A/N - Ok so, I'm just trying this story on for size. You know, see if anybody will take any bit of interest in it. It's exactly what the title says it is, the end of the world. This story doesn't exactly take place in 1899, as you will soon find out. It would have been a little difficult for me to try and fit everything to that time period and that just wouldn't work out for what I have planned. So, currently, it's a little bit in the future. Not too far, but far enough.
Something has attacked the world. I'm not going to go into detail about what has attack Earth, but it will be reveiled in later chapters.
Hopefully you like it! Please take the time to review, I usuallly get chapters done faster when I've got at least one person taking an interest to my story. Thanks!
(Present - June 16, 2010)
There were no children laughing. No birds chirping. No merchants yelling out prices for their goods. Not even a whispered conversation between clandestine lovers. It was completely silent. There was always a muteness hanging over New York City ever since the attack. Never again was there a sound in New York. Unless it happened to be deliberate. Unless someone wanted that silence to be broken.
A child's crying suddenly filled the stale air. The desperate wailing grew louder until the threads of silence were unraveled and all that was left was a siren blaring through the borough of Queens, New York.
Jagger Maddox lifted her head and stared up at the cement ceiling above her. The area of the underground parking garage she was currently sheltered in was almost crushed completely. Every once in a while a piece of the rock would fall to the floor. She would then ignore its journey as it rolled and stopped when it hit uneven ground. This time though, as makeshift doors of blankets swayed loosely, and the screaming got louder, more then just a few pieces of the cement fell to the floor.
She continued to stare up at the ceiling as the crying seeped through the small cracks that were spider webbed along the roof and the walls. The sound was muffled from her being underground and yet, to her ears, the baby's howls were loud enough for the infant to be right next to her in the room.
Jagger set down the screwdriver and rubbed at her temples, trying to prevent the oncoming headache. She paused in her actions and jumped to her feet as she realized what the shrieking in her head meant. Someone laughed loudly, another giggling, and two pairs of footsteps echoed down the hallway towards her room.
She pushed away from the cluttered table and rushed to the curtained doorway. She pulled aside the dark blanket and looked both ways down the hall. Itey and Delicate were coming from the south hallway, Delicate giggling as Itey made funny faces at her.
The small girl lightly pushed at Itey's side before facing forward and seeing Jagger. Her eyes immediately lit up. "Jagger!"
Jagger put a finger to her lips and made a shushing sound. Delicate looked at her, confused. Itey registered the pain flickering across her face and realization came to his eyes. He quickly put a hand over the small girl's mouth, inhibiting the words that were bound to spill out any second.
Delicate furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at the two in agitation. Most likely because she couldn't tell what was going on. She made to tug Itey's hand away, but the look on the dark haired teens face had her thinking twice. Jagger shook her head and made a zipper-like motion across her lips. Delicate slowly nodded and Itey pulled his hand away.
A wave of pain came over Jagger and she staggered on her feet. Itey reached out to hold her steady and she hastily waved his hand away.
"I need to get to the alarm," she quietly whispered.
Itey glanced up at the string of lights leading down both sides of the hallway. Delicate's tiny fingers wrapped around Jagger's hand, needing comfort as she finally gathered what was happening.
"It hasn't gone off yet," Itey whispered back. He frowned at the light bulbs crudely fixated to where the walls met the ceiling. "Cuddy or Nana would have mentioned it to someone by now."
Jagger's face grew worried. "It's bad this time, Itey."
The teen grimaced as the nineteen year old in front of him cringed in pain and let out a small moan. Delicate clutched desperately at Jagger's hand as her face became more frightened. Through the deafening wails and grueling ache in her head, Jagger managed to smile. She smoothed down the young girls golden curls and brushed her fingers across her cheek.
She jerked as stars exploded behind her eyes. Tears gathered and she blinked to vanish them from view. It was no use. Jagger fell to her knees, cradling her head between her hands.
"Hit the switch Itey!" She half whispered, half yelled. "Please! Make it stop!"
Itey moved to run down the hall, but Delicate was taking off before he could even lift a foot. He watched as the small girl reached the end of the hallway in mere seconds, where it would have taken anybody else without her skill at least a minute. And that was if they had been sprinting.
