Ashley's Dream

Chapter 1

Ashley's Dream

        There was a time in Ashley's life where everything was normal. She didn't have to worry about robots destroying things or monsters terrorizing people. She didn't have to worry about her father's business, or her own life. Yes there was a time in Ashley's life that was normal. It was that normal life that brought her to this day and time. One that exists after the ten years of mech. A time in which people would enhance their bodies with machines so they'll do better at work. A time when people no longer looked like people. These are the chronicles of B4.

        Ashley woke up like every other girl on cherry lane, with a nice breakfast, a shower that was to short, and knots in her hair. She gathered all of her school supplies and headed to the kitchen to join her family for breakfast. Sitting at the table already was her father and her brother. While her mother was getting dishes from the cupboard.

        “This is a big day for me Martha,” Ashley's father said to her mother. Ashley's father was a big man standing at about six feet and one hundred eighty pounds. He has been working on a project in the recent years called Trulife. The Trulife project is very important to him. With this project he is hoping to get rid of all genetic foods we consume and fix various environmental concers. It is his dream to bring America into a new revolution that takes care of the earth instead of hurting it. He dreams of the day all food is healthy, the way god intended it to be.

        “Yeah, well I hope this meeting with Mayor Tucker works out. It would be great to get more parks in the neighborhood.”

        “It's not about the parks Martha, it's about our health. We need these trees to keep the air clean.” Ashley's father, Jeremiah Vasquez, commanded. He is very touchy about the meeting because he is so worried it won't go through as planned. The budget for parks in this town is below average and there are virtually no trees anywhere around.

        “Hey Jeremiah, would you drive the kids to school on your way?”

        “Damn Martha, I'm busy you know!” Jeremiah always expressed himself loudly, but he did have a kind heart. ”Yeah I'll do it, but you know what this means, right? My choice for dinner tonight, and that will be hamburgers with french fries. Alright kids we leave in five so get a move on.”

        They had a pretty nice family. Ashley was just starting a new school with her brother, Michael. Their mother, Martha Vasquez, was a gentle woman that worked for a law firm downtown. She brought in all the money for the house because Jeremiah quit his job last year. He was working with a company on the impact they may have on the environment. He was hired by this company to do this and the company wanted what they paid for. Jeremiah found some very discouraging facts about the pollutants that this company produced. He felt the need to report these actions even though the company didn't want this to happen.

        “Come on guys, let's go.”

        The kids both grabbed there stuff and headed out to the car. Jeremiah turned on the oldies station and rocked his head to the music as they pulled out. They never saw the SUV speeding down the opposing lane when it struck the side of their car. The collision made a loud crunching sound that echoed far down the street. The streaking in Ashley's vision made her nausiated in her slowed down haze. She felt as though the world had stopped and the sound and picture are no longer together as one. She felt no pain, just a darkness sweeping over her whole body.

        Flashes of light would come into her head over the next few moments. Some where of a corridor with lights on the ceiling, others where of her and her family. The thoughts of her family overwhelmed her with happiness until she returned to the dreaded corridor. She felt her own heart pound loudly inside of her chest. The sweat piled up onto her forehead and all her limbs started to tremble.

        “This corridor must be a hospital,”she thought, “I'm saved.” Ashley tried to stay awake but couldn't. And she passed out again.

        Waking up a little slower then most young girls should, Ashley started to open her eyes another time. Her head was resting on some thing, what could it be? A desk? And are these my classmates? Her blurred vision started to clear up and she was definitely in a classroom. But she was left feeling alone and scared as she looked around this blurry image.

        Was she just having a dream, or most likely a nightmare? Which one would be the dream this one or the one where she died in a car wreck? She tried to remember the names of the children that sat beside her, but she couldn't remember one. Looking around she saw many kids and a window with the blinds drawn shut. She saw a clock with the time of eleven thirty on it. And a teacher who was in her twenties. But she continued to feel like she has never seen any of this before.

        Shaking her head back and forth she knew something was wrong. It was Ashley who spotted the first spy following Jeremiah. It is because of her that the Vasquez family is still alive. When she saw that strange man hiding, taking pictures, she new something was wrong. And then she saw the fact that his camera was pointed in the direction of her own father talking to some man in a suit. She had to stop him and see what the pictures where of. She had to know the reason why this man was taking these pictures. So she snuck up real quite to the man and grabbed his camera. She went off running as fast as she possibly could. She was a fast runner, faster then anyone she has ever raced this man included.

        Thankfully this was a digital camera so she was able to see a preview of the pictures taken. Within the pictures all she saw was her father talking to people. It must be these people that is the importance of the photos not her father. So she waited for the meeting with the suited man to end before telling this to her dad. She wanted to approach him in a way to get answers not to get shrugged aside. She handed him the digital camera and told him about the man that she stole it from. The family decided to move that following week.

        She got the same type of feeling as she looked around this room, something is wrong. Why isn't this her classroom she kept asking herself? Ashley kept thinking what was wrong but she couldn't figure it out. Maybe this isn't her classroom. Is it possible that she passed out in the wrong class? She decided to get up and leave the classroom. Her vision was still a little blurry but for the most part it was fine. She stumbled the first couple of steps but rebounded with little noise.

        “Uhm, miss...miss what are you doing? Get back in your seat, please,” her strange teacher asked of her. But Ashley had no intention of listening to this woman, she wanted to figure out what was going on in this room. All the students stared at Ashley as she readily defied the teacher's orders and left the classroom. The feeling of comfort has yet to reach Ashley. She is still feeling scared and lost. Ashley jogs down to the end of the hallway to try to find someone or something she remembered.

        “This isn't my school... it can't be,” Ashley looked all around and it really wasn't her school. Her school had blue lockers this school had orange. Her school had weird little square patterns in the ceiling and this school didn't. But if this isn't her school where could it be. Why did she wake up here, in some school, somewhere. She started looking for a window to see if she could figure out where she was but they where hard to find.

        She kept wandering the hallways looking for a way out but she only saw windows in the classrooms and she saw no doors leading out. It is not like Ashley Vasquez to barge into an occupied room and make a big scene just so she could look out a window. She hated that type of behavior actually.

        She started to panic until that was abruptly halted by a loud explosion that sent a laser beam flying by the left side of her head. The entire wall next to her was blown out and inside was a classroom filled with screaming children. In the middle of all the scared children sat a boy crying with his head in his hands. Looking a little closer at this boy she saw the same type of glow the laser had coming out from beneath his own fingers.

        The teacher ran to the intercom on her desk and shouted into it. “There is a new lifer here, we need an extraction now!” She rushed all the children out of the classroom around where Ashley was standing. Within a few moments more classrooms where being evacuated. And a few more moments later a team of men came through the crowd. This team was covered head to toe with armor, they even had a face shield covering their face. There were to many children in the way to see what was happening in that room but Ashley heard screams coming from the boy. A couple more lasers shot from the room one hitting a little girl in the arm. Though no blood came from this wound.

        Then it was silent. The men left with a giant box that glowed a bright white color. The teachers gathered around each other and started talking when Ashley decided to follow that box. What could really be in that box she asked herself, it couldn't be the boy, could it.

        “Will he be back?” a little girl asked one of the teachers.

        “Well of coarse Timmy will come back, they just need to help him with his problem.”

        “Clyde never got back, and, uhm,” this little girl started stuttering real bad when she talked about Timmy. “Well Timmy is my brother, and, I...” she was unable to finish her sentence because of her crying. This teacher gently guided the crying girl to another room and helped with her tears.

        With this as the last image in Ashley's mind, she ran out of the room in the direction of the white box.