#maybe after a while... it's time to detonate that damn tower and keep living.

[rustedhills]

Disney, releasing Wish: "so it's all about legacy--the new generation surpassing the old, overcoming the evils perpetuated by them, relinquishing singular power... and there's an old man in a tower, uh... animal sidekick, i guess..., ah... magic...?

Miyazaki, just out of frame, sledgehammer raised:

[razieltwelve]

Discussion (Final Rose)

Lightning looked over at Amethyst. The other woman was a year younger than her, and she lived a few doors down with her daughter, Beryl, and her dog, Herbie. Beryl was good friends with Diana, and the pair were currently in the backyard looking for cicada shells with Strangles and Herbie. Normally, Amethyst was a cheerful woman, but the expression on her face today was anything but cheerful.

“Beryl awakened her Aura yesterday. She was chasing after Herbie when she tripped over. I saw the flash, Lightning. I might not have much Aura myself, but I know what I saw.”

“She’s only seven,” Lightning mused. 

It was rare for children that young to awaken their Aura naturally. The ones that did often became powerful huntsmen and huntresses. She wondered if Beryl’s friendship with Diana might have had something to do with it. It was well known that long-term exposure to large amounts of Aura tended to lead to earlier Aura awakening, and Diana already had more Aura than most huntsmen and huntresses.

“I...” Amethyst took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’ve mentioned her father to you before, have I?”

Lightning shook her head. “I’ll admit I’ve been a bit curious, but I assumed you had your reasons.” Life, after all, had a way of making things complicated.

“I think it’s because of him,” Amethyst said. “My husband... he was a huntsman, an A Tier huntsman. He... he...” Amethyst struggled to force the words out. “He and his team were wiped out on a mission about a year after Beryl was born.”

“I’m sorry,” was all Lightning could say.

“He was all I had,” Amethyst said quietly. “I was an orphan, and I’ve never been good at making friends. But he... he didn’t care that I was awkward around other people or that I wasn’t famous or rich. He loved me just the way I was, and we were so happy.” She bit back a sob. “I didn’t even get his body back. They ended up bombing the entire area after he and the other huntsmen and huntresses were killed.”

That reminded Lightning of something. “The mission your husband was on... was it in the Blighted Valley?”

The Blighted Valley was an area people usually avoided. No one exactly why, but things there didn’t grow right, and technology stopped working properly. If she recalled correctly, Vale had sent in several teams to investigate after detecting unusual energy sources in and around the valley. The teams had been wiped out by a hive of unknown Grimm.

Vale had responded by asking Vanille to bombard the area with a barrage of bunker-busting missiles capable of breaching the hive’s exterior before unleashing a second wave of heavy ordnance to finish the job. It was a testament to the durability of the Grimm that the followup teams had actually recovered several specimens that were intact enough to autopsy. Team STRQ had then led a campaign to ensure that none of the Grimm had survived.

“Yes,” Amethyst said. “That was the mission he was on. They wouldn’t tell me much about what happened. It was all classified. I’ve been wondering and wondering if there was something he could have done or if...”

Lightning shook her head. “It wasn’t his fault, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know what happened there, and although I can’t give you the details, I can say that what happened was beyond his control.” 

“Thank you.” Amethyst sniffled. “I’m just... I’m scared. Beryl is all I have left. If something happens to her... but... I know how it is. If she’s like her father, she’ll want to become a huntress. She’ll want to help people, and maybe one day she’ll go on a mission just like he did and...”

Lightning wanted to tell her that everything would be fine, but she couldn’t. There was a reason huntsmen and huntresses earned so much money. It was extremely dangerous work. “If that’s the case, then the best thing you can do is make sure that she gets the best training possible.” Lightning sighed. “There are no guarantees for huntsmen and huntresses, but good training and a good team will go a long, long way to helping her survive and even thrive as a huntress.”

“Can you help me?” Amethyst asked. “I don’t know the first thing about hunting, and you’re so famous...” She bit her lip. “I know it’s a lot to ask, and I’m sure you have a lot of things to worry about already...”

“It’s fine,” Lightning said. “If Beryl does want to be a huntress, I’ll do what I can to help. Besides, I’m sure Diana will be more than happy to help as well.”

Amethyst nodded sombrely. “I... that helps a lot. I just... I hope she’ll be okay.”

X    X     X

Beryl ducked behind a boulder and winced as sparks flew off the rock. Damn, that Grimm was accurate with the quills it could shoot out of its back. Not far away, her teammates were crouching behind boulders of their own. “Is everybody still in one piece?”

Jade made a face and clutched at her side. “I mean... yeah... I’m still in one piece for now, but if that thing hits me again, I probably won’t be.”

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a training mission?” Granite rumbled. The boy had somehow found himself behind the smallest boulder, which was beyond awkward considering his tall, broad frame. “Because I remember being told this was a training mission.”

“We’re at Beacon,” Basalt countered. “Their version of a training mission is substantially more difficult than most academy’s.”

“Just sit tight,” Beryl ordered. “We're not the only team out here. Help should be here soon.”

She peeked around the corner and tossed a grenade. She was glad she’d packed a few extra. They might not have the range of her spear, but there was nothing quite like an incendiary grenade to buy a bit of room. The grenade hit the monstrous Grimm square on the face and detonated, spewing ultra-high temperature gel everywhere. The Grimm reeled back, but she doubted they’d be lucky enough for it to die.

The Grimm’s cries of agony were answered by howls of fury from the lesser Grimm that accompanied it. These lesser Grimm bounded forward, bones gleaming in the firelight.

“Pick them off,” Beryl ordered. “We can’t let them dislodge us. We’re dead if that big one catches us on open ground.”

Jade brought her sniper rifle around and picked off a trio of the lesser Grimm with three head shots. Basalt’s Semblance flared, and several columns of rock lanced upward, impaling more of the smaller creatures. He’d tried his Semblance against the massive Grimm, but it had simply shrugged off the attacks before nearly impaling him with some of its quills.

“Good work,” Beryl shouted. Her spear turned into a flamethrower, and she used an aerosolised combination of fuel and fire Dust to unleash a cloud of fire at their attackers. “Keep it up.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Granite rush out from behind his boulder. The huge broadsword he wielded made short work of the Grimm that had managed to get closer, and he hurried to get back behind his boulder as the towering Grimm strode forward again.

A barrage of quills, each as long as a forearm, clattered into their boulders. Beryl could feel hers beginning to give away. In a way they were lucky. This giant Grimm was clearly best suited for wiping out huge numbers of lightly armoured troops, like militia or light infantry. Its weaponry was somewhat less good at breaking through heavily armoured positions, like boulders.

“Any second now,” Beryl said, glancing at her scroll. “Backup should be here any second now -” There was a moment of extreme dislocation before she suddenly found herself dozens of yards away with her team. “What... the...?”

“Hey!” Rikku landed beside her and grinned. “It looks like you guys were in a tough spot.”

Ah, that explained it. Rikku must have used her Semblance to switch all of them out with random rocks and other objects to get them to safety. “Where’s the rest of your team?”

“Over there.” Rikku pointed.

Beryl turned to look. Anna and Yuffie were both hacking and slashing at the massive Grimm. What should have been a death sentence to face in close combat was made bearable by Yuffie’s intangibility, which Anna appeared to be ‘borrowing’ for the time being. Seeing that their attacks weren't doing nearly enough damage to the heavily armoured Grimm, they began to plant what looked like adhesive explosives on the Grimm’s body.

“Those’ll do the job,” Rikku said, her Semblance flaring once again. Yuffie and Anna appeared beside them as a pair of small boulders vanished and reappeared next to the Grimm. “And if they don’t, there’s always Plan B.”

“And what’s Plan B?” Granite asked before the explosives detonated. The blast threatened to knock all of them off their feet, and Beryl had to shield her eyes. Those weren’t normal explosives. They must have been something Diana had thrown together, maybe bunker busters. She knew for a fact that the other girl carried some around at all times, and Beryl normally made sure to grab some whenever she went on a mission. She hadn’t this time because this was supposed to be a relatively easy training mission. It wasn’t a mistake she’d make again.

The explosion cleared to show the Grimm somehow still alive although it was badly wounded with large holes blown through its bony armour and two of its limbs barely attached to its body. It roared in pain and rage, but its roar did not go unanswered.

“She’s Plan B.”

Diana descended from the sky like a meteor. Beryl winced. Her friend must be really pissed off. She wasn’t even going to try fighting the Grimm in her human form, which was normally something she enjoyed - something about getting practice in against powerful opponents. Instead, she’d already transformed, and she looked ready to rip her opponent to shreds.

“Yeah,” Rikku said. “When Diana heard your distress call, she was in the middle of dealing with a bunch of Grimm over to the west, so she sent us ahead. She would have come herself, but you weren’t the only teams in trouble. It turns out a lot of the Grimm have been hiding, waiting for a chance to spring an ambush. She figured we could get you guys out of harm’s way while she cleaned up before heading here.”

“I don’t suppose we could borrow her for our next mission?” Jade asked. “Because that would be really great.”

Beryl grinned. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll ask her.” She turned to the rest of her teammates. “Good work out there, today. I know we’re not the ones killing that thing, but I think we did well to survive long enough for help to come and to kill off so many of the others.”

Yuffie nodded. “You sure did.” She waved her hand around. “I hit that thing as hard as I could with my shuriken, and I all I got was a sore hand. Heck, we hit it with enough bunker busters to bring down a city block, and it’s still alive.”

“Well... not anymore,” Anna pointed out as Diana tore the Grimm’s head off. “But, yeah, you guys did great.” She sagged. “It’s been a tough mission, huh?”

“Oh, yeah.”

X    X     X

Author’s Notes

Beacon caters to a range of different levels of ability. Admittedly, it is most famous for its EX and S Tier students, but the majority of students are going to become A or B Tier huntsmen and huntresses. It’s a simple numbers game. There just aren’t that many people on the level of people like Pyrrha. 

As an aside, Amethyst’s position is sadly not an uncommon one. Relatively few huntsmen and huntresses have the opportunity to retire after a full career. Most either retire after injury or are killed in the field. One of the pivotal changes that leads to Remnant’s eventual triumph over the Grimm is medical care improving enough that more and more huntsmen and huntresses survive and even return to duty due to improved health care and rehabilitation. Vale, like all of the major kingdoms, offers a stipend for the spouses of huntsmen or huntresses killed in the line of duty or from complications related to their profession.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here. I’ve recently released two stories, Attempted Adventuring and Surviving Quarantine, as well as two audiobooks, Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Army of Golems and Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire. If you like humour, action, and adventure, be sure to check them out.

