Interval 3 – New Old World

Alan's POV

I was sleeping in my room, this is one of the few nights of sleep where I am not tormented by medieval battles, monsters or dragons, this time I dreamed of the past, I dreamed of events that happened a long time ago, but mostly, I dreamed of a person special to me.

Kingdom of Night, Year 4190

Alan's POV

"What happened?"

"Wake up…"

"I had a weird dream."

"Wake up…"

"A dragon and a giant fell from the sky."

"Wake up…"

"Soon after I found myself, in an abandoned city in the year 4190."

"Wake up…"

"I met an angry white-haired girl and I killed a monster."

"WAKE UP!"

"OUCH!"

I woke up being kicked in the ribs, got up quickly and grabbed the left side of my body. Who kicked me? Looking around I realized I was in a shabby cabin and a white haired girl was looking at me annoyed.

It wasn't a dream, was it? I felt my vision darken again. I think I'm going to faint.

"Don't even think about it!" Novi yelled as she slapped me across the face "If you're going to pass out every second I'm going to throw you out there for the SHADES to steal your body!"

I grabbed my sore cheek, "Thanks, I needed that."

"You're welcome." Novi replied as she sat down in her chair, I lifted the chair she was sitting on, placed it in front of Novi and sat down.

I didn't say anything, I just stared at the table thinking about the information Novi had given me. A mysterious disease. Monsters called SHADES. Year 4190. This is too much, 2187 years have passed. My family... My friends... They're all dead! I... I... I don't know what to do... I have nowhere to go...

"Hey! Are you okay?" Novi asked.

I started to laugh at how ridiculous the situation was, I felt something running down my face. I was crying? Yes I was.

"HAHA HA! No, I'm not well, too much time has passed, my friends and family are dead, I have nowhere to go." I said as I put her hands on my head and supported me on the table.

"What will happen now? Where should I go? Should I try to go back to what's left of where my family used to live? I don't know what to do!"

Novi came over and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen, I know how you feel, I also lost my friends, family, and home some to the SHADES and some to the disease. I'm going to give you some advice that may sound cliché, but you can't despair. The world is no longer relatively peaceful as it once was. The animals have grown to absurd sizes, hordes of SHADES lurk in the city's buildings. And then there are people who don't age. You have to survive, if you give up you die."

"Thanks." I wiped my tears and looked at Novi "Could you teach me? Surviving in this world, I mean." I asked as I lifted me up.

Novi was thinking for some time, she looked around her house "It's ok. You're the first person I've seen in a long time. I wouldn't want you to die so soon. Let's rest for today, tomorrow I will explain to you how to survive in this world."

"Thank you very much." She said to Novi.

Novi went to her bed and lay down.

"Where am I going to sleep?" I asked Novi.

"There." Novi said as she pointed to a corner of the room.

She's letting me hide here. I think asking for a bed would be too much. I went to the corner of the room, put my backpack on the floor to serve as a pillow, and lay down.

"Hey." I heard Novi calling me.

"Yes?"

"If you try to do something to me while I'm sleeping, I'll throw you out. You'll have to deal with the SHADES." She said as she smiled.

"Ok!" I said while sweating with nervousness.

"Goodnight!" Novi said to me.

"Goodnight!" I replied. She's scary.

That night I dreamed of a red sky, the giant and her children devoured the world.

Alan's POV

Novi and I were walking through the city streets, I had my backpack and machete, Novi had a leather bag slung over her shoulder, she also wore a holstered belt for her revolver and ammunition holders, together we stopped in front of a building. Vegetation covered the entrance.

"Can you cut the plants?" Novi asked me.

"Leave it to me." Using my machete I began to cut the leaves, vines that covered the front door. The interior was in better condition than other buildings.

"You know, a few years ago people used to live in this city, a few weeks ago the last of these people died, they settled inside these big buildings, they've always been here. According to the stories they were built by people known as the ancients."

