The Children of New Earth (12 page)

“Damn, what do you think happened in here?” Aaron wondered.

“If I had to guess, I’d say Demons happened.”

It was then that we felt a sudden shift beneath us. The floor began to make a harsh crackling sound, and just before I realized what was happening, the floor gave in.

Out of instinct, I shut my eyes and used my power to slow down time. It began to feel like I was falling through some kind of viscous fluid. I could move my body normally, but the rate of my descent was considerably slowed. This was new for me, but I quickly realized the next step was to land in such a way that I wasn’t injured.

I glanced at Aaron, and almost laughed out loud when I saw his face slowly morphing into a very terrified expression. But I composed myself, and came up with a plan. I realized Aaron was tilting backward, and in danger of hitting his head hard floor below, just next to the bed. By now the third floor, or the ceiling of the second floor, was about eye level. I had two options: Firstly, I could grab some part of the broken flooring, then grab Aaron, then let him down to the next level gently. Or, I could position him in such a way that he landed without hurting himself. I opted to go with the latter, since I didn’t know how safe it would be to hang onto unstable flooring.

Putting my plan into action, I pushed off the ceiling towards the ground, accelerating slightly faster so I could get there before Aaron did. I braced my legs for impact, and was surprised when I felt no pain and retained balance when touching the ground. It was as if I had simply stepped onto it. I took a moment to admire these new capabilities before looking up at Aaron, who was still falling like a feather. I grabbed the bed by its handles, and pushed it directly under him. Then, as he got closer and closer, I positioned his body in such a way that he would have the most comfortable impact.

When he hit the bed, I heard a soft, gradual thud, since sound waves were also dulled in this state. I watched Aaron rebound about a foot into the air, then managed his landing on the bed once again. Confident that the danger was gone, I allowed time to flow normally.

Aaron sat up quickly, breathing heavily and looking around frantically. It must have been quite a sight to see me standing next to him, unfazed by what had just happened.

“What. In the Hell. Just happened,” Aaron demanded.

“So, the floor gave in, and I used my power to save us.”

“The floor gave in?”

“Yes.”

“But now…all good?”

“Yes, all good.”

He still seemed a little rattled. “Dammit…I told you to be careful,” he said as he hopped off the bed.

Promising to never speak of this again, we walked back to the balcony where the others were waiting for us.

“Oh, there you are!” Cora said. “Where did you run off to?”

“Exploring, lost track of time,” Aaron said with a smile.

“No worries, Mark was just telling us…Thran, you have dust all over that cloak,” Rachel pointed out.

“Oh, do I?” I said innocently as I brushed it off.

“Aaron, you’re covered in dust too!” Lynn pointed out.

“What were you two doing?” Aelia asked suspiciously.

“Nothing,” we answered in unison, refusing to reveal that we did, in fact, fall through the floor.

“This place is filthy, what’d you expect?” I defended.

“Mmhmm,” Aelia said, not convinced.

“It’s not important,” Cora said, reading our minds. “Anyway, that huge life signature Mark scanned yesterday, it hasn’t moved all night.”

“Do you think that’s their Sanctuary?” I wondered.

“This is most likely the case,” Mark said. “Either that or what I’m reading is in fact one giant life form.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Mark,” Aelia said.

“I’m only just beginning to understand humor so you’ll forgive me if that one was in poor taste.”

“Will we forgive you? Will we, Mark?”

“Yes we will, friend,” Aaron interjected. “Now let's go find some anarchists.”

The city was only slightly more pleasing during the day. We could see where we were going, but we could also see more ruins. The air had grown slightly warmer since we left the beach, but the smell was now much more foul. I couldn’t describe it exactly, but judging by the wind, it seemed to be coming from the exact direction we were going. We were following Mark through the streets, occasionally checking to see if any of the cars we passed were recoverable. Sadly, none were, and walking appeared to be our only option.

Following Mark’s direction, we soon turned onto a walkway made of red bricks. A canopy of tall, drooping trees hung over us, and brown, broken buildings lined our path. Several bricks were missing, and weeds grew unchecked out of cracks in the stone. Short, rocky stairways forked off of the path in either direction.

“What do you think this place used to be?” I asked.

“Well according to the map, we’re on Locust Walk, part of the University of Pennsylvania,” Rachel answered.

“A university?” Aaron seemed intrigued. “I wonder what the kids of Old Earth studied.”

