A World On Fire: The residents of Chester's Mill finally have a chance to escape the horrors of the dome, but will the exit tunnels spell freedom for everyone involved? Can they trust Melanie? Will Julia and Junior escape or are their fate's sealed in those tunnels? Will Julia and Barbie reunite? And what is happening with the Egg? A post s2 fic.
Chapter 1: Escape
"Follow me," she said, water dripping from head to toe, dressed in the same clothes she died in, "we're going home."
No one moved. They all just stood there at the edge of the light, unsure of what to do next. They just stared at her for a moment, and then, as if on cue, everyone turned to Barbie, silently waiting for his next move. "Melanie," he eventually said, carefully moving just a step towards her. There was just something…off. His gut feeling told him that the girl who fell into the crater a few hours ago and this girl standing in front of them now weren't exactly the same. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"Home," she said again, the same odd smile on her face, "isn't that where you promised we will go?" she added, her smile dropping and her gaze growing colder.
"Zen-" he started to ask as he took another step towards her, cutting his words abruptly when he saw it. Her feet weren't on the ground. Melanie was floating. He turned in shock towards Joe and Norrie who were close behind him, hoping that they saw it. He recognized the stunned look on their faces must match his. He looked back towards her…Melanie and realized she must not be aware of the change in their mannerism. She was still smiling.
"It's not her… It's not Melanie," he heard Norrie's voice behind him and he quickly turned.
"What do you mean?" he asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"It's like when we saw my mom in the woods, after she had died… the Egg was trying to send us a message and used my mom as a… vessel," she explained.
"Can we trust… her?" Sam said, joining the small huddled conversation.
Barbie shrugged, and before he could speak, Joe said, "what other choice do we have? We can't go back, and staying here isn't an option either. And when Julia did what Norrie's mom asked us to do in the woods that day, the dome saved your life."
He spoke with his eyes focused on Barbie. Joe was right. What other option did they have? Barbie looked around him at all the scared faces, watching him, expecting him to lead them, to know what to do next. God how much he wished Julia was here right now. She would know what to do. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of her, trying to gather her strength, her courage, imagining her by his side. Julia would trust the dome; she would trust this Melanie. He opened his eyes and spoke, "Let's go everyone. This way," he moved his body to the side opening the path towards the way out.
"Joe, Norrie, you guys take the lead. Take Carolyn with you," he guided, "Sam, Hunter and I will stay at the end." The people started to walk by slowly, some eyeing him nervously, others looking at him with a slight air of mistrust. He did not blame them.
"Listen, Sam, you guys go ahead," Barbie said, as the last group prepared to step into the opening. "Where are you going?" Sam enquired suspiciously. "I need to go back get Julia. I'm not leaving without her," Barbie explained. Sam nodded, "ok, we'll be waiting for you guys. Be careful."
Barbie watched as Sam took Aidan's hand and stepped towards the opening, followed closely by Hunter. He got ready to head back when a stern voice stopped him. "What are you doing?" it was the Egg's messenger, the "Melanie" that was leading them back home. "I need to get Julia," Barbie explained, his tone laced with annoyance.
"No you're not," she said coldly.
"Excuse me?" Barbie turned towards her angrily, "I'm not leaving her here. She's your Monarch, surely you're not just going to let her die in here!"
"This tunnel is not her way out," she said, the look in her eyes blank, devoid if any emotion. If Barbie had any doubts before that this was not his sister, they were gone now. This was definitely not Melanie.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he spat out, "I'm going back for her."
"I SAID NO!" the thing that looked like Melanie screamed and her voice sent the tunnels into another earth shattering tremor. Barbie desperately held on to the wall beside him as the ground below him shook violently. And then, when a crashing, deafening sound filled his ears just as the tremors stopped, he turned around to see the path behind him; the one leading back to Julia was now completely blocked.
He felt the anger in him rise, a hot fire surge through his body and then it spoke again, calm as though nothing had happened, "you need to come with me now, Dale."
Julia and Junior stood at the edge of the chasm, neither of them saying anything, just staring blankly at the gap in the path that stood in the way of their freedom. They both knew it but feared to voice what they believed out loud. With every passing minute, with every quake and tremor, their chances of survival grew less and less.
"What are we going to do?" Junior said, staring ahead, the fear and panic evident in his gaze.
Julia turned to him, painfully aware of their diminishing chances. She wanted to believe they had a chance. She needed to believe. She shook her head, "I don't… I don't know," she replied. "We're going to be fine, James, we just need-" she started to say when suddenly a strange sound echoed from the tunnels ahead. And a few seconds later a swarm of Monarch butterflies came fluttering through the dark tunnels ahead. They ducked quickly, watching in awe above them as the swarm sped by. "What the hell!?" Junior said in shock and all Julia could do was shake her head and watch the what seemed to be an endless flutter of butterflies.
"What's going on?" Junior said once they were back on the feet, the last of the butterflies disappearing out of the crater, "shouldn't you know?" his voice came out more accusatory than he intended.
