The Dimension Jumper: Resurrection

By Shadow Phoenix

Robert Drago (Dray-go), a boy of 15 from the suburbs of Adelaide, sleeps
in a coma from a car accident. Only to awake to a life that turns a
horrific turn. The death of his father. The snubbing of his family and
friends cursing him for what happened. A mad scientist wanting him dead as he progresses to take over the world.
All the while, haunted by Spirits of Fate try to keep his death from happening again. Reintroduced to a power to travel Interdimensional Gateways. Chosen as the next saviour of humanity, and follow a blind path to bring about Balance between Good and Evil.

**-'Life lives of sacrifice, not of gain.'-**

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477140703

Shadow Phoenix

SHADOW EMBROIDER PHOENIX was born in the late 80s under the natural care of normal Adelaide parents. But he is no more than normal as if he started his life as an egg. Spending only 1 year at Adelaide Uni to learn to learn at university, he has undergone freelanced study of Psychology, Spiritual Texts, Language Studies, and Quantum Mechanics over the past half a decade, with Psychology freelanced for the past decade.Combined with his love of writing, and Tafe courses devoted to it, Mister Phoenix brings a new defi nition to Fiction.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The beginning

It began exactly as the bible tells, the world of a dark and vacant void, like the darkened blue sky of the six o’clock morning during winter. The irony is it also begins this tale.

Four lone figures of silhouetted black stood out, standing at one-against-three. One of the two members behind the leader had an unusual shape, telling she belonged to an entirely different species. She looked no larger than a household dog and had arms shaped as wings swooping in smooth movements. The others had humanoid shapes, but with a bizarre characteristic to their hair. One looked bald with what appeared to be seven tentacles dangling just down to the collarbone like hair. The others had the same, but also with hair in styles that was difficult to comprehend from the low colour.

Please! Release him! The hairstyle leader of the three howled with mucus and upset from a saddened mood. She usually had a swift and pure voice, but what was before her changed it.

Not on everyone’s life, dear sister. Woman also, the lone warrior spoke back using control in her voice and the tone of an evildoer. I’ve been planning this ever since you married him. And now that I have this chance, I shall not pass it.

With a hand that lay as a bed to an orb-like box, the warrior hummed words of witchcraft to make the object give off an almost clear and black glow.

The trio moved their hands to shield their eyes against its glare.

Now. She boomed, almost ferocious. Witness the fall of the strongest warrior of all worlds, Julie-su.

As the orb’s light grew more violent, the ending of the dream had come. It felt as strong as a nightmare, judging the dreamer shooting straight up. What remained absent in his actions was the scream, as well as the horror and twitchiness in his eyes.

The boy of fifteen lay in a bed beside a window showing the world from so many storeys. Bandages constricted his entire right arm, as well as cleaned and re-cleaned cuts closed from stitches nearly everywhere else.

Running a hand through his hair like rubbing away a migraine, his blond hair felt at a normal length. It was different to what he wanted. Almost… saddening to have.

His name was Robert. The last thing he remembered was being in a car accident.

It’s okay, it’s okay. A woman had her hands gently on his shoulders. It managed to change his expression, him not wanting to look like he was feeling that-kind-of emotion in front of others. You’re safe. You’re in hospital now.

She began to cry on his shoulder in a silent prayer.

I know, mom. Robert answered gently. It sounded almost repetitive, his voice barren and staticy, like a vow of silence been broken. As he began to pat his mother’s shoulder for compassion, he started to look around at the room. He guessed that he had been in a coma, but did not say anything, mainly for he never wanted to second-guess, especially if it could be wrong. Although, this room did look like it belonged to a hospital.

Again, his that-kind-of emotion changed to something more normal. A doctor came in with a tear of sweat on his forehead. He appeared out of breath, as if forced to run.

With the close following of his brother, Mark, Robert knew his awakening started with something dire.

Ah, Robert you’re okay, the doctor said before looking up from a clipboard. "Phew . . . I was called because, ‘huck’ I thought you were seizuring."

I was?

Yes. But it seems you were just waking up.

Robert quietly took another quick glance around the room before continuing, reassuring himself that he was in a hospital.

Really? Are you sure it wasn’t from the nightmare I was having?

