Survival (original)

Written when I was 10 years old!

Prologue: The Intro

 

Hey. My name is Daniel Jones Grey and you’re not going to believe this but I am the last boy in the world. Yup. Daniel is one of the oldest names in the universe. Three eons old actually. And if you’re reading this, then you probably don’t remember anything that happened. You’ll find out later. But now, let’s start with the story. 30 years ago a famous person known as Mark Grey founded this planet, Vanity. I was told it was a beautiful place, with lush, green plants that could cure anything and amazing creatures of every kind. Now it is a reckless, destroyed, and polluted environment.                       Just like all other planets the human race have come across to.                             Well, actually half of it was the Novatron’s fault. The Novatrons, also known as Renz, came and killed and invaded the human race, and basically took over the planet. And my only chance of surviving is to contact others around the world, if they survived. The sad thing is, since Vanity’s resources were used, the humans made technology to go out of the collection of galaxies known as the Local Group and before the big day everybody was going to go on the ship and go find a new planet, the Novatrons attacked and they won. I think I’m the only one in this continent or country, Sillivann, so I have to find a way to get to the others. I’m only 11, and I’ve survived for a year. Maybe because my dad was a secret agent, and he had a secret bunker home underground, so no Renz’s found me. So I’m lucky. But my dad had to do a mission and mom had to do groceries at the night before we were going to go on a journey to find a new home. So they weren’t lucky. I actually haven’t met a Renz before, and I found out about them on the news, which I was watching the same night before we were going to find a new home. I have a limited supply of food, and I think I’m ready to go reach the outside world. So my journey is going to begin.

.  .  .

I pack my backpack. I get a toothbrush, a pack of granola bars, a sweater, an AI device, a laser dagger, a pocket knife, a lighter, an iphone with games, a videogame, and a picture of my family, my parents and my older, seventeen year old brother.                            I miss them so much.                 I feel tears coming but I hold them back.                               I walk to the front door, wearing a light sweater and a metal, extendable walking staff. I take a deep breath.                                  My journey for survival has begun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1: Exploration

 

6:00.                                      I make my way through the dense polluted forest. Man, this is a wasteland. As I step over dead leaves, little rocks and a few twigs, I plan my next move. I need a way to get off this continent. I have no experience in driving a plane, a boat, or even a car.                        I feel sweat trickling down my face. Maybe I can contact a signal beacon with my AI.                                   I stop in my tracks.                                      Do I even know what I am doing? Is this the right thing to do? Or should I just stay at the safe house and finish what is left of my resources?             Now I realize I’m really scared. Novatrons could strike at any moment.                       No. I am doing the right thing.                              Surviving.                          I shall never give up.

.  .  .

8:00.               And I have no place to rest. No shelter. My AI device says I have walked about 3 miles, and the map says I’ve reached the mountains. What if I can find a mountain cave?

.  .  .

9:00.                I found a cave. I shiver because of the coolness, and then start to go in. I can feel my exhaustion rise.          Beep! Beep!                                   Dang. My AI says a creature is in this cave.             Something growled.          Uh oh. Out came a vicious, cunning creature. It had the head of a polar bear, and the spikes on top that went all the way to the spine to the tail of an alligator. It was grey, like metal. The spikes were clear, blood red. It had massive teeth that went all the way around the jaw. It showed no fear, but it was like it sensed mine. I dropped my backpack, and he made no move. I slowly reached inside for my laser dagger, but it growled like it was saying no.                            I didn’t want to upset it so I let go of the bag. I extended my walking pole and got ready for battle. I couldn’t share the shelter with some, vicious beast. The fear bubbled up inside me. I had to kill it.                                          The coldness of the pole made my hands sore, and I tried not to think about it. Instead, I thought of the families that were killed, the homes that were destroyed.                            I charged.       The beast swiftly went to the right and jumped. Its massive, deadly spiked tail lunged for my forehead. I blocked it with my pole, and then batted it. It lay on the floor, helpless. I kept whacking it until my forehead got sweaty and blood gushed out from his stomach.                                    My first kill. 

.  .  .

Night one, and I’m still alive. No Renz’s yet, and I started to wonder if they left this continent.                      Nah.             They need the whole planet. They’re an entire race after all. I took out my photo and stared at it for a while, while the moon was still up. I guarantee it will be pitch black this evening, thanks to Vanity’s complex sun and moon system, at 12:00 it turns so dark, you can’t see anything at all.                                 I look at the photo one last time, then put it back. I grabbed my AI and stood up. Time to make a fire.

.  .  .

There has to be others left, I thought while on my way to search for twigs.                                                          I took my last; raspberry flavoured granola bar bite and littered it on the floor. Then I thought, nobody was there to clean it. No park monitors, security guards, no humans at all.                      I was the last human on Earth.                                   No, I can’t think that way. There has to be others, others that were as lucky as me, and hid in a secret bunker underground, maybe even older. But how much food and resources did they have? Am I really the last one?                                     God will help me. I am catholic after all. I prayed to him every night in that old bunker.                              Just when I finished the thought, I heard a rustle of leaves to my left. My blood ran cold as I thought, another creature?              Out came a terrifying nightmare.                         A Novatron.                                                              He looked adult, and also looked like the kursed in Thor 2, the one with the spiky helmet and really strong. The Renz didn’t charge, he just grunted. I stayed still. I was so scared. My life is going to end. MY LIFE IS GOING TO END! That’s when the Renz took out what looked like a recently used, bloody four-foot long machete. Oh no, just do it already. I closed my eyes, perfectly still.     No.                                                     I already took an oath that I was never going to give up. The human race depends on me, or all life on Vanity. Shoot.                                             I left my bag back in the cave. No bag means no weapons. No weapons mean certain death. I clenched my fist. How do I kill this thing if I don’t have a sharp weapon? Or an awesome jetpack with a variety of weapons to choose from like an omegalisergrasbexanizyqer that my dad used for missions and I have no idea how to pronounce it or what it is. He pronounced it so well.                                                                   Ok, I admit I was daydreaming. I opened my eyes, full of strength, confidence, courage, and adrenaline. Let’s do this.                                   He threw the sword and I quickly dodged to the right, the blade less than a centimetre from my face. I exhaled. That was close. I was always a champion at dodge ball. Then I thought of the bully at my school, David Yansi, who always picked on me and whipped dodge balls at me. What a jerk.                            I came back to the real world and studied what was going on. The Renz was charging, and the blade was coming back like a boomerang. BINGO! There was my ticket to survival. I simply ducked and the blade hit the dumb Renz right in the face. He lay dead on the floor, his life ending. I glanced at the Renz, full of joy that I was still alive.                           No, not my second kill. He basically killed himself. I continued on to finding twigs, with a smile on my face. I hurried because I was afraid that there were more Renz’s around the area.

.  .  .

I took my lighter and lit the fire with ease. The fire seemed to fight the coolness of the cave. It was quarter to ten. I fall asleep fast, knowing that at twelve there will be pitch, black, darkness.

.  .  .

I wake up hungry and cold and take an hour to have fun with my videogame, using its last juice and enjoying its last moment. I realize I need a full meal, not some granola bars. And water.                                                   After my exclusive rare 3DSI Xtra-large runs out of battery, I throw it real far. I watch it go down the massive mountain.                And then I hear a plop.     Water.                                I need a bath.                   I start running and don’t stop, with my bag and metal pole.

.  .  .

It’s freshwater.                                    At 10:00, I found a dead, half eaten animal that looks a lot like a cow beside a large pond of freshwater. I’m so lucky. At that moment I knew God was helping me. Well, of course it’s freshwater, I’m not on a beach of the ocean am I? I couldn’t hold back a nice, good laugh. I haven’t been this happy for over a year, or lucky. I am a scavenger now. I will act like a vulture, hunt for dead food. I laugh more.                                       It just sounded so funny.                           

.  .  .

After I cooked it for lunch, I continued on my journey to find transportation. It tasted wonderful, like real cow steak. So tender, so juicy, so delightful and satisfying, so…                                                        Uh-oh.       I need to go to the bathroom.

.  .  .

At five thirty, I take a swig of some sweet freshwater. Mm. Satisfying.                   I was sitting down, lying on an oak tree in the woods, stroking my chin. What’s my next move?                   I contemplated on that for a while. I need more resources so… Or should I just keep walking to find like a not destroyed speedboat. But I don’t think I can drive it across an ocean, it would take more power. So it’s settled. Find more resources, then some transportation. I start walking.

.  .  .

