February 23, 2146: London, England
The office was busy as usual. The sounds of phone ringing filled the customer service section of the company building. Julia stood up after getting off a call to grab some water. Pressing down the button caused air to bubble up in the Water cooler as a refreshing cup of water slowly fills itself up in her hand.
Jason, a colleague of hers walks up to her side. "Hey Julia!" Jason said. "Taking a break?"
She took a drink before speaking. "Yeahh." She slowly sighs. "Work today is so boring. For some reason, people are so damn angry today. I hate days like these."
"No kidding," he said as he fills up a cup of water for himself. "I suppose I'm lucky today compared to you. So far so good."
"Wow, lucky you," she mumbled annoyingly.
He laughs. "Don't worry. If you get the hard customers right now, then the higher the chance that you get good customers later."
She gave him a side eye. "I don't think that's how probability works."
"Well, you could always teach me one on one if you want to," he winked at her.
"Oh really?" She said with a slight grin. "Maybe later."
Jason gave her a sly laugh. "You bet."
She laughs, leading Jason to also smile. "But maybe we can go grab a drink later," she suggests.
"I'm not paying this time."
She gave him a joking glance. "What? Why not??"
He gave her a confused look. "Because I paid for the last 4 times in a row?"
"Ohhh, don't be like that." She said while giggling. "Shouldn't the man pay for the date?"
"Only if the date isn't a money sucking leech," he said sarcastically.
She rolled her eyes and took a drink of her water. "Fineeee, I'll pay." She gave him a lighthearted side eye. "Ya happy now?"
He slowly nodded his head while he drinks. "Yes. Now, I am happy."
They continued their work for the day and met up when the day was done. While walking to the bar, they talked about mundane things. Work, wage, annoying customers, annoying old people, the usual. They then arrived at "Fuel for Youth," a popular bar around their area.
They were a couple of drinks in before Julia said, "You know, little Jill has been asking when will you be coming over to play with her."
He thought for a moment. "How about tomorrow? We get off early, so I can probably stop by to keep her company."
She laughed and took a drink. He does the same. She then put the glass down with a thud. She stares into the glass of yellow beer for a while to gather her thoughts.
She then spoke in a mellow voice. "Hey Jason?"
He glanced at her while chewing some grilled meat.
"Have you ever thought of settling down… with me?"
His eyes widened. "Oh? Where did this come from?" He asks.
She looked down, a hint of sadness in her tone. "It's just… Jill seems to adore you, and you seem to adore her as well…" She pauses for a moment. "I know that we only have a sexual relationship, but… maybe-"
Before she can finish, he gently took hold of her hand from across the table. "Hey Julia?" He said. "I actually want to make something clear."
Upon hearing that, Julia looked down further, ready to hear the worse.
His voice then continued in a soft tone. "I love you," he said, causing her to look up at him, lips opened. He then continue, "I might not be perfect, but I have always loved you. Even if I am not the first man you loved, ever since I meet you, I have and have always loved you."
Her eyes teared up from hearing what he said.
He then grabs her hand with both his hands before continuing to speak. "The sex was not what kept me going back to you. I stayed because I truly love you. Jill is a sweet child, and it would be my pleasure to be a father to her, and a loving husband to you."
She looked down, wiping her tears before they fall onto her lap. "Really?" She asked in between her sobs.
"Yes, really." He reassured her.
"But I'm a used woman…" she said, still wiping her never ending stream of tears.
His tone became more determined and confident. "Even so, I do not think any less of you. Your ex husband failed in seeing the woman that you are, and failed to see what a loving family you gave him. I won't make that mistake."
Her shoulders rise with every sniffle. "Thank you." She said. "For giving me a chance to love again."
He smiles at her. "Let's finish the drinks and head home yeah? It's getting late." He suggests.
She nods, smiling with a bright smile that warms his heart. "Yeah. It's about time for me to pick her up from her after school program as well."
The two finish their drink and put the money on the table with a tip, then leave, holding hands as they walk. The sky had a beautiful purple glow, and the street was calm and quiet. The sound of a few cars passing them with a wroom was soothing in a strange way. The two walk, head looking at the ground out of partial embarrassment.
"Hey Jason?" She asked, making him look at her.
She looks at him, ready to confess more of her feelings. To her surprise, the look on his face was not that of joy, but of horror.
She then blurted out, "what's wro-"
Before she could finish her sentence, the world started spinning as she feels a slight sharp pain on her neck. She felt herself falling to the ground, and the world went black.