What nightmare sweetie? His mother Margret pulled the opposite edge of his jaw to turn his attention to her.

Oh, it was just about the past. No biggy.

It could be. The doctor continued with his breathing under control. But all we have to go on this is the theory that your brain was significantly shut down, hence the state of coma. And this dream, however it came, completely reanimated your brain to its full extent. And this caused a sudden surge of responses throughout your entire body.

With it being a joyous occasion for the family, minus Paul because of work, they cared less for the theory the doctor pushed their way. After everything the doctor had explained, Robert telepathically exhaled in a sigh of relief for being correct.

Eventually, the reunion had to come to a halt since the doctor needed to run a series of tests, examining him for any brain damage. The minutes felt like an eternity as they went, but the results were worth the wait. His brain was functioning normally.

Hours passed, and eventually the sun did too. Robert remained on his back since his family had left, looking straight up to the sky.

He was in deep thought, worried about where to go from here. Scared at what else life may put in front of him, and how he was going to endure them.

He started to pray to God. He always did when it was like this. So unsure at what this was, asking for guidance to help him through, but essentially what the answer to it was. What is it he needed to do to come out the other end as cleanly and as purely as possible.

He may be religious, but he was not truly religious. As his family and others around him had the faith of everyone else, he was different. He seemed like a heretic.

Even if his prayers blessed people, they would always turn around to ask for something. Unconsciously, God was a mere puppet, a slave.

When others followed ‘Love thy neighbour’, he did not. How could he have love for someone when he saw evil in their hearts?

And it was not just his neighbours; it was his own family as well, no matter how much the rest of society said they were not. He called his brother a narcissist on a daily basis with his mother on a weekly basis, but never his father, because everyone else was doing that.

His mother always complained about how his father was always away for work, all day and very much night, and it seemed that he did not care about being with his family at all.

Robert always cringed when he ever heard one of their arguments. They both had it wrong. Paul, as normal as society would make it because he was generally the enemy, lacked the sense that life needed to have family as part of it. And Margaret, as society would never say for she was right, needed to have work to fund the life that they wanted. They both overlooked the other’s side.

Robert felt like he needed to be part of it, but afraid at what would happen if he did. After all, it was an on-going argument. If either of these people would change their attitude because of words, then they would have. Action was needed to teach them both what was moral.

It pained him endure the struggle not to hurt his own family. His own definition of evil was eating him alive.

With one appeasing exhale, his moment of thoughts had ended. He had finished with all the emotions and the thoughts he did not want anyone else to witness.

He felt empty again, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

‘Don’t worry Julie-su,’ he told himself with his mind’s voice, feeling the cool breeze of the air-conditioner press against his face. ‘You’ll soon be reunited with the Assassin of Light.’

He rolled onto his side to look through a small strip of light between the door and its frame. It became obstructed because of a pair walking past at that moment.

Schedule an x-ray for tomorrow at about eleven. We need to see how much damage there is before we can operate.

The voice belonged to the doctor who responded to his seizure the hours before. It was softer than normal through the gap.

‘And doctor, just if you want to know.’ Robert continued as if the doctor was capable of telepathy. ‘The dream of the past is my future.’

Chapter 2

The first step of destiny

Robert had nothing to do for the week after his coma. He kept to himself and embraced his surroundings, just like every other day.

During the time he had, he remembered everything prior and realised nothing had changed. Vulgarity still walked the streets at night as punks and graffitists roamed for their next wall to colourize. Paul, the cop, came in and out from work, but frequently home during the day so he saw him more than usual. It seemed like he was trying to get away from work. Robert seemed almost glad by it, but he was still far from being perfect.

The rest of the world he saw through a computer screen within his bedroom.

At his senior school of Sacred Heart, there was still no difference. Every single uniform-enforced student paid more attention to the atoms flying ahead rather than to him.

He was still not bothered though. He wanted to be a loner, not have anyone close to him. Why? The councillor had asked that once, but he was never going to say. He made up some bull about not knowing, an answer, it seemed, was common with the people around him.

As if it was a trademark, he ran his fingers along his scalp. He had buzz-cut hair his back to normal, a short, almost bald sphere everywhere. With the face he had, it did not suit him very well, but he did not care about that either. This is what he wanted.

