DEATH OF THE UNIVERSE: BOOK TWO OF THE REALM OF ZERROS SAGA

by Shoraz

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Are you ready Stryker? We’re almost there,” Sarah told Stryker as she looked in the distance and saw smoke and carnage as the battle for Athabasca raged on.

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be Sarah,” Stryker said to her, his voice brimming with confidence.

  However, looking through his binoculars at the battle ahead, he was unsure if they would make it out of the battle alive, but that would not deter him from helping those in need.

  As they approached Athabasca, Sarah guided the airmobile down to a safe spot where they could not be seen, and they exited with a small amount of weapons which they both knew was not nearly enough, but at this point there was no turning back as the voice of destiny had already spoken.

  Not too far away they could see and hear the battle as it raged on, and from what they could see, it was clear that the knights had the upper hand in terms of weaponry as well as in numbers and the humans were backed up and cornered with nowhere to go.

  “Look over there Sarah, we can attack them from there,” Stryker told her as he pointed out a soft spot in which they could attack the betasapiens without being seen.

  “Good thinking Stryker,” Sarah said, impressed by his quick thinking during this most dangerous and stressful of situations.

  “It was nothing,” Stryker remarked, as to him this was second nature and came almost naturally after years and years of being involved and leading the way in battles between his gang of outlaws against such enemies as rival outlaw gangs and vigilantes among others.

  For although Stryker was second in command and Amare was considered the leader of his group of outlaws, in the battlefield there was no question of who was in charge.

  Stryker and Sarah then slowly but carefully made their way to a lone knight guarding a small betasapien aircraft. Stryker then commanded Sarah to go towards the front of the knight to distract him while he would attack from behind. Sarah then cautiously crept along the ground to an area where the knight would be able to see her and as she slowly arose the knight saw her.

  “Hey you, stop,” the knight commanded, and as he raised his weapon and pointed it towards Sarah he heard some footsteps behind him, and at that point he knew that his robotic life was over.

  Then, before he could make a move to defend himself, Stryker plunged his knife into the back of the knights neck, instantly severing the connection from its brain to the rest of its body and quickly putting an end to its life as a servant of the betasapien empire.

  Sarah then crawled back towards Stryker, and they lay down on the ground out of sight from the ever so sharp eyes of the knights. Stryker then pointed to the small betasapien aircraft which was only ten meters away, and they began crawling towards it in hopes of finding weapons and perhaps commandeering it in hopes that it would help them in their fight against the knights.

  As they entered the small aircraft, it was empty and they slowly made their way through it.

  “Let’s split up, you find the cockpit and I’ll go find some weapons,” Sarah said, and with that they headed in different directions to hopefully find anything to help them along the way.

  As Sarah began walking around to find anything that could help them, she could hear the battle outside and quickly picked up her pace as she knew that time was of the essence.

  As she continued looking through the aircraft, she finally stumbled upon a cache of weapons which included bazookas, lasers, high powered guns as well as grenades, she also found a large duffel bag along with some knives and loaded everything into the bags and then began making her way back towards Stryker. As she did so, she heard gunfire and voices outside and she looked out of one of the windows and saw five humans surrounded by approximately thirty knights.

  She now had quite a dilemma on her hands, should she continue walking to the control room to find Stryker and tell him of the situation or should she help the band of five humans which would undoubtedly give away her position and take away the element of surprise which was the only real advantage she and Stryker had at the moment. She then quickly thought about it and in less than a second her decision was made, she then broke the window, pointed the bazooka towards the knights and began shooting without hesitation towards them.

  The shots from the bazooka hit their targets and many of the knights were incapacitated while the others who were caught off guard began firing back towards the direction from which the shots came from. Among the volley of shots that came from the knights, one of them managed to hit Sarah and she dropped the bazooka along with the duffel bag full of weapons and fell to the floor in pain and agony.

  Meanwhile, Stryker made his way through the small betasapien aircraft unaware of the events on the other side of the vessel. As he made his way he also kept an eye out for any weapons or anything that could help him and Sarah, and before he knew it he came upon a large metal door, he then opened it and to his surprise he was now in the control room of the vessel. He then quickly looked around to make sure it was empty and then proceeded to sit in the captain’s chair, and as he did so he examined the controls of the aircraft in order to figure out how to use the weapons and fly the vehicle.

  As he figured out the controls, he then started the aircraft, and unknown to him, standing only a few feet behind him was a single knight that was slowly approaching him and raising its gun and taking aim at the back of his head.

  As the knight readied its weapon which would no doubt hit its target and put an end to Stryker’s life, it pulled the trigger and before the shot hit Stryker, a force field was put around him and the shot ricocheted off of it and by the time the knight realized what was happening, Sarah aimed point–blank at the knight and fired off three shots towards its head, and the knight fell to the floor in certain death.