Yes.             8:00, and I found an abandoned neighbourhood. I choose a perfect, nice house and make my way in. I bash through the weak, dusty door. I can’t hold back the coughs that were coming. I cough on my sleeve and walk to the kitchen. I saw a coat rack and took a wool hat and a nice winter coat. I took a few cans of Insta-laser-cook sausages. I got a can of tuna that I can roast in a fire. I got a fork, and a big kitchen knife for a weapon, knowing I have a laser dagger.           And then I saw it.             A pocket radio. I took it and put it in my pocket, promising I’ll keep it with me at all times for a chance of survival. I’ll check later if anybody is doing a radio show. I walk upstairs happily and then stop dead in my tracks. Two, huge Renz’s were there, trashing the upstairs hallway. I chose the wrong house. I take my laser dagger in my right and my metal pole on my left. They both take out a pistol. The bullets come at me, but since my AI device is connected to my pole, it extends quick and spins around like a fan, with me letting go.                                                                            A bullet hits it, and the other zips from the wind to the forehead of a Renz. The other Renz was unaffected by the wind.                                           The pole stops and drops to the ground, with no time to pick it up, the Renz charges. It raises its left arm and punches. I duck under his armpit and his fist punches through the wall, with metal and wood chips flying everywhere. The sound was like a car crash, because of the metal. The Renz turns around, dropping his pistol from his right hand and grabs a metal pipe from the wall with two hands, and pulls it out. With water spraying everywhere, he bends the pipe to a long staff and gets ready to swing, like baseball. His eyes are like reptile eyes, vicious and furious. I was afraid and was losing my confidence, while he was angry. This is not going to end well.          Then he swung.                                       This is going to end. Right now. The bat came but at the last moment I ducked. I ran to him and stabbed him in the chest. Weakling.                                  How could a weak race like this bring humanity to extinction? They could have an army. This could be a scout. Before I think of more possibilities, I go to the next house just in case he contacted the others to come there. I am a little frightened. What if they find me in the house here? I make myself comfortable and sleep, thinking about that battle.

.  .  .

Some say you remember a lot about your past at the age of four. Here I am, walking in another forest, not remembering a time when I was told, “Happy Birthday” or being fed solid food for the first time before I turned four. Seventeen was my favourite number, and I wish that I have I nice year at that age. I know my brother, Mike, did. He had a girlfriend; he got nice grades, and sometimes taught or told me things. And my dad, my dad was awesome. He was the best father anybody could have. He wore glasses, but not on missions. His short, black hair made him look cool like James Bond. He was rich and famous because of his job, and brought us to amazing restaurants and fun road trips. My mom was an amazing cook. She knew sushi, deep-fry, grilling, everything! And I, had videogames and high-tech devices, desktop computers, holograms and a comfortable bed. My room reminds me of Tony Stark, from Marvel’s Avengers, because of all the holograms.                           I had such an awesome life.                               Why did it have to go away? WHY?

.  .  .

I have reached the fucchsilra tree forest. Fucchsilra was a Vanity tree species. It was slightly bigger than an Omegsa Gamoras tree, which was slightly bigger than a Daqux Polisvh tree, which was slightly bigger than an earth redwood tree.                                                     I always aced my tests in school.                  I checked my AI map and it says I’ve travelled out of the Vanity province Reminse and entered the border of Liddster. Shoot. I’ve realised I soon need to charge my AI. It was so helpful. I don’t worry too much because everybody has these latest technology made by an Einstein guy that I forgot. Everybody has them so the next house I find I might just find a charger and charge there, if the house has power. I then remember about the story of how the society of Vanity was created. From the books I’ve read, there was a famous intelligent man named Kyle Raede that was originally called “Scientist 134” and was known for the most intelligent man from that time which was weird because he wasn’t an Einstein. He had invented the “cure for anything” and helped Mark Grey to build Vanity as humanity’s home. Mark Grey’s dad, Steve Grey, was the human race’s leader at that time. He led the warriors to win battles when Mark Grey was just a kid. I’ve read that the five races that were fighting for Vanity were the rexels, the martians, the trixians, the voidals, and of course, the humans.                                    They found a solution: share the planet. Since martians were good diggers, they lived underground in Vanity. That’s also why when we went to Mars, a planet in the solar system of our first planet Earth, we didn’t find any life. We never discovered that there were martians under Mars’s crust and that’s also where the water was and life force. The rexels, had their own continent. The trixians, mostly lived in a space station orbiting Vanity but some were also sharing a continent with the rexels. As for the voidals, the most powerful race we’ve ever come across to before we found about the Novatrons, had their own continent too. We were allies. But then the Novatrons beat all of us, and our defences. They were so powerful.

.  .  .

I have reached half of the way through the forest. No animals, no Renz’s yet.                  This Grey has survived about three days now.                                              I need to find a house because I need to charge my AI. I study all the fucchsilra trees. They’re beautiful. The red and orange leaves sway back and forth of the wind. But there are no animals probably inhabiting these trees because of the Renz’s thirst for elimination of life on Vanity. The trees are so huge I’d probably take a day to climb one. The bark is dirty and chipped, like a Novatron bashed on it like a million times. What a garbage dump.

.  .  .

When I reach the outer border of the forest, I find a neighbourhood. I pick a house and go in. I walk down the basement, because that’s where people charge their AI’s.                                    That’s when I find her.        A girl was sitting on a green couch eating what looks like pizza. I was first to yell.                                            “AAAHH!!” I yelled.                     “AAH!!” she screamed. “You-you’re a human boy!”                                 “And you’re a human girl!” I replied.                                         Another one of my kind. I am lucky.                                      “How did you survive?” Was what she said after a minute of silence.                                      “How did you?”                     It took a while before we understood each other, and how we’d survive and what had happened to us. The girl’s name was Jasmine, and she was 10 years old. She, just like me, survived by being underground. Her basement was so deep it held a secret passageway to the martian’s territory. The night the Novatron attack happened, she went to the passageway and told the martians about the attack. They went into war and lost. The Renz’s found about the passageway and killed the remaining Martians, while she, hid in a bunker of the martians. After she was certain that the Renz’s were gone, she left and looked for resources. Just like me, she explored with a bag of stuff and found this house with food and water for a week because she was scared to go out again. Then I found her. We decide to travel together after, and we started to look for transportation to the rexel territory to see if any were alive. If not, we check voidal, then the other human continent. Us, the humans, owned two because of how much of their race they had left. We had more than any other race. So that was the plan.

.  .  .

I found a good outlet and charged my AI. Jasmine says we head east, to the Ramento Ocean, because that’s where she was heading but I said that I’ve been there and didn’t find anything so we argued for a few minutes before I ended it by, “I’m older and so I’m going west to the Yammmic Ocean and you can come or not because I’ve already checked that area where you want to go.” Which was kind of a lie because I didn’t check the coastal lines. I just wanted to head into rexel territory.                      While my AI was charging, I brushed my teeth and combed my hair with the supplies the house had. I’ve realised I haven’t showered in three days so I do that. I check my phone. It says the time is 6:00 and the event tomorrow was that Jasmine and I were going west. I don’t know why I had brought a phone if I have a better version of it. I just thought I’d use it if my AI were charging. While your AI is charging, you can’t use it. But it is way more advanced than a phone. And a phone has games and music. I then pack my things and take the AI charger and a phone charger. I go find a suitable room. There are three bedrooms, and Jasmine already took one. I occupy the second one. It is reasonably big. The walls were cracked, the windows shattered, and everything trashed. The clothes are dirty, so I don’t take them, but that was my plan though. Oh well. I did tell Jasmine about my pocket radio, and that I was going to try to find help tonight. I dropped my bag beside my bed, and shake the dust off the blankets. It’s been a year since the Novatron invasion. I sit on my bed, say a prayer, and then take out my radio out of my pocket. I switch to channels rapidly, looking for a sign of a human doing a forecast of weather or something, something to tell me that Jasmine and I are not alone. It’s highly unlikely though, because the night of the invasion everybody probably abandoned his or her homes and job buildings. I find nothing so I switch to walkie-talkie mode and connect my AI device to it using something called wer-nek. It’s similar to Earth Bluetooth but way more advanced and can connect across planets, and doesn’t need a network or anything. I use beacon-radio mode, so it’s like sending a beacon signal but also sending a radio message using wer-nek. I talk.                                  “Hello, this is Daniel Grey and I’m with Jasmine Skiel and we are two kids, 11 and 10 years old and we need help. We are survivors from the Novatron invasion and we are stuck in the continent of Asduxz and if you find this message then send one back that will tell us that there are other survivors in this planet and for the other races, translate this and trixian’s, I do not know if you survived the invasion because you are in space but please send reinforcements to help the humans. We need help.” I finished.                                                    I have no idea if anybody got the message.                I just get a good night’s sleep. 

.  .  .