In a foresighted moment, he saw a sight for sore-eyes. His life-long friend Alice sat on one of the benches, her eyes buried in a textbook as if she had a test today. Her face though seemed calmed and relaxed, as if just reading fiction.

God, she is just so innocent, he thought. Her blond hair hanging down to her shoulder blades, her grey eyes so focused ahead. Her unpolished nails digging into the transparent covering of the book’s face while her legs kept raised and crossed on the edge of the wood. Why was she friends with him?

They had been friends since kindergarten. Even though she was in the grade ahead of him, and only a mere seven months older, they were as inseparable as a married couple.

The coma had changed all that. For reasons unknown, she did not visit him. Maybe she had some emotional turmoil from the hospital. Maybe there was something about her mother’s death he was not told.

After hearing him standing there, as if she were a dog and him a blown high-pitched whistle, she turned to see him for the first time in four weeks. With excitement, she jumped to her feet, ran up, and hugged him with a shrilling musical note. As usual, she was just a hint smaller than he was.

Hey. She continued to shrill long after the hug ended. Pulling away from his shoulder, she kept her face just a small centimetre apart. Her eyes seductively locked into his, very calm and smooth. How’s it been going since the car accident?

Just fine, thanks. Robert tried to smile with her, but his always looked mishandled and awkward.

Well, you haven’t missed much here. Turning her smile into a smirk, she peeled away and went back to her bag to hide the textbook. She purposely wiggled her skirt as if to distract him.

I know. Robert replied, not greatly taken in.

She finished with her bag and turned back. How?

That’s my secret.

Okay then. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she prevented him from moving. What happened while you were gone?

Simon Stalor got expelled for possessing marijuana. He started, keeping his gaze away from Alice and her slowly changing expression. Thumper was dumped by his girlfriend Katie, and the fete was cancelled.

As he finished, Alice’s expression had completely frozen. Her mouth kept completely open, and apart from thinking the obvious, that someone had told him what had happened, she believed he was being honest about knowing it all whilst in a coma.

How do you know all this? She finally stuttered after her bottom lip quivered. You were in a coma when this happened.

He answered with a whisper into her ear.

As I said before. My secret.

The courtyard surrounding the two filled with a hundred or so others who did not want to be there. The remaining one-percent was students who always sat to wait for the morning sessions to begin, counting the seconds in which they would finally be able to escape from their current lonesome position. Starting to walk away from the scene, Robert became aware of such an individual who was familiar to him, but he was not familiar to her. A long sunlight bright haired girl with dark, moss-like eyes and flawless skin stood there and talked to a girlfriend. Each time her head moved, her hair would sway like a soft-stricken whip while making the pattern of a wave. He could only just stand there and watch her.

God, she is so gorgeous, he thought.

I see your feelings for Tara still haven’t changed. Alice broke into Robert’s hypnotic trance and immediately took him out of it. He did not try to deny or hide it. Love was not one of the emotions he wanted to hide.

No. He muttered almost quietly as if his mouth had not moved at all.

Hey, a little friendly advice. She made sure she was close his ear. Give up. She’ll never go for you.

The morning bell started to ring. As Alice took Robert’s wrist to pull him away, he realised that they were the only ones starting to move. He felt more ashamed of taking his eyes away from Tara for those few moments.

When they approached the hallways leading off into the various classrooms, both he and Alice knew they had to separate. But after they did, he gave her a quick correction in telepathy.

‘You’re wrong Alice. She will go for me.’

After he turned off, not looking back, Alice slowly faced him with eyes of horror and a curved lip of confusion, as if she had heard him.

*     *     *     *

Four days later. School had ended. Robert, along with Alice and a further two busloads of students, helped populate the local shopping centre. They were the only two to be part of the crowd inside its arcade.

The arcade stood right beside the cinema. Ticketing and Prize Machines grouped onto one of the walls, while Driving, Shooting, and Motion games took the ones remaining.

By appearance, the people who created the crowd did not exceed the age of thirty. Many either played or talked to others watching the players, but only one was not there for fun.

She was transparent to the sight, like a ghost, floating at the highest point of the room and looking down at everyone beneath her. Her skin was pink instead of a normal human peach. Her violet hair seemed silky and metallically shining, having its length to her collarbone on the sides and down to her ribs on the back. Seven tentacles of skin grew from her scalp and dropped with her hair to be seen, not all but most, dangling just to her shoulders from the sides and back of her head. From the neck down, her outfit was a single-piece uniform of silver that moulded perfectly to her shape, like something out of a sci-fi.

