Mina's Stories Book 1: Kidnapped Superhumans

[Mina Yamisan]

Kidnapped:
Superhumans

Waking up in an unfamiliar place is strange when you know, for sure, you fell asleep somewhere else. But I will tell you what happened before the unfamiliar place came to play. I had gotten home from work, and had a bag of medicine for my mother and father. They had fallen deathly ill and I was the closest one who could take care of them. My two sisters were out of state and said they were to busy to visit. So here I was, taking care of my parents and wondering if they were ever going to get better. My mother was barely conscious through her sickness, and my father wouldn't stop coughing. They say that there is a God who controls and guides everyones fates. I wondered if this is what he had in mind for more than half the population of the world. The news reported that near half of the human race has fallen sick, and most of them had died from it. I was worried about the death part, but couldn't take my parents to a hospital because it was full up. Most of the state of Florida was sick and dead. The neighborhood that I had lived in, now only had my parents, and some other family in the back, still alive. The stench outside was horrendous as no one had come to clean out the houses. The churches and big time religious groups called this time of great death the apocalypse.

Now, it has been weeks that I have been taking care of my parents, when suddenly, the day I dreaded finally came. I went to get them their daily medicine when I discovered they no longer breathed. I was crying for days and days until I finally buried them in the back yard. I used some stone from an abandoned construction site a neighborhood over to place as a head stones. When I had finished, I sat on the couch in the living room, not knowing what to do next. So I turned on the news and began to pack. The woman who reported on the news had red eyes and was coughing, but continued to report.

“Over half of the population has died off now...I'm sorry everyone still left out there, but it looks like this is truly the end as we know it,” she said and began to weep, then the feed went black, then to the colored bars. I turned off the TV, grabbed the keys to the new car my parents bought a few weeks before they fell ill, and walked out of the house. Tears streamed down my face as I leave the house one last time and not ever being able to see my parents again. I assumed that both my sisters were gone as well and more tears fell. The car my parents bought was very new, and expensive, because it was a Ferrari.

Two years ago, the environment safety scientists had figured out how to make a car run on nothing but electricity and still go over 100 mph. They replaced most of the cars in the world with these new environmentally friendly cars, thinking they were saving the world. As a result, the smog from the cities cleared away, creating more sunlight coming through the atmosphere. The extra light somehow created a new virus. At least, that is what they believed. They discovered it first, in the rotting flesh of a dead animal. Then it spread to an air born thing and began to infect humans.

I sigh at the recollection of the unfortunate turn of events, and climb into the car. I place the key in the slot and it turned on. I pushed a big green button and the silent engine came to life. The screen in the middle of the dashboard spoke, “Good afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Thompson.” I turn it off and close it, then back out of the driveway. Then, I paused in the middle of the road and pulled out my phone. I held my breath as I sped dialed my husbands number. He had been sent over seas on a navy trip and was gone for five months. The phone rang three times, and on the fourth, someone answered.

“Hello?” asked a familiar voice.
“Travis?” I nearly stutter in my excitement.
“Trish? Oh my god are you okay? Everything is dead where I was, but I'm heading home now! Where are you?” he said frantically.
“I'm in the middle of the street, leaving my house...they're dead Travis. My family is dead....where are you going to port at?” I say fighting back my tears.
“At St. Augustine, if my direction is right,” he let out a slight chuckle, “I should be there in about and hour or so...”
“I will be there waiting for you, I love you and stay safe please. I don't want to lose you either,” I say.
“I love you to and stay safe as well, I will see you later,” he hung up and I closed the phone.

I took in a deep breath then continued to drive. When I came to the end of the subdivision, I turned right and headed to the end of that road. When I came to the red light, I wondered why I stopped. There was no one on the road and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to see anyone, but it stopped at the light anyway. Then I turned right and sped down the highway toward St. Augustine. The digital clock read 7:30 pm and I didn't arrive at the port until around 9:15. I wasnt expecting it to take that long but there were cars parked in the middle of the road when I passed through the towns. I averted my eyes to looking at all the dead people in the cars, and focused on maneuvering through them. When I did reach the port, no one was there. I called Travis's cell but he didn't answer. I left him a message after I texted him. The message went something like this,

“Travis, I don't know where you are or why you wont answer your phone, but I will be waiting her for you, no matter how long that takes...I love you...please come to me,” and I hung up with tears in my eyes. After a while my eyes grew heavy. Around 10:30 at night, I began to fall asleep. But the last thing I remember before I fell asleep was that he never came.

Now here is where the strange room comes to play. I did remember falling asleep in my car, but I woke up in a strange room. The set up was different from what I was used to. All along the back wall was pillows and blankets and sleeping bags. I lay in one of those sleeping bags but a table was set up in front of me, turned sideways, so I couldn't see anything. I got up, suddenly feeling very sore. My muscles ached with every twitch and move I make. When I stood up, I also noticed that I wasn't wearing what I had on before, either. My previous clothes had been replaced with the strangest feeling fabric that seemed to stick to my skin. I tried to find a zipper or something to get it off, but found nothing. Giving up on that, I continued to explore the room. The left side of the room was lined with mirrors, and I went over to study my self. I looked different to me, but I couldn't figure out what was different. Then it dawned on me, I was 27 years old and here I am, looking like I was 18 years old! Then more and more things began to stand out to me. My figure had been slimmed down to what I would call 'stick thin' but I still had my huge butt and size 36B boobs. My body looked more like an hourglass than before. My hair felt different to me as well. I reached up and cupped it in my hand. It felt so soft and healthy, but fake at the same time. Like the kind of stuff you would find on those really soft blankets or pillows in the store. On my wrist sat a hair band and I tied my hair up out of my eyes. My eyes were still bright blue, but they were different to. The blue color of them seemed to be more of a silvery now. My new appearance was most strange and I didn't know what to do. But then a noise caught my attention.

