3034: The Awakening

Emily's Recollection

Z P.O.V.

We keep a steady pace galloping down every hallway passing door by door across a wide-open courtyard with a brick layout in the center surrounded by giant oak trees, their leaves are green and full of life.

I can smell her, she's okay for now.

Leona breathes heavily.

Finally, we reach the final corridor where the facility is. Bursting through the door, General Adkins steps backward almost falling to the ground. His eyes are wide and full of shock.

Looking at the others they seemed frozen as if they're in a hypnotic state. Their eyes are glazed over with purple starburst in them. Seems they're okay for now, I think to myself as I turn slowly to face the man who meant my friends harm.

"Z..its... it's not what you think.." He stutters.

"Then explain, why I shouldn't rip you apart, " I grit my teeth.

"Z is that….is that you?" Emily's voice is weak and soft.

Her peach color complexion has changed to a pale ghost white color. Her normal pink cheeks have faded and life seems to be almost drained from her. Just like the others, her eyes have purple starburst. Amazingly, she can even recognize that I am here. This human girl truly is amazing.

"Emily, are you okay?" I speak to her with my eyes still trained on Adkins.

"I feel so tired, " she responds.

"You'll be okay, I have you, there won't be any further harm." I look away from General Adkins for a brief moment.

Emily slowly lies back closing her eyes.

"She's fine Z, all she is doing is sleeping, " General Adkins has a voice of confidence.

Just to hear him speak engages me, I want to sink my canines into his flesh and let him cry out in pain. To feel his blood flow on my tongue.

"You don't get to speak, I came here for help and to keep everyone safe, and yet again another fool thinks, he can cause harm and not be punished!!!" I snarl at him the drool floor to the floor from my mouth.

I am sure he can see the anger in my eyes as I can see the fear in his. I swore no more harm would come to anyone I care about, especially Emily. And this time I intend on keeping the promise by any means necessary.

" Let me explain, please!" He begs.

He folds himself on his knees and bows low to the floor, his arms out above his head. He keeps his head down. Surely he must be praying to some deity to save his life.

" I don't need an explanation, you trapped me in a dreamscape, and then came after all I have left" I growl.

"Z it is not like that!" He shouts.

The fear in his tone is believable and it makes me stop for a moment. I don't know what kind of new trickery he is trying to pull and yet part of me believes him.

"Then you better explain quickly, " I spit toward him.

He slowly sits himself up placing his hands on his lap. Not daring to look me in the eyes he draws in a deep breath of air. I can sense his heartbeat slowing down.

"It wasn't meant as a trap for you, I only did it to help you...and with Emily, I was only trying to help her as well, " his words came out shaky.

I can see his body shiver and his hands shake as he tries his best to calm himself. I eye him and I wait for him to continue.

"The dreamscape...it was meant for you, it was meant to hell awaken…" he stops.

"Awaken what?" I snap.

He flinches at my words.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead he readjusts himself.

"I am an overseer. I help others move past things that block their full potential and help them unlock and embrace their full strength. For you, I had to do that dreamscape, you needed to see Estelle."

"Don't you dare speak her name from your mouth. It's all lies you spill, all you wish to do is speak to try and have your life!"

I inch closer to him and he puts his hands up in surrender.

"When you were in the dreamscape did you not transform into another stronger Lycan?!" He shrieks.

I pause. How would he know about that third transformation?

"How do you know about that?" I stop in my tracks.

" I've studied Lycans, and all Lycans have three states of transformation. You had never unlocked the final stage due to your guilt of.."

"You can say it.." I interject.

"With the pain and guilt you had over Estelle's death the third stage stayed locked away. You would've never been able to unlock it until you had achieved forgiveness for yourself and peace. Now, Emily was similar in a way."

I hear her begin to rustle and groan. Emily sits up rubbing her eyes. Her gaze is more clear and her eyes no longer contain the starburst.

"What happened?" She mumbles.

"Emily, I had to place you in a hypnotic state. Regrettably, I never mentioned it to you and just sprung it on the two of you, but had you known it wouldn't have had any effect." General Adkins looks to me and then to Emily.

" You okay?" I ask her my tone gentle.

She nods her head.

"Yes I am fine, he just..whatever power he used it felt as if I was going to die."

"I wasn't trying to kill you, the hypnotic state however does give you the sensation of death." Replying he eyes me closely.

"You're lucky you hadn't killed her, however, watch your words, I haven't decided to let you live yet."

"Z, don't hurt him, he may be a little ass and a bit handsy"

"HANDSY?" I snarl and I glare at him, my eyes squinting a bit in anger.

"I wasn't trying…"

"Z just stop already, I'm not harmed, and he did help, not just me, all of us," Emily speaks quickly.

I growl lowly stopping just inches from his neck with my hand. I show him my teeth and take a deep breath from the scent of fear that oozes from his body.

"How has he helped us?" Lowering my hand I look at her.

Emily P.O.V.

