(Updated and Revised.)
Three years, three long years; that’s how long ashes showered the planet. Dark clouds choked the skies, blocking the sun and turning the planet into an eternal winter. The more religious people claimed this was Heaven’s way of saying humans were no longer allowed to pass the pearly gates. Almost as if the souls of the dead were burned and returned to be damned forever.
It was all the same as far as the eyes could see; ruins, destruction, corpses- remains of what was once a thriving technological civilization.
Everyday the same thoughts ran through the minds of every survivor. They would stare at the sky or into a fire and think of the past; the warm kiss of the sun, white fluffy clouds, boring daily routine and fresh food at the nearby convenience store. These ashes that everyone so grudgingly hated were all that was left to remember the dead.
A team of three was sent to inspect the sudden appearance of a laboratory. Every step they took sunk deeper and deeper as the soot storm raged. They wore a brown wool cloak that covered them from head to toe. Beneath it was thick fur clothing that hid every centimeter of skin as well as an additional vest woven from biothermal fibers. Anything less, and they’d freeze to death.
Leading the team was a man with neck-length white hair with an inch of black at the tip being the last of his original hair color. For a whole year, Ren had gone back and forth through this general path. The laboratory was never here before. It just appeared overnight as if someone decided this was a good spot to place a building. Six whole years of the arcane arts; the sudden appearance of a laboratory was just another to the list of surprises.
Alongside him, a female civilian, Serenity; and a fellow magically gifted individual, Gregory. Ren demanded Serenity stay behind. Yet she argued for her right to help contribute to the refugee. There was no government after all. They needed another way to measure value.
The entrance had glass doors with handles, and flyers taped on the other side that dated back to the year 2034. Gregory and Serenity stood in front waiting for it to open. Ren on the other hand, shuffled past them and pulled the door open to enter. It took the two a good moment standing in the ash storm to realize that this door was not going to automatically open for them.
Gregory’s face was all over the place, taking in such an ancient and alien architect that was forgotten to even the world wide web.* “So this is a science lab from a thousand years ago.”
“No voice command, no A.I user interface, not even holograms. People of the past really had to do things themselves,” said Serenity, pressing her fingers against the walls in hopes that a console would appear.
For Ren, the cleanliness of the lab was his primary concern. The porcelain tile floors were shiny enough to see reflections. The wood and metal of tables and chairs showed no signs of deterioration. Every room they searched the ink and chalk on the wall boards smeared at the slightest touch as if only written recently.
Gregory tugged at a door, using even his legs to help but this door in particular proved too heavy for him. He was left handed, there was only so much you could do with a left stub.
“You okay?” Ren helped push the door open.
“I’m good,” Gregory said with a strain in his voice. “Just really wished Cecilia was there to spot me some of that healing magic of hers when it happened.”
“It’s not healing magic, there’s a difference. And don’t push yourself too hard. You’ve done enou--”
Serenity popped out of one of the rooms shouting, “Over here! I found--” Her voice echoed throughout the laboratory.
Both Ren and Gregory turned to her in a sudden synchronized glare. Serenity immediately covered her mouth, realizing how loud she yelled. The three of them stood frozen, not a sound to be heard. So silent, that they can hear the wind howling outside through the walls of the laboratory. Even the sweat on Gregory’s temple halted in its path, almost as if it felt the fear that gripped everyone’s heart. It wasn’t until Ren gave the okay after dropping and pressing his ear against the ground that they decided it was okay to move.
Apparently Serenity had found a hidden basement in one of the rooms. It was rather small, but large enough to fit some shelves and provide a narrow walkway for a single person. If Serenity and Gregory pressed themselves against the shelves, they could just barely squeeze by each other.
Once again, Ren’s cleanliness concern crept up on him. Much like ground level, it was far too clean for it to be a thousand years old. This time, there was a skeleton whom he presumed to be a scientist given the white laboratory coat it wore. It sat on a chair hunched over in front of a table. On said table was a pile of documents that this person was in the midst of filling out. Then there were the supplies on the shelves: boxes of canned foods, ancient kitchen utensils that didn’t require electricity, medicine, and clothing filled the shelves; too clean and fresh for the supposed age of this place.
While the other two rummaged through the supplies, Ren picked up the top paper of the document pile. His eyes widened, and he picked up the next page skimming through it from top to bottom; then the next, again and again.
Serenity approached Ren, curious about his sudden frantic behavior. “What’s that?”
He ignored her, and continued flipping through the pages.
Even Gregory became curious as to what caught Ren’s full attention.
“This is it…” The words fell out of Ren’s mouth. “This is everything she searched for her entire life.”
“By her, you mean Cecilia?” Gregory asked.
Ren nodded.
Serenity looked back and forth at the two, lost as to what these two were talking about.
“So...we found Fuyu?”
“Not quite, but we now know where he is and why Cecilia never found him,” Ren immediately pulled out his hologen; a nifty device that’s practically a holographic computer worn on the wrist. With a press of a button, green light beamed at the documents scanning the stack.