A growl was uttered behind me and I turned. The door to the room I was in, was open and outside, I could see a tiger. The whole side the door was on, was nothing but glass. The tiger growled at another who came to see what it was eating. To my disgust, it was another human, and he was wearing the same apparel I was. For some strange reason, instead of running and hiding like most people would do, I slowly walked to the open slidy doors. They didn't notice me until I placed my hand on the doors. Their ears perked up in my direction then they stood alert. Their eyes fixed right on me, and I could see the wild in them. Then one slowly began to raise its paw into a stalk toward me. With speed I didn't know I had, I slammed the slidy doors shut. But they didn't close all the way! They got stuck on something in the ground, and I ran out of time to get it out of the way. The tigers were trying to fit through the gap about six inches wide. I quickly locked the doors in place so they couldn't move and stood up, gasping. My heart beat rapidly in my chest and I backed away from the crazed tigers. Then I hit a table that suddenly appeared behind me. When I turned to look, there was a boy standing next to me who stared at the tigers.

“Who the heck are you, and how long have you been standing there?” I ask him.
“My names Cory...I watched you close the doors,” he continued to stare at the tigers. Then a ring of a phone caught both our attentions. We looked at the table and saw two phones on either side of the table. Mine was vibrating and ringing and I hesitantly answered it.
“Hello?”
“Trish and Cory listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you,” he paused and I put him on speaker phone, then he continued, “I am what most people would call a god or a devil. I am the one who has put the virus into the air. This world needed to be cleaned, and I did that, but I must keep the good side of the human race alive. However, my plans have gone astray. I did not plan that there would be other people immune to the virus, and now they threaten to plaque the world again. You two, plus many others, have been chosen by me to live.”
“What makes us different from the others who where immune?” I ask.
“The ones whom I have chosen are not normal anymore,” so I've noticed, “but still human. Instead of the virus killing you, it has been changed. You would have died from the virus if I had not gotten to you first. Now, with an anti-virus that I have come up, it alters the effects to perfect you, instead of destroy you. You are now what most would call, superhuman, but nothing fictional. Everything that has happened to you two is completely natural, no magic, no miracle of any god or anything like that. It is simply the evolution of humanity.”

“So what are we supposed to do now?” Cory spoke over the roaring of the tigers.
“Your purpose is to live, obviously, but take out all who lived through the virus and are still bad humans. They raid cities and kill each other, its disgusting, and they continue to burn fossil fuels to make electricity. Unfortunately they are spreading faster than I thought,” the mystery man on the phone paused as if he knew I was planning to ask something.

“How long has it been?” I ask.
“You and Cory have both been asleep for about two years,” he responded without hesitation. Cory and I stood in silence as the shock of the time had washed over us. Then I shook my head to clear my mind. Since I had nothing else to live for, I straightened up and looked at the tigers with a determined look upon my face. Cory studied my expression and realized the same thing I did.

“Good you two, now, out side you will not find any means of transportation. Do not use anything like that to get around. You will surely be attacked that way. Instead, be stealthy and swift with your movements. You will be able to run for miles on end if you so wish,” the mystery man said.

“But what about my asthma?” I looked back down at the phone.
“What asthma? Any disease you had has been eliminated by the virus,” he said then continued, “Now go and find others like yourselves. You most likely will not hear from me again. These phones are for you, along with the weapons that lay on the table. The tigers...I'm not sure were they came from but, I am sure you will get past them easily. Farewell you two and good luck on your journey,” the sound of a click came over the phone then there was silence. I closed the phone and found a pocket on my whatever I was wearing, and placed it inside. Then I turned to the weapons he talked about earlier.

There was a long metal rod, on my side of the table, that had a black wrapping on one end. I picked it up and to my surprise it was very light, or perhaps it was my strength that made it seem light. Cory's weapon looked like a crowbar but with the same black wrap at the end. He picked it up and spun it around testing how it moved. I did the same and nearly hit him in the face. We had a slight laugh but we were cut short by the crazed tigers and their roaring. I look at Cory and nod.

“You ready for this?” I ask and hold my weapon at the ready.
He looked from the tigers to me and smiled, “Yep.”

I lunged forward and jabbed one of the tigers in the mouth, sending it flying in the opposite direction. Cory caught the other under the chin with the bent part of his weapon, and killed the tiger. He quickly unlocked the doors and I rushed over to the tiger I had jabbed before, then bashed its head in before it could get up. We didn't stop to study the battle, but ran with amazing speeds away from the house we were in. It sat up on a hill overlooking a city below. We ran toward the city down the side of the hill. The weather was beautiful and I enjoyed how peaceful everything looked. It was then, that I realized what the man on the phone was talking about. The earth is beautiful, and the human race had cut into that beauty and ripped it away to make the cities and homes for us to live in. Now I began to hate how we had torn the life away from the world and was glad that now, I get to do something about it.

