  “That’s a start.”

  They darted to the nearest classroom and locked the door. Stepping away, they watched as the door shook violently with every second that passed. Without saying a word, Kevin rushed to block the door with desks and chairs. He constructed a loose pyramid that easily fell apart whenever the wolves rammed against the door.

  Andrew hurried to one side of the teacher’s desk and slammed his open hand against the surface anxiously. “This one! This should hold!”

  “Right.” Kevin assisted him, dragging the heavy table to the door. He pointed at the windows. There was nothing waiting for them outside. “Let’s see if we can get out here.”

  Andrew unlatched a window and opened it. They were able to open it all the way, giving them ample room to escape. When they made it outside, Kevin glanced around. A cougar was prowling the street. Kevin wished it would not notice them. It did. The cougar’s keen eyes were fixed in their direction, even though they were so far apart.

  Though they wanted to freeze up in fear, Kevin yanked Andrew’s sleeve and yelled, “RUN FOR IT!”

  The boys raced away from the cougar, running as fast as their legs could carry them. They knew very well they couldn’t outrun the beast, but their instincts overcame any sense of reason. They did not want to get eaten. The thought of being bitten—of being torn apart—by a wild animal terrified them. A death in which you are eaten alive is something that animals experience everyday, something they had watched before on nature shows. But it is not something they ever wanted to experience firsthand for themselves. Ever.

  What was going through Kevin’s mind at this exact moment? We’re dead. We’re dead. We’re dead, dead, dead! Holy friggin’ crap! What the heck did I do to deserve this? Oh man, I’m never going to procrastinate ever again! From now on, I’m doing my homework properly! Or at least for a week, if we ever get out of this rotten hell. It’s coming. It’s coming. I know it’s coming. Why won’t it just get this over with already?

  Kevin glanced back. The jaws of death stared him in the face, almost catching up. “Go Andrew, go!” Kevin dug into his pockets and grabbed the yoyos. Stopping abruptly, he swiveled around on his heel. His motion confused the cougar and it slowed down its approach. At the exact moment the cougar reached him, Kevin let the yoyos loose. They flung out and, by shear luck or fate, nailed the cougar in the eye, the only weak point Kevin could determine. Kevin was rooted in place, yoyos swinging from his fingers.

  The snarling beast was okay. It didn’t seem to mind the jab at its eye. It was even appearing rather ecstatic over the fact that Kevin had stopped running. Because it was so focused on Kevin, it wasn’t expecting anything.

  Kevin stared. He wasn’t staring at the cougar. He was staring beyond it.

  SCREEEEECH!

  Kevin fell back as a car swerved right at the hungry cat. The cougar leaped away to avoid serious injury. The car door swung open. Katie was sitting in the back seat. Tom was at the wheel.

  Beckoning wildly, Katie shouted, “Get in! Get in! What are you waiting for?”

  Kevin hopped into the back seat.

  “Hang on tight,” Tom reversed the car and then drove it over to the Andrew so he could get into the passenger’s seat.

  Frustrated, Andrew jumped in, closed the door and said, “Tom, where were you? I was waiting for you!”

  Tom ignored him and slammed on the gas. The wheels whirred loudly before the car zoomed onto the road. Everyone in the car fell to the right as he made a sharp left turn into the next street.

  “Slow down!” yelled Kevin, buckling up. “You’ll get us killed!”

  “Slow down?” Tom glanced back. “If I slow down, we’ll get eaten!”

  “Okay, okay!” said Kevin. “Forget I said anything. Just keep your eyes on the road!”

  They were going nearly sixty miles per hour on the narrow one-way streets. Tom swerved left and right, trying to dodge whatever animal was before him. The sound of birdcalls pierced through the glass. Andrew loosened his seat belt and leaned forward, his eyes lifting toward the sky. A massive flock of birds were coming directly overhead.

  In the distance, droplets fell from the sky. It started out like light drizzle, like a soft pitter-patter. Then, as the car kept going forward, it started to come down hard. No, it wasn’t rain, though, at this point, everyone inside the car was really wishing for a massive hurricane or thunderstorm. It was…bird droppings.

  “IT’S ALL OVER!” Tom screamed frantically, “IT’S ALL OVER!”

  Fuzzy splashes of white, yellow and green hitting against the pavement, the black road was slowly turning into a blend of sloppy, mushy, gooey bird poop. There was a distinct outline on the ground where they could see the approach of the unwelcome, unclean storm.

  They hit it dead on.

  It spattered all over the windshield. Slowly but surely, heaps of the avian feces were accumulating on every exposed surface of the car. It was both blinding and disgusting at the same time. It was impossible for Tom to see past the uric acid, which was clouding all of his visibility. Kevin turned on the windshield wiper, but it couldn’t clean off the thick gunk.

  “Slow down!” said Kevin. “If you can’t see, brake!”

  “No,” said Tom, gasping, “I won’t stop! I don’t want to be eaten! You can’t make me stop!”

  “Darn it, Tom!” Kevin unbuckled his seatbelt, got up, squeezed between the front seats, and tried to take control of the wheel.

  “What are you doing?” Tom shrieked, trying to stay in control. “SIT DOWN!”

  “No,” snapped Kevin harshly, fighting for the wheel, “YOU SIT DOWN!”

  “He is sitting down,” said Andrew matter-of-factly.

  “Shut up and help me!” Kevin spat back, his lip curling. “WE’RE GOING TO CRASH! HIT THE BRAKES!”

  - Let the Games Begin -

  Kevin had managed to stop the car before they rammed into anything. But when they left the car, they were completely surrounded. After surrendering, the group was dragged off to the stadium. They were thrown before an empty stage near the center of the field and were kept under close watch by snakes. The seats of the stadium were packed with wild animals. To Kevin’s surprise, the animals weren’t rowdy, agitated or angry. If anything, the wild creatures were acting rather civilized. While they sat in their seats, they chatted with their neighbors and ate the snacks prepared for them. It was strange to think that this was still earth, the same earth he had lived in his entire
life. Everything about this seemed so alien.

  Kevin glanced at the others beside him. Katie was calm for the most part, silently glaring at the snakes nearby. Andrew was frightened and tense, quietly uttering prayers. No surprise there. Tom was…sleeping. Sleeping? Kevin did a double take to his right. His eyes closed, Tom slouched over. He couldn’t have fallen asleep already, could he?

  Kevin nudged Tom in the shoulder. “Stop pretending to sleep. It’s not funny.”

  Tom remained motionless.

  Kevin knocked Tom to the ground. “I told you to stop playing around!”

  “Kevin,” said Andrew softly, “I know how you feel, but we’ve all been fighting to stay awake. Can you really blame him?” Andrew raised his eyes to the sky. “Look. Even the sun is starting to set. The sky is turning red.”

  Kevin slowly lifted his gaze and noticed a peculiar sight. The sun began turning black. The red sky and blackening sun complemented each other rather well. The colors of blood and death. How ominous.

  “A solar eclipse? Now?” Kevin grimaced. At any other time he’d be excited, but right now, he felt as though he would die. “Is that a sign for the end?”

  Kevin fell with his face to the ground, breathing and sobbing on the dirt. He felt pathetic. They were bound in a stadium of no escape, where thousands of dangerous creatures were watching their every move. They were trapped. One of them was already finished, sleeping deeply with no way of awakening. Where were the others? Helios couldn’t have possibly survived alone on that roof. He had learned from Katie that Kain had easily defeated Genesis and Luna. If Genesis and Luna couldn’t even do anything, then Terminus couldn’t possibly stand a chance. All hope was lost.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” His face covered by a veil, Kain walked up to the group and glanced at the sky. “Not something you see everyday. It’s something to cherish. The moon blocks the sun. It’s inspiring, really. It shows that size doesn’t always matter. The sun may be enormous, but at the right angle, at the right time and place, even the moon can block it out of view.”

  Kevin sat up, scowling at Kain. “This is your fault…THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!”

  “My fault?” Kain smiled widely, revealing his sharp, jagged teeth and black gums. “Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong, boy. You humans brought this on yourselves. Although one man caused it, it is simple for everyone else to suffer for it.”

  Kevin countered, “Even if we brought this on ourselves, you could just leave us alone!”

  “I can’t leave you alone. You’d go ahead and try to save the human race,” said Kain. “The humans have become a thorn in my side. How many of our homes have been crushed and destroyed by the humans? How many of our brethren slaughtered? Humans claimed our land as their own. They claimed our possessions as theirs. They even claimed our lives as theirs. Is it that hard to live with nature? But they’d rather destroy nature and rebuild it as their own. They infest our waters with chemicals, fill the land with trash, and pollute the air with that which should not be breathed in.”

  Kevin stared blankly at Kain. “Is that what this is about?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?” said Kain. “To you, humans, Earth may just be a tool to be used for your own convenience—but to us, this Earth is our home!”

  “This is our home too,” said Kevin.

  “Really?” Kain scoffed, “Well, you sure treat it well enough to call it home. Is your own house a dump? Do you throw trash all over it? Burn whatever you don’t need? Force your family members to move to another spot whenever you feel like it?”

  Kevin didn’t reply.

  “Don’t worry,” said Kain. “I won’t kill the humans. I’ll just let them die. And if you guys can live on, I’ll let you stay alive.” He chuckled. “Think of it as respect. But now we have a period of waiting. I say the humans will last a week without water. We must wait for their death. How boring…” Kain smiled slyly. “But then again, this is a stadium. It’s a place for humans to have fun, right? Then let’s have some fun! You play by my rules. If you win, I’ll let you live. I’ll even provide you with good food. If you lose…” Kain burst out laughing. “You’ll be in for a surprise.” Kain pointed at Kevin. “Since you’re the most talkative, you’ll be first. Get up.”

  Glaring at Kain, Kevin reluctantly obeyed.

  Placing a finger on his chin, Kain said, “Let’s see…how about a chase?” Kain jumped up onto the stage, almost looking like he floated upward. He took a seat on the chair at the center. Several men, dressed in white robes, suddenly appeared behind him and knelt down.

  Kevin studied the man carefully. Were they human? He couldn’t understand it. They looked human to a certain extent. Yet they had strange powers, and even the animals were under their control. Kain especially had a strange, if not creepy, appearance. He could just be a mutant then. Maybe these guys were just super villains. But super villains usually would want to enslave the world, not kill everyone it in—unless this Kain person had an extreme grudge that would make him want to kill everyone.

  Kevin discreetly glanced around. There were other robed men among the crowd. He hadn’t noticed them before. Things got weirder by the minute.

  Kain raised his hand. “Bring in Scrint.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Kevin saw something coming down from the stands. A small red fox was heading to the center stage. When the fox arrived, it bowed before Kain.

  Kain said to Kevin, “Catch the fox. That is your goal.”

  Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “That’s it? That’s the game?”

  Kain nodded. “Simple, isn’t it? There is a time limit though.”

  “What’s the time limit?”

  “That’s for me to decide.”

  Kevin’s jaw slackened in disbelief. “You’re not going to tell me how much time I have?”

  “That’s the fun part.” Kain smiled viciously. “You’ll know when it’s over by this.” Kain snapped his fingers. A bolt of lightning flashed right in front of Kevin.

  Wide-eyed, Kevin gulped, gaping at the charred spot just a few feet away from him.

  “Don’t worry,” said Kain. “I have amazing accuracy. Do you understand the rules now?”

  Kevin nodded slowly. He understood very well. This man did not look like he was joking. Kevin now understood why Tom dozed off as quickly as he did. Being awake was soon turning into the real nightmare. What did it feel like to be struck by lightning? His only experience with electricity was a static shock. Kevin imagined it would be a billion times more painful.

  Kain shouted happily, “Then let the games begin!”

  Kevin fixed his gaze on the red fox. The fox looked back at Kevin and playfully smiled. The fox didn’t run away. This was his chance. Kevin pounced at the fox without any hesitation. His head hit the ground, only catching dirt and grass in his teeth. He sputtered and searched frantically for any sight of the fox. The fox was sitting right behind him, taunting him by wagging its tail at Kevin.

  Kevin angrily got back up, but knelt shortly after, his body exhausted. He had never experienced this before. The aches and pains were in every muscle. There were days in his life where he felt completely spent, but he could always just take a nap during those times. At this moment, he really wanted to sleep.

  Kevin slothfully got to his feet. He could barely stay standing without tottering. He screamed out all the air in his lungs. His eyes red and heavy, Kevin frowned. This was not a good day. Fall asleep and die. Get struck by lightning and die. Most of his options were pretty bleak. Gritting his teeth, he dropped to the ground. Sprawled across the field, Kevin began to close his eyes. This is the end, he thought.

  BZZZZT! Kevin immediately opened his eyes, his nose tingling from the smell of burnt grass.

  Kain shouted out, “Boy, did you think it would be that easy? A world of pain awaits you the moment you fall asleep! Maybe you misunderstood, but the penalty for sleeping will be worse than losing…much worse.”

  “Right,” groaned Kevin. “Thanks for t
he incentive. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He looked into the fox’s eyes. “Forget about walking. Forget about standing. I’ll catch you even if I have to crawl!”

  And crawl he did, wringing out every last ounce of strength from his body. He crawled on his arms and knees, desperately struggling to reach his target. Though he had said some rather cheeky words, the end result was more than embarrassing. It was like moving in slow motion. The fox didn’t even bother running. Instead, the furry animal pranced away every so often to widen the distance between them.

  “Are you scared of me?” asked Kevin in mock laughter. “You’re afraid, aren’t you? That I’d actually catch you like this.”

  Scrint stopped and tilted its head slightly. “Scared of you? Of course not. You’re about as scary as mud. I’m not stupid. I know what you’re trying to do…”

  While the fox was talking, Kevin kept on crawling forward. “Oh really? And what am I trying to do?”

  Scrint replied proudly, “You’re trying to make it look like you have a chance. If I run away at this moment, you would have no chance whatsoever.”

  When Kevin was only three feet away from the fox, he dropped to the ground and began gasping for air.

  “And now, you’re trying to trick me into thinking you’ve given up,” said the fox.

  “You’re pretty good,” Kevin commended him. “I guess simple tricks like this won’t do anything will it?”

  A pillar of lightning came crashing down between them. This surge of electricity was much more immense than the previous bolts. Kevin ducked, averting his eyes away from the blinding light.

  Kain said, “Strike two. I believe in the game the humans play there are three strikes. One more strike…and you’re dead.”

  “That’s fine,” said Kevin, moving his hand back. “I don’t need anymore time.” Kevin whipped out his hand. The yoyo went around the fox’s head, the string wrapping around the fox’s neck. Kevin said, “I got him!”

  The fox chewed off the string of the yoyo. “What? You think you caught me because of that? That’s not how you catch someone!”

  Kevin said, “That’s up to the rule maker to decide.” Breathing heavily, he looked at Kain. “Am I the winner or not?”

  Kain eased into his chair and wordlessly eyed the situation for a minute. “Good job, boy. There was no rule against catching him with a toy, or anything else for that matter.”

  Scrint said, “I don’t believe this! If I had known, I wouldn’t have—”

  “THAT’S ENOUGH,” Kain roared and Scrint shrunk back. “There are few rules and they are clearly stated. There are no excuses.”

  Scrint nodded, his head bowing to the ground. “Yes, Lord Kain. I’m sorry.” He scampered back to the stands hastily.

  Kain walked over to Kevin. “You’ve done well. Your life is spared.” He turned to Katie and Andrew. “We will take a break for thirty minutes before the next event.”

  “Another event?” Kevin looked puzzled. “I thought you said that was it! I thought that was the end of the game!”

  Kain laughed. “That was it for you. Each one must participate in a separate game.”

  “That’s not fair!” said Kevin. “Can’t you see how tired everyone is? How can you expect them all to chase down a fox?” Kevin was concerned. There was no way for the others to replicate his victory.

  “Oh,” said Kain, “you thought we’d be playing the same game? You’re mistaken. The next game will be something different. Maybe a fight to the death would be more fun.”

  “No!” Kevin fell to his knees and pleaded, “Don’t do this…please…we’ve had enough…”

  Raising his voice, Kain said sternly, “I’m already giving you a time of rest.”

  “But why do they have to—”

  “Be quiet, Kevin,” said Katie curtly. “Don’t bother making the situation worse.”

  Kevin sighed. “I’m sorry then. I can’t help you guys…”

  Andrew said, “We’ve already decided to do this together. Even if I never expected it to come to this…I don’t want you to feel responsible for dragging us here. We made the decision to do this. As much as I want your help, if I have to do this alone…I’ll do this alone.”

  Kevin nodded. “You’re right. But I still feel like it’s my fault.”

