"Ow. Danny! " We all whined as he slammed the brakes on too hard.
" What are you doing? Was that really necessary?" Sarah asked as we got out of the car at a barrier which prevented us from going any further.
" My rules." He shrugged, tucking the keys into his pocket.
"I hate it when you pull rank." Connor moaned, anomaly detector in hand.
"Well, I hate sitting in the back." Becker whined.
"You sat in front last time." Connor called over his shoulder.
"Who keeps count?" Becker asked, eyebrows raised.
" Connor does." Abby smirk.
"I didn't enjoy sitting on your lap but we don't all fit." I moaned.
"Hey, I'm not that uncomfy." He moaned.
"That's debatable." I winked, messing with him.
"Oi! You lot!" A man called, banging on the window from inside the hut he was in.
"Friendly round here aren't they." Connor said sarcastically.
"You can't go in there! " He shouted as a car sped past us.
"Wow. So where's this anomaly? The anomaly?" He said, snapping Connor back into reality. He showed us that it wasn't here.
"Back in the car." I sighed. We all climbed in, me last of all, climbing into Becker's lap again. He wrapped one arm around my waist, making sure I didn't fall over.
"Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" I winked at him causing Sarah and Abby to snicker.
"Sorry to disappoint you but it's the shotgun." He said, lifting it up.
"Keep that thing away from me!" I said, pushing the barrel away from my leg.
"Don't worry, it's not loaded." He laughed.
"It's in that garage." Connor pointed.
"Seen anything unusual mate?" Danny asked a man who was loading the back of a van.
" No." He shrugged.
"You'd think someone would have noticed." Sarah said as we all walked into the garage.
"It's in here somewhere." Connor said.
"Right. Let's split up and find it." I said, everybody nodding and splitting off.
"I'll evacuate the immediate area till we know what we're dealing with." Becker said. I nodded at him, giving him the go ahead.
"Guys. It's here." Connor called, causing us all to turn and flock to him.
Abby stood in something and grunted.
"What is it?" Danny asked as we bent down to examine it.
"Some kind of animal secretion." I said, as Danny poked it with something.
"Creature incursion." Connor muttered.
"What kind of creature? " Sarah asked.
"One that excretes goo." Danny said, giving it a whiff and gagging.
"Right It's reassuring." Sarah said. I looked at her and she seemed extremely nervous.
"Let's find it. Be careful though." I said, all of us looking for it.
Danny yelped and I saw him run out of the building, a giant insect chasing him.
"Wait here." I told everybody else. I ran outside, just missing being hit by a car. I looked at Danny and gunk was all over him. I couldn't help but snicker.
"Nice." He said sarcastically, wiping it from his face and flicking it onto the ground.
"I don't like insects." Sarah shuddered from beside Danny and I as we watched Abby study its remains. She picked up some form of stinger and wiped gunk off of it.
"It's all right now." Danny smiled.
"No. I really, really don't like insects." She said, shuddering and hiding herself behind us.
"Any idea?" Danny asked Abby.
" I'll have to do a full autopsy. I think it's some kind of ant." Abby told us, dropping the stinger in a bucket and coming over.
"You know, in most fights with ants I'd fancy my chances, but this! This is a serious ant." He said. We walked over to Connor.
"Nothing like it in the fossil records." He told us, seeming concerned.
"Whatever it is or was I don't want another one via the anomaly." I told him.
"I'm on it." He nodded, scurrying off.
"Come on guys." I called, ready to head home.
"Do you fancy coming over to mine?" Becker asked me as we headed to the car park wen we made it back to the ARC.
"Sure, why not." I smiled. He laughed.
"My car or yours?"
"Mine. Mini's are the best." I smiled, throwing him the keys. I soon found myself at his flat, just staring at it.
"You ready?" He asked. I nodded, climbing out of the car. I followed him up several flights of stairs. Trust Becker to live on the top floor.
"How do you deal with this everyday?" I laughed.
"I'm fit." He laughed. When we reached his apartment, he held the door open for me. I stepped inside and a gasp escaped my mouth. It was so nice and modern...and clean. I looked around, taking it in. It was easily just as big as my house.
"So, what do you want to do?" He asked.
"I'm not fussed." I smiled. It was getting late and a yawn escaped my body.
"Fancy staying the night?" He asked me. I smiled and nodded.
"Showers through there if you want to take one while I put some food on." He smiled. I thanked him and he showed me exactly where to go. He handed me towels.
"I'll leave you some clothes outside if you want." He smiled.
"That would be great thank you." I beamed, shutting the door. I quickly showered and wrapped the towels around myself and my hair. I walked out of the bathroom, unable to find any clothes.
"Becker, about these clothes?" I said, appearing behind him. He jumped slightly and turned around.