When we reached the city we slowed our pace to a jog. All the cars were parked to the side of the roads and streets with dead people still inside them. They were very much rotted and I was glad that the windows were rolled up on them. We passed through the convenient store portion of town and headed toward the business area. I could tell that these buildings were built right into the hills because the parking lots had many levels to them. A large electric plant came into sight as we passed a large building. It rose high into the sky and I could hear the hum of the electricity flowing through it still. Then something moved in a many leveled parking garage on the other side of the street. We turned and froze at the sudden movement and looked for what it was. I felt as if we were being watched. Then I felt the feeling again, but it came from behind, so we spun around to see a group of three staring at us. They wore the same thing as us, but they looked as if they had been out here longer. Then their eyes darted behind us and they grabbed us by our shoulders. We were pulled behind a car and crouched there.

“Who are you three?” I whisper.
The boy answered first, “Josh.”
“Kate,” said the only girl.
“Call me Spike,” the other boy said then pulled out a weapon like mine.
“There are raiders over in that parking lot,” Josh said pulling out one that looked like Cory's.
“What should we do?” I ask and pull mine out.
“Do you know how to use it?” Spike asked.
“Kinda...” I said.
“Here let me show you,” Spike leaned over and twisted the black wrapped handle. It clicked and he pulled out a sword from the inside of the tube.
“Wow...” I said with amazement.
“What about mine?” Cory held out his. Josh took his and did something totally different. Instead of just twisting it and pulling out a sword; he twisted it, moved the handle up to the middle, twisted it back, then pulled it apart revealing two short swords. Then they all began to take out their swords and crouch at the ready. Then I saw the movement again. A head appeared over the cement railing and scanned the street below. I duck out of sight before his eyes fall upon the car and see me. Then very quietly Josh whispered to me, (I was amazed I even heard him)
.
“I want you to get some experience, so when I say go, kill them,” he said.
“And how am I to do that? They are at least ten feet up,” an arrow flew through the window of the car and landed in the ground at my feet, “And they have arrows...”
“You are a super human and you have a sword...” another flew through the car, “Ready?” I nod my head, “We will come in behind you...now go!”

I sprang up without hesitation and ran toward the men who shot arrows at me. Out of instinct my arms leaned back and I ran faster. The sword I held pointed out ready to strike. Then I lept into the air and, to my astonishment, landed were the raiders stood. Shock over came their faces but died away quickly and they began to take aim again. I ran toward them, some how dodging the arrows, and swung my sword. It sliced right through three of their necks, but I didn't stop there. Within seconds I had killed ten more. When I turned around I saw that there were more than I had previously thought there was. Dozens stood with all their bows and spears pointed right at me. I thought it was the end until I saw Cory, Josh, Kate, and Spike flash by me and into the crowd. I rushed in with them and began to massacre the raiders. When they were all dead, we sheathed our swords and weapons and jumped back down to the ground.

“Good work you two, you have proven yourselves worthy to travel with us,” Josh said as he continued to walk.
“My name is Trish by the way,” I told and waved Cory to my side.
“And I'm Cory,” he said.

Josh only nodded, then broke off into a run toward the power plant. Me and Cory look at each other as the other two fallow him. We shrug, then ran after them as well. They lept over the high voltage fence and ran toward the shed in the middle of the plant. I cautiously fallowed because I didn't want to be shocked to death. Cory was right behind.

When we reached the shed and walked inside, I was awed at what I saw. Hanging on the walls where weapons of different kinds. I studied them all, and found many different versions of the sword I had. They didn't seem to really care about the many weapons, but looked out the windows instead, and stayed alert. As I continued to study, a loud buzzing noise made me jump and pull out my sword.

“Why are they so stupid?” Josh asked looking out the window. I walk over to see a small group of raiders at the shock fence. One was charred and steaming on the ground.

“Maybe because they are desperate...and human,” the last part that came out of my mouth was unintentional, and I clapped my hands over it. Josh laughed and picked something up off the weapons wall. With the swift movements of his hands, he turned what originally looked like a sword thing, into a bow. He twisted the handle part and an arrow grew from it. He grabbed it, strung it, and took aim. Then he let it fly, and it hit one raider right in between his eyes. The arrow dissolved away as one tried to grab it and use it. Josh strung another and the raiders all ran away.

“Human...” he whispered and watched them run away.
I shrink away back to the weapons and continued to study them. Spike saw this and sat next to me.
“I see you like the weapons we have here,” he smiled at me and picked one up.
“Yeah...” I said not knowing what really to say. He chuckled and picked up one off the floor.
“Since your with us now, you are welcome to whatever you want,” he said. I of course became giddy with excitement and began to grab stuff. As I gathered up a ton of stuff everyone watched me.

“So...how are you going to carry all that?” Cory said. It never dawned on me until then, and I sighed then started to put most of it back up. They laughed at me but I ignored them and chose only one thing to go with me. It was a sword thing, like my previous one, but this one could change into two swords if I wanted to. I sat and practiced with it until I could easily switch it back and forth. For some strange reason, Josh wouldn't stop watching me. I soon became uneasy as the sun began to set behind the horizon and darkness fell. I sat in silence, listening to the hum of the electricity and absentmindedly flipped my sword back and forth. An hour we sat in silence together when suddenly, the group of three jumped up.

“Time to hunt,” Josh said and through the darkness I could see him smile. Before I blinked, I could barely see in the dark, but after the blink, I could see as if it were day. I couldn't help but smile at the discovery I made, and stood up with my new sword.