Just as Delicate was about to flip the rounded switch, the lights started flickering and changed from their normal dull white to a deep red. The hallway was no longer bright. Now it looked as if it were a room made to develop photographs.
A dark room, Itey silently mused.
Delicate was suddenly back next to him, the dress donning her petite frame a red color instead of pink. Jagger let out a sigh of relief from the floor before them. They both looked down in time to see her body collapse onto the dirty floor face down and her hands leave her head.
"Finally," she spoke normally this time. Whispers were no longer needed. She turned herself over onto her back and stared up at the two towering above her. Itey took notice to the twinge of pain that he would have missed if he hadn't been watching for it. Delicate didn't pay any attention to it though, and made to help the girl up.
Itey reached for Jaggers other hand and they, mainly him, pulled her to her feet. She stood unsteadily, and he reached out to her for the second time that day.
"Jeez," she said. She wiped at the sweat that had run down her forehead. Her gaze landed on Delicate. "Thanks, doll. If you hadn't flipped that switch I'd still be writhing in pain."
Delicate never made to say anything about her not hitting the switch. The seven year old just held her hands behind her back and swayed back and forth.
"Deli, why don't you go and see if anybody in the kitchen needs help," Itey suggested.
Delicate didn't move.
"That was a polite way to tell you that I want you to skadaddle."
Delicate's face molded into a pout. "Fine, but you better be there before Stimps hands out dinner or I'm not telling you why Junior hit Mindle."
Jagger smiled at the young girl softly. "He'll be there, now get going, sweets."
The tiny being gave a wide grin, revealing a front tooth missing, and skipped away to the kitchen. They watched her for a few moments as her legs moved faster and she disappeared out of sight. Itey looked back at Jagger as she did the same with him.
"They still getting through?" He asked.
Jagger nodded her head. "It's not too bad, but," she winced. "It's bad enough."
"Maybe you should go and see Specs. He'll give you some of those pills."
"Nah," she rubbed at her forehead. "I think I still got some in my room somewhere."
Itey hesitated with his next question. "Did you get it fixed yet?"
"No, no yet," she groaned out. "You're starting to sound like Snitch."
"Sorry."
"'S no problem. I should be getting back to it though, or Kid Blink'll have at me for not working on it."
"You gonna be around for dinner?"
"You want the truth?"
"That would probably be best."
"Then most likely...not."
"Good answer, we really need that radio fixed."
"Snitch, I tell you. You sound like Snitch."
Itey's laughter echoed through the hall as she made her way back to her room.
________
Jagger massaged the back of her neck as the headache that formed leaked down into the rest of her body. Any kind of prevention against the pain from throbbing against her skull was not working. After getting a full on attack from the baby's screams an hour earlier, the ache had made its home behind her eyes. It stabbed at her brain with each shriek, the pain making her muscles tense. She had a hard time working when she was tense, and to make matters worse, she didn't have any of the pills prescribed by the resident doctor to help her personal alarm system go silent.
She rolled her neck once more before turning back to her current project; the reconstruction of the colony's CB radio. She turned a loose screw and twisted two of the cut wires together. The screaming in her head grew. Jagger threw the screwdriver down onto the table and held her head in her hands.
"You fix it yet?"
The girl's head lifted to find her half brother standing in the open doorway, his hand holding aside the rough blanket imitating a door. She shook her head and sighed. "I'm too frustrated. Those things are teasing me, Snitch."
Her brother frowned and quickly glanced at the ceiling. "I got wind that they were up there. They doing the baby ploy again?"
Jagger nodded. She leaned back and let her body smoothly adjust to the tilt of the chair, this due to one of the legs being shorter then the others. "Third time this month they've used it."
"How loud has it gotten?" he asked as he walked further into the room.
"Loud enough for a migraine to start impaling my brain."
Snitch grimaced. "Sorry, Jag, wish I could do something to help."
Jagger rubbed her forehead. "You can start by telling the monsters to go away."
He smiled at her sadly and fiddled with the tools in front of her. "You know that won't happen."
