The Past Story

Chapter I

James

When James awoke, the tent was cold. He stretched out his mind, seeking his father’s comforting thoughts. Much to his surprise he found himself alone. It wasn’t like his father to leave James so shortly after setting up a new camp. His eyes fluttered open and he sat up so find that the tent was indeed empty. The door flap hung open and swayed gently in the breeze.

James reached his arm behind his back and wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his knife. He brought the blade to his side and pushed out of the shelter. His pale green eyes searched the barely lit forest. He closed his eyes and proceeded to search with his mind. His muscles relaxed as his extra sense confirmed that he was the only human in the area.

“It must be nice to be able to sense everything out there huh? Gives you a sense of security doesn’t it?” a deeper male voice sounded behind James.

The young teenager exhaled in a low laugh, “Did you find any food?”

“You bet. And this might be enough to last us a few days too.”

James tucked the knife into his belt and turned to see his father kneeling down, beginning to prepare a fire. Burruneto picked up the brown bag at his feet and examined its contents. Several rabbits and squirrels filled the large sack more than half way, “Where’d you manage to find all that?” he dropped the bag and took a seat at the other side of the growing fire.

“I guess I just got lucky,” the older man pulled out a rabbit and began skinning it, “Sleep well?”

James pressed his lips together and lied, “Yeah. I slept fine.”

“You sure?”

The young Burruneto looked down between his feet, “Positive.”

“Last night told me otherwise. You were dreaming. And it wasn’t a good dream. It was about Vanessa wasn’t it?”

James sighed, “How’d you know?”

“It’s kinda’ hard to sleep when the fifteen year old boy next to you is tossing and turning saying ‘mom’ over and over again.”

The young man grabbed a squirrel from the bag and began skinning it, “It’s not like it’s never happened before,” he muttered.

“You were watching her die again weren’t you?”

“I don’t wanna’ talk about it.”

Johnathon glanced up, “Well if you’re sure,” he returned to work.

James was in the middle of a stroke with his knife when something triggered his senses. His eyes widened and he dropped the dead animal, tightening his grip around the knife. He stood up and whispered, “Let me see your gun.”

“What? Is it an Aparoid?”

“No. Human.”

Johnathon set the pistol in his son’s extended hand. James pulled the receiver back with a soft click. He took a few steps past the bushy barrier that surrounded the camp and paused. He pinpointed the life form and lunged forward. He broke through another layer of shrubs and barreled into another body. Once he had the other person pinned he dug the knife into the soft skin around his hostage’s neck, along with a gun at his head.

“Who are you!?” James snarled harshly, “What are you doing here!? What do you want?!”

The other man coughed, “Hey, hey relax! I’m one of the good guys!”

“Oh really!?” James spat, “Cause you look an awful lot like one of the bad ones!”

“Will you just get off of me!?”

James climbed off of the man and stood, but his gun remained trailed on the imposter, “Where did you come from?”

He brushed the dirt off of his shoulders, “Wow. Pretty high and mighty for a ten year old boy.”

“I’m fifteen. Now I’m going to ask one more time before I overpower you. Where did you come from?”

The other male replied, “There’s a small colony several kilometers west of here. I was just hunting.”

“You’re not armed.”

“I set snares.”

“You’re lying. I would have known you were here. And there’s no way you would have been hunting so far away from your camp.”

“Oh really? How?”

“I’m a telepath, I can sense people around here.”

“Yeah right. And put the gun down. We have other things to worry about!”

Burruneto slowly lowered the gun, “Come with me. It’s not safe out here.”

“You’re telling me.”

James led the man to the camp, where his father was now cooking the morning catch, “Hey James what did you…” he turned his head, “Oh… Who’s your friend?”

The young male snorted, “That’s what I wanna’ know.”

The newcomer sat down and helped himself to a rabbit leg.

James stood, “Hey! You can’t just-” he took a few steps forward but he was stopped by Johnathon’s arm which blocked his path.

“Relax. We have more than we need anyway. And he must be hungry.”

James sat back down on a rock and glared at the man furiously. “You were saying.”

“Right,” he swallowed a large chunk of the meat, “My name is Trey Johnson. I’m from a colony several clicks west of here. Some of the men there say that they saw you hunting there several days ago.”

“That’s impossible,” Johnathon rested his hand on his son’s shoulder, “We only arrived here yesterday.”

James narrowed his eyes, “You’re just so full of lies aren’t you?”