“What are we going to do?” I ask.
“Find the rest of the raiders and kill them,” Josh turned to me, “We scout the area during the day and hunt at night.”
“Do you ever sleep?” I ask sarcastically but he didn't find it funny.
“We don't need sleep,” he said and walked out of the shed. His two walked past me, not looking at me at all. Cory stood behind me and watched them leave.
“Maybe we wont be with them for to long,” he joked, making me smile.
“Yeah, hopefully,” I say and walk outside after them.

Josh led me and Cory with his group through the city. We stayed in the shadows while we jumped from building top to building top. Finally we came to the first group of raiders. They were camped out in a parking garage with a few fires burning. We all hid behind parked cars while Josh evaluated what to do. There was at least four of them taking watch, walking around the camp with spears in one hand and a sword in the other. Except their swords looked like they were made by smushing sheets of metal and sticking some rope on the end for grip. Mostly, they looked like a crude masheti. All but them were asleep and Josh came up with his plan.

“Okay, we are going to take out those guards quietly. Then we take out the rest,” he paused to peer around the corner, then continued, “Trish, do you think you can take out the guards...quietly?”
“Sure,” I shrug, eager to get started. I actually couldn't wait to do this, it was strange.

“Okay, take out that one first. Oh, and they make a loud thud when they hit the concrete,” he said and pointed to the raider closest to the car. I unsheathe my sword and held it to my side. Then I snuck around the car and behind the raider. I quickly and quietly bring the sword up and slice his neck. He died quickly and I leaned him up on the car as if he were resting. Then I moved to the next one with my speed, and did the same, except I layed him on the ground. I turn to get the next raider but he was about to turn around and see me. I run to get him but he spots me before I get to him. I, however, did get to him in time to silence him. Quickly laying him down, I run to the last one and dispose of him. Once he was taken care of, the others come out of hiding and began to kill the rest of the raiders. I changed my sword to two separate ones and joined in on the killing. For some reason, I just didn't feel sorry for these people. I have been turned against what I used to be. Then before I completely lose it, Cory spoke to me.
“You all right Trish?” he said.
“Yeah, I'm fine,” I rub my head then clean off my swords with the shirt of one of the raiders.
“Hey you two,” Josh said to us.
“Yeah?” I responded.
“Come on, we need to get to the other raider camps,” he said, also cleaning his sword on a fallen raider shirt. I nod and fallow him after looking at Cory and giving him a wink. As we again jump over roof tops, I think about what I used to have and who I used to be. The memories were hazy at first, but the more I think about them the more they became clear. I remembered having a job and living in a beautiful country home with horses and goats. I remembered I was married to someone...but I couldn't remember his name. This fact bothered me the most and I tried hard to remember. As I struggled, more memories flew through my mind. I remembered burying my parents, then a phone call, then a long disturbing drive, then a dock...I was waiting for someone, but who? Then when we arrived at our next destination I remembered.

“Travis!” I blurt and Josh quickly grabs my face to silence me. He holds me until he is sure no one heard me, then releases me.

“Would you keep you outbursts to a minimum please!” he hissed and moved in on the small group of raiders. They all were still awake, and he didn't want to wait for them to fall asleep to kill them. He made us split up and surround them, then we moved in. Surprise was on our side, and the small group was eliminated quickly. When we left again, to find the last raiders camp, Cory ran next to me.

“So what was that about?” he asked.
“I just remembered something...I will tell you later,” I say to him and we came to the last camp.

This group was much larger than the last two combined. They resided on the very top layer of a six story car garage. They also had fires going on all four corners of the building and one large one in the middle. As we scouted into the garage we found that they had four guards on each floor.

“Okay, who wants to play a game?” Josh asked with a smile on his face. Everyone else couldn't help but smile with him.
“Whoever gets to the top first wins,” he peers around the car we all hid behind, and without looking away, he says, “Go!”

We all burst from behind the car and head for a guard. I switched my sword to double while I ran, and cut the head off of one of the guards. I ran up the level and continued to cut off heads. With a quick glance back I saw that Josh was close behind and Cory right on his tale. I let out a laugh of excitement and ran faster. Nearly dancing now, I continued to kill the raiders until I reached the top. I crouched behind the cement block of the ramp and waited for the others to reach me. Josh came up behind me with his bow ready. He smiled at me, then flicked his head toward the other ramp. Kate waved to them with a bow in her hand and Cory's head popped up behind her. Then Spike appeared behind him and he too waved. Then Josh made some hand signals to Kate and she nodded then took aim at one of the guards. Josh took aim at the opposite guard and looked at me.

“When we fire, go and kill the one to the left of us. Cory is going to go for the one on the other side of him and Spike is going to start the killing around the fire. Don't get messed up okay,” he said and waited for my response. I simply nodded, and he let his arrow fly. I ran as fast as I could to the one on the left and killed him with a stab to the heart. I watched as the rest of the team did their job. Then Josh said to move in, so I ran to kill the rest. Some attempted to fight with a sword but mine was much stronger and sharper. My swords cut right through the metal of their swords, as they went to block, and dug deep into their shoulders or faces. When they were all dead, we put out the fires and pushed the still burning embers over the edge of the building. To my and Cory's surprise, we didn't get burned, not even a trickle of pain or wound appeared. After that, we headed back to the electric tower. Once there, Josh and his two sat down and said nothing. Me and Cory walk in behind them with confused looks on our faces.

“We usually rest until dawn, then we scout,” Josh said and layed back on the floor. I walk over to him while Cory goes back outside.
“Hey,” I whisper, “Me and Cory...we are going to, well...” I stumbled with the words and he just looked at me as if he knew what I was going to say. So I sigh and say, “We are going to go.”
“Why?” he asked, sitting up.