“The two of you grab whatever you can on the shelves. We’re leaving as soon as this is done…”
“Finally, some English around here,” Serenity said sassily. “Oh look! Fresh food and medicine. Turns out I was useful after all! To think you didn’t want--”
Ren’s deep thoughts drowned out her yammering while he stared intently at the writings. This had just become a top priority mission. For the first time in a long while, he felt they had finally made some sort of progress. The scan was nearly complete and the room was emptying at a good pace. If they compiled everything together and carried three boxes each, they should be able to take everything here. It was fortunate they were able to secure all this info and resource without a hitch, or so Ren thought. From the corner of his eye, a beaker filled with water caught his attention. It wasn’t so much the beaker itself, but the water inside of it. Ripples pushed outward from the center. He prayed that it was because of them rummaging through the small basement, until some dust fell on the paper he held. The ground began to rumble, footsteps paraded from above, and the laboratory creaked.
“They’ve found us...” Ren uttered.
Gregory immediately dropped everything he had packed and rushed towards the stairs and out the basement. Serenity on the other hand rushed to finish gathering the remainder of the supplies.
“Leave it! It’ll only slow us down!” Ren ordered.
“Absolutely not! This is my contribution to the refugee! I am not eating that disgusting filth made of leftover food any more!”
“Those hellhounds are literally right above our heads. We take food, or anything that’ll slow us down or leave a scent behind, and those mutts will be on us within ten steps of leaving this laboratory. We’re out of time,”
Ren ascended the stairs after Gregory, leaving Serenity behind. They snuck down the hallway keeping close tabs on every door and corner. They made sure their steps didn’t make any noise, and kept to hand signs for communication. They were mere meters away from the entrance when they heard Serenity’s footsteps running after them.
Ren extended his arm out to halt and catch Serenity, and pulled her into the nearest room.
“What do you--” Ren cupped his hand over her mouth to muffle her. Peeking out from the corner of the door, a hellhound had pounced in front of the entrance, sniffing around the ashes and looking around. Another came around and butted heads and moved on. As their names suggested, they were canines from hell; red mangy fur, large extensive mouths resembling pelican beaks with sharp teeth, spikes lined on their back, horns, and a large tail. Smart, fast, and durable- these deadly hunters easily disrupted battle formations and broke the front lines. There was no denying these large mutts were the sole reason for humanity’s repeated losses.
Ren raised his hand to signal the two to stay absolutely quiet. There were one, two, four, no, ten? A rather large pack for a desolate area. They didn’t have any food on them. Did they hear Serenity running? There had to be something that caught their attention. Whatever the case, the ones here were about the size of motorcycles. If he was by himself, there wouldn’t be any issue. But to protect two others at the same time? There was no way they would all make it out alive, not without a definitive count. Even if he made himself bait, the chances of the hellhounds sniffing out Serenity and Gregory was almost certain. The moment he separated from any one of them, the other would die. Even if acting like a bait did work, that's thinking optimistically. These dogs weren’t stupid enough to chase their food with the entire pack, not when there’s more than one scent.
Ren looked at Gregory and Serenity in a cold sweat. Though Gregory never directly went into the battlefield, he did what he could through thick and thin. Meanwhile Serenity had the grouchiest wrinkles he’d ever seen. Engaging the hellhounds was out of the question. As the only combatant, he can’t defend the both of them at the same time. On top of that, if he died, they died. That was not an option. The information in his hologen is of top priority, he has to survive. A waterfall drenched Ren’s head and clothes. This wasn’t fair. Especially since they can't afford to lose any more women. The decision practically made its own choice.
“Gregory, this is an order. You will die here,” Ren said with a stern look.
“There’s no other way?” Asked Gregory.
Ren shook his head.
Serenity turned her head back and forth at the two boys. “The fu--”
Ren slapped her across the face before she could raise her voice.
Gregory got up and started stretching at the doorway of the room they hid in. “Take care of Emma for me. Tell her I love her. If possible, raise her to be as strong as Cecilia.” He tugged a locket off his neck, and handed it over to Ren. “Give this to her.”
“Don’t be late,” said Ren. “You know how Prof. Anderson hates repeating himself.”
Gregory chuckled. “Says the one with no attendance...”
Ren grabbed Gregory’s hand, shaking it before pulling the locket out of his hand. Gregory then ran out of the room and down the hall, “OVER HERE YOU OVERGROWN MUTTS! COME AND GET ME STUPID DOGS!” The glass door of the entrance shattered, and the pack of hellhounds trampled through the laboratory.
Ren grabbed Serenity by the hand and dragged her out because she seemed a little weak-kneed after the slap. Almost like she couldn’t believe somebody had actually hit her.
They fled the facility and into the soot storm. They ran, and ran, and ran, leaving another to die. Although faint, they could hear the laboratory collapsing from the hellhound’s stampede echoing through the storm.
((( EUGH KAREN
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