Curvilinear shapes were cut in the suit, showing some of the skin between her wrists and elbows and elbows and shoulders, hips to knees and knees to ankles, and a triangular gap at the top of her bosoms.

The woman grazed over the crowd to look for someone in particular.

‘Where is he?’ She thought to herself, partially glad that she was so close, but also sad that she had been alone for so long. ‘He is here. I can feel his presence.’

Someone below looked like they were about to look up. He must have somehow heard her, or just felt someone was up there. Out of fear of being discovered, she faded into the background, being there but being invisible. The staff member below looked up to see nothing but the roof.

Confined to a corner, a shooting game using a single, green plastic rifle that needed two hands to operate stood in the open. Upon its screen, an army of men dressed in futuristic armour battled against reptilian aliens. The player of the sci-fi shooter was Robert.

Despite his over impulsive taste for blood, he only ever played the game to master it. To master it, he needed to complete it with only one-credit, get the highest score, and (if it allowed) rank a hundred percent accuracy on all the levels. He had already done it to three other shooters in the arcade, so he would only ever need to play them on what he called the quarterly exam. Every three months, he would play them just to be sure he was still a master at them.

Alice stood behind him, viewing his progress.

Can you tell me now? She asked as Robert lowered the weapon for a break. The words: ‘Destruction Accomplished’ appeared on the screen. The end of the level.

Tell you what? He replied when a movie sequence began. It involved what appeared to be fighter jets firing at a military base.

Tell me how you know what happened while you were in a coma. She folded her arms in a grumpy manner, but still wore a smile with a happy gaze in her eyes. It looked so playful when he pretended not to know what she was talking about.

I told you, it’s my secret.

Well I’ve given you some of my secrets before. She moved a few steps closer, knowing Robert did not need to return to the screen for a couple of seconds.

Turning to the screen, he muttered angrily but quietly under his breath so she could not hear him. Yeah, except the really important one.

She pinched his hip very playfully, making sure he chuckled. So it’s high-time you gave me one.

He turned back to her with his face lit.

He knew there was nothing he could do to shake her off. So, he needed to be clever.

Okay. He said, huffing as if giving up. Here’s my secret.

Alice watered her grin bigger as she hustled closer, dim-witted of the little trick he was about to make. She only had about ten seconds before the movie sequence finished.

I wear red-hearted black boxers.

He turned back to continue his game.

Hey, that’s not fair. Alice gave his shoulder a gentle but friendly push, almost causing him to miss a target. Luck however had given him a second target, and it is what his bullet had hit.

As the fun and humour continued below, the pinked-flesh female reappeared above them. Her eyes fixated on Robert and Alice, full of emotion, full of happiness. She listened to them very vigilantly, like a stalker to her love.

There you are. She smiled with a sense of bliss and glee as a translucent tear ran down the side of her nose. I’ve finally found you.

She followed Robert even after his game had ended, hearing a small detail in the humorous conversation he and Alice were having.

-Alice: I’m not giving up on this.

-Robert: Then at least I know you’re still persistent.

After all these years since recreation, you return to me.

The warmth of the mid august air was well above thirty-five. The shade had shrunk to the base of the object that cast it. Water turned to steam moments after its release into the atmosphere, and anything and everything to be cool remained frozen in delis and petrol stations. Robert walked home on a heated path with the sweat that should have been running from his forehead somehow absent.

The joy of an engraving in the footpath still lingered on his face. Even though he always walked this route home from the shopping centre, and even though he always saw that engraving, he always enjoyed that there was someone with a unique way to express faith.

On the footpath, outside a house on his route, someone had carved the words ‘Jesus Rocks’ into the cement. From the jagged sort of edges of each letter, there was as much evidence to believe that someone had scratched it in after the cement had dried as that he or she had done it when it was wet. Although vandalism, he still grinned at it. It was better than the ink he would find on the wooden fence of his house some mornings.

