by Kipjo Ewers
“If you don’t run,” he frothed, “you die!”
He brought his sword down to cleave them in two, until a powerful shot to the chest sent him flying. He roared tumbling and crashing through two huts.
Zeek looked up to see Kimberly sitting on her rear. She sprung to her feet turning to them both.
“Run... run now,” she shuddered.
Zeek nodded, pulling Mr. Norton to his feet, ushering him to safety.
Kimberly trembled like a leaf, slowly moving in the direction she sent the Draugr flying. She had never been in a fight before. Her ability to duplicate martial art moves was all for show during recess and gym class; a great deterrent for anyone with thoughts of challenging her. Though she was young she knew the monster she just knocked down would not run away from a simple showcase of her skills.
As the Earth trembled her reluctant paces became slower and slower. As the enraged Draugr with murderous intent written on his face came into view, a terrified Kimberly searched the skies for her mother.
“Mom,” she whimpered, “where are you?”
Realizing he was just embarrassed by a mere child, the Draugr bellowed with rage and charged. Kimberly screamed scrambling backwards as he went berserk swinging both sword and axe in an attempt to cut her down.
The terrified child dived out of the way barely missing his sword swipe cutting through one of the nearby huts like paper.
“Leave me alone!” she cried.
Showing the last once of bravery she could muster, she uprooted a large nearby palm tree like she did her first day on the island. She swung with all of her might hoping to knock the Draugr back like she did before when she surprised him.
This time ready for her, the monster stood his ground and took the full brunt of the hit snapping a part of the tree like a twig. She attempted to swing again. He responded by hacking another piece off with his battle axe. Now toying with her, he advanced slicing the tree down bit by bit until the vibration of the hacking forced her to drop what was left.
The Draugr then buried his sword in the sand clutching his trusty axe to finish the job. Kimberly attempted to fake him out pretending to run. She exploded into the air for a super leap. However, the monster revealed his uncanny speed as he grabbed her by one of her legs snatching her out of the air, and violently slammed her back down to the ground.
His shadow now casted over her.
“Mommy…” a shaken Kimberly sobbed.
“You shall see your mother again child,” he salivated, “as you both become whores of hell!”
He raised his axe bringing it down on top of her.
Kimberly covered up screaming her lungs out.
The blow, however, would not be delivered. Kimberly, now hyperventilating, looked up to see the woman in the leather outfit, and long dirty-blonde dreadlocks stopping the Draugr’s axe blow with one hand.
“What the hell are you doing?” she snarled. “Did I give you permission to go ‘Games of Thrones’ on anyone up in this bitch? Did I?”
The monster groaned and frothed in frustration glancing at Kimberly and then the woman. Effortlessly, she shoved him backwards.
“Go take a walk before I back hand you. Now!”
The Draugr looked at Kimberly again whining like a wounded pup. He then turned away howling. He unleashed his frustrations on a nearby hut turning it to rumble.
“Grow up!” the woman yelled at him, “and don’t bring down no more huts after that one! Spoiled brat.”
She reached down grabbing a near-catatonic Kimberly, pulling her to her feet.
“Up you go,” she sighed. “Come on, walked it off. He didn’t hurt you that bad. I saw the whole thing.”
“Who… are… you?” Kimberly said between short breaths. “Where’s my… mom?”
“Okay,” the woman leaned down a bit to look her in the eyes, “the first thing, I can’t have a serious conversation with you crying and wheezing like that. This is not a good look with you being the very first superhuman and all.”
Her words made Kimberly give her a better look over.
“I know you.” She calmed down a bit. “You’re that lady my mom fought with at the mountain. The one she flew away with…”
“Almost seven years ago,” Peace smiled, nodding. “Yeah, that’s me. I go by the name Peace now, or you can call me Auntie Peace.”
“Where’s my mom?” she asked again.
“One tracked minded, you are,” Peace pouted. “Where’s my mom? Where’s my mom?” No, “How come you look different?” “What’s up with your eyes?” “What’d you do with your hair?”
Kimberly put on her ‘refusal to talk anymore unless her question was answered’ face. Peace rolled her eyes, wrapping her hand around the back of her neck, leading her back to the center of the village.
“Okay kid,” she coughed, “I’m not going to sugar coat anything. I sent your mom away.”
“What?” panic now filled her belly and swirled.
“Now, now,” she rubbed the back of her neck while keeping a grip on her. “Let me explain. You see I put your mom in a situation where your life, the life of these villagers, as well as the life of your grandparents was hanging in the balance with her in the middle. See as powerful as she is, I got people as you can see, each with a body count. So she took the only option I gave to her… exile.”
“Where?” was her next panicked question.