"Oh yeah, sorry. I got distracted." He smiled. I rolled my eyes at him as he ran off.
"Here." He said, returning and handing me some. I smiled and thanked him, scurrying off to get changed. I ended up getting changed in his bedroom, due to only that and the bathroom locking. I walked out with my hair braided and his PJ's being too long for me. I hung the towels back up in his bathroom and walked out. I'd rolled the shirt sleeves up because even though they were short sleeves they were still massive. His bottoms were also rolled up to stop me standing all over them. When I got back he too was in his PJ's and he'd stuck a movie on, pizza sat waiting on the coffee table.
I woke up to my phone ringing. We'd fallen asleep while watching the movie. I was sprawled out across my sofa with my head in Becker's lap while he was sat up sleeping, one arm draped over my body.
"Hello." I said groggily.
"Odie, where are you?" Danny asked.
"Sorry, I must've overslept." I grumbled.
"Just get here quick and pick Becker up on your way." He said.
"Will do. See you shortly." I yawned. I got up and woke Becker.
"Come on sleepy head." I smiled, kissing his forehead.
"What time is it?" He asked, his own voice gravely and low due to him just waking up.
"Time we got to work." I smiled. He got up and groggily walked to his bedroom. I quickly got changed into the clothes I had spare in my bag. I'd always fetched a spare change of clothes because sometimes things get messy, like Danny had proved yesterday with the insect exploding over him. I pulled on m black, tight jeans quickly and my grey vest. It was cold and I saw one of Becker's red and black checkered shirt.
"That looks good on you." He smirked as I laced up my boots.
"Anything looks good on me." I joked.
"Especially my clothes."
We arrived at the ARC in no time.
"I'll see you in a bit." I smiled, kissing his cheek and climbing out of my car. I walked off to find Abby to find out what on earth this creature was.
"The insect creature is derived from Hymenoptera, the same family as ants, bees, sawflies, and wasps." She told us.
"So this thing can sting?" Connor asked.
" In this case the sting has evolved into an ovipositor." She told us.
"That's a relief. Isn't it?" Danny asked.
" It uses it to lay eggs inside a host. Human beings would do very nicely." I told him seriously.
"That's rank." Connor said, clearly disgusted.
"Nasty." Danny added.
"There was something else." Abby continued. "I found very high levels of selenium in it. It's a chemical like sulphur."
"That's weird cos when I cleaned the artefact the dirt was registering high levels of selenium as well." Sarah gasped.
"You say that bug and artefact are from the same place." Danny asked.
"It's possible."
"Then the artefact is from the future? Which means that the future could be just the other side of the anomaly." Danny said.
"You finish up here. Give Becker's men a call." I said, running off with Danny and Sarah "Tell them we're on our way."
We were about to get in the car when the others came running after us.
"Wait." Abby called, "You have to let me go with you."
"What's up?" I asked her.
"I think Jack's gone through the anomaly."
"All right, everybody in now." I ordered, we all got in and Danny sped to the garage. I wasn't going to let her lose the brother. Nobody was going to lose any family members on my watch.
"There's no sign of him." I sighed, running back out to tell Abby.
"He's gone through the anomaly. I have to find him." She said.
"Abby, I'm sure he's OK." Sarah said, trying to calm her down.
"What was he doing here?" Danny asked.
" I don't know." She said, halting until the others went past.
"He stole my detector." She admitted.
"It's your responsibility to keep that safe." Danny shouted. "What were you doing?"
" He went in my bag." She sighed.
"Abby it's okay, we'll get him back." I said softly. She nodded and we strode over to the anomaly.
"This will take time to fix." Connor told us.
"What happened? " I asked him, looking at the mutilated machinery.
"It's been run over by a car." He told us.
"We'll get him back, OK? I promise." Danny said softly, his anger having bubbled over.
"Stay here and get that fixed." Danny instructed Connor as Becker came in carrying all our equipment.
" I'm staying with Abby" He insisted.
"Danny,I can probably figure all of this out." Sarah smiled. I could tell she really didn't want to go through there. Not that I blamed her.
"The backup's on the truck. It needs resetting and synchronizing." Connor told her. she just nodded.
"Come on." Abby said, stepping towards the anomaly.
"This isn't some school trip! We have to wait for backup." Becker hissed.
"You wait if you want." She said, walking through the anomaly. Becker didn't look impressed but he just handed Danny a bag and we followed Abby.
"Don't step backwards." Becker shouted, catching Danny. There was a cliff behind us. The future looked bleak. The entirety of what we could see lay waste to ruin and destruction. What had happened? I remember Helen saying we caused it but how? We'd never allow this.
"Where are we?" Danny asked as we took steps forward, shocked by our findings.
" The future." Connor gasped.
"Our future? " Abby asked.
"How many years away?" Danny asked us.
