Memories

The Core of Destruction

The sun shined into the car,my face squinting as it hit. I slowly lifted my head off the steering wheel,feeling the dried up blood on my head as it ached. I looked over to see Jennifer, still unconscious and slumped over. Her hair hung down on the sides of her face,covering her.
I reached over to her,shaking her a little in panic.
"Jennifer!...Jennifer!",I yelled quietly. Still unconscious,she moved a little,her face disturbed as she turned away from me. I looked around,noticing we were tilted diagonally,the car deep into the ditch. I kicked the side door open,slowly pulling myself out. I climbed crawled out of the ditch,watching over to see the car that had been chasing us last night. It was still smoking,upside down with shattered glass all around. I walked over to see the man in the front seat,his body torched black. There was nothing left of him but the stiff and unclear shape of his body. His mouth was open,his eyes fried off. It was too gross to look at. I turned away,feeling sick to my stomach as I threw up on the ground. I bent down over it,wiping my face with my blood stained shirt. It wasn't my blood though. It was the man's from last night. I thought about that terrific night,everything so quiet but filled with so much blood and pain. Jennifer had to go through that...I put her through that and she could've died. Why did I think I could ever have a normal life?...
"Oh my Gosh...",Jennifer said to behind me.
I looked over to see her all teary eyes,her hands over her mouth as she stood there in the silence. I stood up,walking toward her to give her a hug. She pushed me away,turning around and walking couple steps back.
"Who are you...",She said,looking into my eyes with fear and distrust.
I was hesitant at first,then waking closer to her as she quickly backed away.It's windows were shattered,my face as bright as ever,making my face squint as I covered my eyes with my hands. I could feel her breath gently hit my shirt and her heart felt like it was connected. She had cried herself to sleep in about close to twenty minutes after she fell to the ground. I just couldn't close my eyes, knowing that she might be gone the next time I open them. The way she looked when she slept was so beautiful. I smiled, looking at her sleep curled up as silent as possible. I then heard something coming from the far end of the road. I didn't want to ruin the moment, but I couldn't resist my instincts. I shook her until her eyes started to squint. She was about to yell, but I grabbed her mouth as she saw the truck with two men come up to the road with the two incinerated cars. I listened closely to their conversation. "He's been here.""At least they tried.""They were fools. Trying doesn't get you anywhere in life. They died in vain. They deserved this.""They didn't know what they were up against." One of the men looked pitifully at them pile of dust as the other walked away, throwing their cigar in the pile. "Let's go Harman." If they knew these people, maybe they knew where the base was that was controlling all the "bad" news, I thought. I looked at Jennifer. She already knew what I was thinking. "No!, She whispered angrily. They started to head back to the car. Time was running out. "We need too." "No!" I grabbed her by the shoulder. "Please. I won't let anything hurt you, but I need this. I'm so close. You don't know how long I've been trying to do this. Please." I gently put my hand down. Just trust me." She looked into my eyes. She looked scared, but I could tell in someway she knew how I felt. Okay... She grabbed my hand. Okay... I smiled and grabbed her hand as we ran towards the moving truck and threw ourselves in the back. The road was bumpy ahead, I thought, but at least I wasn't alone in the fight. We turned into a gate a mile back about three minutes ago. I had been in this car for what it felt like to be an hour or more. I then saw lights shining from ahead. I shook Jennifer as we got closer. It was the base. It was one of the hugest buildings I've ever seen. The building was leveled with about fifty to fifty five stories. The walls were made out of glass and everything else was a perfect shade of white. Light poles that you would see in a football field were everywhere. Thousands of people walked everywhere. They all looked like scientist and bodyguards with their white jackets and vest with machine guns in every hand. Electric fences went on forever down the field. It was time to jump out. I grabbed Jennifer's hand as we jumped out and rolled onto the gravel. She looked at me a little furious. Really? You couldn't have just waited till we got to the grass. Hiding was an expert skill of mine because of this horrible journey to hells gates. We hid behind a couple bushes. What are we doing, Jennifer asked? We are trying to find clues like an address or name of this place. She looked at me confused. Wait aren't we going in? No. That wasn't my plan. Then what is your plan?! I just need info and then I shall leave with you and we'll go somewhere I need to go back to for