“Well if it wasn’t you. Then who was it?” Trey placed his hands in front of the small blaze.

“Was it an Aparoid?” the older Burruneto took a piece of rabbit and sunk his teeth into its cooked meat.

“No. Aparoids don’t travel alone. If there’s one thing that I know for sure, then it’s that they always travel in groups.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Johnathon took another bite and swallowed the rabbit flesh, “They’re smarter than we give them credit for. It could have been a scout.”

“And I would have sensed it,” James added.

“Would you stop with the telepath crap already!?” Trey snapped and tossed the rabbit bones aside.

“Not to come across a rude,” Johnathon fed more sticks into the fire, “But my son can do everything he’s told you he can do.”

“Hmp. My apologies. So onto business.” Johnson reached for another piece of meat but James beat him to it, “I am here to ask you if you would like to come with me to my village.”

“Your village?” James scoffed, “I think I’d rather lick the inside of a city bus.”

“James!” his father snapped, “Be polite.”

“Yeah like it matters,” James took a bite of the squirrel, “We’re all gonna’ die anyways.”

“Not exactly,” Trey proceeded to explain, “For the past few months we have been bringing in more and more survivors. Soon we’ll have enough and we can attack the Aparoids and finish them off.”

“Just one colony?” James snuffed, “Good luck.”

“No. We have posts set up all over the place. If you come with me, we’ll be one step closer to having numbers far greater than theirs.”

Johnathon had a quick counter to Trey’s words, “So what? Numbers do not win a battle.”

“No?” Johnson smiled slyly, “But I bet they help.”

--

“Hey! Open the gates! Trey’s back!”

James stumbled back and almost tripped over his own feet as the massive wooden doors swung open towards him. He held tightly onto the knife in his hand, expecting an attack at any given moment.

“Relax James,” Johnathon’s words interrupted the teen’s mental scan of the base, “We can trust them.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do James. Now put away the knife and at least try to be nice to Trey.”

Burruneto mumbled to himself and slid the blade back into its sheath. He glanced around and sighed in relief when he found that no eyes were trained on him or his father. There were all too busy with their own work to notice the newcomers. The people slowly thinned out until James, Johnathon and James were the only ones walking through a large cluster of houses. He opened the door of one with over ten bends scattered about. All which were occupied by men except for two.

“Take those two beds,” Trey pointed at the unoccupied low lying cots, “Take today off and get to know camp. Then tomorrow we can send the kid on a hunting patrol and you can help with weapons or something.”

“My name is James,” the young man pointed out with hostility.

“Whatever,” Trey opened the door and let it slam behind him.

James sat on one of the empty beds and began to organize what little things he had left from his life. He did his best to flatten a small photo of his family and pinned it to the wall above his bed. He rested the knife and pistol on the bedside table and pulled his rifle out from behind his back, leaning it against the wall.

James turned his head to the side as the door opened and closed as his father left. He stood to follow, but twisted back around at a short tearing sound. Another man about a year older than James held the photo. The tear at the top only added to the wear and damage of the picture.

“Aw… Do you care?” the other man sneered.

“Give me that!” James reached over the bed and snatched at the photo. The other teen pulled it away and turned his back to Burruneto, “Where’s your mommy? Is she dead?”

“Hey!” James reached around in another failed attempt to take the paper back. His tormenter spun away, “Hand it over!”

“Where is she huh? Do you miss her? I bet you want her back huh?” he continued taunting James.

“Shut up!” the young man yelled, swinging a few blind punches, all of which were avoided easily, “Just give it back!”

“Hm… Let me think…” he ducked under James’s arm and began walking away, “No.”

“Give me the picture!!” James roared, charging the other boy. He was right behind him when he heard a loud tear, followed by another, then another.

The older teen turned and handed Burruneto the pieces of the photograph, “Okay. Here you go.”

James stared that the paper scraps in his trembling hands, soon realizing that his whole body was as well. He was given a light push on the chest, causing him to fall back onto the bed. He lifted his arms and looked at each of the papers in his violently shaking hands. He sucked the air in through his nose and let it escape through his lips in a choked sob.

James sat up in the bed and placed the scraps on the table, trying his best to quell his shaking and crying, he put the pieces back together and rested his head back on the pillow. He brought his knees close to his chest in a little ball and silently cried himself to sleep.

