The Reign of the Death-Defying Scientist

The Restarting and Amanda

I get up and sit looking at the ground for a couple of minutes, trying to fathom what is happening. No doubt about it, I am indeed in my room, with everything exactly in the same place as I remember. I go for my, now existing, phone, charging peacefully on my bedside table to look at the date and the news. We are approximately 9 months before the emergence of the Xenos and the most groundbreaking news article is celebrity gossip. Luckily, food and coffee aren’t a concern in the slightest for now, so I head for the kitchen to prepare breakfast and calm down.

“Haven’t had the joy of cooking something with an abundance of ingredients for a long time”, I thought to myself while plating up some avocado and bacon scrambled eggs, served with my favourite coffee. I almost teared up in the thought that everything was back to normal; this seems like a bad joke and a terrible illusion. After almost having a minor meltdown, I call my parents. In the wake of events, I completely lost track of them and knew not of their whereabouts; I wasn’t expecting to ever see them, well, till now. I barely visit them generally, but I asked if I could swing by and visit them today because my house felt a little bit emptier than usual. Of course, any excuse for them to see their child is good enough to launch a full preparation for my arrival. At the same time, I am trying to gather the courage to come in contact with Amanda. She was my senior in college by three years and was always eager to give me a hand with my studying struggles. Having passed such a phase, her help was tremendously helpful and her way of talking and describing things only made me work harder. I do confess that I miiight admire her a bit too much, but what’s definitely true is that she’s a very essential person in my life. After graduation, I joined her as a resident to the clinic she was already working at. This year was supposed to be my first one and I was eagerly looking forward to it. The days went by quicker than I could ever imagine, I was in bliss working beside her and hanging out almost every day. When those black-coated creatures decided to show up, one of their targets was my city. That day, I was nonchalantly returning home with Amanda from a tiring day, until they started rampaging, spreading devastation. People were running in the streets, trying to find cover and get away as far and fast as possible. In our attempts and in the chaos of the situation, debris from a falling build crushed her alive, while I was bearing witness. I wouldn’t stop pulling pieces of concrete, until I noticed her dismembered and utterly crushed head.

I shiver at the mere thought of it. I take a deep breath and decide to try again after the visit to my parents. As soon as I stepped into their front door, I gave them the tightest of hugs. We talked for a couple of hours, with me being extra cautious not to mention stuff that haven’t happened yet. The last thing I want is to worry them while I haven’t figured out anything yet. So I kept any information as typical as usual and proceeded to unwind in their balcony, starring at my mum’s beautiful plants and the view of the city from the 5th floor. At the end of my visit, promising I’ll be back as usual, I get in my car and return home. I bit stiff from the long drive back and forth, I grab a pen and some paper from my desk and lay on my couch. I really need to start thinking what I am going to do from now on, considering we are running against the clock right now. There is the possibility that we are in another timeline where no attacks happen and the Xenos are just a random word, but I am not taking that chance. Just as I lay down and start to consider my options, I notice there is one new voicemail on top of two older ones from today. They are from Amanda.

“f**k. I am not ready for this yet. I refuse to deal with this right now”, I thought to myself, completely ignoring them. It wasn’t long after I heard the doorbell and a familiar female figure was behind my door. I couldn’t help but groan and trying to gather as determination as I could in those seconds. I take a deep breath and open the front door.

“Hi Amanda, what brings you here?” I said with the most awkward smile and my feet barely shaking.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Luckily for you, it’s Saturday and we both got the day off tomorrow, so I came over with this!”, she responded excitedly while raising up a thin plastic bag with what looked like beer cans.

“Come on, let’s hang”, she continued and proceeded to let herself in while I was simply standing paralyzed.

“You don’t look that good.” she repeated. “It’s ok you messed up a bit yesterday, you are still a trainee and these stuff happen even to the best of us. Plus, it’s no big deal, that old man was out looking for trouble a bit to be fair.”

Yeap, that’s EXACTLY why I am acting that way.

“Ehehe, I know but it’s so unprofessional and embarrassing. I had to try two additional time to take a blood sample from that guy, since I missed the vein twice.” I replied while trying to play it cool and keep my composure.

“Come on, just forget about it and join me. I got some nice tea to spill.” she said and patted the space in the couch beside her.

“Alright, alright, let me just grab the phone for some delivery food at least. I’m starving. ”

Talking with her almost made me completely neglect any thoughts about the tragedy that will occur in nine months, but instead, focus on her vivid explanation of some pointless gossip. It’s been a long while till I felt so relaxed and laughed wholeheartedly. The time went by so quickly that I was craving for more of her company by the time she had to leave.

“See you again on Monday morning before the shift?”, she suggested.

“Not much of a choice, I have to be there I have no intentions of being in trouble.” I replied giggling a bit.

She waved me goodbye, as I was closing the door in front of me and I decided to go to sleep earlier than usual today. This was a nice break; much needed. But tomorrow, I really needed to get a move on if I wanted to make the best out of this second chance I was given.