information. And where would that be? Hedgewood. Where's that? It's my home town. I don't think that I'm the only one that knows about my parents. What happened there? A whole squat team blew up the hotel I was staying in and then chased me. She started to freak out. What?! Why are you going then? Didn't I just tell you that? Someone tried to blow you up! Do you really want to go back to a place where you almost died?! Yes. I need to. She looked the other way. I give up. I kept looking. There! Where?! Over there. It's the name. it's called Zercrom. Siri where am I? 4627 cross light main. She smirked at me. You had that all along and didn't tell me? Nope. She laughed a little and then looked the other way. I chuckled, but then went back to being serious. We have to go. We ran and walked over and over until we got back to the cars that were destroyed. We then saw that our car was still there with the keys in the lock. We both looked at each other and just got in without saying anything. Hedgewood. Here we come. Yah here we come. We turned on some music to lighten the mood. It actually wasn't so bad. We sang to the songs and laughed about the past. We were in such a good mood until we got to Hedgewood. The sign that said welcome to Hedgewood was hanging sideways, but that wasn't even close to what we saw when we entered. Cars were on fire and windows were broken. There were holes in the road which made us have to get out of our car. A doll that belonged to a girl was burnt and cracked. The grass was black and the wind was very quiet. I looked at one of the street lamps. One of them was flickering while the other was completely broken. What happened here, Jennifer said? I don't know. I walked up to one of the cars parked on the road. I ran over to the car. Hey over here! I looked in the car. It was horrible. Jennifer started to become a little paranoid. Who would do such a gruesome thing? Inside laid a mom and daughter dead. The little girls necked had been twisted and the mom had a bullet hole right on top of her heart and one in head. Blood dried up everywhere.  Jennifer couldn't take it. She ran to a trash can and started to vomit. I went into one of the shops. It looked like a wood store. Wooden tables were split and destroyed. I couch had burn stains. I looked behind the counter to see a young man on the ground with his eyes open like he had just saw a ghost. The floor creaked and fabric had been ripped. I walked out of the store to see Jennifer lying on the floor. She looked at me with a drowsy face and then closed her eyes, feeling sicker than ever. I went into a restaurant and backed away. Flies swarmed the food on the tables which looked like it had been sitting there for days. This had happened a long time ago. About seven people laid everywhere. On the floor, table, you name it. They all looked very pale and of course dead. One that looked like an old man had his face smashed in his meal. The walls with nice designs of red and orange were the only thing that wasn't destroyed or disgusting. I went up to a young women and her husband. The man was slid against the wall and the women was on the floor with what looked like she was holding a wine glass. I about touched the lady until I heard a gunshot and scream coming from outdoors. Jennifer! I ran outside to see a man that looked like he was in his thirties or forties. He was wearing as blue cap and bullet proof vest. He looked paranoid and more afraid than we were. He soon saw me and started to yell pointing the gun back and forth. Who are you?! What do you want!? Are you working with them?! Jennifer looked at me from across the room trying to signal me to explain. I just came back to this town to see if anything here was useful. What do you mean useful? He started to slowly put his gun down. My parents got into trouble back a long while and I came back to find more info on them. Charlie? How do you know my name? It's me! Your old doctor! He started to smile and walk over to me. Mr. Hector? I could see Jennifer calm down and try to breath for a second while walking towards me and grabbing my arm. I hugged him for a second and then looked at his expression. Its good to see yah. He kept looking around and then flickering his eyes back. What happened here? He glanced at Jennifer and then back at me. They came and destroyed everything, killing everyone with it. I put my head down feeling depressed for a moment before going back into a straight face. It's okay Hector. She knows. He was surprised. She does? Yes. Oh. Well it's nice to meet you?... Jennifer, Jennifer said. He shook her hand and then looked away acting shy. He stopped talking for a while looking down at the burnt tar that was melting by the second. Hector? Did my parents tell you everything? He still didn't look up. Hector? What are you not telling me? He looked up at me. I never wanted this day to come. I need to show you something. We started to walk up to the cliff where my house used to lay. On the way I talked to Jennifer. Charlie? Yah?About us. I started to shake a little to the feeling of