Rise of Mankind

Chapter 3

Kate turned the light on in the room that had the bed. She glanced around at the décor of the room, or at least the lack of décor. As far as a woman's touch, there wasn't much she could work with between the gray floors, walls and ceilings. She laid down on the firm mattress and fluffed her pillow. As she closed her eyes, she was haunted by the images she saw when she went to save her father earlier. Flying machines and "Johnny-5" robots with machine guns killing anything that moved. She willed the horrible images to leave her mind and just as she was about to give up, sheer exhaustion finally took over. The weight of her heavy lids became too much as she finally fell asleep.

John cleaned the kitchen as he said he would do and looked around the vast emptiness of the place. He was used to being alone for most of his life, but he had to admit that it felt so good to tell another person the burden he had carried for so many years. He glanced at the time on his watch. It was still early and he was to keyed up to sleep. As he walked past the room where Kate was sleeping, he couldn't help but stop to check in on her. As he kneeled next to the bed, he smoothed a lock of hair that had fallen on her forehead behind her ear. He took a moment to admire the pretty picture before him. He had to admit that she was very beautiful. He looked at the diamond that sparkled on her left hand and felt his chest tighten. She had after all been engaged to another man just over twenty-four hours ago. Somehow though she ended up here with him. It was his job to look after her and protect her. Would she ever feel the way about him that she did about Scott?

He placed a blanket over her as she shivered from the cool air in the room. He decided to leave the room and avoid having to answer why he was standing there in case she woke up. As he turned to leave, he heard her murmur his name. It was very quiet and for a moment he wasn't sure if she had actually woken up. She stirred deeper into the blanket burying her face in her pillow. At that moment he knew that he had to change his life. He would change it for her. He made a promise and a vow to himself that he would never let anything happen to her. He didn't feel worthy of her now, but maybe one day in the not so far future she would look at him as she once did to Scott.

John walked back to the control room and sat down at the computers. He looked over at the radio and toyed with the idea of turning it back on. Did he really want to listen the deafening silence of just static? He flipped the switch on wondering if anyone was on the other end. He sat there for what seemed like hours as the snowy buzz filled the room. A short while later he too fell asleep.

Kate slowly leaned up in the bed and stretched her limbs. The soreness of the past day's events was finally wearing in on her. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders while trying to work the stiffness out of her neck. She made her way to the kitchen dying for a cup of coffee. She prayed that they wouldn't run out of it too soon, especially since it was the only thing that woke her up in the morning. After making a cup for each of them, she looked in the office expecting to see John counting the rest of the inventory but was surprised when he wasn't there. She heard the soft static coming from the control room and found John asleep in front of the radio. She stole a glance at him and smiled at how boyish and innocent he seemed right now. Without the blonde stubble that lined his chin and jaw, he could have easily passed for a guy in his teens. She noticed the way his head leaned to the side and knew that he would have one hell of a crank in his neck if he stayed that way. She set the coffee cups down on the counsel and placed her hand on his shoulder. She shook him slightly and called out his name. He jumped as his eyes shot wide open. He relaxed when he saw her and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He rubbed his stiff neck as he asked her if something was wrong.

K-I'm fine, I just saw the way that you were sleeping and it looked pretty painful. Why don't you take the bed and get some sleep.

J-I'm good. I've slept in worse positions and places than this.

K-Coffee?

She held out the mug to him as he wrapped his hand around it. He took a whiff of the dark rich liquid and slowly took a sip.

J-I can't believe that you drink coffee the same way that I do.

K-Black with sugar?

J-Always. I guess there's a lot about you that I don't know.

K-Well I think you'll have enough time to learn everything there is to know about me. I must warn you now though, I'm frightfully scary with no makeup. As you can see I'm starting to look like Godzilla.

J-I think your beautiful-

The words flew out of his mouth before he even had the conscious thought to think of what he was saying. He flushed furiously as she smiled and looked away, also embarrassed by his bold statement.

J-What I meant to say was. I didn't mean to say that. Liking the fact that he was digging himself deeper in a hole, she decided to play with him some more.

K-So you're saying that you don't think I'm beautiful then?

J-Yes, I mean no, I mean, can we change the subject now?

She started laughing hysterically as John sunk down in the chair he was sitting in. He glanced away to one of the old computers not liking the situation he was in. When he took the chance to look her way again, she couldn't help but laugh more. He was glad to the see the smile on her face again even if it was at his own expense. As she held her sides trying to stop the pain from laughing so much, John seized the opportunity and jumped at her tickling her senseless. She screamed out as the two of them hit the ground hard, both laughing as he tickled her sides. She squirmed and fidgeted underneath him trying to break loose. His laughter stopped as he realized that they had somehow ended up on the floor and he was lying on top of her. The smile on her face also disappeared seeing how close he was to her. She looked into his sapphire blue eyes wondering if he was thinking what she was. She closed her eyes as she saw him lean forward anticipating the touch of his lips. A moment later the weight of his body was no longer on top of her and she opened her eyes to see him standing before her with his hand reached out to help her up. She placed her hand in his and he brought her to her feet.

J-Kate, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.

K-What?

J-This. Everything. It's been pretty crazy the last couple of days and I don't want to push for something that neither of us may be ready for.

She looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. She would have never thought that he would have been the first to back away. To her, that spoke volumes. It spoke volumes about his character and of how comfortable she was with him. He didn't know how to take the expression that was on her face. For a moment he was afraid that she thought he didn't want her.

J-Please don't feel rejected. I'm just trying to think with a clear head right now. I mean you were engaged a couple of days ago to another man. I just don't want to hurt you or confuse you more than you already are.

K- I' m not mad at you. I want you to know that I wasn't going to marry Scott.

J-What? But you said that you were-

K-I know what I said. Scott and I dated for a while. He proposed and it felt right at the time. As time passed it just didn't feel like he was the one. I just felt like my life had more purpose to it. I was terrified that one day I would wake up and regret that decision for the rest of my life. Scott was a great person and he didn't deserve to die the way he did, but we wouldn't have had a future together.

She left him alone to his thoughts as she went back to the office. She picked up the photo of her and her father wishing he was there to talk to her.

To be continued !!!! Please review!!!!