  Kevin sat down next to the others. He scratched his head, wondering whether there was any way out of this. Even though his friends assured him they were okay with what would happen next, he wanted to avoid any situation where their lives might be in danger.

  Kain returned to his seat. It was the time for rest. During this time, the crowd began to stir. They were all talking about the event. From the looks of it, there were mixed reactions about the game. Kevin could vaguely hear some of the chatter.

  He heard a bear say, “That human shouldn’t have won! What is Lord Kain thinking?”

  A rabbit warned, “Hush! Don’t speak ill of Lord Kain!”

  A pigeon cooed, “The poor humans, what chance do they have? Isn’t this rather cruel?”

  A deer snapped, “They play such games with us! The humans use us for sport!”

  “That doesn’t mean we should do the same,” said the pigeon.

  Kevin could sense some confusion and distress in the crowd. Maybe they weren’t all here of their own will. Kevin waited fifteen minutes, letting his muscles rest a bit. Then, once he felt he had enough strength, he stood up.

  Apprehensive, Andrew tugged on Kevin’s jeans, trying to pull him down. “What are you doing?”

  Kevin didn’t reply. He ran to the side of the stadium and screamed, “Hey! If you think I didn’t deserve to win, come down here and face me! Come on! I dare you! You’re all just a bunch of spineless cowards picking on a few kids! You think this is fun? Then come on down and join the fun!”

  Kevin taunted them, wagging his butt at them and blowing raspberries. Agitated, the beasts growled and roared. A few animals came climbing down the stands. One of them was a very large black bear. The bear snarled and grunted. It got up on its hind legs and stared down Kevin with a menacing glare.

  Kevin backed away and tripped over his own foot, landing on his bottom. The intimidating sight of the bear took his breath away. Kevin completely froze. At this point, he had forgotten his original plan. Why did he taunt them? He was about to be devoured, but even so, he figured it he might as well try to remember why he so stupidly angered the wild creatures. After all, if he was going to die because of his own mistake, he wanted to remember it for the rest of his afterlife.

  When the bear was right in his face, breathing down his nose, he finally remembered. He was attempting to stir up a ruckus. What a failure of a plan that was. He had imagined that by causing some of the animals to attack him, some other animals might come to his aid—but they didn’t. He was now surrounded on all sides by hostiles.

  Meanwhile, Andrew picked up his crossbow and prepared to fire a bolt.

  Katie put her hand on the crossbow. “Are you out of your mind? Fire that shot and we’re all going to die right now.”

  With a pained expression, Andrew glared at her. “Does it matter?” He took aim. While he focused on the bear, several shadows were cast over him and they zoomed toward the area of conflict.

  Curious, Andrew looked up. White hawks were flying into the fray.

  The hawks landed near Kevin and, when they touched the ground, transformed into the robed men. The man said to them, “Do not get angered over such trifle matters. This boy is under Lord Kain’s protection. You are not allowed to touch him.”

  Then came a chilling scream. Everyone’s gaze moved to the center stage. There were only two people on that stage: Kain, who was now kneeling over, and a man robed in black. Robes stained red, Kain rose from the ground, a large sword impaled in his chest. Kain looked at the man and said, “Who are you…YOU TRAITOR!”

  “Traitor?” The man cackled. “How can I be the traitor when you’re not even Kain? You’re an imposter.”


  The veil fell from Kain’s head. His green skin turned white as clean snow and his hair like dark green grass. He was transforming, changing into something else…or someone else.

  Everyone in the stadium gasped when they laid eyes on the one they thought was Kain. He was actually a she. The one they thought was Kain was actually a woman!

  Her locks of green hair streamed down her shoulders. Her skin was smooth and glowing. The woman grasped the hilt of the sword, took a deep breath, and then slowly pulled it out of her chest, groaning with every inch of the blade she removed. Finally, after an excruciating effort, the sword was completely out, and she tossed the sword against the ground.

  “How did you know I wasn’t Kain?” she asked.

  The man replied, “Because I am Kain!” Kain threw off the robes he had used as a disguise. He was a tall man, very strongly built. However, he did not look anything like what Kevin had expected. He wasn’t scary looking at all.

  Kain smiled at the woman. “Remu, I never thought you’d be so desperate to interfere, Mother of Nature. I must say…I’m rather impressed by your bold undertaking. Taking the initiative by impersonating me, rallying the forest in my name, acting like you hate humans…it was a good plan. You used the rumors of me to create your image—to control the forest in my name. You wanted to prevent chaos—to prevent us from destroying the humans by spreading silly rules such as ‘Don’t eat humans because they are impure.’”

  Remu replied, “So you knew…”

  “You made such a commotion in the forest that even I heard about your actions from halfway across the world.” He paused. “I must thank you, Remu, for doing all this work for me. To be honest, I wasn’t interested in building an army. Eating humans is something I take personal pleasure in. But since you’ve already gone so far, I might as well let everyone in on the fun.” Kain’s face was split by a wide malicious grin. “It’s time for us to begin the feast!”

  “I won’t allow this.” Remu raised her hand, bright sparks glistening from her fingertips.

  “You’re going to stop me?”

  “I am.”

  Kain laughed and picked up the sword from the ground. “Tell me, do you feel strange?”

  Remu blinked, her vision becoming hazy. “W-what did you do to me?”

  “Did you think I came unprepared?” Kain waved the sword. “This sword is from the age prior—the age when humans fought against spirits. A spirit slayer. It’s poisonous to you, isn’t it? Your powers should be diminishing.” He discarded the sword. “Now don’t get me wrong, Remu. I respect you as the Mother of Nature. You have taken good care of us. But if you dare stand in my way, I will have no choice but to dispose of you.”

  Remu snapped her fingers. A large bolt of lightning came tearing across the sky and landed on Kain. Stunned for a moment, he let out a scream and all the voltage was expelled from his body. He leaped across the air and bared his fist against Remu. Remu raised her arms to block. As his fist collided with her arms, the earth below rumbled and bolts of lightning came crashing down. The center stage was split asunder, pieces of wood and bits of nails flying everywhere. The two of them jumped around the field, tossing fire and lightning at each other.

  The fight between those two great powers captured the attention of the stadium. Kevin was able to sneak past all the animals that were around him because they were staring at the clashing elements.

  Kevin walked over to Katie and Andrew who were watching the fight up close.

  Andrew looked at him, said nothing, and turned his dumbfounded gaze back to the fight.

  While they were watching in awe, a stray bolt of lightning just barely missed them by a foot. A black circle marked the exact spot where the turf had been scorched. Kevin whistled in amazement and backed up, pulling the others with him.

  Kain soared across the field and rammed into Remu, knocking her into the stands below. She fell into the crowd, causing all the wild animals to scurry away. Kain opened his mouth and spewed an immensely hot breath of fire from his lips. Remu dug herself out of the rubble. When she saw the raging inferno headed her way, she waved her hand, causing whole chunks of the field to come rising up like gargantuan towers of rock and dirt. The towers of earth shielded her from his flames for a fleeting second, and then the towers wavered and crumbled on top of her.

  Kain laughed wildly. “Now nothing will stand in my way!” He returned back to the field, his feet appearing as though he was walking on air.

  Kevin nudged the others. “We should’ve run away while we had the chance.”

  Katie said, “Thanks for bringing this up now.”

  “Hey,” snapped Kevin, “don’t blame me! You guys were watching them too!”

  “Let’s just go!” Andrew got a head start while the others argued.

  Kain zipped across the length of the stadium in the blink of an eye. He appeared in front the teens, stopping them in their tracks. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Kevin shrugged nervously, trying to keep his cool.

  Kain grinned. “It’s been so long since I’ve tasted human flesh…you guys will make fine appetizers.”

  “No,” said Kevin, “our taste is overrated. Take my word for it. Our flavor is really messed up, what with the teen hormones raging and all the junk food we eat.”

  Kain approached them slowly, and they backed away slowly in step.

  Suddenly, a loud rumble made its way through the stadium. The ground beneath their feet started vibrating softly, and then progressively quaked more and more. The earth began quaking so violently that everyone had a difficult time staying balanced. Kevin teetered and tottered, barely able to tell where he was looking. The scenery was shaking all around him. He wasn’t sure if he was spinning around or if the whole Earth was spinning around him.

  Lurching forward, Katie screamed over the loud rumbling, “The earth! It’s splitting!”

  Upon falling to his hands and knees, Kevin stared at the grass and soon noticed a dark line forming across the dirt. The dark line widened over time, and Kevin could feel that his limbs were getting farther apart. It was a crack in the ground. He was witnessing, before his very eyes, the creation of a fault line, and he was stuck in a crawl position right over it.

  The gap split open in an instant. Like a massive mouth, the large gap threatened to swallow up everything in the field. Kevin fell into it, but he quickly grabbed hold of the edge, hanging by the grip of a hand.

  “Kevin!” Kneeling over the crack near him, Andrew held out his hand.

  Kevin swung his free hand around, but he was too weak to reach for Andrew’s hand. His fingers began slipping.

  “Kevin—REACH!”

  Kevin grunted, “I’m trying…” He lost his voice when his fingers finally gave way.

  Andrew’s jaw dropped the same time Kevin dropped, his expression of utmost horror. He stopped breathing for a split second before shouting, “NOOOOO!”

  Kevin descended further and further down the chasm, freefalling toward a certain doom.

  Andrew glanced at Katie. Her eyes wide, she was held in suspense. She couldn’t believe it. Kevin had fallen so far down that he was now appearing very tiny. Whoosh! A white blur zipped by their peripheral vision and a heavy gust of wind brushed past their shoulders. A white hawk dove down into the chasm and caught up to Kevin. Kevin fell upon its broad back. The hawk, using the momentum from the glide, was able to pick up speed and gain back altitude, jetting narrowly up the walls and to the surface.

  Relieved to see him alive, Andrew exhaled. Then, without warning, both him and Katie were swooped up by two more hawks. These hawks were larger than Andrew realized, and they were able to pick up the kids by their shoulders. Using a powerful flap of their wings, they were able to gain lift quite easily, even with the added burden of well-nourished teens.

  They took off, one hawk after the other, and joined the other hawks in the sky.

  The kids weren’t sure what was going on. They exchanged confused glances with e
ach other as they were hauled far into the red sky.

  “Don’t be afraid,” said one of the hawks. “We are taking you to a safe place.”

  “You’re on our side?” Kevin wondered.

  “We are servants of Lady Remu. She believes that what is happening is supernatural, and thus the humans should not be preyed upon in this situation. She wants the natural order to be restored. That is why we are helping you. We are not siding with the humans.”

  Kevin said, “I don’t really get it. But as long as you aren’t trying to kill us, that’s good.”

  Kain stood at the center of the field, his eyes burning with rage. He roared out, “DON’T THINK YOU CAN RUN FROM ME!” Segments of his body swelled and bulged, his muscles augmenting in size. Bat-like wings burst out of his back. He was growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. Green scales formed over his skin. His neck stretched higher and higher until his monstrous transformation was complete.

  When Kevin heard the startling roar pierce the clouds, he looked over his shoulder and saw the overgrown lizard filling up the baseball field. It gave him the chills when he looked the terrifying beast in the eyes—those cold, unrelenting, red eyes of hatred.

  Kevin exclaimed, “Is that what I think it is?”

  The hawk replied, “Yes. Kain is a dragon—the last of his kind.”

  “It’s looking this way,” said Kevin worriedly, patting the hawk on the back.

  “Do not fret. We will be landing shortly,” the hawk replied.

  Flapping his large wings, Kain lifted off from the ground. A blinding blue light emerged from the crack in the earth, and the land rumbled as the fault line became wider. The rubble began to levitate several feet in the air. The blue light faded and became like little sparkles. Winds picked up in speed, hitting nearly one hundred miles per hour. The sparkles gravitated around a shadowy figure inside a swirling whirlwind that stretched from the clouds above to the hole below.

  It was Remu who was inside the whirlwind. She told Kain, “This is your last chance. Do not go after them.” Her voice was carried upon the wind and could be heard echoing for miles.

  Scowling, Kain snapped, “You don’t understand at all! This is my only chance to avenge my brethren! How many dragons were slain by their hands? I will not relent! THE HUMANS WILL PAY! THEY WILL ALL PAY!”

  Remu raised both hands, and then, during the second she threw them both down, a huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky and enveloped Kain in its radiant beam of destruction. It was like a solid pillar of electricity that constantly flowed down. Ducking down, Kevin buried his face into the back of the hawk, deathly afraid of being zapped. Though he was unable to see the awesome spectacle of blue light, he clearly heard the sharp buzzing that accompanied it.

  Finally, when the lightning was gone, Remu was exhausted. She had spent all of her strength in that last attack. Her body trembling, she floated safely down to the ground, drawing deep breaths.

  “I did it,” she uttered, staring at the motionless body of the dragon. “He is finished.”

  Her look of satisfaction changed into a look of amazement. Kain fought hard to stand.

  Remu walked over to Kain and said, “Why can’t you forgive the humans?”

  Kain hissed, “I’ll never forgive them! NEVER!”

  “This world is already theirs,” said Remu. “Can’t you just accept that? The age of dragons will never return. Stop being held by the past. Time moves on…you cannot expect that everything will become better after you exact your revenge. Everything will always be different…from now to the end.”

  Kain reached out and snatched Remu by his massive claw. “I will hear no more of your nonsense! Their end is near and I alone will stand victorious!”

  Remu struggled to break free, but Kain tightened his grip, crushing her slowly.

  Remu said breathlessly, “Hatred—only leads to—destruction.”

  Kain grinned bitterly. “Then so be it. I know…I’m already doomed. But that doesn’t mean I can’t drag all the humans down to their destruction with me! They will all die! And now…so will you.”

  The hawks placed the children on a hill overlooking the city. They landed in a small clearing in the woods.

  The hawk said, “This should be far enough. You should run away while you still can.”

  Then all the hawks left, flying in the direction of the city.

  “So that’s it, huh?” Katie looked glumly at Korgen. “We just run away?”

  “No,” said Kevin. “We wait.”

  “For what?” Andrew asked.

  “For the phone call,” replied Kevin, holding out his cell phone. “Someone I know is helping us solve the problem. We just need to wait.”

  There was a moment of silence. Katie and Andrew both looked at Kevin. Kevin appeared quite serious and confident.

  “If you say so,” said Andrew, taking a seat on the grass. “Anyway, wasn’t that crazy?” Hoping to lighten the mood, Andrew smiled faintly. “We look terrible.”

  Indeed they did, Kevin thought. He ran his eyes across Katie and Andrew. Their appearance was fitting for what they had just been through. Their hair was unkempt, their clothes soiled and torn. Mud was on their faces, cut and bruises on their skin. They had been through a lot in just a few hours.

  Barely able to keep his eyes open, Kevin shook his head and sighed. “I can’t take much more of this. How long has it been?”

  “Um…” Andrew took a while to gather his thoughts. “Over fifty hours I think. If we count Sunday, it’s been Sunday, Monday and…today’s Tuesday.”

  Katie rubbed her eyes. “I’m ready to pass out.”

  Kevin yawned, tears forming in his eyes. “Just hang on a little bit more. We’re almost done.”

  “Really?” Andrew looked at him skeptically.

  Kevin snickered. “Would you rather I say something more depressing?”

  His face almost half asleep, Andrew grinned wryly.

  They became quiet again. They needed concentration to stay awake. Though they fought it, their eyes were attempting to close with each passing second. They were like zombies, occasionally groaning and moaning, not wanting to even move or talk.

  A growl broke the silence.

  “Who was that?” Kevin’s eyes darted from Andrew to Katie, but they shook their heads in response.

  The bushes around them started to shake. The kids got to their feet and armed themselves. They still had their weapons from before. Andrew aimed the crossbow at a trembling bush.

  They came from behind. No. They came from all around. Andrew was knocked to the ground. Held down, he couldn’t see what was going on. All he heard were sounds of barking and growling.

  Katie flailed her bat around. Grey blurs swirled around her. They were moving around too fast for her to get a clear shot.

  A loud voice growled, “STOP!”

  Kevin swung around and saw a dark figure approaching from the underbrush. “A wolf!”

  “No, I’m not a wolf,” said the voice. The animal stepped out into the clearing so he could be seen.

  “You’re not?” asked Katie. Then, after examining the creature, she said, “Ah, I’ve got it! You’re a husky!” She looked around. Dogs had surrounded them.

  Kevin said, “Are you guys with the HPC?”

  The husky sat down and nodded. “I apologize for the misunderstanding. You can’t be too careful in these woods.”

  Andrew was released and Kevin helped him back up.

  Katie asked, “Did you guys escape from the city?”

  “No,” replied the Husky. “We were a scouting party. We were the first to discover the group that invaded the city, but we hid out here because there was nothing we could do.”

