Apocalypse : Beyond Imaginations

Welcome to Australia

   Angela looked across at Diana, who was sitting on the other side of the plane. She was as composed as if she were going for a spa. Angela couldn't understand why Diana insisted on coming along. She assumed that Diana wouldn't be interested in something so dangerous and unreal. Only Angela knew how dangerous it was going to be. She had fought with Dark a few times, she hardly ever won. Actually, she had never been able to beat Dark, which could be surprising because Dark was completely human. He was wise enough not to perform experiments on himself. Despite being a regular human, Dark always had a trick up his sleeve, not to mention the supersoldiers he always had around. Angela was strong enough to handle Dark's men. She promised herself she would make Dark pay for everything he had done, but she wouldn't kill him. She wasn't going to stoop to his level. 

   Angela kept her eyes on Diana. She still clearly remembered Diana's reaction when she told her she was from the future. Diana couldn't stop laughing, she thought it was a joke. Somehow, Michael managed to convince her that Angela's story was true. Angela still hadn't taken her eyes off Diana. As if sensing Angela's watching eyes, Diana turned and stared back at her with an expression Angela couldn't understand. Feeling a little uneasy, Angela looked away. She slowly turned to look at Michael who was  sitting beside her. His eyes were closed. She realised that she needed rest too, so she relaxed and closed her eyes. 

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   Michael opened his eyes and looked almost immediately at Angela. She seemed to be asleep. Michael looked at his watch, they had been on air for about ten hours. Michael was frustrated and anxious at the same time. He didn't want to let Angela down. He was only scared of a few things, and this was one of them. He decided to calm himself down by filling his head with random thoughts. He remembered how his father wanted him to be an army pilot. Michael had learned how to fly a plane, he never joined the army though. He didn't want to, instead he decided to become a private investigator. His father, of course disapproved of his choice as usual. Despite Michael's refusal to join the army, his father taught him how to fight. Michael could still remember how he had to wake up every morning to workout and train with his dad. Diana wasn't spared either. Her training was never as rigorous as Michael's, but even she could take down a couple of bad guys if she had to. Of course she had no interest in any kind of job that was army related, she decided to pursue a career in acting. Ever since she started acting, she spent less time at home. Michael didn't spend much time at home either. As a private investigator he was always on the move, always on a case. Of course, he was one of the youngest investigators. He had only had four cases since he became an investigator. The first one was mildly difficult, the other two were surprisingly easy. His last one though, was a missing person's case which turned out to be much more complicated, things got out of hand. After that he decided to take some time off. He spent two months doing other things. After a while he decided to go back to work, which was when he accidentally ran Angela off the road. Ever since then his life had changed. As a private investigator, he had the chance to help people. Now, he could do that on a much larger scale. 

   After a while, Michael looked at his watch again, they had been in the plane for about sixteen hours and some minutes. By his calculations they were going to arrive at the airport in less than twenty-six minutes. He turned towards Angela and patted her lightly. Slowly, she opened her eyes. 

  "Are we there yet? " She muttered sleepily. 

  " We'll soon get to the airport in Australia." Michael replied. 

   Shortly after that, the flight attendant began her announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land at the Osbourne White international airport. Please ensure one last time your seatbelt is securely fastened. Thank you." She cried. 

   As the plane began to land smoothly, Michael could hear the flight attendant making her final announcement. He noticed Angela looking out the window. He looked across at Diana who seemed bored. He couldn't help but wonder why she decided to come along. Diana had made spontaneous decisions several times simply because she was bored. Michael hoped this wasn't one of those times. According to everything Angela had said, trying to stop Darren Ark was going to be difficult, almost suicidal, but he was motivated. He felt inclined to help Angela for some reason he couldn't understand. And he knew that if they actually suceed, it would probably be one of the greatest achievements of his life.  

   After the long flight, Angela felt uneasy. She tried to stretch her legs while listening to Diana complain. 

  "I can't believe it took us that long to get here! " She complained. "Please tell me the planes are better in the future. " She said as she looked at Angela who didn't know whether to respond or not. 

   Michael came back with the traveling bags after which they got a cab.In the car, Diana went on and on about how stressful the flight was which made Angela annoyed. Michael, of course, new better, he payed no attention to what Diana was saying. He focused instead on making small talk with the driver, who didn't look like an Australian at all. Eventually Diana went silent and time passed quickly. They had almost gotten to their destination when the driver passed a comment about his first time in Australia.

   'Uh-huh' Angela moaned as Diana started complaining again. Angela decided to quickly change the subject.  "So, who is the owner of the house we're going to be staying in?" She asked. 

  "He an old friend. His name's Rick Walker." Michael replied. 