"I… I really don't know," Julia huffed, leaning against the tunnel wall, the pain in her leg becoming almost unbearable.
Junior sighed and leaned against the rocks across from her, "my mother died today," he spoke wistfully, "for the second time. And… and I just shot my father," he added, his eyes clouded with sadness, "maybe I should die here too today, put an end to the Rennie line."
"Don't say that, James," Julia said confidently, seeing how broken the young man before her was, feeling guilty for being the reason he had to shoot his own father, "we're going to find a way out."
"How?" he asked in dejection. "I don't know," she said honestly, "but the dome didn't put us through all of that just to have us die here."
He didn't say anything. He just looked at her for a moment before turning away and staring at the darkness ahead. "Ermmm… Julia?" he stuttered as the darkness he had been staring into suddenly filled with a blinding white light. She looked up into the tunnels and immediately shielded her eyes as the light flooded the space around. Barbie, what the hell is happening up there with you guys, she thought to herself. Junior had his forearm across his face, squinting as he tried to see through the light. This was definitely something new, even for Chester's Mill. They spent the next few minutes in silence, as the light dissipated and they waited for the next event. First the butterflies, then the light, their imagination was quickly running out of scenarios.
"Do you think they found a way out?" Junior asked. His question though fell unanswered. Julia was just staring ahead, a look of anticipation and anxiety over her face. It was the first time he'd seen Julia Shumway look so unsure about something.
As the seconds turned to minutes, the nervousness between them grew palpable. And then it came, the third of the series of inexplicable events in the tunnels. A loud deafening shriek that terrifyingly sounded like a human's voice and another tremor shook the tunnels. The walls around them shook violently, sending rocks flying across the space. And then it ended, as abruptly as it began. They looked towards each other, wordlessly asking if the other person was ok. "Julia, look!" Junior said, pointing at the chasm in front of them, "you think we can cross on that?"
Julia smiled. For the first time in hours, there was hope again. The rocks that had been flying above them just seconds before now sat in what was the crater, forming a bridge of sorts. She nodded hopefully, "I think so, yes," she said.
"What are you two waiting for! Come one!" Junior's head popped up quickly, towards the female voice across the crater. He knew that voice quite well.
"Angie?" Julia said in disbelief, looking at the young woman standing just a few meters away and then back at Junior.
"You see her too?" Junior asked in shock. The last time he saw Angie, she was just a figment of his imagination, a manifestation of his conscience.
Julia looked between the two in confusion, "ermm… yes…" she confirmed.
"Are you going to just stand there?" Angie said again, motioning for them to start running.
They made their way quickly across the bridge, joining Angie on the other side. "Angie? Is it really you?" Junior asked, his emotions bubbling through his voice.
"I think we both know what I am," she said with a smirk and swiftly turned and started walking down the tunnels, "now, follow me if you want to get out of here."
Out of options and out of any other choices of survival, they did as they were told. The three ran through the unsteady tunnels for a few minutes, dodging falling rocks and leaping over gaps. The pathway kept getting darker and darker until it was completely pitch black. "Are you ready?" Angie said and before they could answer, or even inquire as to what they were supposed to be ready for, a cold, grey fog surrounded them.
Just like the first time, Barbie woke up in the playground in Zenith. The last thing he remembered was walking through the light, angry, frustrated…guilty. He woke up with a jolt, jumping to his feet quickly and looking around him. The townspeople were all gathered around him, watching him anxiously.
"Barbie, we have a problem," Sam was the first to speak, lending Barbie a hand and helping him up. He looked around him and quickly understood. The unassuming playground he woke up in the first time was now empty of any children. Instead, there was a police tape surrounding it and it was heavily guarded, the same black uniform guards that were at he dome. And they all had their weapons raised and aimed at the former residents of Chester's Mill.
"I thought you said this was safe."
"What's happening?"
"Are they gonna killa us?"
The panicked voices around him started to rise, people pushing and shoving, trying to get closer to him. He put his hands up, urging them to calm down, "everyone please just stay calm, everything will be fine," he said, his eyes never leaving the armed men on the perimeter, their weapons still raised but who never made any attempt to come near them.
The people around him seemed to settle slightly, their voices slightly more hushed as they whispered among each other. Their fear and anxiety obviously not relieved.
"Where's Melanie?" he asked those around him. "She didn't come through with us," Hunter quickly said.
Barbie sighed heavily, "Sam, keep an eye on everyone. I'll handle this," he said and walked towards the soldiers, making his towards the one guy who looked to be in charge.
"I need to talk to Don Barbara," he said to him confidently.
The soldier across from him smiled coldly, "you must be Dale Barbara, Captain Dale Barbara," he said, "I'm afraid your father, Don Barbara," he said the name with a strange tone of mockery, no one ever said Don Barbara's name without a twinge of fear or at least respect, "is no longer the man in charge here."
So, this is my attempt at telling the events that might happen in the wake of the events of the season 2 finale. It is going to be a 14-chapter story (already all planned out), so if you're interested in it please let me know. I'm excited about it, but if no one else is I guess there's no point of writing it ;)