Jason stood there with blood on his face, horrified at what he was seeing. A creature twice his size. It had bright purple eyes with a large body covered in black fur. Its claws were large and blade-like, stained with blood. Its teeth were large, maybe the size of his hand, or maybe even larger. His brain failed to comprehend what he was seeing. Looking down from the beast, he only then realized that Julia was without a head. The stump where her head was supposed to be was spitting out blood as her arteries try their best to keep blood flowing to her nonexistent head.
His face twisted in horror, his body unable to move as the beast glared at him. Finally gaining his composure, he ran, letting go of her hand as her body falls lifeless to the ground. He looked back at the thing as it stares at him with its disgusting glowing purple eyes.
He tries to scream, but nothing would come out. Suddenly, he bumped into something, falling to the ground. Another creature with the same purple eyes. It's body was slightly different but no less horrifying. He tries to scramble away, but before he can even turn his head, his vision splits into two, one falling to the left and the other falling to the right. He couldn't feel any pain, his vision just getting darker and darker.
It wasn't long after that London fell into chaos. Cars hitting the creatures head in only serve to slightly damage the creatures and make them angry. People ran and screamed, some shooting the creatures if they had a weapon at hand. Nothing seemed to be effective. 3 people empty their clips into the beast's head and body before it was down for good. Even so, it didn't take long for 2 more to fill the spot of the dead one. All hell broke loose as more rifts opened up, releasing more monsters out to London's streets.
Cars exploded all over the street as people are sliced to ribbons and eaten. Children cried for their parents and parents desperately running, carrying their children on their shoulders. Running was not an option however, and eventually, they would be caught too by the claws of those purple-eyed demons.
After the police were called, the military was called. After the military was called, jet fighters arrived, raining missions on the beasts making slightly quicker work of them. Eventually, the rifts closed for the time being as car sirens blared on the road. People crying out for help, some missing an arm or a leg or worse.
"What the fuck is going on…" said a man in black body armor, his voice trembling from whatever just happened.
February 23, 2250: Oxford, England
The moon stood high and mighty in the gray, dull sky. A large shadow bolted out part of the light it emmited.
A boy opened the door to the side of the stationary aircraft, wind making his red hair sway from side to side. He looked down at the scene. Buildings turned to rubles, cars burned to a nasty gray. Fire filled the road as if it was hell on earth. He took hold of a handle bar next to the opened door and leaned over the floor of the aircraft.
A rift stood in the middle of a circular formation of buildings. Around the rift stood numerous creatures. They walked around in circles with no directives and no goals. Some gathered around in a group, gnawing on a dead body.
"How disgusting" he said under his breath.
Suddenly, a female voice sounded in his earpiece. "226, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," he replied.
"Good." The woman on the other remarked before giving him instructions. "We have a landing site at the tallest building to your 2. We will begin lowering altitude now. You have 15 seconds to prepare to jump."
"Affirmative" he said as the plane started to descend. He then turns around to his squad. "15 seconds!" He yelled.
Everyone in the team, except for one, injected themselves with a sort of thick purple liquid. The girl who didn't inject herself simply put her katana back into its sheath. Some of them squirmed a bit after injection, but stopped a moment later. Behind their tinted helmet began twi purple glow where their eyes should be.
The girl walked up to the boy and stood on the opposite side of the opened door. The wind causing her brown hair to lightly sway in front of her eyes. She then turned around, signaling the team to get ahead of her. They do as they are told.
The pilot pinged the signal for drop, releasing 3 ropes down to the roof of the building. The boy stood to one side and the girl stood on the other.
He taps on their shoulder as they drop down the rope. Taps after taps, the number of soldiers left slowly dwindles, leaving only the boy and the girl.
The girl nodded at him then slid down the rope and he gave the pillow the signal to depart as he dropped down. The plane took off as the rope slowly distanced itself from the floor. Just in time, he jumped from the end of the rope and dropped to the roof of the building with a slight thud. One of his normally brown eyes started glowing a bright purple as he lowered his visor, tinting his bright purple to a dim violet. His soldiers readied their weapons, cocking their guns and unsheathing their blades.
His earpiece started on again as the lady voice spoke. "There are 4 rifts opened up. One is before you now in the open, one is to the medium height building to your 4, one on the taller building to your 1, and another on the low building to your 11. Destroy them as quickly as possible. May God bless you." The audio then cuts out.
The boy held up his wrist and shot 3 dimly glowing lights to stick on the walls of the 3 buildings mentioned.
