The Twilight characters are owned by Stephanie Meyers.

EARTH 8

Chapter 1

My body is dripping with sweat, exhausted, hungry, but the adrenaline is keeping me going. That and saving humanity. So I run faster, looking back at Edward.

"Bella! Keep running! Don't stop! The Others are catching up!" Edward hollers, trying badly to keep up in his bloody state. It looks almost like someone put him in a meat grinder and hit the on switch. How he is still able to move is a mystery to me. The thought of things going back to normal draws a tear down my cheek. It almost seems hopeless. Hopeless in this repulsive world. Repulsive, the opposite of the meaning of my name, Bella, which means beautiful in Italian. When my father was alive, he'd said that I'd gotten my fighting spirit from my mother's side of the family which is Irish. He told me our family had a mixture of Moroccan, Israeli, Italian and Irish. As he put it, we were a bag of M & M's. He could always make me laugh. I remember when I was going through training, they all thought I was crazy to go through this. The 1st girl volunteer. I made it through training and the tests, something boys twice my size couldn't muscle through. But it was the only way. The only way to make things go back to normal. I was driven by the thought of having my family back. It gave me all I needed to fight through the intense training and psychological exercises we were put under to determine who was best fitted for the mission. I hear the sharp, piercing scream of the Others and shudder at the thought of being eaten alive.

I pull out the Navis and map our location. "We're about 8.045 kilometers from the launch spot. We have to find a spot to rest and hide!" I say, looking at old abandoned buildings for somewhere to hold up.

"Ok, how much time do we have before the beacon comes?" Edward asks pulling his M16 from around his shoulder.

"Approximately 43 mins and 20 seconds!" Edward grabs my arm and stops. His touch feels warm.

"There is a hospital about a half a block up. I'm going to cause a distraction while you run for safety!" Edward says gasping for breath with every word.

"No! If something happens to you then the mission is a failure! You go! I'll cause a distraction and meet up with you at the hospital!"

"What? Is that all I am to you? A mission?" His words scarcely conceal the pain behind them. I can't allow myself to feel...to be derailed from the mission. If I have to die for my family, for the world to go back to normal, then so be it. His emerald eyes bore into mine. I have to turn away in order to stop myself from reaching out and feeling his full lips against mine, if for the 1st and last time.

"Get the hell out of here!" I hear myself scream at him. "This is not about you, this is not about me! Now go!" As he half runs, half limps away , we catch eyes one last time. My heart jumps. Will this be the last time I look into his face? I ignore whatever I am feeling for a man I barely know, but saved my life, and prepare for battle.

The Others are coming. I don't think I will ever be able to forget their smell or the horrible screech that catapults from their lips. I keep reminding myself that these deformed creatures used to be human. They could even be members of my family, affected by the virus that wiped out half of the population, leaving alive only those 20 yrs old or younger. Those who were left alive were picked off by the Others, the men and women over 21 years of age affected by the fast moving virus. Within weeks they changed into the Others. My parents...the thought of them turning into these...things...is to much. Anyone who turned 21 was instantly affected. The first sign was loss of sight.

A new government led by young adults was put in place. Our leader, Victoria, was the oldest woman alive. She was 29 years old. How she survived is a miracle in itself, but she was not affected by the virus. She led construction of a safe haven for the survivors and gave hope of a better tomorrow if we all worked together.

Before the virus, the government had created a means of traveling to alternate dimensions. We discovered we were from Earth 4 and that many versions of our world existed. Our world was the closest in similarity to Earth 1, supposedly, where all other realities originated from. The main difference between our two worlds is that we are further along in technology and that we only have a single name, no middle or last name.

Edward of Earth 4 , was the creator of the Cross Dimensional Sphere. It allowed us to use black holes that were invisible to the human eye, but laid dormant on all Earths, to cross jump. Of course the exact calculations of light, time and quantum mechanics were needed to be perfected in order for it to work. I remember reading all of this in training. Edward was the 1st to cross travel. They say when he returned he had changed. What was no more then an hour in our reality was 60 days for him. He brought back valuable knowledge and information about the other realities. He stated additional data and calculations needed to be measured before further travel was allowed.

Within weeks of his return, a fast acting virus had contaminated adults over the age of 20 years old. Thinking Edward may have an answer to what was going on they immediately began the search to find him. They found his lifeless body at his mansion with a self-inflicted gun shot to the head and a note laying beside it. It read: The old die young and the young die old. Life will never be the same.

