Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2021 14:16:40 +0800 From: Tallahassee Wilson Subject: A Timeline Away 11 (Young Friends) (Science Fiction) Part 11 y'all. My sci fi writing has never peaked at this point. Well, disclaimer. I'm not gonna continue a space fiction since I find it kinda challenging. Although, maybe you'll like this. Took a bit long. Had to make researches. Disclaimer: Contains bloody themes. As always, donate to nifty for this amazing service. Donate:http://donate.nifty.org/ ------------------------------ Phil kept silent as Carlton explained Terry what the fuck is happening. "So, you mean you 3, travelled through time, got chased by OXCorp through different timelines, and now you're dragging me into this shit?! You think this is ridiculous?!! I work my arse off, day after day, to gain respect and good honor from EUCLIDEAN systems, only to get dragged into a deadly situation! This is bullshit! You 3 are commiting a crime! Let me go!" Terry was pissed off, but Phil said that it was unsafe for Carl and I to stay on that ship. "But, Phil! 4 billion people are on that ship! The probability of me, finding my parents there is huge! They must be there!" I said, him still giving me that 'I'm mad at you' look. "Yeah, a huge chance but, it's only a chance. No assurance. Your father's back on Earth. I'm trying to contact mom, I mean your mom and Amity. If you want me to help you save them, stay the fuck away from me and go fuck with your boyfriend for all I care." Phil said as he closed the comms window, leaving me and Carl with Terry, still mad about us. We had to make sure that no one should know that we're back in 2165. If they're back on Earth, does that mean that they're still fighting for their lives? Phil wanted to save them. My family loved Phil like a real family. He couldn't bear to see the one that took care of him, get killed by zombies or some mutated shit. I'm scared. Real scared. What if we fail?! I don't want to get ripped and shredded into pieces! "Phil, for the love of God! Open the goddamn window! You can't just send us there and perform a suicide mission! There are man-eating creatures there! Are you out of your mind?!" Carl was knocking on the window as Phil finally opened. "This was your choice, wasn't it? Stanley is coming with me. You're only here because he messed up! You're nothing but an accident!" Phil shouted as another argument started. "Don't talk to Carl like that! He's the best accident that ever happened to me! By the way, I never said I loved you, Phil!" I said, leaving Phil silent. "We'll be there at around 12 minutes. There's some charged blasters there. Use it to defend yourselves. The plan, simple. Find Stanley's father, take him back to the ship. Easy." Phil finally explained, but in a cold and serious manner. The ship was small and everyone was silent. "Um, hello?! What about me?! You're gonna make me your human bait, am I right?! You 3 are nuts! Let me go or I'll jump the hell outta this ship!" Terry went hysterical as Carl shot him with a stun blaster. "That should keep him quiet. He's right though. What will we use him for? Bait?" Carl asked as Phil gave us a blinking green light, meaning yes, we'll use Terry as a human bait. Shortly, we entered Earth's atmosphere. The scanners say that oxygen levels are incredibly high, due to natural foliage. What the fuck? This was a wasteland and now, plants are everywhere, creeping and growing. Mother nature finally counter-attacked and now it's reclaiming the space that humans built. Buildings were toppled by plants, humongous trees were everywhere, but not a sight of any animal or living being. Terry woke up and went hysterical again. "Holy fuck! Why are we in Earth?! Why the fucking why are we in Earth?! This is hell! Okay, this is serious! Those things are going to kill you!" Terry tried to stop Phil but we already landed. We landed in a clearing, near the metropolis. OXCorp headquarters were destroyed and Phil opened the doors. "Grab some of those and don't do shit down there. We've got to be stealthy at all costs. Stanley, I'm gonna have a word with you." He said as I grabbed some blasters. We got off and took a whiff of that fresh air. "Phil, I'm still confused. Why did plants thrive for only a couple of months? Normally, it would take years to do it. What happened while I was gone?" I asked as Phil held my shoulders. "Stanley! Haven't you noticed? We're in an altered reality! This isn't the future that we'd think it is. It was all broken! They were right, time travel was illogical! We've broken the timeline!" Phil said. Maybe he's right. "Yeah, but you said my father's still alive here, right? We can still save him and find mom and Amity. Don't go Mr. Hopeless on me. It's gonna be fine! We have guns!" I said. I still have tons of hope that they're still safe. Carl got out with a ton of guns and ammo. "Just in case. You need to be prepared! That's what they do in zombie movies. Although, these folks are way, way worse than zombies. I'm kinda scared, but this is so cool! Not like, cool cool, but This-can-literally-kill-us cool." Carl said with mixed emotions. He always wanted to have a real experience in shooting zombies. Terry got out and the ship was cloaked. We were really, really scared and shitless. "So, Phil. Where's dad?" I asked. "He's hiding in refuge in the center of the metropolis. It's a long way." Phil said. The center?! Like, center of the metropolis that none of us ever got to? That's way too far! "Ugh! That's literally 600 miles away! We need a car!" Carl whined. "Car?" Terry, I and Phil asked. "We need some kind of transportation!" Carl said. He's right though, but everything here is eaten by rust and vegetation. We may need to walk. We agreed to make stops to