Kharina; thankyou! And yeah, I was kinda thinking of doing it different…
Karone-sakura- hey-yo! How ya doin? Sadly, I don't think I'll be doing the dinosaurs thing, cause Jade wasn't there when they went through that. But then again… who says I can't twist it! We'll see, ok?
Gpshaw; thanks again for de idea!
LittleMidgett; yesh, you were. YES, YOU'RE RIGHT! I… will... obey… (all zombie-like) and sankyou for your loyalty! Luvn it! (and yes, I meant to misspell a couple of words!)
Okay, next chapter! Wheeeee!
My lungs filled with dust and smoke, and my eyes were burning as I tried to see… tried to call out to Jake, but coughed on the smoke, still desperately searching…
I saw something move! I darted out after it, finding the thick grey smoke was clearing, and through sore eyes, I saw a figure in a grey jumpsuit, darting around a corner. Well, it certainly wasn't Jake…
I ran after them, turning a corner as they turned another. I suddenly saw a way to intercept them. I ran…they ran… I bolted through a small alleyway as they turned yet another corner…
WHAM! I slammed into them, taking them down! He… because I now noticed it was clearly a he… struggled and fought with me! Suddenly we were both tumbling down the stairs!
We hit the bottom, with me landing on top of him and pinning him down. Then…
No… it couldn't be…
"Robert?" I wondered as I jumped up almost unconsciously, looking down at the person in front of me. How could I have not recognised him…that hair…
A single eye stared up at me. The other was horribly scarred. I saw another scar running across the side of his head as well as he got up… he was so tall…
This was far from the Robert I'd last known. The Robert in front of me was built like a pro-wrestler, not like the skinny-ish boy I'd last seen walking away from me. He had more scars than I could count, and that was just on his head!
"Robert, what happened to you?" I reached out to touch his terribly scarred face, but he jerked back violently, growling at me.
"Robert? It's me"
"I know who you are. Traitor"
"What?"
"You know what!" He snapped, then walked away from me. I suddenly realised this was like a subway or something, and followed.
"Look, I don't know! I go to bed one night, and suddenly I'm here! In the future! Robert-"
He turned on me, that icy blue eye of his still having the power to freeze the soul. There was no softness there… nothing.
"Come with me" He finally said, and I followed, afraid. We made our way through the subway, then the sewerage system, and finally, back up into what looked like an abandoned building.
"I see you really don't remember, so I'll remind you" he said harshly as he led me up flights of stairs.
"You sold us to the Yeerks Jade. You were weak, and couldn't fight them. Ithiell was killed instantly, because of you, and Amanda… she was captured"
"What about you?"
"Doesn't my face show it!" He suddenly screamed, turning and bringing his face close to mine "I managed to escape, but barely. Now… and now I do this"
He finally pulled himself away, then took the stairs faster now. I could barely keep up. Finally, he reached a door, slamming it open on its old, creaky hinges. It swung back and nearly hit me. I managed to catch it in time… walking into a room with a few other humans and a Chanaiben in the corner.
"What… what about Rtaia? And Lowri!"
Seconds later he grabbed the collar of my jumpsuit, bringing my face close to his.
"They're all dead Jade! Thanks to you! You weak, pitiful creature" He threw me down, then smiled darkly "No, you don't deserve to be pitied. You deserve to die. And I'll be most happy to do that for you"
He suddenly grabbed what looked like a metal pole, aiming a pointed end at me. Ready to-
"I don't think that's a good idea Robert" Came the voice. Robert looked sideways, and instantly dropped the metal pole beside me.
"Why?"
"We need all the people we can get"
"She isn't a person anymore Erik!" Robert snapped.
"Let me see that for myself"
"I'LL KILL YOU BISHOP!" He screamed, but walked off. I turned to see where the voice had come from. A red-haired man, who was smoking and doing something else, looked down at me. He smiled.
"So, you must be Jade. Pleasure to meet you"
"Uh… hi" I muttered, getting up and shaking his hand. I saw the gigantic scar trailing up his arm. There was a scar over his right eye, but other than that he didn't look half as bad as Robert did. He explained about the EF to me, then Robert. He told me about the Chanaiben home world, how all but a very few Chanaibens actually survived the attack on their world. How many, no one knew.
Then he told me about the Yeerks take-over of this planet; of Earth. How one by one, we were all either killed or infested. There was still a resistance, but it was very small.
"What… what about you?"
He smiled, putting one cigarette out, and lighting another.
