Children of the Earth

Prologue

Jane Winters sat on her knees next to her ill husband lying on their bed. She squeezed his hand and a small tear escaped from her. The once strong redheaded beauty stared at his feet. She couldn't bring herself to look at his pale deformed face.

"Jane...I'm so sorry." He whimpered.

"How could you do this and then leave all of us. We all depended on you. You made life on earth a living hell!" She exclaimed.

He bowed his head with sorrow.

"I know I made mistakes Jane, but I'm only human. I tried my best to fix them, I really did."

"You are unbelievable Richard! You didn't try at all. You just blamed your mistakes on other people. You were the greediest man to walk the face of the earth. People hated me because of you!" Jane admitted.

Her husband started to have a coughing fit. She somehow managed to look in this monster's eyes.

"Out of all the bad decisions I've made in my life, the worst was trusting you." She growled through clenched teeth.

In his younger years, before Richard Winters married the love of his life Jane, he foresaw what is now known as global warming. He dedicated his whole life to finding a solution to green house gases and pollution. Richard was a brilliant scientist, who eventually realized his biggest dream and his ultimate goal, wanting to save the world.

He introduced himself to the world during an important environmental conference. Richard's flawless idea for eliminating all green house gases and waste struck many world leaders as well as local commoners.

At this event he met Jane Samson, a meteorologist visiting from a nearby state. She was fascinated with this idea. Soon after meeting each other and sharing common interests and ideas, they agreed to become work partners. Jane supported him through his long journey. Together they never gave up on his master plan.

After nearly half a decade of perfecting the solution, Richard and Jane were married. This life changing decision solidified their trust and respect for each other.

Everyone knew who Richard Winters was. It was his dream come true. Now he just had to get the whole world in on his plan. He contacted leaders worldwide and an enormous vote was taken. The results came back and he was allowed to go forth and do whatever he was planning in order to save the earth. He was beside himself. He knew he was getting closer, he could feel it.

His plan was to bring his invented solution up in airplanes and shower it down onto land. The solution was sent to many different parts of the world and eventually planet earth was covered.

The immediate affects were positive. Day by day the air was cleaner and the water was fresher. People rejoiced and a huge weight came off of everyone's shoulders. Richard Winters, at the time, was the most famous man alive. People praised him and thanked him; after all he did save the world. Everything was going perfect for Richard. His plan worked out, people loved him and he was with the woman he loved. It was a great world to be in, until everything went horribly wrong.

An outbreak of a new disease called Masoyame became a popular subject. It was a deadly contagious disease with no cure. What seemed to have affected a few became hundreds. Autopsies done on the unfortunate victims showed that the cause of this disease was from inhaling R.W. gas (Richard Winters gas). The world was shocked. How could he have done that to them?

The epidemic went from killing hundreds, to thousands, to even millions. Richard hid in his house, away from the angry mobs, with Jane who didn't seem to be speaking to him. He kept trying to explain to her that it wasn't on purpose, that he didn't want this. Millions turned to billions and the world population was almost gone. Richard started to get symptoms but it never affected Jane.

He sighed deeply. Richard didn't have much time left; he knew what his responsibilities were. On the breath out he wheezed. Jane tilted her chin down and flattened her plaid skirt. She dropped his limp hand onto the bed then twisted her wedding band off her left hand.

"Jane..." Richard began, now looking at what she was doing.

She paid no attention to his raspy voice and held the gold jewel in her palm. Jane moved the ring onto the bedside table.

"How could I have fallen for this..." She gave up halfway through her sentence.

Another cough emerged from Richard. Then another. Finally a third before he said anything.

"Jane..." he said once again.

"Don't say my name like that you bastard." Jane snapped. She stood up looking at Richard in the eyes, glanced at the ring, then back at his eyes. His eyelids danced across the ceiling, hopelessly. Jane forced herself to turn her back to Richard then stepped out of the bedroom leaving him behind.

Her t-strap heels clicked on the hollow boards and grew louder stomping down the stairs. As she reached the front entrance of the house, Jane grabbed a turquoise flower vase sitting on an accent table. With one quick movement she hurled the vase at the front door. It shattered into millions of tiny pieces around her feet. She couldn't help but cry.

A final cough echoed from Richard's bed to Jane's ear. The final breath of the man who killed the world. She thought.

Jane traveled the world on Richard's jet. Richard showed her how to fly many years ago. At first thought she wanted to go East from North America. Jane prepared for the long enduring trip across the ocean. She trusted her gut, there had to be other survivors.

Using extreme heat sensors, she was able to locate 12 infants all at the age of two, six boys and six girls. With no parents or relatives still alive, she took these young children in as if they were her own. Carefully inspecting each one of their cultural background and personalities as well as naming them based on the county they originated. She discovered they all contained a special chemical in their bodies that allowed them to fight off Masoyame, letting them survive. She too contained this special chemical thus being able to survive the disease.

Jane placed each child in single bedrooms and raised them independently with no contact between each other until the age of 16, hoping they will be able to repopulate while continuing to be immune to Masoyame. They lived a life of solidarity and peace inside an abandoned mansion by the sea.

Naturally Jane worried for the day that they would all be 16, finally having human contact, other than her of course. Nothing could prepare them for that moment. Not any amount of home school teaching or social skill. She expected the worst.