“Probably simple things like philosophy and art,” I scoffed.

“They also learned about medicine, technology, and law I’m sure,” Cora added.

“I wish I had the luxury of studying the arts,” Aaron said longingly. “I would do nothing but draw all day.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Lynn added. “Though I prefer learning about history.”

“Well, maybe one day you can,” I reassured them. “And if not, you can always make sure your kids have that choice.”

“Kids?” Rachel was surprised. “You think you would have kids someday?”

“Well, the human race can’t stop with us,” Cora answered. “Someday, we will have to produce the next generation of children.”

“I know she’s right,” Rachel said. “But I’ve never really thought about that kind of thing…not seriously anyway.”

“It’s a long way away, friend,” Aaron assured her. “But when and if I do have kids, I’ll make sure they don’t have to live in a world like this.”

“Do you think they’ll have powers too?” Aelia asked on a more lighthearted note. “And will their powers depend on their parents?”

“You mean if Aaron and Cora got together, would their child be omnisentient?” Lynn suggested.

“Yeah! Or if Thran and Rachel got together, they could have a child with time control
and
telekinesis?!” Aelia wondered in amazement.

“And then those children could get together when they grow up, and their child would be some kind of god,” Aelia speculated.

“I don’t think it works that way,” Cora said skeptically. “But it’s interesting to think about.”

It definitely was an interesting topic to ponder. Our abilities were a mystery to us, but how they would affect future generations of humans was even more puzzling. I shuddered at the idea of actually having children one day. I knew it was essential to human continuity, but I was still anxious about the endeavor. I also had that familiar artificial feeling about this as well. Like a voice in my head was telling me reproduction was a necessity, but I myself did not feel the same urgency.

“We are almost there, I’d recommend keeping verbal communication at an absolute minimum,” Mark said.

We arrived at the end of the path, and came upon a road littered with cars and rubble in both directions. Across the street in front of us was a long building that stretched almost the entire block. I glanced at Rachel’s map, and saw that behind it was a courtyard shaped like a triangle attached to a square, cleverly called the Quadrangle. The entrance was an archway just ahead, resting underneath two, stone towers built into the surrounding structure. A black gate, once constructed as a barricade, was now misshapen and flung open.

“The readings I’m getting are coming from inside the Quadrangle,” Mark said quietly.

The wind began to pick up, and the blanket of gray clouds grew denser. From where I was standing there was only a faint odor, but still noticeable. If this was, in fact, an anarchist stronghold, I would’ve expected to hear voices or perhaps vehicles patrolling about. But there was only the wind. I had a bad feeling about this, and was apprehensive about blindly encountering this new threat.

“We need to see what we’re up against,” Cora said, reading my mind.

“I’ll do it,” Lynn volunteered.

Before anyone could object, Lynn shifted into cat form and scurried off into the Quadrangle. She disappeared for about a minute before we saw her dash out of the courtyard and towards our position across the street. She ran several feet past us before shifting back into human form.

“It’s not…anarchists” she said between breaths.

Aelia ran over to help calm her down. “Breathe, just breathe. What did you see?”

Lynn paused, then took a deep breath. “It’s a Titan.”

We instinctively backed away from the courtyard towards Lynn, further into the path and under the canopy of trees.

“A Titan?!” Cora exclaimed in a whisper. “How are there still live Titans on this planet?!”

“I don’t know, but this one seemed smaller. It seemed to be asleep near the western end of the yard, but I could tell it must’ve been at least a hundred feet tall.”

“You call that small?! 100 feet?!” I exclaimed.

“Normal Titans stand taller than a thousand feet,” Rachel said casually. “I consider us lucky.”

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, and car alarms began to blare all across the street. Frozen in terror, we stood on the red-bricked path and watched as a monster rose up from the walls of the Quadrangle. First, its head emerged. The eyes were an empty black color, and the nose was just two slits in the center of its face. The mouth had no lips, just wrinkled skin contorting to form an opening lined with rows of broken, sharp teeth. Then the shoulders appeared, followed by a hairless, humanoid body covered in gray skin that seemed to be giving off steam. Several of its ribs could be seen through its emaciated body, and long, sharp nails grew from the tips of its bony fingers. As the creature inhaled, it’s nostrils grew wide, and in one quick motion it turned its head down directly towards us. Upon seeing its prey, the Titan opened it’s mouth wide open and actually smiled, revealing a disgusting set of sharp, yellow teeth and red gums.