She groaned and leaned forward to slam her forehead down onto the metal table. Snitch tilted his head and watched her as she pounded the table with her fist.
"That's definitely not gonna help your headache."
Jagger raised her head and growled, "I know it's not."
Snitch rotated his shoulders and started pacing around the tiny room. "You really need to get the radio fixed."
Jagger rolled her eyes. "I know."
"We really need to get a hold of Jack."
"I know."
"He's the one with all the supplies."
Jagger groaned. "I know, Snitch. I was there when Stimps told you we were low on Medkits and ammo."
He stopped pacing and faced her.
If anyone were to take a close look at the two of them, they would immediately know that they were related. For only being half-siblings, they looked remarkably alike. Both were tall, him being 6'1 and her 5'11. They had the same dark hair and too skinny frame, and their eyes were a similar color of icy blue. Genetics made them take after their mother, gaining almost nothing from their separate fathers except for the rare gifts that were bestowed upon them.
"Do you have any of those pills that Specs gave you, or do you need me to get you some?" Snitch finally asked after a few moments of staring at each other.
Jagger let out a low moan as the ear-shattering cries became more prominent in her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Snitch quickly strode towards the blanketed doorway. "Ok that's it. I'm going to get Nana to watch you and then I'm going to get Specs." He paused as he announced this. "Shit, Nana!"
His sister hastily stood with her hand against her forehead. "I'll go find her, you go get Specs. Find out if Cuddy's had any of those pills too while you're at it. I'm almost positive he's in tears if he hasn't yet. I'll take care of Nana and make sure she's alright. Anyways, you know she's not going to take any of that medication. She doesn't want to harm the baby."
Snitch ran a hand through his shaggy hair and exhaled. "Fine. Just, please find her. I've been with Dingo all day and haven't been able to check on her."
Jagger pulled on a jacket and zipped it up halfway, "She's your wife, Snitch. Couldn't you have at least taken a lunch or dinner break to go and see her?"
He pulled her out into the corridor and started off down the hallway, dragging her with him.
"She told me not to worry about her today. Said she'd be fine. We didn't know they were coming out. Didn't really figure there's be a lure today."
Jagger snorted and then gasped from the pain.
Snitch looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "If it's this bad for you then it's bad for her too," he came to a stop when the hallway split into three different directions. He pushed her gently to the right. "She should be in our apartment. Hopefully she hasn't wandered off."
The nineteen year old girl squinted up at him through the torment going on inside her skull. "She does it all the time, I'm always expecting her to be somewhere other then where you last left her. I'll be surprised if she's in the apartment when I get there."
Snitch smiled and turned down the left hallway to find the doctor, his pace quickening with each step. Jagger's eyes stayed squinted as she continued to rub her forehead. She sighed and marched down the hall, passing open doors leading to apartments. A blond head found its way out in the hallway from one of those doorways with the curtain pinned aside. The body followed a few seconds later.
"Hey Dutchy."
"Hey Jags. You see Thorn?"
Jagger staggered for a second and braced herself on the wall. "Nah, haven't seen him since yesterday. Kid's had me working on the radio ever since Binx broke it... Why?"
"I've got a bone to pick with him. He's been leaving his dirty laundry on my side of the room again," he paused and studied her pain stricken face. "You going to get Nana?"
"Yeah. That is if I can manage to get there without the screams getting louder."
Dutchy scratched at his ear. "They still up there? Is it the baby lure again?"
"Yep."
"Good luck."
"Thanks I'm gonna need it," Jagger closed her eyes briefly. "You seen Preggo anywhere?"
Dutchy didn't hesitate at the nickname. "She came past earlier. Said something bout 'a dark onesie with too many polka dots.'"
She blinked up at him curiously. "...Seriously?"
The blond nodded while straightening his thin wired glasses. "Completely."
"Then that means she's with-"
"Stitch."
"Thanks Dutch."
"No problem, an if you see Thorn anywhere-"
"I'll tell him to stick it where the sun don't shine and to clean up his mess."
Dutchy grinned. "Perfect, couldn't have said it any better myself."
Jagger waved over her shoulder and continued on, this time having an idea as to where her sister-in-law was hiding at.