find some supplies. Carl was an expert at this since he said he played a lot of games that suits our situation here. He said to loot supplies, find fellow survivors and SURVIVE! Well, that's literally what we're trying to do. We kept eyes on every corner of our directions. We needed to be discreet. PDAs and GC chips were unavailable, which means it's useless here. It was eerily silent. The sight of buildings, living areas, houses and shops being abandoned were just too fucking creepy. Well, everything here is creepy. From the eerie atmosphere, the sounds of birds chirping, and the thought of being ripped and torn to shreds. This is way creepy. Why can't we just fly to the center?! If it wasn't for these tall-ass buildings, we could've been there by now! Terry seemed like he was trembling as he had no choice but to come with us. If we were to leave him there, the possibility of him dying is high. It was nice to keep company and also a bait. We were walking quietly when we heard people. Oh! They could help us! "H-Help! Please! T-they're crazy!" A man walked in front of us. He seems like he's in pain. "We should help h.." Carl was interrupted by a loud bang as Terry shot the man. "Dude! What the fuck?!" Phil shouted as Terry grabbed us as the man stood up and tried to shoot us. "He isn't even fucking hurt. Let's go. You do not wanna end up in those men's dinner plates." Terry said as we ran away into an abandoned living complex. There were men with antique guns, chasing us. Holy fuck. I forgot people were still a problem here. It's a dog-eat-dog world out here. We split up and hid. I found a decayed corpse and a revolver in it's hands. I took it and luckily, the corpse had some ammo in it's pockets. I know I have a gun, but it's too heavy to get a good aim. This thing is lightweight and easy to shoot. Guns were a normal thing for me. Well, you could say I may have killed some "clients" that wouldn't pay. Nothing is free, that's what dad always says to me. Well, you might say that I 'killed' some folks, but only if some people pay me. Yeah, aside from being a child prostitute, I was also a hired hitman. I was hard to spot since I was stealthy and also small. Just like I always say: Desperate times call for desperate measures. I saw a man getting near to Carl's hiding place. I did not hesitate to shoot him since Carl was just innocent. I shot him again, him coughing up blood and making weird-ass noises. Some folks saw me and tried to shoot me. Shit! "Come out, motherfuckers! I ain't gonna hurt you. We just want to talk!" A man shouted as Terry replied. "You can talk to us when you have our cold carcasses in your hands!" The men were laughing as Terry shot them all. "That should do it. Now, let's run again. There are more of those folks coming! Go!" Terry shouted as we all stood up and ran away. There was an escape route on the 4th floor. A dilapidated building that can help us escape. "Holy shit! Thank you, Stanley!" Carl said as he clinged at me. We continued to climb up. Everything was rusty and dilapidated, meaning escaping this building is difficult. Carl said he'll meet us. He just needs to loot the men. He gave us some guns. "These things are way more efficient than these blasters. Also, we need to conserve the power of these blasters in case we find a giant-ass monster or some shit. There's a few ammo, so try to make every shot worth it." Carl gave Terry and Phil some antique guns. "Carl, no offense but are you sure you know how to use that thing?" Phil asked since Carl insisted to use the shotgun. "What? I know how to use this baby! I hunted venison all summer and living near an asylum, in a middle of a creepy forest means you gotta have some protection. Don't worry, I can shoot with my eyes closed." Carl said, reloading his gun. I'm confident about Carl. We took archery lessons together back at Rome. "Venison? What's that?" I asked. I wasn't familiar with old terms. "Oh, deer meat. Tastes delicious actually. If we ever make it back to 2005, I'll take you to my usual hunting spot. We can hunt together!" Carl chuckled and giggled. I can't wait for it. "We gotta keep moving. Those men will want meat from young people." Terry said as all 3 of us were disgusted by it. Cannibalism is a thing here?! Gross. Well, that's another thing to worry about. The coast was clear as we kept moving. The air smelled like rotten flesh. Terry told us to keep extra silent. Rotten flesh means there must be some of those beasts lurking and maybe having lunch. "At my signal, we all shoot. Those are class 4 beasts. Can't see, can't hear. Can only detect you using your body heat. A flamethrower would be a good use, but it's all we have. It's weak spots are on it's limbs, chest and the head. Carl, go for the head. Stanley, you take care of the chest. Phil, create a diversion using that dried bush there. Light it on fire, throw it at them. Ok, let's do this precise and swift." Terry said. How the fuck did he know all about that? You know what, nevermind! Carl positioned himself as I grabbed a leaf and used it as a fan to cool me down and maybe it'll avoid me from getting detected. "Do it now Phil!" Terry shouted as he threw a lit bush as the beasts were going crazy. We got near and..."On the count of 3, we all shoot! 1..2...3!" Terry commanded us as we did it, perfectly. The beast dropped and died. We all sighed as Terry collected some of the beast's blood. What the.. "What? It tastes like barbecue sauce. Their blood is weird, but hey! It's tasty!" Terry said, licking and slurping their blood. "Dude! What the fuck, stop it! It's fucking disgusting. We should move now. I don't want another on of those fuckers showing up." Phil said as we got out of the window. I'm coming for you, Dad. --------------- TO BE CONTINUED