“Dan wake up! We are under attack! There is a Renz at the front door!”                                  I hear Jasmine’s voice in the night and wake up as soon as I hear Renz.                            “What time is it?” I ask.             “It’s three in the morning.” She answers. “Let’s sneak out the back. The Renz could smash in any minute but I don’t know why he is here or if he knows we are here.” “Good idea.” I reply. I know I killed about three Renz’s, but that doesn’t boost my courage to fight a fourth. Besides, it’s three in the morning I am so tired. I grab my backpack and follow Jasmine to the back door, which she apparently knew where it was. She had stayed here for a week anyway.                         Eyes half closed and limbs slightly aching, we make it out. I get my staff ready just in case the Renz heard us and went to the back of the house. We climb over the fence and then crouch under so he won’t see us. I check my AI and it says he is going away.                 “Whew,” I say. “He’s gone.”                       “Oh thank goodness. So what’s for breakfast?”                                “Oh come on,” I begin, “It’s only three in the morning. Let’s find some on the way.”

.  .  .

We headed west.                                       We see a lot of cars so when we started getting tired we decided to take one. Neither one of us knew how to drive but I tried anyway. All I knew was that the right pedal was forward left was brake, the lever beside was the mode, and the driver’s wheel was to turn. Jasmine didn’t know anymore than that too.                               We drove until my AI said we’ve reached the coast.     During our road trip we’ve crashed more than ten times. We abandoned the car and started walking down the beach. I have to say, it’s pretty relaxing walking down the beach with someone cute.                                    

.  .  .

We found an electric boat.                  And if we find a power source for it, we can be off in seconds. The boat seemed a lot bigger than a speedboat, but way smaller than a cruise. We found it near what my AI told me was “Crazon Bay.”       We split up and started looking for something to power the boat. I head in the direction of a dam or Hydro power station and Jasmine went to look for a really, really, long electric boat cord. Electric boats were supplied with either solar, wind, or biomass energy. Fankux Einstein invented and designed them to charge in the water, and for some reason, nuclear or tidal or any other energy source couldn’t work. I head in the dam, and immediately hear footsteps.        Long, heavy, Renz footsteps.                          Dang it.                                   I get out my laser dagger. My staff extends fast, knowing that it is connected to my AI which knows that a Renz is in the area. The laser dagger pulses with energy in my left. I wait and expect a surprise, but then hear a grunt behind me. The Renz is behind me. I turn around sharply and he is inches away from me. He roars like a Viking and raises his right arm to smash. I run to the side, full of adrenaline. My hearts beats fast, knowing that there is a chance I could die.                                     But I can’t.                I’ll let down Jasmine; I’ll let down the human race, if we are the last ones. That is what gave me the courage to sneak to his back and leap to end him with my razor sharp dagger, but this one is a smart one. He turns quick enough to punch me to the wall. My spine hurts and it feels like I’ve broken my leg.                 I try to get up but he is already charging at me. He now has a bloody knife and he chucks it at me. It misses by a centimetre to my face. I get up with my remaining strength and stab the dagger to his chest when he comes to me. I kick him in the shin and knee him in the gut, knowing that there is no use because he is so strong he probably didn’t feel a thing. He drops to the floor, dead. I wipe his blood on him and go to the dam controls. This kind of reminds me of a movie I watched called Dawn of the planet of the apes where just like my situation, a big group of humans are stuck in their continent and they have no power so they need the dam to power their stuff to connect to whoever is still out there but the dam was controlled by intelligent apes and they didn’t let the humans get to the dam. But then they agreed to and at the end trouble gets caused and a war begins.                                                      I touch a button that says “ON” and suddenly the dam comes to life. This is all I had to do? Wow. Jasmine comes in the doorway of the dam and screams. “He’s dead!” I say before she goes overboard.                                           “I know but he looks disgusting.” She replies.                              “Did you find a cord at the lighthouse of the Bay? I’ve got the dam going.”              “Duh. Why would they have an electric boat if they didn’t have a charger?” She said while holding it up. We plug it unto an outlet and connect it to the boat. In an hour of charging and preparation and resource gathering, we set off.

.  .  .

I try the radio again.                                    Nothing. Everybody probably left the radio station and evacuated. I wonder if someone got my message and is trying to rescue us now. But they wouldn’t find us, because we are already sailing to rexel territory. I should’ve told them to find us there, because we’re not in Asduxz anymore. The rexel’s continent was called Rexawl and we are headed there now. I look through the boat’s supplies. A rope, three life jackets, a paddle just in case and a basket, probably to store fish or something. My eyes go over our food. We got a vast amount of laser-canned foods and a pack of bacon, two egg cartons, some bread and lettuce for sandwiches, peanut butter, a few candy bars and a giant lobster with a giant pot. We also gathered some firewood to cook, and I’ve got a lighter for that. Luckily this boat has an outlet, but that would also use up the boat’s energy. My staff sits beside my bag, and a big pack of classic Lays potato chips party sized. I looked through my bag and find all my stuff. I get out the pack of granola bars and offer Jasmine one but she refuses. I take my sweater out and wear it just in case it gets cold. I take my family photo out and glance at it for a few seconds. Then I take out my novel and read until five.

.  .  .

My AI says a storm is coming.                       The wind power is at level 9, and the thunderstorm level is 5. The highest.                     I get worried.  There are no rooms under the deck but there is a room at the top with a roof but no door though. Kind of like a fishing boat.                   I feel the first rain drop.                                         Jasmine is asleep so I wake her up and tell her a storm is coming. She must be buying it, because she wakes up right away and looks at the greyish clouds. I look over the bars of the boat. The waves are getting bigger. Then I hear thunder. The rain gets heavy, and by the time I get everything inside, it is pouring. I can see fear in Jasmine’s eyes, so I comfort her by telling her, “Don’t worry storms like this are natural and common for fishermen.”                But this was a Vanity storm. In Vanity thunderstorms are ten times worse. The winds are stronger and lava explodes. Any erupting volcanoes under us can explode on our ship. I shiver due to the coldness and then see Jasmine shivering too so I take my sweater and toss it to her. I rush out of the room, and start getting very wet. I hold up my AI and it tells me the storm will last about an hour. I shake my hair and get the water out and rush back in. I take the controls of the boat. I urge the ship to be in speed mode, which forces the ship’s turbines to go at an amazing speed. I look at the window. No sign of land yet.                                    The ship rocks back and forth, and it jumps.                                 There are volcanoes under us.                                   Dang it. I check my AI. We’re in the middle of Yammmic Ocean out of nowhere. Vanity’s oceans also had a slight acidity and so we couldn’t touch the water. But electric boats had acid-proof hulls so we don’t have to worry about the boat. We are headed west, my AI says and it is 7:00. It’s getting colder. I toss Jasmine the winter coat I stole from the house I’ve went to before and put on my light sweater. I try to look for any button that might shut the door of the boat room. I use my AI and scan for it, but found something even better. A radio! I grabbed it, and said, “Hello, this is Daniel and someone else speaking is there anybody out there?”    There was a response. A human! “Yes, this is Reymond we are in the second continent of human territory tell us your coordinates and we’ll find you.”                                                   “We are in the middle of the ocean we’ll tell you our coordinates once we get to land.” I answered looking at the AI in my hand. I put back the radio, so joyful that Jasmine and I aren’t the last ones. I kept scanning the controls and found bad news. The AI AND the boat were low battery. I can’t charge because the boat will lose energy and I have a cord but no outlet except the one on the boat. I contemplated on that on a while. Imagine charging your own boat with it’s own energy. I almost laugh when I hear Jasmine’s voice which snaps me back into reality. “Any problems back there? Whom were you talking to?” She asks.                                      “Uh, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is we aren’t the last humans on Vanity. There are others. The bad news is the boat is out of battery.” As soon as I finish the line something hits the underside of the boat. What is it now? It can’t be lava, because it would have been a different impact. It should be a sea creature.                               I use the last amount of juice of my AI to scan what is under the boat. Uh-oh. Now I am scared. It’s a craytozic polophysusx. It’s a voidal pet, but it will only be tamed and not dangerous if a voidal owns it. This one is in the middle of the ocean.         The vicious creature came up the side of the boat, with eyes gleaming and mouth full of drool. Its nasty teeth were full of cavities and rotten dirt. It had rough, purple spikes going down the back and seemed to be glowing. I have no idea why a voidal would love this as a pet. Well, they are an entire new race. I gesture Jasmine to go behind me as I take out my trusty laser dagger. I hold my staff lightly and realised that my AI isn’t here to guide it. It’s dead. The cratoz (which is the un-scientific name [the normal name {hi}]) charges first. It leaps and brings out its foot-sized claws and swiped with all his might. I block each blow with my dagger but one sliced through my right arm. When it drops I kick it with my bad leg. At least it’s not broken. I try to hit it with my staff but it is too swift. It ducks under my blow and jumps again. I slash my dagger and send it flying to the side of the boat. My arm is in pain because of the slice, and I can feel a headache coming. The creature gains control and charges. I try to kick it but it dodges to the left and leaps again. I hit it with my staff to the floor and finish the battle by stabbing it with my dagger. I sit down and tear a piece of shirt and wrap it around my injury. “Do you have an AI?” I ask Jasmine.                                             “I used to.” She replies.                                         “Well, mine is out of battery and we need it to send our coordinates to the others so we need to charge it but that leads to two other problems. We need the boat energy to get to land so I can’t charge the AI here and once we reach land rexels don’t use electricity so we won’t find an outlet.”              “We weren’t prepared.” She says, turning off the speed mode knowing that will use more energy.                                       “Of course we were, we just didn’t think this through. Electric boats weren’t meant to travel overseas they’re only used to transport fish and stuff to bays.”                                               “WHAT? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Jasmine said.                 “We had no other choice.” I explained.                   “Of course we did! You said you were talking to a person that you were going to send coordinates to why didn’t we do it when we were at the beach? They could have transportation.”                          “Because I just figured about the boat radio during our trip.”                      Silent moment.                                                        