  Katie glared at them, crossing her arms. “So you guys are a bunch of wimps, hiding out here, doing nothing.”

  Narrowing his eyes, the husky appeared offended. “We are doing something. We are planning to strike. But our force is too small. We’re not reckless. We’re aw
aiting reinforcements.”

  “Will reinforcements come?” Kevin’s interest was piqued.

  The husky cleared his throat. “We’re not sure. I sent out a messenger to the suburbs, asking them to mobilize a task force. It will take a while.”

  Just then, Kevin’s cell phone rang.

  Andrew exclaimed, “It’s here!”

  Kevin picked up the call. “Hello? Yeah, it’s me.” He listened to the receiver, his brow occasionally moving up and down. “Okay…yeah…okay…” At one point, he nearly jumped up. “Wait…what? Are you sure? You mean…yeah…I understand…if that’s the only way…I’ll try to get there as soon as I can. Thanks.”

  Kevin hung up. Andrew and Katie stared at him curiously.

  “Well?” said Katie. “Do we have a solution?”

  Kevin nodded ruefully. “You’re not going to like this…but we have to go back.”

  “Back to the city?” asked Andrew.

  “Yup,” said Kevin. “Not just back to the city…back to the lab…”

  Andrew shrieked, “The lab? The one we ran away from because some weird, freakish science experiment was ready to ingest us?”

  Kevin lowered his head. “That’s the one.”

  “I’m not following,” said the husky flatly. “What is going on?”

  Kevin quickly explained to the husky, in very general terms, about how he was talking to a computer and the computer told him about a device that might help them save humanity from their endless sleep. But the device had to be constructed in a special facility, and that facility was deep in the heart of the city.

  “So there is a way,” said the husky, “to save everyone?”

  “That’s right,” said Kevin. “Or at least, that’s what the Internet thinks.”

  “Then we’ll take you there.” The husky smiled. “Let’s settle this once and for all. Reinforcements will take too long, and striking the stronghold, where they are holding the HPC captive, is impossible. However, if we can save the humans, we can end this war right now.”

  Kevin shrugged. “Sounds good…I guess. Will we really be safe with you—um—what was your name again?”

  “Major,” said the husky. “Call me Major. And yes, you’ll be safe for the most part. We are some of the best the HPC has to offer.”

  - Run for It -

  The city streets were quiet and empty. The solar eclipse was long gone. Kevin checked the time on his watch: 5:35. The sun hid its face behind the tallest buildings, leaving a faint light. Just a moment ago animals were scrambling left and right, running away from the catastrophic battle that took place at the stadium. Now only silence existed. Something wasn’t right. What had become of Kain and Remu? What had become of the thousands of wild beasts?

  Major led the group through the dark alley, glimpsing at the windows. “No doubt they’re waiting for us.”

  “Where?” Kevin whispered.

  “Everywhere. In the buildings, in the sewers, in the dumpsters. It’s not a matter of if we get seen—but when. They’re luring us in. They don’t want us to run away. They want us to get in closer and closer…until we’re boxed in with no escape.”

  Kevin gulped, sweat dripping down his back. “Then what are we doing here?”

  “What are we doing here?” echoed Major lightly. He restrained a laugh. “We’re stopping at nothing to do what we must. Sacrifices must be made, my boy. You can’t expect to go into a fistfight without bruising something. Though this ain’t a fistfight. No, we’ll be hurting much more than a few bruises…much more.” He peered over the side of a building. The coast was clear. “So far so good. We’re almost there…just a few more blocks. From here, we split.”

  “Split?” Now Andrew was sweating profusely too. “I hate this splitting thing. Do we have to?”

  Major could see the worry in his eyes. “We’ve got no choice. They already know we’re here. The only thing they don’t know is where we’re headed. Time for the gamble. We’re betting it all now. We go three ways, they split their forces. I’ll tell you this: I’m no expert on tactics. I’m a house pet for goodness’ sake. I haven’t fought any wars—much less hunted a rat. This ain’t fight we can win. But as my master always said, ‘You can lose as many battles as you want as long as you win the war.’”

  Kevin said, “That doesn’t sound very optimistic.”

  Major ignored his comment. “Alright, each human takes a squad. Kevin, you’re with me. Andrew, you take the open streets. Katie—”

  “Now wait just a minute,” Andrew cut in. “Why do I have to take the open streets?”

  “Would you rather the girl handle it?” Major replied.

  His eyes wandering over to Katie, Andrew hesitated to respond.

  “I suppose not…”

  “Good,” said Major. “Way to take it like a man.” He continued, “Katie will stay in the alleys. Since Andrew will be out in the open, he’ll be targeted first. He’s the bait to lure them out from wherever they’re hiding. If Andrew gets overrun, beaten, chewed, mauled, killed, eaten—”

  “Get on with it!” snapped Andrew, exasperated.

  Major continued, “—then Katie will lead them away from Kevin. Is that clear?”

  They all nodded, though some were nodding less confidently than others.

  “Good.”

 

  Kevin slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door. He looked at the squad of dogs at his rear. Major raised his nose and sniffed for any peculiar scents.

  “Clear.”

  Kevin nodded wordlessly and followed after the dogs as they entered. It was a normal office. There was a desk by the window and file cabinets beside the wall.

  Kevin crouched by the window and peeked out. He could see a good portion of the street from the second floor. He could even see Andrew stealthily maneuvering around some cars parked by the sidewalk.

  Major grunted quietly, “Now remember, we’re waiting for them to take the bait. We run the moment we see their attention on him.”

  Kevin eyed Major for a moment. “He’s risking his life.”

  “All the more important that we succeed then.”

  Kevin peered back through the window. Out of the corner of his eye he saw shadows drifting along a brick wall on the far end of the road. Something was coming. Did Andrew’s group notice it? No. Kevin watched as they continued to move slowly behind the cars. They were completely unaware of the approaching danger.

  “Get ready,” said Major. “They’ve noticed him.”

  Like a swarm, they came, their furry hides dotting the land. Hundreds of creatures, big and small, slowly traveled so as not to alert their prey. They also snuck around cars and clung close to the front of the shops. Andrew, still unaware of their presence, slowly crept behind the cars.

  Unable to contain himself any longer, Kevin forced open the window and shouted, “ANDREW, BEHIND YOU! THEY’RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!”

  Andrew glanced back and saw the bloodthirsty multitude behind him. He sprinted as fast as he could down the street, his squad of dogs tailing after him.

  Major yanked on the back of Kevin’s shirt with his teeth. “You fool! You blew our cover!”

  Kevin shrugged. They ran out of the room and headed for the stairs. Strange sounds were coming from the stairwell.

  “Close it!” shouted Major. Kevin did as instructed.

  They decided to search for another exit on the other side.

  Breathless, Kevin crossed the corridor. Though he saw nothing coming, howls and growls echoed back and forth from the ceiling and floor. It almost sounded like laughing—a very sinister laughing. Then Kevin heard a loud crash. Through one of the office doors ahead, smoke and dust came flooding into the corridor.

  The haunting, shrilly laughter got louder as Kevin drew nearer to the dust. A hyena dashed out and leaped onto Kevin with one quick motion. Kevin fought back, trying to keep the hyena from ripping his throat out. Major pounced on the hyena almost instantly; then two dogs, a bulldog and a beagle, helped
Major tackle the hyena to the ground.

  Major glanced at Kevin and gestured with his snout. “Get up! Go, go!”

  There was a rapid drumming of paws as a band of coyotes came rushing into the hall. The pack of dogs charged at them. Kevin, lying on the floor, gaped in horror as the sudden brawl broke out. The animals were barking and snapping at each other.

  “Forget about us and go!” shouted Major in the middle of the frenzy. “Get to the street! Get to the lab!”

  Kevin fled and, as he did so, looked back to see the frenzy escalate. It was his fault. He knew it. But, given the same chance, he would do it again. Even though it pained him to see the consequences of his actions, it would bring him even greater pain to see Andrew overtaken before his very eyes. “Sorry, Major. I promise I’ll make it up to you somehow.”

  Kevin found an emergency exit. It took him outside to the street, the one parallel to where Andrew was. Judging from where he stood, the research facility was a few blocks away, seemingly out of sight. Luckily for him, there was an old bicycle lying by the side of the road. It looked pretty banged up, the colors faded. Unsure of its condition, he cautiously sat on it and started pedaling.

  As he passed by the intersection, he looked to his left and caught a glimpse of Andrew running for his life past the bend. Kevin chewed his lip. There was nothing he could do to help him. Unless, of course, Kevin managed to wake everyone up. But that was quite a gamble. Andrew maybe had five minutes to live. Kevin knew it would take much more than five minutes to even reach the underground facility.

  As much as he hated it, he was going to ignore Andrew completely—that is, until he felt the tremor. Boom… boom… boom. It was a rather slow sound, like the careful hammering of a nail. It was precise, maybe even leisurely.

  Kevin watched as a massive shadow fell over Andrew. The dragon was already taking the lead in hunting down Andrew. Though Kain could have easily outrun Andrew, he didn’t. He was taking his time, as though he enjoyed it thoroughly. As evidence of such, every so often a loud snicker reverberated along the city buildings.

  Andrew was about to pass out, panting for air the entire time.

  Kevin sharply swerved around the corner of the sidewalk. He pedaled furiously and zipped toward the dragon. “Leave him alone!” The front wheel of the bike snapped apart, the screws rebounding off the asphalt. Had he not stopped the bike with his foot on the ground, his face would’ve dove straight into the road. Kevin got off the broken bike and chased after the dragon’s huge hind legs. “Stop chasing him or I’ll…I’ll kick you in the shin!” And kick him in the shin he did, though it didn’t make any difference.

  Andrew stopped running and fell to his knees. He was done running. There was nowhere left for him to go. They had him surrounded. Before him was a crowd of forest creatures and at his back was a dragon nearly five stories tall. He was finished, he thought glumly.

  Kevin was so focused on the dragon that he never noticed everything else. He spun around and around, watching as the Forest Army poured into the road. They were all over, forming a circle around the dragon. Major was right. They had been ready to swarm from the start. Now it was impossible to escape.

  Rooted in place, Kevin knew he wouldn’t be able to run away.

  Several wolves held the dogs captive, pinning them to the ground.

  A cougar swaggered over to Kevin, preparing to pounce.

  “No,” said Kain to the cougar, “leave him alone.” Kain snatched Andrew up in his hand. Grinning, he looked at Kevin and said, “You must have come to say farewell to your friend.” Kain nodded, smiling to himself. “Friendship is such a beautiful thing. I once had friends long ago. It’s a pity then that I couldn’t die with them when I had the chance.”

  Looking spitefully at the dragon, Kevin said, “You can still die now.”

  Kain guffawed. “It just wouldn’t be the same. Dying pointlessly would be a shameful thing, one full of regret. Now then, I want you to watch closely. These are the last moments of your friend’s life. You should cherish such things.” Kain howled in amusement. Almost like playing with a small doll, he waved Andrew around for everyone to see, and then, with one huge motion, lobbed Andrew far up into the sky.

  Kevin screamed, “NO!”

  “No? I am pretty good with this. You shouldn’t worry about your friend falling onto the pavement.” Kain opened up his huge mouth, looking as though he was going to catch Andrew with his tongue.

  Held in suspense, Kevin could barely look. His eyes darted repeatedly from the dot in the sky, which he was sure was Andrew, to the ground. However, he continued to watch, hoping for a miracle. The miracle didn’t come. Andrew started to fall, wailing tragically all the way down. Kevin cringed as he heard his distant voice grow louder and louder. It was painful to know that there was nothing he could do. Andrew was about to die and there was absolutely nothing he could do.

  Kevin forced himself to watch. Andrew was now coming clearly into view. In a few seconds, he would be gone, down into the pit of the stomach of an angry dragon. Kevin averted his eyes. He could no longer bear to see. He counted in his head. Three. Two. One. Then he heard the dragon’s mouth clamp shut. Though it may sound strange, Kevin waited for some affirmation that the dragon had swallowed Andrew: a licking of the lips, a satisfied rubbing of the belly. Nothing came. Instead, Kain stomped his feet, hissing and snarling.

  Scanning the sky, Kain growled angrily, “Who dares interfere?”

  Wondering what was going on, Kevin looked above. A blue streak zoomed across the clouds.

  Kain bent down near Kevin, glaring at him. “You knew! You brought them here, didn’t you? How dare you make a fool out of me!”

  Kevin shrunk back at the terrifying sight of the black-rimmed dragon eye. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but since he was going to die anyway, he might as well pretend to know. “Yeah, that’s right! I did bring them here! I love making a fool out of you! So what? What are you going to do about it, huh? That’s what you get for messing with me!”

  “Why you—Die, worm! I’ll make you suffer!” Kain drew in a deep breath, sucking in all the air around. Even Kevin was being sucked towards him. Then Kain huffed out a long, gentle flame.

  Shielding himself with his arms, Kevin yowled. Kain was doing this on purpose, Kevin thought, to torture him. Kain could have easily incinerated him with a powerful breath of fire, but he didn’t. Kevin now realized what it felt like to be slowly roasted in an oven. He kept his eyes closed, unwilling to see himself get burnt to a crisp, though he could still see the brightness of the flame. He could feel the heat on every inch of his skin tingling and burning. He was suffocating because it was so difficult and excruciating to breathe.

  Then there was a relief. The intense heat faded and he could breathe again. The light from the fire was gone. He opened his eyes. The dragon’s mouth was no longer in front of him. What was before him was something even stranger, if that were possible. He was staring at the side of a huge golden wolf-like beast. Nearly half the size of the dragon, it was almost as big as a school bus. Its fur was silky smooth, shimmering with an unnatural shininess. The wolf was blocking the flames with its body. When Kain realized his fire had failed to harm them, he stopped, backing away.

  The golden wolf looked kindly upon Kevin. “Don’t worry about Andrew. Terminus has him and is taking him to the others.”

  Kevin stared into the beast’s eyes. “Genesis?”

  “Genesis,” echoed Kain sinisterly. “So we meet at last. I’ve heard much about you.”

  Genesis turned to the dragon. “I suggest you leave peacefully.”

  “I’ve come this far,” said Kain, baring his jagged teeth. “And a single Relic Knight won’t be able to stop me.”

  “We’ll see…” Genesis glanced at Kevin. “Go on, do what you must! I’ll deal with Kain!”

  Gesturing with his hands toward the army of animals, Kevin said, “I can’t go anywhere!”

  At that moment, Kevin felt something grab him
by the back of the shirt. He was lifted off the ground by a few feet, and then he was watching the ground suddenly leave him, as he was jolted into the sky.

  Kevin screamed, unable to tell what was happening. Moments after being in midair, he landed on the rooftop, dangling helplessly by the threads of his t-shirt. Kevin tried to look over his shoulder but couldn’t see much of anything.

  “Hang on,” Kevin heard someone mumble. “I’ll take you a bit farther.”

  Kevin quickly said, “Wait—ahhhh!” Before he could another word, the movement started up again. It was like a wild roller coaster ride, except much more frightening because he had no harness or belt or anything to keep him safe. Kevin was being carried over from roof to roof with great leaps. There was no time for him to catch his breath.

  Every time he was thrust back into the air, he wondered if his shirt would rip or if he would fall down into the streets below. He covered his eyes with his hands, peeking through the cracks of his fingers. It was quite disorienting to be zipping across the city without a proper seat. He was like a rag doll, swinging hopelessly up and down. One moment he was staring into the unreachable sky, then the next he was plummeting to another rooftop.

  “Urp!” His hands shifted from his eyes to his mouth as he tried to hold back the urge to barf, feeling the effects of motion sickness.

  Finally, after landing on one more roof, it all stopped. Released from the terrible ride, Kevin fell to the floor. He turned back to see what had carried him this far. It was an overgrown black panther, big enough to make Kevin look like a kitten, and possibly treated Kevin like one when it had carried him over the roofs by the back of his shirt.

  Almost hysterical, Kevin chuckled. He made eye contact with the panther and, after examining it, said, “You must be Luna.”

  “What a perceptive child,” the panther said, musing. “How did you know?”

  Kevin thought for a moment, rubbing his chin. “I don’t know. You guys just have that special quality about you.”

  “Anyway,” said Luna, “this is as far as I’ll take you. I must hurry back to Genesis. He cannot handle the dragon alone.”

  “What about me?” Kevin protested. “I can’t reach the lab alone. I have to get there!”

  “The HPC will help you with that.” Luna paused. “I mean, they need you for that. Go down this building. You’ll find them nearby. We rescued them from the hotel so you’ll have a large force under your command. I heard from Major. You have a solution, right? Good luck with that. We’ll be cheering you on.” With that said, Luna quickly left, jumping from rooftop to rooftop until she disappeared.