“Where,” she scoffed shaking her head. “Come on, kid, use your head, with people possessing our abilities, exile to someplace like Bermuda would be just retarded. So what’s the only other option left?”
Kimberly shuddered looking straight up. She attempted to pull away, but a much stronger Peace pulled her closer, now wrapping her arm around her neck.
“See you can’t do that,” she scolded her. “Where you going to run? Where you going to go?”
Peace paused for a minute with a perplexed look on her face.
“Think I heard that line in a movie. Anyway,” she returned to her train of thought, “as I was saying. There’s nowhere to run to, especially after tomorrow.”
“What’s happening tomorrow?” Kimberly blurted out her question.
“What’s going down tomorrow is grown folk business,” she wagged a finger at her, “which is none of your business. Now I also promised your mom that I would look after you. She’s a little pissed at me right now, but give her a century or two she’ll get over it. Till then you’re my responsibility, and for the sake of the lives of all these norms here on this island, you got to do as I say. You get what I’m saying? Are we on the same page?”
Kimberly stopped in her tracks forcing Peace to stop. She turned to her, knocking her arm away from her neck, and mustered up the bravest defiant scowl she could pull off.
“It’s not going to take a century or two for my mom to come back,” she said. “She’ll be back, and she’s going to kick your ass again.”
Peace gave her a blank stare at first, which turned into a sarcastic smirk.
“I’m going to let you have that cheesy cliché remark,” she sighed, “because you’re all emotional now with me sending your mom away and all that. Not to mention if it wasn’t for you, this little trailer park trash girl from the Midwest wouldn’t be the most powerful being on this planet about to usher in a new age. So I owe you, that’s why I let your mom live, and I’m going to let you slide… this… one… time.”
She moved forward, towering over Kimberly backing her up against a palm tree. Kimberly, clearly intimidated, did her best to maintain her tough front.
“But make no mistake little girl,” she warned, “we’re not kin, which makes your situation a billions times worse because I can’t even stand my own. You step out of line, or grow a sac to try to challenge me, I will mop the planet with you, and then give what’s left of you to the guy I stopped from hacking you to bits. Please note he does not like being embarrassed, so you are forever marked on his shitlist.”
Kimberly clutched t
he tree fighting to stand strong. Peace’s terrifying threat weakened her legs to where they shook violently.
“Now that we’ve had our little girl talk,” she beamed, “let’s break the news to the rest of the family!”
With a hand gesture to start moving, Kimberly willed herself to walk with Peace following close behind. She quickly glanced up at the sky, praying that if her mother was up there, she was thinking up some way to get back home to her.
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Back at that town square the villagers huddled close to one another as Wendigo and Jiangi Shi hovered on high watching them from below like hawks. Kimberly finally showed up as both relieved and terrified eyes where focused on her.
As she fast-walked over to stand by Earl and everyone else, she got a quick side glance of the Draugr brandishing his massive ax and sword zeroing in on her like a lion hunting a gazelle.
Peace finally walked up and paused to clear her throat before she began her announcement.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, if I may have your attention!” she beckoned to the villagers, “I have an announcement! This here island is under new management!”
Peace pointed to herself with a smug smile as she walked around making sure to make eye contact with everyone.
“Now under my supervision,” she began to explain, “means as long as everyone follows the rules, the status quo will remain the same... for now. If you don’t follow the rules, you get punished. It’s that simple. Now I normally demonstrate this by pulling five or six of you out at random and killing you in front of everyone else.”
Everyone screamed and cried while the Draugr savagely grinned along with Jiang Shi who wore a sinister smirk praying for her to do it.
“However, because I made a promise,” she held her hands up in a calming gesture, “I’m going to go with the honor system here. You all seem somewhat intelligent, not requiring a tutorial to get my point across. Now, unfortunately, I won’t be able to hang around to get to know all you better, due to some business I have to attend to. So right now we’re going to take a formal headcount, and everyone is going back to their homes for a mandatory...”
She paused realizing she did not know what time it was.
“You.” She pointed to Earl. “Yeah, you with the watch. What time is it?”
Earl took a jittery double look at his watch before answering.
“Four PM,” he answered.
“Pacific time?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“Dammit, I’m running late,” she scowled. “Anyway, people, for today there will be a quick 4:15 PM curfew after we do this headcount in the next five minutes. Now for those whose homes got wrecked or damaged during this invasion, my bad, but for now you’re going to have to sleep over at your neighbor’s house until we get you sorted out. Tomorrow at 9 AM you will all come out and do another headcount! At 10 AM, you then will go back to your homes. Then another one at 12 PM, and at 1 PM you will return to your homes, and finally at 4 PM where you will return to your homes at 5 PM. I am being generous to allow you all to stretch your legs for an hour outside, do not abuse it. This will go on until I get back. So please remember the times. Your lives will depend on it. Until then, my associates here will be watching over you. Allow me to introduce them to you.”