--

James’s eyes fluttered and slowly opened. He let go of his legs which had grown sore from sleeping all day and stretched them out. The young man thought back to the previous day’s events. His eyes slid shut again and he felt at the small table by his bed, seeking the shredded remains of his photograph. His hand searched the surface until he realized it wasn’t there. His eyes snapped open and he bolted upright. The only thing on the table was his knife and pistol.

“Oh no,” James searched behind the table and around his bed, “No, no, no, no, no… Where is it where is it?!”

“Hey James what’cha doing?” the teen’s father approached his bedside.

“Oh no…” James dug his fingers into his head, “Where is it? Did you touch it?!”

“Touch what?”

“My picture!” He lifted up the pillow and bed covers, then slapped his hand on the table, “I left it right here! Did you move it!?”

“James I-”

“What!?” Burruneto grabbed his father’s shoulders and shook him hard, “Have you seen it!?”

“James!” Johnathon pushed his son off of him and leaned his forehead into his hand, “I threw it out. I’m sorry.”

“You what!?!?” James flipped out, “How could you have done that!? That was the only thing I had left that had sentimental value! The last thing I had left of mom! And you… Threw it out!?!?”

“Son! I’m sorry! I thought you wouldn’t want it anymore because it had gotten all torn up,” he wiped the tears away from James’s eyes, “I really am sorry. Anything you want.”

The young male tucked his legs into his chest and rested his chin on his knees, “My old life back. I wish none of this had ever happened in the first place. It’s all the government’s fault! If they had never created the Aparoids in the first place… We wouldn’t be here,” James’s soul broke and he burst into tears, “It’s not fair!” he buried his face between his legs, “Why did they have to kill mom!? Why couldn’t it have been me!? It’s all my fault!”

“James!” Johnathon snapped. He lifted the boys chin in one of his hands. He wrapped his arms around the teen and chided gently, “Don’t ever think that. It wasn’t your fault. There was nothing you could do to prevent it. Life goes on. The picture means nothing. Vanessa will always have a special place in your heart.”

“I know… It’s just… Knowing that I’ll never see her again… It hurts dad…”

“I know son. You don’t know how much I wish I could have stopped any of this from happening.”

“No you don’t!” James shouted. He broke free of his father’s grasp and ran towards the door, “You’ll never understa-” He froze mid-sentence with his hand on the doorknob.

“James?” Johnathon asked, his concern only growing, “James? Is something wrong?”

The young man held his breath, after ten seconds he exhaled and whispered, “Can you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Johnathon began to fear that James was losing his mind, “I don’t hear anything.”

“SHH!!” Burruneto snapped. He closed his eyes and used his extra sense to see what his eyes couldn’t. His eyes shot open, “They’re coming!!” he yelled and dove aside just in time to avoid a round of bullets that slammed through the door. Wood splinters showered over James and the floor around him. He took cover behind a bed and crawled to where his weapons were stowed. He grabbed his rifle from the wall and took a knee behind the cot. Using his eyes only, the young male checked to make sure his father had found proper cover.

They waited in the silence. James pulled the receiver of his rifle back and let it slip forward. Just as it did, another fury of bullets shot through the room. James used one of his arms to shield his head, protecting himself from the wood and dust that settled around him.

Burruneto didn’t waste any more time. He popped up from his cover and returned fire. The machine gun cracked back into his shoulder as dozens of rounds were expelled from the muzzle of the weapon. He let up his handle on the trigger and ducked back down. The outside was now utter chaos. James glanced nervously at his father. He signaled that they were dead, giving the teen the go ahead. James placed his pistol a knife on his belt and charged out of the building. He jumped over the Aparoids, which now lay in pieces in the doorway. He skipped all of the steps, meaning the first thing he hit was the ground. James’s knees buckled underneath him and he was sent rolling with a loud grunt. Burruneto threw his weight back and used his own momentum to stand and continue running. He slid behind a wall of sand bags and checked his rifle magazine. He twisted his spine, placing the gun on the barrier and fired blindly when the clip had been spent.

“Reloading!!” he shouted and slammed a new magazine into the slot. He rested his rifle on top of his cover, but the gun was yanked from his grasp and there was a bright flash of silver as something was directed to stab into his skull. James jumped up and back and ripped the knife from his belt. The Aparoid lunged at him, slashing its own blade, James slashed up and the knifes sparked as the forces collided. He pushed away and took a few swings of his own. As the robot recovered, a bullet slammed through its head. Metal components and sparks of electricity flew out of the other side. It dropped to its knees just as James kicked it over. He looked to the side just in time to see Trey duck down behind his own cover.