  - Fight or Flight -

  Andrew opened and closed his eyes slowly, over and over. It sure didn’t look like he was inside a stomach of a dragon, unless the stomach of a dragon appeared very similar to the outside world. He looked down and found he was riding on the back of a large bird. It wasn’t a hawk, but it wasn’t anything he could conceivably recognize either. He studied its back, its plumage black and white. It seemed familiar.

  “Are you okay?” said the giant bird.

  “Uh, yeah,” Andrew answered. “I think so.” He ran a brisk check to make sure. His hands, feet, and head were all there. He wasn’t poked full of holes either.

  “Good.” The bird glided through the air, scouting the city. It searched for the tallest point, which was a skyscraper with gray walls and blue windows.

  Andrew hopped off the bird’s back and curiously cast his gaze upon it. There was no way for it to be true, he thought. But at the same time, it was hard to deny. The bird looked like a blue-and-white budgie, except budgies were normally smaller than his hand, but this one was slightly larger than him.

  “Do you not recognize me?” said the large budgie, putting a wing across his chest. “It is I, Terminus.”

  “It can’t be,” gasped Andrew. “What are you—really?”

  Terminus explained, “I, along with Genesis and Luna, are Relic Knights.”

  Andrew raised a brow. “What are Relic Knights?”

  “Peacekeepers of the animal kingdom. There are six Relic Knights in all. So as not to be biased, three are allies of humans and other three are wild. We were chosen from both sides to prevent war, though it seems we have failed.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why an itty-bitty parakeet turns into a giant one!”

  “Oh,” said Terminus, nodding, “you were wondering about that. This is a special form we can invoke for emergency situations. We wield relics of great power that greatly enhance our physical abilities. But we can only use them for a short time. We have but an hour or two.”

  “Then what?” Andrew wondered.

  “Then we lose consciousness for about a day.”

  Andrew’s jaw dropped. “That’s extreme!”

  “Well, it is what you would call a desperate measure.”

  “What are you waiting for?” said Andrew. “Why are you waiting here while your powers have a limited time? Shouldn’t you be out doing something?”

  “Andrew,” said Terminus softly, pointing at the city with a wing, “tell me what you see.”

  Andrew looked out across the city, squinting. Since he was on the highest structure in Korgen, the entire breadth of the city was in plain view. Smoke and flames rose into his sight. Then he caught a glimpse of large shadows being cast over the factories. The dragon was there and it was locked in combat with a massive yellow wolf.

  The two gargantuan beasts attacked each other. The dragon kept his distance and spewed hot balls of fire from its mouth. The wolf dodged the flames, which now ended up leveling some of the buildings behind him. Then the wolf managed to get up close to the dragon and mauled on its wing. The dragon yowled and flailed its wings about, smashing the wolf into the tall chimneys of the factories.

  Andrew said in awe, “What’s happening over there? It’s like a monster movie!”

  “Genesis is dueling with Kain,” Terminus replied.

  “That’s Genesis?” Andrew turned to Terminus worriedly. “It doesn’t look like he’s doing too well.”

  “He can’t win…alone. I’m going to help him, but I need to wait for the right moment to strike. Even with the relic, my body is frail. I wouldn’t survive a single blow.”

  “What’s the right moment?” asked Andrew. “Is Genesis setting up a trap or something?”

  “No, that is too hard given our limited time. All I can do is wait for a moment of weakness. That is why I will stay here.” Terminus turned to Andrew, smiling. “But I wonder…what will you do?”

 

  “Here,” said a German shepherd, holding a bag of bread in his mouth, “we brought you food and drink.”

  Kevin nodded, taking a seat near a concrete wall of a grand hotel. Kevin took the bag of sliced bread, ripped it open and chomped into a slice. After tasting the first bite, he gobbled it whole and went on to devour half the bag. It didn’t matter if it was bland. He was famished. “Thanks a lot.” He guzzled an entire bottle of water, wiped his mouth dry and let out a sigh of relief. “Ah, that’s good. So good.”

  “We await your command,” the German shepherd said, bowing.

  All of the pets around him in the empty parking lot bowed down before him.

  “Um.” Kevin looked confused. “What’s going on here?”

  The dog replied, “You are our only hope. Because of your perseverance we have hope. It would mean a lot to us if you could save our masters. We’re ready to go with you. We’ll help you with whatever you need!”

  Kevin’s heart felt heavy, weighed down with the burden of responsibility. He had never expected to have to bear the weight of all the lives of the world. When he first started this quest, he had low expectations. He would try to succeed, but even if he failed, it was fine because it wasn’t like he had much of a chance anyway. He never thought he would feel so anxious, so nervous. This was it. He was finally given the chance to save everyone. They now had a solution and the only thing in his way was the Forest
Army.

  Kevin smiled. It was strange for him to be smiling at a time like this. He never used to smile in the face of adversity. He would have never smiled on the due date of a final project or research paper. But there was something about this that made him smile. It was the fact that he wasn’t alone in this. He would have to face an army of wild beasts with an army of his own. It seemed a bit silly when he thought about it. But it was also kind of cool.

  “You don’t need to beg me to do anything.” Brimming with enthusiasm, Kevin raised his hand high. “Now rise! All of you! We’ll teach these guys not to mess with us!”

  All the animals stood up and shouted happily together. All the dogs barked, all the cats meowed, and all the birds shrieked. They were hollering and jumping for joy.

  “That’s enough! Let’s get to work!” Kevin motioned for them to quiet down. Then he began forming a plan. He designated leaders and divided them up into several groups. He told them where to go and what to do, preparing them for the final battle.

 

  Andrew cautiously wandered the road. He snuck around the blue mailboxes and cars, searching high and low for any sign of his friends. He saw some pigeons and squirrels around and guessed that they were probably being used as scouts by the forest animals due to their understanding of the city.

  Even though Kain was busy fighting, it looked like the teens were still being hunted. Packs of wolves were scouring desperately now. Andrew was sure it was only a matter of time before he would be found. Reaching the limits of exhaustion, every step was a struggle—but even so, he trudged on.

  His face became scrunched with worry over Katie’s whereabouts. She was the only one unaccounted for. Terminus had informed him that Kevin was in a safe place, but Katie was nowhere to be found.

  Having heard a sound around the bend, he dove and squeezed under a car. He looked past the tires to see several pairs of paws and one pair of sneakers passing by. Summoning up his courage, Andrew inched forward to get a better view, but he still couldn’t see much. He had to get closer, but he didn’t have enough courage for that. He settled for less and began analyzing the sneakers. The sneakers were his only clue to the identity of the person in question. Andrew scratched his head. He couldn’t remember who had worn those sneakers.

  But then he heard a voice say, “How much farther will you take me?”

  It was Kevin’s voice. Andrew immediately recognized it.

  Another voice said, “Not much farther. We’ll keep you in the building as a present for Lord Kain. He will be most pleased to see that you have given yourself up to be his first human snack.”

  “There’s nothing else for me to do anyway,” said Kevin.

  Andrew gasped. Kevin had actually given himself up! Andrew wondered why he would do such a thing. No, Andrew thought, Kevin would never purposely give himself up. He must have been captured. Andrew knew Kevin had to be just as tired as he was. With so many creatures looking out for them, Kevin must have gotten trapped somewhere along the way.

  But there was nothing Andrew could do. Sullen, Andrew shrank back, like a turtle in its shell. He couldn’t save Kevin—that much was evident. Fighting against whatever was out there would be pointless. Frowning, he watched their feet cross the street. He was now able to see more of their legs. There were several wolves around Kevin. Should he do something? Should he try to do anything? Andrew closed his eyes and buried his face in his arms. Why couldn’t he do anything? He wasn’t sure himself. He had an urge to go out there and rescue Kevin, but there was a nagging voice in his mind that told him he couldn’t do anything. The voice was correct, Andrew decided. There was nothing he could do, but think and wait and worry.

  Kevin said, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll escape?”

  A wolf answered, “Our forces are spread out across the area. If you do manage to escape, we’ll hunt you down.”

  “That’s what I thought you’d say,” said Kevin. “But you don’t realize that it’s the other way around.” He turned around and whistled. “Everyone, come on out!”

  The covers of dumpsters flinging open, a pack of dogs sprung out of the garbage and surrounded the party of wolves.

  “Ambush!” A wolf tried to howl but was quickly tackled to the ground. Seeing as they were outnumbered, the other wolves decided not to resist.

  Pointing at a door, Kevin ordered the dogs, “Shove them inside. I’ll lock it up.”

  The dogs nodded and hurried the wolves into the building.

  Kevin said to the dogs, “Alright. Now bring whatever wood you can find, or even garbage may have to do.”

  There was not much wood around, but they did bring heaps and heaps of garbage. Even though he did ask for it, Kevin grimaced, knowing that the smell would be absolutely putrid. But they didn’t have much of a choice. He made the dogs rip open the garbage bags and dump the grossly messy contents all over the road in a straight line that went from one side to the other. In doing so, they managed to build a wall of garbage nearly four feet high. Quite an impressive achievement, Kevin thought. This was something he would never do again in his life, at least he hoped not.

  The nauseating smell of sweat-stained clothes, rotten meat, moldy bread and other unidentifiable gunk filled the air. Kevin retched. He tried to breathe with his mouth, but the smell somehow still registered in his brain. It stunk so much that he was sure he would remember this smell for the rest of his life.

  “Bring the stuff,” Kevin told the dogs.

  The dogs brought bottles of alcohol.

  “This is all you found?” Kevin shot them a look of disappointment. “Better than nothing, I suppose.” He looked at the cars nearby. “Hmm, you know what? Bring me a hose and some scissors, really sharp ones. And a bucket or large can.”

  The dogs scavenged through a hardware store and brought the supplies he asked for.

  Kevin nodded. “This is perfect.” He grabbed the scissors and cut a length of about three feet on the rubber hose. He inspected a car, removed its gas cap and stuck one end of the hose in the gas tank. Then he took the other end of the hose and put it in his mouth. He murmured, “This is going to be disgusting.” He sucked on the hose and siphoned out gasoline, into his mouth. “Ugh, yuck,” he sputtered, putting the hose down into the bucket. The bucket quickly filled to the brim with gas. He carried the bucket over to the wall of garbage and poured the gasoline all over it.

  “What are you doing?” asked Andrew suddenly.

  Kevin jumped up, startled. “Andrew! Don’t sneak up me like that!” Kevin stopped whatever he was doing and stared at Andrew. “Wait…you’re okay! I can’t believe it. You really are okay! That’s really you…right?”

  Andrew said, “Yeah, it’s me. I’m okay. So what are you doing?”

  “Oh, this?” Kevin revealed a huge grin. “We’re going to light this disgusting baby up!”

  Andrew looked at the rotting garbage and cringed. “Why would you want to do that?”

  “To keep the enemy at bay,” said Kevin, refilling the bucket again. “We’re going to try to fight our way through. Since you’re here, mind helping me out? I could use an extra human hand.” Kevin threw a glance at a whimpering pup, “Not that you guys haven’t been helpful, but it goes without saying that I need hands—not paws—for whatever I’m doing.”

  Andrew asked eagerly, “What should I do?”

  “Help me form another line of garbage on the other streets and get some gas on them—”

  A Rottweiler barked frantically, “They’re coming! I see them on the horizon!”

  Kevin panicked. “Oh no! We wasted too much time!” He flapped his hand at the dogs. “Quick, bring me a flamethrower!”

  Andrew raised his brow. “A what?”

  “Oh—I mean a lighter, a torch or even a matchstick!” Kevin urgently examined Andrew’s hands. “Where’s your crossbow?”

  Andrew replied, “I dropped it when I was running away from the dragon.”

  “That’s too bad. Well, do whatever you can to
stall them!” Kevin ran toward the hardware store. “I’ll be back! Don’t let them get past the barrier!”

  Andrew did not have a good feeling about this. He looked over the wall of garbage and saw the horde of wild beasts drawing closer. The ground shook as they trampled across the city. The smaller, faster creatures were at the front, approaching with incredible speed.

  “Not again! I hate this!” Andrew ducked down, placing his hands over his head. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t do anything!”

  The Rottweiler came close to him and said, “Stand up and fight!”

  Andrew huddled, knees wobbling. “I’m scared! How am I supposed to fight against that? I’ve never done this before!”

  “We’ve never done this either,” the dog countered.

  The sound of stomping grew louder. Andrew closed his eyes and covered his ears. “No, no, no! I can’t do this! I can’t!”

  “That’s right,” said another voice, snickering. “After all, you’re just a wimp.”

  Andrew looked up. It was Katie. She was standing next to him, holding her baseball bat by her shoulder and leaning forward with one foot on the barricade of trash. Even though her face appeared dead tired, she still had the confidence to smile.

  “Ka-Katie…” Andrew stuttered, sounding ashamed.

  “Get out of here. Cowards like you always get in the way,” said Katie. “You acted all tough before, but you’re still just a loser.”

  “But Katie…I…”

  “They’re here!” barked the Rottweiler.

  “COME ON! LET’S CRUSH’EM!” Katie yelled. She hopped over the trash and all dogs followed her into battle.

  The dogs rushed in first, clashing against the front lines. They were knocked back, unable to hold their ground. Then Katie jumped in and swung her bat furiously about. She was able to take down a few coyotes. One after the other, the coyotes leapt at her but Katie waved her bat around, keeping them away.

  Katie glanced at the dogs for a moment as she watched them get back up. When the coyotes saw that she was distracted, they all charged at her. Katie regained her concentration and swung her bat all the way around in a full rotation, bludgeoning them to the floor.

  Then the wolves came. Katie slumped over, using her bat to support herself. After flailing it around, she was too exhausted to even lift her arms. She grit her teeth, staring at the ferocious scowls of the carnivores as they raced to meet her. Gripping the bat, she straightened up, mustered all her strength and used the momentum of her hips to fling her arms once more. Her fingers slipped. The baseball bat flew into the crowd of wolves. A single wolf, ahead of the pack, jumped up on her.

  “No!” Andrew picked up a metal pole, jumped across the trash, and batted the wolf away. While Andrew crouched over Katie, the dogs pushed forward to intercept the wolves. With their persistence, they managed to push the fierce beasts back several feet.

  “Katie! Are you okay?” Worried, Andrew examined her face. Her eyes closed, she wasn’t responding. Andrew wasted no time to pull her over the heap of trash, out of the way of the chaotic battle.

  “I’m ready!” shouted Kevin, wielding a flamethrower.

  Andrew shot a mystified stare at him. “You really found a flamethrower?”

  The dogs climbed back over the heap and Kevin let the flames loose. The fire roared in a loud explosion when the gasoline and alcohol ignited in a burst. The flames spread quickly over, feeding on anything it could find. The fire rose higher and higher. Even the buildings nearby started to burn, creating a massive wall of flame.

  Kevin clenched his fist in triumph and exclaimed, “Yes! It worked!” Smiling, he turned around to see the others’ reactions. His smile disappeared upon seeing Andrew’s horrified look.

  His eyes fixated on Kevin’s, Andrew gasped, “S-she’s asleep. Katie fell asleep…”

  Kevin placed his hand on Andrew’s shoulder to comfort him. “Don’t worry. She’ll wake up soon. We’ll make sure of it.”

  - Battle for Mankind -

  Andrew and Kevin ran desperately from the rising flame.

  Andrew said, “It’s a good thing Katie’s being taken far away from here. That fire could probably burn down all of Korgen if left alone.”

  “Yeah,” Kevin agreed, “I didn’t really think things through. I can only hope we wake everyone up soon and get those firefighters to deal with it.”

  Andrew said briskly, “So what was your plan? Why make a huge fire?”

  Kevin said breathlessly, “I knew we didn’t stand a chance against their whole army. I decided to get caught so that they would bring me safely into the center of their forces. From here, I wanted to split their forces up—throw them in a bit of chaos. I thought a fire would do the trick.”

  “Even if you hold back half of their forces,” said Andrew, “what do you plan to do about the rest?” Kevin looked at the dogs as a hint. Andrew raised a brow and wondered, “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You’ll figure it out,” said Kevin, smiling. Kevin fell silent as he gawked ahead. Another large group of forest animals were charging at them. “Here we go!”

  “Here we go, where?” asked Andrew. “Are we going to rush through them?”

  “To the side!” Kevin veered right rather quickly. Andrew followed him into the music store. Right at the entrance there were guitars, drums, amplifiers, sheet music and music books. Classical instruments were more toward the rear, though there were violins on display at the cashier. Kevin slammed the door shut.

  “Help me hold the door,” said Kevin, grabbing some of the unfortunate instruments.