“Well you are more experienced than me or Cory, and we don't want to get in your way,” I say as convincingly as possible. The truth was that I wanted to look for Travis, if he was still alive. However, before Josh could answer, my phone began to vibrate. He looked at me funny as I quickly try to pull it out. When I did, I saw that I had a text message from, guess who, the mystery phone guy. The message read, 'Trish, I know why you are going to leave Josh's group. Yes, Travis is still alive, but he was the only one to recover from the sleep the virus caused, within a day. Therefor, he has been by my side and under my very close watch. I have sent him on a very important mission to kill one of the leaders of the raiders.'

I messaged back, 'So what can I do to see him? If I am aloud to, that is.'
A few seconds after I sent it, he replied, 'You would go after him anyway, even if I did say no. But I am saying yes, he will be killing the raider leader in three days. The killing will be near were you were born Trish.'
'Thank you so much, but were am I now?' I message.

There was a slightly longer pause than I was expecting, then I got his message, 'You are currently in the state of Tennessee, near the border. Trish, the road in which you are going to travel is going to be hard and dangerous. I will be watching you, and message me whenever you need help. Oh, and please take Cory with you, I don't like the thought of him being left with them. They take their job to seriously.'

I smirked at his last words but did not reply. I simply nodded and placed my phone back in its pocket. Then I stood, grabbing my sword, and left through the door. Josh stumbled after me.  

[Mina Yamisan]

“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Away...” I stopped and looked at him, “Why do you care? You hardly know me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, “Its just, we haven't seen another super human in so long. We want you to stay.”
I smile and place my hand on his shoulder, “Then stop staying in one city. Move around, get to see the land and all its beauty, and kill a few raiders here and there, you know?”
He smiled at my last comment and nodded, “Okay...thanks Trish. We wont forget you. I will keep my eye out for you though, will you do the same?”
“Of course,” I smiled and held out my hand. He looked down at it, grabbed it, then pulled me into a hug. Then he let go and went back into the shed. I stood, slightly shocked at the random hug, when a noise behind me caught my attention. I turned to see Cory balancing himself on the electric fence!
“What are you doing? Your going to get hurt!” I yell and run up to him. He laughed and squatted down on the fence. I could see the electricity surging through him.
“Relax Trish, I'm fine. Look, perfectly fine. Turns out we cant get hurt from fire and electricity,” he smiled then leaned in closer to me, “Wanna see something cool?”

Before I answered, I lept onto the fence. The feeling of the electricity flowing through my head and body was exhilarating, and I could see things with a clarity I didn't think possible. He stood and smiled at me then, placed his hand out in front of him. I stood and watched as the electricity in the fence concentrated to one area and began to rise from the wires. My mouth opened as it reached for his hand and zapped into him. Then with his eyes he chose a dead car as a target, and threw the bolt of electricity at it. It exploded in a cloud of flames and smoke. I, of course, had to try it and stuck my arm out like he did before. But nothing happened to me and I looked at Cory for guidance.

“Concentrate the electricity flowing through your body, to the palm of your hand,” he said and I attempted, with all my might, to force the electricity to my hand. Without warning, electricity flew from my hand, hitting the ground and some cars.
“How did you do that?” he asked, looking surprised.
“I really don't know,” I smiled at my new ability, “But we should go now before any raiders decide to take to the road.”

Cory nodded and jumped off the fence. Before I got off, however, I unsheathed my sword and placed the metal on the fence. As soon as it touched, lights in the handle and along the blade turned on and glowed blue. I smiled and sheathed my sword, then jumped down to Cory. We ran through the city on the main road, seeing a lot of what used to be a busy part of town. The cars where not placed to the side but strewn all over the place. We jumped over and on them to get out of the city. Even when we did exit the city, they were still all over the place. Soon though, the city was far behind and the cars thinned out. We ran along the road until the sun began to rise to our left. There was, conveniently, an abandoned house off the main road and we stayed in it.

The house was in good shape, even though it had been sitting here for almost a year. We looked in the fridges and found all rotten food. Then we looked in the freezers and Cory found some frozen meat. He held it up with a smile and I shrugged, “Why not?”
We went out back were there was a huge grill and a tiny grill. We used the smaller one to cook our slices of steak. I sat in a nice chair while Cory cooked.
“So how do you like yours?” he asked, flipping one over.
“Medium rare please,” I smile then wonder something, “We probably don't really have to eat either.” He smiles then flipped the other. Then he closed the lid to let them cook, and sat across from me.
“So what are we doing then? Remember, you said you would tell me why you yelled that name,” he said.
I sigh, then begin, “Travis is the name of my husband...”
“How old are you?” Cory interrupted.
“I'm twenty eight years old,” I tell him.
“Wow, you look like your eighteen or something,” he said and leaned over a bit, “I'm twenty five, if you were wondering.”
“Anyway,” I smile, then continue, “We are going to look for him. He is going to kill a raider lord where I used to live, in Florida, and I am going to meet him there.”
“So, what am I supposed to do whenever you two get back together?” he seemed sad.
“You can travel with us. I was thinking we could make our own pack, like Josh did,” I told him.
He seemed to perk up a bit then he rose to check on the meat.
“So what did you do before, you know, this?” he asks while he moves the steak around.
“I used to be an artist, selling my works to anyone who would buy it. Travis was in the navy so he was gone a lot, but, it brought in the money,” I starred at the ground.
“I used to be a construction worker,” he raised his arm into a pose, “I used to have a mean set of muscles to. Now look at them.”
“Yeah, but your much stronger than before,” I remind him.
“Yeah I know... but I miss my guns,” he flexed some more and I laughed at the funny faces he made. A little while later, the steaks were done and we ate. The meat tasted wonderful, and I didn't leave a single peace left. When we finished, it was about noon and we headed back onto the road.