“Fine. It was my fault. I should have scanned the controls earlier. And I kind of lied when I said I checked the east coast. I just started there.” I confessed.                              “Well I’m glad you went west. So I wouldn’t stay in that house.”                                    Another silent moment of thinking.            “So this is it?” Jasmine asks.                               “No it’s not. We’re never going to give up. I have an idea.” I reached into my bag and took out my iphone. I also took out my pocket radio. I was going to use wer-nek to figure out where we are, and our coordinates. And search up electric boat controls. I put the radio to the wer-nek mode and connect to my iphone. Yes! I got three bars because like I said, wer-nek doesn’t need any networks. A little bubble of joy is inside of me. There is a chance we can survive. I go to Google maps and find where we are. We are a hundred miles to the coast. But I don’t think the energy we have can make it. We need to conserve. “Jasmine, go to the controls and shut down all the power systems so that means the lights are going to be off. We need to save the power to make it to the coast.”          I check the phone again. I find our coordinates. I search up “electric boat controls” and it shows a picture with arrows pointing to each lever and button, telling them what they are. I find one that says “emergency power button.”      “Yes!” I yell. Then thunderbolt booms in the distance. I go to the controls and Jasmine moves aside. I find the button and push it. I wait for the battery of the boat to go up or whatever it’s going to do. Nothing.                                                                “Dan look!” Jasmine says.      I look behind me, and see a door open up from the deck.          “Bingo! There’s a room down there.” I say, looking down. So there WAS shelter in case of a storm or something. I gesture for Jasmine to go and say, “Ladies first.”            She rolls her eyes but goes in. I look to my left, then right, checking for any problems. Then I grab our bags and stuff and go in.                 

.  .  .

“Dan! There’s emergency battery packs here!” Jasmine tells me as I follow her into the room. I set down our bags and look at all the battery packs. “Perfect, shelter from the storm and power supplies.”                                                I grab one, find a slot, and push it in. I go up to the deck. Our power is restored! Each battery pack refills it to full. And we’ve got a dozen! I charge my AI too. I go downstairs and Jasmine is cooking a laser-can sausage.                        “Dinnertime.” She says.

.  .  .

We are here.                  It took us all night but at dawn six o’ clock we made it to rexel territory. The ship lands in the sand. We grab our bags and take some battery packs just in case. We exit the ship and walk in the unfamiliar, slightly red sand. “Well,” I said, “rexel territory. I’ve never been here ever in my life.”                                                                       “So, what’s our next move?” Jasmine asks.                   “We send the others our coordinates right here and wait I guess.”                                “That’s it? We’re saved?”                         “That’s it.” I said as I send the coordinates.                                        Jasmine sits down on the sand and rolls a sleeping mat we found in the cargo hold of the boat and takes a nap while I send the coordinates and entertain myself by reading my novel. My photo of my family sits beside me. It’s like they’re right there, watching me read. I wonder what my dad would think of me now. We have survived like five days now. We saw a few Novatrons but we took care of them. He’d probably say that I’ve been brave, and knowledgeable, and lucky and stuff like that. And my mom would probably say “Good job!” and would cook her famous delicious spaghetti and meatballs. Then I look over to Jasmine.                                        She is so beautiful.       I watch her take breaths while she sleeps, and see a photo of her family sitting beside her. I study every detail of it. She has an older sister that looks eighteen and a brother that looks twelve. So she’s the youngest. The photo looks like it was taken outside, like in their backyard. Hmm.       I sit back down on leaning on my backpack.                                     I don’t know how long the others are going to get us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2: Hunting

 

It’s been three days.                                     Nobody came to get us. We haven’t seen any Renz’s too. We are running out of food too. I tell Jasmine the news.                                             “Jasmine, we’re running out of resources and I’m getting bored. Let’s go find the others. Something could’ve happened to them. And we could run into them in the way.”                         Jasmine agrees. “Yah let’s go.”                               We pack our things and grab the leftover cans. There are like seven left. We put our bags on and head west. I check my AI like every minute, and no Renz’s. I swat off the annoying mosquitoes. I already have two bites, near my leg. They aren’t itchy yet. It immediately gets humid, so we stop to get our sweaters off. I start to sweat as I make my way through the broken sticks, the purple rexel mushrooms, and the lime green leaves of the rexelian tranku trees. They seem to be glowing in the sunlight. No Renz’s, rexel survivors, or humans. In fact, no life at all in this area, even the mosquitoes are gone. The thought of them makes my try to scratch my leg. When I get up is see Jasmine gasping in front of us. I rush to see what it is, and it’s a pool of graben sweat. Graben was a rexelian species that has the head of a cypertronian (planet) unka (animal) and an earth dog body. And they sweat like crazy. The bad thing is the sweat is corrosive, poisonous, and acidic. And by acidic, I don’t mean like acid rain that does minimal damage. I mean corrosive and acidic combined together which means one touch can burn through to the bone in a half second.                     I try to think of a way to get across, but then I see what Jasmine was really gasping at. Four full-sized Renz’s staring at us at the other end of the pool. Their eyes were hypnotic and full of rage. The horns on their bone helmets looked like a foot long.                    “What’s the plan?” Jasmine half-whispered to me. I tried to find a way across, and what to do when we got to the other side. Making a thinking face, I crossed of all the possibilities. No going around, trees blocked the way. No materials to build a bridge, and that is an advantage for the enemy because the bridge could be weak and all they have to do is shoot us with their pistols and we would burn to skeletons for sure. No swimming, which is an obvious one. I glance at the Renz’s again. They are thinking too. The pool is too long to jump through, and if we made it we could bump into the enemies. But then we have no choice, because right then Jasmine yells, “Dan, they’re behind us too!”                           I almost don’t believe it but do when I turn around. I better take my chances with jumping. “Jasmine we’re going to have to jump.” I say seriously. “Only choice.” I finish. She nods after a few seconds and takes my hand. We get ready. Right when the Renz’s could reach us our feet fly off the floor. And that’s when I learn we’re evolved. We fly over the pond, and even the Renz’s! I first believe it’s luck or something, but then realize somewhere in the book it said that the famous Mark Grey had evolved powers. They say it was a rumour, but I guess it wasn’t.                          “What the heck?” Jasmine says.                                   When we land and start running I explain it to her. The Renz’s are gaining on us, but then we soon outrun them like cheetahs. Evolved speed too? Sweet! I check strength too by punching a tree. I get splinters but the tree falls steadily to the floor. Awesome! Jasmine sees me playing around and says, “Let’s go!”                                                         “Their gone Jaz, There’s no need to run.”                                       “Yah but we need to find the other’s camp. And don’t call me that.”                                     “The others are in the other human continent.”                             “Why didn’t you tell me? No wonder they took so long.”                  “I didn’t tell you because I thought they had transportation so they would find us quickly.”                                                                 “Dan, Vanity is a big planet. It would take a week to get here even when using a plane.”                              “How about a jet?” I joke.                “Would you stop? Get up and let’s go. There’s no time to waste the Renz’s could come an second.”        “Shh, don’t jinx it, plus we ran a mile away.”

.  .  .

I believe in superstitions. That’s why I believe in luck and jinxing. Including crossing fingers, four leaf clovers, not being at table thirteen on special occasions, but not wearing yellow underwear on New Year’s Eve. I don’t even have yellow underwear.                                              Jasmine thinks it’s silly, but she is catholic too.                              Anyway, no more Renz sightings, and I’ve got my AI connected to my pole for that. Right now I’m listening to Demons, an Imagine Dragons song. I stole ear pods from a house we came across to. Well, not really stolen. The owners are probably dead. I nod my head to the beat of the music. It’s awesome. I could listen to this during battle to make me focus.                             We’re out of the forest. We are in the desert now, and the sand is actually orange. Vanity is a planet way more different than any planet we’ve encountered. It’s perfect, great plants and animals, perfect weather (except the seas), perfect habitats, environments, and ecosystems. It’s an amazing planet, better than all the rest. But now it is a barren, destroyed wasteland. Trashed by the terrifying race known as the Novatrons. Unlike before, I’m not scared at the thought. I’m here with another human, looking for other humans. My AI will tell me if there are monsters, and my staff will react. I actually gained a lot of confidence and self-esteem when I figured out I was evolved.                               It’s where my demons hide, it’s where my demons hide.               That’s right you Renz cowards, hide in fear after the human race will come back together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle magically solving itself. Like we’re trying to solve this Novatron problem.                  Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside.                        That reminds me of the graben pool of sweat. It’s dark down there.                               It’s dark in Vanity for all life in this world.