Burruneto bolted forward and leapt over the sand bags. He grabbed his rifle and took a knee. He brought the stalk to his shoulder and fired a line across the front ranks of the Aparoids. He hit one in the leg and took down two others, but he had to begin running back as soon as he realized he was in the open.

“James are you crazy!?” he heard Trey yell, “Get over here you crazy kid!”

The young man rolled over a steel barrier just as a barrage of fire was directed to where he had just been.

“Don’t do that!” Johnson began reloading his own gun, “We can’t afford people to take stupid risks like that!”

James didn’t respond. He and Trey lifted their weapons and began shooting on the advancing Aparoids. There was a solid fffutt and Trey fell back with a loud yell. Burruneto lowered his head and looked at the other man. Blood poured out of a hole that had been torn through his shoulder. His eyes were closed tightly as he continued screaming.

James lifted his head and looked around, “Medic!!” he shouted above the gun fire, “We need a medic over here!!”

A young woman opened the door of a small building next to them, “Bring him in here. It’s safer.”

James nodded and proceeded to drag the moaning Trey into the building. With the help of the nurse, they got him on top of a table and she pulled his shirt off, beginning to assess the damage.

“Will he be okay?” James asked.

“He’ll live,” The medic began wrapping gauze around Trey’s chest and over the wound, “He might not be able to fight anymore though.”

Just as she finished patching his shoulder, Johnson shot up and grabbed his rifle from James’s hand, “No way am I doing that! Come on James, let’s go and kick some serious Aparoid tail!”

“Wait. What about we can’t afford people to take risks,” James tried countering the other man’s words.

Trey laughed, “I said stupid risks James. Get it right next time.” He smacked the teen on the side of the head.

“James smiled, “Yeah, yeah of course you did. Now let’s go.” He opened the door to leave.

The medic stopped them, “Wait! I think the Aparoid’s attack is originating from the back,” she reached into her kit and pulled out four grenades, “Take these and see if you can stop the attack flow.” She handed James and Trey each two of the fist sized bombs.

“Thank you,” Trey paused just before he left, “Where’d you get these anyways?”

The doctor hurried them along, “I have to be able to defend myself. Now will you go before we lose anymore of our fighters!?”

He smirked, “Yeah, yeah come on James, cover the back.”

“Hmp. Yes Sir.”

By the time James and Trey had left the building, both of them had placed the grenades on their belts, “Come on.” He began running in the direction of the battle.

“Hold up!” James stopped him, “Didn’t the medic say that the attack was originating from the back?”

“James think,” Trey entered another building and pulled a shotgun out from behind a counter, “We’ve been fighting for almost twenty minutes now. I think all of their ranks would be in here by now.” He pumped the rifle.

“Aparoids in three… Two… One.” James pointed out casually. Trey whipped around just as the door was knocked down. He fired the shotgun twice which was more than enough to take down the three Aparoids in the doorway.

Trey lowered the gun, “Thanks for the heads up.” He ran out of the building. James followed close behind. He lifted the gun to his shoulder and scanned all one hundred and eighty degrees in front of him. With his sixth sense, he didn’t have to continuously glance behind him to see if they were being followed.

Trey froze after a short time, “Can you hear that?”

James closed his eyes. At first, he couldn’t hear anything besides the far off fight. As he channeled his focus, he could hear something else. A young child crying.

“What the…” James opened the door of the building where the sound was originating. A young boy only three was curled in a corner of the small hut. His eyes were shut tightly and his mouth was wide open in a loud wail.

The young man swung the rifle around his back and stooped down to pick the child up. He held the boy’s head against his against his chest, the other supporting his chest. The toddler wrapped his arms around the teen’s torso and his cries began to subside, leaving only an occasional whimper.

“Don’t worry,” James whispered gently, “I’ll keep you safe.” He exited the house behind James, “We’ve gotta’ get him to a secure location.”

Trey nodded, “Follow me.” He took off in a light jog again.

James shifted the child’s weight into one of his arms and wielded his pistol in the other. He sprinted shortly to catch up to Johnson then slowed as he grew nearer.

Trey slowly came to a walk. He pulled a grenade from his belt and told James to cover the boy’s ears. He abided and Trey primed the grenade and lobbed it over several huts. A massive explosion followed soon after and James held the boy in both arms when he started crying again. The air filled with smoke, metal components and pieces of the buildings that had been near the explosion. The older male sprinted forward and quickly finished off what was left, “Clear!” he notified James.