[barbariccia]

X57: Bring Down The Sky

ok, i lied. there’s one last thing for me to get through in mass effect 1 - the BDtS dlc, which i’ve never played through before. it’s relatively short and available for free if you play on pc - included with the base game on origin, and can be downloaded on ea’s website for steam.

who wants some Additional Plot all crammed into one long post?!

in true ME style, you’re thrown directly into the action. once you enter the area this mission takes place on via the galaxy map, you’re shown a familiar looking world... and an asteroid slowly approaching.

and we’re dumped onto the asteroid itself in the mako.

it’s pretty easy to see the objective even if you weren’t paying attention to the distress call.

three giant fusion torches are propelling the asteroid at great speed toward a looming planet that looks rather earth-like, though we’re not in the local cluster at all. this is terra nova of the exodus cluster, one of the first planets colonised by humans after they discovered the mass relays and what lay beyond, and the second “extrasolar colony”, the first being no other than elysium, which we’ve heard about before.

there’re bases around the three tourches, all armed with heavy turrets, easy enough to dispatch of via the mako’s own gun, and once we make it inside the first base, we’re treated with a... rather unusual sight.

these charming fellows are batarians, outlaws and pirates for the most part, and while not seen in the base game, they go on to be the face of space-orcs, in a sense. vicious and seemingly war-hungry, they’re directly responsible for a ruthless shepard’s background, who was stationed on torfan and lived through their assault, the only person of their troop to do so.

we clear them and their varren out easily enough, and disable the first torch at a panel upstairs.

read the subtitles, shepard.

the communication line she’s using goes dead. on our way out...

we meet a man, who shoots and immediately panics when he sees the chest he attacked belongs to a human. eh, i’ve had worse.

this is simon, the chief engineer. he’s worried, of course - we’re heading right toward terra nova, where there are four million people living. not ideal.

well, that’s just fucking dandy, then.

Simon: It would be like millions of fusion bombs striking at once. Millions. The heat of the blast... a thousand kilmoeters away, clothes will ignite. There’ll be global wildfires. Air shock will flatten everything for hundreds of kilometers. Terra Nova will die, Shepard. Not just our colony - the planet. There’ll be a climate shift. Mass extinctions. The ecosystem won’t recover for thousands of years. Millions, maybe.

Shepard: Any chance it’ll land in the oceans?

Simon: That would be even worse! Tsunamis would sweep inland at hundreds of kilometers per hour. Millions of tonnes of water would be vaporized at the point of impact. Global cloud coverage. The plants could all die. And if they go, the whole ecosystem rolls over. I-- I’d have to run the numbers, but take my word for it: it’d be bad.

traditional mol nerd notes, since i was a dinosaur kid: the idea of the asteroid that decimated the dinosaurs (and began one of the 5th largest mass extinction events in eath’s history) was only first proposed in 1980, which is way more recent than i thought it was. the asteroid itself is thought to have landed in the area of chicxulub, mexico, and the collision itself is considered to have released around 100 teratonnes of TNT -equivalent in energy. so big boom. as of 2019, dr sean gulick has done research ⁽¹⁾, ⁽²⁾ on the crater itself and the rock record of the impact, and doctorial student robert depalma (and coauthor professor phillip manning) has excavated the Tanis area of Hell Creek ⁽³⁾ amd published a paper on the findings of deposits in the area ⁽⁴⁾, though the latter has been criticised for being potentially sensationalist, having been published by media outlets before it was accepted at PNAS.

either way, it’s commonly accepted that the impact would have thrown enough dust into the atmosphere to have caused an impact winter for up to a year, which was likely exacerbated by vaporised rocks in the atmosphere that helped to reduce sunlight reaching the surface, and causing acid rain. this in turn likely led to the oceans cooling and becoming more acidic. if wildfires were also on the menu, it would have contributed to a greenhouse effect.

whatever happened, the impact led to about 75% of all species on earth becoming completely extinct, so terra nova’s not looking especially peachy with twice the damage incoming.

tl;dr yeah seems pretty spot on

this comes out when you select the renegade’s “damn aliens” response, which is pretty incredible. even as shepard you have the option to be xenophobic... but batarians really haven’t proven themselves to be much more than as aggressive as krogans, honestly, if not worse, somehow. for a non-ruthless shepard to think this way... yeesh. goes to show just how much the attack on elysium affected the human psyche, even if you’re happy enough to bring aboard most other kinds of aliens aboard your stealth cruiser.

well, let’s get on our merry way. simon tells us that one of the torches is surrounded by proximity mines, which were going to be used as excavation tools once the asteroid was brought to terra nova - where it was en route toward anyway, by design - so we have to be extra careful going over them. yay.

never change, shep.

he also tells us that he had a crew working on the asteroid when the batarians hit. it’s easy enough to find them... or what’s left of them, once the batarians were through with them.

they’re, naturally, spread around the asteroid.

the message is cut off by the sound of an explosion.

and as for the third...

all three are very, very dead. but hey, on the way we at least got to turn on the transmission tower once again.

party on, dudes.

after you turn off the second torch, kate contacts you again.

we get the chance to see what’s going on with kate. there’s a man with her, and a small group of batarians that have them cornered.

spoiler: he doesn’t make it.

no time like the present to go turn that third and final torch off. after we do, there’s a small group of aliens waiting for us.

we have a little chat with our new friend, who tells us that he knows he’s in way over his head. another batarian by the name of balak is running the show, and “what balak wants, balak gets”.

[Renegade choice: Don’t be stupid.]

Shepard: Spoken like a true lackey. You get me out of here and I’ll take care of Balak. Or you can take your chances with me.

Charn: An, uh, interesting proposal. It certainly has benefits over the current situation. (to another batarian) Shut it down. This is Balak’s problem now.

he gives us a keycard, tells us where to find the boss, and scarpers. balak’s elsewhere, in a different facility, also guarded by turrets.

in case you don’t want to look at your map, the red gives it away. why’s it red? who cares!

there’s a hell of a shootout waiting for us in the final facility, but once we’ve cleared the area of what feels like every batarian ever conceived, balak himself deigns to come show his face.

Balak: I’m leaving this asteroid. If you try to stop me, I’ll detonate these charges and your helper and her friends are all going to die.

Shepard: You don’t get to leave, Balak. Not after what you’ve done.

Balak: What I’ve done? This is nothing compared to what’s been done to the batarians. We’ve been forced into exile. Forced to survive on what we can scrounge up. It’s been like that for decades.

Shepard: Why take it out on these people? They didn’t do anything to you or your race.

Balak: Didn’t do anything? Aside from colonizing a world that could have been ours? Aside from using resources that should have been ours? We were left to defend ourselves. But the humans were stronger than us. We knew that. The Council knew that. But it didn’t matter.

Balak: It was you. You and your kind are the only reason we’re in this position.

Shepard: How does killing innocent people make up for that?

Balak: We had no other options. Sometimes you need to get someone’s attention before they’ll listen.

Shepard: Is that was Elysium was? A way to get our attention? Well, you got it. And when we responded you ran like cowards. Now you want to start it all over again.

Balak: You couldn’t possibly understand... Actually, you just don’t want to understand. And I’m done wasting my breath.

the choice is, once again, in your hands. that’s a very interesting dialogue they have before this... and one i can understand both sides of. it’s worth noting that originally the batarians were welcomed into citadel space, but their aggression provoked more than one crisis intergalactically. their exile from the council is recent- they weren’t happy with humans colonising in areas that batarians already considered claimed (this is the skyllian verge and elysium, for those keeping track), and when they were told no by the council, they closed their embassy, severed all relations, and became a rogue state, retreating back to their own systems and becoming known primarily as pirates and slavers within the terminus systems, outside of citadel space. those in the terminus systems are actively rebelling against their own government, too, who prefer to stay in their space.

i don’t want to use the word self-imposed exile, but from the human’s point of view it’s very much a throwing your toys out of the pram because you can’t get what you want act. then again, from the batarian point of view, why should they stick with a council that doesn’t seem to consider them as on equal footing enough to grant them rights to colonise the land as they claim it?

i chose to let balak go, and save the hostages. we’re stopping the asteroid either way, and death for death is... well. not ideal. if we’re throwing away our ideals and doing the whole eye for an eye thing we should have started a long time ago.

worth noting here that the base game offers a sidemission i remember me to colonist shepards, where you meet a survivor of mindoir, a colony that was raided by batarians ~13 years before game’s start, and is the colonist equivalent of the sole survivor mission dead scientists. after the colony was attacked, the surviving girl was taken by slavers, and the sidemission deals with you taking her down from a suicidal response to systems alliance soldiers finding and killing her batarian slavers. provided you talk her down, she resurfaces in a minor way in the next game, with an email thanking you for helping her. i think it’s a damn shame that this sidemission is only available to colonist shepard, because in no way is this an isolated view of the batarians and the things they’ve done and would have been a nice bit of additional flavour text for the rest of the game, considering batarians are only mentioned in passing once or twice (and in basegame only get a concept art picture by their codex entry, even).

(laughs in virmire)

you tell simon about the dead engineers you found, and let the hostages go.

she explains that the man the batarians killed was her brother, who convinced her to join the team in the first place. you get the chance to ask her a couple of questions, mostly about herself, but also...

Kate: I don’t even think they knew. When they first arrived, they were talking about getting us back to their ship. They wanted to sell us as slaved. When Balak showed up, everything changed. It was his idea to redirect the asteroid. Said it was the will of the batarian rebellion, whatever that is.

considering balak and his contingency are the outliers of their society... well, buddy, i hate to say it, but you don’t speak for the rest of your people. sure, tensions are high with humans... but they are with the turians, as well, and the turians didn’t throw a hissy and exile themselves and have their people considered the worst of the worst by even their government for the practises of a few.

eghhh. this is one of those surprisingly complicated situations. this isn’t the first time bioware discusses this concept - dragon age 2 comes to mind, and i’m sure i’ll get around to that as well sometime - but we’re not really given any way of viewing the batarians as anything other than an enemy in BDtS. we do see more batarians in the future, and that’s its own thing. we’ll revisit this later.

Bring Down The Sky, complete in around an hour. not bad for a (now) free dlc mission, but the stuff i’ve done here today won’t carry over to mass effect 2. turns out the last save i had on the normandy was actually just after feros; all my other save states were in the middle of something of on the citadel at the end of the game where there’s no way to get out and do something else. thankfully, not having completed the dlc doesn’t affect anything in the future too much, though i think i won’t be getting some me2 background commentary. not that i’d know what it was, having never done this content before.

ah well. upwards and onwards, crew!

[itsagoodluckkiss]

Someone To Stay

Request by anon: “Can you please write a fanfic about Jake and MC’s relationship from Jake’s POV from the moment they met, till her “death”? 

So, because I got a lot of requests about the fall, I decided to write a three part fanfic about it (that’s why I haven’t posted anything in so long lol). The first part is about this request (I hope you’ll like that, nonny, I worked really hard for this). 

In this, I have written their most significant moments, from Jake’s POV. I didn’t write scenes I thought I wouldn’t do justice to. Excuse my English, it’s not my first language. The title is from the song “Someone To Stay” by Vancouver Sleep Clinic, a song I used to write the night before the MASADA scene (all in all, listen to it when you get there). I’ve also added some extra things in some scenes, completely out of my headcanons. 

Pairings: Jake x F!MC

Warnings: Swearing (I mean, it’s Jake guys), NSFW (not a lot, actually almost none existant but I’m gonna throw it in there), thoughts of desperation or sadness, implied depression (more like thoughts of a depressed person), death.

Part Two

“Excuse me, it’s Jake, right? Weren’t we supposed to have landed by now… Wait, are you asleep?!”