"2nd formation" he relayed to the soldiers. They split into three group of different size. The smaller group gathered behind him while the slightly larger group gathered to the girl, and the largest group stayed separated. "Group B, 4 o'clock, group C, 1 o'clock. Keep eachother safe and don't get stylish."
With enough said, the larger group jumped from rooftop to rooftops, their movement were direct and exact. The girl's group followed the larger group and split off to go further to the building at 1 o'clock. The boy's group went the opposite direction and arrived at the building at 11 o'clock.
Each group left one sniper at the top of each of their building's rooftop to provide support for the other two buildings in their field of vision. Without a moment's waste, the snipers cocked their rifle and are already starting to silently take out the unsuspecting enemies through the windows to help make the clear easier and smoother.
Upon entering the 4 o'clock building, the group split into a close range group and a long range group. The close range group quickly assassinated the monsters with quick speed, leaving the further enemies to be quickly taken out by headshots from the long range supports. They were extremely proficient in their methods, working like a well oiled machine. Floor by floor, they proceeded lower and lower, clearing each out with ease and finesse. Upon arriving at the rift, they quickly put a device down under it, creating a forcefield around the rift, slowly making the rift smaller and smaller as it faded out. With their building finished, they quickly made their way up to the roof and joined the sniper to provide support for the other two buildings from afar.
At the same time, the group entering the 1 o'clock building was also making quick work of the enemies. The girl took the lead charge, quickly and swiftly beheading the enemies she came into contact with, never wasting a move in her style of swordsmanship. Her team supported her perfectly, shooting whichever enemy she did not target as though they knew beforehand who she was going for. Quickly and silently, her team reached the rift and she placed down the same contraption, causing the rift to slowly fade from existence. She sheathed her swords and ordered the team to head back to the roof.
For the 11 o'clock building, the boy cautiously yet confidently entered the building along with 3 other soldiers, all providing range support. The veins on his hands glowed a dim purple as his body seemingly grew a bit. Upon seeing enemies, he dashed for them, violently ripping them apart, jumping from one to another as his support took out enemies who were distracted by the boy's savagery. He waits for his teammates to catch up before checking the next floor. One by one, him and his team cleared out the building with ease. Once again, they put the device down and the rift slowly disappeared.
All three teams arrived at the top of the building with none of the enemies in the center noticing. The boy then spoke on his earpiece to his team. "Nicely done. Ready your guns." He said.
All 3 team's gunners readied their guns, a collective click can be heard in his earpiece.
"Rose formation," he said.
The soldiers adjusted their arm, locking onto one target and turned on their aim laser to let the others know which target they were aiming at. After a second or two, all enemies had at least one laser aimed at them. Those without guns leaned on the side of the building to witness the spectical.
"Steady," he said, then a pause. "Clean up the strays."
The scene echoed with a slight pew noise as the enemies all dropped dead at roughly the same time, not knowing what hit them. The girl took out a smaller blade and jumped down the side of her building, digging the blade into the wall to slow her fall. The troops on her building followed suit, digging their nails into the wall to slow their descent. They followed behind her in formation, double tapping all enemies from afar. As she walked to the rift, she was stabbing at the head of the enemies on the ground. She threw the device on the ground, and just like the rest, the rift closes after a delay.
The rest of the squads headed back into their buildings to collect the samples from the enemies into several vials to take back. The boy jumped down the building with a loud thud, kicking up dirt on his landing. He then walks to the girl as she runs toward him, sheathing her sword again.
He removes his visor and reveals his bright purple eye. He then taps his earpiece again. "Well done team. I'll treat you guys to a good feast later." He said happily.
In his earpiece, he hears cheering, making him crack a smile as his eyes dim their glow and he returns back to normal.
His earpiece turned on again as the woman spoke. "Well done number 226. The aircraft is 300 meters above you. When you are finished, signal Henry to come down."
The girl walked up to him and leaned in. "Did I do good?" The girl asked with an innocent smile.
He smiles back and wipes some purple blood off her face and pat her head. "Wonderfully done Ava." He confirms.
She smiles from the praise and stands by his side as he collects some samples as well.
After a moment, his squad regrouped, their eyes now back to normal. He signaled for the aircraft to lower, and the rope ladder descended as his squad got on, then Ava, then himself.
"Take us home Henry!" He said, tapping on the metallic wall of the aircraft.
"Gladly. Heading back to base," Henry announced on his radio.