Unaware, someone inhuman followed him. The pink-flesh female with violet hair and seven tentacles, greatly hidden by her transparency colliding with the intensity of the day’s shine, quickly floated from treetop to treetop. As she stopped in the tree just behind him, she waited and got closer when he passed another.

Reveal yourself. Robert called back after he checked that no one else was around. He kept his eyes straight so he did not see the creature veil herself in the hiding spot. I know I’m being followed.

He stopped to turn around, so he could at least try to have a decent conversation. He may or may not have seen her, but he knew that he was staring directly into her eyes.

I said reveal yourself. He spoke louder this time. Julie-su.

As the female heard her own name, she gave a quiet gasp of surprise that he somehow heard.

‘Is it possible that he remembers me?’ She thought, twitching a grin of joy from the belief that she was about to get him back. It lowered back to its gasp when she realised that it had to be impossible for him to remember.

Yeah. I know who you are.

How? She found herself asking, keeping her position in the veil. Whatever bones or muscles she had started to ache, so she gave up on floating and sat on the branch closest to her. The tree did not rustle or move from a sudden weight.

As I told my friend Alice. My secret.

*     *     *     *

Far beyond the reaches of the suburbs Robert almost never left, a building reached to five storeys below the ground, located within the city. Because of the miniature size of the alley running to the docking bay, it was difficult to deliver any giant or enormous cargo. Due to the disability, a large underground tunnel ran from the building to their warehouse past the hills.

Nearly on the bottom level, a room similar to an interrogation room for a police station held a prisoner. Inside, a reptile screamed in torture as probes poked and zapped various robotic plates that made up some of its anatomy. It stood on two tree-trunk sized legs, held a height making him taller than about six men, grew three rows of razored teeth capable of ripping through steel, and had two minuscule arms seeming like twigs compared to the rest of him. Already, he looked different to what its fossil counterpart had made him look.

Outside of the window for the Display Room, a group of scientists stood dressed in their usual mad grey hair and white lab coats.

The boss was there amongst them, a sunglass wearing, dark haired man again wearing a lab coat. Today the sunglasses were white frames with Ruby-fire lenses.

As the reptile cried in pain, he felt enjoyment. This reptile was his greatest creation, his greatest pawn.

He loved being in control. He loved being superior. Everyone and everything else was only born for one reason, to be controlled by him. He wanted to rule everything, to destroy anything he wanted, to be someone people would call a god. It was why he was bringing this reptile’s kind back to life.

He was a sadist. He cared for no one else, he only acted it for the best of his desires. He was mental to the point that he was normal.

By any other definition, he was truly a supervillian.

Are you absolutely sure you wish to release it? The leader of the scientists asked him, seemingly afraid now but not before when they began the experiments to bring this creature to life.

I am positive. The dark haired man replied as he continued to watch the reptile’s agony with joy. The hunger in its eyes, not from lust of revenge, revealed its carnivorous nature. If people won’t come and see it, then we will let IT go and see the people.

But think of the danger it will bring, the lead scientist continued to protest. The damage it will do. The lives it will end. Releasing it to the streets would bring havoc.

It’s a small price to pay to show success to others. Resurrection of the past needs to be shown.

But sacrificing innocent lives, Boss?

Hey, maybe he’ll eat the one I’m hunting.

Boss began to walk away, but the lead scientist did not want to end the discussion so easily.

Who are you hunting? He asked as he got to Boss’ side.

Boss seemed annoyed. He let out a purpose exhale.

Never you mind. He kept his gaze through the Ruby-fire lenses. Now do as I say and release Tyrant to the world.

Please sir, tell me. The lead scientist was now persuading by almost getting to his knees and begging. Who are you hunting?

Hmm. Very well. Boss finally grunted in defeat. Anyone who’s acquainted with Julie-su.

Chapter 3

First Strike

The suburban life within the city and its residential outskirts was Robert’s own little world. With his uncle and aunt running a minor-farm and his cousin in Brisbane to carry out her university studies, he and his family found that every fortnight or so they travelled from the city to help them. For the months at a time doing this, Robert found his own little world had slightly enlarged.

Including Paul, everyone was there. Mark was a relatively tall fellow with hair as dark as the feathers of a magpie in the night. His brown eyes contained microscopic specks of green on the edge of his irises, his father’s eyes. His nails, despite what appeared to be a perfect grooming habit taking over his entire physique, remained long and sharp enough that he could use them as talons.