"I was one of those fighting the Yeerks. Although, I managed to somehow be caught in the back by a Hork-Bajir blade, and well… I'm no use to anyone anymore. Well, not physically, anyway. So now, the most I do is try and keep us together long enough to survive. Robert and I are the leaders of this small group. He's the brawn, I'm the brains"
Then he looked at the badge that was magically there, on me, and took another puff.
"I see you're on the Cloning project. And the stripes on your arms suggest you're a good female for producing"
"Whoa-" I then saw the white stripes, two on each shoulder. I'd never noticed them before…
"Don't worry, it just means your geans are good for cloning and reproduction"
"Well if you put it that way" I muttered, rolling my eyes. The red-haired man, Erik, I think it was, just smiled.
"Oh crap! They're coming! Everyone, pack up and move it!" Robert's voice shot through me, and I jumped up as the small number of people started packing. Robert picked up what could have almost been a harness, attached it to Erik, who was still putting out his smoke, and then picked him up and put Erik on his back, the other way around.
"Move it!" Robert snapped, kicking me out of the way. I found myself almost trampled by moving bodies…
And before I knew it, I was out on the street, the others no-where to be found.
Then I saw them. Taxxons!
Tsssssewww! I ducked! The three Taxxons moved their ugly bodies as fast as they could towards me, which was amazingly fast it seemed. I ducked another shot, running for my life. I turned a corner…
And ran smack-bang into a clear creature. They grabbed me. I kicked one of them blindly, and they dropped me. I scrabbled around them, desperate for something to protect myself with. I had nothing! And I still couldn't shift!
I ran, barely avoiding getting blown to pieces as now the clear creatures came after me. I think Erik said they were called Orff…
Taxxons suddenly in front of me. I backed away, knowing I might as well give up… there was no hope of winning!
Tssssewww!
Tssssewwww!
Tssssewwww!
Three shots, and three Taxxons down! Jake was suddenly there, grabbing my arm and pulling me down the street. I ran, with my chest heaving and Jake firing back at the Orff every few seconds. Soon, we managed to loose them, collapsing an alleyway and backtracking around it, then leaving the area in a hurry.
We found another abandoned apartment building, climbing the rickety stairs and into the most stable apartment we could find. By the time we got there, we were both exhausted. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself. But I couldn't… all I'd seen… all I'd learnt… I'd killed my own friends! Ithiell… Rtaia… Amanda… and… Robert…
I looked at Jake, who seemed about as I felt. He looked at me.
"Are you… are you…"
"You jerk!" I suddenly screamed, running over and pounding his chest furiously "You left me alone! You let go and left me alone! You… you… I…"
I couldn't scream anymore. A lump caught in my throat, and hot tears fell down my cheeks as I realised Ithiell was dead… all my friends were… because of me… because I was weak…
I wasn't mad at Jake. Not really. I just hated myself.
"Jade?" I realised he'd grabbed my wrists, and was looking down at me. He seemed scared as well.
"This isn't how it's supposed to be Jake. We're supposed to be… not adults, acting like… we're supposed to be fighting and making a difference! It's all so…"
"Jade, I… I saw Cassie" he told me what she'd said, and I told him about Robert.
"It's… I can't believe this! It's all over…" I felt my knees buckle, and Jake barely caught me in time, putting his arms securely around me, then leaning against the wall as I sobbed.
"It's not. There's still a chance. Look, I have to get to… where I'm supposed to be working. You too, and we'll meet up later…"
"Jake, don't. Please don't leave me alone anymore. I don't want to be alone here" I sobbed into his chest.
"I have to. If I don't, that…"
"Jake. Please. I can't take this anymore. It's… it's… I'm so scared" I finally let out, shaking like a leaf. It really was all over… we'd lost, and now the Yeerks had made our home their second home…
"Jade, get a grip! We need to work together here" he snapped, lifting my face to look at his. His eyes were angry. My lower lip trembled involuntarily, slightly afraid of the man in front of me.
"Jade, come on. I'm not your enemy. I'm your friend…" his eyes turned pleading. I tried to nod, but found myself kissing him instead. I was afraid, I was alone… I needed something real to hold onto.
I guess he did too. He kissed me back.
We were both just kids in adult bodies. Alone and afraid.
But for just a few precious seconds, we had each other.
Okay, if you hadn't noticed by now, I'm doing a little love fic as well. Yeah, I know, twisting and flipping and spinning it around like mad. But hey, that's what makes a good fic, hey?
Review! I'll be back later on…
