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

by Shoraz

  As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Gannon remembered the feeling he had earlier of the unknown supernatural force and it then became clear to him that the savior of the human race was amongst them.

  “I have felt the power too Sarah, the savior is among us here in Freedom City, I felt it earlier but I didn’t know what it was until now,” Gannon replied.

  “We have to find him Gannon, and we have to protect him and give him a chance at defeating the betasapiens, I am ready to sacrifice my life for him,” Sarah quietly said to Gannon.

  “Do you know who it is Sarah? Do you know his name?” Gannon asked.

  “Yes, I’ve seen him Gannon, and his name is Jonah,” Sarah replied as her heart rapidly raced at the thought of what was being discussed.

  “How do we find him among all of these people Sarah?” Gannon asked.

  “I don’t know Gannon, I’m hoping that you have a plan,” Sarah said.

  “Let’s head to my office at the main facility, we can let the others know what is happening and think of a plan on how to find Jonah,” Gannon said.

  As Sarah, Stryker, and Gannon turned around and started to walk back to the facility, they noticed that John was still standing in the same position.

  “Hey John, are you coming with us?” Sarah asked but there was no reply, and there wasn’t even an acknowledgment from John that he had heard what Sarah said to him.

  Sarah, Gannon, and Stryker then walked back towards John unsure of what was happening.

  As they approached him Stryker said, “Hey John, are you okay?” but again there was no reply and John stood eerily silent as everyone around him began looking at him due to his strange and abnormal behavior.

  Sarah then inched closer to him and looked at his face and he was in a trance–like state and his stare was fixated towards a large crowd that was gathered not too far away from the center of Freedom City. He then suddenly pointed towards the crowd and slowly said, “She is here, she calls to me,” as he sluggishly walked towards the large crowd.

  “Who’s here John? Who is she?” Stryker asked.

  “She is here, she calls to me,” he again repeated and continued slowly walking towards the large crowd of people.

  As he walked he slowly pushed away anyone that was in his way and continued repeating the words, “She is here, she calls to me.”

  “He’s gone mad,” one of the humans shouted as John’s odd behavior was beginning to draw a crowd of onlookers. But even as the crowd gathered around him, unsure of what to make of his peculiar behavior, John still sustained his march forward and continued to push away anyone that was in his way.

  “John please stop, you’re not making any sense. Gannon please call someone, we have to do something to help him,” Sarah said.

  As John walked, the crowd realized that he was not stopping and began to move out of his way. As the sea of onlookers parted to make way for him, he walked a few more steps and then suddenly stopped and pointed to the crowd saying, “She is here, she calls to me.”

  As Sarah tried to make sense of John’s bizarre behavior, she looked towards the direction where he was pointing to and then to her utter shock and disbelief, in the middle of the crowd stood Ava. And as Sarah looked at her, her face looked familiar but she was unsure of where she had seen her previously, but something deep within Sarah instinctively knew who Ava was.

  Then suddenly, Sarah felt a pulse of energy run through her body and as the shivers ran down her spine something inside her instantly recognized Ava and as she ran towards her, she shouted her name, “Ava, Ava,” and as Ava looked at Sarah, the memories of seeing her on that fateful day at the Denver Collective Church of Worship came rushing back to her.

  As Sarah made her way towards Ava, she knew that wherever Ava was, Jonah would not be too far away and as she came face to face with Ava she embraced her and it was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from Sarah’s shoulders.

  “Ava, it’s me Sarah, from Denver. Do you remember me?” Sarah asked her.

  “Yes I do, you were at the church when we brought the dead knight there,” Ava answered.

  “Ava where’s Jonah? I need to speak to him right away,” Sarah said.

  “Jonah’s dead Sarah, he died during an attack by the betasapiens,” Ava said.

  Upon hearing those words, Sarah was shaken to her core and she fell to the ground feeling defeated that her belief in which she had found the savior of the human race was all in her head, and the prophecy that she believed in for her entire life was not to be.

