Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2021 21:55:16 +0800 From: Tallahassee Wilson Subject: A Timeline Away 14 (Young Friends) (Science Fiction) Part 14 y'all. Took a bit long. Happens when you're writing on a faulty laptop. Donate:http://donate.nifty.org/ ------------------------------ "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands." Darius strummed his ukulele as the kids, along with Carl clapped their hands. The air was cold and thin, the time says its 6 am. The sun's rays were nice and gentle. Perfect for a nice little walk to the hover shuttle, Darius mentioned. "Be discreet. Just because it's silent doesn't mean there's no danger afoot." Terry said. "Soo, how come you're out in the streets with 3 children? Don't you have any parents?" Phil asked. "Oh, funny story actually. My parents tried to eat me since we were scarce on food. Luckily though, they didn't locked the shotgun closet, hehe. Things went pretty bloody that day." Darius chuckled softly as Phil was weirded by it. I'm guessing he's a bit of a psycho, but he's still cheery and happy. What's his deal? Everything here is devastated and broken and he can still crack a smile, feel good and even sing a song. Wow, he's really something. "This thing is really chaotic! What happened to 2165?!" Carl said as he saw a row of buildings that had been toppled, like a domino effect. "2165? Pshh, this isn't 2165 anymore! It's 2170! Jeez, people tend to forget to the years today." Darius said as Terry told us to gather. "It's 2170 now. We were in space so the time's a bit messed up here." Terry said as Gill pointed out something. It turned out to be a beast. "One, two, three, mouths shut." Darius whispered as the children shushed. "That's a class 1 beast. The strongest, can hear, see and detect your body heat. Runs as fast as a tiger. We may need to use your grenades." Terry said as Darius threw a grenade at that monstrosity. It immediately exploded and made a thick cloud. It was our chance to escape and hide on that building. Our guns were useless against class 1 beasts. We carried the children as we went to the nearly dilapidated building. Turns out going into that building was a bad idea. It had some men there and we heard screams coming from people. We covered the children's ears to prevent them from hearing. "Okay kids. Blindfolds, on. Earmuffs on and melee weapons?" Darius instructed the kids as they all took out a PVC pipe, covered with spikes. "Good. Now, hold my hand. Each of you, hold hands with the nice folks." Darius said as Brianna held my hand. "Wow, you really have a way of making sure they don't see or hear anything." I said. "Thanks. It's a responsibility. I have to make sure these folks don't get traumatized by this. Also, I don't want them to see me, use weapons to kill fellow humans." He said as he loads an arrow into his crossbow. He seems like he knows what he was doing. He took a deep breath and made a bird whistle sound. He places his finger on the trigger, flawlessly shooting one of the man in the back of it's chest. "Now!" Darius shouted as Carl and Phil took a metal pipe, knocks the men down as we heard gunshots nearby. "Hide!" Darius shouted. "Where the fuck are those bullshitters?! I swear to God, if I see one of those again, I'd slaughter them all!" A man with a hella amount of machetes and guns said as he released his dogs to find us. "Don't worry. These dogs won't hurt you." Terry said as he called one of the dogs and immediately hugged it. "Oh, Billy! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?! I missed you!" Terry covered his mouth as all of us stared at him. "You heard nothing!" Terry said as he threw the jar of blood, into the man. The dogs immediately came to the man, licking him and pinning him down to the ground. Terry took the shot as we ran away into a suburban area. "Okay! Come clean, Terry! Why do you know a ton of stuff here, when obviously you were on that ship?! How could you miss a dog and know it's name?! You're hiding something, aren't you?!" Carl said as Terry kept silent and kept on moving forward. "Hey! Carlton's right! How? You're not telling us about it!" Phil approached Terry. "None of your business, bitches." He said coldly. Phil was about to punch Terry as Terry blocked Phil's fist. "Do you want to get to the center?" Terry said as he pushed Phil to me. "There it is. It's inside that house there." Darius said as Terry pointed a gun at him. "Dude! What the fuck are you doing?!" Carl said as Terry pointed another gun at him. "Terry, that's enough! What are you so afraid of?!" I pointed a gun at Terry as he threatened to put his hands on the trigger. "Back away! This house has nothing in it!" Terry said as the 3 of them stepped back. I peeked at the window and saw the hover shuttle, Darius mentioned. "There! It's there, Terry! Okay, why the fuck are you lying?! Don't you want to get to the center?!" I shouted at Terry as he began to charge at me. "I said this house is off limits! For fuck's sake, couldn't you listen to a wee bit if what I'm saying!!" He said, threatening to blow up the house. "Terry! Please, no! Just...please. We can talk this out. Why don't you wanna go inside there? Do you get the heebie-jeebies? Or maybe you're just scared. It's okay to be scared. Fear is a natural reflex the body produces." Darius said as he hugged Terry. Terry broke into tears as he hugged Darius and cried. He was crying really hard. I don't know why. Probably because of Darius's happy feelings? "T-that's what Liam used to say to me. He...I... I'm sorry." Terry sniffed as he kept on crying. "There, there now. I'm sure it's gonna be fine." Darius said as the children hugged Terry. "Who's Liam?" Carl asked as Phil covered his mouth. "Dude! that's too much to ask for!" Phil said as Darius signaled me to enter the house now that Terry's