We didn't come across any raiders, at least not alive ones anyhow, while we traveled. Then the cars began to thicken and soon another city was in sight. I ran with my hand on the handle of my sword, just in case anything tried to attack us. We began to run on top of the cars now, as they thicken greatly. Some were even off the road and crashed into trees. The trees, they were greener than I have ever seen them. They were lush and full of life. As we near the city, we realize the wilderness was invading the city. We slow our pace to a jog as we pass through the large city. I look up at the massive buildings and squint against the reflected sun. Then, as I was looking around, a smell fills my nostrils. I freeze, not knowing what the smell was or what it belonged to. Cory had ran past me when I stopped, but ran back to me. He opened his mouth to ask me something, but before he could say anything, he smelled it too. I can tell you that the smell was equivalent to the smell of an unwashed dog and really bad human body odor, but the smell truly was worse. Then the smell of blood, I knew that smell well, complemented the other smell. But the smell of the blood was not the same smell of the humans. It was sweeter and stronger than a humans ordinary metal smelling blood.

Two different consciouses where pulling at the back of my head. The first one was curious and wanted me to go and figure out what was the source of such a strange mix of smells. The other was screaming at me to beware and avoid it at all cost. Fortunately, the one that screamed at me was the one I listened to and I headed for one of the smaller buildings. Cory instinctively fallowed me as I jump up the building and climb out of the scents path. When we reached the top, we were about three stories up. A little breeze blew, but there was no weird smell. So we continued from there, jumping and climbing on buildings, avoiding the ground breeze as much as we could. But I just couldn't shake the feeling our scent floated around down below, and that we were being fallowed. I urged myself to look behind me and saw nothing. With that, I relaxed a little and continued to climb and jump. Soon, though, we were coming up on the other edge of the city. The buildings grew small again, so we just ran on top the roofs and jumped from one to another. Then, as I jump through the air to another roof top, I sense something beneath me. Within that split second of sailing, I saw the most hideous creature coming toward me. Within that small fraction of time, I analyzed the creatures appearance and it looked a lot like the fictional creature called a werewolf.

But, it looked nothing like the pictures or the movies. It had a short snout, unlike a wolf's, and its body was covered in hair about an inch long. Also, its teeth looked as if they had been filed to points, along with their nails. It wore no clothes and it reeked of the smell of unwashed dog and human body odor. Then time seemed to go back to normal, and the beast crashed into me. We tumbled through the air until we hit the ground after a twenty feet drop later. We rolled in separate directions and I lay there, dazed out of my mind. I hear Cory's voice call my name and I bolt upright. The creature was getting up and was staring at me with the same crazed look in its eyes like the tigers before. Except these eyes were not wild looking. They had a purpose, and it seemed to me that purpose was to kill me.

I stood up quickly, with no injuries, and watched as it stood up and wavered. Then it roared loudly and I smelled the sweetness of the blood on its breath. It suddenly dawned on me that that sweet smell was not of a normal human, but that of a superhuman. Fear welled inside me and I could tell that the werewolf thing could sense it. Then it opened its mouth as if to speak, but nothing understandable came out. It cleared its throat loudly then looked directly into my eyes. I could see Cory sneaking up on the creature from behind, but I signaled to him to stop.

“You are young super, you will die quickly,” its voice was raspy and hoarse. I said nothing in response and that seemed to make him angry. He crouched and lunged at me from fifteen feet away, but this time I was waiting for him to do it. I swiftly unsheathed my sword and stabbed him right through his heart, then let his still sailing body go past me and hit the ground. It coughed up blood and growled as I approached. My sword stuck from his body, and before I pulled it from him, he spoke again.

“I don't know...how you beat me. I kill other young ones, some older than you. But you kill me...i not know how...” it began to cough again.

I grasp the handle of my sword and lean in close to his face, “I'm not like the other super humans,” Cory walked up next to me with a blank expression as he studies the dieing creature, “We both are different.”
It growled deeply and Cory now leaned over it, “What are you?”
It didn't answer at first so I twisted the sword and it yelped in pain, “I a wolf man, a wolf man!”

Cory and I both cocked our heads at the new information. Then I pulled out my sword and, with a quick flick of my wrist, cut off its head. I didn't want to take the risk of it being able to heal itself. I also noticed that my sword still had its charge and I planned on using it the next time we encounter a wolf man.

“Now that is what I call a freak of nature...” Cory said and suddenly my phone began to ring. I reached in my pocket and pulled it out then answered it.
“Hello?” I said.
“Put me on speaker right now!” the mystery phone man from before ordered, so I did, “Cory! That was not a freak of nature! It was another one of my creations, just like you.”
I jumped in, “Why did it attack me?”
“Because I told it to. I wanted to see how you would hold up against him, and you won. Congratulations Trish!” he said with a cheery voice.
“Why would you do that? I thought we were supposed to rid the world of humans. Now we have to watch our backs so that we can live to,” I say.

“Well, you are all apart of an experiment I am conducting. You remember that virus right? Well, I gave another anti-virus, plus a few other things, to another group of individuals whom had that kind of reaction. They still have amazing strength and speed, but they lack the problem solving and thinking skills of a superhuman. In truth, the other anti-virus brought out their inner animal, with all their instincts and hunting skills from when men first arrived on this earth. They are much more dangerous in a pack though,” he said with an enthused tone to his voice.