  Then as she looked up towards Gannon and John, it was as if everything began to move in slow motion. Gannon tried helping Sarah up to her feet and he was trying to speak to her but he was unable to do anything and then he suddenly fell to the ground as well. Then in the confusion and mayhem of the situation, John said five words that changed everything for Sarah.

  As John stood and looked at Ava he uttered the words, “I have found the Phoenix,” and then fainted, and upon hearing those words it made Sarah realize that everything in which she believed in, which all started with her childhood dreams in which she felt as if she traveled through time to find the savior of the human race, was again true.

  As Sarah looked at Ava, she was now ready to stand side by side and fight alongside the savior of the human race who was now in her midst and it was clear to her that Ava would be the one who would save them all.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  As Dean, Bismarck, and the lone knight began their trek to Las Vegas in search of Jonah and Ava. Dean hoped that he would find them safe and sound, but in the back of his mind, he knew that there was very little chance of reuniting with his beloved children.

  “Thanks for coming with me,” Dean said to Bismarck and the knight.

  “You’re welcome,” said the knight.

  “Why did you come with me Bismarck?” Dean asked as he was curious to know what made Bismarck join him in his quest to find Jonah and Ava.

  “I’ve done some things in my life Dean, and I’m hoping that by helping you it balances things out a bit. Call it karma, call it whatever you want, but I’m just trying to do something good in my life before I die,” Bismarck said to Dean.

  As they looked into the distance in the direction of Las Vegas, all that they could see was the dry and parched land of the Americas. And in the distance they saw a caravan of airmobiles, and the knight, using his extraordinary vision looked towards the airmobiles and said, “They look like outlaws, we might want to stay away from them.”

  And with that, Dean steered the airmobile in another direction in hopes of staying clear from the troublesome group of outlaws. As the airmobile recalculated a new route to Las Vegas, Dean passed his hands through his scruffy beard and said, “I hope Ava and Jonah recognize me, I can barely recognize myself with this beard,” referring to the fact that his facial hair had grown out quite a bit since he last saw his children.

  “I’m sure that they’ll recognize you,” Bismarck said to Dean.

  “Easy for you to say, you don’t have much hair, you’re one of the lucky guys that don’t have to shave much,” Dean said to Bismarck.

  Bismarck then gave his knight a strange look and Dean noticed it and asked, “What was that look for? Did I say something wrong?”

  “No,” said Bismarck, “But there is something you should know,” he continued saying.

  “There’s a reason why I don’t have any facial hair, it’s because I’m transgender and I chose to be a man,” Bismarck said. “From as far back as I can remember I’ve always wanted that, I wasn’t comfortable being a woman and now that I am a man, I feel as though I am complete,” Bismarck continued saying.

  “Good for you for choosing what you felt was right for you,” Dean said to Bismarck.

  “It wasn’t easy though, I remember when I first told my parents. They weren’t too happy about it, but as time passed by they realized that my gender didn’t dictate my life, but rather I dictated what I wanted my ge
nder to be and I chose to be a man,” Bismarck said.

  “Where are your parents now?” Dean asked, but before Bismarck could answer, their airmobile was rocked by gunfire and it fell to the ground as the engine was badly damaged.

  As it fell to the ground, Dean, Bismarck, and the knight quickly jumped out and ran for cover as the bullets and lasers continued to rain upon them. After a few minutes, the gunfire stopped and Bismarck poked his head up from behind his cover and three shots were fired directly at him barely missing him by inches.

  “There are at least two dozen of them,” Bismarck said.

  “That’s two dozen too many, we’re badly outnumbered and they have better weapons than us,” Dean said as he pondered upon his decision to go to Las Vegas.

  As the volley of bullets and lasers continued to be fired upon them, Bismarck’s knight fired back but it was of no use as the knights were beginning to cunningly and strategically surround their prey and they knew that within minutes they would be ready to make the kill and eliminate their enemy. And as the knights skillfully surrounded them, they were now cornered with nowhere to go.