.  .  .

No humans.                          I’m starting to get angry. Maybe Jasmine’s right, luck is not true. By now I’m thinking we’ve reached halfway the rexel continent.                         And then I heard a scream. A rexel yell for help. Jasmine and I rush to the ear-splitting noise and we come to a village.                                   “Rexel survivors?” Jasmine asks.                 “I’m one-hundred percent sure.” I reply.                                We keep following the scream, and pick a house made of mud and a krangg metal called “utansiloo”. Krangg was like a category of rexelian material. Just like metal, which the materials iron, cobalt, nickel and more go into. Krangg is a category of hard-substance material with utansiloo, transilicon, rewstaq, and more. Yup, 3 eons later and all you get is a bunch of silly names. And some awesome devices like AI’s.                                                                 When we zip into the house, we see a rexel stabbed in the chest from the rear. He actually speaks to us, but in rexelian. I grab my AI translator mode when he starts.                       “Humans… be… careful… there are Renz’s all over the p-p-place. Find the… beacon… i-in this village. The.. h-humans that were trying to… find.. you were attacked… by the aliens… the beacon.. the b-b-beeeeeacon…..”                                             Jasmine and I exchange glances.                                                             “So something did happen to them!” Jasmine says.                       “Yah and he says a beacon is in this village. I can’t use my AI scanner because it never met the beacon.”                                    “Can’t you just use the AI beacon mode? Instead of the other one?”                        “Like I said, my AI never met the people. Obviously the other one met the people, it will lead us to them.”                            “Well, we better find it. Like he said, there are Novatrons all over here. They probably killed him.”                                               “What if there are other rexel survivors, still in this village?”                              “Unlikely, let’s just go after the beacon.”                       “Right,” I finished. We split up and search each house, and the whole village. Nothing.                             “Every single house?” Jasmine asks.                        “Yah.” I answer, feeling unlucky.                            Suddenly, I hear a growl behind us. I know it’s a Renz instantly, because my AI beeps like crazy and the growl was so recognizable. I swiftly turn around, facing the Renz a few metres away. There are five.                                                          Dang it.

.  .  .

My AI reacts first.                      My staff extends quickly, and spins horizontally like a helicopter propeller. It hits each head but the Novatrons stand there like it’s nothing, like it’s just a little pest. One grabs it and tries to snap it, but only succeeds in tiring himself. I snicker. That pole was given to me on my 10^th birthday, and was made or titanium core supplies two, the second strongest metal on Vanity. Instead, he throws it back at me and I simply stay put while the AI stopped it. I put on my ear pods and play my favourite song. Then I pass the laser dagger and the kitchen knife to Jasmine and tell her, “You’re going to have to fight.”                              A Renz cracks his knuckles and charges. The others take out weapons.                                                              I charge and advance on them quickly. A Renz swipes and I duck, sliding to the next one. I hit it with my pole, tripping it. A Renz smashes off a piece of krangg from a nearby house and chucks it at me. My AI hits it away, the loud clang of metal and krangg clashing as one sound. I see a Renz coming at me but before I could react Jasmine stabs it from the back with the laser dagger. The Renz falls and I could see Jasmine holding out the bloody, flashing dagger.                          I smile. She helps me up and says, “Look out!”                             I turn quickly enough to see a Renz about to shoot at me. The finger pulls on the trigger and my AI reacts fast enough to bat it away. I grab the flying pole and throw it at him. It extends and hits the creature right in the face. I turn around and see more Renz’s advancing on us. Jasmine is onto one, so I take my pole and start whacking Renz’s left and right.      They say it’s what you make, I say it’s up to fate, it’s woven in my soul, I need to let you go. Your eyes they shine so bright, I want to save that light. I can’t escape this now, unless you show me how.                                             When you feel my heat, look into my eyes, it’s where my demons hide, it’s where my demons hide. Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside. It’s where my demons hide, it’s where my demons hide.                          Blam! Blam!                                      The sound of Novatron guns interrupt my music. I try to gather my thoughts. So far, two Novatrons were killed. I run up to Jasmine and give her my AI and pole.                                “I’m going to search for the beacon. There could be more coming so it’s best to search now.”         She nods and accepts the weapon.                  “Take this though. Better to be safe than sorry.”                               She passes the laser dagger. I run to search. Demons replays.                                     When the days are cold, and the cards all fold, and the saints we see are all made of gold.                      When your dreams all fail...                                  Dreams, beds. Rexelian beds. Rexelian beds in rexelian houses.                                     That’s it! Rexel beds have a cabinet under that always hid prized possessions. What if he hid the human beacon under there? It’s a silly idea, because it’s super unlikely that he had the beacon. The humans probably did, but it’s worth a try.    I ran to the house and ran upstairs. I look under the bed quickly.                                I’m a genius.                                 Jasmine says she checked all houses, but did she check all places? I don’t think she knows about rexelian cabinets under beds that held prized possessions. Thank you music!            I grab the beacon, but when I do Jasmine yells for help. I can’t check it now. I rush downstairs and run outside, only succeeding in finding a Novatron holding up Jasmine by the neck. The weapons are on the floor.                                             Shoot.        I hide the beacon behind my back and start looking for the beacon beam button. The Novatron’s grip is tight as Jasmine mouths, hurry!              I’ am! I mouth back. I find the button and press it quickly. A Renz comes up and says, “Surr-ren-derh.”                                    They’ve been learning English.    “Pardon me?”          I turn around quickly to see a gang of people coming in what looks like speeder pods. There are about fifteen. Humans!                              One takes a gun out and one-shot-kills the Novatron holding Jasmine. The Renz falls helpless. My joy level explodes. There are other humans AND they’ve got sick weapons that I have no idea what they are! And they’ve got transportation! The other Renz’s look at each other, drop their weapons and fled the battle. I turn to the human that looked like the leader and said, “They’re scared of you?”                 “No, they’re getting reinforcements. They’re just tricking you.”                     He lends a hand and I climb on to the speeder pod. He has a thick, bushy black moustache and a hat like Indiana Jones. An explorer’s hat.                                        “What’s your name boy?” He asks.             “Uh, Dan. And the other girl is Jasmine.”        My turn to ask the question.            “Are you survivors of the Novatron invasion?”                                   “Yes. We hid underground in bunkers for a year while the invasion happened. My name’s Reymond. You can call me Rey. You were talking to me on the radio.”                                           Now I remember!                  “How many of you survived?”                                    “Those of us who survived were special. We gathered all of the people in this continent. We are a total of fifty. I am the leader. How many humans did you find?”                                        “Only her.” I say, gesturing to Jasmine. “I haven’t really checked. I was scared to because the Novatrons are everywhere there. You have all these guns and transportation.”                         “I see. You had no other choice.”       “So how long are we going to take to get back to your base?”                                          “We took weeks to get here. Now we will take weeks to get back. A half of a quarter of the way we will have to abandon our pods. They’re low battery. Now come, let’s start going, because the Novatrons will be here shortly.”

.  .  .

At seven o’ clock we made a camp.                     The campfire shines brightly, flames dancing, fiery inferno burning.                  Jasmine’s voice interrupts my thoughts.                         “Dan.”                                   I turn and look into her beautiful eyes.            “Who are these people?”                                    “They’re humans Jaz. And at seven thirty we’re going to introduce ourselves.”                              “Oh. I told you to stop calling me that.”               “Sorry. Its instincts.”                                            “How is that instincts? You’re just being silly.”                                   I lean back into my floating laser chair pod. Seven thirty comes. A man passes little bags of chips. I’m not in the mood. I put it in my bag. Everybody takes his or her seats. Rey starts first.                    “Everybody, say your names as you we go around to our new members.”                                                      There’s Luke, Ethan, Nick, Joey, Nathan, Kevin, Michael, John, and so much more that my brain couldn’t take it all in. It’s my turn. I tell everybody I’m Dan, and same with Jasmine. After that music blares and everybody takes out wine and starts talking. I turn my pod into bed mode. It transforms and I start eating my bag of chips for dinner. The salty, savouring taste explodes in my mouth. I remember the cans in my bag and take that out and decide to eat that for dinner. After I take my novel out and read a few chapters.          Then darkness and sleep overwhelms me.

.  .  .

