Chapter 25
Wednesday, September 17th, 2059
Nightmare
29 days to Armageddon
Leo was having a nightmare...
It had been a year, more or less, since the change. He'd spent most of that time hiding from Afflicted and humans.
He slept in a small cave nobody seemed to know about. Winter hadn't set in, but the cold winds blowing through the mountain range chilled him to the bone. He was alone, and so hungry the scent of the rabbit he held made him drool uncontrollably. Raiding an unknown person's traps was asking for trouble. But he was starving.
“That does not belong to you.”
Leo turned around, careful not to make sudden moves. The ragged, hooded cloak he wore concealed his appearance. Likely the only reason the man hadn't shot him already. The speaker was medium height, thick dark beard, and wore dirty, torn combat fatigues. His gun was pointed at Leo, and he looked like he meant business.
“Put the rabbit down and step away, kid. The only reason I don't kill you now is I'm low on bullets.”
Leo slowly put down the rabbit and stepped away, doing his best to look weak and non-threatening.
“Keep going kid, if I see you around here again, I'll kill you.”
Leo took a few more steps away, faking a limp to make it look like he could barely walk. He activated his implant's level 1 Speed Boost.
The man stepped forward, gun on him the whole time. The man's gaze darted downward for a fraction of a second as he reached for the rabbit. It was that instant Leo attacked. Flinging dirt at the man's face, he made a desperate rush for the gun. The gun went off and a line of fire flashed by the side of Leo's neck as the bullet grazed him. They crashed together. The man was bigger, but Leo was strong for his size and fought with the desperation of a starving animal. He grabbed for the rabbit. The butt of the man's gun slammed into his chest, bruising his ribs, making him gasp. Leo's sharp teeth sank into the man's arm as he fought for his life. The man grunted, ignoring Leo's bite, and used his rifle to get Leo in a chokehold.
His vision starting to go, Leo pulled out the knife he kept on the belt beneath his cloak and stabbed the man, desperately, until the man stopped moving and Leo could breathe again.
The sound of a twig snapping nearby, and the voice of a small child, “Daddy?”
Leo grabbed the rabbit and ran, not seeing the child and not wanting to.
***
Leo awoke with tears running down his face. He'd never encountered the kid again, or found out what happened to them or their people, assuming there was anyone else. He'd spent decades of his previous life trying to convince himself he hadn't had a choice, that he'd done what he had to do to survive.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
He'd never succeeded.
One thing was certain, he was going to change the future or die trying.
Subject: Leo
Sex: Male
Age: 12
Strength: 5.4
Vitality: 4.8
Agility: 4.5
Intelligence: 5.2
Charisma: 5.2
Common Sense: 4.4
Class: Undetermined
Special skills: None.
Demon Tears: 9
Corruption: 0
There was some improvement in his basic stats, but not as much as he'd like. Strength had gone up another 0.1 points. Agility 0.1 Intelligence 0.1, Charisma 0.3, and Common Sense 0.3. Since he had yet to recover physically, Vitality was unknown.
What surprised him was his Charisma had gone up by a whole 0.3 points. The one stat he'd made no effort to raise had gone up the most. Go figure.
“Mom, I hate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,” Lydia whined.
“It's what we got. Eat it or go hungry,” Mom said, finishing the last of her Bio-Blessed energy drink and tossing the can into the garbage before exiting the kitchen. She'd just come home from another graveyard shift and was in no mood to put up with complaints.
“Psst, Lydia,” Leo hissed, once Mom left. “I got a partly eaten burger and fries if you want to trade.”
“Eww, it's got your germs on it,” she said, making a face.
“Suit yourself.” Leo shoved more cornflakes into his mouth, forcing himself to eat, though he wasn't feeling hungry. Memories of the stolen rabbit had taken away his appetite.
“Uh, could I see it?”
“Bottom drawer of the fridge, in back,” Leo said.
Lydia rummaged around in the fridge, pulling out Leo's leftover burger. She made a show of opening the bag and carefully examining the french fries and three-quarters of a burger that he hadn't gotten around to eating. “I'll take it.” She dropped her PB and J sandwich next to him on the kitchen table.
As he entered the school that morning, he passed an older girl wearing a beat-up leather jacket, arms folded across her chest, while somehow holding a cell phone and texting one-handedly. She didn't say anything, but if looks could kill, every student walking by her would be dying, slowly, and in agony. He walked past her quickly, careful to avoid eye contact.
Jason helped him find his classes, and he sat quietly, alternating between boredom and confusion. If his classes did anything to improve his intelligence, he'd be shocked beyond belief.
Brick spat on Leo from the hallway stairs at lunch period, connecting with the back of his neck, but Leo somehow managed to make it to the end of the day without getting pummeled.
“Oh, Leo! Just the boy I was looking for.”
Leo sighed. School had finally ended, and he was heading for the exit. There was a bounce in Mr. Osmond's step that made him nervous. The honors science teacher cornered Leo in the school hallway.
“Yes, Sir?” Leo said.
“Well, Leo, I looked at your predictions and they are, how shall I put it,” he chuckled, “interesting. This first prediction, for example: a screaming, cursing, biting, hair-pulling fight between Maxine and Tomi, two young movie starlets, happening on camera this Thursday or Friday.”
Leo nodded. “My little sister is a fan of theirs. That's how I heard about it... last time around.”
“Well, I asked a few of my students, who are also fans, and in their words, 'the girls are SJFF's, practically sisters.' When I suggested the two might have a physical altercation, they looked at me like I was insane. Also, it's common knowledge that there's a werewolf in their latest movie. So that werewolf with a question mark you wrote down, does nothing for your prediction. I did some research of my own and found that Maxine and Tomi play goody-goody characters in their movies, and are literal choir girls in real life, known for hosting charities for sick puppies and stuff.” He paused to take a deep breath. “What this means is the fight you described would cause parents to boycott their movies and cost the two girls, the girl's agents, and producers, many millions of dollars. Even if the two girls wanted to fight, there is no way their various handlers would allow it to happen on camera.”
Mr. Osmond pulled out a neatly folded sheet of paper and carefully placed it in Leo's jacket pocket. “I calculate the odds of this fight as you described it happening, to be over a billion-to-one against. Consider my suggestion.” He turned around and walked off, looking far too pleased with himself.