"You mean the skyscrapers?" I asked.

"What?" Novi asked.

"The skyscrapers. The big buildings scattered all over the city."

"So you mean they're called skyscrapers? Good to know."

What's wrong with the people who used to live here? Not knowing cell phones, computers and now skyscrapers. We're in the future, but technology has regressed?

Novi then turned to me.

"Let's start your survival class. First lesson! Now that everyone is dead there is no one to grow the food for you, so you will have to learn to do it yourself, luckily the person who owned this shop had a large stock of seeds."

Looking around the store I realized it was a place that sold agricultural products. There were tools, shovels, hoes, plows, watering cans, boots, gloves, fertilizer and seeds, mostly seeds.

"Let's get some materials, there's an empty lot at the back of my house, we can use it to make a vegetable garden, I was already thinking of making one before the seeds here spoiled, with your help we'll be able to do it faster and we will have a reliable source of food."

Novi then started to gather the tools to make the vegetable garden, but it was a lot for us to carry in our backpacks and hands.

"One minute." I said to Novi.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'll be right back." It must be here somewhere.

SOME MINUTES LATER

"What is this?" Novi asked me.

"A shopping cart." I replied.

"And what is a shopping cart?"

"It's something people used to carry their groceries in a supermarket."

"And what is a supermarket?"

Seriously? Does she not know what one is? "Supermarket is a place where the most diverse products, food, drinks, sweets, hygiene products, cleaning products were sold, they were placed on shelves and organized into different sections."

Novi shook her head in confirmation, "I think I've seen one of these. I don't understand why the ancients kept their food in colorful containers."

If she doesn't know what a supermarket is, I doubt she knows about companies, advertisements and product packaging.

I put the shopping cart in front of the store and together we started filling it, putting in buckets, watering cans, shovels, plows, hoes, boots, gloves. The seeds we keep in my backpack and pockets so as not to mix them up.

We were walking back to Novi's house when we heard a noise, it sounded like a moan of pain, from a street further on, coming from the left there was a SHADE, I approached my hand to the machete, but Novi stopped me, she grabbed my arm and pulled me into a bookstore, we hid behind a bookcase and let SHADE pass down the street, we saw her through the glass of the bookstore.

Soon the SHADE disappeared in one of the alleys of the city.

"Second lesson. Fight only when necessary, a lone SHADE is no problem, just avoid it, but if you have to fight, kill the SHADE quickly and then run away, the noise will attract more SHADES, they will come like a horde towards you, and the only firearm I have is this one."

Novi said to me as she patted her revolver.

I nodded my head.

We left the bookstore and I went back to pushing the shopping cart.

"Hey!" I felt Novi tap my shoulder.

"Yea?"

"What is it?" Novi said as I pointed to a car.

"A car."

"And what is it for."

"To get around."

Novi thought for a while as we walked.

"And where is the place in the car to tie the horses?"

I tripped and nearly fell to the floor with that question.

"Cars don't use horses, but engines."

She kept thinking again as we walked.

"You mean steam engines?"

What?! What happened to the technology of this world? Horses, steam engines? What is this the 18th century?

"No, they ran on gasoline, which is a petroleum product."

"You seem to know a lot about how the ancients lived."

"From the looks of it I am one."

"I still can't believe this story about you being from 2003!"

"You can believe what you want. Any more questions?"

"Yea! A lot!"

And that's what happened the whole way Novi asked me questions about the ancients and the world, imagine her surprise when I said that years ago the SHADES didn't exist and the world wasn't divided into permanent day and night. She was also surprised when I explained what phones, cell phones, computers and airplanes were.

One thing that bothered me is how used she seemed to the SHADES, according to her, the SHADES have always existed and nobody knows where they came from, people around the world had to fight them.

What happened during all the years that passed between the giant's arrival and the present world?

TIMESKIP

Alan's POV

Novi was preparing pieces of roast beef on the makeshift wood stove, smoke rising from the house through a small metal chimney.