I dream of Vanity.                                                            The lush, green plants that make up its jungles. The animals of every kind, the urban communities making up Vanity’s world.                                 The creation of Mark Grey.                                        Then, explosions rock nearby. The Novatrons are here. I remember every detail, the mother ship crashes on the mountain. Humans are killed, one by one, all falling helpless to the floor. People evacuate, and explosions are everywhere.                                    A Novatron walks slowly, assassinating all the people nearby. He is way more muscular and bigger than the rest. About five times bigger than me, he swings a huge mace around and around.                         I fear he’s the leader.                                      Then, I see Mark Grey, holding a laser scythe that emits a dark, blue energy that vibrates through my chest. It looks connected to an AI.                       He’s facing the leader.         He holds the scythe in two hands, both enemies getting ready for the duel. The fierce, flaming, angry eye of the Novatron leader blazes through his helmet. From his back sprouts two, huge wings. Dragonish wings that look like it’s from a devil.                  Mark Grey looks brave and courageous. He knows that if he kills this beast, he would save all of Vanity. From his back transforms a jetpack, with laser blasting out that pushes against the hard, concrete floor.                                You can do this. I think. This is my dream.                    But nothing stops me from knowing that he doesn’t win, that the Novatrons claim victory.                                                                        And because of that negative thought, the Renz wins the duel.    And then he comes for me.                                            He holds his mighty mace, and it transforms into an almighty staff with a blazing fire at the top.               No, no, this is my dream.                                                 He’s metres away now. He’s going to kill me.                 This is my dream!                                                               Then I wake up, hearing Jasmine’s voice calling my name. My eyes fully open, and I’m back in reality. I can fully hear Jasmine now.                         “Dan! The gang’s leaving you overslept!”                                    I jump out of the bed pod and put on my shoes. I grab my bag; check for all my things, then put it on my back and leave.

.  .  .

We’re in a desert.                         The blazing sun burns on my raw skin. I look into my bag and take a swig of my water bottle.                           Suddenly, Rey raises a hand to tell us to stop and then the gang abandons their speeder pods.          “There are most Novatrons in this area so be careful.” He warns us. “Hold your weapons and yell code red if you see any. We work as a team.”                                    “Sir, we are running out of food too.” Luke says.                                 Rey turns around to face him.                             “How much do we have left?”                                      “My AI graph mode says we will run out of food in less than a week.”                                                           “What are we going to do? The desert will take obviously more than a week to go across and it takes days to go back. We can’t afford to lose any more time. The humans back in the base need us!” Michael said.                      I have no ideas. In fact, I don’t think anybody has an idea of what to do here. My stomach suddenly rumbles. I start to think they didn’t think or plan about this trip. Well, they didn’t have time. When a boy and a girl are stranded alone your first instinct is to go find them and help.             Maybe. We wait for Rey to answer, but he doesn’t. He just contemplates for a minute or two.                        “We will take the risk. We are the rebellion. Anything we do will be honoured for the human race, even death.” He finally says.                                  I only have two cans left of laser-can sausages and two granola bars. Dang it. That’s not even going to last me a day. I walk over to Jasmine and ask, “How much food do you have left?”                                    “A can of the sausages and the bag of chips from last night.” She replies.                     That’s not much more than me. We are so dead.

.  .  .

 

 

I am so bored.                                   Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, they do. A group of Renz’s with seven members appeared. Two have blue crystallized spears, three have a pistol and laser double sword, and two more have a mini tank with laser blasters on the side and different helmets. The helmets have a different style, and they’re painted differently. They also shine a bright greenish-blue.                         “Stay back, and get your weapons ready.” Rey ordered.                   “Stay together.”                 He took out a metal mini pole. It extended and has a blue laser scythe at the top.                                           The dream rushes back to me. Mark’s scythe, the deadly Novatron leader, or what I think he is. His devilish wings coming toward me, and his staff flaming. He was about to slash it at me when Jasmine called my name. Whew. But it was a dream anyway; I try not to think about it.                       Rey’s scythe floated off his hand. I can only guess it’s also connected to an AI. But his is way more advanced. It spins, and right then he yells, “Fire!”                            When he crumples his hand into a fist gunshots explode behind me. My head sharply turns to see that everyone has a pistol in his or her hand. I get my dagger and grip my pole. I’m ready to die for the human race.           Then I hear a loud, magnetic sound and all the bullets stop in front of the tank, and fall to the floor. Then all the guns come straight toward the magnet, and drop too. The tank moved forward and crushed them all.                    Now I see how they defeated us all.                      They have advanced technology, strength, science and magic, and weapons.        The two guards with the crystallized spear runs up. The gang takes out laser swords.                                       One Renz slashes, and Rey’s pole blocks the blow. Everyone then tackled after him.                                       I chuckle. This is their fighting strategy?                                The Renz pushes with all his might, and actually manages to push all fifteen humans off of him. That is strength right there. Out of the corner of my eye, the other Renz’s are coming at me.                                     I turn swiftly and block a blow with my pole from a spear. The AI automatically saves my life by blocking a hit behind me.             I’m surrounded. Then a member of the gang runs to me. He throws a mini laser arrow. Unlike a normal one, it zips through each Novatron in the back of the chest, ripping holes. One grabs it and snaps it. A Renz kicks the man in the stomach, and sends him flying. For revenge, I climb onto his back, and try to stab him. He rocks back and forth, and violently shakes me off. A Renz holds a sword out to stab me, but my AI blocks it. I try to regroup with the others, so the AI pole lies flat on the ground. I go on one corner, and then it catapults me out. I slash a Renz in the cheek on my way out of the crowd. It burns into his skin, like laser would’ve done. I run away from them, looking for the others. I hear a tank missile fire.       Please not the one behind me, please not the one behind me.                                         But it is. The AI pole blocks the missile, and bats it away. It goes right to the Novatrons and explodes.                  Thank you AI that was given to me for my birthday.                                  I look around, blocking the sun from my eyes. No gang. No Jasmine. I yell.                  “REEEEEEEEEEYYYYY!”                                  No answer. How could we get separated so easily?                                  “JAAAAAASSSSMIIIIINE!”                                           I’m lost and scared. Another blocked missile. I can’t keep this up forever. I grab my AI and go into map mode. No gang. I try my beacon. No gang. I try wer-nek with pocket radio. No gang.                                    Oh please let this not happen God. Please. I’ve found humans and now I’ve lost them.                                Am I crazy? Did I dream of all of them? Even the dream I had?         Another missile. No. When Jasmine found the boat cord for me, that wasn’t a dream. When they gave out the chips, that wasn’t a dream. It tasted real, and salty. But there are disadvantages too. Like when we jumped over the graben sweat pool. We flew over them!                                                      But I know they’re real. I feel it. I’m awake, right now at this very moment.                                                       No tricks.                                                       So I shape up and try to find a way to escape them. The sun’s heat is infuriating, and there is only desert for miles and miles.                So then I have to turn the old saying “if you can’t beat em’, join em’,” into “if you can’t beat em’, surrender and save your life.”                                                                      I turn around and raise my hands in the air, and they stare at me in confusion. They probably don’t know what surrendering means so I take my AI and translate to them that I’ve given up.      

.  .  .

We have lost Daniel.                                         Jasmine is crying, saying that we have to go back and save him but I said it’s too dangerous. I feel sad too. But if we go back we could risk the whole team. And we can’t afford that, because I’m the leader of the remaining humans.            I finish the last of my water from my canteen and wonder what is going to happen to Daniel. I already told Jasmine that once we get back to the camp we will gather more soldiers and weapons and resources and go back to help him. But what if they execute him? We could’ve gone for nothing. Jeez, sometimes decisions are hard when you are leader.

.  .  .

I just have the perfect idea to know if Daniel is alive. He didn’t give back the AI beacon so I can track him. Just then Kevin runs up to me and tells me that there is high volcanic activity coming. Oh no.

.  .  .

Lightning.                   The bright flash startled me. It was so fast my eyes couldn’t get all the information in. Right now I’m in a room, maybe a jail cell. They took my things so I don’t know what time it is. All I know is that weeks are passing, and the gang is probably back at the camp, celebrating, all happy like all melancholy has left this realm.                         And I’m here stuck with a bunch of hairy powerful drooling creepy annoyingly rude skunk breath monsters. That’s right, you guys are all noobs. Once we repopulate you jerks will cower in fear from the power of the humanoids. But I might be dead. And the humans could probably be off this world already. So I’m doomed. Just then a scary looking Renz busts in the door and grabs my arm. He yanks me to another room and ties me up with a rope made of a material I don’t know. He holds his sublime staff like it’s so amazing, and then bangs it on the floor. His eyes turn into big huge balls of reptile flame. He turns bigger and bigger until he is twice the size of a normal Renz. Devilish wings sprout out from behind, and he burns like a flaming fireball. The last step is the staff. Its flaming end expands into a giant orb inferno. I immediately recognize it from my dream. He’s the leader!                                I can sense his smile from underneath his bone helmet, and his blazing anger towards me. Then he speaks.                                  “You recognize me pity boy?”                                     I jerk my hands forward, and try to go for his throat, but only succeed in making cuts on my wrists.                                                           “Don’t try. Those Novatronian ropes are designed to suck up human evolution. You are now backing to your first stage.”                                    He paces around the room, making his ball of fire expand on each step.            “You killed Mark Grey!”    He turns his massive head to me, and walks until his face is inches away.          “Your weak leader was no match for this race. When a species is more intelligent, powerful, and strong, they have the right to annihilate another species.                           I spit in his face.    When the saliva touches his helmet, it melts due to the flaming heat.               “Tell me where your friends are.”             “Dude, I’ve never even been there before, I don’t know where it is.”                      “You have no right to call me that human nickname. You shall call me, Titanetrox. The leader of the Novatron empire. The strongest of all species. We have never met such a weak race.”                     “We may be weak compared to all the other races, but in the end, you will perish. We will be the one who will distinguish you with our power and save millions of other races beyond us. The only weak force is you.”              Titanetrox doesn’t look insulted, he just walked out of the room while two guards took me back to my cell.                                Stupid Renz’s.