  “Wait,” said Andrew, “those are expensive! Who’s going to pay for this?”

  “The same people who’ll pay for all the damages to the city,” Kevin replied, stacking the instruments tightly together. “The taxpayers. Hey, we’re saving their lives. They better not complain when they wake up.” He said to Andrew, “Hurry and pass me something heavier.”

  The pile of instruments scattered clumsily as the door rattled. Andrew hid behind a piano. Through the main window they could see the fearsome mug of a bear as it huffed and puffed hot breath upon the glass.

  “I don’t think we should be here…” Andrew searched for another door, but the door that led to the back was locked. The animals pounded fiercely against the thick glass, cracking it. “This looks bad! They’re going to break in! Why did you choose this place?”

  Kevin spat back, “It’s not like I had time to weigh the options and decide!”

  The window shattered, showering bits of glass all over.

  Kevin pushed several display stands to the floor. “Quick, throw stuff at them!”

  Andrew flung violins and violas by their heads. Kevin tried to keep the animals back by kicking drums all over the place. The entire place was soon littered with broken wood and glass. The floor looked so dangerous with the sharp shards that the animals were afraid to set foot into the store.

  “Good. They can’t come in,” said Kevin.

  “And we can’t go out,” snapped Andrew, folding his arms.

  “Well, the important thing is that we’re safe,” Kevin replied.

  “Safe…” said Andrew, frowning. “But was that the point?”

  Ignoring him, Kevin looked at his watch. “Five more seconds…”

  Andrew asked, “Until what?”

  There was a loud rumbling. The animals at the front of the store suddenly whirled around. They looked distressed and started running away.

  “The cavalry has arrived,” said Kevin with a big grin.

  Andrew looked out. The coast was clear for a moment. Then he saw shadows coming up the street. An army of dogs and cats now flooded the street. Many of the cats even rode upon the dogs, using them as steeds.

  Andrew said, “So that’s what you mean by cavalry. Where did they come from? I thought there was no one left.”

  “They were rounded up and imprisoned inside a hotel, but Genesis and Luna helped them escape. Now come on, le
t’s head out.” Kevin took some books, mostly beginner books for people learning to play instruments, and threw them all over the floor to cover up the glass. “Watch your step.” He cautiously made his way to the door and opened it with a click. The glass tinkled as he forced the gap to be large enough for them to edge through.

  The street was full of cats and dogs as far as their eyes could see. Kevin decided to introduce some of the HPC to Andrew. He led him to a small group of distinguished-looking pets. “This here,” said Kevin, pointing at a German shepard, “is Rusty, my head general.” Rusty nodded proudly. Kevin petted a skinny white cat and said, “This is Sophie, one of my commanders.” Kevin quickly touched the animals on the head as he went. “And here are some Lieutenants…Buddy, Patches, Lucky, Lilly and…” Kevin stopped and stared uncertainly at a yellow collie. “I’m sorry. I forget your name every time.”

  The collie said, sounding slightly annoyed, “I’m Shadow.”

  “Oh,” said Kevin, clasping his hands, “yeah. Shadow.” Kevin paused. “Now that we got the pleasantries out of the way…”

  Kevin paced back and forth before his army. “Before we go, I have a few words…so just hear me out.” He raised his voice so that it could be heard. “This is the final stretch. There is only one opposition. The forest. We won’t let them have their way. I will say that I agree that mankind has always caused trouble. But we can’t judge everyone as a whole. We too were born on this planet…we too are a part of this planet, for better or worse. In this next battle…I want you all to think of your family and friends. I want you to think of the humans who cared for you and loved you. All of your strength and cunning must be used to win. You’ll be fighting against those that are stronger, faster and more dangerous. However, the most important thing is willpower—desire. Your desire to protect must be greater than their desire to destroy. Your desire to love must be greater than their desire to hate. Every last speck of life in your body is for the victory. And remember, your goal is not to defeat them—but to hang on. Fight, but run away if you have to. I will wake everyone up. And when I do, the war will end.” Kevin’s eyes were red. “I will do my best to end this war. All I need for you guys is to give me time. That is all.”

  Kevin shot a solemn glance at Rusty.

  Rusty nodded and barked, “Move out!”

  Rusty led their formation. They marched steadily forward. The two boys stayed close behind the army because they were not expecting any more forces to come from behind.

  Then came the sound of a heavy roar that echoed into the intersection as they crossed it. It was frightening and loud. But it was not a dragon’s roar, much to Kevin’s relief.

  “Look over there!” a cat meowed.

  Everyone looked at the cars parked ahead. A lion was standing upon the roof of a car. It hopped off the car and approached the HPC’s front line. Rusty went to meet the lion face to face. He approached the stout feline with utmost caution.

  The lion said, “I come in peace. Let me speak with the leader.”

  Rusty said, “You will speak with me.”

  “No,” said Kevin, pushing his way through the crowd. “I will speak with him.”

  Andrew tried to hold him back. “Wait! Don’t you realize how dangerous a lion is? He could kill you in a second!”

  “If I don’t have the guts to face him, I can’t call myself the leader,” Kevin said. “This doesn’t look like a trap and I have faith in the others that they will protect me.”

  Kevin met with lion and asked, “What do you want?”

  “We want to join you,” said the lion. He motioned with his head toward an alleyway. Many zoo animals came out from the shadows: zebras, apes, gorillas, rhinos and even an elephant. “All of us want to join you.”

  “Why the change of heart?” said Kevin with a hint of skepticism.

  “We’re doing this for ourselves,” the lion answered. “We are far from our homes and could never hope to reach there in our lifetime without the aid of humans. Though we are angry to have been taken away from our homeland, there does not seem to be much choice for us but to stay and be cared for. We will not survive in this land. And I’m sure Kain will not care for us. And so we ask of you, will you let us be a part of your alliance?”

  Rusty whispered to Kevin, “It’s too great a risk. They could turn against us.”

  Kevin nodded and replied, “But this is a great opportunity…if we play our cards right.” He turned to the lion and said, “I will let you guys join on one condition. You guys must listen to me. Whatever I say, you must follow my instructions.”

  The lion hesitated but agreed. “If that is the only way…”

  Kevin forced a half-hearted smile. “I’m very sorry to have to do this. And I apologize in advance.”

  Kevin ordered the newly formed Zoo Faction to go in front. The Zoo Faction went ahead of them into the next street, slowly marching. The HPC stayed behind. There was a large distance between the Zoo Faction and the HPC.

  “They’ll die out there!” said Andrew, sounding concerned. “We won’t be able to support them from all the way back here!”

  Kevin replied, “This is the only way to ensure that they can’t backstab us.”

  When the Zoo faction finally reached the intersection, a horde hopped out of the shadows. Cougars piled up on the elephant, tearing at its hide; the elephant trumpeted wildly with its trunk as it was overtaken. Wolves launched an attack against the zebra, chomping down on its striped skin; the zebra tried to escape but was held down. The rhinoceros snorted and glared while locked in a stalemate with several bears. The lion tried to aid the others but was kept at bay by venomous snakes that threatened to pierce his ankles with their deadly fangs.

  “We’ve got to help them!” Andrew wanted to run forward, but Kevin held him back.

  Kevin said, “No, not yet. This could be a trap.”

  “A trap?” snapped Andrew, pushing Kevin aside. “I don’t believe this! Look! They’re getting killed out there! You expect me to just watch this? It’s terrible! Katie would never let this happen!” Andrew ran to help the Zoo faction.

  “Andrew, wait!” Kevin yelled. “Come back!” In his frustration and worry, Kevin clenched his teeth hard. “He chose the worst time to be brave.” Then he growled, “Forget the plan! Everyone—CHARGE!”

  The HPC forced their way through. It was pandemonium. Waves of animals crashed into one another with a loud impact as they butted heads. Rusty took a group of his toughest dogs to assist the elephant in beating the ruthless cougars away. The cougars easily defeated the dogs, slapping them away with their powerful paws. Even though the HPC outnumbered the enemy, it was a difficult battle. The bears were tough beasts and were able to swat away the dogs and cats with a single blow. However, slowly but surely, they were able to save the Zoo faction from complete annihilation. The dogs worked hard to pull the injured zoo animals toward a safer zone.

  Kevin watched the fight continue. “We’ve got the upper hand here. Now if we run, we might be able to—”

  “More of them coming!” barked Rusty. “Two large armies in the North and South!”

  “What?” Kevin’s eyes widened. “Why does this always happen?” He threw his hand forward. “Send word to the rooftops! Launch the second phase!”

  The Forest Army’s reinforcements were coming down the other streets. First came the faster creatures. They used their speed to navigate quickly through the length of the road.

  On the rooftops, several monkeys opened up crates, reached in and grabbed tomatoes with their hands. Seeing that the enemy was fast approaching the main force of the HPC, the monkeys began their barrage. Hundreds of tomatoes fell from above. The monkeys threw the tomatoes with all their strength. They were rather precise with their aim, splattering the red fruits all over the faces of the Forest Army. Blotches of tomato juice stained the walls and squished tomato peels littered the floor. The animals staggered and shook their heads feverishly. They were slightly blinded by the juices in their
eyes. The floor was slippery and slushy.

  “I’ll take over from here,” Rusty said to Kevin. “You need to get to the lab.”

  “If I split up from the main force, they’ll be suspicious,” said Kevin. “We can’t let that happen. Sneaking around will be impossible. I’ll let you take over, but first we have to get closer to the lab entrance.”

  Troubled, Rusty replied, “I don’t think we can push them back far enough.”

  Kevin said, “We only have a few blocks left to go. Initiate a full-scale rush now that they’re blinded. It’ll be rough—and I’m sure it’ll be very painful—but we have to do it.”

  Rusty nodded uncertainly, “If that is your order.”

  Rusty let out a haunting howl.

  The HPC attacked the blinded forest creatures. The dogs and cats jumped up on the coyotes and foxes. They assaulted the weaker creatures first and rendered them unconscious quickly. Then they proceeded to strike the tougher beasts. The bears retaliated and knocked out a few dogs with a single wave of their arms. Even though the hulking beasts were practically blinded, they flailed wildly, attacking friend and foe.

  Kevin shouted over the chaos, “Aim for their weak points! Attack their eyes if you have to! Don’t let them recover! Be relentless! ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK!”

  Andrew watched the chaos in horror. “This is horrible…”

  “I don’t like it either.” His eyes narrowing, Kevin said, “But that’s war.”

  Geese and ducks flew overhead.

  Reminded of their previous, and rather disgusting, encounter with birds, Kevin flung his head back and gaped. Then he ducked behind a car and watched the dots in the sky warily. The birds dropped something, though he couldn’t quite tell what it was.

  “What is that?” said Andrew.

  “It could be more rocks,” replied Kevin.

  One of the objects fell onto the ground before them. It was a bag of water that gushed and splashed when it slammed into the ground.

  “Water,” said Andrew. “They’re going to wash away all the tomatoes!”

  Kevin said, “That’s not all. A plastic bag full of water can hurt from that height.”

  The bags of water splattered left and right, drenching some of the animals. The streets were being washed clean of the tomato juice.

  Kevin said, “This is bad. Send out the signal for the air division! Don’t let them wash it all away!”

  “Yes, sir!” exclaimed Sophie, the white cat. “Caterwaul!”

  The cats began making a shrill sound that made Kevin cover his ears. Andrew pointed to something flying across the rooftops. Budgies, parrots, cockatiels and canaries glided above them.

  “This is Blue and I’m taking charge,” said one of the budgies proudly. “Follow my lead boys and girls. Let’s wreak some havoc!” Blue stretched out his wings and veered slightly. The other pet birds followed after him, one after the other.

  “Full speed ahead,” chirped Blue. Blue beat his wings and zoomed into the flock of geese. All the pet birds copied him and engaged the geese. They flew right into the enemy birds as fast as they could.

  “Two fold assault,” said Blue. “Parrots and cockatiels will attack directly. Budgies and canaries will focus on taking out the bags.”

  The pet birds all replied, “Acknowledged.”

  The parrots and cockatiels struck the geese at their backs, attempting to pluck the feathers off their wings. The budgies and canaries ripped the bags of water from their beaks. The ducks tried to shoo the pet birds away. The HPC’s air division fought back, going around in short circles and pecking at the enemy with their beaks whenever they saw an opportune time.

  Screeches sounded through the sky. Blue glanced back. Squadrons of eagles, ravens and falcons dotted the clouds.

  “Enemy reinforcements coming from the rear!” shouted Blue. “We’ve done enough damage! Everyone dive, dive!”

  Blue led his band of birds down to the level of the highest city buildings. He was at the front of their formation and they branched out behind him; the mass of birds took the shape of an arrowhead.

  “We can’t shake them!” shouted a canary.

  A parrot screeched, “Awk! They’re closing in!”

  Falcons rocketed into their formation, scattering it. The pet birds were disoriented in their panic and some accidentally flew straight into the windows as they desperately attempted to flee.

  “Oh gosh,” said Andrew, gaping at the sky, “they’re not going to last!”

  “I know,” said Kevin grimly. “That’s why we’re going to make the final push right now!” Kevin grabbed Andrew by the shirt and shouted over the loud noises around them, “Follow me and keep close!”

  Rusty led the way for the boys. With his band of mighty dogs, Rusty plowed through the weaker points in the Forest Army’s formation. It was like trying to break through a solid cement wall by chipping rapidly at it. There were so many animals that it was nearly impossible to simply move or push through. Rusty relentlessly tried to find cracks in the front line and bravely fought to dig deeper and deeper into the heart of the army. When they were about to make it out, Rusty encountered a wall he could not cross. Grizzly bears.

  Andrew staggered back at the sight of them. “W-why are there grizzly bears?”

  Rusty snarled and barked at the large bears. A grizzly bear slammed Rusty to the ground with its paw. The pack of dogs jumped all over it, snapping at its hide, but the bear easily brushed them away.

  Kevin pulled Andrew back. With the frenzy behind them, the two boys had no place to escape. The bear approached them, overshadowing them as it stood on its hind legs.

  “Not good,” said Kevin. “It could probably break us in two if it wanted to.”

  “We’re doomed,” squealed Andrew.

  While they cowered in fear, sinking down to the ground, they saw something fall upon the bear’s face. The bear swerved its head vehemently. The courageous Helios had arrived and began his assault on the bear’s scary mug. He tugged on the bear’s eyelids and tickled the inside of its nose.

  “Helios!” Kevin shouted. “Watch out!”

  The bear’s giant paw came out of Helios’s blind side. Helios back flipped out of the way, leaving the grizzly bear to smash its own head. Dazed, the bear twirled around once before falling and losing consciousness. Helios then hopped along the faces of the three other grizzly bears. In their confusion they swatted each other silly. When all the bears had knocked each other out, Helios climbed up Andrew’s clothes and hopped into the pocket of his pants.

  “It sure took you a while,” said Kevin, crouching over to speak with the rat. “What were you doing all this time?”

  “What was I doing? I was trying to find you! I’m tiny and the city is so huge!” Helios exclaimed, lifting up a foot, “I can only run so fast with these small feet of mine!”

  Kevin laughed. “Good job. I think we can make it to the lab from here.”

  The two boys sneaked out of the battlefield and found their way to the city park. As they suspected, the hidden entrance of the underground research facility was left unguarded. The Forest Army had no idea about this alternate door. Kevin crouched down in the grass and pushed aside a large rock, unveiling the hole beneath. As he did so, he heard a sudden rustle in the bushes. A pair of beady eyes was staring back at him. A deer had been watching them the whole time. When the deer realized it had been seen, it dashed away.

  Running after it, Andrew said, “I’ll chase him down! We can’t let him report to Kain!”

  Understanding the urgency of the situation, Kevin quickly descended down the tunnel into the main corridor of the facility. He treaded lightly across the floor to avoid the possibility of alerting the strange bacteria monster that lurked the halls. Then Kevin walked up to a door with a sign that had the words New Development and opened it. He looked inside and saw a massive warehouse full of giant machines, perhaps power generators. After Kevin entered, he tried calling the Internet on his phone.

&n
bsp; The Internet picked up. “Kevin, is that you?”

  “Yeah,” Kevin replied, “I’m here. What should I do now?”

  “Hold on just a minute. I’ll be right there to greet you.” The Internet hung up.

  “Huh?” Kevin wondered what that meant. Feeling rather confused, he turned off his cell and looked around the building. While he waited, a small silver ball came rolling over to him. It was Shiro, the ball-shaped robot.

  “Shiro…” Kevin swallowed nervously. “Uh…it’s nice to see you again. I’m sorry about what happened the last time—”

  “I’m not Shiro,” said the robot. “It’s me, FriendlyFire.”

  “What?” Kevin looked shocked.

