Black Ox

Muse

30 minutes before the attack

Muse Barnes woke up to the sound of his alarm clock shrieking loudly in his ear. It was a normal Wednesday morning, so he was required to go to school. He rubbed his wrists, as the cuffs felt cold and heavy like a dead elephant was sitting on it.

This tiny bracelet did everything. It upheld the law, surfed the internet, and even allowed a person to float at an extremely fast speed, like in the game Haven. Muse climbed out of bed, looking and feeling like a slug, tired and groggy from coding a website for one of his clients late at night so that his parents didn't know, pulling an all-nighter in the process.

Muse slowly walked over to his dresser and slipped on his usual attire, cargo shorts and a band t-shirt. Today he was deciding between Guns n' Roses, AC/DC, or My Chemical Romance. All old bands of the past that his relatives had passed down the love for rock, hell, he was named after one. After long hard thought, he went with the AC/DC shirt. His half-asleep mind probably was thinking something else as it was loudly screaming inside his head. He snatched his laptop off the floor, lying next to an empty tissue box, and hurried into the kitchen.

Each house was the same boring and bland gray pointy roof with an ugly yellow air protection bubble over it. Ever wondered what it would be like inside a bubble? Well, now you do. We all had to wear a personal one when we went outside because of global warming. There was even one covering the entirety of the sector. You needed two shields to survive in this near wasteland of hell. The areas outside the shield were just barren dirt patches, as his teacher had taught him and his class.

Even in the middle of the winter, the leaves were still on the trees and the grass was still a healthy shade of green. Each house had the same white paneling and windows on each side. The interiors of the homes were all the same. The same bland gray walls, and layout. There was a shared bathroom, 1 for every 2 people. Since Muse was an only child there were 2 bathrooms because of the adult to child ratio. His room was just a square, but at least they were able to decorate it as his family pleased.

Muse had covered his room in posters of bands ranging from AJR to Metallica. Even then, he had a not-too-special room. The bed looked like it came from a hotel, and the dressers were a cheap plastic material, all issued by the government. The only difference in each home was the size. Each house had the number of rooms and floors necessary for the current inhabitants. There was a nearby forest that was shared with Earth Sector 857. Muse had never been outside Sector 858 and never intended to until college. He was happy where he was.

Unlike most science fiction movies, there were no cars in the sky, the ray shields made it too dangerous. In fact, there were no cars at all. Everyone either teleported or floated around using HoverCuffs, the set of bulky bracelets that look like ankle monitors, and on both wrists. Muse rushed to the pantry and tore a hole in the plastic of an English muffin sleeve. He rushed to the built-in white cutting board and pressed a button.

A knife block and a silverware tray slowly popped out of a panel in the fake marble counter. He took a knife out of the grayish-blue silverware tray. Muse then cut the English muffin in half quickly and rushed to his Revolution toaster. He selected his favorite setting, a light golden brown. Now Muse just was stuck waiting for the time being. His parents had already left for work for the day. They were probably going to yell at Muse when he came home for the day, but he didn't care. This was his routine. He started to hum Crazy Train to pass time. A few moments later, the toaster's ding rang through the air. Muse scooped it out of the toaster and rushed to his family's teleporter.

Suddenly there was a loud boom and the house shook, just like the one that woke him up earlier last night. But something was off. The tremor wasn't continuous, as it had only lasted a few moments. Muse had also fallen to the ground. He hadn't before. Maybe it was just an aftershock from it. Faint screams of terror came from the distance. At first, Muse thought he was hallucinating, or maybe he was just really tired. The screams gradually got louder, and louder, and louder. The tremors got even more frequent as several screams followed it. After Ok, NOW I need to see what was going on, he thought loudly.

Muse struggled to reach the front door as the tremors felt so close it was like they were happening in Muse's home. He finally reached the door, and when he opened it he couldn't believe what was happening.