  Then Stryker, who was in shock, looked back at the dead knight on the floor and then looked towards Sarah as the force field around him disappeared. As he saw Sarah’s injuries he began to run towards her in order to attend to her, but she screamed, “They’re running towards the ship, you have to takeoff,” and with that Stryker ran to the metal door and closed it shut and then quickly ran back to the captain’s chair and guided the aircraft off the ground.

  As he did so, the aircraft flew out of control and sky–rocketed upwards and some of the knights that were running towards the aircraft fell off while a few of them managed to board the now overtaken vessel. Meanwhile Sarah, with her head in pain from using her superhuman abilities, ran to sit beside Stryker as she was unsure of what to do next.

  As Stryker gained control of the aircraft he shouted to Sarah, “Buckle up, I have a plan.”

  Meanwhile, on the ground below, some knights began firing towards the aircraft while a few of them took off in pursuit of it. Stryker tried his best to maneuver through the barrage of gunfire and as he did so, he could hear the knights who boarded the vessel trying to break through the door and as he and Sarah looked back towards the metal door they could see that the knights were almost through it.

  Upon seeing that, Stryker knew that his original plan would not do and without hesitation he aimed the aircraft towards an area where many knights were standing and firing upon them and the aircraft began accelerating to its maximum speed.

  “What are you doing?” Sarah asked, her body still in pain from being shot by the knights.

  “Hold on Sarah, we’re going for a ride,” Stryker replied as he quickly ejected their seats and the aircraft went barreling towards the dozens of knights and it exploded upon impact killing many knights in the process.

  The distraction of the explosion caused the other knights that were battling the humans to fall back and help their fellow knights; this, in turn, gave the humans of Athabasca a chance to escape and find places to hide as they tried to evade the onslaught of the knights. Meanwhile, the pod that Sarah and Stryker were in descended towards the ground and was met by dozens of knights. The commander of the knights who was injured from the earlier explosion ran towards them with h
is gun drawn and ready to kill them.

  Then, just as he was about to fire upon them he froze, and after a few seconds he fell to the floor and just as the knights looked around to see what was happening they began falling to the floor one by one. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, a massive aircraft uncloaked itself and the remaining knights fired upon it, and as they did so, the turrets upon the vessel fired back at them and killed them all with deadly accuracy.

  Sarah then used her superhuman abilities to shield her and Stryker from the gunfire and as it ended, all of the knights lay dead on the floor as the massive ship landed and a few of the people on board exited it and began walking towards Sarah and Stryker.

  As they did so Sarah’s force field around her and Stryker disappeared and she lay on the floor unconscious from the pain of using her superhuman abilities. Stryker, unsure of who these people were, lunged to grab a weapon to defend himself and Sarah, but froze as he tried to do so. Then, both he and Sarah were picked up and brought on board the strange vessel.

  At the same time, the soldiers on board the vessel exited it and roamed around Athabasca gathering the humans that had survived the onslaught of the knights and began bringing them on board their vessel. As the last of the humans were rounded up, the vessel cloaked itself and its powerful engines were started and it took off towards the sky.

  Back inside the vessel, Sarah finally regained consciousness and as she did so she came to the realization of whom her captors really were and she subconsciously and silently mumbled to them, “The time has come, the end is near, and soon the skies will be as red as blood. He is here and his powers are great, but he is also here and his powers will be greater.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  As John and Bismarck tirelessly walked on their trek to Salt Lake City, Dean was again asleep and was being carried by a knight. As they looked around, many of the walkers who had started with them on their trek to Salt Lake City were no longer there.

  “Our numbers are falling Bismarck, we’ve lost more than half of the people that we started with, we have to rest, we can’t keep going on like this,” John said to him.

  “They won’t listen to us John, everyone is on their own, and no one cares. Everyone is walking to Salt Lake City in hopes of something better when in reality, once the betasapiens attack, I doubt that any of us will survive it,” Bismarck pessimistically replied.

  “Don’t think like that Bismarck, have hope and faith, as without hope and faith we have nothing,” John said to him.

  “Look around John, look around as far as your eyes can see, and tell me, what do you see John? Only nothing, that’s what’s left. The human race is done John, the betasapiens and knights have won. If I had the inner strength I’d kill myself, but I’m weak John, I look strong because I have guns and knives and I have my knights who I know will fight with me to the bitter end, but beyond that I have nothing,” Bismarck solemnly said.

  “You have me Bismarck, and you have Dean, and most of all you have destiny,” John said to him.

  “And where has destiny gotten me John, it’s gotten me here, in a place surrounded by nothing, walking towards nowhere, and just hoping that we don’t come under attack. Because if we do I guarantee you that we won’t win John,” Bismarck shouted back.

  “Never forget this Bismarck, destiny will only take you where you have to go,” John said to him, and with that, they sat and rested for a while in order to regain some strength for the final stretch until they reached their destination of Salt Lake City.

  As they sat down to rest, the knights put Dean on the floor, and after a few minutes he awoke to John’s delight.

