Chapter 11: A World on Fire
She woke up to find herself alone in bed. After the few days they had had, she wasn't shocked that she slept in, or failed to notice when he had woken up. She dropped her hand against his pillow. Cold. He had been up for a while. She grabbed his shirt from the edge of the bed and threw it on over her shorts. She made her way through the quiet house, the smell of something delicious pulling her towards the kitchen. Everyone else was still asleep it seemed.
She found him in the kitchen, the reason behind that delicious smell were the pancakes he was making. She watched with a wide smile for a few minutes as he made his way around the kitchen. There was something especially hot about this man making breakfast. She bit her lip and spoke softly, "you can cook," she said and he turned around to find her leaning against one of the stools. Her hair was tousled, cheeks pink and she was biting her lip. Wearing his shirt and a pair of shorts, he was mesmerized. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist, "I told you, I worked as a line cook," he said with a smile.
She laughed and leaned up to kiss his jaw. "You're up early," she said, "why didn't you wake me up?"
He brought his thumb up to her cheek and gently brushed her skin. "It's been a rough couple of days, you deserve to sleep in," he said.
She saw Alice sleeping in her chair in the living room, "is Harriet up?" she asked.
"She was, but Alice then fell back asleep so I told her I'd watch the baby while she caught up on some sleep," he shrugged, failing to notice just how that confession sent Julia's heart racing. She bit her lip and wrapped her arms around him. "Are you practicing?" she asked bashfully, ducking her head. He smiled and lifted her chin to meet his gaze, "I just never thought I'd… having children was never something I thought about," he confessed.
"Me neither," she said softly.
He cocked his head, "Really? Not even with Peter?" he asked.
"No… we never really talked about it before we got married and then we just drifted apart… having a baby was never something that came up," she admitted. "What about you? Why'd you never considered it before?"
He chuckled and pulled back slightly, "I've never called a woman back for a second date, let alone reached the let's talk about children phase in a relationship."
She smiled but then suddenly pulled back, a small frown on her face, "interesting you should bring that up," she said, and he raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused. "The whole date thing," she said, "you do realize you haven't even asked me out on a first date, and here we are talking about babies," she teased and bit her lip playfully.
"Is that so?" he asked, feigning shock. "It is, Mr. Barbara… I thought you were a gentleman. Looks like I was quite mistaken," she pouted.
She smirked mischievously and reached for her, his arms snaking around her waist and pulled her towards him, molding her body against his. "Well, maybe I should ask you out," he said and she nodded, her cheeks red, the proximity of their bodies rendering her speechless. She nodded, and he brought his lips against her ear, his breath warm against her skin, "… soon."
3 Days Earlier
The Egg was shaking; shaking aggressively and glowing blindingly. The shaking was violent, shaking the rest of the room with it and the bright red and orange glow was hot, blinding and ominous.
They got up and rushed out. Julia carried the Egg, hoping it would calm it down, but it did nothing. They ran towards the edge of the dome and what they saw startled them. The world outside was on fire. Flames were spreading in every direction. Balls of fire and heat were raining from the sky, crashing into the earth, leaving nothing in their wake.
Lyle was right.
They huddled around Hunter's computer, watching and reading the news from all over the world. They were calling it the end of days. And from the looks of it, it was. It was happening all over the world. No one was being spared. Mayhem and chaos, disorder and pandemonium. Misery. Hopelessness. Death.
It was the end of the world.
But it wasn't. They were safe. They were alive. They were going to survive.
It didn't take long for the guilt to hit. Why them? Why did they deserve to survive this and not the others?
She finds him upstairs. He had missed dinner and even though the guilt was ripping them all apart, she knew he was feeling especially bad. She sat down next to him on the edge of the bed, her fingers finding the back of his neck. "Are you ok?" she whispered and he looked up at her, smiling sweetly. "Not really," he replied and her thumb ran across his skin.
She sat quietly, waiting for him to open up. He shook his head and spoke, "why do we deserve to live while all these people are dying?" he said. "why do I deserve to live? I'm not a good person. I don't-" she cut him off then, her eyes wide, her head shaking left and right, "don't say that, don't you ever say that," she said
She twisted around so that she was facing him. She took his face in her hands, his beard rough against her skin, "you deserve to live and you are a good person! Don't you ever say that," she insisted. He gave her a small smile and leaned in, resting his forehead against hers. He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe in himself the way she believed in him. But for now, it was important that she did.
"Thank you," he whispered.
It was after midnight when Barbie walked through the empty house towards the kitchen for a glass of water. He felt someone behind him and turned around swiftly. He gasped in shock at what he saw. Who he saw.
"Dad?" Barbie asked.
"Hello, Dale," the figure said as it walked closer to him.
"How… How are you here?" Barbie asked.
"You know how," Don said.
The Egg.
"What… What are you doing here?" Barbie asked, leaning back against the counter, grabbing the edge tightly.
"We need to check up on you," Don said, "and I need to tell you something."
"Are you doing this?" Barbie asked, pointing out the window. To the world outside the Dome.
"We're not causing it. No. If that's what you're asking, but mankind are being punished by a great force beyond their control," Don said.
"But you knew it was going to happen," Barbie stated.
Don nodded.
Barbie's nose flared in anger, "then how can you let all those people die! If you knew it was going to happen then why didn't you do anything to save them!?"
"We cant save everyone. We tried our best to save as many as we can," Don explained.
"Ten people! That's all you managed to save?" Barbie bit out angrily.
Don shook his head, "you're not alone, Dale, there are other communities like you."
Barbie frowned, "what are you talking about?"
"Your dome is one of several across your planet that we have brought to save as many as we could," Don said.
"There… there are others?" Barbie asked.
Don nodded, "we are not monsters… we are trying our best. The Dome is here to protect you, so that you may rebuild your world when this is over."
Barbie eyed him incredulously. This was all a little too far fetched.
"Who are you?" He asked. "It doesn't matter," Don replied, "it only matters who you are."
"What do you mean?" Barbie asked.
"This all started a long time ago," Don explained, "you were all chosen for a reason, for who you are, for what you are capable of. The four hands, the monarchs… it wasn't random. For generations, we have been monitoring the population of this planet. It took us a long time to find the right people."
Barbie shook his head and chuckled. None of this made any sense. He wasn't a good person.
Don smiled, "your generation of the hands weren't the first," Don said.
"I know, Sam, Melanie, Pauline and Lyle were the first," Barbie said.
"No they weren't. In fact, they were the second. There were four other hands before them," Don explained, "your father was one, so was your mother, and Melanie's mother."
Barbie looked up, frowning, "No, my parents were never in Chester's Mill," he argued.
"That's not true. Why do you think your father was able to touch the Egg without it hurting him? We found out a long time ago that certain genetic traits were necessary which made our selection of candidates more scientific. Your parents first met when they were teenagers in Chester's Mill but it was only brief, so we had to wait a long time to put our plan into action. You being in Chester's Mill when the dome came down was not a coincidence," Don said.
Barbie looked out the window, at the faint red orange glow in the distance. For a long time he said nothing.
"What now?" he finally said.
"Now, you wait this out," Don explained.
"And then?"
"And then, you rebuild humanity."
Barbie stared at the figure before him for a long time. A question begging to be asked clouding his thoughts.
"Are Julia and I going to have a baby?" he finally asked.
Don smiled, "she'll be the humanity's salvation."
There is absolutely no convincing reason why this took forever for me to update, honestly. So I apologise so so so so much and I understand if no one is interested in this anymore, but for what it's worth, here it is. Hope you enjoy it!
