Justin stares out the window from the fifteen floor of the skyscraper down to the streets below. They were littered with cars and small fires burning still that hadn’t died out yet. JC was trying to find something to eat for breakfast and he was hoping he would find something soon. Justin looks over his shoulder at Josh quickly before looking back out the window. The prophet. He didn’t even realize who he was yet either. The scroll lay wrapped up tightly sitting on the kitchen table. The scroll that the possibility to save or destroy lives and it was sitting on the table next to the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter jar. Yeah that was JC for you. From what Justin had picked dup about him since he had met him he was a nice guy…shame for him. Justin had a job to do though and he needed to detain JC for as long as he could.
He kept going back to the girl on the streets though now. He would be standing in the shower, laying in bed, eating something, or just looking out a window like he was now and her face would come up again with her green eyes. No…he had to get it out. It didn’t mean anything. So what she resembled someone who was in his dreams. People did that sometimes. Besides she didn’t really look like her anyway…right? No he had to think of something different. He had to think about what he was sent to do here in the first place.
He had been sent here to try and stop JC not help him. Now he was going against every rule he had been taught since he had been picked to do this job. Lance had picked him because he saw that Justin had a strong will to try and climb up the ranks of the Alma group. That’s what he was from the Alma group. They were a group comprised of people between the ages of thirteen and thirty. There objective was to capitalize on the state the world was in now. They had gotten a before hand look at what was to come and now it was their place to try and step in and take over the world…as cliché as it sounded. And Justin…Justin was chosen to stop the Prophet, JC.
Now though…now Justin was confused as all hell. His superiors had no idea why the dreams kept repeating themselves and why he had actually seen a girl who fit the description of the girl in the dream. They told him his brain was playing tricks on him from the stress. They told him to forget about it and not dwell on it so much then they would go away…it wasn’t working so far. Night after night they came back at least they hadn’t hit him like they did on the boat, out of nowhere during the day when he was awake. Now he was confused as all hell. Now he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Now he knew he was over his head.
Nick looks around the large room of the warehouse and sighs. Where the hell was Falco.
“Now what?” Jackson asks him.
“I don’t know where he is,” Nick sighs, “He’s always here. Falco!”
“All this for nothing?” Eli asks.
Nick shakes his head, “No. FALCO!”
“WHAT!” a voice asks from the darkness.
“Falco, it’s me Nick.”
“Nick who?”
“Carter.”
“Nick Carter,” the voice says from the darkness, “Where the hell have you been?”
“Around,” Nick says to the darkness as his eyes search for a clue to where he is.
“What do you want?”
“We need your help Falco.”
“Who is we?”
“These are Pilar, Eli and Jackson,” Nick says motioning to them all, “We need to get in contact with the Simmers brothers.”
“The Simmers brothers,” the voice laughs, “Those pains in the ass. I’d rather take on all the Rooks at once.”
“Please,” Pilar says.
“She speaks,” the voice says as a shadow comes out of the darkness. Falco was tall around the same height as Nick with spiked blond hair with blue on the tips. His skin had a nice tan to it and his body showed signs of working out on it. His eyes were two different colors the right was green while the left was gray. He walks with a sort of strut that made him seem tougher then he really was, “What do you need from me Carter?”
“I already told you.”
Falco shakes his head before looking at Pilar again.
“Where did you meet these people Carter? I smell…” he says sniffing the air, “…Halflings,” he says looking at Pilar.
Jackson clenches his fists tightly and Nick steps in from of him. That was all they needed was a fight to break out.
Pilar takes off her sun glasses and puts them into her pants pocket as her bright green eyes glow piercing the darkness.
Falco stares at her and locks eyes with her, “I can get you a ship.”
Nick nods, “Thank you.”
Falco nods not taking his eyes off of Pilar.
“Can you show us it then?” Nick asks Falco, “Falco?”
“10:37,” Falco mutters as Pilar looks at him intently, not moving.
Nick looks at Falco oddly as Jackson and Eli do the same thing.
“What?” Nick asks him.
“10:37,” Falco says softly again.
“Falco!” Nick yells.
