Chapter One
"Racing The Night"
Oh my god I'm blind! Zack thought, horrified at the thought of living out the rest of his days wearing dark glasses and feeling his way along with a cane. He sat there for a moment panicking before realizing that he could see an orange blur off to his left. Relieved that he wasn't in fact blind, Zack rubbed his eyes to try and clear his vision and was rewarded with a slightly less blurry orange blob and a dark horizon.
A gentle breeze caressed the side of his face and Zack's golden blond hair tickled his cheek. He absentmindedly batted it away to no avail and settled for tucking the offending lock behind his right ear.
Wait a minute! What am I doing outside?
"Ugh…" Cody groaned from behind him, "Did anyone catch the number of the train that hit me?"
"I know how you feel," Zack said as he massaged his temples to try and alleviate the pounding in his head. As his vision began to clear the older twin slowly surveyed their surroundings in dismay. If he didn't know better he would guess that they were somewhere in Colorado; ice capped mountains soaring high into the sky to his right and a seemingly endless grassy plain stretching as far as the eye could see to the left. The orange blob he'd seen before was in fact the sun hanging above what he assumed were the Rocky Mountains partially shrouded by dark clouds.
"We sure as heck aren't in Boston any more Codes... Or on the ship for that matter."
Cody sat up suddenly and looked around to confirm it for himself. His expression was one of shock and utter confusion.
"This doesn't make sense… Where are we? How did we get here?"
"I don't know man, last thing I remember…" Zack trailed off. He couldn't remember what had happened before waking up in the grassy field feeling like he had a mad hangover. Cody looked at him curiously.
"What?"
"I don't know. I can't remember anything!" Zack exclaimed, frightened at his lack of memory.
"Are you mental? We were just…"
"Just what?"
"I don't know either…"
"Who is the mental one now?" Zack couldn't resist taunting his twin. He grinned to let Cody know he was only messing with him.
"Shut up." Cody patted down his pockets and frowned, "My cell phone's gone."
Zack checked his pockets too and came up empty handed. "I guess we should start walking then." He slowly spun in a circle scanning the horizon looking for the nearest road or city where they might be able to find a ride and a phone to call their parents. There was a small collection of buildings, what appeared to be a small farm or something, in the distance on the plains. He pointed it out to his brother, "That way."
As it turned out, the buildings they had seen earlier turned out to be a lot further away than they thought. After about an hour of walking it seemed that they were no further to their goal than they were when they'd started. Both boys were rapidly growing hungry and thirsty to make matters worse.
"My god are we ever going to get there?" Cody grumbled, "My feet are killing me," As if to underscore his statement Cody stumbled when his foot slipped into a previously concealed rabbit hole.
Zack reached out to steady his twin, the last thing they needed was for one of them to end up with a twisted ankle, and then knelt down. He cleared away some of the loose soil and peered into the darkness, listening carefully as he did so. After a moment he came to the conclusion that the underground den was empty and stood back up.
"What were you doing?" Cody asked suspiciously as Zack dusted his hands off.
"Looking for dinner."
A look of horror came over his twin's face, "You can't be serious..."
Zack shrugged and fished out the flint and steel he carried in his back pocket so that he could show it to his brother. If they were trapped out on the plains without shelter or adequate provisions for an extended period of time, he was perfectly willing and able to put his survival skills to good use. There was no guarantee they would find help at the farm they were heading towards. For all they knew, it could be completely abandoned without working transportation or phone service.
"Why are you carrying that around anyway? What possible use could it have at sea?"
"I didn't hear you complaining about it when we were trapped on that island with London and Woody," Zack answered as he stuffed the items back into his pocket, "Not that you should be talking with half of the crap you carry around," He shot back pointedly.
"It's not crap! What if we run into a wild bear out here?"
"There's no bears on the plains. Jeez, and I thought you were the smart twin?" Zack teased him as they trudged along through the knee high grass and scrub brush.
The bickering continued for another half hour or so as they continued traveling towards the farm. As the sun sunk deeper in the sky behind them their shadows stretched out before them. Both boys fell into a companionable silence as they navigated around thorny bushes, dry creek beds and over the seemingly never ending rolling hills in their path.
"Finally!" Cody groaned as they approached the farm. They were close enough now to make out the details of the buildings they had seen before. They were all made out of a mixture of stone, wood and what looked like straw matted with mud for roofs. One of the buildings was clearly a barn, another was an old fashioned grain silo by the looks of it and the third one set apart from the other two was a two story house. More importantly than the thought of shelter though was the fact that the lower floor was lit up from the inside by candlelight.
The twins broke into a light jog and covered the remaining distance quickly. They stopped just on the edge of the cleared property and exchanged triumphant smiles. Everything was going to be alright and they would soon be on their way home.
Movement nearby drew their attention as a young woman wearing a dress that looked like it came straight out of a western movie picked up a bucket she had been filling with water from a ground well. She started walking back towards the house, completely oblivious to the twins' presence.
"Excuse me..." Zack started, but got no further. The woman screamed, dropped the bucket full of water and dashed towards the house like a gazelle evading a lion, "Was it something I said?"
"You've always had that effect on women," Cody replied. Zack grimaced at the insult and slugged his twin playfully in the shoulder as they waited to see if there were any further reactions to their arrival. They didn't have to wait long.