James entered the now secure area, still coaxing the boy in his arms. Trey did one more scan of the area before moving on.

“Do you know where you’re going?” James asked.

“Of course,” Trey snorted a laugh, “Now let’s keep going. We’re almost there.”

“Almost where?”

“You’ll see.”

After five more short minutes of running, approached a small building with a red cross plastered on the top of its door. He opened it and let Burruneto in before himself. He looked down and for the first time realized that the boy had fallen asleep.

An older lady stood up from a chair in front of one of the occupied cots and approached the two men, “Can I help you?”

“Just take the boy,” James carefully handed him over to the nurse. Without another word, James and Trey had opened the door, letting it slam behind them.

Trey looked left, then right as they came to the foot of the stairs, “Where do you think we should-”

Johnson was cut off by a massive explosion, originating only meters from their location. The detonation threw James flailing through the air over a hundred feet, landing on the hard dirt, sprawled. He slid for a few more meters until his back slammed into the wooded wall of the camp. Dirt and wood splinters burned into his skin and face, getting into his eyes and his nose and mouth. He opened his eyes and all was black and white. James only heard three more deafening booms before he lost consciousness.

--

James’s vision faded in and out. He wasn’t sure how much time passed between each time he regained sight.

The night sky… Blackness.

A pair of boots… Blackness.

Him being lifted onto a stretcher… Blackness.

“Trey. Trey get over here. He’s waking up.”

“Okay. Rakach. Get the body out of here. We can’t let James see it.”

James knew his voice was be garbled and contorted, but he spoke anyway, “See what?” he moaned, trying to sit up.

Trey pushed him back down, “James you need to stay down. You have a broken vertebrae in your back and a few cracked ribs. Let us fix you up then you can get up.”

James opened his eyes. For the first time he saw the extent of damage done to trey. Gauze was wrapped all around the top of his head and there were multiple burn marks across his face. His right forearm was in a splint and there were bandages wrapped all the way around his chest. Burruneto groaned in pain, “Do you know where my dad is?”

There was no reply, James could tell Trey was getting nervous.

His eyes widened, “Where’s my father? What happened to him? Is he okay?”

Trey’s eyes shifted to the right. Burruneto followed them just in time to see a few men begin to haul a bloody and mangled body away. A man blocked James’s view, but just a moment too late.

Time stopped for James. His breathing stopped. This has to be a dream, he thought. The world seemed to be spinning as his head turned around to look at Trey. Johnson was saying something but James didn’t comprehend it. Panic began to set in as he remembered to take a breath. However, he began to over compensate for breathing and hyperventilation began. Before he knew what was happening, someone was pulling him to a sitting position, while another person rubbed his back in support. His eyes frantically searched the dirt as if in thought. This has to be wrong. My dad can’t be… He has to be alive… James thought. With the final thought, he abruptly jumped up as time seemed to begin again.

“No!!!” James screamed and began running forward, “Dad!” Trey grabbed his broken wrist which made him yelp in pain, but he still continued to fight it, “DAAAAD!!!”

Confusion, anger, and mostly, sadness were shown on James’s face as he looked around the camp for escape. He needed to leave. Finding himself surrounded by men, he began furiously crying while muttering to himself about his father still being alive, struggling to free himself from Trey. Then pain was fueled out by anger and sadness.

Eyes clouded partially by tears and anger, he was surprised to find himself in an embrace held by strong arms. He knew the other person must have been crying as well as the arms were shaking with each sob. James, knowing it was Trey, began to fight the embrace out of anger.

“It’s okay James,” Trey said between sobs, his embrace strengthening to prevent the teen from breaking away. “I know it hurts. I know.”

James, as if the words from Trey hit a switch, felt his anger mysteriously disappear only to be replaced by a dark, deep sadness. Instead of pulling away from the embrace, he returned it while he placed his head against Trey’s shoulder, crying deeply.

“He-he has to come back,” Burruneto sobbed. “I have no one.”

Furiously, Trey broke the embrace and gripped James by the shoulders. Tear stained face stared at tear stained face. Only James’s face held that of a lost child while Trey’s was stern.

“Don’t you say that,” Trey started, his tears spilling over again as he looked over Trey. “You have me.”

Unable to say anymore, Johnson pulled him into another embrace while the other men around them silently cried from the side, observing the sad duo.

“Don’t worry Johnathon,” Trey thought as he looked up at the sky as James continued crying helplessly, “I’ll take good care of your son.”