  FriendlyFire replied, “I’ve taken control of the entire facility. My consciousness currently resides in…well, everything here, including this robot. Anyway, we must hurry. I’m not sure how much longer you’ll be able to stay awake. Follow me.” The robot rolled quickly to a room on the far left and Kevin chased after it.

  When they went inside the room, Kevin saw a strange thing upon the metal table. It looked like a large white centipede, except it didn’t look organic. It was long, flat and segmented with thin needle-like claws running down both sides; at one end, seeming almost like a head, was a thick round device.

  “This is it,” said the white robot. “I used all the data I could find to construct this device.”

  “What is this?”

  “The device you asked for,” the white robot replied. “This is a Nervous System Interface—or NSI for short. It will attach directly into your spinal cord and brain. With this, it should be theoretically possible to force yourself awake whenever you want to.”

  “Cool.” Kevin thought for a moment. “Wait…so I have to find someone who is asleep and plug this into them?”

  “You can do that. Sure. But that will make things complicated.”

  “How so?”

  “Well, they have to activate it themselves. If you plug it into someone and they don’t want to wake up or don’t know that they can wake up, then nothing will happen. Also, if they do wake up and you accidentally fall asleep, they won’t be able to remove the device from their back.”

  Kevin groaned. “I don’t get this. How is this a solution then? How am I supposed to wake up the whole world with just one device? Am I supposed to go around waking everyone up one by one?”

  “I’m sorry if this does not comply with your specifications,” said the robot. “This is all I could do. This is all I could come up with.”

  Kevin sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to make the best of it.”

  Kevin tried calling up Andrew on his cell. The phone rang several times before Kevin finally got a response.

  Kevin said into the phone, “Hey, Andrew. Get back over here. Forget the deer. The solution I got might work to wake up a few people but I need you here to help me.”

  There was a voice on the other end, but it did not sound like Andrew. The low, scratchy voice replied, “Andrew will not be coming back. But I will be there very soon—”

  Kevin immediately hung up, looked apprehensively at the phone and turned it off.

  “Who was that? Was that Kain? This is really bad. He’s coming! I have no time!” Kevin turned to the robot and said quickly, “Bring me to the nearest person! There should still be some people in here! I remember seeing the test subjects. I could use them. I could try to wake them up before Kain arrives. I could…” Kevin slumped to the floor and held his head in grief. “Who am I kidding? It’s over. Tom. Katie. Andrew. All gone. I’m the only one left. And that place with the test subjects, it probably has that bacteria monster inside. There’s nothing more I can do. This stupid device will take forever to use. Even if I can save some people, what’s the point? What’s the point if I can’t save everyone? Will they want to be saved if the others around them die anyway?” Kevin closed his eyes.

  “Forget this. I’m done.”

  - Paradise -

  Kevin opened his eyes. Next thing he knew, he was sitting on an empty wooden barge in the middle of the crystal-clear ocean. The climate appeared tropical in nature, rather bright and warm. Looking across the waves, he marveled at how beautiful, crisp and blue the water was. There were large islands, hundreds of them, dotting the ocean as far as he could see.

  The barge didn’t seem to have a motor or any method of propulsion. Nothing was towing it either. It merely drifted steadily toward the shore of the nearest island.

  Initially, he thought he was alone on the barge. A second glance around made him realize otherwise. A man in dark robes sat opposite him.

  The man said, “Ah, someone has arrived. It’s been a while since a person has come.”

  Kevin studied the man carefully and said, “What is this place? Was I warped to the Caribbean sea or something?”

  The man replied, “This is no longer the world as you know it.”

  “Then…am I dead?”

  “No, no,” the man said, laughing, “you are not dead…yet.”

  Kevin tried to collect his thoughts. “Then this is a dream?”

  “You can say that,” said the man, chuckling. “Yes. A dream.”

  “That’s right…I fell asleep!” Kevin suddenly remembered what had happened. “And I couldn’t even do anything. I-I failed! Everyone’s going to die…” He clenched his fist and slowly brought it to his face, tears dripping lightly over his knuckles. “All that was for nothing!” He punched the deck of the barge. “So…that’s it? I just sit here and wait to die?”

  The man shook his head. “No. This is not where you’ll die. Not on this boat. But on the island.” He pointed to the beach. “That shall be your final resting place.”

  “No! I won’t believe it!” Kevin stood up, walked to the man and lifted him up forcefully by the robes. “Tell me how to get out of here!”

  “Why should I?” replied the man darkly.

  Kevin thought for a second and said whatever came to mind. “Because…of the goodness of your heart…”

  “There is no goodness in the world.” The man smiled widely.

  “You’re lying! What have I fought for? I fought for good!”

  “Look deep into your heart and realize, foolish child.” The man disappeared in a trail of smoke and said in an echoing voice, “You fought for yourself…”

  “Hey,” Kevin said, scanning the area frantically, “where’d you go? Come back here!”

  There was no reply. The man wouldn’t come back, he suspected. Kevin slouched into a seat and sullenly watched the scenery pass him by, the world reflecting perfectly in his eyes. His boat hit the shore in a matter of minutes. Kevin climbed out, sloshing his feet out of the shallows and onto the beach. After he left the boat, the boat suddenly vanished. Kevin shrugged. It wasn’t of much use anyway, he thought.

  The sun traveled quickly over the sky, and before he knew it, it was almost time for the sun to set. The way that everything glowed in a blurry haze was quite pretty to look at. There was an undeniable beauty to the place. Red, blue and green seashells protruded out of the golden sand. The palm trees swayed back and forth in the wind. Ripe coconuts littered the beach. As he looked past the trees, he saw the remains of simple huts.

  Kevin heaved a sigh. “At least it’s a nice place.” He strolled his way into the village. “I could get used to this.”

  “What are you doing?” said a hushed voice. “Get inside.”

  “Huh?” Kevin had a quizzical expression as he glanced around. “Who said that?”

  A person came bolting out of the trees and grabbed Kevin from behind. Kevin tried to shout, but someone else showed up, clasping a hand over his mouth. Another person grabbed Kevin by the legs. Together, the three strangers carried him off into a hut. They shut the door behind them. Kevin was tossed to the ground and released.

  Kevin looked up in the dark building. The only source of light was the moonlight that seeped through the cracked roof. It took him a moment to finally see ev
erything around him. Several men and women, dressed in torn rags, were crouching along the walls. Some were busy nailing wooden planks along the doors and windows. He stared at one of the inhabitants and they stared back, showing only a look of despair.

  Kevin got up and slowly said, “Who are you people? What do you want with me?”

  “We want nothing to do with you,” replied a woman. “You almost killed us!”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “The night hour approaches.”

  “Night hour? I…don’t understand.”

  The woman snapped, “You walked outside during the night hour! What’s there to understand? It’s common sense!”

  Kevin shook his head, looking thoroughly perplexed. “I have no idea what is going on. What is the night hour? Why are you all hiding around? What is this place?”

  The woman stared blankly at Kevin. “Don’t tell me…you just arrived…”

  “Just arrived?” Kevin examined the woman with scrutiny. “Yeah, I did, if you can call it that. I just fell asleep a moment ago.”

  The woman ran up to Kevin and grabbed him by the shoulders. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a while. Kevin’s eyes widened slowly as he suddenly recognized her.

  “Mom? Is that you?”

  A look of shock and joy on her face, his mother suddenly began to laugh and shed tears at the same time. “Yes! Yes, Kevin! It’s me!” They hugged. “I missed you so much! I was so worried! I haven’t seen you for such a long time!”

  Kevin broke away from the embrace and said, “Where’s dad? Is he here too?”

  Her eyes suddenly fell with her face as she took in his words. “Kevin, listen to me…”

  Looking concerned, he said, “What’s wrong?”

  “You may have realized it by now…but this isn’t an ordinary dream.”

  Kevin nodded. “Yeah, this is a dream with everyone, right? I never expected to actually see you—”

  “No,” said his mother gravely. “This isn’t our dream. This is our nightmare.” She bit her lip. “Your father, he was taken away.”

  “Taken away?” Kevin suddenly looked fierce and growled, “By who?”

  “Not who,” his mother continued, “but what. Our days here are short. There are eleven hours of daylight…then the twelfth hour is the night hour. Darkness falls and—” Before she finished speaking, a loud scream pierced the silence. Kevin exchanged glances with his mother.

  His mother put her finger to her lips, shushing him. “Go help block the door.”

  Everyone suddenly fell silent and motionless, undoubtedly hiding from something.

  Kevin walked to the door and whispered to a man, “What should I do?”

  “Push up against the door,” the man replied in a quiet voice. “And don’t look out.”

  As Kevin leaned against the door, he could hear the sounds of screams much more clearly. It wasn’t a regular scream. It clicked and echoed shrilly. Its tone ran high and low, sounding distorted. He couldn’t help but wonder what was happening outside. His curiosity got the best of him and he decided a small peek through a tiny, little crack on the door wouldn’t matter.

  But the moment he looked out, he could not tear his eyes away. “What…is that?” Kevin stared at a strange light hovering in the darkness.

  “You idiot!” The man pushed Kevin away. “I told you not to look!”

  Crash! The door burst inward with one loud explosion, wood chips flying all over the hut. Kevin ducked and shielded his face from the scattering debris. Then he looked up and saw the gaping hole in the wall where the door once was.

  Everyone screamed as a thick black mass emerged from the hole. The giant black mass was in the shape of a hand. It reached into the hut, snatching up a few people, including Kevin’s mother, with its broad grip, and then dragged them out.

  “MOM!” Kevin chased after it, but a man tried to hold him back.

  “Don’t go,” said the man. “It’s over for them. There’s nothing you can do…now that the Coveits have them. Save yourself, kid. You’ll be powerless against them!”

  “I’ll be the judge of that! Get off me!” Kevin shoved the man aside and ran out.

  Once he made it outside, Kevin froze in terror. A hideous black monster, the likes of which he had never seen before, trudged through broken homes. The monster was as large as a two-story house. Though it was hard to see because of its black nature, he could make out the murky silhouette of the beast. Its stalwart body, enormous tusks and stout snout bore resemblance to a warthog. But its thick arms, and even thicker forearms, were like that of a gorilla. The most distinguishing feature was the eyes, which were bright blue, as bright as the high beams of a car and nearly as blinding.

  “What is that thing?” uttered Kevin. “Coveits? What the heck is a Coveit? Is that even a word?” He shook his head feverishly. “No, I can’t waste time. I have to help them!” Kevin glanced around the ground and saw a wooden plank on the ground. He stooped down and grabbed it. Holding it in his arms, he charged the Coveit. The Coveit ignored him.

  “Let them go!” Kevin slammed the flat wood against the black wrist. The wood cleanly snapped in two on contact. The Coveit opened its mouth. Kevin covered his ears, thinking it was going to emit another one of those eerie screams. It didn’t. Instead, the Coveit took its large fistful of people and shoved it into his mouth, engulfing everyone with one bite.

  “Mom? No…no…” Kevin lost his voice for a moment as his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. His voice came back in full force. “NO, NO, NO!”

  He tried ramming the broken wood into the belly of the beast, but it became jammed into its thick gooey skin and started to get swallowed up by it. Unable to find the words to say, he merely cried out, “CRAP! YOU EVIL—MESSED UP—SPIT THEM OUT OR DIE!” Kevin then furiously punched the Coveit in the stomach. His fist got stuck in its skin, which was gooey like tar. Frightened, Kevin hastily pulled his hand out. “What is this thing? I can’t even hurt it!”

  “Run away, Kevin!” the voice of his mother echoed in his mind. “Run away! There’s nothing you can do! Save yourself!”

  “Why is everyone saying that? I don’t want to save myself—I want to save everyone else. I don’t want to run…I hate running away…I hate losing…I hate being so helpless…” He stared at the ground, his fists clenched. “What do I do? What can I do?”

  You can die…

  A black hand overshadowed Kevin and grabbed hold of him. The hand tightly squeezed him, suffocating him. Kevin wheezed in the excruciating pain. It felt like all the air in his body was forced out from his lips as the black fingers crushed his ribs. No longer able to speak or think, his thoughts were solely locked on the torment and how he wanted it to end. No matter how tight the grip had gotten, the pain would never end. He would never die.

  Then he was free of the pain. The monster loosened the grip. He rolled along the palm, down the fingers and into the mouth. As he was tossed back and forth, he was slightly comforted by the fact that the Coveit had no teeth. But it did have a fat slimy tongue, which he bounced gently upon on his trip down the throat. He tumbled down a dark tunnel with slick walls and landed on someone. He suspected he was now inside the stomach of the Coveit, the thought of which did not sit well with him. Everyone that the Coveit had swallowed was now packed into the pit of the stomach. Though he couldn’t see much, it felt like the monster was finally full.

  “Mom!” Kevin shouted over the cries and whimpers of the people. “Are you in here?” He heard many muffled voices in reply. He attempted to squirm around the cluttered heap of bodies, but everyone was packed in too tight for him to move. Suddenly, the whole stomach shook and Kevin said, “W-what’s going on here?”

  “We’re being taken to center of the island,” a man next to him replied. “There’s a hole at the center, which you can see during the day. That’s where the Coveits come out when the darkness falls and that’s where they return before the daylight comes.”

&n
bsp; “What do you think will happen to us?”

  He shrugged. “No one has ever returned after being swallowed by a Coveit.”

  Kevin gulped.

  Meanwhile, all the Coveits gathered at the hole, which was about one hundred yards wide and unfathomably deep. There were over sixty Coveits in total and their bellies were all full. One after the other, they jumped into the deep hole. After falling for several minutes, they finally landed on the bottom with a great thud. The light of the moon could not penetrate the complete blackness. In this place so dark and empty the only visible thing was the blue light of their eyes. Their bright eyes swept across the room like strobe lights. There was a glow somewhere off in the distance. All the Coveits lumbered toward the glow. Then the glow brightened and a vast room opened up. In this new room the black monsters began coughing. Their coughs started slight at first, then turned into a much louder hacking. BLEARGH—the beasts chucked out wads of people, almost like a cat throwing up hairballs. Since Kevin was last to be swallowed, he was first to be barfed out. He hit the solid floor and, groaning with aches and pains, got to his feet. Then Kevin looked up.

  It was a strange sight, both amazing and terrifying. Surrounded in this massive room of rock and dirt was a glowing structure. The structure was like a frame consisting of red, blue and green vein-like wires. It was in the shape of a tree and was incredibly large, much taller and wider than any skyscraper he had ever seen. In the heart of the wiry structure was a gleaming, surging yellow light that flowed like a mighty river upwards from the base of the tree to the high branches. It really was like a tree, Kevin thought, from the trunk to the dark-colored leaves; there was even the inclusion of large fruit-like eggs that hung upon the branches.

  “What is this?” a terrified man shouted. “I’m getting out of here!” He ran away from the tree, only to end up running into a Coveit. The man bounced off the large leg and tumbled to the ground. Before he could run away again, the Coveit grabbed him and tossed him into the tree trunk. Kevin kept his gaze locked onto the man as the man flew into the yellow light. When he came into contact with the mysterious beam, his body vaporized into white sparkles, following the flow of the surge. The sparkles reached a low branch and seeped into the branch. Then, as Kevin watched intently, an egg-like fruit emerged. The weight of the newly formed fruit caused the low branch to bend lower, giving Kevin a better look at it. He could see through the crystal shell of the fruit and saw the man inside, the same man who had just been thrown into the tree, curled up in a fetal position, silent and motionless.

  What the heck was that? Kevin was sure everyone in the room had the same thought in their minds, but everyone was absolutely speechless. They didn’t struggle. They didn’t care. With the Coveits fenced around them, the people had no way of escape. They were powerless in this world—absolutely powerless. And they accepted that. Slowly, sullenly, the people walked into the tree, resigned to their inevitable fate. One by one, as the people touched the yellow beam of light, they burst into white sparkles and flew up the tree, carried by the powerful flow. One by one, they seeped into the branches and emerged as fruits.

  “So this must be where everyone is at…” Kevin said, musing. “Tom…Andrew…Katie. They might all be in this tree. I wonder if I can see them if I go in there.”

  Surrounded by Coveits on all sides, Kevin was the only one remaining. He took a deep breath and walked up to the light. Hesitant, he stood there, his hands raised, afraid to touch it. Suddenly, Kevin felt a burst of thought flow into his mind. It was like he could hear thousands of voices talking all at once. They weren’t screaming—not all of them. Some were scared, some were calm and others were angry. Then came a silence. During this serenity, Kevin absorbed all the thoughts. A strange, indescribable feeling ran across his body. Something was happening to him. He wasn’t sure what.

  “Kevin!” A voice echoed in the darkness. “Can you hear me?”