"Novi?"

"Yes?"

"What can you tell me about people who don't age?"

Novi suddenly stopped, she kept tapping her fingers on the counter next to the stove. She then put the pieces of meat on two plates and put them on the table, we sat down and started to eat.

In a serious voice Novi began to speak.

"People who don't age are as the name says, they don't age, at first no one suspected anything, these people worked as teachers, salesmen, guards, mayors of cities or village leaders. But as the years passed some more attentive ones noticed that these people stayed the same, their hair and nails didn't grow, they never ate or drank years passed and not a single wrinkle formed on their skin. They were permanently young."

"And does anyone know why?"

Novi nodded in the negative.

"When the disease started to spread black marks would appear on the bodies of the sick, their strength would disappear and soon the person would die of weakness, people who did not age never got sick, none of them even, when they were directly confronted about it, they all disappeared the next day, the teachers resigned, the guards abandoned their posts, the salesmen closed their stores, those in leadership positions tried to calm the people down, but it didn't work."

"And what happened afterwards?"

Novi then gave a sad laugh.

"HAHAHA! A total revolt, people took to the streets destroying everything in their path, demanding answers to what was happening, but when they invaded the places where people who did not age lived, there was no one, they were gone, documents were burned, papers were torn, personal items were no longer there, people who did not age packed their things and disappeared."

"And now you've been living alone in this town?"

"Yes. Until you arrive. The supposed time traveler."

"Is it really that hard to believe I'm not from that era?"

"Yes. I prefer to believe that you were living in some remote part of town, and we happened to meet at the hospital."

I sighed, it's no use arguing, we ate our food and went to sleep.

People who don't age? Another mystery in this distant future.

TIMESKIP

Alan's POV

And done! I thought as I placed the hoe beside me, a few days went by, Novi and I were at the back of her house, spent the morning preparing the ground for planting, we planted the seeds and irrigated. Now we must wait and take care of the vegetable garden.

"Here!" Novi offered me a canteen full of water, drinking the water, Novi and I sat on a small wooden bench at the back of the house.

"Novi?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks?"

"For what?"

"For teaching me how to live in this world, teaching me how to survive and letting me stay here with you."

"You're welcome. I won't lie to you, I was feeling lonely here in this town, I was wondering how long it would be until a SHADE finished me off, but now it's not that bad, after all I have someone to talk to now."

Novi said as I smiled at me.

"Thanks."

"But don't think I'm going to go easy on you, I have to teach you how to survive, and you're not going to get that with those skinny arms of yours." Novi said as she flexed her arm.

I looked at Novi and then at me. Damn it! She has more muscles than I do.

"Tomorrow we start your combat training."

Why do I get the feeling that a lot of pain awaits me?

Alan's POV

"That's it?! Keep running!" Novi yelled after me as we ran through town.

I was covered in sweat, my legs were aching and I was running out of breath. That was Novi's training, push-ups, sit-ups, city runs, and more.

It doesn't look that bad does it? Wrong! I spend most days training non-stop. According to Novi, she was trained by her parents for years, I have never trained in my life, so according to her I will have to take the intensive course.

"Did I say you could run slower?! Keep running or you'll become SHADE's food!"

When Novi said that a horde of SHADES came out of an alley and started chasing us.

"FUCK! SHIT! RUN!"

Novi ran past me, when I looked ahead she was already a small dot in the distance.

"WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

I ran faster with the SHADES close behind.

What has my life become? I just want to go home!

TIMESKIP

Alan's POV

"Today we will begin your combat training! Punch me!" Novi said as she positioned herself in front of me.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

"If you insist."

I punched Novi, or at least I tried. I don't know what happened, as my fist approached Novi, I felt something grab my wrist, my feet leaving the ground, and suddenly the world was upside down.

Novi approached me and stared down at me with a look of disdain, the moon shining behind her lighting up her face.