nervousness. Uh Hu? Are we dating? I mean. I'm sorry. That was a horrible question. No. It wasn't, and well... we have been on this whole journey together holding hands and falling asleep together, but I don't know. It's been so crazy and I can't think straight, but I know that what I felt on our date was real. She smirked a little looking at the grassy ground. May be after all this is over with and were free, we can figure this all out. If we survive, she said. Hector walked over to part of grass. Why is this so special? He chuckled, and then smashedhis foot on a darker patch of grass. Then he made a triangle and pushed the middle. A huge patch of grass open and made a path. Your parents were very secretive. I can tell. As we walked down the green path, it got colder and colder. Mr. Hector was looking at his watch and breathing slowly to where you could see his breath. All sound down here was secluded. All you could hear was sound of our cold footsteps. I looked around. The walls were made out of black stone. It was very dark in here and the only source of light we had were three lamps that Mr. Hector brought on the trip. I was smiling because I and Jennifer were holding hands. I put the lamp up to the walls. Dust was everywhere and I heard squeaks coming from inside the walls. Puddles of water were on the ground that had seeped through the ground up above. This place must've been made years back. Maybe even before I was born. We started to walk down the stairs. I couldn't see Mr. Hector at all. I then heard a machine and we both slid. I yelled and Jennifer screamed as we fell down. That was until we hit the ground and saw Mr. Hector staring at us. You guys take too long. What did you just do? That's an invention your parents made for fast travel so if anyone ever was chasing after them, they could use it and then reverse to make it back to stairs. Cool! After walking a little farther we came up a hallway with tiny dim red lights hanging on the ceiling. There was a door with a wheel on it, like the ones you see on boat doors. Mr. Hector started turning the wheel slowly. It had been old and rusty. What's behind that door? He stopped to take a couple breaths. You'll see. He twisted it a couple more times until it opened. I could see with my lantern some nice white glass steps. Mr. Hector found the light switch on the wall in the corner. There it is. It's been so long since I've been in here. He flipped it on and lights turned on one by one going on forever it seemed down the aisle. Even the steps on the floors glowed. There were desks everywhere with old sheets over items or machines and computers. A huge TV or computer was placed in the middle which connected all of the computers. I heard Mr. Hector sigh as he started to walk in the aisles staring at every device possibly known. I then saw Jennifer look amazingly at it all, moving her head all around. I remember this place, I thought. I saw it in the folder that I got at the hotel. It looked different actually being there. I walked down the aisles, touching the tables and sheets, feeling the dust get on my fingers. I wiped it off in disgust. When I got to the end of the room. I looked at the center of the controls. There was so many buttons, but one stood out the most. I flipped it on and the main device (which was the computer) turned on and files started to appear everywhere. Info about my grandpa, me, The enemy base, my cousins, accidents that had happened in the past years, and many more. The walls flipped and guns were stacked in front of a red background. All of the computers turned on and the floor dropped. I pulled Jennifer back and tried to balance as it shook. Mr. Hector was laughing at us because we were scared. I then looked down and saw a new floor forming. It started to arise. I about stepped on it, but backed away as six stands sliced up from the ground. There were gadgets on every one of them. Hacking devices, bombs triggers, malfunction monitors. Every gadget possible. Mr. Hector looked at me. I grabbed a pair of glasses that could scan body heat. Is this all mine now? Yes. I heard something coming from one of the computers. I looked at each one of them until they all started to blink. I found the mouse and clicked on it. There was one new email. Look! I found an email... addressed a month ago? It was a voice message. I clicked on it: "Charlie! It's your parents!" I could hear gunshots in the background. "They've found us! I don't know how, but there breaking into our house and trying to- ah! Oh no! Sam! No!" I could hear moaning in the back. "Sam! No. Don't close your eyes... no! I could now hear crying." I then heard a door explode open. "No! Get away! No!" – The recording stopped. I looked over at Mr. Hector. He put his head down and Jennifer came over and hugged me, crying. I didn't feel anything right now. I had gone through hell just to find more of it. I didn't even care if my parents were dead anymore.It was time to finish this journey once and for all. I looked at Jennifer and Mr. Hector. "You guys betters get ready. Its game time."