"I don't know. It's hard to say." I said.
" Look at these cars. " Becker said, examining one closer.
"They could have been there for centuries. Or maybe not." I pointed out, looking at them. What had happened here?
"Look, all we have to do is find the kid and get out of here." Danny said as we started to walk down a deserted street lined with cars.
"What's happened here? Where is everyone?" Becker asked us.
" Concentrate on the job." Danny told him. "He can't have gone far."
"Unless he spooked." Becker said, not pleased either way.
"He'll be somewhere nearby. He's not an idiot." Abby said, causing us all to roll our eyes. First he gambled Rex and now this.
"Well Look There. The car! Up there. Come on, guys." Abby called, running towards it.
"Jack!" She screamed.
"Shush." Connor whispered, grabbing Abby and holding his hand over her mouth. I looked up to see a predator above us, clambering down the wall. My heart stopped. I watched as Becker shot at it. We were dead. It died, falling to the floor.
"Come to us" Danny whispered. We did and then followed him into a hidden place. Momentarily, Danny and Becker set their bags down.
"Well done! You've just alerted every predator for miles." Abby snapped.
"I didn't have much choice, did I, Abigail?" He hissed at her, weapon ready to fire again if necessary.
" What are you talking about?" Danny asked us.
" Predators. They're... We don't know how they evolved or when, but they're intelligent, quick, and really 's a case of we kill them or they kill us."
"Why are we whispering?" Danny asked.
" They locate their prey using echolocation. They see sound." I whispered back.
"Great." Becker hissed.
"If those things got loose, humanity never stood a chance." Connor realised.
"That's it! We go back. We need backup." Becker hissed, adding a silencer to his weapon.
"He could be injured. We can't leave him here with those creatures." She said sadly.
"It's her brother. We stay." I said, Danny agreeing with me.
"You're supposed to make the tough decisions, Odie." He hissed.
"I just did." I told him before turning to Abby. "And you, you calm down."
"You await my signal." Danny said, sneaking out.
"OK." We all nodded.
"You do know he's almost certainly dead, don't you?" He hissed at me and Danny as we went to see if it was clear.
" She needs to find out her shoes I'd feel exactly the same way." Danny said.
"Let's do this." I nodded.
"Right." Danny said taking point. We slowly walked down the street until a car door opened and a tiny predator jumped on Danny. It attacked him and Danny pushed it back, stomping on it and killing it in the car door. Abby ran off but I just left her. Danny was injured.
"And that was a baby, right?" He asked.
" Yeah." Connor gulped.
"This is insanity." Becker hissed. I looked at him, his gaze momentarily softening.
"Let me see." I said, pressing my hand to his neck. he hissed in pain. "Sorry.I don't think it's too deep."
"Where's Abby?" Connor asked. She'd disappeared.
A door opened and another predator baby was inside. Becker lurched forward, pulling Abby away. He opened a door.
" Quick.Get in!" He hissed. We all ran in, hoping it was safe.
" Let me tell you this one more time. Getting ourselves killed will not help your brother! We need a fully armed search and rescue unit." He hissed aggressively , getting in Abby's face.
"Having more firepower gives a better chance of saving Jack. Fact." Danny said.
"Danny's right." Connor admitted.
" You, too?" She gasped.
"I'm just trying to be sensible." He told her.
"You've always hated him, haven't you? You'd be happy if he was dead." She said, Connor didn't seem to be able to mutter out any words. I was disgusted with Abby. Connor had saved her brother, she may not have known, but this is how she repays him?
"Oi! You! Go." Connor said as we cowered away from a predator as Danny and I had followed Abby outside..
"I didn't ask for your help." Abby snapped as we followed her.
"Well, you've got it." Danny said.
"He's the only family I've got. I have to help him." She sighed.
"Listen, I'll make you a deal. We go to the car. If Jack's there, not, we go back, get support and start again. I will not give up on him, I promise." I told her seriously.
"OK." She nodded.
"Is Jack in the car? " We asked as we reached it.
"No." She sighed.
"Help! Help!" A voice called out.
" Listen." I said. We all stopped silently.
" Help! Help" It whined again.
" Yes! It's Jack." She said, rushing to where the noise was coming from.
" Jack, you have to keep quiet." Abby said down the shaft.
"You've got to get me out of 's disgusting things." He whined.
"What are they?" She asked him.
"Horrible and slimey . They sting."
"He's OK." She sighed.
"I'm going to go down. You stay with them. " Danny said, lowering himself down.
" you." Abby breathed a sigh of relief. At least we'd found the little idiot.
"Jack's down there." She smiled as Connor and Becker reached us. Becker kept look out.
"Connor, we're gonna need a rope." Danny called up.
"OK." We called down, throwing them the end once we fished it out of a bag.