“So why are you doing this?” Cory reentered the conversation.
“Because, Cory, I want to see what new race will be the dominant one. I am rooting for the super humans though,” the mystery man still had his enthused tone.
“That is evil...” I whisper, “To watch and see as two new races scratch at each others necks in a fight for survival.”
“There is no evil or good in this world, or anywhere for that matter! There is only sane and insane. There are also levels of both. I am the level in which I am so sane, most would think me insane. I know more than you could ever learn in a lifetime! I could end the world again if I wanted to; be God all over again,” I was about to throw the phone when he spoke again, “I wouldn't do that, Trish. Its your only way to contact others.”
“I will find another way...this has to stop. You are not in charge of who lives and dies anymore. I am going to find you,” I say with determination.
He began to laugh, “But what about your beloved Travis, hmm? You remember that raider lord I sent him to kill? Well, I in fact, sent him to a wolven lord and his clan of wolf men. In other words, I sent him to his death. Now, can you get to him in time?” he said mockingly.
I clutched the phone in my hand and broke it into peaces, then yelled, “I will get to him in time! Then I'm going to kill you!”

Cory looked pale with disgust and fear. I reached into his pocket and broke his phone as well. He did not protest and nodded as I looked intently at him. Then we were off again, but running as fast as we could through the last bit of the city. We didn't see anymore of the wolf men, but we kept our noses and senses alert at all times. Never did we stop once when we left the city. Whenever we would pass a settlement or another town, we would seek out the super humans there and warn them of the psycho and the wolf men. We also told them to break their phones but they didn't want to. I did not press the matter and continued to head toward Florida. Soon though, night fell and we grew evermore wary. We quickly blinked to night vision and ran up on a huge city.

“Where is this?” Cory asked. The surroundings were beginning to look familiar. The humidity then began to sink into the cloth we wore, and it grew hot fast. Then, as the thought of us over heating ran through our minds, the cloth melted into a tank top shirt with some shorts. The feel of the wind felt good against my bare skin and I smiled. I took note of all the animal sounds and how much nature had taken back this city. Large trees grew through buildings, some were even tumbled over because of the vines and bushes that tore them apart. I jumped on a car and stood with my sword in my hand. I studied the rest of what I could see when something caught my eye. I crouch and flag Cory over.

“What is it?” he whispers.
“Over there,” I point to a building covered in vines, “There is something over there.”

He nodded and unsheathed his sword. We remained where we were and waited for something to happen. I waited for the wind to shift so I could tell if it was a wolf man. Then the wind blew hard from behind the building and the scent, of what I hoped wouldn't be there, settled in my nose. I grabbed the metal part of my sword and the electricity flowed from it to my hand. The electricity zipped through my body as I held it there. Then the wind blew from another direction and I smelt it again.

“There is more than one!” I hiss and Cory spun around as two burst from an ally way. He brought his sword part out in front of him and the hook part to his side. The sword stabbed one through the head and the hook caught the other under the chin. He pulls the sword from the first and finishes the other with it. I turn just in time to see one large wolf man jumping at me. I raise my electrified hand and quickly grab the wolf mans head. I fried him with the electricity and threw the heavy body at another pair who jumped from the building. The left over shock momentarily paralyzed them and they fell to the ground. Cory and I quickly moved in and sliced off their heads. When they were dead, we stood and looked around for others. When nothing showed, we continued through the city.

The further we went into the city, the more it was overgrown. We climbed the trees and jumped from branch to branch. Through the nature, I began to recognize more and more. We were definitely in Florida and I knew we were close to Travis.
“We are close,” I told Cory as we leave the overgrown city behind.
“How close?” he asked.
“If we run without any problems, then we will get there within the next fifteen minutes,” I say and we began to run.

Unfortunately, we did run into more wolf men. They attacked in larger and larger packs. But we came out victorious at every encounter. My fifteen minute prediction turned out to be thirty minutes instead. When we came up on the city I was born in, I was taken aback. The swamp had taken back Jacksonville. I could see downtown from were I stood, and the buildings where nearly all grounded. The sun was becoming hot in the sky and I could already smell the stench of wolf men and raiders in the air. Cory and I cautiously began to walk through the suburb area with our weapons drawn. I held my two swords at my sides and looked around. We needed to get to the other side of the city but I didn't want to attract to much attention doing it. After the suburbs we were on the main road going over a bridge to the another section of town. It was awfully quiet and we grew uneasy about being in the open. Then something zipped by up ahead and I froze. Cory darted behind a car but I just stood.

“Trish, hide!” Cory insisted. But I continued to stand. I didn't smell anything human or the musk of the wolfmen. The sent was sweet like...i thought about it, then suddenly remembered...superhuman blood. The superhuman was hurt and by how strong the scent was, it was hurt badly. I sheathed my sword and straightened up.