I feel like my life is draining from my body, that I may soon die and this time I am sure it will be for good. There isn't anyone around who can help me this time. With Z locked away in her mind and my friends locked in their minds as well, it is just me and General Adkins. I can't move and I can't fight back.

"Emily, stop struggling, and just relax." He states giving some space between us.

I can't relax, I am being drained of my life force and all that I can see is starting to become one giant blur.

"I'm going to help you see, see your potential, see all that you truly are." He murmurs.

"What am I, you have it all wrong I am just a human girl, " I manage to respond.

"Ah, human yes, but you dear Emily can become so much more than that. Just listen to my voice and allow yourself to drift off, think back to the life of old."

"Life of old?"

"Yes, think back to the old life you had, let your memories take you on the journey. And then see who you truly are."

I feel my body get heavy, and this time I don't feel like I am dying, nothing goes black. And I finally manage to relax. His words narrating in my mind.

Somehow I find myself in my old room. My twin size bed with a blue comforter is still made just the way I had always done. Lazily and sloppy. I look around and everything down to my twenty-inch tv, my cat sleeping on my pillow like she owns the whole bed. And the plain white walls with brown trimming that I had grown to hate.

I can hear the voices of my mother and father talking to one another downstairs. Curiously I walk down the wooden staircase and see my mom setting the table and my father working on his laptop.

" Well it's about time you come down" my mom smiles handing me a handful of silverware.

Reluctantly I help her finish setting the table, one of my least favorite things I would have to do, well next to doing the dishes. My dad continues to type away on his laptop not paying any attention to his surroundings.

I take a peek over his shoulder, and on the screen I see different formulas written and the words Specimen X on the screen.

"Hey, dad what's going on?" I ask him.

He glimpses at me and then to my mom and back down at his laptop. He continues working without even the slightest response.

" Let your father focus Emily, he has a lot to do." My mother gestures for me to go to her.

"What's going on mom? I thought that Specimen X stuff was nothing but nonsense." My mom sets the pot she has in her hand down on the counter.

"Unfortunately, it might be more than nonsense. Your father and the other scientist are trying to piece this together quickly." Mom's tone is Calm but her demeanor says differently.

As mom serves our plates we take our seats and my dad closes his laptop. Gripping his fork he cuts away into his steak. The silence that feels the air is heavy and I know something bad must be coming.

"Dad?" I ask as I place my fork to the side.

"Hmm"

"What's going on?" I ask him again and his eyes avert to his plate.

"Nothing to concern yourself with." He replies.

Just as I am about to ask him why I shouldn't be concerned the local alert system boards on the tv in the living. The raspy voice of the man that does the alerts and tests comes on the air.

"At this time we encourage all of our citizens to stay indoors, we are expecting a viral wave and have issued a lockdown procedure. Any citizens in need of supplies may call the 800 number on the screen."

It beeps a few times before it stops and the screen goes back to the tv show it had been playing before the broadcast.

"Why are we on lockdown?" I ask my parents.

My father sighs heavily and places his hand over mine. Swallowing hard he stares me square in the face.

"Because, specimen X, is not a normal virus, it is something completely out of this world and we have no idea how to stop it."

I don't know what kind of answer I was expecting to get, but his words take me by surprise. When we first heard about specimen X it had all seemed to be something simple to stop and nothing more severe than a common cold. A sad attempt by one of our enemies of the U.S. that had faulted.

" So this lockdown is supposed to keep us safe?" I continue.

My father shakes his head.

"Truthfully, no-"

"Robert, don't," my mother interrupted, her voice worried.

For the first time, my tall, confident, and outspoken mother with long brunette hair with hits of grey has the voice of someone who is frightened and the eyes of someone terrified. And my father, a man of science, confident in his work and believes he can solve everything, has the appearance of a man who is lost.

"She needs to know Melody, " he responds looking at her.

" Emily, that alert is nothing more than to stop panic. Specimen X, we can't stop and soon it will spread far and wide and kill everything in its sights until there is nothing left. So tomorrow…" he cuts himself short and his eyes begin to feel with tears.

I hit my dad and my mom tight.

"How long do we have?" I ask, choking back my own tears.

" About a week, maybe less, this thing is getting out of control, we cannot contain it." He replies hugging me.

"Is there not a cure that can be developed?" I sniffle.

"At this rate Emily." He pauses.

"No there is not."

Hearing those words that there is no way we can combat the deadly bioweapon breaks my heart even more. There has to be something we can do. We can't simply just give up and let the world end without even trying to fight back.

"Father, there has to be something we can do, we can't give up, " I respond, sucking in the air.

"We haven't given up darling, all of the scientists are trying to come together to devise a plan to at least curve the spread for now. I'll be working day and night with the rest of my colleagues ." He reassures me.

The rest of the evening we finish dinner together in silence. None of us want to talk anymore about the threat that looms over our heads. At this very moment, there is nothing that can be done. So we decide to enjoy the company of one another as a family.

The next morning, the dark cloud that Looms over the heads of all the human race is more apparent now than it was before. I head downstairs to start the day. Making a bowl of cereal, I turn the tv on. The news anchor comes onscreen and is reporting on specimen X.