Her voice woke me up. Thinking “another annoying college girl”, I turned and noticed her staring at me, part shock and part amusement in her eyes. I was immediately drawn to her but managed to pull myself together quickly. 

“Listen, Princess, don’tcha know it’s rude to wake someone who’s taking a nap?”

“Princess?”

“What can I say? I give nicknames to people who annoy me.”

“In that case, I’m calling you Top Gun.”

What?! She just gave me a nickname? That quick? How was that even possible?

“Top Gun?! Hang on, you can’t be giving nicknames. That’s my thing!”

“I dunno. I like it. Might keep doing it.”

She smiled at me with a hint of mischief on her face and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“You ain’t clever enough to keep’em coming. Takes work to be as good as me.”

It was the first time I noticed her. The first time she walked into my cockpit was the first time I laid my eyes on her.

“So it’s cool if I join you?”

She wanted to come with me to control tower? Why? I didn’t think she would actually want to join me. Keep it cool, McKenzie.

“You ask permission for everything? Come on, Princess.”

We walked up the rusty stairs. They gave off an eerie vibe. I was here just a few days ago. Were they this rusty before?

“This place is gorgeous. Do you fly out here a lot, Top Gun?”

She observed the forest before us, her eyes gazing the horizon. Sure, up here you have a good view of the island. The view I had next to me though was more captivating than anything I had even seen.

“Here and every other privately owned resort island in the Caribbean. The favored vacation spots of the young and the privileged.”

“You don’t sound like you like it much.”

“Hey, it pays the bar tab.”

“So, Jake, what did you do before this?”

Why was she asking so many questions about me? Why did she even care? Annoyance was visible on my face by now.

“Hey, what is this, anyway?! Twenty Questions?!”

“Sorry.”

I noticed her cheeks blush slightly from embarrassment. Damn, I was being an ass. For some weird reason, I actually wanted to tell her. It took me a minute to answer her.

“Fighter pilot. Navy. I was good at it too. Best in my class. Until I got discharged.”

“What happened?”

“Punched my commanding officer in the jaw.”

“… I’m sure he deserved it.”

“… Yeah. He did.”

We talked more. She thought living my life is lonely. She asked if I wanted more, if I needed someone to actually be here for me. I teased her, smirking while asking if she was offering. She blushed even more, mumbling that she was talking in general and I couldn’t help but laugh. Suddenly, the step she was standing on broke in two and she screamed my name. My reflexes kicked in and I caught her, bringing her close to me. She stared down in horror while clutching me, as the fragments of the step plunge to the ground.

“I think you just saved my life.”

“Now you owe me one. Come on.”

I let her go and we finally reached the top of the tower. I pushed the door open, already yelling at Carlos, only to find the room empty. What the fuck? MC dragged her fingers across the desk and they came up dusty.

“Are you sure they still use this airstrip?”

“Of course I’m sure. I was just here a few days ago, and I’m damn sure…”

I looked out the window, an outlandish show in front of me, making me forget what I wanted to say. Strange lights were moving on the sky above the island. I moved closer to the window and touched the glass. MC was next to me a moment later, staring at the weird sight in the atmosphere as well. I felt her small hand in mine and I laced our fingers without thinking.

“Jake… what is this?”

“I… I don’t know.”

She was closer to me and her gaze met mine. The colors reflected in her eyes, making her look more ethereal. In that moment, I felt a connection, I felt like I somehow knew her before. In that moment, I knew she would be someone I wouldn’t be able to forget.

I saw smoke rising from the hangar. I immediately run toward it, me and Sean opening the doors quickly, only to find my plane covered in flames. Desperation filled me as I watched Delilah burn. It was my last possession. The last thing that was actually mine. The last fragment of how I am. Of who I was. I put everything in her, only to watch her destroyed like that.

I didn’t see her plunging into the thick smoke, through the flames until it was too late to stop her. She was already in, picking up something from the ground. Then, I saw the gasoline line toward my plane catching fire and looked at her with pure terror in my eyes. Not her, too. I screamed her name and dived for her, tackling us out of the way just as my plane exploded.

My only thought was that I had to protect her with everything I had. I shielded her and her arms wrapped around me as she buried her face into the crook of my neck. I felt her rapid heartbeat and knew she was gonna be okay. Knowing I managed to save her almost eased my despair. When the explosion passed, I glanced down at her and our eyes met.

“You still with me?”

“Jake… you could’ve gotten yourself killed. Why’d you save me?”

“Think you can leave me alone with this crowd? Guess again, Princess.”

I got up and helped her as well, still holding her close to me, still looking into her eyes. I couldn’t say it to her like that but I needed her to know I care for her more than anything, more than anyone else, more than I care about myself. It was that moment that I knew I would do anything for her.

“I ain’t leaving this island without you, understand?”

“Mind if I join you? It’s a little cold.”

I looked away from the starry sky and lifted my gaze to her. I smiled and laughed a bit.

“You wimp.”

I scooted over for her to lie down next to me. We were side by side, stargazing. So many stars were lighting up the sky, creating weird constellations I had never seen before, but nevertheless I couldn’t take my eyes off them.

“Wow. Back home, you definitely can’t see that many.”

“Yeah. In the city, it’s easy to forget they’re even there. It’s a big sky, but we just block it out… make our own lights.”

I turned my head and stared at her glancing in the sky, her beautiful face aglow by the moonlight. After a moment she looked at me too.

“You can get closer. I don’t bite.”

“You sure about that?”

“I guess it depends what you’re into.”

She laughed softly and came closer to me, her head resting on my shoulder and I wrapped an arm around her.

“Better?”

“Much better.”

She was still gazing up at the sky, her eyes wandering.

“You know that some stars actually travel across the universe? Like, they are not bound to one galaxy, they just go everywhere and it makes me wonder sometimes…”

“… What?”

“… If one star is strong enough to actually leave a whole galaxy behind, why can’t we, here on earth, just get over whatever makes us feel like we can’t continue? Why don’t we try to find what we’re looking for?“

”… Wow, you just fucked me up, princess. Now I gotta rethink every single decision I’ve ever made in my whole life.“

“Well, maybe you should.”

“You surely stargaze a lot, princess.”

“Stop teasing me, I’m just thinking about… stuff.”

“You’re adorable.”

She was blushing a bit, her eyes close, her face on my chest and one arm wrapped around me. I glanced down at her and laughed a bit, brushing away a lock of hair off her cheek and couldn’t help but give a quick kiss there, only to notice more color rising.

“Alright, sweet dreams, kid. Don’t drool on my shoulder.”

“I’ll try.”

I chuckled, smiling down at her and watched her slowly drifting to sleep. She had me exactly where she wanted me and I was not complaining. How could I? The most precious person in my life was sleeping in my arms. It was the first time I realized I was in love with that girl.

“Jake! Do it! Shoot!”

Cap managed to get the bomb into that monster’s teeth. It was my turn. I had to make that shot. Our lives depended on it. Her life did. I calmed down, focusing on my target. I squeezed one eye close.

“Don’t forget to floss, asshole.”

BOOM!

The Semtex detonated, tearing off the chunk of that bastard’s jaw. The thing wailed in pain before it sank down to the depths. The three of us looked at each other, not believing what had just happened. It worked.

“We did it! WE DID IT!”

“We… we did.”

“That actually worked… Huh.”

I looked at Sean for a moment before I smiled and fist-bumped him. If it wasn’t for that son of a bitch, we would be dead! I would have screamed Well Done Bro, That Was Fucking Awesome but that wasn’t an option.

“Damn, flyboy, that was some good shooting.”

“Couldn’t have done it without that power arm, Q.B.”

“Can we seriously take a moment to appreciate that we just blasted the hell out of a sea monster?!”

We heard our friends cheering for us back at the shore. I glanced at MC, who smiled like crazy. I would have kissed her right then and there if I haven’t seen that white light coming from the sea while the water started rumbling underneath our boat.

“What’s happening?!”

“I don’t kn-”

The light surged toward us in a pillar of white. It shot up through the water and hurled our boat into the air. The last thing I heard before I hit the water hard was her scream.

As I sank down in the depths, I tried to push myself up to the surface but I couldn’t. It was like something was dragging me down. I wasn’t able to hold my breath properly like I usually could inside the water. No, not like this.

I looked around, trying to think of a way out as I saw a figure swimming close to me. It was her. My mind stopped thinking of anything else as I wrapped my arms around her, our bodies touching, our faces close. I saw the fear in her eyes and felt the despair overwhelming me. I never got the chance to tell her. That was the last time I would hold her close to me. I couldn’t do anything to save her.

We looked into each other’s eyes and she leaned in, bringing our lips together. I cupped her face with one arm, kissing her as we sank deeper into the sea. I didn’t want our first kiss to be our last. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.

I woke up lying on a shore, feeling the sun on my face. I was alive. The memories of what had happened came to me. The explosion. The kiss… was that a dream? A hallucination? None of these mattered as I heard a soft coughing not far away from me. I got to my feet quickly as I ran to her, screaming her name.

“Help ya with something, princess?”

“Just seeing what you’re up to.”

“Trying to see if we’ve got any good whiskey left. You?”

“Not a whole lot. Just wondering if… maybe you wanted to come with me to my room?”

I froze for a second, then turned my head to look into her eyes. Was she… ? A memory came to me, that memory of us, kissing as we sank into the depths and the regret I felt because I would never be able to hold her again.

“… Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

A while later, we were lying in her bed, side by side, feeling the warmth of our bodies pressed together.

“That was… something else.”

I rolled over to my side, looking at her as she brushed a lock of hair out of my face.

“You’re something else.”

“The gruff, no-nonsense Jake McKenzie acting sentimental? Now I’ve seen everything.”

“What can I say, princess? You’ve got that effect on me.”

I stroked her face with the back of my hand, only for her to kiss it tenderly. I smiled and leaned in, kissing her lips once more.

“Think we’re gonna make it through this thing? Get off this island and go back home?”

My smile faded and I turned onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. Home. I didn’t have a home anymore. The thought I wouldn’t be able to be a part of her life hit me hard, and a sudden wave of melancholy came to me.

“Make it through this? Probably. Get off this island? Hope so. But if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that I’m never going back home.”

“What? Why not?!”

I gazed into her eyes, thinking if I should tell her the truth. But she deserved to know. It was too late for me to hide from her. I let out a sigh and told her everything. About the Navy. Mike. Lundgren. The trap. Mike’s death. She wrapped an arm around my chest, holding me close to her, but I was too numb to move as I remembered all these.

“Oh Jake… that’s terrible…”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t have time to mourn. I was stranded behind enemy lines, being hunted by government forces. It took me a week to get back to the base. And when I did, Lundgren was waiting. Along with a pair of M.P.s.”

“Military police…”

“He’d doctored the records, made it look like Mike and I were the traitors. They came to arrest me. I punched Lundgren in his worthless face, dove out the window, and ran like hell. I’ve been running ever since. Hiding out in Costa Rica.”

“Jake… I’m so sorry about your friend.”

“Not gonna lie, it still hurts. After that, I figured, well, that’s what I deserve for letting someone get close to me. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. I wasn’t going to let anyone else in.”