"Pathetic. Again!" She said.

Focus Alan! I got up and tried again, and the process repeated itself, I was thrown to the floor again and again. I wonder if I'll get better in the future.

TIMESKIP

Alan's POV

How long have I been here? I thought as I ate my stew. Long enough to reap what I sowed. The vegetable garden that Novi and I made finally paid off after a few months. We got beets, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, radishes, cabbages, spinach. Months of hard work finally paid off, if we're careful we won't have to worry about food for a while.

Firewood for the stove was easy to get as the town was turned into a forest, water could be picked up from a river near Novi's house.

Novi was in front of me, also eating her potato and carrot stew.

"Novi, what can you tell me about the SHADES?"

Novi thought for a while.

"For starters, nobody knows where SHADES came from, they've kind of always existed, since before my grandparents were born, at first they looked like creatures made of black smoke, but as time went on they started to take on a more solid form. The purpose of all SHADES is to steal people's bodies."

"Does anyone know why SHADES want other people's bodies?"

"No! And why would I know? SHADES are monsters, you don't try to understand why they do things. What you have to do is put a bullet in their heads!"

"I understand." She hates the SHADES, I don't blame her, Novi has lost friends and family to the monsters. But I can't shake the thought that there's something more. The SHADES want to steal bodies. But why? There must be a reason.

"Tell me. What was it like fighting the SHADES?"

"Well at first it wasn't too hard, SHADES were clumsy and dumb, so we used what we had in hand, knives, shovels, axes, when SHADES became 'solid' they got faster and smarter, so we started to forge swords, armor, shields. But then the SHADES started using armor, they started using strategies, attacking through the alleys, sewers, forming a horde, not to mention of course the monstrous SHADES, several SHADES that merged and formed a giant monster."

I swallowed hard thinking about the monstrous SHADES, if the normal ones were scary enough, I'm afraid to find one of the bigger ones.

"We realized there were too many SHADES for us to fight at close range, it would be certain death, so we started using that." Novi said as she pointed at the revolver on top of her bed.

"We made revolvers, rifles, carbines, we made barricades to funnel the SHADES, we put them where we wanted them and we made them eat lead, after all there is no sunlight here for the SHADES to burn."

"Do the SHADES burn in sunlight?"

"Yes. The smaller ones burn immediately, the larger ones can live in the sunlight for a while, the giants don't burn in the sunlight. You know, my grandfather once traveled on a steamer to the other side of the world and guess what, there was sunlight there, people still wore swords and shields on the other side of the world."

It makes sense, necessity breeds innovation, people on the other side of the world had sunlight, so they probably shouldn't have to worry about a horde of SHADES knocking at their doors, that's why they still used medieval weapons. There was no need for anything new, people in the Night Realm on the contrary had to change their tactics to survive.

"Thanks for answering my questions. With each passing day I am amazed at how different the world has become."

"You're welcome! You know what, since you're here, tomorrow we'll get you a gun, not just one, but several, I know a place full of guns and ammo, an extra pair of hands would be welcome."

"Okay, thanks for answering my questions." I said while smiling.

"You're welcome." Novi smiled back.

We went back to eating our stew. Life in the distant future isn't that bad.

Alan's POV

"Is this the place?" I asked Novi.

"Yes." She answered.

Novi and I were on the fifth floor of an office building, looking at a warehouse across the street.

"Then why don't we go in there and get the weapons yet?"

"I think it's a good time to tell you that this warehouse is a nest of SHADES." Novi told me with hesitation in her voice.

"Why didn't you told me this before?!"

"I was worried you'd refuse if you knew what was in there."

I took a deep breath and stared at Novi.

"Listen. I'm running out of ammo, and I'd rather not have to fight SHADES using my bare hands, that warehouse is full of guns and ammo, I've never risked going in there before because it wasn't worth getting into a SHADES nest just to run away with a handful of ammo and being chased by a horde, but with you here we can take it all and go."

