Homesick: Ashes Of An Angel

Chapter 1

Withers' clothes were already getting dirty and scraggly, so we had stayed the night in the four fold-able tents we had found, as well as squishy sleeping bags. We were already getting quite near to Ice's safe camp, according to the holographic viewer with a weak signal, but it was already getting dark and it was going to take another half an hour or so to reach it. Next morning had arrived, sending streaks of light beaming in all directions, and I was already up, all dressed and sitting down on the tent floor, staring down at the flashing holographic viewer. Jana was the only other person in my tent, but she was sleeping. Troy and Pollax shared a tent. James and his remaining five Scavengers shared another tent and Withers had a tent completely to herself.

I left Jana sleeping as I stared at the viewer, almost suspiciously. Ice had already broadcasted one announcement: the release and spread of the M112 Virus, or so we have nicknamed it "The Blaze" pandemic.

It had been broadcasted on every screen, every viewer, every temple as a mandatory viewing. Governor Ice had answered every question about the first living Mutant, which was Kye - and what it could mean for the face of the human race. Everyone was horrified, all around the globe, every family or person watching, including us. This could tear everyone apart, and that was Ice's goal. His goal was to select certain people from our society and generation today, that will provide a use or quality to futuristic societies, and wipe out the remainders of the people who do not possess a special quality, by releasing a plague to the world. Ice believed that those people were useless, wasting resources and should be demolished on a global scale. We all know the symptoms too.

It had been a few weeks since he had mentioned the topic, but the thing that most surprised me was that it was harvested from Kye's DNA. A virus was found into his DNA, mixed into some kind of serum and launched into the world for the rest of us to suffer. For the rebels and Dark Angels to suffer. I felt anger swell in my chest at the mention of Ice. After the news, there was just pitches of silence as we flooded Withers with questions about The Blaze.

"How long d'you think The Blaze will wipe out the entire human race?" I asked Pollax, who was next to me, wrapped in a jacket and staring at the huge campfire we had created in the sand, which was roaring away last night.

"Not long. It's already been declared a pandemic anyway," replied Pollax, embarking the warmth and sliding a hunk of meat of his skewer and chewing it. He swallowed. "But the population is big. Let's just hope for the best that it can be contained, before we can get our hands on the cure in time."

"Ice really is bloody messed up in the head," added Troy, almost with a growl. He hovered his food over the campfire, as he shifted across the log he was sitting on. "First he bombs a pen full of kids, than he takes Kye and now he decides to release a virus into the world. Just to kill off the useless people and save the bloody good ones." 

"Tell me about it," said Jana, not even bothering to roll her eyes. She turned to Withers. "Did you hear about anything of that sorts, while working at AJOX?"

Withers pondered for a moment, and then spoke. "No, nothing. He mentioned nothing about releasing a virus." Then we all kipped in for the long, dreary night, the campfire dying down.

The thoughts stormed around my mind, chasing each other like chickens and snake. I looked at Jana on the top bunk, who was still not awake. My gaze returned to the viewer, which was still flashing. After a few more minutes of depressing thinking, Jana slowly aroused from slumber, her hair sticking up and tangling behind her ears. She looked down at me.

"You alright?" Jana called down. I stared up at her and shrugged.

"Yeah... I'm just thinking," I replied very dully. "I'm thinking about the plague. The Blaze. What it could mean for us. Why is Ice even doing this?"