I turned onto my side again, my hand moving to her chest, above her heart, my face close to hers. I was ready to admit everything to her, all the things she had triggered inside me. I was falling hard, and I couldn’t stop. I gazed into her eyes.

“Then I met you.”

“Jake… what’s wrong?”

This was a disaster. I thought there would be enough parachutes for us to escape but I was wrong. I glanced at her guiltily, trying to avoid her eyes.

“… We don’t have enough chutes for everyone.”

I tried to think of a way out but I couldn’t. Not all of us would manage to leave this rooftop in time. Sean put a pack in MC’s hands, deciding he was going to stay back. Craig did the same. I knew that was the right move but I couldn’t help but protest.

“Shut up, you idiots! Now’s not the time to act all noble.”

“Jake… it’s exactly the time.”

“… Goddammit. Fine. Guess I’m staying back too.”

“No! No one’s getting left behind! A lot of us have only known each other a short time… but we’ve been through so much together. We’re all we can count on in this crazy place. So we’re not going to abandon each other now.”

She had a fierce look in her eyes while saying all these. We all looked at each other, determination setting in. We were going to stick together and the decision had been made. While the others were talking, I noticed her being deep in thought.

“Man, I do not wanna go out like this. I just wanna close my eyes and wake up when it’s all over.”, Diego stated with a panicked voice.

She mumbled something under her breath, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Then her face lit up. She came close to me and grabbed that strange gun behind my waistband. Of course!

“We’ll use this!”

“It won’t work, MC. There are too many of them. You can’t shoot them all quickly enough.”, Sean mentioned. But he hadn’t figured out what she meant.

“Who said anything about shooting them?”

There was some protest but it was the only way out for all of us. Our group came together in a big hug around her and she aimed the gun at her feet. While the others were expressing their last thoughts, I couldn’t stop staring at her. She was my last thought, after all. As she was about to shoot, I stopped her.

“Hang on a second, Princess…”

I leaned down at her, connecting our lips one last time. I kissed her deeply for just a mere moment, then broke away and smiled.

“Alright, I can die happy now.”

She smiled back at me and pulled the trigger. A white light expanded around us. The last thing I heard before it engulfed me was her, screaming Diego’s name.

When the light died down, all of us were back at the rooftop of The Celestial. All of us except…

“Wait… MC… where’s Diego?”, Craig asked.

She was trembling now, her face full of panic and grief, her eyes filled with unshed tears. I knew that feeling. That was the worst thing that could happen to her.

“They… took him… pulled him out…”

I wrapped an arm around her gently, bringing her close to me before she would burst. She lied her head in the crook of my neck and tried to speak between the sobs that were now leaving her body.

“They… they would have… pulled me out too… and he let go and… I… I couldn’t hold him… I couldn’t save him… This is my fault, I couldn’t save him!”

“It’s not your fault, Princess. He did it to save you. He loved you too much to keep on holding.”

And it was true. Diego was like Mike. They did everything to save their best friends, their family, even if it meant that they wouldn’t survive. I brushed her hair as she cried, a tear falling down my face as well.

A while later, I found myself in the bar. I had to clear my thoughts somehow and a glass of whiskey sounded like the only solution to that. I went behind the bar and started rummaging for that damn bottle while already holding a glass, too absorbed into my work to hear someone coming in.

“Uh, Jake?”

Smack!

My head hit the wooden board above hard, causing me to drop the glass, which shattered into pieces.

“Ow, damn, that hurt.”

“You okay back there?!”

I stood up to see her, while trying to ease the pain by rubbing my head.

“Yeah, just about gave myself a concussion bumping my head, but I’m great.”

“That’s what happens when you get a big head about everything.”

“What can I say? My ego is a gift and a curse, Princess.”

She laughed softly but I noticed her eyes were a bit red from crying and a sudden need to cheer her up more came to me. I noticed her changing of clothes and smirked.

“Hey, lookie here. Didn’t realize I was in the middle of a supermodel’s photo shoot. Should I get outta the way?”

“Oh, shut up.”

“Fair warning, don’t think you’ll be able to post to pictagram. Cell service has been a biiiit spotty.”

She was now beaming and I couldn’t help but smile too. Our eyes met for a second, then I looked back at the bar.

“What are you doing behind the bar, anyway? I thought we were looking for clues to where the Watchers took Diego.”

“Yeah. I think they left their address at the bottom of one of these bottles. Only one way to find out which one.”

I gave her a smile and a wink but I couldn’t meet her eyes. It hurt to think of her. That she lost her best friend. I lost my best friend and couldn’t do anything about it back then. Now, instead of helping her, here I was, trying to get away. Guilt filled me up. Why was I so pathetic?

“Jake…”

“Ya know, did somebody steal some of the booze? Used to be this bottle of Raleigh DeWitt Gold whiskey sittin’ here. Been sayin’ I was savin’ it for when things really went down the crapper-”

“Jake-”

“-and, well, I think it’s about time. But look, somebody guzzled the whole thing! It’s empty-”

“Jake!”

I shut up, staring at the floor, a feeling of desperation overwhelming me. Look at yourself McKenzie, you’re just plain sad. I closed my eyes and took a breath. She came closer to me.

“I’m worried about him too. But I’m here for you Jake, no matter what.”

“I know you are, Princess. That’s the damn problem. You’re all… ‘here for me’.”

I sighed and sat on the floor behind the bar, running a hand through my hair and closing my eyes. A few seconds passed and I felt her sitting down next to me, her eyes glued at me. I would really like to push her away but I couldn’t do it. I was only trouble for her but she kept getting closer to me, and I didn’t complain. I needed her. The words fell from my mouth without much thinking.

“I ain’t given a damn about people in a long time, Princess. Then you came along and pretty much blew that whole plan straight to hell. Anyway, thanks to you, I’m finding myself all torn up inside over your gang of Little Rascals. And it’s all your fault.”

“My fault? How do you figure that?”

I chuckled and turned my head to look at her, leaning just a bit to bring our faces close. Some strands of my hair fell across my eyes but I couldn’t care less. All that I was focused in that moment were her eyes.

“Not sure if you noticed last night, but you kinda blew my mind.”

“Hah… I definitely noticed.”

Our faces were now closer, our noses touching. She closed the gap between us, bringing our lips together for only a mere moment. We pulled apart just for a second and I gazed into her eyes before kissing her again, more passionately this time, my arms around her as I picked her up with me and put her at the edge of the bar. Our bodies pressed together and I could feel her heartbeat rising as the kiss started getting more needy. Our lips moved together perfectly as she yanked off my jacket while I fumbled with her shirt, finally managing to get it off.

“Does this mean we’re-”

“-Yeah.”

“And it’s not like-”

“-No.”

“Cool.”

I kissed her neck, slowly moving to her now exposed collarbones and chest when we heard Zahra calling for us to go and see something. I couldn’t help but groan, irritated.

“Zahra must hate me, She must really really hate me.”

“I’m sure she does. Come on, we should see what’s up.”

I let her down off the bar and gave her back her shirt. I wore my jacket again and we started walking to our friends. I took her hand in mine and gave it a gently squeeze, noticing her smile slightly. I couldn’t tell if this was going to last but I knew she was the only person I’d ever want to be with.

Sneaking past the Watchers wasn’t an easy part but we managed. The statue of the reclining woman stood tall in front of the monument. The ring on its hand caught my attention for a moment. Its arms were crossed too tightly to get a hold of it. The ring was tarnished but it was easy to figure out that it was made of gold. A wedding ring.

I gazed at MC while she sized up the statue. I wondered how she would look with a ring like that, in its former glory, on her finger. I wondered if I could actually give her something like that someday. I sighted slightly then saw her inspecting the carvings on the pyramid and went to stand beside her. The carvings depicted a crowd around a woman with covered face.

“I think the statue is of the same woman as the one in this carving. Only the statue isn’t wearing a mask.”

“You making any sense of this?”

“The Watchers seem to revere this place, but the people depicted in the carvings are in modern clothes.”

“Tuxes and evening gowns, yeah. Looks like a costume part for the well-to-douche.”

She looked back at the statue, noticing the ring as well.

“It looks really old, but I think… it’s a wedding ring?”

“If we want that ring, I think we’re gonna have to play Indiana Jones.”

“There has to be some way to free it from the statue…”

She thought for a moment while staring at the statue persistently, then covered the statue’s face with a torn up veil. Something clicked and the statue’s arm moved, allowing the ring to slide off and fall on the ground in front of us. I smirked and ruffled her hair fondly and she chuckled.

“Now I’m gonna have to start calling you Genius.”

Without thinking, I kneeled down before her, recovering the ring and looking back up. Our eyes met and I offered her the ring. I could make the slightest hint of her blushing.

“Oh… are you proposing?”

“Ha. You want me to?”

She took it and put it on her ring finger with a smile on her face. I noticed her looking at it with what I thought was… longing. I stood up and took a step closer to her, wrapping my arms around the small of her back and she turned her gaze on me. I never would have thought I’d meet someone that made me feel like she did. I wanted to be with her, to stay with her. I leaned in and kissed her softly. This was more than a kiss. It was a promise.

“Just hold on to me, and don’t let go.”

We dived into the water to find the cave entrance. Swimming deeper, we found it and went in there while holding hands, our fingers entwined. I smiled at her and then continue through the winding tunnel. Hues shined into the water from ahead. A few minutes later, the tunnel widened and the water started getting warmer. We came to the surface and found a magnificent sight. The cavern was full of colorful, shimmering crystals, their light reflecting onto the water of the shallow lake we were now in. There was a small island with a chest there.

“Oh, wow…”

“You ain’t kiddin’.”

“This place is a giant jacuzzi! What kind of Niagara Falls honeymoon suite did we just swim into?”

She slipped off her mask and we stopped swimming, both of us enjoying the jets, the hot water against my skin made my muscles relax.

“It must be a natural hot spring. This feels amazing.”

“No argument here.”

I closed my eyes and tried to relax more, the past few days being too much of a hellhole for me to handle that easy. After a moment I felt her eyes on me and I smirked, my eyes still closed.

“You just gonna stare at me all day? Not that I mind.”

I felt her coming my way quietly, then leaning in for a small kiss, our lips barely touching. I opened my eyes and looked into hers.

“… Well, hello there.”

“Hey.”

“Got any more where that came from?”

“I might.”

My hands already wrapped around her back, I brought her close to me. She took a quick breath before I crashed my lips to hers, kissing her intensely, her lips soft against mine. Her hands moved up from my chest, finally resting on my shoulders while one of my hands rubbed circles across the small of her back and the other entwined with her hair. A while later we broke away, my forehead resting onto hers. The chest in the island caught her attention and we headed that way. My attention however quickly went elsewhere. I swam to a deeper part of the lake where light danced across the bottom in a colorful show.

“It’s beautiful over here… Come check it out with me?”

“You bet.”

I dived first into the water, her following me soon after, both of us coming together in the depths, watching the reef in amazement. I looked at her and she came closer, falling into my arms, me holding her tightly. I kissed her again and, instinctively, I stripped her off her remaining clothes and she did the same, our need to feel each other greater than anything else. We rose to the surface and went to the shore of one side of the lake.