“You spoke…
way
too soon,” I said.

We instantly turned back to the path and ran. Lynn took cheetah form, and Mark was flying along as fast as his little engine could take him. After about ten seconds of running, the ground actually began to shake. We dared not look back, but knew that the Titan had climbed over the building, as was now pursuing us, roaring furiously. I heard the cracking of wood as the trees behind us were crushed by the 100-foot Demon.

Aaron must’ve used his power to see through our surroundings because he motioned for us to turn left at the end of the path and take refuge in one of the buildings. There came a point, where everyone had turned the corner and I was still sprinting down the path. Aaron stood at the end, frantically beckoning me to run faster. I was still about fifty feet away, and felt the Titan picking up speed. Then a thought occurred to me. What if I didn’t get out of this one. What if this is how I died? Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead and stung my eyes. My legs burned, and I was closer and closer to accepting that I would not survive this chase. Just when I was about to simply stop in my tracks, I saw another figure emerged from behind Aaron.

It was Aelia. My vision was blurry, but I could tell that she was quite exasperated. She walked towards to me, and I tried telling her to run away, to leave me behind. She ignored my warnings and just as I passed her, she made a throwing motion with her arm, and I felt a wave of heat graze the side of my face. Then I heard an agonizing roar behind me just as I reached the corner. I quickly turned to see the Titan slow to a halt, its hands covering its face. The others cautiously approached Aaron and I to see what had happened. Aelia was releasing surges of fire as she took slow steps backward. The Titan was screaming in pain, covering its burns. But the monster wasn’t stunned for long before it outstretched its hands to either side. Patches of fire were still burning on the creature’s gray skin, but it didn’t appear to be as much of a bother anymore. The Titan let out an earthshaking roar, and Aelia stumbled back in surprise. But she was only stunned for a moment before she composed herself and secured her footing. She then raised her hands and released a torrent of fire, constructing a wall of flame over the Demon. I could now only see Aelia, a lone figure, standing before an inferno. Seconds later, I heard a thundering crash within the burning veil, causing a strong wind to push the flames towards Aelia, who refused to flinch. Satisfied that the Titan had fallen, Aelia turned around and walked back towards us. The residual flames crackled as the wall of fire was replaced by a massive cloud of black smoke.

But just as Aelia began her walk back, a huge, fiery hand darted out from the smoke and one of the Titan’s long, sharp claws ran through Aelia's back and emerged through her chest, painted a dark red. Her eyes went wide with disbelief, and she slowly brought her hands around the claw. We stood there, horrified in silence. Aelia looked down at her wound, then back at us.

With all the strength she had left, she cried out, “RUN, YOU IDIOTS!”

Then the Titan dragged its hand back into the fire, taking her along with it.

“Aelia!” Lynn screamed.

Like the others, I couldn’t believe what had happened, and just stood there motionless. Lynn broke away and ran towards the fire, but was held back by Aaron, who attempted to comfort her amidst her sobbing. The fire had completely engulfed the area by now. No living thing would be able to survive that.

“We need to get away from here,” Mark said calmly. “Other Demons can see the smoke, it is not safe-”

“Shut up!” Lynn screamed.

Mark was right. We gave Lynn a few more moments before guiding her away from the flames. And then we ran. After a few blocks, we stopped to catch our breath. Lynn had shifted into cat form; she advanced ahead of us, and was now walking alone down the street.

“Lynn!” I called out.

She stopped, and slowly turned her head. Her feline eyes had no sign of a spark, and though her face was that of an animal, I could still see an expression of unthinkable despair. Rachel took a quick survey of the area as she ran up to Lynn, who had now slumped down in the middle of the road. She sat with her friend, petting her to provide comfort. Aaron had his hands on his sides and was facing up at the sky, looking more angry than sad. Cora sat on the curb and put her head in her hands. She took long difficult breaths as tears escaped her closed eyes. I could only stand there, knowing that this was all my fault. If only I was faster, if only I wasn’t weak, maybe Aelia would be alive right now. Mark could not feel exhaustion or sadness, but he had landed on the ground and dimmed his lights, as if to emulate our current behavior. Perhaps I should’ve been annoyed by this, but it actually made me feel a little better. One could mistake his simulated sorrow for actual grief, and at this point it was philosophically impossible to argue the difference.