  “How are you feeling?” John asked him.

  “I feel good but just a bit dizzy, do you have any nutrition pills?” Dean said.

  “I only have a couple left,” John said as he took a nutrition pill from his pocket and gave it to Dean.

  Dean then took the pill and began to look after his wound.

  “How does it look?” Bismarck asked.

  “The bleeding has stopped and it looks okay, I’ll be fine,” Dean answered. “You two should get some rest, and I’ll stand watch with the knights,” he continued saying, and with that Bismarck and John lay down for some well–deserved rest.

  As the darkness of dusk approached, Dean could see the lights of what he thought was Las Vegas on the horizon. He then began thinking of Jonah and Ava and hoped that they were safe and secure.

  “Thanks for carrying me,” he said to the knights.

  “Not a problem Dean, we are glad to help,” one of the knights replied. “Do you think that you are good to walk on your own now?” the other knight asked.

  “Yes I’ll be fine, I can walk the rest of the way to Las Vegas on my own,” Dean answered.

  “Dean, that’s not Las Vegas, that’s Salt Lake City,” one of the knights replied.

  “What! I have to go to Las Vegas, my children are there,” Dean shouted. “John wake up, why are we going to Salt Lake City? We have to go to Las Vegas to find Ava and Jonah,” Dean continued shouting.

  Startled, John and Bismarck awoke to see what the commotion was about. As soon as John saw the look on Dean’s face, he knew that Dean had realized that they were not on their way to Las Vegas.

  “Dean, I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I should have told you,” John said in hopes of calming Dean down but it only made him more furious.

  Dean then rushed towards him and jumped on him but John didn’t fight back even as Dean raised his hand ready to unleash his fury on him, as Bismarck and the knights looked on unsure of what to do given the emotional and delicate nature of the situation.

  Aggravated, Dean looked down at John, his hand twitching, but he couldn’t hit him as he remembered back to John’s words of being ready to give his life for Jonah and Ava. Dean then got off John and started walking away slowly.

  “I’m going to Las Vegas, you can go with them to Salt Lake City if you want, but I have to find my children,” Dean said as he walked away.

  “There is no more Las Vegas Dean, it’s gone, it was attacked by the betasapiens, and some people managed to escape but the majority of the people died. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you earlier, but you were wounded and barely conscious and I didn’t know how to break the news to you.” John said to him in hopes of making Dean understand why he didn’t tell him about their decision to go to Salt Lake City.

  “Look John, we’ve been through a lot and I’m not blaming you for this, but as a father, I have to go and look for them even if it means certain death. I’d rather die looking for them than to be alive and not go after them. We always said that if anything were to happen, our meeting spot was Las Vegas, we have family and friends there, and I have to go,” Dean said, and with that he began walking away in the direction of Las Vegas, unsure of how or when he would get there.

  As John looked at him walking away, Dean’s dark silhouette slowly began to fade away in the darkness of the night.

  “You’re just going to let him walk away like that, tell him something,” Bismarck said to John.

  John then realized that the time had come where the truth should be told to Dean, and for some reason he had held it from him but the time had now come and Dean had to know.

  “Luanne came to me in my dreams Dean, she told me to look after Ava, and she said that Ava is so precious to her and she also said that Jonah will take care of himself. She made me promise to stay by Ava’s side from the time that I meet her until the moment that I die and I intend to do that Dean. Please stay with me Dean, we have to do this together,” John passionately said to Dean as tears of emotion flowed from his eyes.

  Upon hearing those words, Dean stopped walking and began to ponder upon John’s words, and he knew that John was telling the truth even though it seemed far–fetched and unimaginable. He then fell to the ground; distraught and torn and began to question himself.

  He was now at a crossroads as the reality of this life had met the illusion of the life
after, but his mind was made up and he rose from the ground and then slowly made his way back to John, Bismarck and the two knights. As he slowly walked and approached them, he looked at John and gave him a hug and John hugged him back as they were now forever bonded.

  “What else did she say to you?” Dean asked him, eager to hear what his beloved Luanne had to say.

  “She said that they are coming and that they want to destroy us all,” John told him.

  “She must have meant the betasapiens,” Bismarck commented.

  “Yes it must be them, I mean, who else could it be,” John said to him.

  Then as they spoke to each other one of the knights noticed flashing lights in the distance towards Salt Lake City.

  “Bismarck look, something’s going on there,” said the knight and as the group looked in that direction with their binoculars they could see that the city was being attacked by two medium sized betasapien vessels.

  Dean, John, Bismarck, and the two knights then quickly got themselves ready and began heading to Salt Lake City to help their fellow humans. As they ran, John remembered Luanne’s words about the enemy wanting to destroy us all and he also remembered her words about protecting Ava. As he ran beside Dean, he was now sure more than ever that going to Salt Lake City would be his path to finding Ava and he was ready to fight the betasapiens and knights to get to her even if it meant a sure death by walking into the belly of the beast.