I touched her everywhere and bit her neck tenderly, the feeling of her underneath me made my skin tingle, our bodies moving in perfect tandem. I gazed into her eyes while moving against her, intoxicated by her soft moans. The colors of the crystals reflecting in her eyes and the look of pure desire and love she gave me sent shivers down my spine and I couldn’t keep my eyes off hers. It felt like we were alone in the world and I wish it’d stay that way.

A while later, we were laying on the sand, our bodies entwined, nuzzling and kissing.

“Every time… fireworks. How do you do that anyway?”

“I don’t think it’s me. It’s us.”

She looked up at the cavern wall of the cave in surprise, a ray of sunlight coming from there caught my attention too.

“You seein’ what I’m seein’?”

“Sunlight! Maybe there’s a way in for the others!”

“Almost forgot all about the Odd Squad.”

I gave her one last kiss before we got dressed and went to find the way for our friends to get in.

Our journey toward the MASADA facility had been a cold ass bitch so far and it was getting harder to even see where we were going because of the heavy snowfall. Traveling through the island’s frozen landscape was more difficult than we thought but at the very least all of us were properly dressed up for the cold. I walked beside MC, holding hands, me lost in my thoughts. If that gate in the facility would work, everyone could go home. Everyone but me. I would have to leave her and I didn’t know how I would bring myself to do it. To tell her. My thoughts were interrupted by her voice.

“Huh? What’s wrong, little guy?”

She was talking to Furball, who had stopped running around in the snow and was looking at something in the distance.

“Someone’s there.”

Estela was now scanning the landscape, her eyes falling into a lone figure in the white haze.

“Uh, hello?”

No response.

“Who’s there?!”

A small red circle lighted up close to the figure’s face, then a wisp of smoke rose. As we got closer to him, all it took from me to recognize him was a look. My jaw clenched and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. My muscles tensed up, blood started boiling inside me.

“Lundgren.”

“Jacob. How long’s it been?”

“Not enough you miserable-”

“Your family’s disappointed in you, McKenzie. First you sold American arms to a Kharzistan dictator, then you resisted arrest and took yourself off the grid.”

I froze. He touched my family? My sister? My mum? My fingertips buried in the palm of my hand, my whole body started trembling in pure hatred and… fear. I felt her hand squeezing mine tightly and I took a short breath.

“What do you want, Lundgren?”

“You, McKenzie. I’m here to bring you in. Had to break the news to your mama myself. ‘Sorry, ma’am. Your son betrayed his country and endangered his fellow soldiers.’ And then I held her as she cried hysterically. Least I could do.”

He snickered and I felt every nerve of my body ready to burst, pure hatred burned into my eyes.

“Don’t. You. Dare.”

“That all you got, boy? Lyin’ around in a hammock’s made you soft.”

“We both know what happened, Lundgren. What you did. You killed him!”

“Jacob, while I’d love to catch up on old times, I’m gonna need you to come with me if you don’t want your new friends to get hurt.”

“MC, we should be able to take him if he’s on his own-”,  Estela said but she couldn’t end her sentence.

“Arachnid! Into position!”

Hummers full of armored soldiers suddenly surrounded us, the soldiers getting out of the vehicles, pointing their guns at as. Panic flood over me. I couldn’t let them get hurt because of me. They had to get out of here. She couldn’t be close to me at this moment. I was supposed to protect all of them, especially her. They had to run, away from them and me.

“Princess, it’s me he wants! Take the others and get out of here!”

“Jake, I can’t just-”

“Are we really doing this right now?!”, Michelle screamed.

MC looked straight into my eyes, wild anger and determination in her gaze, a fierce look on her face, angry tears filling her own eyes. She had taken her decision and I wouldn’t like it.

“Jake, I’m not leaving you!”

Many feelings came through me. Fear, anger, worry, but most of all… love. I loved her. She loved me too. She loved me too much to leave me behind. And that could be her death.

“Dammit, Princess… Why you gotta make me feel weak at a time like this?”

The first New Year’s Eve I wasn’t alone in years. It was strange to be surrounded by people who actually enjoyed my presence. Even before the navy, celebrations were never really my thing. But right now, I felt welcomed. Me, being here with these kids, with her… it felt right. I looked at the stars from the rooftop we gathered, wishing this night would last a little longer and we wouldn’t have to be in danger anymore.

“Mind if I join you?”

I turned my gaze to her and smiled. She was radiant tonight, with that dress. I wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her close.

“Was hoping you’d say that.”

They say you should wish what you want the New Year to bring you the seconds before it changes. The past few years I wouldn’t find the meaning in it. But now, I did.

“Ten… nine…”

I wish for them to be safe.

“Eight… seven…”

I wish for all of them to return home.

“Six… five…”

I wish there was a way for me to return so I could give her what she deserves.

“Four… three…”

I wish for her to be happy.

“Two… one…”

We all wished for a happy new year.

“Come here.”

I cupped her face and kissed her intensely. I wanted to cherish our moments together, to stow my love for her, because after all of this would be over, I would have to leave her. We wouldn’t last. I brushed her cheek with my thumb, looked into her eyes and smiled to myself. But this isn’t over yet.

“Happy New Year, Princess.”

“Happy New Year, Top Gun.”

A while later, we found ourselves in a beautiful bedroom, kissing in front of its fireplace. I held her as tightly as I could, thinking about everything that could go wrong if I let her go. Her hands moved from my arms up my shoulders.

“You seem tense. Here.”

She sat us both on the bed then moved behind me to massage my shoulders and I felt my muscles relax a bit.

“Hot damn, Princess, you’re a miracle worker.”

“Are you worried about your new team showing up?”

I stared at the fire for a second. I was terrified. Not about me. I couldn’t care less about me. It was all about her. If something happened to anyone from this group and especially her, I wouldn’t be able to handle it. But I had to reassure her everything would be alright. I turned to look at her with my usual grin.

“Not exactly a happy reunion. But like I said, I’ll handle them. That’s a promise.”

She chuckled and smiled back at me.

“A Jake McKenzie Guarantee?”

“At the very least, if I go down, I’m taking the lot of them with me.”

She froze for just a second then moved to sit on my lap. Her hands grabbed my shoulders firmly, a serious expression on her face as she fixed her eyes on me.

“Stay alive, Jake. For me. I mean it. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I won’t-”

“Jake.”

I kept silent for a moment, studying her face. There was worry, concern and fondness in her gaze. It was new to me for somebody to stare at me like that. Only a few people have cared about me so much. It was also strange to see her so worried. Usually she was the strong one, the one who kept the group together and calmed everyone else down. Seeing her in this unusual state made me want to never leave her side again, to soothe her about anything. She was worth dying for but she was worth living for more. I smiled softly and kissed her lips reassuringly.

“… Alright. I won’t. That’s a Jake McKenzie Guarantee too.”

Lying next to each other, bodies pressed together, me hugging her tightly, her head on my shoulder. I stared up at the night sky through the window in the tent’s flap, my mind running wild. Tomorrow I would have to say goodbye. To everyone. To her. It felt like a crushing weight on my chest, like I was suffocated. How was I supposed to leave her now? 

She was more important to me than the air I breathed. My body needed her body heat. My soul needed her soul. Everything would be meaningless without her. She was the only one I could imagine myself with, her voice the only sound I wanted to fall asleep too, her eyes the only sight I wanted to wake up to. I wanted to stay here with her forever. I wish I could. 

But I had to keep her safe even if that meant my heart would broke. I couldn’t let her get hurt because of me. She had a life out of this hellhole. I couldn’t give her what she deserved and she deserved the world. I would leave her without a sound if that meant she would live a full life.

“Something bothering you?”

She was on her side now, resting her head on her hand, looking at me but I kept staring at the stars. I couldn’t meet her eyes. How would I say to her that what we had is over? But I had to be honest with her, I had to. She deserved to know. I closed my eyes just to stop the tears from falling and spoke in a quiet voice.

“Listen… there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Tomorrow, when we go to that facility… if that portal works…”

“We’ll go home!”

“Yeah. And I can’t go with you.”

“What?!”

She stared at me in shock and fear, her mouth slightly agape, her lips slightly quivering. It hurt to see her looking at me like that. But I had no place with her. I’m nothing but trouble and danger.

“I’m a wanted man in the States, MC. And if we all just show up through some crazy-ass portal, there’s going to be a whole lot of publicity. The rest of you get to go home to your families, to your lives. I get to go straight to a cold, hard cell.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to stay behind after you all go through. And then I’m going to open my own portal to somewhere Lundgen will never find me. Santiago, maybe. Madagascar. The Maldives. Somewhere with warm beaches and cold beers and no super-soldier squad hunting me down.”

“But…”

“I don’t want to do this, Princess. But it’s my only choice. I don’t have a future anywhere else.”

I kept staring up, one look at her and I would break down. I had lost so many things because of that bastard and now I would lose more. I would lose the most important person in my life. But I couldn’t go back to the States. I couldn’t face what was waiting for me there. And it wasn’t just Lundgren.

“No. It’s not. You can’t let Lundgren win.”

I chuckled bitterly at her remark.

“I’m on the run and he’s got an army. I’d say he’s already won.”

“Come on Jake. I know you better than that. You never back down, and you never let the bad guy win. Lundgren killed Mike, and God knows how many other people. He has to be held accountable for his actions. He has to be stopped. And you… you are the man to do it.”

“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

“Come back with us. Testify. Tell the world your story. Expose Lundgren for the traitor that he is, and make him pay for what he did!”

“Wish it were that simple…”

“Why not?”

I bit my lip, thinking. All the people I had left behind these years. The fact that I had to explain everything that happened. The shame I felt. His parents. She was looking at me, waiting for an answer I didn’t know I was ready to give.

“Because… Because it’s not just about Lundgren.”

“What do you mean?”

I closed my eyes again, taking in a shaky breath, trying to keep my tears from falling.

“If I go back to the States… I have to face everyone again. I have to face Mike’s parents.”

“Oh… Jake…”

“I didn’t kill Mike. But I promised them I’d keep him safe. I promised them I’d bring their boy home. He died on my watch. He died because of me. And I can’t… I… I can’t…”

Remembering the crash of the plane and Mike’s last words, how I was responsible for this, how I should have protected my friend, tears I couldn’t keep flooded my eyes and ran down my face. I felt her hands wiping my face and then she wrapped her arms around my body, holding me tightly, her presence the only thing that calmed me down just a bit.

“I know it’s not easy, Jake. I know you carry a lot of guilt. But you can do this. We can do this!”

I turned my gaze on her. She was crying too, staring at me with a look no one had ever given me. A look of affection, a look of love I had never experienced before. And somehow this reassured me. For the first time is so many years, I felt the slightest hint of hope.

“You think so?”

“I do.”

“Ah, to hell with it. I love you, MC.”

Maybe this was rushed but it was the most honest thing I had said all these years. She beamed at me through her tears and cupped my cheek, gazing right into my eyes.

“I love you, Jacob Lucas McKenzie. There is nothing in this world or the next we can’t face together.”

Both on our sides, my hand traveled at the back of her neck, gently pulling her face closer, connecting our lips. I kissed her like my life depended on it. Because it did. I could taste our shared breath, feel the thud of our combined heartbeat, my fingers carding through her hair, her hands cupping both sides of my face.