  Looking curious, Kevin twirled around. “Who’s there?”

  “Do you hear me, Kevin? Don’t bother replying. I probably won’t be able to hear you. But I really hope that you can hear me! It’s me—Tom! I’m sorry I abandoned you guys. I pretended to be asleep. I was scared of what was happening and thought I could possibly escape myself. But now I’m back. I’m also sorry for making a weird voice when I answered Andrew’s cell. It’s a bad joke…I know. He’s okay, in case you’re wondering. Anyway, you know that device? I plugged it into you. You should be able to wake up now, right? Please try!”

  “Tom saves the day.” Kevin grinned. “So I should have it plugged into me now, huh? That’s just perfect. No wonder my mind feels…enlightened. But now I know the cold hard truth. I heard it from everyone. The device won’t work on those who don’t want to wake up. And waking up alone is pointless.” Kevin placed his hand into the light. “Time to see what I can do.”

  “Did it work?” Tom was crouched on the floor by Kevin’s body.

  Helios checked Kevin’s eyes, which seemed to be moving. “He’s not really looking at me when I pry his eyes open.”

  The computer speakers spoke. “Put him on the table. I’ll run a quick scan.”

  Tom heaved Kevin over his shoulder and placed him on the high metal table. A large mechanical eye extended from a hole in the ceiling and gazed down upon Kevin.

  “Move aside,” said the computer, “I need to put a barrier up during the scan.”

  Tom nodded and stepped back. Four thick sheets of a glassy material shot up from the floor and surrounded Kevin like a box, completely blocking him from view. Tom noticed a fleeting flash of light inside. Then the glass retracted.

  “How is he?” asked Tom.

  The computer replied, “His brain waves are strange. It almost gives off the impression that he is half awake and half asleep.”

  Helios said, “That’s not good, is it? Is the device not working?”

  “The NSI is perfect,” the computer snapped, sounding insulted by Helios’s remark. “I’m not sure what could be the problem, but I’m definitely sure that it has nothing to do with the quality of my work.”

  Tom fell silent, contemplating over the problem.

  “Tom…” A quiet voice broke the silence.

  Tom turned to Helios. “Did you say something?” Helios shook his head.

  The computer said, “That is Kevin’s voice.”

  “Kevin?” Tom walked over to Kevin’s comatose body. “Kevin? Are you awake?”

  “Tom…” Kevin’s lips moved slightly as he uttered words. “Not awake...”

  Tom swallowed. “Are you trying to freak me out here? Because it’s really working well.”

  “I…tell you…thing…”

  “What? What are you saying?” Tom bent over, putting his ear to Kevin’s lips, so he can hear the mouthed words more clearly.

  Tom heard Kevin whisper, “I understand now. The people are trapped here. Even if we tell them that they can wake up, they won’t listen. They lack the will to come back to reality. I’m going to try to cause a ripple effect. This device is perfect for what I need to do. I now have some control over the dream. All I ask is that you give me more time. I’m going to explore this dream world and see if I can convince everyone to try to wake up. If they all try together, we might be able to get somewhere.”

  Tom said to Kevin’s ear, “Okay. I got your message.”

  “Tom,” said the computer, “take a look at this.” The computer screen turned on and showed thousands of red dots moving toward a central green dot. “A swarm of animals is approaching our position. They are most likely hostile. You can confirm it yourself, if you like.” The screen changed into a camera view showing hundreds of wolves, bears, and cougars racing down the street.

  Tom scratched his chin. “They’re here. Do you have anything that will hold the Forest Army back? We have to protect Kevin for as long as possible.”

  “This research facility doesn’t have much that can help you in that endeavor.”

  Helios said, ?
??We’ll just have to do this the hard way. There are only two ways in and out of this place. If we direct our remaining forces to these bottlenecks and barricade it, we should have no problem keeping them out for a while.”

  Tom nodded and looked at Kevin. “I just hope we can hold them off long enough.”

  - No Future -

  Kevin floated in a suffocating darkness, drifting inside the massive tree trunk. His body was no longer a body. He gazed at his hands. All he could see was nothing more than an outline of soft light.

  “Whoa,” he said. “This is some seriously trippy stuff.”

  As his eyes adjusted, he noticed strange white strings all around him. He hadn’t noticed it before because it was too dark, but there were millions of them drifting about. These long strings twisted and spun like squirmy worms. Frightened, Kevin flailed his arms and legs. His panic vanished when he finally understood that the strings were harmless.

  “What are they?” Bewildered, Kevin stretched out his hand and touched one of the strings. As he did so, hundreds of thoughts flooded into his mind. Flinching, he pulled his hand back. “It’s like a connection…to someone’s mind.”

  Kevin reached out his hand into the thick bundles of thin strings. As he ran his hands through them, he could probe through the minds of many. He pushed them aside like rolling curtains, searching for a mind that contained thoughts of him. After digging through the strings for a while, he found one. Kevin wasn’t sure whose it was, but there was only one way to find out. He grabbed the string, held on tightly and tugged on it. The one string started reeling upwards, pulling Kevin through the sea of strings. It was going so fast that Kevin’s natural reaction was to scream. Soaring up the inside of the tree, he was dangling around the darkness like a fish on a hook.

  Where is this thing taking me? Kevin wondered. Then he started to see weird things above him. There were desks and chairs and cars and houses, all of them just floating in midair. Kevin kicked his feet to sway and dodge the dangerous objects. Even if it weren’t real, there was the possibility of getting knocked off the string.

  After seeing more flashes of light, he came to a sudden stop—or at least that was what he wished for at the moment. In truth though, he was still moving after the darkness was long gone. Kevin was now plummeting from the sunny sky toward the green earth. He decided to call it skydiving without a parachute, hoping it would at least evoke a happier image. However, if skydiving without a parachute doesn’t sound fun, it certainly didn’t feel fun to Kevin, no matter what he called it. Kevin was already tired of screaming his lungs out. Now, his mouth agape, he simply stared at the rapidly enlarging plot of land below him. Kevin took this time, during his mental state of shock, to recall what he had learned in art class all those years ago. Perspective. It was a simple enough concept. The land wasn’t getting larger—it was simply getting closer.

  Boom! Kevin slammed into the earth at full force. His vision went entirely black for a few seconds. Grunting, Kevin got to his feet. He looked to his left and right and saw that he had ended up forming a large crater. The landscape as far as he could see was completely decimated. Did he do that? He wasn’t sure.

  Dusting himself off, Kevin glanced curiously around. “That’s weird. This doesn’t look like the inside of the tree anymore. Where am I?”

  Someone shouted out to him, “Hey, over here!”

  Kevin turned around and saw a person, the upper half of his body sticking out from the dirt. Kevin met up with the man. It was a young man and looked about a few years older than him. He was dressed in rags and stood out of a large hole carved out of the surface.

  “Get inside,” the man said. “It’s not safe out there.” The man invited Kevin into his underground home.

  It was quite an amazing underground shelter, Kevin thought. It was well furnished, full of beautiful paintings and extravagant sculptures and seemed to have everything a person would ever need or want.

  “What’s going on here?” said Kevin. “Where am I?”

  The man replied, “You don’t know? This placed used to be called Korgen. I still call it Korgen. But it used to be a large city, full of many people.”

  “This is Korgen?” Kevin looked shocked. “It wasn’t a fire that burned everything down, was it?” Kevin suddenly remembered the fire he had let loose on the streets of Korgen.

  “No,” said the man, “it was the war that did this place in.”

  “The war?” Kevin scratched his chin. “The war between the Forest Army and the HPC?”

  “What? Forest Army? I’m talking about the war against the aliens! You know—the one that destroyed half of the Earth! The one that mankind lost.”

  “Aliens?” Kevin raised a brow. “When was the last time you saw a doctor?”

  “I don’t remember. We have no more doctors. All of them were taken by the aliens.”

  “Okaaay,” said Kevin skeptically. “Well then, I really have to go now. I’ve got people to see and things to do.”

  “No!” The man took hold of Kevin’s leg. “Don’t be stupid! If you go out there, the aliens will find you! You don’t stand a chance!”

  “I’d rather take my chances with imaginary aliens than sit here with a psycho!” Kevin kicked the man aside and climbed the ladder out of the hole. “Aliens,” he muttered. “That guy’s insane.”

  Kevin took a few steps outside. Looking at the ground, he froze. Massive shadows were cast along the ground, covering the land far and wide in darkness. Kevin’s sight slowly rose to the sky. That was when he saw it. There were numerous rectangular objects hovering in the sky. Each of these enormous objects had bright glowing lights that acted like spotlights, throwing their lights upon the ground in brilliant green beams. It looked as though these flying objects were looking for something.

  In a panic, Kevin ran back toward the underground shelter. A bright red ball of light fell from the sky and landed inside the shelter before Kevin could get to it. The whole shelter burst in one bright explosion of heat and fire.

  Kevin tripped over his own feet as he walked backwards and fell. A green light came over him. Kevin looked down and saw that his legs and feet were leaving the ground. He was steadily being pulled up into the sky!

  Kevin gulped loudly and said, “Okay. All right. I have to get my thoughts together. Think logically. Logically. I’m logical.” He smacked himself in the forehead. “That’s right! I forgot! I was dreaming. Now everything makes sense. This isn’t time travel. This isn’t an alien invasion. This is just a dream!” He started laughing nervously. “That’s right…this should be okay…I think.”

  Then Kevin looked up and trembled at the sight of the massive spacecraft. Though he tried to assure himself with words that everything would be okay, the image was still real enough to him to cause fear in his heart. All his assurance seemed to melt away as he stared into the light above.

  “Hold it right there!” said a bellowing voice.

  Kevin swung around in the air. In the distance Kevin saw something headed right for him. It was hard for him to tell what the object was, but Kevin did not want to stick around to find out. He moved his body back and forth, attempting to fall out of the beam that was pulling him up. Nothing he did helped. He was waving his arms and kicking his legs as hard as he could, but he couldn’t break free.

  Kevin stared as the flying object drew nearer and nearer. When it was about to hit him, he winced and curled up. At the last second, Kevin closed his eyes. Everything went dark. There was only silence. Nothing happened. Kevin waited for a moment and then opened his eyes. A man hovered before him with his arms crossed. It was a super hero as far as Kevin could tell. The hero had on a cape and tights. His huge muscles were constantly bulging, as though the hero had no control over it. Very stereotypical and weird, thought Kevin. But something bugged Kevin. The face seemed familiar. It was definitely someone he knew.

  “Here, let me help you,” said the super hero with his deep, masculine voice.

  Then the hero fle
w up to the spacecraft and punched it. Like a delayed reaction, a second later the spacecraft was launched away by the hero’s fist and it crash-landed far into the horizon, forming a massive mushroom cloud that loomed in the distance. It all happened so fast that Kevin thought his vision was fast-forwarding. However, because the spaceship was no longer around to pull him up, Kevin started to fall. The super hero grabbed hold of Kevin and put him on the ground.

  “Are you okay?” the hero asked.

  Looking confused, Kevin nodded slowly.

  “Good.”

  The hero then flew up to the clouds. He glared at the remaining spacecraft. The hero opened his mouth and sucked up copious amounts of air, his mouth acting as a powerful vacuum. He sucked up so much air that the spaceships were being rapidly sucked to him. Then, when a ship was near, he would punch it down to the ground, causing an explosion. The super hero did this for nearly twenty minutes until all of the spacecraft were knocked out of the sky and the earth was completely riddled with craters.

  Kevin watched the whole battle. Scratching his cheek, he wondered why the hero wasted so much time. Kevin was sure that, with his speed, the hero could simply fly around and knock all of the ships out of the sky in seconds.

  The super hero dove and landed in front of Kevin.

  “Who are you supposed to be?” asked Kevin.

  The super hero stuck out his massive chest, put his hands on his hips, and said proudly, “I am Super Andrew, at your service.”

  At his words, Kevin began laughing uncontrollably. He stopped for a moment to say, “S-Super A-Andrew?” And then he continued his fit of laughter. He laughed heavily for a long time. He was laughing so hard that he fell to the ground and rolled around, trying hard to catch his breath because he couldn’t breathe.

  “What’s so funny?” said Super Andrew.

  After Kevin finally managed to stop his laughter, he stood back up, wiping the tears from his eyes, and said, “Andrew! That costume is horrible!”

  “It appears you are mistaken, sir,” said Super Andrew. “My name is not Andrew. I am Super Andrew.”

  “What?” Kevin snapped, “Stop playing around! We’ve got enough trouble as it is!”

  Super Andrew blinked. “You act as though you know me.”

  “That’s because I do know you!” Kevin gestured to himself. “Are you kidding? After all we’ve been through, you can’t even remember me? I’m Kevin!”

  Super Andrew rubbed his chin as he studied him. “You don’t look familiar.”

  Kevin shouted, “We’ve been through life and death together! Remember the time when I drove the car and hit a street sign, even though I was aiming for the trashcan on the other side? Or do you remember when we stayed in the movie theater and, after watching ten films in a row, the projector caught on fire and Tom tried to put it out with buttered popcorn but you insisted we use a fire extinguisher? Can’t you remember when we tackled the purple mist or when I chased after the dragon to help you? Can’t you remember anything?”

  His face scrunched with pain, Super Andrew fell to his knees, his palms pushing against his temples. “Kevin…Kevin…no…I know you…but I don’t want to…I don’t want to go…”

  Out of concern, Kevin knelt next to him, patting him on the back. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m Super Andrew…I can’t go back to being Andrew…”

  “Why not? What’s wrong with just being Andrew?”

  Andrew looked at Kevin through his red teary eyes. “Andrew is weak! Andrew is useless! Andrew can’t do anything! But I…in this world…in this place…I can do anything! I can help people. I can beat up villains. But when I’m just Andrew…I can’t do anything.

  “A few years ago, my dad died in a car accident. I felt so powerless. I always imagined back to that time, thinking, what if I could’ve saved him? What if I weren’t just a powerless little kid? What if I could stop time, or move at the speed of light? I could solve all my problems. I wouldn’t be alone. I wouldn’t be picked on at school. I wouldn’t be so pathetic. I’d be confident. I’d be happier.”

  “I’m sorry, Andrew, to hear that,” said Kevin solemnly. “But this place isn’t real. You think you can do everything here, but the truth is that everything you do here will never amount to anything. When you’re awake, when you’re alive…that’s what matters! And don’t forget. Your dad may be gone, but your mom is still out there. And she’s dying because you’re wasting your time here!

  “Even superheroes still have problems! The problem is not what you don’t have. The problem is you don’t understand what you do have. You think you’re weak? You might be. But I don’t care about that. That meant nothing through our journey together. Did you see how far we got? We were so close to saving the world. And we’re even closer now to saving it than ever before!”

  Kevin paused to think for a moment. “Look. I understand that you want this dream to be real. But it will never be real. Don’t believe in what you want to believe in. Believe in what’s real—what’s truth. You know the truth…but you need to accept it.”

  At that moment, Andrew stood back up. His body shrank back to normal. His superhero costume tore right off. He was looking like his old self again. “I’m sorry for the trouble I caused. You’re right. I can’t believe how stupid I was to think I could just live a lie….”

  Kevin smiled. “Don’t be sorry. You’re not the only one to make that mistake. Look at the whole world!” He placed his hand on Andrew’s head. “Now, close your eyes. I’m going to open your mind. After I do this, you’ll have more power in this dream world. Then we’ll split up. I want you to go and help others. Show them reality. We need a chain reaction. The more people we help, the easier it’ll be to break this Dream Wave.”

  “Have you had enough?” Gasping, Genesis struggled to stand. The mighty power of transformation had left him. His body was once again that of a dog’s, frail and feeble compared to the dragon before him.

  “You still have the courage to stand before me?” hissed Kain wearily. The dragon licked the wounds on his bloody wing. “I must commend you. You were a worthy opponent.”

  Kain took steps toward the yellow Labrador, and as he did so, Genesis barked at the lizard as loud as he could in his last act of defiance. Kain lunged his head forward, stretching his neck all the way out. Genesis’s legs succumbed to the exhaustion and he tottered over. Lying by the side of the road, Genesis winced and averted his eyes, believing that he was as good as dead.

  Then the earth shook violently. The sound of a loud impact reverberated off the buildings and walls. Kain cried out in a loud, bone-rattling howl.

  Genesis glanced up. He saw a part of Kain’s massive neck on the road. Kain’s head, however, had been smashed into a gaping hole in the pavement. Genesis scanned above. The figure of a huge bird remained suspended in the air. Terminus had finally arrived.