  Then suddenly, a caravan of airmobiles came flying in and opened fire on the knights and some of them were quickly killed while others ran for cover away from the incoming caravan of airmobiles. As they ran for cover, the airmobiles surrounded them and opened fire and some of the knights opened fire upon them as well.

  Bismarck’s knight, seeing an opportunity to help, quickly came out of his hiding spot and opened fire upon his fellow knights quickly shooting them down one by one, and within a few minutes, the knights all lay dead on the dry ground.

  Once the fighting was finished, Dean, Bismarck, and the knight all put their hands in the air to show that they meant no harm to those within the airmobiles who had just saved them from the now deceased knights.

  “It’s okay, put your hands down, we’re not going to hurt you. My name is Amare and this is my gang?” Amare said from within his airmobile as he and the rest of those within the airmobiles slowly exited them.

  “My name is Dean, and these are my friends, thanks for helping us out,” Dean said to him.

  “You’re welcome, and what are their names?” Amare asked, referring to Bismarck and the knight.

  “His name is Bismarck, and to be honest, I have no idea of what the knights name is,” Dean said as he chuckled.

  “You don’t know the name of your so called friend, how long have you known each other?” Amare asked.

  “That’s not important right now, the important thing is that we want to thank you and continue our journey to Las Vegas,” Dean said.

  “Knight, state your name,” Amare said.

  “I have no name Amare,” the knight replied.

  “That was some great shooting from a knight that has no name,” Amare said. “Everybody has a name, even knights, what makes you so special to not have a name,” Amare continued saying.

  “I don’t think I’m special, I’m far from it,” the knight replied.

  “You’re right, you’re not that special. You probably killed a lot of humans before you went rogue and now you fight alongside us hoping to make yourself feel better about what you did.” Amare said to the knight in a harsh tone.

  “You’re right, you’re one hundred percent right but this is what I have to do to redeem myself,” the knight said.

  “Then tell me your name, what is the name they called you when they gave you the orders to kill us? What is the name they programmed in your head to make you believe that their way was the right way?” Amare shouted.

  “Tell me your name now or I’ll kill your friends,” Amare continued shouting as he ordered some of those in his gang to point their weapons towards Dean and Bismarck.

  “Leave him alone, please, leave him alone,” Bismarck said.

  “Do you know what his kind did to us? Do you know that only a few days ago they savagely killed hundreds of humans that I knew? Do you know what I saw over the past week? It’s etched in my brain and I’m never going to forget it,” Amare shouted.

  “We barely made it out alive, and it was only through luck that we did make it. So, I’ll ask for the last time, tell me your name silver knight of Russia?” Amare sternly asked.

  “Do you want to know my name? Do you really want the truth?” the knight shouted back.

  “Yes tell me, tell us all your name and tell us what atrocities you’ve committed and ask us to forgive you,” Amare screamed.

  The knight then pulled out a knife and all of Amare’s gang pointed their weapons towards him.

  “Put down the knife now or we’ll kill you,” Amare yelled.

  “You wanted the truth so here it is,” the knight said and he then put the sharp knife towards his body and began scraping off the silver paint. As the silver paint was scraped off, it slowly revealed the white paint that lay beneath it. Everyone looked on in shock as this was the first time anyone had seen a white knight, except Bismarck who knew the true identity of his robotic friend.

  As the white knight continued scraping the silver paint off, he threw the knife to the ground and said, “My name is Zeus of Australia, and I pledged allegiance to the humans many years ago and I have asked God for forgiveness; Bismarck is my leader and I will follow him to death.”

  Dean, Amare and everyone else looked on in disbelief at what was just revealed and Amare ordered everyone to put down their guns.

  “I’m sorry,” Amare said.

  “You don’t have to be sorry,” Zeus replied.

  “You did nothing to me and you’ve done no harm to us, I was wrong to treat you like that,” Amare said.

  “It’s okay, it’s just human nature,” Zeus replied.

