Original Design

by William Latoria

  The golden light that encompassed the landing site began to pulse and slowly lost its golden pallor. After a few minutes, the light was almost pure white before it transitioned into a transparent glow. As the light became almost invisible, it retracted back into the sky without warning, making not so much as a sound. Blackshade watched until he could no longer detect it and then rolled over to his stomach so he could look at the bodies. Pain shot through him again as he rolled over, but he needed to see if the resurrection had worked. His vision was getting blurry, and he knew he was losing consciousness, but he wanted to know if all their effort had been for naught. His stomach dropped as he saw that there was no change. The bodies that he had knocked down with Kara and the two Air Soldiers still lay motionless on the ground, still as deceased as they were an hour ago. Blackshade felt his heart sink as the betrayal sunk in. The Omegas had played him for a fool after all, and now he had failed these people for a second time. His eyes misted over, and he wiped at them angrily. He didn’t deserve to feel sorry for himself; he deserved to be sent to jail. Exhaustion, depression, and defeat fell on him like physical weights, and he was about to succumb to it all when his gaze fell on the Air Soldier he had thrown into the site. The one that had died to injuries inflicted on him by a fire bomb. The Air Soldier’s armor was still a charred and ruined mess, but the exposed flesh under it was now healthy and whole. Not so much as a blemish remained to indicate he had ever been mortally burned. Blackshade’s jaw dropped in astonishment, as his heart jumped into his throat. “IT’S HAPPENING!” he yelled out hoarsely, as the relief hit him. He hadn’t realized how much doubt he had of the resurrection actually occurring until this moment, and the relief he felt knowing his trust hadn’t been betrayed overwhelmed him.

  For the first time in decades, Blackshade allowed himself to cry.

  The first tears were barely down his cheeks when a brilliant, jade-green, light suddenly appeared over the landing site, enveloping every deceased person there. There was no movement or discernable effect from the light as far as he could tell, but he watched intently as it became more powerful in both color and intensity. As he watched the jade light bathe the deceased in its glow, he was dumbstruck by the fact that there was no sound generated by the light. He had expected the process to have some sort of science fiction-y sound, like he had seen in the movies, but the entire process so far had been completely silent. Part of him was disappointed by this, but another part of him thought the silence somehow added to the awe of the situation, making the whole process…pure…somehow. The jade light lasted a little over a minute and then disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. It didn’t retract into the sky like the golden light had. It simply winked out of existence. Then, one by one, he saw the bodies inside their bags begin moving. At first, he thought it was his eyes playing tricks on him, but then Kara sat up and any skepticism he had evaporated. The Omegas had done it. They had brought these people back to life!

  Blackshade wanted to call out to Kara, but he was so overcome by his elation, and his relief, at seeing everyone coming back to life that he couldn’t form the words. Finally, with his body thrashed and his emotions ragged, Blackshade succumbed to it all and passed out.

  …………………………………………………………………………………………………........

  When he awoke, he found himself in a hospital. Zahera was sleeping on a couch that he assumed she had pushed up next to his bed. There was a single IV line in each of his arms that were slowly dripping clear fluids into his veins. Someone had gotten him out of his armor, and he wasn’t surprised to see he was naked except for the thin paper gown they gave you in hospitals. He did a quick mental check of his body and found that other than feeling a little stiff, nothing felt broken or painful. He looked at the monitor that was tracking his vital signs and saw nothing on the display that led him to believe he was in any danger. He felt something on his right shoulder, and when he looked at it, he saw a gauze bandage wrapped around it. There was some sort of white paste under the bandage that had a medicine smell that wasn’t wholly unpleasant. As he shifted to examine his shoulder more closely, he felt another bandage on the lower left side of his abdomen. He reached down to feel his side and noticed the same paste was along the edges of that bandage as well. Tentatively, he touched the spots where the bandages were to try and determine the extent of his injuries, and he was surprised to feel not even a hint of pain. Carefully, he peeled away the bandage on his side so he could see the wound. To his surprise yet again, there was a little skin discoloration, but nothing else to indicate he had been hurt. He wiped the paste off his skin with the clean side of the bandage and then dropped it on the floor. His side looked fine and after a few experimental stretches and pokes at the area, he decided he was ok. He repeated the process with his shoulder and had the same results, tossing the bandage that had been there to the floor to join the first one.

