Sleepers | Book 8
Page 16
“I swear.” Beck held up his hand. “A few minutes.”
“Fine. I’m timing you.” Levi walked from the room.
Beck walked to the other side of my bed while Sonny pulled up a chair.
“You look good,” Beck said. “I’m glad it wasn’t a deadly shot.”
“Me, too.”
“You do know,” Beck said, “you didn’t need to charge that guy. I had it.”
“I know, but I kinda think you and I reacted at the same time. Then again, you’re probably the reason I got shot.”
“Probably.” Beck smiled.
“Sonny, you got the collar off,” I said.
“I did. That was scary. Stacy took it off. Man, were her hands shaking,” Sonny said.
“Is she alive?” I asked.
Beck nodded. “Yeah, she is. We have her and eight others, still looking for the last few. I didn’t see any need to shoot her. I mean, no one died.”
“What?” I asked. “I was shot and Danny shot Tom Selleck. Speaking of Tom Selleck, Mera ruined your Tom Selleck poster, Sonny.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever look at him again the same way,” Sonny said.
“I bet. So what do you plan on doing with our clones? Or did you let them go?”
“They’re detained,” Beck replied. “All except Peter. We’ll be taking them out with us when we do the Beckoning.”
I tried to laugh, but it hurt. “You called it the Beckoning. That’s great.”
“Figured I’d make my mark in history.”
Mera asked, “Do we trust them?”
Beck nodded. “They came to end the Paler wars. So yeah, I think they’ll do their job and help us. If not, then we’ll take them out.”
Sonny inched closer. “Alex, I can’t thank you enough.”
“Don’t thank me, you need to thank Mera. If it wasn’t for her, you’d be outside the fence with your head blown off. She figured out the Stacy thing.”
“I was glad I could finally contribute,” Mera said.
“You contribute,” Beck said, “in your own way. We all do. And we need Alex to get well, so he can contribute to planning this Beckoning with me. We still have a lot of logistics to work out.”
“I can do it from here, you know,” I said.
“So you guys think this will work?” Sonny asked. “That this is it?”
Beck nodded. “Yeah, and it isn’t just us. Two of the clones, along with Peter think it’s a great idea.”
“Yep, Sonny,” I said. “All those versions of the Doctrines you, the Padre and Randy Pandy spent time memorizing, they’re all crap now. Useless. So get that pen ready. You’re gonna be writing the new and final version of the Doctrines. The last one to be written and read. Only this time, this ending…spoiler alert…” I smiled. “We win.”
THIRTY-THREE
MERA
Twenty-five years later
The bells on the chapel toll twenty-five times. Once for every year that has passed since the event.
A quarter of a century since it all happened.
Sometimes with all that transpired, with the many twists and turns our journey has taken, it’s easy to forget where it all started.
We remind ourselves on the exact date and time every year.
On a beautiful spring morning, much like the one we are having, over one billion children all died. They suffered a horrible death, disappearing from our lives. Three quarters of the adult population fell victim to the Sleeper virus.
Some went to sleep and never woke, but for most, they awakened a different person. Mindless, murderous, a force that fought to steal our world.
We fought back.
Our actions were gauged by events written in a book called the Doctrines. Brought from the future, they told of a dismal world of running, starving and dying.
We believed we were destined to live the life etched on paper written in a future we had yet to face, always believing we could change it, yet always at a loss as to how.
We were told the Sleepers would evolve and change, eventually taking over and forcing man into extinction. The revolution or reckoning that we began early on after the event, was supposed to fade when we opted not to fight but to just survive.
This time around we opted to live.
While the Doctrines did get some things right, there was a lot they got wrong.
Same went for those who visited us from the future. The things they told us didn’t go as they said.
Change one course, change them all, I suppose.
We never became the nomads, going from place to place. Instead, we stayed and settled in Yorktown, VA, expanding and not leaving.
Javier never really cured the virus, but he did come up with a viable treatment for it that eventually rid the body of it. We combatted the ivory baby curse by delivering babies weeks before they were due. Sadly, every once in a while, it would slip by us.
As it did with my son, Danny, when his wife went into early labor with their third child. Patty lost the baby, but they had two older children who were simply amazing.
My son is happy, which is all I hoped for.
My other two sons Phoenix and Keller started life at a disadvantage. I am so happy they never had to live with weapons and fear, but instead thrive with smiles, education and skills. A far cry from the future version of them that we had met.
Michael never died young. He didn’t go to sleep one night failing to wake up. He rang those bells on the anniversary faithfully. I attributed his survival to the fact that Javier had him and Sonny in gene therapy to remove the mutation that caused them to have the ability with the Sleepers.
He did the therapy only after Sonny and Michael did the Beckoning.
For seven years they were out there. They were relentless and never gave up. As more of the west became a safe zone, we traveled out to see Sonny and Michael, but they couldn’t leave until it was done. When they were finished and the war was over, we welcomed them all home.
They didn’t get them all. Some Sleepers remained. Not enough to be a threat, but enough to keep things interesting every once and a while.
Aside from the massive amount of dedicated soldiers, Sonny and Michael, other members of my family were out there as well. Beck, Alex, my son and Miles all took turns and rotations going out for the Beckoning. That way not one of them was gone for any extended period of time.
I was glad for that. I had every faith that my marriage to Beck could withstand the separation, but I just didn’t want to risk it.
Yet, another thing “stories from the future” got wrong.
When he came to visit us from his time, an older Phoenix told Alex that he and I would eventually be together after ten years.
Alex reminded me of that often and joked about, As much as I loved and would always love Alex, my dedication was to Beck.
Tired as people may have been for hearing it, my heart made that dedication that night on the roof.
Alex never really met anyone.
No one that stuck.
He focused on raising Phoenix and Keller and mainly just being a driving force for our daughter Hope.
He did a great job.
She has Alex’s good looks and wit, and gained her gentleness and calm from Beck.
Hope is an amazing woman. She ended up marrying a Stilton boy. Alex was not happy about that.
A lifetime has passed since that fateful day in April.
We will never forget the ones we lost, the ones whose memories are engraved in our hearts and we will forever be grateful for the ones we gained.
The world is not the same as it was. We never expected it to be. We just wanted a world that was safe…no running, no fear.
I believe we achieved that.
It wasn’t without a fight.
We fought the
battle long and hard. Against what we were told or rather were led to believe, we succeeded. We took our world back. It’s a little weathered and worn like most of us, but it is ours again.
The new Doctrines, a new ending. We as a race rewrote the narrative. We as a race…prevailed.
About the Author
Photo by Nini’s Photography
Author Jacqueline Druga brings to you the world’s end in every way imaginable through the pages of her novels.
While best known for her apocalyptic works, Jacqueline’s works span many genres, including: Humor, YA, Romance, Sci-fi, and Thriller.
Jacqueline prides herself on being down to earth and lighthearted.
A mother and grandmother, Jacqueline absorbs and loves every single moment that she is writing and invites you to share in her world…