Nearing critical stage crops have begun dying and livestock has started to decay from the inside out. The President is trying his best to work with scientists to curve the spread and keep from reaching pandemic status. At this rate, the only hope we can have is to follow CDC guidelines and stay indoors hoping for a resolution soon.

I turn the tv off, here lately you can never trust the reporters anymore. They spread lies and fear and the truth falls short and hides between the cracks.

The house is empty, my father had gone to the lab earlier in the morning and my mother had accompanied him. I chose to stay home and enjoy the chance I had to sleep in for once.

Unsure of what I should do with my day considering we can't leave the house, I flip through the pages of my latest cook it and make it magazine. Trying to decide what dish I would like to try and make to pass the time. After a few minutes, I decided to try and make a simple Risotto considering I don't have crab or lobster. I settled for substituting mushrooms.

Pouring water in a pot to start the rice I hear multiple car doors close. My dad and federal agents burst through the door in a frenzy.

"Emily, we must go now, " my father says fear in his voice.

Quickly I rush to the door and slip my sneakers on. Figuring there isn't any time for questions I comply and we quickly load up in a black SUV that waits outside for us.

Once the cars speed off I buckle myself in a look at my father.

"What's going on?" I ask him worriedly.

" It's much worse than we feared. Chaos and panic is getting out of control. Our countries are going to war blaming each other for the spread of this specimen X."

"Which means?"

He looks at me blankly and expressionless.

"Nuclear war."

My eyes go wide, I couldn't believe that we are now on the brink of a nuclear war. This will surely end us all if all the countries launch the missiles.

"Emily, I have something to tell you. I came for you because it is time."

"Time for what dad?"

" You'll know when we get there, but just know I always love you."

Just then the phone of the agent driving the SUV rings. He answers it and passes the phone on to my dad.

"I understand, thank you." He says before he hangs up.

" Okay, change of plans. Tommy take us to the secret facility, we won't make it back in time."

"Yes sir" Tommy replies back.

"In time for what dad?"

"Emily, the missiles have been launched by China, Japan, Iran and in response the United States. The worst has come to light."

"No!" I exclaim.

I lose all composure and begin to break down. And shake my face falls into my hands.

What seems like an eternity, we arrive at the base of a rock incline and a giant door opens that was hidden in plain sight.

" We will be safe here, " he says as we walk in.

Just then I realize my mother isn't with us and I look around frantically.

"Dad where's mom?" I ask him.

We keep walking and he doesn't bother to talk to me. Surrounded by the other agents that are with us we walk quickly down different hallways illuminated by bright LED lights.

"Dad where is mom," I say again more firmly.

Clearly frustrated by me pestering he looks at the guards and they give us some privacy as they continue on their way.

"Emily, your mother died this morning, we had a trial run for an experiment that we had hoped would be the cure, and…" his eyes well with tears and they stream down his face.

"It failed, I am so sorry, I failed your mother and I failed you, "

I bring my hand to my mouth and fall to my knees and cry out. My heart drops to my stomach and I feel that I can't breathe. He holds me tight, I can't be mad at my mother and I know I shouldn't be, but I am.

"Sir, we must keep moving, " the same agents from before help us to our feet.

I don't look at my father as I do my best to calm myself but, my tears don't waver. They keep coming and coming. Pouring down like many streams in a forest.

We reach the secret lab, and there are dozens of scientists scouring the room. Moving quickly around each other. Along the wall is a group of young adults that look to be about my age. On the other end of the room, is a row of the stasis pods my dad had told me they created many years ago.

A back up plan he would say in case the day came that the world would end. Those pods we're built to last the ends of time. Unbreakable they could take all sorts of damage including nuclear missiles, extreme temperatures and any other threats a mere human can think of. It now all made sense on why I was taken here. The young adults and I are going to be placed in the pods.

My dad comes to me and I still don't look at him. I keep my eyes down to the floor.

"Emily, I know you must hate me, for what happened to your mother, but know I will..no we will always love you. It is time for you and the others to go in the pods. You'll all be safe there."

"What about you?" I mumble.

"I'm afraid there are only enough pods for the children of the scientists."

My head darts up immediately and my eyes meet his. Never in a million years would I have thought I would lose both of my parents in one day.

" Dad, don't tell me, I'll lose you too."

He kisses my cheek and nods his head yes, his eyes are filled with regret and swear I could see his heart shatter, not break but shatter into tiny pieces. I give my father a tight hug not wanting to let go.

"Emily this is very important." He breaks my hold and has me focus on him.

"You are going to be injected with two things. One is an experimental DNA from a life form we had found on earth many years ago. The other is specimen X. This type of DNA should fuse with your cells to combat specimen X. You are the cure Emily. When you awaken, remember that."

I don't have a chance to respond. My last memories are being injected and placed in the pod. Once the door locks and they place in the mist that puts you in your coma state, that is all you can do is drift off to sleep.