Terra Nova 4
"Easy easy not so rough!" I protested as Skye pushed my wheelchair out of the hospital, it was my first time out since I had returned to Terra Nova, after the first night in the hospital I had come down with a fever and infection in my leg and so it had taken another month for me to recover and a further three months to begin to walk on my prosthetic leg. "Stop complaining you're so grumpy, you moaned about being in there and now you're moaning about being outside" Skye teased, during my stay in the hospital my father had banned any visitors, he was concerned too many visitors would weaken me further, and so Skye had been my only company apart from the daughters of Dr Shannon, Maddy and Zoe, who liked to visit me whilst visiting their mum, Zoe often bringing get well soon pictures. "So where do you want to go?" Skye enquired, "I was thinking the market then the diner would be nice, my treat" she added, "yeah sounds great, but it's on me, I've got over eight years of pay unspent and I owe you for all this nursing" I replied. We made our way through the streets of terra nova, it felt so good to be outside in the fresh air, the sun was warm and brightened my spirits, my return and first sighting since the attack in terra nova drew a lot of attention, mostly people just called greetings but some people actually came over to welcome me back or introduce themselves, it was flattering to receive so much attention but it was tiring, " hey Skye you think maybe we could skip the market and go somewhere abit more peaceful" I ask, she looks down and smiles at me, her bright blue eyes staring just for a moment into mine. "You're not that light to push around my lord" she jokes, "we could go see your new home, its nearly ready I think and you could see what you need", I agreed and we headed towards the western edge of the colony. The western edge of the colonies perimeter was the quietest, the houses spread out all with small garden plots , this area had been designated for family groups when my father had asked me about my plans after id got out of the hospital id made it clear that I'd like some space away from the main buzz of the colony, not that I'm antisocial, it's just when you've spent years alone in a jungle you come to value your personal space, that and I wanted to avoid too many questions of where I had been and what I'd been doing out there. My houses was smaller than the surrounding buildings, only two bedrooms and matching the general design of the other buildings in terra nova, Skye rolled us up the path to the from deck of the house, however a problem occurred, a step, the bane of my life, " help me up I can walk in" I plead. She sighs, we had the conversation often, "you always overdo it, I can roll you in" she argued, I pulled a face at her and as quickly as I could pushed with all my force out the wheelchair catching her off guard, for a moment it seems successful, I'm stood up putting my weight on both legs, success. It was then that I fell over lying on my back looking up at the sky above, Skye herself had given up on catching me, id pulled this move often and more often than not fell over, " you didn't even try and catch me that time" I grumble winking, " hmm I think you enjoy the attention" she replied. I laughed at this and she came and joined me on the deck, we looked out at the view, the house faced the perimeter fence and the field and jungle beyond, a herd of ankylosaurs ambled by the fence browsing on patches of low ferns, we sat in silence for some time, Skye knew I had these quiet moments and seemed to enjoy them as well.
"So what do you think" Skye asked as we left the house, "yeah it's great plenty of room" I replied, I'd never had a proper home never mind one of my own, "come on then back in the chair, Dr Shannon will want you back," she continued, I sighed, I didn't like the wheelchair . I needed a stick to move around with any ease, the additional support took some weight of the new leg, "I'm fine I can walk back it will do me good anyway" I pleaded, but before Skye could argue back she was interrupted by a call on her communicator, "what's wrong? Okay I'm coming" she sounded anxious, she turned to me "its hunter he's sick, I need to get him to the hospital. "Take the chair and go get him, I will meet you at the hospital" I reassured her, I could see that she wanted to argue but agreed, with one last concerned look towards me she dashed off.
I made my way back towards the hospital, it was a slow and long walk, stopping periodically for a rest, Skye was right I wasn't ready for long walks, I passed through the market and neared the hospital, everywhere was busy with people going here and there, and outside dads HQ I saw a comfortable looking bench, taking a seat I stretched my legs and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. I was looking up into the sky when I noticed something, a small glowing dot in the distance, descending and coming closer, a meteorite, I pulled myself to my feet and shaded my eyes, its coming this way, a soldier was passing by and I shouted over to him, he ran over "Mr Taylor how can I help, Sir" he said in a clear military tone, " radio my father quick tell him to look in the sky to the north" I commanded, I noticed how much I sounded like my father, the soldier turned and looked up "shit" he muttered and radioed into my father. The meteorite had now become a solid ball of flame in the sky closing in every second, others had started to notice it now all eyes looking up, Taylor ran into the square, noticed me and ran over, "good spot son, think it'll miss by much" he asked, I squinted harder, "it will hit the ridge for shore, after that it could bounce anywhere" he nodded, " everyone get to shelter" he shouted "soldiers get these people under cover", he ran off shouting further orders, squeezing my shoulder before he left, the meteorite stuck the ridge, an electromagnetic charge buzzing across the colony, everything was fried". The meteorite continued of the ridge skipping higher again before coming down at least fifty miles north, the impact through debris into the air and the beginning of a sonic wave began to role across the jungle, in the square most people were undercover everyone braced, one lone child sat beneath a table exposed, my eyes widened and I began to limp as fast as I could towards her, she sat crying, the shock wave was rolling closer, the air drawing inward as the wave breathed in gathering energy, I reached her diving on top of her and pulling her behind a large stone curb, " it's okay stay down" I yelled. The wave struck the colony like the sea strikes the cliff rolling over the walls with a great boom, trees and anything loose broke up and flew into the air, the girl screamed below me as I tried to shelter her from the debris, I just wanted a day out the hospital I thought.