“Huh,” Falco asks looking at him finally and shaking his head as if awakening from a trance.
“Can you show us the ship?” Nick asks.
“Oh yeah sure,” Falco says running a hand through his hair, “Follow me,” he says to them all as he begins to walk back into the darkness and down a flight of stairs, “That’s it,” Falco says as they reach the bottom of the stairs and see a large black ship shaped like a fighter plane. It was jet black with the word “Toxemic” scrawled along the sides of it.
“That’s not a ship. It’s not going to fit all of us,” Nick says to Falco.
“It’s the best I can do,” Falco says, “It can fit two of you.”
“How do we get out of here?” Nick asks looking around.
“Simple,” Falco says walking over to the wall and hitting a button as the far wall of the room begins to recede an sunlight pours into the darkened room and the view of the docks comes into view, “Goes straight out to the docks. Nothing but water in front of you.”
Nick looks at Jackson, “It’s up to you.”
Jackson nods, “We need Nails and Tacks.”
“Who goes,” Nick asks.
“You,” Falco says, “Nick you’re the only one who can fly the Toxemic line that I know, so that only leaves you to make one more decision.”
“I’m staying with Pilar,” Jackson says.
“That leaves me then I guess,” Eli says as Nick nods.
“You up for it?” Nick asks.
“Why not,” Eli sighs.
Nick nods and walks over to the jet, “This have cornea vision?”
“You bet,” Falco asks, “Best of the best in there.”
“How did you get this?”
“Don’t ask questions Nick.”
Nick nods and climbs up the later to the two seats in the pit as the roof of them recede folding into one another like a cycle helmet does until they reach the glass of the front windshield.
“You need to go now,” Jackson says to Nick.
Nick nods and jumps into the cog pit.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this shit,” Eli mutters climbing the later and sitting in the seat behind Nick.
Nick looks back at him and smiles as the top of the plane begins to fold over their heads. Nick pulls on a pair of thick leather gloves over his hands and a microphone head set. He blinks his eyes a few times as the iris turns a dark yellow color and four black triangles appear inside the iris pointing inwards towards the pupil one from the north, south, east and west. He starts the Toxemic up and the windshield in front of him becomes filled with transparent buttons and dials. He looks over at Falco who nods at him. Nick reaches up and touches one of the buttons on the screen with his left hand as the engines start up. He grabs onto the stick that controls the jet with his right hand and takes a deep breath in, “Hold on,” he says to Eli as he slams it forward and the engines roars to life as the jet heads out of the wide opening in the wall out over the water.
“Do you even know where you’re going?” Eli asks Nick.
Nick smiles, “I’ll know it when I see it.”
“Oh sweet Jesus,” Eli mutters as Nick slams the stick into full gear and the jet goes soaring forward and up towards the clouds.
The city becomes smaller and smaller below them as the Statue of Liberty vanishes into the water. Climbing higher and higher Nick pushes the jet as it breaks through the clouds effortlessly and breaks through the atmosphere next. The country was getting smaller and smaller underneath them then the continent followed. Nick takes a deep breath inward as the jet lurches from the Earth’s atmosphere into the darkness of space. The stars took place of the clouds and black took place of the blueness of the sky now. Nick reaches a hand up and touches another button on the transparent screen and the ship lurches forward as he hits it into the fastest speed he could make it reach.
“Where are we going?” Eli asks him.
“Drifter colony 37,” Nick says smiling, “Just enjoy the ride.”
Eli looks out of the windshield and takes a breath in, “This is amazing man. Where did you learn to fly like this?”
“My dad,” Nick says, “Pilot. I could fly before I could walk.”
“My God,” Eli says as the stars pass by in streaks of white.
“We’ll be there soon enough,” Nick says.
“Where are we going?” Eli asks.
“Into the Raven galaxy,” Nick says.
“How do you know they’re there?”
“Oh trust me I know,” Nick smiles as he grabs hold of the stick tighter and dodges around stray pieces of asteroids.
“Just don’t crash into anything ok,” Eli says.
“Sure thing,” Nick smiles turning the jet on its side squeezing between two rocks and then flipping over into a barrel roll banking to the right and cutting through the open space.