After this, one man was send at a time, as that is all that was allowed for travel in the Cross-dimensional Sphere. This could happen only once per year at a certain time when the negative energy in the black hole was stable enough to allow cross-dimensional travel. The government had only one mission at that time: travel to Earth 8 and rescue a 17 year old Edward. By doing this they felt they could search his mind for the cure that only the Edward of our Earth knew.

It is said that we retain the memories of all our alternate selves after death. Its where the saying "De Ja Vu" came from. When you find yourself remembering something that you've never experienced, its actually the memories of your alternate selves that have passed away .

There were years and years of failure after failure. So many deaths. No one ever returned from this mission alive. But I vow I will not fail, I can't!

I set up the explosives as quick as I can, knowing that the Others are coming quickly. My heart is beating with fear, but I can't succumb to it. I pull my M-16 across my shoulders and fire at the first hideous face I can see closest to me and catch it in the face. I can hear it scream and savagely thrash around on the ground. The only way to kill these things is several shots to the head or, if you're lucky, one clean shot through the eye.

I'm almost done...yes! Now all I have to do is set the switch. It's turned on and I ran as fast as I can as the detonation is about to pop. Then, even though I expect it, the blast surprises me and blows me forward. I fall towards the ground and my head catches the pavement. I literally see stars, trying to focus and get up. Just as I prepare to use my M16 as a crutch to get up, one of the Others greets me. It is a female. She jumps on me and holds me down, her smell hitting my nostrils hard. So hard I grasped for air. She's holding my arm down. I can't move. Her strength is unnatural. I know this is the end. I've failed! Unless Edward has somehow survived and makes it to the Quantum pad on his own, its over! At least this burden of carrying an entire world on my shoulders will be over and I will be at peace! I look into this thing's eyes and I no longer see any sign up humanity. These things are completely blind, relying on there superhuman sense of smell to find their prey. Her skin is without color and decaying. Her hair is missing in patches. Her nails are abnormally long, teeth razor sharp and her eyes...her eyes are black as night.

As I prepare to take my last breath, my last thought is of Edward. He's probably the most attractive man I have ever seen. Pulchritudinous, tall, lean & strong body , high cheekbones with dark eye lashes, brilliant green eyes and tousled bronze hair. Maybe we will meet in another life. Just then, out of nowhere, I hear a scream, followed by gunshots. It's Edward, he's obviously ignored my orders and come here, once again saving me. He seems to have this dashing knight rescues the damsel in distress thing down-pat. As he puts multiple bullets into the Other, it falls back. I roll to the side, get to my feet and run to Edward's side.

We both start showering gunfire into the pack of what is left of the Others. The explosion takes out a bunch of them, but still some remain. We finally get our chance to escape and run for the hospital. Surprisedly, the Navis is pointing in the same direction. "We must be close to the launch pad. Lets keep going." Edward nods his head. The closer we get, the more angry I become that Edward came back to save me. I was one person, but he had the chance to save billions.

Once we reach the hospital and hide in the shadows to rest, my hand reacts on its own and reaches out and smacks Edward hard.

"What was that for?"

"You could have died! Just to save me! Do you know how important you are! In that brain of yours, lies the cure to this plague! You can save countless amounts of people! Do you understand that!" I am screaming at this point. Tears follow and I didn't know why. I know we have to be quiet, but I just can't control my emotions.

"Bella, I couldn't leave you there to die. The thought of me not being able to..."

"To do what Edward? What? You barely know me!"

"I could..." And without warning, he draws close to me and puts his lips on mine. We embrace, his lips full and warm against mine. It seems as if reality ceases to exist as I allow my guard to come down and enjoy the moment. I return his kiss with the same passion and emotion that I feel from him. For the first time in a long time, I feel...love.

The moment of felicity is cut short by the sound of ruffling down the hall. We both look up, startled. Edward peers around the corner. "The Others are here! How far is the launch pad?"

I look at the Navis. "The Navis is directing us to go up!"

"I have one more pack of explosives left." Edward looks deep into my eyes. "We're not going to die after making it this far!"

"Light 'em up!" Within seconds we attach the last of the explosives to the wall and step out of the shadows. I whistle as loud as I can. It looks like over a hundred of those things have followed our scent here. We run the opposite way as fast as we can. The explosion rocks the hospital. I loose my footing and fall to the floor. I look up and most of the Others have fallen through the floor or burned up. Edward gets to his feet and walks towards me holding out his hand when the floor around him collapses and I watch as he loses his footing and gradually begins to fall. I don't even think, I just act and reach out just in time to grab him. I pull Edward up, not an easy task for a 120 pound girl, standing at 5 feet 6 inches, but I can thank training for that. We both sit for a minute to collect ourselves. "It looks like I saved your life this time." I said smiling.