  "What does he do?" Angela asked, curious. 

  "He's done a lot of things. Rick is the kind of guy you would refer to as a 'Jack of all trades ', but all you need to know is that he's got a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and he's currently a private investigator. I learnt a few things from him actually."

   "That's interesting." Angela said. Diana, on the other hand had no interest whatsoever in their conversation. 

   Finally they arrived at Rick Walker's house. It was in a secluded area. Angela wasn't surprised, though the house was much larger than she expected. As they approached the building, the door opened and a man that seemed to be in his mid thirties came out. " Hello old friend. " said he. He and Michael greeted themselves like the old friends they were. "I see you finally decided to visit. " Rick added cheerfully. 

  " It's good to see you again. " Michael replied. "You still remember my sister Diana, don't you? " 

  "How could i forget such a remarkable beauty. " Rick replied as he took Diana's hand. "And who's your new friend." He said, staring at Angela. 

  "Oh,  she's Angela. I hope you don't mind us staying with you for a while. " 

  "You're more than welcome to stay as long as you want. There's plenty of room for everyone. " Rick assured them as he led them into his home. 

   Rick was a very hospitable host. He made them all feel comfortable. Angela noticed that he had no personal pictures on the walls. She asked Michael about it and he explained that Rick was seldom at home. He was always working and barely had time for anything else. Angela could easily understand that. She could barely remember the last time she did anything fun. She walked into the room Rick had kindly given to her. It seemed more like an hotel room. There was hardly anything in there besides the bed. She unpacked, then she took a shower after which she lay on the bed. She tried to sleep but couldn't, so she picked up the phone Michael had gotten for her. She opened the browser and searched for Ark Research Laboratory.

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  "Look, I'm only going to be gone for a few days. Please just wait till then. " Diana pleaded. She was talking to the producer of a new tv show she was supposed to have a part in. 

  "Lady, i don't care if your father was a soldier or a president, if you're not here tomorrow, I'm gonna be giving the part to someone else! " The producer barked. 

  "You know what, do whatever you want." She yelled back and hung up. She'd had enough of this. Her acting career wasn't going as well as she had expected it to. She was terribly frustrated. She picked up her phone again and decided to check her voicemail. 

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   Michael and Rick sat in the living room. They hadn't seen each other for over a year. 

  "So, are you really here just to relax? " Rick asked. 

  "Of course not. I'm here for something else." Michael replied. 

  "I thought you were taking a break from work. "

  "Oh i did. I'm back now. "

  "Really, so what are you working on?"  Rick asked. Michael hesitated for a while, then he replied. 

  "Trust me it's complicated."

  "I see. "

  "Once again thanks for taking us in"  Michael said. 

  "It's not a problem."

  "So, what's it like working here. "  Michael asked. 

  "Well, it's quite stressful at the moment. "  Rick sighed and continued. "For example, lately I've been working on dozens of missing person's cases. I've never experienced anything this intense before. I think they're all related. "

  "That's serious. Have you found anyone of them."

  "No. No one's been able to find the missing people."

  "Do you have any clue who's behind the disappearances. " 

  "I have some ideas. None i would like to share at the moment. " Rick said as he got up.  "Today has been a really stressful. See you tomorrow. " He went to his room, leaving Michael alone in the sitting room. Michael didn't get up from his chair. He just sat there and stared at the wall, thinking about what was going to happen next. His thoughts were interrupted as his phone started ringing. He picked up his phone, it was his father calling. 

  " Hi Dad."

  "Michael, i have have been calling you and your sister for hours. Where are you? " He said. Michael could easily sense from his father's tone that he was angry. 

  "Um, we are not in the country right now. "

  "What do you mean you're not in the country. And why didn't you tell me you were going somewhere. "

  "Because It all happened really fast. " Michael replied. 

  "Anyway is Diana there? I need to speak to her. "

  "It's ten o'clock in Australia dad, she's asleep and I'm going to bed too. I'll call you tomorrow. "

   Michael finally decided to go to sleep but wanted to check on Angela first. He knocked on the door but didn't get a response. He assumed she was asleep and turned around. As he was about to leave, the door opened silently. 

  "Michael? Is that you?"

  "Yeah, i just wanted to check up on you."

  "I haven't been able to sleep. " Angela replied. "I've been researching about Dark. "

  "Did you find anything?" Michael asked. 

  "Mostly things we already know. He's the owner of Ark Research Laboratory and some of his experiments have been funded by the government. I haven't been able to find any personal information about him on the internet. "

  "Well, let's just wait till tomorrow." Michael said. 

  "What do we do then? " Angela prompted. 

  "We'll find a way to stop him, " Michael replied without a change in his expression. "That, i promise you. "