“Please try and refrain from doing that,” Eli says.
Brian stares out as the scenery passes by him once more from the back of the cycle. Cole was flying beside him and Stanton now dodging around littered cars, trucks, buses and cycles. They were making their way south at a fast pace now. Stanton said they were probably nearing North Carolina by now.
“What’s that?” Cole asks motioning in front of them at a large caravan of people walking on the road.
“I have no idea,” Stanton says, “Let’s go ask someone. Actually Brian you can ask someone.”
“Alright,” Brian says as they slow down slightly approaching the outer rim of the people, “Excuse me,” he says to a person walking as a few of the folds of his helmet move out of the way from his eyes and mouth, “Excuse me,” he says again as the cycle hovers beside the group moving at the pace they are moving.
A young girl around nineteen looks at him with large blue eyes. She had bright blond hair died orange on the tips and was wearing a pair of black baggy pants with a tight blue t-shirt, “Yes.”
“Where are you going?” Brian asks.
“I don’t know,” the girl says.
“You don’t know?” Brian repeats and looks at the group, which had to be around twenty people.
“No,” she says, “I just know I need to go south.”
“South?” Brian says as his eyes widen.
“Yes,” she says calmly, “We all are.”
“Don’t tell them about us,” Stanton says to Brian.
“Why though?” Brian asks the girl.
“I need to,” she says.
Brian nods, “I understand,” he says as the cycle lurches forward and takes off down the road and the helmet closes tightly over his face again, “What was that for?” he snaps at Stanton as Cole flies up next to them.
“Look,” Stanton says as he spins the cycle around and faces the group for a second as a group of people run out from the side of the woods dressed in dark black cloaks.
“What are they doing?” Cole asks as the people surround the other group of people.
“Oh my God,” Stanton says as the people in cloaks pull put out guns from underneath them and let a string of bullets fly out at the people walking.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Cole yells as the people in cloaks begin to knock down a person at a time.
Brian’s eyes grow wide as he watches the site unfold, “Get her.”
“What?” Stanton asks.
“Get the girl,” Brian says.
“We can’t go back there.”
“GET THE GIRL,” Brian yells.
“I’ll go,” Cole says reaching down onto the cycle and pulling off a gun holding it in one hand as he flies back toward the group of people full speed.
Brian watches closely as Cole races back into the group firing off a few shoots hitting people in the cloaks to clear the way. He flies up to the girl quickly and grabs onto her with his free hand pulling her onto the cycle quickly and making his way out of the crowd as the people in the cloaks turn their attention to him and let off a round of bullets after the cycle.
“Shit,” Stanton says, “Cole keep heading north we’ll follow you,” Stanton says into the microphone as he grabs a gun off the side of his cycle in one hand before taking off toward the group at 130 mph cutting. He cuts through the group quickly and makes it up to where Cole is as the bullets follow them, “Move!” he yells at Cole as he continues to fly down the street.
Brian looks behind him as the last standing members of the walking group are struck down and the people in the cloaks stand and watch the cycles fly down the road, “What the hell are they?”
“I have no idea,” Stanton says, “but they’re coming from the south. They’re heading north.”
“Jesus,” Brian mutters, “They just…kill.”
“Those people weren’t all Halflings,” Stanton says, “It wasn’t because of that then. The girl isn’t even a Halfling. They’ve got other motives.”
Brian looks over as the girl hangs onto Cole’s waist from the back of the cycle now. What in God’s name had made him yell to get the girl?
AJ looks down the street from the back of his parked cycle and squints his eyes, “You see that?” he asks Kevin who was on a cycle beside him.
“See what?” Kevin asks.
“Those people down there. They’re all dressed in cloaks.”
Kevin squints his eyes and looks, “Oh yeah why?”
“I’ve never seen anybody wear cloaks like that around here.”
Kevin shrugs, “Who knows. Now who is this guy you’re looking for?”
“I’ll know him when I see him,” AJ says as a person dressed in a cloak walks up behind them and passes them, “I don’t like this Kevin,” AJ says.