Warmth consumed me. All these years I was helpless, carrying a burden alone. I didn’t expect to find someone to stay, someone who would reassure me when I’d doubt myself, who would take away my pain, who would hold me close, who would love me most. And I would do the same for her. I would keep her safe, I would hold her close, I would love her most.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to find our own way over.”

“We’ve seen choppers coming and going. Jake, would you know how to fly one of these?”

I could barely hear them talking. I stared down the cliff, my best friend staring up at me like I was nothing, like he stared into the void. I couldn’t bear that look. I gazed up at the horizon, my mind blank, a sudden feeling of nausea rushing over me. I couldn’t comprehend how I was still standing on my own two feet.

“Did… did you see what Lundgren did to him?”

“Jake, can you fly one of those Arachnid helicopters or what?”

Were they talking to me? I didn’t know. My eyes filled with tears. I felt cold rushing into my core. Maybe I was shaking too. It felt like my lungs would give up on me any second now, like I couldn’t breathe. I was mumbling nonsense to myself.

“Anybody got a flask on them? I could use a drink-”

I felt two hands grabbing my shoulders, giving me a light shake. I stared down at her. What would she say to me now? I was useless anyway.

“Jake, listen to me. I know how bad it hurts to see Mike like that, but it’s not too late.”

“Not too late for what?”

“To save him. To bring him back. That… that thing that attacked us? That’s not your friend. But he’s still in there somewhere, I know it. And we’ll get him out.”

“… You think so, huh?”

“Absolutely. But we can’t do it if we don’t survive today.”

It was hard for me to believe her. After all of the things I had seen and done in my life, believing her in this was one of the hardest. But I had to. At the very least, even if I couldn’t save Mike, I had to get everyone else out of here. I had to get her to safety. I wouldn’t bear losing her too. I gave her a tight hug and she hugged me back, holding me close. I took a deep breath and let her go.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay. I can fly us outta here in whatever you put me in.”

On the way back to the facility, Zahra activated a system to blow the whole building up. As we continue running toward the MASADA’s aerial hangar, alarms started blaring. We saw the military chopper in the distance. We ran toward it, but I noticed it was flickering and wavering in the light. That couldn’t be good.

“Whoa, whoa… what the hell? Is it a hologram?”

“No way… It’s…”

Zahra reached out to it and her hand passed through the chopper’s hull.

“It’s phase shifting.”

“What?!”

“You mean, like, it’s moving between dimensions?!”

“Or timelines.”

“So in one version of events, it’s here, and in another, it’s not… and we’re seeing both? Why?!”, I said, frustrated.

“The island is basically one big faultline in the space-time continuum.”

“We could be on the verge of making some decision that could decide whether or not the chopper’s even here in the first place…”

“You mean… if Arachnid’s even here in the first place.”

Realization hit me. The only way to escape this place… was through me. A pained look flashed over my face as I took my decision.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that Arachnid came here for me. Somehow, they knew I was here… And I think I just realized who told them.”

Reaching into MC’s bag, I took the crystal transponder.

“Jake… it was you. It was you the whole time.”

“Wait, what?!”

“Jake, what are you doing?! You’re gonna tell Lundgren your position, back in time?”, Sean asked me, enraged.

“But wait, if you don’t, maybe they’ll all vanish!”

“You can’t stop him, Craig. He already did it. That’s why they’re here. If he doesn’t now, it’s a paradox. He always turned himself in.”

“Besides, even if they did vanish, then we’re trapped here with no way out. I can’t risk that.”

I glanced at her briefly and she looked at me with an inconsolable expression.

“I can’t risk you, Princess. The chopper’s our one ticket off this rock. And there’s only one way to make sure Lundgren comes here for me.”

I wrote the sending position into the device, then lifted its microphone to my head.

“You want Jake McKenzie? Come get him. June 1st. 15 degrees, 11 minutes, 17 seconds North, 73 degrees, 20 minutes, 16 seconds West.”

I turned it off and looked at her.

“Well? Did that do it?”

She went close to the now steady helicopter and touched the solid hull.

“It’s here. It’s real now.”

“Then what do you say we get the hell off this rock?”

We all climbed abroad and I sat in the pilot’s sit, doing the only thing I was good at. It felt familiar, being in this kind of chopper. It almost felt… good.

“Hurry up! We’ve got two minutes!”

“Copy.”

Suddenly, Arachnid troops came into the hangar, aiming their weapons at the chopper, shooting at us.

“I need more time to get us off the ground!”

“This is an attack helicopter! Let’s fight back!”

“Use the chain gun, Craig! That’ll send them running!”

“Now you’re talking my language!”

Drax got behind the chain gun, aiming it at the troops.

“Don’t call it a comeback.”

Craig fired the chain gun, spraying bullets across the hangar, destroying their cover. The troops ran for cover as he bellowed “Get some!” maniacally. This kid was almost too funny. I finally managed to lift the chopper and move it away from the base. As we cheered Craig, the facility’s processing towers combusted and collapsed into the sea. And on the cliffside, there was that bastard. I saluted Lundgren in a victory smile.

“Adios, amigo!”

Bad move! Lundgren jumped and landed on the nose of the chopper, his exoskeleton supporting him.

“Aw, gimme a break.”

He climbed over to the side, pulling the door off its rack.

“Holy crap, that exoskeleton’s unstoppable!”

“MC, what do we do?”

“We have to shock him! His strength is all in that exoskeleton! If we can short-circuit it somehow, he’s a pushover!”

“Great idea! Love it… Now how exactly do we do that?!”

“Leave that to me.”

Zahra ripped open the compartment above the copilot’s sit and stripped the wires, causing the controls to malfunction.

“Careful with that! My instruments are going crazy!”

“I’m gonna go crazy if you don’t shut up!”

Whatever she was doing, she had to hurry. Lundgren managed to rip the door, tossing it into the void.

“I’ve got you now.”

“Is that so, Sparky?”

“ ‘Sparky’? Guess the bad nicknames have been rubbing off on you.”

With a smile, Zahra jammed two exposed wires into his exoskeleton, frying the bastard. Seeing him getting electrocuted was the most satisfying thing.

“Who said anything about a nickname?”

But as he was falling into the void he managed to grab Zahra.

“Hey! Get off!”

“Z, I’ve got you!”

Craig lunged for her but couldn’t catch her in time. She was pulled down with Lundgren, falling into the sea. Why did this have to happen?

“Jake! Turn around! We’ve gotta go back for her!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll- Whoa!”

Thanks to the alert, I barely missed a streaking missile hitting us. Someone was shooting us! Lundgren’s minion, Tetra.

“Go! He’s shooting again!”

“What about Zahra?”

“Go!”

I avoided another rocket but the alarm sounded once more. I wasn’t gonna make it.

“I can’t shake him!”

“QUINN NO!”

Quinn’s eyes flashed green and she floated out of the chopper, in front of the rocket’s way. We lost her too. A second later, it detonated twenty feet from the chopper, the blast strong enough to destroy its tail rotor. We were falling!

I heard her screaming Quinn’s name into the void, hanging from a handhold. I was ready to tell her to get inside the chopper when the handhold popped loose and she went sliding across the door. No! Without thinking, I jumped from my seat, diving for her. I wasn’t going to lose her too. She managed to grab the landing skid but her hold wasn’t gonna last. She screamed, a panicked look on her face as I reached out for her.

“Come on, Princess! You can do it! Give me your hand!”

She stretched out her other hand but I still couldn’t reach her. Lying on my stomach, I was almost out of the chopper too. I couldn’t let her die on me.

“Jake… I’m slipping!”

“No, you’re not! You’re fine! I can almost reach…”

I was almost ready to catch her hand, our fingers grazed each others. I could do it. Grab her, McKenzie! As I was going to take her hand in mine, her hold on the landing skid let loose, her hand slipped and I froze in terror. She fell into the void.

I screamed her name, ready to jump out too as hands grabbed me and brought me inside the chopper. I kicked and screamed to them to let me go as angry tears ran down my face. This is your fault. She’s dead because of you. This is your fault. They are all dead because of you. This is your fault. You should have grabbed her. This is your fault. You lost her. You are alone.

[jiji-infires]

APRICITY (pt. 4)

OC X JUNGKOOK

GENRE: FLUFF, ANGST

WORD COUNT: 2K

SYNOPSIS: When his roommate moves out to live with his girlfriend, Jungkook is faced with a new reality, one that includes a 5′3′’ sac of bones that is too nerdy and curious for his liking.

CHAPTER 4

“It’s just fatigue” Jisoo protests as she steps out of ‘Red Beans’ coffee shop, her umbrella already open to shield her and her friend from the rain. She and Seulgi have been strolling around without purpose for the past hour, talking about this and that with Seulgi throwing shade about some people. Turns out that the girl named Hanbyul had a long-term crush on Jungkook since high school and that she has found out that he walks Jisoo home, or so rumours say. The girl who was the reason for her newly lived fame never came in sight. Jisoo is now known as the girl who may or may not have cheated; it doesn’t bother her in the slightest, she knows who she is and that’s enough for her.

“Still, you should eat properly” Seulgi counters “are you on some kind of diet?”

“No” she furrows her eyebrows, “I eat normal food like normal people with no diet whatsoever. It’s just that sometimes I forget to eat” and that’s true as she often finds herself either studying or spacing out.

She remembers the time when she was sitting in the small living room area, holding a pillow to her chest, legs folded underneath her as she looked straight ahead without purpose, her eyes fixed on one object that she had no idea she was looking at as her mind was distinctly elsewhere, daydreaming about something she can’t remember when she snaps out of her daze at the voice of Jungkook who was asking her if she saw his dog.

“Come on, I’m treating you” Seulgi hurries and Jisoo falls in her steps, keeping the umbrella on both their heads.

“But we just had coffee and I’m not that hung…ry” her words fade as both girls stop dead in their tracks, looking at the boy clad in an all-black outfit, looking like a top model as he struts under the light drizzle, walking towards a black Porsche Carrera.

“Well hot damn” Seulgi says and they both break in a fit of giggles, until the boy opens the door and turns to slide in. Jisoo’s jaw must’ve dropped to the ground as she keeps staring at the figure inside the vehicle.

“Was that …”

“Jung Jungkook?”

“That’s definitely him” Seulgi says with an assertive tone, taking a full bite of her burrito. Jisoo still can’t believe that the guy in the car is Jungkook himself, her roommate.

“But how? Jimin said that he works in delivery, he can’t afford a car like that unless his parents got it for him” Jisoo shakes her head, nibbling at her grilled cheese.

“Exactly” the other girl replies, setting her food aside and ready to spill tea. “He comes from a very wealthy family in Busan. His parents own a very prominent Holding company, with his mother doing her own hotel chain”

“What?” that’s a shocker, “then how come he’s splitting the rent with me?! He could be living in a luxurious condo, or better, studying overseas. What the hell is he doing here? And what’s this delivery story?”

