Doomsday

Chapter 5

"Good morning!"

I bolted upright and didn't even see how many days I had left even though I knew it was 361. Lea sure sounded cheerful this morning and I figured I better answer her because sleep was out of the question now.

"Good morning, Lea. How in the world can you sound so happy? What time is it? Like 5:00?"

"Seven thirty-four actually!

I slapped my forhead and then grimaced at the sharp sting it had caused.

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"

"No, I just like my sleep and right now it feels way too early for me."

"Oh, you poor baby!"

"Shut up."

"Fine, fine, I just popped by to say good morning and to ask how your test went yesterday."

I cringed as I remembered how painful it had been.

"How do you survive going through that every day?"

"You get used to it."

"I don't think I could ever get used to it."

The VD came in carrying a tray and after setting it down he left without a word. What is it with that guy?

"Hey Lea, what are you having for breakfast?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs. What about you?"

"The VD just brought in the same thing."

"VD?"

"Virus Detector."

"Oh, right, my mind went blank for a second."

It was silent for a while and I knew she was busy eating breakfast. I quickly ate mine so I could talk to her some more. She seemed like a nice person and I wished I could meet her in person.

"Hey, I'm done with breakfast but the VD will probably be here any minute to take me to do my test. For some reason I always have mine before you, I think it's so we don't see each other."

"Yeah, I wonder if they know we can talk to each other in our minds."

"Probably not, at least I hope not."

"Yep, that would be kind of scary if they were like tapping into our conversation somehow."

"Oh, hey the VD just walked in. Gotta go. Bye!"

"Nice talking to you, Lea!"

Her presence vanished and I knew that the conversation was officially over. Once again I wondered why they were doing the experiment. Maybe our ability to talk to each other in our minds was a result of it.

The door opened to reveal the VD. I waited for him to beckon me to follow him but he just stood there. His eyes were rolled back in his head and I knew something was wrong. He slumped to the floor and I saw the reason for the VD not moving.

Behind where the VD was now laying on the floor was a person holding a knife. He was dressed in all black combat gear and a black face mask hid his identity. I looked at the VD's body and saw the wound the knife had inflicted. It had hit his heart.

"Follow me."

That was the second time in the past week that someone had been killed right in front of me.

"Who are you? Why should I follow you?"

"We came to get you."

"We?"

There was an explosion and the room shook. He ran inside and grabbed my arm and started dragging me out.

"No time to explain. Just follow me."

He started off in a sprint and I ran after him. An alarm went off and I covered my ears from the loud beeping as I ran. We had run a long way when finally we turned a corner and I saw the rest of his group. They were all dressed in the same black combat gear and were currently in the middle of a full-fledged shoot out with someone.

I was pushed into the middle of the group and they formed a protective wall around me. I suddenly remembered Lea.

"Somethings happening, I think I'm getting rescued."

I sent the words at her with my mind with as much "force" as I could.

"How are you talking to me? I had my block up? And what's going on?"

"No time to explain."

"Don't leave me."

"I'll come back for you."

I focused back on what was going on around me. I could feel her presence trying to enter my mind but I was too busy with what was going on around me and I shut her out. The group around me seemed to have the upper hand and looked like they were winning.

Suddenly time seemed to slow to almost a stand still. I looked around me in amazement and could see each bullet as it left the guns. Then I saw a bullet heading straight for me. My eyes sort of focused on the direction it came from and I spotted a sniper on the top of a nearby roof.

The bullet continued to come closer and closer. One of the men around me spotted the sniper and shot at him. I could see that his bullet would hit the sniper and yet the sniper's bullet would hit me first. It was all so slow and as the bullet came into arms length I reached out and plucked it from the air.

Then everything went back to normal and I stared at the bullet in my hand. What had just happened? I was pulled to my feet and noticed that the men they were fighting had finally been subdued.

I ran in the middle of the men and after turning onto one street I saw several black Hummers. Man these people must like black. We arrived at the Hummers and I was ushered into the back seat. Several men got in and the doors slammed shut. The person at the wheel pressed a couple buttons on the dashboard and took his helmet off. My jaw almost dropped to the floor.

"Mom?"

"I'm sorry, Lance... This is for your own protection."

I felt a sharp jab and turning I saw that one of the men had stuck me with a needle. Just as the blackness was taking over me, I heard one more thing.

"He's fully on-line."