"Take him up." Danny called.
"Becker" Abby whispered as the rope slipped. Connor and I struggled to hold Jack's weight and pull him up..
" I can't hold it." Connor grunted.
"Take the gun." Becker said, handing it to Abby.
"Connor, get him out of here." Danny shouted urgently.
"Guys." Abby whispered. We looked around and Predators were closing in.
"Get him up here." Becker whispered.
"Whatever happens just get them out of here." He whispered. I let go of the rope as Abby took it again.
"Becker no. " I pleaded, knowing exactly what he was going to do.
"We won't all get out of here, I have to at least make sure you do." He whispered.
"No please, there's another way." I whispered, a stray tear pouring down my face.
"I love you." He whispered, caressing my cheek. I shut my eyes for a moment. It was the first time he'd said it. Before I could open my mouth to say anything he kissed me passionately. I embraced him, never wanting him to let go.
"Good luck." He smiled softly, breaking away all too soon. He ran forward, firing his gun. The Predators followed him as he ran.
" Becker!" I screamed. Abby's arms caught me. I sobbed quietly, fearing the worst. Nobody stood a chance against those things.
I turned around and through teary eyes saw Jack was back. Danny grabbed my hand, forcing me to follow him.
"Get in. Be quiet. Especially you." Danny hissed at Jack as we reached a deserted bus . I glared at the teen, hating his guts more than anything. We all sat on the bus, panting. I sat there, silently letting the tears stream down my 'd been together three months now and I'd never had a chance to say it back. The first time I heard it was my last.
"Becker?" Danny asked.
" He tried to save us." Connor said sadly.
"Are you OK?" Abby asked Jack.
" I'm in agony. If you'd told me the truth, I wouldn't be here. Where are we? How come it took you so long to get here? I was terrified." Jack whined. I got up, pulling him to his feet by his shirt.
"Becker sacrificed himself to save you, and that's all you can say? " I spat. "Keep that kid away from me."
"Who's Becker?" He asked.
" The man who took on a pack of killers to save you." Abby hissed.
"So?" He asked, anger bubbling up inside me. I wish i'd never agreed to save this boy.
" So?! So what? He's dead, and it's your fault! You stupid, selfish" I shouted, Danny wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me away. "I thought you were dead. Come here." Abby said, hugging him tightly.
"Sorry. I'm we go home?" He asked .
" That might be the tricky part." Connor told him.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked me. I looked at him, wiping away the tears.
"I'll be fine."
"Get down." Connor hissed, hearing banging on the roof.
"Here are our options. We try and make a run for it, and they tear us to bits. We hold out here as long as we can and they tear us to bits.I never said they were good options. This is it." He sighed.
"What's going on? " I gasped, hearing shrieks from outside.
" It's the fire. It's smoking them out." Connor muttered.
"That'll keep them busy. We've got a chance. We're gonna go now." Danny said, leaping off the bus. I herded the others off. Jack was going to make it home, Becker wasn't going to die for nothing.
"OK, go! Don't stop till you get to the anomaly. Whatever happens don't stop." I whisper screamed. The predators were fighting the insects and we had to sneak past. My heart was in my throat.
"Danny! Move! Go! Oh, no! " I shouted.
"Sarah must have closed it." Abby sighed. it was locked. We were going to die here. One predator had followed us and it was slowly getting closer to ripping us apart, jumping on one car at a time. On the last car a bang erupted and it fell, dead.
"Becker!" Abby called, running over to him. He smiled at them. He'd lost his bag and everything but his favourite shotgun. He climbed out of the car and I ran over to him, throwing myself at him. He caught me, wrapping his arms tightly around him as my legs wrapped around his waist.
"I thought I'd lost you." I sobbed.
"You can't lose me that easily." He whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I let go of him as I heard Danny screaming about the anomaly being open.
"Go! Go!" Danny shouted, Becker letting off a few more rounds at the creature.
" Lock it now!" Danny screamed at Sarah as we all barreled through, ending up on the floor.
"Are you all right?" Sarah asked us all. Danny kicked Becker in the arm and he grunted in pain, clutching it.
" Does that hurt?" Danny said before manically laughing. We were home and safe. Becker was checked out by one of his men and then he came up to me.
"Fancy going on a little walk?" He smiled. I nodded, following him.
When we were outside I finally let my defense crumble.
"I thought I'd lost you." I sobbed, hugging him tightly.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, hugging me tightly and burying his face in my hair.
"Even if it meant sacrificing myself, I had to make sure you got out." He whispered. I looked up at him.
"Really?" I asked him.
"Really." he whispered, leaning down and kissing me.
"I didn't have chance to say this earlier." I whispered to him, pressing my forehead against his.
"And what's that?" He asked, brushing hair out of my face.
"I love you too."