"Get out of here you!" A man, presumably the young woman's father, roared as he burst out of his home with what looked like a spear held in his right hand. Hot on his heels was an older boy carrying a long menacing looking knife.
"Holy crap!" Cody breathed as he back up several paces.
Zack held up his hands to show them that he meant no threat, "We're lost, we just wanted to use your phone."
"You'd better be lost, somewhere far away from my property!" The man growled as he continued advancing towards them. Zack backed away, looked over his shoulder at Cody and jerked his head slightly. They broke into a dead run to get away from the crazy man and his son.
The twins ran into the rapidly approaching night until they were certain that they were not being pursued. Cody collapsed heavily onto the ground, holding his hand against his rib cage where he was presumably applying pressure to a stitch in his side. Zack, knowing better, walked in slow circles as his heartbeat and breathing slowed down to a more reasonable speed. Sweat dripped down his forehead and he absentmindedly brushed it away.
"What...the...heck!" Cody exclaimed from where he lay prone on the ground, his chest rapidly rising and falling as he sucked in deep lungfuls of air. Zack knelt down beside his brother now that he'd given his body enough time to cool down and studied the largest hill he'd seen so far on the plains. It looked to be a couple miles away, but he couldn't be sure in the rapidly diminishing light.
"We need to get moving," he said, pointing at the hill where he thought he saw the tops of a cluster of buildings. Cody sat up and gazed in the direction he'd indicated.
"I don't know if I'm ready to confront any more pitchfork wielding psychos just yet..."
"Well we can't stay out here," Zack pointed out as he rubbed his arms where goosebumps had already broken out on his flesh, "The temperature is going to keep dropping and who knows what the weather is going to be like tonight." He looked up warily at the storm clouds that were now hanging menacingly above them.
"I just want to be back in my own room," Cody complained as he got back to his feet and started walking with him.
"You and me both bro."
"Just as long as you keep your side clean for once..."
Zack snorted at the memory of that particular fight.
An hour later they found themselves trudging uphill, fighting to stay upright as they banged their shins against rocks hidden in the darkness or slipped on loose gravel that sent them sliding back downhill.
"There has got to be an easier way," Cody grumbled and he slipped for the tenth time, just barely managing to catch himself by flailing into the darkness and grabbing hold of one of the shin busting rocks. Zack unfortunately banged his leg into the same rock as he tried to reach out and help his twin, yelping in pain as he did so.
"Knowing our luck there's probably an escalator right around the corner," Zack muttered as he carefully bent over and rubbed the throbbing appendage.
"I'd settle for some good old fashioned stairs at this point," Cody huffed as he resumed his trek upward. Zack silently followed, doing his best to pick the safest route upward and avoid further injury. After what seemed like an eternity they arrived at the top of the hill and were able to make out the dark silhouettes of several buildings.
"I'd kill for a flashlight."
"Maybe they've all gone to sleep already?" Cody suggested. The moon picked that exact moment to break through the heavy cloud cover and illuminate the small plateau they stood on, "Oh now you decide to come out!"
"Well that's not good..." Zack muttered, annoyed that they'd been thwarted from possible rescue once again. The buildings were a small collection of stone houses that looked like they had been knocked over by an explosion. None of them had roofs and the walls of the one in the best condition barely came up to waist height with one side completely caved in.
Cody threw up his arms in defeat and sat down on the edge of one of the walls. Being more optimistic Zack surveyed the destroyed home, glad that they had at least some form of shelter from the elements and paused when a patch of darkness caught his eye. He investigated it and realized that there was an intact basement beneath the building. Feeling relieved Zack crept down the stairs into the gloomy space wincing as Cody yelped in surprise at his sudden disappearance.
"Down here you big baby," He called out as his hands searched for anything that could be of use. Something soft bumped against his toe and he reached down to touch it.
"What is it?" Cody whispered from where he was crouched on the stairs. Zack held up a moldy and dusty woolen blanket triumphantly, "No way."
"Fine then, freeze to death if you want," Zack said. He searched the area with his right foot for any obstacles on the ground and, finding none, settled himself down onto the cold stone floor drawing the blanket over him as he went. For a brief period he shivered, but then he began to warm up as his body heat warmed the ground.
A moment later and uttering a curse that raised Zack's right eyebrow in surprise Cody crawled in under the blanket alongside him.
"This stinks."
"I know camping isn't your thing and all..." Zack began.
"No I mean this really stinks," Cody growled, pushing the blanket away from his face.
"Yeah I know..." Zack sighed in agreement.
A/N: Welcome to the new and regular readers alike! I thought I'd start off with a semi-normal mysterious chapter, but as all the old hands know, I don't do 'normal' for long so this is the first and only chapter without a supernatural event, explosions, fighting, a dark turn of events, an element of fantasy/sci-fi or a good old heart pounding 'run for your life' adrenaline rush. Hope you enjoyed this bit and while you're wondering just where I've deposited the twins and what kind of mess they're going to find themselves in, I'll be working on the next installment. Reviews do motivate me to work harder, just saying... =)
Feel free to leave comments about how well the twins are written 'in character'. I'm introducing an element of sibling rivalry alongside of the constant bickering into my usual template for the twins so it'll be interesting to see how well (or not) it's accepted.
And for Tiger, I guarantee you will not see the full truth of the 'Paradigm Shift' until the moment for it to be unveiled arrives no matter how much foreshadowing I do!