  Terminus screeched spiritedly, “I did it! The dragon is finished! Did you see that, Genesis? One clean blow to the back of the head! This will be a tale to remember!” Terminus landed next to Genesis and slapped the dog on the back. “Good work, old friend! Now you deserve some rest. But first, we’ll need to treat those wounds. Perhaps—”

  His eyes widening, Genesis barked, “Behind you!”

  Terminus twisted his head all the way around, only to catch a glimpse of a large log-like object swinging at him. It was the dragon’s tail. Bam! Before he could even flap his wings to take flight, he was pelted away with a powerful blow, launched right into the window of a tall office building. From the shattered glass, shards fell like sparkling rain.

  “Terminus!” Genesis shouted. “No…”

  He gazed at the dragon’s body. Though Kain’s head was still firmly in the ground, his tail was swinging back and forth. Kain planted his feet on the street and aggressively yanked his head out of the crater.

  Kain rubbed his head and groaned, “That was surprising. It’s a good thing my skull is hard.” His cold eyes wandered across the scen
e before focusing solely on Genesis. “Now then, where were we?” He fell silent for a moment. Then he swallowed. His lips parted broadly, unveiling the horrifying set of teeth. “Ah, yes,” he said, licking his lips, “I remember. The sweet taste of revenge.”

  - Kindred -

  Everything was black. The noise of muffled, friendly chatter echoed. The air felt familiar and comfortable. Andrew opened his eyes. It was still dark. Then he noticed he was staring at something really close. He lifted his head and light flooded into his pupils, allowing him to see everything around.

  Andrew was in the front row of his history class. His fellow classmates were bunched together in groups, sitting on desks and chatting amongst themselves. Since his desk was right by the window, he turned his head left to look outside. The sunlight was quite bright. He checked his watch. It was 2:35. In a few minutes school would be over. Andrew rubbed his eyes and stared blankly at his desk. There were a few drops of water where his face had been. Drool, he thought. Embarrassed, Andrew snuck a few stealthy glances left and right before quickly drying the desk with his shirt.

  “Hey Dorky!” A few boys walked up to his desk. “Dorky the pig! How’s it shaking?” It was Freddie, the local bully, and his gang of miscreants.

  Andrew frowned. “I don’t snort anymore.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Freddie sneered. “Once a Dorky pig, always a Dorky pig. And it’s not just about snorting. It’s about gunk. Like that gunk I saw you wiping off your desk. You had one great big loogie. It was all green and sliiiiimy.”

  “It wasn’t phlegm,” Andrew replied. “Are you really in middle school? Who talks about such things?”

  “People like me. Normal people,” Freddie said snidely. He ran his fingers violently across Andrew’s hair. “But apparently, not weirdos like you with your nasty, greasy hair and your ugly glasses.”

  “Don’t touch me.” Andrew pushed his hand away.

  “Or you’ll what? Loogie all over me?”

  “I’ll tell the teacher on you,” Andrew started to get up from his seat, but Freddie pushed him back down.

  “The teacher?” Freddie laughed. “He can’t and won’t do anything!” He spun around and asked his friends, “Did anyone even see me touch this creep?”

  All of Freddie’s friends shook their heads in reply, snickering.

  “See?” Freddie turned back to Andrew and smiled deviously. “No one saw anything. And who would believe you, huh? Why would I,” Freddie flicked Andrew’s hair back with his fingers, “want to touch you, anyway? I wouldn’t.” Freddie snatched up the backpack on the floor. “Now your book bag, on the other hand, might be worth touching.” He opened up the bag and searched inside.

  “Stop that,” said Andrew slowly. “Give it back.”

  “Give it back,” Freddie mimicked Andrew’s voice in a squeaky tone. Then he spat in his normal voice, “Are you sure you’re in middle school? Because you sound like a little baby.” Freddie felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Kevin glaring at him. “Hmm? What’s your problem?”

  “You’re my problem.” Kevin tightened his grip on his shoulder.

  Freddie shrieked at the sudden sharp pain and pulled away. “Wha-what? You want to mess with me?”

  “No,” said Kevin, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder, “but my friend Brad wants to…if you’re up to it.”

  Freddie looked past Kevin to see Brad leaning by the doorframe, waving playfully back at him with a bright smile. Standing at six feet, Brad was the giant of the class. Freddie swallowed loudly.

  Freddie shrugged. “Whatever. I have more important things to do. Maybe some other time.” Acting rather cheeky, he coolly dropped the backpack and followed his friends over to the other side of the classroom.

  “Thanks Kevin,” said Andrew, beaming.

  “No problem,” said Kevin. “Guys like him will never grow up.” Kevin paused. “So are you coming with me or not? Did you call up your mom and ask if it was okay?”

  Andrew blinked several times. “Where? For what?”

  “Katie invited us over to her house, remember?”

  “Katie did what?”

  Kevin chuckled at Andrew’s odd response. “Why are you acting all surprised?”

  “I…can’t really remember…anything from this morning.”

  “Anyway, she’s just throwing a small, little celebration party for us. You know…for saving the world and everything. Just the three of us, since Tom can’t make it.”

  “Okay,” said Andrew, nodding slowly. “I’ll come. I don’t need to tell my mom. She works late. I should be home before she gets back.”

  “Cool,” said Kevin. “This should be fun.”

  As they walked out the front door of their school, Andrew was deep in thought. He started to slowly remember the battle that transpired a mere few days ago. It was almost like a dream. During the battle, his life was always on the line. But now that everything was back to normal, it felt surreal. As they walked onto the road, Andrew looked up at Kevin. With a slight grin on his face, Kevin appeared content. Andrew wondered how Kevin felt about the whole thing. It was really weird, thought Andrew. When they were thrust into the battle for mankind, Andrew had a difficult time accepting the insane situation. But now that there was suddenly peace and normalcy, Andrew had a difficult time accepting the serenity. But he was glad. He was glad that it was finally over.

  Katie’s house was surprisingly far. Seeing that she walked to school everyday, Andrew had expected a much shorter distance. It took them nearly an hour before they reached her neighborhood. During that time, Andrew studied the streets and houses as they passed them by. There was no one around. It was extremely quiet.

  Andrew tapped Kevin on the arm. “Do you feel like something weird is going on?”

  Kevin cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

  Andrew hesitated and shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s something that’s bugging me. Like…I don’t know how to explain it. Is everything really back to normal? There’s no one in the street. No…wait…” Andrew closed his eyes for a second. “Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen a single car on the road!”

  “Is it really that strange?”

  “Yeah,” Andrew replied. “I didn’t even see a school bus leave.”

  “We did leave a later than normal,” said Kevin.

  Still worried, Andrew repeated, “We did…?”

  When they arrived at the place, Andrew and Kevin stood by the sidewalk and gawked at the front. Katie’s home was ancient and it showed. The roof was falling apart, a few of the windows were broken, and the bottom of the doors had cracks so large that mice would have no trouble making an entrance. On top of that, the rest of the property didn’t seem to be properly tidied. Though it was nearing the end of winter, there were leaves all over the driveway. The grass had grown tall enough to encompass large dogs. The rest of the neighborhood looked nothing like it. The moment they stepped onto the front lawn, it was like they had entered another dimension.

  “Is this the right place?” asked Andrew.

  “Pretty sure it is.”

  The front door swung open…and then fell out unexpectedly, landing loudly upon the wooden porch. Waving, Katie ran outside to greet them.

  “You guys made it!” she said cheerfully. “So? How do you like my place?”

  “It’s…” Andrew tried desperately to think of nice words. He had great difficulty with it. “It’s…lovely and…nice. I like it. It’s a really good place. A really, really solid building.”

  “Cut the lies,” snapped Katie, glaring at him. “Just say it’s terrible.”

  “Oh…” Andrew chuckled and broke into a smile. “It’s terrible—really, really terrible. It’s so ugly, moldy and broken down and nast—”

  Katie slapped Andrew on the cheek, causing him to stagger backwards. “That’s my house you’re talking about!” Then she walked back inside her home and gestured for them to come in.

  Kevin lo
oked at Andrew, examined the new bruise on his face and whistled. “Ouch. I guess she’s back to normal.”

  “I wouldn’t consider her normal to begin with,” Andrew replied.

  After they entered the house, Kevin helped Andrew put the front door back on. It was missing hinges, so they simply stuck it in place and tried to wedge paper in the gaps to keep it tightly closed. Then Andrew turned around to see what the inside of the house looked like. The whole house was simply one big empty room. There was no hall or kitchen or anything other than four gray walls and a few windows. The structure and layout was simple. There was not much in the way of furnishings either.

  “Now let me introduce you to my family,” said Katie. When she said that, two people suddenly appeared in the center of the room. Andrew had never even noticed there were other people in the room with them.

  Katie gestured to them. “Here’s my mom and dad. Aren’t they wonderful?”

  The father was tall and handsome. His hair and eyes were dark brown. His skin was very tan. The mother was beautiful but was much shorter. Her complexion was very pale in comparison. Both parents had bright smiles, as if they were extremely happy.

  “Pleased to meet you, Sir,” said Andrew, approaching the father to shake his hand. Smiling warmly, the father shook his hand but said nothing.

  Andrew yanked his hand away hastily from the father’s grip. “Cold!” Andrew stared at his trembling palm. There were cracks in his skin. “Frostbite?” Perplexed, Andrew raised his eyebrows. “Kevin.” Andrew turned back to search for his friend. Kevin was no longer around. Then he slowly came to a realization. “This is not real.” He looked at Katie. “This is not real.”

  Katie giggled. “What are you talking about? Of course it’s real!”

  “Your father is cold—freezing even. Kevin just disappeared. This house,” Andrew caught a fleeting glimpse of the walls changing color, “is doing things it shouldn’t be able to do. And most importantly…my memory…my memory…” Andrew shut his eyes tightly as though in pain. “I can’t remember what I did today.”

  “What are you saying, Andrew?” Katie smiled. “It’s real. Everything here is real.”

  Katie moved toward the middle of the room and a round table appeared beside her. Her parents sat around the table, giggling gleefully.

  “Come,” she said to him. “Come join us for dinner.” With a sweep of her hand, the table was soon filled with plenty of food: a large cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, and salad, among other things. “Don’t be shy. Come here and eat.”

  “Katie, are these your real parents?”

  “You’re talking funny again,” said Katie. “These are my real parents. That’s why they love me so much. That’s why they’re here in my home.”

  “But Katie,” Andrew said gravely, “you told me before that you were in a foster home.”

  Her eyes widening, Katie snapped, “Who told you that?”

  “You did.”

  “No, I didn’t. I don’t remember that.”

  “You did,” Andrew said again, this time more firmly. “You told me that.”

  “That was a lie,” she said softly. Facing downward, she fell quiet and there was a long period of silence. Andrew drew near to her, curious to see the expression on her face. Then Katie pushed him back with all her might and screamed, “THAT WAS A LIE!”

  Andrew regained his balance and said, “Look at this place. It’s rotting away. Look at your parents. They don’t even look alive. This isn’t where you want to be.”

  “SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” she shrilled. “Why are you doing this to me? Please stop this. Please…stop this.” Katie began to cry. Her tears flowed like rain and was unending. “Stop.”

  “Katie. You need to stop.” Andrew observed the changing wallpaper and saw images of her memories. “You once told me that your foster parents hate you. Now that I see inside your mind…it doesn’t look like that to me. You’re the one who doesn’t realize it. They love you, Katie. But they can’t give you their love if you keep pushing them away…if you keep rejecting it. You’re hurting everyone…even yourself.”

  “NO!” Katie screamed. “If I trust them, they’ll hurt me! They’ll love me and then abandon me! I hate them! They hate me! That’s the way it should be!” Then Katie digested her own words and fell to the ground, sobbing. “I’ll never get hurt. Again. That’s the way…it should be…”

  Andrew said, “How do you know if you’ll get hurt again? They are not the same as your parents. They are different people. You have to give them a chance. Katie, how long have you been with this last foster family?”

  Still on her knees, Katie looked up at him, brushing away her tears. “I-I’ve been with them for…six months now.”

  Andrew said, “In those six months, I bet you’ve tried to make their lives miserable. But regardless of what you’ve done to them, they’re willing to make an effort. So please…give them that chance.”

  Katie sniffed. The tears stopped flowing. She knelt there for a while, trying to regain her composure.

  Then she stood up, ran to Andrew and embraced him.

  “Maybe…I should. Thank you.”

  Andrew beamed. “Don’t thank me. I didn’t do anything. But I’m glad you’re feeling better because we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

  “They’re breaking through!” a dog barked.

  Raising his clenched fist high, Tom yelled, “Push them back!”

  Musing, Helios sat on Tom’s shoulder. “We can’t hold them back for much longer. And it’s already been two hours since Kevin last spoke with us. Maybe it’s time we formulated a backup plan.”

  Tom nodded. “But what kind of backup plan can we have? We don’t have options.”

  “Fighting on two fronts was a bad idea. Even if the areas are narrow, we don’t have enough soldiers to handle both sides. We should pull back and hole up inside a department.”

  Tom frowned. “You saw how those bears tore through the first barricade! It won’t—”

  “It’s just a matter of stalling time,” said Helios. “We have to pull back.”

  “If we pull back now, we’ll be trapped.”

  Helios made direct eye contact with Tom. “If we don’t pull back now, we’ll lose too many soldiers. We won’t last much longer like this.”

  Tom bit his lip. “But…I don’t know…I don’t want to pull back.”

  Helios snapped, “What you want doesn’t matter! We have to hold them off for as long as we can!”

  “Tom! Tom!” the computer shouted. “More creatures are approaching! It’s a new wave and much larger! They’ll reach our position in approximately ten minutes!”

  “Again?” Tom’s jaw slackened. “But they’re already crushing us! Why would they need more reinforcements? Oh gosh…this is getting worse and worse.” Tom considered passing out at a time like this, but Helios gave him quite a reproachful and intimidating stare.

  “If you don’t want to run, we can always fight,” said Helios.

  Tom raised a brow. “What are you talking about?”

  “They don’t know what’s going on here. They have no idea what Kevin is doing. We could hide Kevin’s body somewhere inside. Then, with our full force, we could make a final push to the surface through one of the exits. We could pretend like we have the solution and lead the animals away. If we do that—”

  Tom finished, “Then they won’t even bother with this place and Kevin will have as much time as he needs.” He added quickly, “Let’s go with that.”

  Helios said, “You won’t even think it over? I know I suggested it, but I’m asking you to put your life on the line. I won’t make you—”

  Tom said reluctantly, “Let’s do it. If I think it over, I’ll change my mind.”

  Helios grinned wryly. “You’re braver than I thought.”

  Tom shouted to the end of the hall, “Fall back! Everyone, fall back!”

  Almost immediately, a small group of dogs and cats rushed to Tom’s side. Tom gestu
red for them to follow him. With his trashcan lid in hand, Tom plowed through the smaller forest creatures that blocked the door to the exit. As the enemy tried to pounce him, he deflected them with his makeshift shield. The larger dogs went ahead to make open a path for their group. It took them a bit of time and effort, but they managed to reach the short ladder that led to the outside. Tom quickly closed the door behind them and helped the pets up the ladder. Then he followed them out.

  Their small group was surrounded on all sides. The Forest Army had mustered all their remaining forces and gathered them to this one spot for their last stand. Compared to all that surrounded them, the small force of the HPC was like a tiny dot in the landscape.

  For a moment everyone hesitated. The Forest Army simply stared at the small force of the HPC. It was amazingly quiet.

  Tom gulped, afraid to give any commands that would disturb the eerie, yet calm, pause. Then he decided to take a slight step forward, hoping to inch his way to a running start. Tom accidentally stepped on a branch. Crack. Once the noise echoed through the park, the bears began growling and the wolves started howling. The silence was broken. The Forest Army rushed in for the kill. Vibrations of their frenzied charge shook the blades of grass tremendously. Tom screamed as he tried to shield himself from the attack.

  But the wild animals didn’t attack them. Instead, they parted and scattered, yelping as they fled. The ground turned into a moving sea of brown, black and white. Astonished at the sight, Tom looked at the strange ground. It was then that he discovered the small furry creatures scurrying about. Rats. Swarms of rats were all over the place. They were climbing up benches, telephone poles and streetlamps. They were clinging off the backs of bears, gnawing at their skin. They were covering up entire wolves and deer with a blanket of their bodies.

  A rat met up with Helios and bowed down before him. “My liege! You’re safe! The Queen was so worried when she discovered that you were still alive!”

  Helios exclaimed, “I don’t believe it! Did my mother tell you guys to come?”

  “That’s right,” said the rat. “We are the Korgen Vermin Militia, at your service. What is your command?”

  Helios smiled. “Let’s mop up this mess and get this Forest Army out of our city!”

  The rat nodded. “As you wish.”

  - Denial -