Novi said as she pointed to the various bags and backpacks we brought, there were two carrying bags, mine and one we got from a store, and four large travel bags, the kind that the strap is slung over the shoulder. Damn it! I'm not going to lie, I'm terrified of SHADES, but weapons would also be useful here, SHADES appear as a horde of zombies.

"So what do you tell me?" Novi said as she held out her hand to me.

"When we get out of here, I want you to teach me how to use a weapon." I said as I shook her hand.

"Leave it to me, it's a deal." Novi said while smiling.

I couldn't help but smile back.

Alan's POV

We were in front of a warehouse, it was the typical industrial warehouse, there were fences around it, but the gate was down so we simply went in, in front of the warehouse there was a roll up gate, and next to it a normal door, we approached the door and tried open it.

It was locked, I put a little more strenght on it as Novi pushed the door, the door opened, the lock was extremely rusty, we took a step into the warehouse, and what was inside almost made me scream. There were SHADES everywhere, SHADES sleeping on the floor, on the catwalks above us.

Novi placed her right hand over my mouth, and placed the index finger of her left hand in front of her lips, then she pointed to a door that was on the other side of the warehouse.

I understood what she meant, Novi removed her hand from my mouth and we tiptoed to the other side of the warehouse, we had to go around the SHADES sleeping on the floor, I put my left foot between the legs of a SHADE, Novi stepped on the side of another head, I was going to take a step, but the SHADE just ahead rolled over in its sleep, blocking my path.

Having to take a step to the left, stepping into the space between the right arm and torso of another SHADE's, Novi tripped and almost fell on top of a SHADE on her right side, but she managed to regain her balance.

We continued the excruciating process of walking between the SHADES until we reached the door on the other side of the warehouse, Novi turned the door handle slowly, and pushed it forward, the door opened with a long creak.

NEC!

We looked back scared, one of the SHADES had gotten up, Novi pulled me behind one of the boxes in the warehouse, and we were looking at SHADE from the corner of the box, the SHADE got up and sat down, looked left and then right, seeing nothing strange, the SHADE let out a long yawn and went back to sleep.

Seeing this, Novi and I got up and ran into the room.

Alan's POV

This place was heaven, I thought as I looked around the room full of guns and ammo, I expected to find modern weapons like M4, AK-47, M1911, but no, this place was a wild west gun collector's dream.

Revolvers, rifles, carbines, all were neatly placed on racks on the walls divided into groups, revolvers next to revolvers, rifles next to rifles. On the other side of the room were boxes and boxes of ammo, enough to blast a block, come back here for more ammo, and blast another.

"Amazing isn't it?" Novi said while smiling beside me.

"Yes, it is eye candy." I replied.

Novi walked towards the weapons, turned to me, opened her arms and said.

"Welcome to the armory, this is where we kept our weapons when we weren't fighting the SHADES, when the SHADES attacks happened we had sentries that saw the SHADES coming and warned people, so barricades were prepared, capable men and women came here, took up arms to defend their people."

"Impressive, this city certainly has a history of struggles."

"Yea. I miss the times of relative peace." Novi said while giving me a sad smile.

We approached the weapons, opened our pockets and backpacks, and started to fill them.

I opened the top of my backpack and put on a Winchester Model 1894, a Colt Lightning Carbine, I also filled the backpack with ammo, when I say filled I mean I filled every inch of the backpack with ammunition, I also filled the pockets of my pants and coat.

In the bag to my left I stashed the smaller weapons, a Colt Dragoon Revolver Model 2, a Colt 1889, and ammo, lots of ammo.

Looking to the side, I saw Novi also stuffing her backpack with rifles and carbines, a Burnside Carbine, a Henry Rifle, and ammo.

In her bag Novi kept a Colt Paterson, Colt 1878, and a Peperbox Revolver, and of course ammunition.