Paul was a jagged-stubble-faced man in his forties. The tanned skin, starting to grey hair, and multi-wrinkled forehead made it difficult to tell if he was just entering or just leaving.

Robert’s mother did not seem very different in age either.

Today, Alice had come to help for reasons unknown. Just past the halfway mark to Clarendon, their destination, a conversation broke out.

You didn’t have to come and help you know. Robert sounded angered about something, but not of something Alice had done. It seemed like he did not want her to be there.

I know, but I want to. She kept her shoulder pressed up against him, appearing squashed by Mark on her other side. She only wanted to get close. The rest stared boringly ahead to the oncoming horizon, as well as the parents quietly eavesdropping on the new conversation. At certain times, Margaret made long, silent, and invisible glances over her shoulder to see her fantasized relationship between them.

Mark had his chin on his flat palm, his wrist already aching with numbness from being on its angle for so long.

How long ‘til we get there? He asked, bored for the day ahead was unwanted.

Paul answered him. About ten more minutes, give or take.

Away, a highway winded through and between the hills that made the desert-dune like outskirts of the city. Freelance flora spread throughout the unpurchased land blocked in between the residential properties, which were either seen or hard to see because of the angle the hillside had to the road. The day kept completely clear to shine its warmth to those living below. Everyone benefitting this shine had a positive mood.

This too fell upon Robert and his gang as they drove their car upon a dirt field that connected the road to a worn, dust driveway. The driveway was bumpy and lay on a slope, guiding them to the house near the horizon. The inclines of the fenced livestock fields were always to the right of the driveway, holding mainly cattle, but a few enclosures holding pigs and chickens. The fields of crop were always to the left of the driveway, spread out according to kind. A shed stood halfway directly between the entrance and the horizon, the driveway turning almost ninety degrees around it.

When the driveway almost reached the front of the house, the ground yet again changed. It cut from dust to gravel, so there was at least a decent surface for the cars to rest on. Before the change in the driveway, a rustic wooden fence with a gate of iron and wire connected the fences of the two separate fields together. A group of three stood there waiting with Driller’s Grins spread across their faces, people with skin and outfits of dirt to dye them to a mud colour and teeth completely clean and shining the sparkle of the sun. The only person who had a grin, not a Driller’s Grin, was a woman not covered in the dirt of the crop field like the other two.

After the inmates of the vehicle slid out and embraced the brilliant sun, they each shook hands with the trio. Robert had to introduce Alice, as she was the only stranger to them. The first and most important individual was Paul’s brother Steven.

Steven was a man who seemed no different from his brother, apart from the physical features. A man with a kind nature, smiles constantly plaguing his face, and then furious when he needed to be.

His wife had brunette hair shaped into what the newer generation proclaimed as Retro-American Mother, a Ram for short. She had an outfit and pose that aided its style and nature.

The last person to be part of the group was the neighbour James, a fairly tall and young bloke with dark hair. He was not as the outdoorsy type as his neighbour. He even worked in the city for his day job. Nevertheless, it did not mean he would not help his fellow man out if he needed it. His face had so much space between his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears that on occasions where strangers were present he would crowd it up by wearing sunnies. Today was not one of the days.

Well. Mark said as his handshaking ceased, sounding forced to be polite. How’s Steph doing?

Just fine. Steven replied as he let go of the firm gripped hand of Robert, who just dusted the received dirt off them simultaneously.

Shall we get this over and done with?

My, you’re impatient. James said out as he slid on a pair of pitch-black sunnies to look to the sun and judge the time. What’s to expect from city livers?

Hey, Steven’s wife nudged with glee. Watch it.

Well. Steven finally got the topic back on track. Picking area’s over here.

He led the group away from the gravel and down a tiny soil path just visible under the leaves of knee high crops. Because of the day, they found themselves carefree and absent minded of any bad luck or disaster from happening.

On the highway, the Grim Reaper walked amongst the living.

Using the underground track to transport him, Boss had released Tyrant to the streets from the warehouse. Its mechanical parts removed so it looked like a nature-born lizard. The feet shook the ground with the sound of a tank’s shell being fired to the air. The tail swayed the opposite direction with his head to strike and crumble objects as if his spine was not capable of bending. The frequently open jaws bit through vehicles that had dimwittedly driven into him. The cars that did divert headed straight through the cement barrier separating the oncoming traffic, or thoughtlessly rammed into the hillside and had their drivers abandon them to escape on foot.

