Dawn Of a New Earth

Chapter One

The dinosaur plodded towards a giant cycad tree. It was late in the afternoon and the sun's heat warmed the cold-blooded reptile.

But far off to the south, there was a deep red glow. An asteroid headed for prehistoric earth. The dinosaur chewed on some of the tough leaves and blinked dumbly at the approaching space rock.

There was a bright flash heralding its impact on the other side of the planet and then, silence. The dinosaur blinked again and craned its long neck to search for higher, fresher leaves.
Minutes later, there was a deep rumble as a shockwave rocked the ground.

The dinosaur's head turned in panic. It retreated a few steps, then broke into a slow, earthshaking run. The ground split open and unable to stop itself, it plunged into the gaping hole.

As it fell, it suddenly transformed into a teenage boy with wild red hair. The boy screamed.

Jake MacLeen woke up, his mouth opened in a silent scream, his body drenched in sweat.
Taking deep breaths, Jake tried to calm himself. The dream- or nightmare- had been recurring for several weeks now. Since it had been confirmed that an asteroid was heading for earth.
Shit. Jake looked around at his alarm clock. 3:27AM. Still early, Jake thought. He lay back on the bed and tried to sleep. He couldn't. Then he just got up from bed and headed downstairs for a drink to slake his thirst.
He took a glass of water and went back to his room. Then he picked up a book and started to read.

By morning, he closed the book and placed it on his drawer. He stood up, stretched and walked to the window.
Towards the east, a pale orange glow heralded the rise of the sun. But to the southwest, there was a red glow. The asteroid was already half the size of the moon. Weeks ago, it had only been a tiny speck in the sky, hardly any brighter than a star.

Jake sighed. He just wished the space rock would defy the laws of gravity and go drifting back into space. He swore.

"Jake! I thought I told you to stop cussing," a voice said from behind him.

Jake turned. It was his mother, Alyssa MacLeen. "Morning, mum. Sorry, I forgot."

"You always forget," Alyssa said. She entered into the room and dropped a basket of freshly laundered clothes on the bed. "I heard someone downstairs last night. Couldn't sleep?"

Jake shrugged.
She looked at him worriedly and then shook her head. "Your father and Rick are already downstairs. I'm making pancakes."

"Ok, Mum. I'll be down soon," Jake said and watched her leave the room.

Jake headed into the bathroom, and took up his toothbrush. He stared disinterestedly at his reflection as he brushed.

Red messy hair. Green eyes. A round, fleshy face. Same as always. When Jake was younger, he had always wanted to be a superhero. As he grew, he had forgotten all about it. Now, he wished he was Superman so he could destroy or at least divert the asteroid. If wishes were horses...

Jake had a long shower and went back into his room. He put on a black T-shirt and faded jeans and then walked downstairs.

His father, Ian MacLeen, and brother, Rick were already seated at the table.

"Morning, Dad. Morning, Rick," Jake said as he sat.

Rick looked up briefly from his laptop screen, muttered a hello, and dropped his eyes back to the screen. Ian, on the other hand, thumped Jake on the back and said, "Morning, son. Ready for today?"

"Sure," Jake replied shortly.

Alyssa came in then, carrying a tray of steaming pancakes. She set it down on the table, ruffled Rick's hair and said, "No computers on the table, dear."

"I know, Mum. Just this time, please," Rick said, looking up. Jake snorted. Rick did that every time.

Ok, just this time.

"Ok, just this time, Rick," Alyssa said, with an amused smile.
Rick smiled back and used the opportunity to pour himself a bowl of cereal and milk.

As they ate, Ian turned on the TV and flipped to a news broadcast. A clean-shaven man in a striped suit was talking.

"...the President has once again assured citizens of the safety of the underground bunkers. This was following the public riot in the streets of Washington D.C. yesterday by worried citizens due to the words of acclaimed scientist Geoffrey Dirk that quote the impending asteroid is large enough to literally tear apart the earth and the best thing to do would be to ship away everyone on the planet unquote. The President also stated that quote shipping away everyone on the planet to space is impossible unqoute. "

"On another note,the NASA has announced that the Voyager, a spaceship being built solely for the purpose of conveying the President and several other citizens into outer space is nearing completion. The Voyager  contain about two hundred passengers all with life-support systems.  NASA has also stated that there might not be enough time for a test drive before the asteroid lands. "

"In another item of news, the General Overseer of the World Wide Word Ministries has claimed that the asteroid heading for Earth is actually God's punishment for man's sins. He decried man's attitude to his creator as the cause of God's wrath and subsequent punishment. He encouraged people to repent and pray for God's mercy. "

"Finally, people all around the world have been reporting strange sightings of red gas in the sky. Scientists have obtained samples of the unknown gas and testing is currently going on. People are being advised to stay away from the gas for now. "

"And that's all for the morning news report. Stay tuned for other programmes. "

"Red gas, uh? I thought I saw something like that yesterday..." Ian mused as he finished his plate of pancakes.

"Be careful, dear. It might be poisonous," Alyssa said.

"We won't be exposed to the gas," Ian reassured her. This was true, as Ian saw it. Ian was a construction supervisor and the work he did was mostly underground in the bunkers.

He couldn't have been more wrong.