"I'm still up by one." Edward teases, and I'm nearly derailed by the sexy crooked smile he gives me in return.

"The Navis is pointing to the roof. The launch pad must be located on the roof. We only have 15 minutes to get to the top." The flames have engulfed most of the Others. It looks like we are actually going to make it. We head towards the staircase, slowly jogging our way to our destination. We were pretty far down the hall, when out of the flames we see a hand pulling itself up from what use to be the floor. Then we we see the all too familiar terror that has stalked me since my arrival to Earth 8. We can hear more of them coming and we start jogging faster.

Out of nowhere one of the Others leap out of one of the rooms and slams Edward against the wall, taking a bite out of his shoulder. It seemed as if everything is moving in slow motion. Edward screams while trying to wrestle his much stronger opponent off of him. I can hear the wails of the group of Others quickly approaching. I'm thinking of a strategy to make it out of here alive. "Move your head and cover your ears"! I command Edward. The Other was so focused on Edward that he didn't notice me slip behind him and upload a bullet in his skull. He still has Edward pressed against the wall so I fire three more times. Finally his grip loosens, his eyes roll over, and he falls to the ground dead. "Now we're even! Let's get the hell out of here!" We run up the stairs as fast as we can. Edward is in desperate need of medical attention. When we are half way to the top, his body gives out on him and I have to help him the rest of the way.

I secure the door with a piece of iron that was laying to the side and then tend to Edward,who at this point is laying motionless on the ground. I look ahead and see the lights that indicate that the launch pad is activating. Funny how all these black holes lay dormant throughout the universe, invisible to the human eye.

My back and legs ache from the strain of helping Edward up those stairs and carrying the equipment. I look down at him as he lies there and begin to think the worst. "Don't die on me! We have made it to far!" I don't realize I am shaking him so hard until I feel his hand steady me, letting me know he is still alive. He lifts his head and I can see a slight smile on his face. Those deep, dark green eyes that remind me of a happier time, the lake I use to go to with my parents every July the 4th. If this was a different time and place, I would drown in those eyes and blanket myself in his warmth.

"I was just taking a nap and dreaming of you beautiful."

I blush slightly, not allowing myself to fully let go, until we are out of harm's way. "You'll have plenty of time to flirt cowboy, but this isn't the time." I help him up and we head to the middle of the launch pad. I hear a loud beating at the door, that sounds like multiple hands jabbing in unison. The door is solid, but with their strength it won't last much longer. "How much longer till we get beamed up?"

"This isn't Star Trek!" I joke in the face of danger. I look at the Navis and then towards the door coming undone. "In 5 minutes."

"We don't have 5 minutes"!

Edward is right. We don't have 5 minutes. The Others will be having us for dinner within seconds. I have to buy Edward time. I knew it may come down to this. They told me that there was a chance that I may not be able to return. As a safeguard, they developed a form of nanotechnology, which they injected into my blood stream, linking me with the Navis. Their hope was to give me a sliver of a chance to return through the Cross Dimensional Sphere with Edward. As Edward looks towards the door, I take the M-16 and hit him across the back of the head. I step from the launch pad with both M-16s in hand and start firing.

The Others rush in. Looking like rabid dogs, no trace of humanity in their eyes, they surround me but I keep them at bay. I turn my head and watch as Edward disappears into the Cross-dimensional Sphere. I've completed the mission. They will find a cure and save billions upon billions of people. Now it's my time to die. I drop the M-16s and pull out a Glock 17 that I intend to use on myself as an alternative to being eaten alive. I look to the sky, void of life, close my eyes and prepare to die. Then, as if I'm connected to a bungee cord, my body flies backwards towards the launch pad and then everything goes black.

When I wake up, I'm in bed, totally oblivious to my surroundings. Jacob, the head engineer, saved me. The Navis was interfaced with my body so he was able to pull me in and rescue me. He informs me that Edward is in custody. They have condemned him for the crimes of his alternate self. They are going to probe his brain in a way that'll make him brain dead afterward. I was lied to by the Authority. Now, will I risk everything to save this man that my heart yearns for? Or will I trust in the Authority, and Victoria, the Head Madame, to cure my parents and resurrect humanity as we once knew it?