calm. I silently snuck past Darius and Terry as I made my way inside and was surprised to see what's inside. "Holy Shit." I whispered to myself. There were a ton of guns, messages on the wall, a doghouse even a hot tub! The messages on the wall...rings a bell. "I wonder what a banana tastes like. -Terry" "Please practice waking up at 2 am, Terry. I hate it when I go alone on patrols. -Liam" "Terry and Liam's survival house kinda thing. Built in 2163! No one's allowed here, except for us of course." The messages on the wall suggested that Terry lived here with someone named Liam. There was another wall full of photos of Terry's younger self and also Liam's. They seem kinda close. They really are close. A message said they were best friends. The pictures showed the 2 of them...having sex, kissing and even the 2 of them, making different sex poses. Hmmm... Carl and I should try that. I was gonna retrieve the hover shuttle when Terry came and shot my arm. "Fucking bastard! Who told you to come in here?!!" Terry shouted as I was groaning and screaming in pain. Shit! That fucking hurt! I ran away, but it seems like Terry was determined to kill me. Why is he so insecure about his past?! "Terry! Stop!" Darius's voice echoed as he shot Terry with a immobilizer. Terry was paralyzed and was still conscious. Carl saw me as he grabbed the bandages we found back at the hotel. "Holy shit, Terry! Why did you do that for?! Stanley was just retrieving the shuttle!" Carl punched Terry as I stopped Carl. He seemed really pissed off. "Oh botheration! You were the ones that trampled in the fox's den! This place is off limits! Happy now?!" Terry said as Darius kneeled down to Terry. "Hey, it's okay Terry. I know, things may be hard here, but it's all in the past now. I'm sure that Liam is now in...a better place." Darius said softly as Terry cried again. It seemed like Darius was holding Terry's diary. It also seemed like he took it from that headless corpse over there. Could that be Liam's corpse? If it is, then why is his head missing? "Terry, what exactly happened here?" Phil asked. Terry kept silent as Carl went to the shuttle and called me and Phil to help him fix it. He fiddled with the controls and try to fixed it. Well, Darius lend a hand and helped us fixed it and finally we actually fixed it. Terry hugged me and apologized to what he did and he said that he was just stressed out. I understand, but why the hell would he shoot me? That fucking hurt! "I'm terribly sorry about it, Stanley. I-It's just..." Terry sighed as Darius hugged him. That's kinda sweet. "Okay! Everybody! Let's get outta here!" Pascal entered the shuttle as we all pushed it out of the house. Terry went back inside as I hear him talk to Liam, but only in his mind. He still misses him. I haven't really read his diary. "Hey Darius, where's Terry's diary?" I asked. What? I was just curious! "Let's not talk about this, Stanley. Terry's been through a lot and let's not bother him again." He said, powering up the shuttle. "Attention all units. The boy is back. I repeat, the boy is back. Bring Citizen #4780937, Stanley Dickinson McCain to OXCorp headquarters immediately. I may know someone that can help us get that hermit crab out of his hiding place." My makeshift signal receptor caught a transmission. Oh shit! They know we're here! "Uhh, how about we step on it and leave immediately!" I said as I whispered to Carl and Phil about our current situation. Darius told us to buckle our seatbelts. We were on course to the metropolis' center. Phil kept a lookout on OXCorp guards. We need to get to the center before them. They're unto my dad and they'll use him to bait me. I sure hope this thing can get us there in a nick of time. The kids were singing when we heard revving from motorcycles nearby. Shit! "Go faster, Darius! Faster!" Carl said as Darius began to accelerate the shuttle. They tampered my GC chip as it..... "There we go. Don't go crazy on me again, Stanley." Carl said as I saw a ton of blood, dripping from my hand. "What happened? Why's the door busted? Where are we?" I asked. I was a bit confused about what happened. "Well, you were hypnotized and made a scene. Sorry about your GC chip, by the way. Darius, watch out there's a class 3 beast!" Terry yelled as the men in the motorcycles were firing guns at us. "Yeah, I know so stop your dilly-dallyin' and let me drive in peace. I'm gonna take a detour! Kids, blindfolds, earmuffs and hug tightly to them." Darius said as he drifted and sped up. Woah, this is kinda cool! I never rode one of these before! Darius drove like a maniac as the men in the motorcycles had trouble following us. The kids were cheering as Darius kept on driving like he owns the road. "Dude! Too fast!" Carl said as Darius fiddled with the buttons on the screen. "How about some good ol' country music? It always keeps me sane." Darius said as the stereo played guitar songs. Carl seems to like it. "We're still not out of the woods yet! Darius! Turn to 67th avenue on your right. Carl, see if you can fight back." Terry said as he opened the windows and took the rifle. They fired the men but had trouble since Darius was driving too fast. Pascal gave me a grenade and smirks at me. He unravels his blindfold and points out to that building over there. He's suggesting to blow it up and make it topple down to the ground, blocking the path. I ruffled Pascal's hair as I made my shot. The building collapsed us the men were nowhere to be seen. "Wow! That was fucking awesome! But, why were OXCorp guards chasing us? Neh, they're probably low on food and they tried to eat us. Disgusting. But hey, we're nearly there!" Darius said as we took a sigh of relief. We still needed to keep an eye out for more of them. They're unto me now and I'm still not done with my mission. --------------- TO BE CONTINUED...