  “Now if you don’t mind, we’ll be on our way to Las Vegas now, that’s where we are headed to find his children,” Zeus continued saying as he pointed towards Dean.

  “It’s all gone man, don’t go there, look at your airmobile, it’s damaged, just come with us,” Amare said.

  “Where are you headed?” Bismarck asked.

  “We heard over the airwaves that everyone is being summoned to Alaska, so we’re headed there,” Amare replied.

  “We just left a group of superhumans headed to Alaska just over a day ago,” Dean said.

  “You must really love your kids? If you go to Las Vegas you’re walking into certain death my friend,” Amare said.

  “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I rather die looking for my kids than to live a life without them,” Dean said.

  “We’ll help you fix your airmobile and then we’ll be on our way,” Amare said, and with that he ordered his gang to fix the airmobile and they brought out the equipment and parts and began to repair the damaged airmobile as Dean, Bismarck, and Zeus rested in one of Amare’s airmobiles. Then after a few hours had gone by, the airmobile was fixed and Amare went to see Dean and his friends.

  “Hey, your airmobile is fixed,” he said to Dean as he woke him up from his sleep.

  “Thank you very much,” Dean said in a groggy voice.

  Zeus then waked Bismarck from his slumber and they followed Amare to their now repaired airmobile. As they walked, they thanked Amare and his gang of outlaws for their help and as they sat in their airmobile Zeus shook Amare’s hand in a gesture of peace.

  They then started their airmobile and as they spoke and everyone said their goodbyes a voice came over the open airwaves saying, “Dean can you hear me? It’s Sarah, and we found Ava, she’s in Alaska.”

  Upon hearing those words, Dean couldn’t believe that Ava was alive and safe and he was in utter disbelief.

  As Amare heard Sarah’s familiar voice, he was also in disbelief and he eyed his gang and gave them a look that they should not say a word that they knew her.

  Sarah’s voice then again came over the airwaves, “Dean, can you hear me? It’s Sarah, and we found Ava, she’s in Alaska.”

  “Do you have a broadcaster Amare?” Dean asked.

 
“Sorry we don’t have one,” Amare replied. “But it looks as though you’ll be joining us on our trip to Alaska,” Amare said with a shrewd smile on his face.

  “Let’s go to Alaska,” Dean said, and with that everyone boarded their airmobiles and began their trek to Alaska.

  For Dean it was to meet his kids, but for Amare, he had a far more secretive reason. He couldn’t believe that he had found Sarah, and he knew that wherever Sarah was that Stryker would be close by. As the airmobiles sped to their destination, Amare quietly sat and planned his attack on Sarah and Stryker. Finally, revenge would be his and this time there would be no escape from his surprise attack on Sarah and Stryker.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Dean, can you hear me? It’s Sarah, and we found Ava, she’s in Alaska,” Sarah again said in hopes of Dean hearing her broadcast message over the airwaves.

  She was out of breath but kept repeating the message over and over again in hopes that Dean would hear it. Ava then rushed into the room and as she heard Sarah repeating the message she broke down into tears as she couldn’t believe that there was a possibility that her father was alive after all this time.

  She then thought of Jonah and wondered how she would break the news to her father that his son was dead and his body lay at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

  Finally, after repeating the words over and over Sarah stopped as she knew that if Dean didn’t hear her message by now something must’ve gone wrong. She then looked towards Ava and she then held Ava’s head and leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead.

  “Do you realize who you are? You’re the savior of the human race Ava, I can feel it,” Sarah said to her.

  “No, I don’t know who you think I am but I’m just a teenage girl who can’t wait to hopefully see her dad again, and I can’t thank you enough for trying to reunite us,” Ava replied.

  Ava then picked up the broadcast microphone from the table and wondered what to say to her father who could be listening to her message and as she spoke into the microphone and the tears ran down her face she said, “Dad it’s me Ava, I’m safe in Freedom City, if you can hear this message please come here. I need you dad, more than ever. I love you.”