“I don’t know the whole story, but Jimin told me that he has problems with his family, so he barely talks to them. The money he has in his bank account is the strict minimum he agreed to when he decided to move out of his family house; I guess he spends it wisely”

Jisoo takes in Seulgi’s report on Jungkook’s affluent background yet she can’t understand why he’d leave all the prosperity and mammon behind. On the other hand, she barely knows the guy, so anything she hears is definitely new and credible.

She herself can’t say that she has a stable familial relationship. Her mother abandoned them when Jisoo was five; as a consequence her father became emotionally unstable and barely took care of his only daughter, sinking in the comfort that fictional events provided amongst marvellous stories that unusual human beings were living inside. She can say that it was the only positive feature she inherited from him. As for her mother, Jisoo has no idea where she might be, and to be honest, she genuinely doesn’t want to know, for her own sanity and peace of mind.

_________________________________________________________

In the metropolis, the air is still and weighted with moisture and a sense of building pressure. The skies have been clear earlier in the morning, but now there are heavy clouds in them, as dark and vast as a fleet of aircraft carriers.

Jungkook received an early call from his father this morning, and is now waiting for him in a restaurant in one of the hotels owned by his mother. He is not most eager to meet him, but he insisted, saying that it was a very important matter to discuss with his son.

He lingers for another 30 minutes, deciding that it’s enough waiting. He stands up, gathering his car keys and cell from the table, paying the coffee he has ordered earlier, when he suddenly hears his father’s voice.

“Jungkook!” he turns around to see the middle-aged man dressed in a blue suit with his now grey hair pushed back. He can’t lie and say that he missed the man, but it feels like it has been a while since they last met. Maybe it is.

“You’re late” the boy states matter-of-factly, sitting back in his chair and facing the man who doesn’t know how to react to his son’s words.

“Your mom is sick” the man says briskly

“You’re lying” Jungkook replies with a deadly stare, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at his own father. His father exhales angrily through his nose and props his elbows on the table, chin resting atop intertwined fingers.

“Listen, son, I’m gonna cut to the chase”

“Please do and make it quick, will you?” Jungkook impatience is showing through his words as he has no interest in hearing the same tale over again. Mr.Jung’s fists flare at his apathy but he keeps calm.

“Your mother and I have discussed the matter before, and we see that sending you to America to study will be better than having you waste your time here.” He announces and waits for his reply, which comes moments later in a sarcastic chuckle from his son, shaking his head and mutter something about his father being a pain in the neck. What a hypocrite.

“Look, dad, I’m not interested in leaving to any country against my will and what I wish for” his face is now blank and emotionless, gazing straight into his dad’s eyes, “I chose this university because I wanted to–”

“–No, you just wanted to be away, it’s way–”

“–You left me no other choice!” the younger exclaims, cutting his father just like the later did to him seconds ago. “I’m not going anywhere if I don’t want to, end of story.” The finality of his voice leaves no room for discussion. “I must go now, goodbye” he says with a curt nod and storms away, leaving the man speechless and motionless.

Although his tone and mannerism were calmer than still waters, he has volcanoes erupting inside him, inflaming the tumult within his soul and rattling his cage. Who the hell does he think he is?

He makes his own decisions, nobody can live his life in his place while he’s still breathing, not like his brother. Memories flash before his eyes; blood stained asphalt concrete, a crashed vehicle, and a lifeless body. The thought of his sibling adds to his rage and he steps harder on the gas, going over the speed limit. He knows that he has to stop, but he is addicted to the rush of adrenaline that makes his heartbeat echo in his eardrums.

JungJungkook knows exactly where to stop, and how to make those memories fade.

_________________________________________________________

After half a Saturday spent in wandering around the city, Jisoo bids Seulgi goodbye and goes home, making a mental note of things she has to do; eat, take meds, and write her 10000 words essay about literary socialist realism.

“What an interesting topic” she sardonically mutters to herself, Juno sitting noiselessly by her feet. Jungkook isn’t home, and she’s sitting in the living area with no light on, a blanket over her shoulders and mug of hot chocolate on the table. It hasn’t stopped raining for a while now; she hears heavy drizzle falling in crazy chaotic drops; they hit hard, no brakes, no slowing for the impact of the ground. Only after the dry dusty planks have a new watery sheen does the sound soften. It creates a rhythmic atmosphere for her to concentrate more.

Her newly found detonation is broken, as lightning strikes fiercely enough to nearly steal the light from her eyes, sweeping down from the sky that is heavily clouded. Thunder follows shortly after, threatening to crack the air and split the heavens apart, roaring like a livid dragon unleashing its wrath upon the world. She sighs and wraps her arms around herself, and when lightning strikes for the second time, it illuminates a shadow on the wooden floor. She turns around to see a towering figure clothed in black, and that’s when she lets out an ear-splitting shriek.

“Ah!”

His arm moves left to turn on the lights and she’s surprised at the sight of Jungkook with his blood shot eyes hovering over her shaken frame. She’s still panting while her hand is resting on top of her chest, as if trying to stop the irregular palpitation of her heart.

“What the hell man?! You could at least make a sound while coming in, not creeping like a freaking psycho” she yells at him, abandoning the warmth of her blanket and her halfway finished essay.

“I’m not a psycho” his voice is slurry, “I’m a bird” he hiccups and that’s when she realises that the boy standing before her has probably drunk something he shouldn’t. He steps forward with his eyebrows furrowed together, tripping on his shoelace and loosing balance.

“Shit” she cusses and tries to hold him, but he’s bigger than her and heavier than he seems, resulting in them tumbling and falling, him first than Jisoo on top of him.

“Boy” she says with an attitude and he breaks in a fit of cackles, earning a confused look from Jisoo who is now on her feet and thinking of what she can possibly do in this situation. She should be running for the hills now; a drunken man, twice her size, is in the same apartment as her and not in his stable state of mind.

“Shishoo you’re funny” he exclaims with a face-splitting grin, “You… you look like… like Pikachu… you’re so small” he giggles

“What? How dare you?! I’m not small! I’m 161 cm tall!” she is immensely offended by his words, then she reminds herself that he’s wasted and doesn’t know what he’s saying. She doesn’t know if she should leave him there on the floor; he’s heavy and he called her small, also she can’t just go, it’s really cold and he might get sick, which is none of her concern, but still, he defended her the other day, so it’s her chance to return the favour.

She leans down, grabbing Jungkook’s sprawled arms and intending to drag him when he suddenly lifts his head.

“I’m not going, you know, to America; I just don’t want to” he states, his words broken but comprehensible “I also hate … airplanes” he yawns fades back to sleep.

She sighs, gathering enough force to pull the boy to his room, a feat that isn’t at all easy. Of course she has no idea of what he’s talking about but it spikes her curiosity.

With immense might, she hauls him up to his bed, talking off his shoes and throwing a blanket over his body.

“I didn’t sign up for this shit man” she grumbles and goes back to her essay, settling on leaving it for the following day as she has no power to continue after the near cardiac arrest experience caused by Jung Jungkook. With a yawn she turns off the lights and heads to her room.

Tomorrow is going to be a new day, and a long one for sure.

[infinitehouseofbooksya]

REVEAL - Project Emerjence

Today Jamie Zakian and Month9Books are revealing the cover and first chapter for PROJECT EMERGENCE which releases March 14, 2017! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to be one of the first readers to receive a eGalley!!

A quick note from the author:

I’ve always dreamed of writing an epic sci-fi thriller. I knew I wanted it to involve a group of teens leaving a dead Earth to start new lives on a terra formed Mars, but I didn’t have any ideas on how to make the plot exciting. Then, a song I never heard before played on my Pandora app. Escape by Rogue. As that song blasted through my headphones, the entire story that is Project Emergence streamed through my mind like a movie trailer. So, I went straight to work. It took months of frantic writing, almost a year of editing, and a mini rewrite, but that moment of inspiration became my first YA novel.

Project Emergence is a fast-paced thrill ride across the stars. It shows the extent people will go to uphold their beliefs, and that love can overcome any evil.

On to the reveal! 

Title: PROJECT EMERGENCE

Author: Jamie Zakian

Pub. Date: March 14, 2017

Publisher: Month9Books

Format: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 292

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | TBD

An ancient Hopi myth says people arrived on tiny silver pods that fell from the sky.

But the truth is far more terrifying.

Two-hundred fifty-eight teens are sent from a dying Earth to a terraformed Mars as part of the Emergence Program, mankind’s last hope before solar flares finish off their planet and species. Among the brave pioneers are sixteen-year-old Joey Westen and her twin brother, Jesse.

After only minutes in space, something triggers a total ship lock down.

With the help of their roommates, the Matsuda twins (notorious hackers and shady secret-keepers), Joey and Jesse stumble onto an extremist plot to sabotage the Emergence Program.

But Joey and Jesse didn’t travel to the deepest pits of space and leave their mother behind to be picked off in a high-tech tin can. They’ll lie, hack, and even kill to survive the voyage and make it to Mars.