As I looked around my eyes widened with a gun I found, a Colt Single Action Army with .45 ammo at the side, looking around I found a holstered belt for the revolver, I put the belt on, and then I put the revolver in the holster.

Now I feel like a cowboy from the old west movies. But I still need to take this seriously, guns are not toys, let's take all this home, and there I learn to shoot.

But there was still an empty purse. What should I keep in it? More ammo?

"Here, keep this in your bag." Novi handed me something, I took it without paying attention, when I put my hand in front of me, I saw that I was holding a red cylindrical object with a fuse on top.

"DYNAMITE!" I screamed.

"SSSHHH!" Novi replied with her finger in front of her lips.

"Yeah it's dynamite, and we're going to need it if we have to deal with a horde or the big SHADES so fill up."

Novi walked towards a box full of dynamite and started filling her bag, I started doing the same thing. Soon we had our pockets full of weapons, ammunition and explosives.

"Ready to go?" Novi asked me.

"Yes." I replied.

We opened the armory door and took a step outside, on the way I ended up stepping on something soft, when looking down I saw that I stepped on the leg of a SHADE the size of a child, soon the SHADE woke up and started crying in pain.

WWHAAA!

The cries echoed throughout the warehouse, the larger SHADES began to wake up.

"What the fuck!" Novi yelled.

"I'm sorry!" I replied.

Novi kicked away the SHADE I stepped on, so she took out some dynamite and shot the fuse with the revolver she always carried, the fuse lit up and she threw the dynamite into the armory.

"RUN!" Novi yelled at me.

She didn't have to say it twice, we ran through the warehouse, SHADES getting up on the way and trying to slash us with their claws, I ducked, a blow went over my head, Novi jumped over a SHADE that tried to grab her legs. Until we managed to get to the door we entered.

"AAAHHH!"

I heard a roar behind us, one of the larger SHADES wearing armor threw an ax towards us, we quickly went through the door and closed it behind us, the ax blade came out the other side of the door.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?! KEEP RUNNING!"

I saw that Novi was already moving away from the warehouse. She's right! What am I doing standing here? I need to run! The strength returned to my legs and I ran away from the warehouse, I managed to get to Novi's side, when we were some distance away…

BOOM!

The warehouse exploded, we were thrown forward by the explosion, we fell to the ground, my ears were ringing, when I regained my hearing, I saw Novi with her hand stretched out to me, I took her hand and stood up. Novi stared at me.

"Look…"

SLAP!

I was greeted with a slap in the face.

"Next time you do something stupid like that I'll leave you to die! You got it?" Novi asked me.

"Yes ma'am!" I replied as I massaged my sore cheek.

"Excellent! Now…"

BOOM!

Novi was interrupted by a second explosion coming out of the warehouse, we both stared at each other before we started laughing.

"HAHAHAHA!" We both laughed as the warehouse caught fire, together we ran back to Novi's house.

So Novi and Alan returned to their hiding place, but what they didn't notice was a SHADE coming out of the warehouse's rubble, SHADE looked around seeing that its house and companions were reduced to ashes, in the midst of the flames SHADE found another SHADE, a minor who had survived, approaching it the larger SHADE placed the smaller SHADE's hand on its chest, soon the smaller SHADE was absorbed by the larger one.

The larger SHADE increased in size, then began to walk through the city, reaching a staircase that led into a subway, The larger SHADE entered another SHADES nest, there one of the smaller SHADES that lived in the nest approached the larger one, the larger SHADE then grabbed the smaller one by the head and began to absorb it.

The other smaller SHADES in the nest could only watch in fear, as the larger SHADE started to approach them.

END OF CHAPTER

So what did you think of the chapter? Was it too fast? Too slow? What do you guys think of Alan and Novi so far? Am I developing the characters well?

Leave your comments and opinions about the story. Reviews are welcome.

Thanks for reading this far.

Until the next chapter!