The rampage of Tyrant had a course with a target, but no instructions to prevent him from doing whatever he wanted. This was his chance to act like a true carnivore. Every corpse he passed that lay because of the actions of their vehicles, he flicked upwards with his tongue and caught it in his mouth. With the living prey he caught up to, he swooped his head and picked them up with his teeth.

Above the scene, a helicopter owned by a channel’s news station hovered. It captured the occurrences below, no matter how gory, sadistic, or disturbing they were. In secret, the crew prayed thanks for it being on the ground while they remained up in the air.

All the members of the new forged group were on their knees and had their hands wrist deep into what appeared to be a shrub. They had to use the feeling of touch to judge what seemed ripe enough to pick.

They had already broken into a full-body armour of sweat with the joints along their spines aching from the constant bending and moving. Everything from the shins to their soles covered with dirt, but they were still far from calling their smiles Driller’s Grins.

Beers? Steven asked as he clapped his hands together to strike off dirt, straightening his back and then heading to the house for one of the six-packs he kept in the garage’s fridge. He was a regular Telepath for knowing who wanted one, but belonging to his family helped his judgement. In a matter of minutes, he had returned with them.

Everyone but Robert and Alice charged from their picking ground to get one. Being seventeen, Mark unscrewed the lid in a matter of seconds, but drank slowly and satisfyingly as if it was not his first. Knowing a break had started, Robert collapsed onto his back in the aisle while Alice sat there with bent knees by his hip.

Although tired, it felt enjoyable to be there. The sweat running along his back like some figure skater, turning the dirt beneath his neck, making it latch onto him like some parasite, but gently though as a tail of something that was merely hugging him for comfort. The sunlight beaming to his hidden eyes, illuminating the shapes of shifting darkness and denser darkness he saw when he just shut his eyes, making them stand out more. His breathing a rhythm of quiet echoes, easily heard from the absence of the city’s dense bombardment of senses.

This is what he wanted the world to be, a peaceful place, quiet and easy to hear your own ball drop at puberty, and able to stare at a beautiful thing that was not only in the face of a woman, illuminated and radiated even when the back was turned.

He wanted this everywhere. He could make it everywhere, if he just had the moment of chance. Just like the chance to make action against his family’s, or anyone’s, little bit of narcissism. If he could have it, he could make it. He could make this world a vast beauty, just like God intended it be.

This is why he came here to this minor-farm every fortnight.

Gees. This seems hard. Alice puffed as she drank mouthfuls of her own bottled water, not even offering any to Robert.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you. He kept his closed eyes looking to the sky.

Alice finished her water and shuffled so she sat directly beside his shoulders, giving him a small cover of shade. As she kept her legs in their triangular arch, her hands rested a distance behind her arse to have her back make an angle. She looked like an uneven M.

Looking around at the beauty of the hills and what they offered, she let the solitude become her rehydration. Robert looked more content with letting his meditation be what cooled him down, though his mind had been much more energetic and awake than the rest of him.

As she finished observing the landscape, she hugged her knees with one rather limp arm. The other remained to support her back. How does your uncle do it?

Do what exactly?

This. She used a swaying hand to portray the landscape. Open spaces, scorching days, constantly moving over how many acres.

Well. He opened his eyes for a split second to see if they still worked. As our saying goes. Some are born strong and learn to be wise. Others are born wise and learn to be strong.

And which one is he? She turned to him, the first moment that she had seen him laying there. The sweat of his flesh made him shine in the sun. The sweat patches of his chest and armpits seemed as perfect on him, making him a gorgeous sculpture to eyeball. Her true, completely hidden feelings for him felt out in the open. They did not seem to go back down, even if she tried to make them. If he had his eyes open, he would have seen them.

I reckon he was born wise. He answered. The tone flowing from that tasty tongue of his did not help one bit.

She could not control herself.

Hmm. Yeah. She finally replied, her tone changing to be mellow, seductive, and serene. She made a partly open grin as she looked down to him, also using her free hand against his neck and chin, gently