Countd0wn

Chapter 5: Secret Origins

I'm not a very scientific person, but on the day when I first saw the blue wave of light fly across the sky, I knew that it couldn't possibly be from this Earth. The concept of alien life or genetic mutation had always been more of the realm of science fiction for me, but as the rest of that fateful day played out, I quickly learned that I would have to accept that as my new reality.

It had been about 20 minutes since me and Ivy had left our house, and the nightmare that had taken both of our parents, but to me, it felt like only a few seconds had passed, and my brain was rushing along at a runner's pace. I could barely comprehend anything that was happening. Then, I got a rude awakening.

As me and Ivy managed to reach one of the main roads that led into town just a few minutes away from our suburb, I saw what looked like a scene straight out of a zombie movie. There were cars all over the road, most of which were on fire or just crashed. People were running around and screaming, and occasionally, I could hear the grunts and roars of the things that used to be people, and the crunching noises that accompanied them. I didn't have to imagine what they were.

I was still holding Ivy, who was currently wrapped around me with her head buried in my shoulder, and I could feel her warm tears soaking into my shirt. I held her head against my body tightly. I spoke into her ear as softly as I could so she could hear me. "Vee, listen carefully. Whatever you hear, don't look, ok? Just hold onto me." I felt her nod slightly against me, and I began to run as fast as I could towards the road which lead to the forest.

Finding a car would be impossible. I recently had just gotten my license, but I figured that wouldn't do me much good in this situation. The roads were blocked with cars, and I didn't want to risk hitting any people. So, I kept running, hoping I could survive long enough to get out of the city, or at least long enough to make sure that Ivy did.

As I reached an intersection, I heard popping noises, and I realized that it was gunfire. I ducked my head down, and saw that there were several police officers next to their cars, their lights flashing blue and red. The officers were firing into the crowd in front of them, hoping to hit as many of those things as they could. They had blocked off the whole road, and I didn't want Ivy or I to be hit by any stray shots. I ran up the hill to my right, in order to cut through a small shopping mall.

Once I stepped inside, I saw that things were even worse in here. There were dead bodies everywhere, some were sprawled around on the floor, others had been thrown through store windows, showering glass everywhere. But, the more terrifying thing was, looking at the people who were still alive.

Some of them had broken into the other stores and were trying to run away with as much as they could. Purses, jewelry, coats, shoes, hell, some people were even carrying hamburgers from the food court. I wanted to yell at all of them and say, "Just run you idiots! The world's going to hell, can't you see?!", but I knew that they were already probably too far gone to listen.

I couldn't see any of the creatures inside, so I decided that I would just make a run for it through the store, then continue heading for the woods. I looked for the path of least resistance, and started to run past several stores that used to sell everything from toys to clothes to makeup, which had now become battlegrounds for the people who were trying desperately to hold onto the last bit of humanity in material products. Some things never change.

As I was running past one of the entrances, I turned and saw something horrible heading my way. What looked to be a large black truck was heading towards the door at a high rate of speed. Whether the driver was already dead or just had a death wish I didn't know, but he clearly wasn't stopping. I ran away from the door and ducked down behind a bench, holding Ivy close to me, who I only now managed to register was screaming.

I heard the glass and structure of the door shatter as the truck burst through the entrance, and I saw a small plant which  had been set for decoration go flying across the room as the front of the truck hit it. Thankfully, the truck stopped before it hit the bench we were hiding behind, but the end of the ordeal wasn't close. Not at all.

It turned out that the driver was very much alive, and had apparently brought some friends. Even the most vicious of animals moved in packs. The men leaped out of the car, all of them wielding either some sort of blunt instrument or handgun. Once they move out, they began to grab random people out of the mob that was in the stores, and either execute them or beat them to death. I widened my eyes and realized these men were more dangerous than the creatures could ever be.

I quickly grabbed Ivy, and tried to muffle her wailing as I ran away from the scene, but unfortunately one of the men saw me and pointed a handgun at me. "Hey! Don't move, kid!" I stopped dead in my tracks, and grabbed Ivy tightly. I turned around slowly and saw him and his friends looking at me.

I looked at them with pleading eyes, and spoke with a slightly wavering voice. "Please...just let me go, alright? I'm not one of them, I promise..." I pulled Ivy close to me and held her tightly. "She's only 7...please..." 

The men looked over at her, and one of them started to step towards me, a crowbar in his hand. I saw that there was no remorse or any sort of humanity in his eyes. He looked at Ivy in my arms, and then looked back at me. "Give her to me." He said, quietly.

Then, I felt something inside of me that I had never felt before. My stomach and chest began to seize up. My legs grew weak, and I dropped down to the ground, still holding Ivy in my hands as I groaned with pain. "Oh Christ! He's one of them!" One of the men shouted, and I heard a small bang as he fired his gun at me.

Even though I wasn't looking, I could still hear it go off, and I felt Ivy scream against me. Then, there was a small explosion next to my head. I looked up, and saw a large glowing green barrier around me and Ivy, and the bullet was a small, half-melted piece of metal that was smoking on the ground next to my feet. "What the hell?!" One of the men shouted out.

I opened my eyes and put Ivy down slowly, who was looking at the green barrier with awe. "Whoa." She whispered quietly. I stood up slowly, and I looked at the men. I felt my stomach knot up again, and I saw that my hands started to glow green as well. I clenched my fists, and as if my body was doing it on it's own, I thrust my hands out towards them, and a green ball of energy exploded at their feet, knocking all of them back.

I was breathing heavily, and my head was hurting. I tried to slow down my breathing, and saw that most of the men had horrible burns on their chests. "Wren...what did you do?" I turned to see Ivy looking up at me, slightly scared. I looked down at my hands again, to see they were normal again. 

I picked up Ivy and looked into her eyes. "I don't know...but I'm not like what happened to Mommy, ok? I'm still me..." I hoped that last part was true, at least.

Ivy then looked at me, then giggled and poked me in the chest. "You can make yourself glow. You're Glowman." I tried my best to smile at the dumb nickname, and then held onto Ivy tightly, and began to run again, with a new thought in my mind. What the hell is happening to me?