“What?”
“These people,” AJ says.
“Why?” Kevin asks.
“I don’t know. I got a bad feeling though. I think we should head back to the Brower’s. If I need to find the guy I will later.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” AJ says turning his cycle around and starting it up again then heading off back down the street with Kevin beside him back towards the Brower’s house.
Justin stares down at the street as the two cycles drive back down the street from where they came. He watches as the boy in the cloak continues to walk up the street and swallows hard. Why was he so worried? He didn’t understand it at all, but he was worried. They were part of his group after all he should have been excited. They were moving out now into America. Their mission was to get rid of as many seers and people who felt the pull as possible. He shuts his eyes briefly before opening them again and walking back into the apartment over to JC where he was sitting at the kitchen table pondering over the scroll again. He had been staring at the damned piece of paper for hours now.
“What do you have?” Justin asks sitting down across from him. The truth was he was actually very interested in what it said.
“Nothin,” JC puffs sitting back in his chair.
Justin stares at the words on the paper. No new words had shown up. Justin rubs his eyes softly as the wind picks up outside and a soft beating against the windows is heard suddenly.
“Is it raining again?” JC asks looking around.
Justin stands up and walks over to the kitchen window over the sink staring outside as something hits the window creating a spider web effect through the glass. He backs away from it and walks back over to the balcony he was standing at before and opens the door to it. Tiny balls hit the floor of it and bounce off it at a fast pace. Justin looks up quickly and sees the balls falling from the sky then falls down towards the streets below, hundreds of them. Hail.
“Justin!” JC yells as Justin shuts the door and walks back over to the kitchen table as the words start to snake across the parchment again.
Justin stares down at the words and reads them off as they appear, “The prophet will find the wanderer and the two will head to the east together. The false prophet will be found and come in to contact with some of the chosen. The enemy will embark into the lands striking down the chosen seers and the followers. The chosen one will begin to gain power as the days pass and the prophet will draw nearer and nearer as hail falls form the skies. The wanderer…” Justin says and back away from the scroll suddenly.
“What?” JC asks, “Is that all?”
“Yeah…yeah it left off again,” Justin says walking away from the table through the living room, down the hallway and into his room where he slams the door shut. He sits on his bed with wide eyes and runs a hand through his hair, “Shit,” he hisses as his hands start to shake again. It was a bad habit of his when ever he got worried, “It’s impossible,” he says to himself, “Impossible,” he says again as he sees the words of the last line run through his head again. The wanderer will meet the most powerful of all seers through both his dreams and life as he comes to terms with himself and his side. Just coincidence that’s what it was. He had nothing to do with the damned scroll. He wasn’t even Lance’s first choice. It was another. No coincidence that was all it was. It didn’t mean anything that they had mentioned JC meeting someone named the wanderer before. No he knew his side. He knew his job. He knew what he was supposed to do.
But God that girl’s eyes were beautiful.
Nick walks through the drifter colony with Eli by his side. They were walking down the hallway after being stuck in the jet for about forty minutes. Now they were trying to find door 382 off a tip from a young lady that Nails and Tacks would be there.
“There it is,” Eli says as he walks to the next door.
Nick sighs and knocks on the door three times in a row.
“What!” a voice yells from inside.
“Nails it’s Eli,” Eli yells before Nick can say something.
“Eli?” the voice says as they hear the noise of a lock moving out of place and the door opens for them as a tall pale young man around twenty four stands in the door way at around 6’2 with jet black hair and bright florescent blue eyes. He had a chiseled face and if wasn’t for him being a Halfling Nick pictured him being some kind of model. That or a basketball player. That was where he knew Nails from, basketball in high school. Halflings hardly ever made the team, but Cal Simmers was too good to be true. He would nail every basket he shot for hence the nick name Nails. Then his little brother Hayden came up identical to him in looks and with just as good of a shot, so they called him Tacks, “What are you doing here man?” Nails asks Eli.
“We need you’re help,” Eli says
“Nick Carter?” Nails says looking at Nick, “This has got to be big if you both are here together.”
“You have no idea,” Eli says.
“Humor me.”