She first walked over to the Draugr gesturing to him.
“This big handsome man over here is the Draugr.” She smiled. “He has a hard-on for killing and eating people and not necessarily in that order.”
Her introduction made various villagers squeal, cry, and cling to one another for comfort.
“And the lady in the colorful ensemble and face tattoo,” she motioned, “is Jiang Shi, she loves to burn things, and people.”
Her second introduction made everyone feel worse than her first.
“They have been instructed to not lay a finger on anyone of your heads as long as you obey the rules,” she informed them. “They also have been known for their extreme short fuse and nasty disposition. You all heard about what went down in Times Square New York, right? That was them. I think they’re willing to sign autographs if you ask them nicely.”
No one got her joke.
“Again, following the rules is for your safety, due to the fact that I know any prolong contact with any of my associates is going to get one of you killed. These are not stable people, they are only here to watch you. So do as you are told and avoid all eye contact as much as possible. Now this may seem really bad right now,” she continued, “but trust me this is actually the safest place on the planet, especially after what’s about to go down tomorrow. So do me a solid, follow the rules, don’t piss my friends off, and I will see you when I see you. Now let’s get this headcount done people, I got an interview I have to get to. Come! Come! Time is money!”
˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜ ˜
Back at the destroyed Ranch, three miles down within the descended central command now at fallout level covered underneath rubble, the crying and mourning had come to an end for now. Rosann sat in one of the swivel chairs with an emergency Mylar thermal blanket wrapped around her. It was more for comfort than warming her up. Erica wanted to administer a sedative to her, but she asked her not too. Expressionless, she sat there, every now and then removing tears that formed before they ran.
Adrian sat with her for awhile, but she kindly asked him to give her some space. He now stood beside Rogers both watching Lady Tech work her magic to both get communication back up and running while also figuring out how to get them top side to the base’s main level.
“How’s it going?” Abe calmly asked.
“We are buried,” Lady Tech sighed as she glided her fingers over the touch screen keyboard, “there is several tons of rock equivalent to a small mountain preventing us from rising back to the top. At least ten small Doozers at still functioning, all the others have been destroyed, and they don’t have enough firepower to cut through the rubble and get us out. The main generator was shut down due to damage, but the backup is up and running. They’re working to get some form of communication channel open. Hopefully we can contact someone and figure out what’s going on topside.”
A satellite dish symbol appeared on the top right hand side of her holographic screen blinking before holding strong.
“And we have a connection,” she faintly smiled with relief.
“Incoming encrypted message from Ms. Dennison’s A.I named Vincent,” Maxine announced, “patching her in now.”
Everyone’s attention, including Rosann’s, turned toward the screen as Sophia appeared with a black starry background behind her. It was clear that she was in a weightless environment. She began to frantically type as Vincent became her mouth piece.
“I’m alive and exiled into space,” Vincent verbally translated her typing. “Peace, the woman who attacked your base currently has Revenant holding my parent’s hostage in their home, and the one called Wendigo hovering over my island ready to destroy it. I had no choice but to leave. Is everyone all right?”
“Most of the base has been destroyed,” Abe stepped in talking to her. “We were forced to descend to a lower level and are currently buried under several tons of rock. We also lost Oliver.”
Sophia bowed and shook her head. She started typing again.
“I am so sorry,” Vincent translated for her.
“I think you need to tell us who we’re dealing with,” Rogers sternly requested, “since it appears you know her so well.”
She nodded and began to type again.
“I will tell you everything,” Vincent translated for her.
CHAPTER 22
Back at a locked down Sanctuary, Kimberly stood in Kyle’s home with his parents, his older brother, Earl, Akram, his mother, and a couple other adults. As they nervously talked amongst themselves, the Draugr purposely made his presence known us
ing heavy footsteps which shook the village. She mustered the courage to peer outside the window, where the monster gave her a vile animalistic glare undeserving of any child her age much less a full grown adult.
“Kimberly, honey,” Earl gestured, “get away from the window. Don’t look at the evil man out there.”
“Where’s Sophia?” Mrs. McArthur stammered. “Why isn’t she back yet?”
“The woman outside said she exiled my mom.” Kimberly nervously stepped up.
“How,” Kyle’s father asked, “to where?”
“She’s in outer space,” Kimberly answered. “The woman said she has my grandparents captive, and threatened my mom that if she didn’t leave the planet; she would kill them and everyone on the island at the same time.”