.  .  .

Why haven’t they executed him yet?                     Not that I want them to, but I’m curious. I’m staring into my AI, which is telling me that the beacon is somewhere west, which that beacon is telling my AI that a human life signature is alive in that area. The area I’m probably looking at is the Novatron base. Or camp. Or neighbourhood, or whatever they call their homes in Novatronian.                                Michael interrupts my thoughts.                           “We’re here,” he says.

.  .  .

 

I’m so bored in my cell.                                Every week they bring me back into the room, asking the same question over and over again. The truth is, I actually don’t know where the dang camp is.                They probably know that, they’re not THAT dumb. So then what’s the point in asking me?                                                        This week is different. They take me to a different room, one that is more clean and fresh. Titanetrox sits on a chair holding my AI on a table.                                        “Locate them.” He orders.                                 I instantly knew what he meant. Now they’ve got me. The Novatron guard pushes me to the other chair. I take the AI slowly and turn it on. The bright blue light triggers happiness inside me knowing that I’ve got a piece of human technology in my hands.                                                  The leader looks at me with curiosity, and I wonder how they’ve survived for three eons like us if they’re bodies are ONLY meant for battle. They are certainly not a new race, because Titanetrox said we weren’t the first race that has perished. And they’re bodies are way too advanced to be in it’s first stage of evolution.                             I let go of my thoughts and quickly go to the life signature mode. It can scan for miles and miles for any life forces, and I’m looking for a big group of life signatures, and also big. I wonder what will happen next after I give them away. Will he double-cross me? Will he execute me after? And that’s how I made a deal. Before telling the coordinates to Titanetrox, I turn to him and ask, “What will happen if I give you the information on where they are?”                       He pauses for a few seconds, and then says, “You will be kept prisoner forever.”                                               “Fine. But let’s make a deal, if I give you the coordinates, you have to promise to let me go with all my stuff.”                               “We’ll kill you if you don’t.”               I knew this was going to end like this, so I have made my decision.                        “Sure.” I don’t mind dying for the human race.                                       Titanetrox scratches his chin. Then he replies, “You are a smart kid. I accept. But show me the coordinates first. And we’ll let you go, but at the first sight of you coming back we’ll kill you.”                                                          “Deal.”                          I almost smile. I always have a trick up my sleeve. Since Renz’s don’t know a thing about AI’s, I told them the coordinates to the rainforest, and even show them on the AI how it’s so densely populated. I also told them the big animal life signatures on the AI screen were the adults and the little animals like the birds and even insects were the children.            Phase 2 of my plan will be once they let me go, they’ll obviously go after the rainforest, so I will go back to the REAL camp, and there you go. My plan is so brilliant.

.  .  .

They call this a camp.                                       The gang and I are standing in front of a cave. I think there’s a secret passage.           “Is the camp underground?” I ask Reymond.            “Yes Jasmine.”                        Once we walk in he pulls a rock spike on the floor and it turns holographic. A blue doorway opens up. I get it, the doorways holographic to fool Renz’s. No wonder why they can’t find the humans. When we get in the doorway we walk down a very long staircase. When it ends, we enter a large cave city, with humans everywhere, full of happiness. I recognize this place immediately. The martian territory! This wasn’t the exact continent I hid in, but I recognized the buildings anyway.                       Reymond lead me into a room, and I dropped my stuff in there. There was one bed, and a dresser. I don’t have many clothes anyway. He leads me to the showers, and after we ate dinner. Roast chicken and potatoes, I couldn’t have felt any better.                           At the dinner table we talked about how to rescue Daniel, and something called ProjectXX4, which I don’t know about.                                “I can only send small life signatures.” Michael said, as he jotted down notes about the plan.       “You mean kids?” Reymond asks.                          “There’s only space for two.” Leroy said.              Reymond contemplated on this, then he said, “Do we have any experienced children here?”        Everybody looked at me.                                          “What? Why me? What is this even for?” I asked.                       Reymond explained. “We are working on a time machine. It is only first generation, so we can only send children. All the children here except you are inexperienced survivalists.”                         “What’s the time machine for?”                    “Your mission is to go back in time, save Mark Grey from dying, and save the human civilization before it even got extinct.”                                  “How am I supposed to do that? It’s not like I have powers to defeat the leader or something.”                                            “Please, you are our last hope.” Said Kevin.         “You are going to go with Daniel, he’s a smart kid. He’ll think of something. That’s why we need to save him first.”

.  .  .

Phase 2 of my plan is in action.                              A Novatron takes me out of my cell and gives my bag of stuff to me. When we get to the entrance he pushes me out. He walks back in and closes the door. I take a look around me; I’m back in the desert they caught me in. I never thought they’d actually follow the deal. I put on my backpack, check all my stuff, and start on my journey.

.  .  .

Today is the day we will find Daniel.                    We have twice as much people as before. We are locked and loaded with more weapons and ammo, even some speeder pods. We say goodbye to our fellow humans, and set foot on the journey.

.  .  .

Evening already. We’ve reached the jungle. Then, I hear a rustle in the bushes. A Renz? I order two men to get ready for a fight, and I grab a sword. But then a boy walks out. Daniel!                                                              “Rey!” He said.

.  .  .

I told Rey my awesome plan about tricking the Novatrons, so we start going back to the camp. It was very short because of the vehicles that they brought.

.  .  .

We reach a cave and enter a holographic high-tech doorway. Once we walk down the long staircase I see Jasmine.                                    “Jasmine!” We hug and say our good to be backs. It is good to be back, with my fellow humans.              This evening on the dinner table we talk about a ProjectXX4. A time machine that will send Jasmine and I back in time to stop the fall of human civilization, and save races beyond us. I also tell about what happened when I was a prisoner, and the leader’s name, and other things.                                      “Daniel this is one year ago. Things are a bit different, but they still have AI’s so you can show yours.” Rey warned.                                                   “Don’t do anything but the mission, one small change can affect the future.” Kevin acknowledged.             “You will be in rexel territory, so you will have to find a way to the Sillivann, but don’t worry they still have electric boats.” Leroy mentioned. After a lot of warnings and things I shouldn’t do, we go to bed. Tomorrow is the day, so I have to prepare.

.  .  .

Boom! Boom!                Footsteps.                           KABOOM!                                                    The explosion instantly wakes me up. I run outside to see what’s going on. Fire blazes everywhere. Jasmine’s here too.    “What the heck happened?”                           “We’re under attack! By the Novatrons!” She answers.                 Oh no. Oh nononononono. This must be a dream. This can’t be happening. I see Rey coming towards me.                                 “They found us! I think Titanetrox double-crossed you!”                      Shoot.                                        “Look, our only hope is for you guys to stop Mark Grey from dying. If we die that’s okay because in the end when the mission works our deaths will never exist in the universe. Come on follow me!”                                           I duck under a flaming rock. One by one I see people dying, perishing under the strength of the mighty Novatrons. Some slice them away with deadly laser swords while others use plain strength to strangle them to death. Rey goes into a warehouse and we follow. When we enter we quickly go in a small glass room. He types in some numbers. I hear a loud crash coming from the warehouse wall.                    Titanetrox.                                  I can sense his blazing anger. “You can’t fool me Daniel Jones Grey!”                                                            Rey finished the finishing codes and takes out a laser scythe. The dream instantly comes back, and this is the most powerful one because it’s exactly how I’ve remembered it. Same weapon, same monster, but this time, the victim is Rey.                                                      When the fire staff pierces through Rey, the most powerful headache rushes to me, and I drop to the floor. All I remember next is the electricity from the time machine and Jasmine saying, “Daniel…”

 

Chapter 3: Revenge

 

My eyes slowly open.                                     I’m in the time machine still, lying on the floor. It’s pretty cold. We must have made the trip, but where’s Jasmine?                     My eyes adjust to the brightness, and I slowly help myself up. I look outside the window. It looks like the time machine is in the back of a building, where the trash bin is. I step out of the time machine, and spot Jasmine talking to a rexel. My advanced hearing listens to their conversation.   “Do you have a dock with boats that can take us to the continent of Sillivann?” Jasmine asks.                               “There’s a bay down the road, but you need to pay rexelian money.” Answered the rexel. As he walks away Jasmine comes back to the time machine.                                                                “Oh! Good you’re awake, any ideas?” She asks.                                “Let’s steal an electric boat.” I reply.         “How are we supposed to do that?”                     “I don’t know. Punch everybody out with our strength and burst in.”                         She smiles. “Rey was right about you. You’ll always think of something.”