“That was a mistake!” called a voice from ahead, and then the superhuman lept into the air at me. I stood my ground and when he came within reach, I grabbed his hand and sword. He was weak and I easily overcame him. We stood there for about ten seconds until he finally loosened his grip on his weapon. He lowered his arms from his sword and I took it from him and handed it to Cory. The new superhuman looked familiar to me somehow. But before I could get a good look at him, he collapsed to the ground. I quickly pick him up and put him over my shoulder. We ran through the cars toward a convenient store at the end of the bridge. Cory made sure there was no one there, and we went in. When I sat the wounded superhuman down, Cory and I went and locked the doors. Then I went back to the superhuman's side and began to search for his wound. I found that the wound was underneath the clothes, that we all wore, so I cut it with my sword. It immediately began to stitch itself back up, so I tore it off completely. His pants were still on though. I could see the wound completely now. It was worse than I previously thought it was. Three long gashes ran across his torso and down to his hip. There was, what looked like a dog bit on his other shoulder. I went to touch the wounds but he suddenly jolted upright.

“Calm down, lay back. I'm going to try and fix your gashes,” I say and he stared into my eyes.
“Do I know you?” he said and tried to lean closer but cringed and layed back down. Thats when I got a good look at him and realized why he looked familiar.
“Tr...Travis?” I stutter. He opened his eyes back up and looked at me again.
His eyes squinted then shot open, “Trish!”
I scoop him into my arms, “I knew I would find you!”
“Ouch!” he yelped when I touched him.
“Oh, crap, sorry. I forgot,” I gently put him back down, “What happened to you?”

“Other werewolves attacked me...I ran into them while I was leaving Dan... one got me across the chest, and another bit me. They wont heal up...there was so many...,” he said trying to look down at the gaping holes. I insisted he lay back down, so he did. Cory and I searched the convenient store for any medical supplies, and to our luck, we find some. I cleaned the wounds with alcohol then began to stitch them up with a sterilized needle we found. After a while the wounds stopped bleeding but they still remained open. I sat puzzled, then came up with a plan. Before anyone could protest against me, I grabbed my sword and cut open the tips of my fingers.

“What are you doing?” Cory said.
“Yeah, what he said,” Travis agreed.
“Just watch,” I tell them and rubbed my cut fingers over the open wounds. My blood seeped in to his flesh and I watched with amazement as his skin began to stitch up. I realized my hand was no longer cut open and I wipe the blood off.
“How did you know it was going to do that?” Travis asked and sat up slowly.
I smile, “I didn't,” and help him to his feet.
“I still don't know why it didn't heal up,” Travis pondered and grabbed his torn shirt. It began to stitch itself back together around him, back into a perfect looking shirt again.
“Travis, about the werewolves...” I began and hopped up onto a counter.
“What about them?” he said.
“Well, did you get a call from some guy saying to kill a raider lord?” I ask.
“No, but I got a call to kill some wolfmen. The mystery man failed to mention the fact that they were different? Why do you ask?” he said.
“He called us and told us about how he has been sending you on missions, because you recovered so quickly from the deep sleep. He was testing how well you could survive against what ever he put you up against. And now...” I look into his eyes, which where bluer than I remembered, and said, “Now he is trying to see what race will come out on top.”

At first he did not say anything, but soon Cory and I where answering many questions. By the time we were finished, it was early nightfall. We sat in silence for about half an hour contemplating on what to do. I personally wanted to go after the mystery man, but Travis insisted we talk to the wolfman lord and try to reason a truce among our two races. There was something that he wasn't telling me, like he knew the wolfman lord. But, I finally agreed and Cory fallowed with my decision. We set out into the night and ran among the shadows. Travis led us to a large building that had a huge oak tree growing in the middle. We sat atop a tall building looking down on the tree building, and took note of all the wolfmen and where they stood. I saw an opening and made for it. The other two fallowed behind me. I silently climbed the side of the exposed tree, all the way to the top. Once there, I jumped to a large peace of frame that was sticking out. There I sat while Travis and Cory found another frame bar to sit on. Down below us, we could see the werewolf lord's throne.

From where I sat, it seemed to me that he was very agitated. He rubbed his temple and got up to pace back and forth. He didn't walk like all the other wolfmen, and stood near straight. To my surprise, when two other wolfmen came in, he did not speak like the others.

“What news do you have for me?” he spoke in perfect english.
One of the two that entered did not, however, speak as sophisticated, but tried, “We not see any other superhumans sir. We could scout again, but we probably not find any others.”
“Why isn't she here?” he began to pace back and forth again. I quickly realized he was talking about me, so I silently climbed closer. Travis and Cory climb after me to stop me, but I drop in front of the werewolf lord before they could touch me. The two wolfmen from before stepped back startled, and the werewolf lord stared at me. Then I could tell he was smiling and he raised his claw hand to call off the other wolfmen who where about to attack me.

“Your late,” he said and sat down in his chair.
“Sorry, we didn't know if we would be welcomed or not,” I smile and he raised an eyebrow.
“We?” he said.

I just pointed up and I could hear Travis sigh, then he jumped down. Cory landed behind me and loomed at my back in a protective manner. Travis stood at my side and smiled down at me. But when he looked up at the werewolf lord, his smile faded.

“You...” the werewolf lord glared at Travis. I stepped in front of their gazes and broke their concentration.
The werewolf lord sighed, then said, “So, what is it then that you three came here to tell me?” he leaned forward, folding his hands, as if he already knew what I was going to say.

But, I took a deep breath and said, “We are here to ask a truce between the wolf people and the superhumans. Also, we need help in destroying the mystery man.”
The werewolf lord leaned back and smiled a large, sharp-toothed smile.

“Yes, I agree to your idea of a truce and,” he stood and howled, then looked back down at me, “I will aide you in the destruction of the man whom calls himself God.”


Coming soon: Kidnapped Wolfmen  

[Mina Yamisan]

please read and give advice.

PLEASE!!!!!!