Excerpt

Chapter One Joey stared out the window of a large, airtight van. The nose of a spaceship peeked above maroon-crested hills, and her forehead thumped against the glass. A light crinkle drew her stare, right to the paper wrinkling in her grip. She loosened her stiff fingers, smoothing a crease from the official seal of the Unified Nations of Earth. The letter in her hand still mesmerized her. Selected, Terraformed Mars, New home, those words knocked the bottom from her stomach every time she read them. Things were getting way too real. No more tiny lead-lined home, school time at the kitchen table, mom. She turned to Jesse, her brother’s smirk brighter than an X1 flare. “You’re a crappy twin. I’m freaking out right now, you should be too.” Jesse rolled his stare her way. “Fraternal twins don’t work like that.” “That’s not true.” She read the letter again, making sure both their names were listed for the umpteenth time. “I can’t believe this is happening.” Jesse squirmed, frowning a moment before his perma-smile returned. “No one from G-Sector ever goes anywhere.” “Did you see the look on mom’s face when we left?” “I know. Buzzkill.” “What’s she gonna do without us?” “Finally be able to feed herself,” Jesse snickered. Joey shook her head, folding the letter. “Maybe she’ll win the next lottery, meet up with us on Mars.” “Yeah, I don’t think so.” “Why not?” Jesse leaned close, keeping his voice low. “Didn’t you hear what that kid behind us was saying?” “No. What?” “He said there are no random drawings.” Jesse eyed the soldier stationed at the front of the van, then the other two at the rear. “That everyone is selected for a specific purpose.” “But, that would mean the U.N.E. is lying to everyone,” Joey said, a bit too loud. Jesse’s eyes opened wide, and she shrugged. “You’re gonna get us booted from this ride before we even launch.” “Sorry,” she muttered. “It’s a stupid idea anyway ‘cause look, we’re here. What do we have to offer? All you can do is fix stuff, and me … well, I’m just good at being cute.” She batted her eyes, flaunting a sly smile. “Yeah you’re right, that’s real flippin cute.” Jesse slanted toward the aisle, glancing around the cab. “There aren’t any adults on this van.” “There’s the soldier guys.” “Geez R-tard, I mean the passengers.” Joey pinched her brother, who wriggled away. “R-tard,” she mimicked. With a failed attempt to appear casual, she popped her head up and scanned the many seats. Sparkly clothes and bright makeup captured her stare. “They look like A-Sectors.” So lavish but she could see beyond the illusion of glittering threads and flawless skin, to the same excited fear that dwelled in her own eyes. “Please remain seated while the vehicle’s in motion,” a soldier thundered. Jesse grabbed Joey’s arm, pulling her down into the seat. “Smooth sister, real smooth.” She shrank back, initiating her trusty get-out-of-messes frowny smile. “Oops. In trouble already, figures.” Grumbles erupted from her brother’s lips, and she turned back to the dusty earth outside her window. Crazy how one day, and a trip to the mailbox, could change her entire life. Yesterday, she was painting a mural of Mars on their bedroom wall. Today, she was going to Mars. The parched countryside vanished behind a tunnel’s wall. She sagged down in her seat. For sixteen years, she clung to Jesse. Every time dust storms pelted their windowless metal house, she curled under his arm. Mom worked late and her hand became glued to his. And now, when she actually needed the comfort of his touch, her brain decided it’s time to man-up. Her eyes narrowed. She zeroed in on his cozy looking hand, her fingers drumming a steady beat on her leg. *** Sabrina poked her head around a corner. Her fingers tightened around a rifle’s grip as she peered down a dim corridor. Shadows danced along the concrete wall and she backed up, pressing her comms button. “Stone to dispatch, come in dispatch.” Static crackled in her ear, a garbled voice cutting in and out. “Dispatch, do you read? Where the hell is my back-up?” This time, only the fizz of dead air replied. “Damn underground bright-out dens,” she mumbled. These missions twisted her gut every time. There were very few people left alive on Earth. Many couldn’t afford specially designed homes or the rising cost of oxygen, and it didn’t sit right to bust folks just for trying to survive the scorching sun. Although, as a captain of the Unified Nations of Earth, she had a duty to her planet. Neither a heavy conscience nor lack of back-up would hinder that. Sabrina held her weapon close, skulking down the stone passage. Two men strolled around the bend, stopping short and she popped off two rounds. No sound emitted from the gun’s muzzle, just a flash that lit the graffiti-stained walls in white. The men slumped to the floor. Tiny darts protruded from their chests, pamphlets spilling from their limp hands. “Earth-heads,” she muttered, glimpsing anti-Mars propaganda. A clink of metal echoed to her left and she headed toward it. Men and woman dropped as Sabrina skated through shadows. Their tranquilized bodies slapped concrete, leading a trail to a solid door at the end of the long hallway. She reached into her vest, extracting a small explosive charge. Just as the magnet clinked to the steel slab, a voice sputtered into her earpiece. “Captain Stone, we’ve breeched the airlock. En route to your position.” “Bout time,” she muttered. Her thumb glided overtop the button of a wireless detonator and spikes of fear burrowed into her gut. U.N.E protocol, the whirl in her stomach, her brain required to wait for back-up. Pride, however, was a persistent little sucker, one that set loose a torrent of electric shocks to course freely in her veins. She scurried back, covered her head, and pressed the button. An explosion rocked her chest, slamming her against the wall. Hunks of concrete crashed down, and the door slammed atop the rubble. Sabrina swung her rifle dead ahead. Adrenaline perked her lips into a smile as she charged through wisps of smoke, firing upon every body that lunged her way. “This is a raid of the U.N.E., get down on the ground.” Soldiers flooded the doorway behind her and she dropped her grin. A woman needed an iron-clad stare amid this troop of grunts. “Took you guys long enough.” She turned, stumbling back as the five-stars of a General gleamed in her eyes. “Sir,” she roared, standing up straight. “Captain Stone, I need you to come with me.” Sabrina glanced around, as much as one could without moving a single muscle in their neck. Her men cleared the room as a smaller group, with much larger guns, crowded around her. “Am I in trouble sir?” “Quite the contrary, Captain. You’ve been selected for an important mission. You’re going to Mars, soldier.” *** Joey grabbed her brother’s hand the instant he climbed off the van’s step. Her attempt to play the tough-guy had gone on long enough. People shuffled all around the wide-open room, probably watching her act like a baby, but she couldn’t let go. Fear stole her will. It could have been the towering room of glass walls and silver beams that encompassed her, the barrage of strange faces, or the fact that she’d never see her mother again, but gloom tainted this moment. A soft voice streamed from a kiosk of video screens, repeating the Space Center’s famed slogan–Three days on the state-of-the-art R23 shuttle, strolling through green grass, swimming in cool oceans. Everything she memorized from the letter in her backpack. “Look, there’s check-in,” Jesse said, tugging her from the display of white sand beaches. She inched through the crowd, close to his side. They filed into a rowdy line, her palm sweating against his skin. “The Westen twins, I presume,” a high-pitched voice trilled from behind them. In one swift move, she shook free from Jesse’s grasp and whirled around. An ultra-posh, Asian girl leered down and Joey stood tall. Her eyes wandered to the near identical boy at her side, bearing the same long jet-black hair. Another set of twins. “How did you know our name?” Jesse asked. Joey nudged his arm, pulling his gaze from the low cut of the girl’s sparkly shirt. “We know the names of all the twins on this ship,” she said, her hand hoisting to her hip. “First and last,” the boy added. Joey stifled a chuckle. Twins who finished each other’s sentences, this trip was going to be stellar. The line shuffled forward, and the small group edged up a few paces. “How many twins are on this flight?” Jesse asked, glancing between the pair. “Fourteen, including us,” she replied. “Well fourteen sets,” the boy corrected, turning to his sister. “That actually makes twenty-eight twins.” “But twins is plural, so it would be fourteen,” she argued, a hint of red flaring her cheeks. “Yeah, but, you knew who we were,” Joey said. “We didn’t even know there were other twins here. Is there like, a manual we didn’t get or something.” The girl laughed, slapping her brother’s chest. A stealthy glare clouded her delicate features as she leaned in. “We hacked the database.” “We hack everything,” the boy whispered. “Cool,” Joey drawled, glancing to Jesse. “So you must be Jesse,” the girl said, staring at Joey, “Short for Jessica, right?” “Ahh no,” Joey sputtered. “I’m Joey. Short for Josephine, which I hate so … just Joey.” “I’m Jesse, which … isn’t short for anything.” Jesse shoved his hands into his pockets, his gaze falling down. “Ahem, the line is moving,” a red headed girl groaned. They all crept forward again, and then Jesse spun back around. “So are we supposed to hack to find out your names?” The girl giggled, and Joey’s eyes rolled. Her stare landed on the boy’s annoyed face, and they both grinned. “Kami Matsuda.” A rainbow of colors reflected off the girl’s clothes as she slinked closer to Jesse, looking up into his eyes. “That’s Rai,” she said, nodding to her brother but keeping her deep gaze. Jesse gulped. His hands began to tremble, and it became painfully obvious at how fast his breath flowed. “Next in line.” “That’s us,” Joey chirped. She all but ripped Jesse from Kami’s leer. “We’ll catch up with ya.” It took quite a massive tug, but she finally got Jesse moving toward the registration table. “Now who’s smooth, dorkus,” she whispered. *** “Let me get this straight, Mr. Winslow,” Sabrina said, only able to mask a fraction of the edge in her tone, “you want me to be a glorified babysitter for a bunch of teens in space?” She turned from a wall of windows, which ran from floor to ceiling. Her boots sank into lush carpet as she strolled past stone statues, one of which lost its arm somewhere along the way. Such extravagance. If it were liquidated and spread out, every sector could afford a giant dome to protect its people from radioactive air; instead of just the A-Sectors. She tore her gaze from art-adorned walls, catching an impatient glare from the man behind a glossy wooden desk. “The situation on our hands goes far beyond babysitting, Captain Stone. We’re under attack. The commander of the U.N.E. herself assured me you were the best of the best.” “Commander Sun said that? Huh.” She stepped closer. The man before her strained to appear confident, but she glimpsed the beads of sweat that trickle between his dark wrinkled skin and white hair. “You’ve got my attention,” she said, cupping her hands behind her back. “Of course you understand, every word spoken within this room stays within this room.” “Yes sir.” “Ever since the inception of the Emergence program, a group of fanatics have targeted us. Are you familiar with the Earthisum Movement, Captain Stone?” “Yes sir. I took out an underground lair of them this morning. They seem to be, for the most part, harmless.” “Perhaps on the outside.” He pulled a brown folder from his drawer, placing it on his desk. “Have a look.” Sabrina flipped open the cover, scanning the pages. When she read a handwritten letter, which appeared to be scrawled in blood, her fingers actually shook. “The threats made in that manifesto were not empty.” Her head snapped up, and she gawked at the old man before regaining her composure. “Are you saying, the Earth-heads blew up your first flight to Mars?” His finely manicured fingers massaged his forehead, a ghostly shade of white claiming his cheeks. “Yes, after only hours in space.” He dropped his stare and muttered, “The second and third flights as well.” “What?” “Those maniacs sabotage every Spacebus we launch. None have successfully made the voyage to Mars.” “How could you hide this from the public? They think people are living, flourishing over there. You need to put a hold on this program. Now. I’ll need at least a week to investigate.” His head shook, and Sabrina slammed her hands on the desk. “That file says there are two-hundred and fifty-eight children walking onto that shuttle as we speak, Mr. Winslow. Two-hundred and fifty-eight lives you’re putting at risk.” “If we stop the program, they’ve won. No! The survival of the human race is too important. This mission has to succeed, Captain Stone.” “But why now, with kids? If what you’re telling me is true, Mars is empty. There are no doctors, scientists, or security of any kind in place. They’ll eat each other alive out there.” “It has to be them.” He rose from his seat, smoothed a crease on his pinstriped lapel, and strolled to the window. “Those young adults were born in the year of the massive solar flare.” While gazing out the lightly-tinted glass, he motioned for Sabrina to join him. “I don’t see why that matters.” As she approached, the doublewide spacecraft stole her focus. She allowed her stare to fuse with the gleam of curved metal, sharp points of thin wings, before shifting her eyes to the man beside her. “They’re genetically predisposed to elevated radiation, since … I handpicked each one of them—for their instincts, spark, and their odds of producing healthy offspring.” “Look, I get that. But, if you just postpone a few weeks I can—” “Earth only has a few weeks left, Captain Stone.” His voice quavered. He cleared his throat, lifting his chin high. “The sun is set to flare in, approximately, ten days. The space program predicts its intensity will surpass our classification scale. Moments, and everything left above the surface will be eradicated. Not even the UV-dome of A-Sector can deflect these waves.” Sabrina gasped. She began to stagger back, but Winslow grabbed her arm. “Captain Stone, Sabrina. Look down there, at those children.” Her legs wobbled for the first time in her memory, but she crept forward. People hurried along a glass-encased walkway, far below, like tiny ants marching into a trap. “That’s the future of mankind down there. If they don’t make it to Mars, our species will cease to exist. You have to get them to that planet safely. You’re the last hope of humanity, Captain Stone.”

Jamie Zakian is a full-time writer who consumes the written word as equally as oxygen. Living in South Jersey with her husband and rowdy family, she enjoys farming, archery, and blazing new trails on her 4wd quad, when not writing of course. She aspires to one day write at least one novel in every genre of fiction.

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