.  .  .

The way to the bay was short. We spot a well-charged electric boat and decide to attack at midnight when everybody-including the guards-are asleep.        When the clock strikes twelve we hit the dock. We scramble down the staircase and jump in the boat. I start up the engine and look for the radio to tell Rey that we’ve made it. But I think about it. If this is five billion years ago then Rey’s not even born yet. We drop our bags and set off to the dangerous sea.

.  .  .

I can tell the boat was upgraded. Overnight we made it across the ocean. Rey set the time machine to two days before the Novatron invasion, so we’ve got a whole day to ourselves. When we reach the continent of Sillivann I don’t even recognize it. It’s not a barren wasteland anymore, but a city I grew up in.                         I take my AI and it tells me exactly where Mark Grey’s house is, using celebrity tracking mode.                     I study what he’s doing in the room from the window; he’s preparing the ship to transport the humans of course. A holographic system of the map of the ship appears. He’s studying the bi-front vital cortex core, where we get our main power. He’s checking all the systems and engines, making sure there will be no malfunctions. What a genius this guy is. I can’t believe he’s my ancestor. It’s like an honour to be part of his family. He will always be remembered as a hero in human history.            

.  .  .

The day of the invasion comes. Jasmine and I are on the roof, and we’re looking at all the humans making their way to the ship. This one has to be five times bigger than the last one because it has to carry five races. Then I hear it.                                     A loud crash in the distance. The Novatron ship. Nobody pays attention to the burning mountain in the distance. I’m thinking of what to do when they come. We’ll wait for Titanetrox to come and face Mark Grey, and then I’ll think of a plan to defeat him

.  .  .

Hours pass, and the Novatrons come. I see them slaughter the humans, destroy the buildings, and demolishing the city.                    Boom! Boom!                                      I turn around quickly, and there’s two Renz’s behind us. Jasmine takes out a laser knife and starts slashing. I turn back around. There! I spotted Titanetrox, fighting Mark Grey, in the middle of the street. Mark takes out a laser scythe, just as I expected.           “Jasmine! I found him let’s go!” I yell.          She throws the knife and as it stabs a Renz in the face we jump down the building.                                      After the landing my legs ache, but we’ve got a mission to do. We run to the scene of the battle, and study it.                  “Look, there’s a pole there, I’ll take it off the ground and start attacking him. While I distract him you run off with Mark.” I say.                                                          “You’re going to get yourself killed!” She cries.                             “Yah well I have to make a sacrifice for the greater good. Tell Mark you’re from the future. He’ll believe you. Take them to the ship and get them out of Vanity. But you have to stay here and we’ll go back to the time machine.”                    “But what about Titanetrox?” She asks.    “We kill him.”                                                      “But that’s not possible! He’s way stronger than us!”                   When she finishes I start to go. I grab the pole and yank it off the ground. Then I run to the battle. I look back at Jasmine, who’s still there.          “Hurry!” I yell.                            I look back to Mark. Oh no. He’s about to get killed!                                Adrenaline rushes through my veins, and I yell, “HEY TITANETROX!”                      He looks at me like how did you know my name? When I take a glance at him he looks pretty much the same five billion years ago. How does he even live that long? I run over to him and start whacking him. The force of the hits was more than what I expected, it kind of blew him back.                                             Mark was so surprised. Then I see Jasmine coming to him, and then they run off to the ship. When I look back Tiatanetrox grabs my pole, and throws it away. I take out my laser dagger and my metal pole. He casts multiple fireballs at me. I dodge expertly, and sometimes I whip them back at him or block them with my pole. I can’t keep this up forever. Fire surrounds me, and I have nowhere to go. He raises his almighty staff, and it transforms into a dragonhead that spits unlimited hot flames. Now that, I cannot dodge. My AI doesn’t react, knowing that it can’t block it. This is the end of me. But then a man rushes in front, blocking the blast. The fire column does no damage to him. What is he? Superman?                             “Run kid!” He yells. He punches Titanetrox with unimaginable force. “We’re from the past.” He then says. I run away, feeling sad for the man, risking his life. I bump into a Renz. When I turn he’s about to grab me but I see a diamond sword pierce through his back to the chest. When he falls I see a man with diamond armour, holding the sword. He looks familiar. “Run! I’m from the past too future boy.”              What the heck is this all about? Two kids come to stop the invasion from the future at the exact time two men come from the past to stop the invasion too? My luck is so overwhelming!                                    I run away, but I can’t leave the man alone to fight the Novatron leader. If he’s from the past, he doesn’t know what he’s up against.                       I throw my laser dagger at Titanetrox but his strong bone armour penetrates it.                                                         “What are you doing kid? I’m a supernatural, I’ve got this!”                         “No you don’t. If you’re from the past then you don’t know what you’re fighting right now. He could certainly kill you!” I yell back.                                                   “Kid, do you even know what a supernatural is?”               I shake my head as I throw a stone cracked off from the ground at Titanetrox with two hands. The ‘supernatural’ punches Titanetrox with super strength, and doesn’t seem tired or injured. Not even simple cuts are visible on him. Wow. It’s like his evolution is ten times more powerful. The man grabs a metal piece from the floor and stabs it in Titanetrox’s chest, which just makes him angrier. He thrusts his powerful staff to the ground, which makes a tiny earthquake and causes buildings to crumble all around us. I shifted to the left, and a big metal beam crashes to my right.                          “Kid just save your life and run!” He yells after a thundering punch from Titanetrox sends him flying into a car. This time I follow him.

.  .  .

Hours later, I finally see the supernatural kill Titanetrox. Satisfied, I run back to Jasmine, and see the ship fly away.                    “Hey good news I saw a man kill Titanetrox. See? It was possible.”                                                                 “You mean me?”                       We turn around to see the men that stopped the invasion.                                “Um, yes…thanks. You saved the human race.”      He smiles. “My name’s Nathan Bender. I’m a supernatural. One of the last of my kind.” He puts out his hand and I don’t do anything. I don’t know what it means. “Oh yah, you’re from the future. You probably don’t shake hands anymore.” He said.                             “I’m John Aldar.” The other one said. Oh my gosh he’s from the book Minecraft apocalypse!                  “Well, we better get going. We’re from the future so we have to get back and see what happens.” Jasmine said.                      “Um, yah we’re from the past so we should get going.” Nathan said.                                “Wait, how did you time travel here? I thought time travel was impossible back then.” I ask.                      “My dad was a famous scientist, and he made a system of time travel called Dimensional travel. He makes a portal to the multiverse, and then makes a portal back to our dimension, but from a different timeline. But you have to have blood type Z to travel.” John explained.                                             “Blood type Z?” Jasmine asked.                 “Yup. It’s a DNA strand that is different from other people. You have to be born with it. Either you are special, a supernatural, or you are just gifted, like me. One other thing that could happen is that you die from birth, but it’s rare. That explains why some kids die from birth, or their moms.” John continued.                   “Your father discovered all this?” I asked.                                                “Yes, he’s a genius.” John said.                   “Ok, let’s go. Wonderful things await our future.” Jasmine said. “Bye.”                    

.  .  .

Blood type Z? Supernaturals? Invulnerability?                                      My family and I are in the transport ship with the human race. Everything is back to normal, it’s like the invasion never happened. I walk around, trying to find my room in the super big Humanity enterprise version 87659-1.2.5.3.4.9.9. It’s so big, we need maps and AI navigation systems and phones to call around because everybody in your family has to be in their own room if they are 7 or up. I walk down the aisle of stores and check my Ai map. I’m close to my room. I reach it in less than an hour. I walk in, close the door, pace around the room, and then lie down on my comfy bed to think about what just happened and what I’ve just been through. I doubt that if I find Rey he’ll recognize me. It’s like he never met me now. But at least I’m not the only one that knows and remembers the adventure and the saving of the human race. Jasmine remembers. Even Mark Grey knows that a couple of kids saved his life, our future, and races beyond us.                            So it’s true. We are the most powerful race, the most intelligent, and the most evolved. We have lived for three eons, and killed any species that stand in our way.                       Just remember, humans are the best.

 

The End.

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