ARMAGEDDON

PROLOGUE:

Riding up a mountain road was my way of having fun. It's not something most girls my age do, but I like to explore. Even if I live close to the border of another country. 

GRABLE is a quiet town in Nocks. It's also just a half-hour drive away from the border of  AEGIS. A country brimming with mostly plant life.

No ones allowed to go close to the border, due to an on going power struggle and all that political nonsense. So I am limited to only looking at it from on top of our surrounding mountains. 

The wind felt refreshing as I drove up the old roads, with starlight to light up my way. It didn't matter if I came home late.... no one was waiting for me....

I was still in my school clothes. A skirt, white shirt and tie. My long hair flowing in the wind as I sped down the hills on my scooter.

I waited a whole month to get it up and running,  and to give it a new paint job. Today was great.

Arriving at the top I slowed down. The view was breathe taking. 'Crisler peak' was a perfect spot to gaze at the stars and woodlands, all without having to set foot in AEGIS.

"Fooled you!" I chuckled to myself. My eyes lit up as I looked at all the life.

Someday I'm gonna get away from this boring old town and travel the world

I kept going up the mountain and taking in that mesmerizing view, until. 

"Wow! Wow! Wow! Stop!" came a voice.

I turned my head to be met with the site of a guy with his hands raised up. I immediately pulled brakes, forcing me to come to a screeching hault. Not before knocking into him slightly.

"Are you ok!?" I yelled as he laid in the dirt, moaning.

"Yeah, just a little bruised" he propped himself up on his elbows.

"Tough guy" I say as I stretch out my hand to help him. Helping him up I noticed he had bright green eyes and deep brown hair, and a nice adorable face to top it all off.

"What's a baby face like you doing up here?" I asked as I got off my scooter.

"I could ask the same" he said as he tried to straighten out his shaggy hair. Doing so only showed off more of his good looks.

"I...uhm...I ASKED FIRST!" I stamped as my palms started to become sweaty. He seemed a bit nervous and scared, but gave in with a cute sigh.

"I'm doing some research on the m-meteor shower..." his voic grew silent and his face turned red as he held his hand to his mouth, as to not say anymore embarrassing things. There was a pause as his eyes glanced at mine and the ground, as if waiting for approval or torment. 

"Huh, a meteor shower?  Tonight?  I didn't know" I gave him my most quizzical look. It was better if I support his seemingly already fragile self-esteem.

"Yeah, it's suppose to be special, as whoever watches them will be destiny bound with a stranger to become great warriors....or so the stories go..."

"Damn, that's some burning rock!" I replied while looking deeper in his now excitement filled eyes. 

"Name's Jess.Jessica Madigan" I stretch out my hand once again. 

"Derek. Derek Alva" our hands connected in a mutual hand shake. He then showed me his telescope and other gear he brought to watch the shower. I showed him the wonders of mechanics. We went at each others interest for a long while.

"Hey. Don't you ever think that this town is holding you back" I said while laying in the tall grass and looking at the stars.

"Huh? Why would you think that?" He answers as he fixes the lens on his telescope.

"I don't know...it just feels like I'm living a senseless life here. You know, day in day out kinda thing."

"Well I think the world only holds you back cause your walking into the same wall with your eyes closed."

"Huuuuh!!!" I jumped up and stomp over to him. Looking straight into his eyes, I could feel his fear as our noses almost touched.

"You trying to say I'm a fool!"

"No, no, it's just metaphorical."

"Hmmmm?... ok" I stepped back, and he slowly started to work on the telescope again. "Just metaphorical. Just cause you keep walking into the same wall, doesn't mean it's too late to turn around and open your eyes." He gestures toward the telescope and offered me to look.

It was a vast view of space in all its glory. Breathe taking just as the woodlands, then suddenly.

"Wow!" I jumped up as a flash of light crossed the sky. Coming along side me he put a hand on my shoulder, and looked up at the dazzling show of astral bodies flying across the sky.

This was to be the first of many adventures with Derek. I made him cool, and he taught me all he knew.  We were best friends, and later work colleagues. Graduating and entering the field of science. I became a engineer in advanced robotics and mechanics, while he found his leasure in advance chemistry and biotechnology.

Life was good. Until. ...the war...

Some called it the catalyst, others the end of days. Most knew it as WORLD WAR 3 or WW3. A war on a grand scale. No sides were taken, no treaty form, no ceasefire.

Every plausible reason to fight was given and no answer was found. Who attacked first? No one knew, but what they did know was that the war would only end in a nuclear fall out, or big finale.

We, along with other scientists, joined the Passive Scientific Community (PSC) and racked our brains on what to do. One conclusion was met, and from this the" ARMAGEDDON PROJECT" was formed.

Ten were chosen. We were picked based on skill and knowledge, also physical properties to reproduce and repopulate the earth. We were chosen.

I still remember the sad faces his family made when we were preparing for the final hour. We were to be cryogenicly frozen and left in an underground bunker, until the computer system released us after a 2000 year cycle.

"Hey, it's gonna be fine" Derek said coming from across the small bunker.

"Easy for you to say, your not the one with a fear of dying." This got a good subtle giggle out of the others. He just smiled at me, his eyes almost glowing green through his retro specs. His brown hair was spiked up in the front, and he had small stubble of hair on his chin.

"Well who's afraid of death when they'll get to be 2024 years old!" came the comment of Brad. A big dark fellow who was our captain for this endeavor. 

"You can call me Pops when were done here! Hah! I like that, it has a nice ring to it" he was a very quirky man who gave up the military to pursue a life in anthropology, history, architecture and physics.

More jokes were made to up our moral for what we were about to do. The count down started.

5...4...3...2...1...

"ZERO!"  We all yelled as the cold liquid streamed in from holes in the floor of our tanks. Brad was the first to start screaming as the needles stabbed his neck.

They were filled with a sedative drug so you wouldn't feel as every part of your body was slowly frozen on a molecular level.

Derek's head slowly lulled to sleep. I was feeling woozy when suddenly a massive steel beam came bursting through the roof, and crashing into the first tank.

I faught to stay awake as the drug worked  its way into my system.

"C-clai...re..." came the sloppy words of the person next to me. Apparently he knew the victim. I struggled to move my eyes over to Derek and Brad, and the flashing red light weren't helping me see either. 

"S...stay...s...sa..fe.." I outted my groggy words of luck, while placing a hand on the glass. I heard a few sirens and warnings, then fell back into a deep sleep.

Little did I know of what awaited me once I awoke...