  “Zahera…” he said softly so as to not wake her too abruptly. The poor woman obviously needed her rest, but he had a million questions, and no one else seemed to be around to ask. Besides, he knew her well enough to know if he didn’t wake her now, there would be hell to pay when she did wake up. She awoke slowly and seemed confused by her surroundings as she came back to reality. When she made eye contact with him though, her eyes focused, and she was on her feet and at his side instantly. She looked like she was mad, and elated at the same time. It was a very odd look to see on her face. The words, “Going to kill him’, and then, ‘Love’ scrolled across her forehead, solidifying his confusion. Sometimes he thought she was easier to understand without the forehead display.

  “Are you ok?” she asked immediately, seeing the bandages on the floor, “Who took those off? Did you do this? Are you out of your mind!? You almost died!” she said, angry and concerned all at once. He saw tears begin to well in her eyes, but whether that was a good sign or not was beyond him. He had no idea how to respond to her questions so he just defaulted to honesty.

  “Zahera, I feel fine.” he said with a little chuckle, “I mean, I’m a little stiff, but other than that, I’m ok.”

  She seemed to be ignoring him and had already hit the call button to summon a nurse. She was looking at his shoulder and carefully running her fingers over the site where the bandage had been. Blackshade let her do it without complaint. He knew she had to figure the situation out herself, and to try to stop her would just lead to her getting angrier with him. It was easier to just let her finish her inspection and arrive at her own conclusions. Besides, he realized that he rather liked her doting over him, even if he felt slightly guilty because of it. She finished her inspection of his shoulder and then walked around his bed to inspect his side, where the other bandage had been. Only, when she started to run her fingers around his side, Blackshade jumped and laughed.

  Zahera recoiled, “I’m sorry!” she said, alarmed, “Did I hurt you? Where does it hurt?” she asked, hitting the call button again.

  Blackshade shook his head, “No, you didn’t hurt me, Za. You tickled me is all. It surprised me.”

  She looked at him dumbfounded for a moment before punching him in his arm, hard. “You son of a bitch! I thought I hurt you!” she said in equal parts relief and rage.

  Blackshade held up his hands in surrender, the punch hadn’t hurt, but he would rather she didn’t hit him again. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! But honestly, Za, I’m fine!” he said sincerely. “Are you ok?”

  Her shell cracked, and he saw the relief that poured out of it. She collapsed next to him on the bed and buried her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, offering her whatever comfort she needed from him. He felt terrible. He could only imagine the emotional and physical hell she had just been through while he slept comfortably in this hospital bed. After a few moments, he realized Zahera wasn’t crying like he thought she was, she was just content to be held in his arms for a while, which was a vulnerability from her he had never seen before
. He squeezed her a little tighter, if only to bring her closer. They were sitting like that for a short while, when a woman in her early thirties came briskly into the room. She looked embarrassed when she saw the two of them embracing.

  “I’m sorry,” the woman stammered, obviously uncomfortable, “Someone pushed the call button, and I was on call.” she explained, looking away. She looked like she wanted to leave, but she also seemed to know she had a duty to perform and seemed torn on which impulse to indulge.

  Zahera pushed herself up from him but didn’t leave his side on the bed, “No, you’re fine, nurse. Ambassador Blackshade has awakened and, like an idiot, removed his bandages. I was told to alert the staff the moment he regained consciousness, so I have. He’s all yours.” she explained flatly. Blackshade knew that tone, Zahera was one hundred percent Colonel Vuloom right now. God help this nurse if she were to cross her.

  The nurse seemed to realize this too and immediately busied herself by checking on him. As she performed her duties she seemed to relax some. “Everything looks good here.” she said after going over all the readouts on the display. She inspected the areas on his shoulder and side where the bandages had been and looked more than a little surprised at what she found. “Your body has healed at an incredible rate!” she exclaimed, more to herself than to him. “The doctors will want to speak with you.” she said, again more to herself than to him. She checked the IV bags that were hanging from the wall behind him and then excused herself. Blackshade assumed she was going to report to the doctors, who would no doubt be here shortly to inspect him themselves. For now, though, he and Zahera were alone, and he needed answers.

  “Zahera, what happened?” he asked.

  “Everything.” she said sighing, “After the Omegas revived the South Americans, it was complete chaos for a while. The people that were supposed to be ready to process the deceased, uh… the revived, kind of panicked when they realized the resurrection had actually worked. With the attack and the confusion, it took a while for leadership to get everyone back under control. It really didn’t help that I was forced to move people from their processing jobs to guard the breeches in the walls. Not to mention appoint guard details to watch the prisoners we had taken from the battle, as well as finding replacements for the people that had been injured or killed during the fight.” she explained, “And you crashing through ECP checkpoints and almost killing yourself in the process did nothing to help matters. People began to lose their minds when they thought they had just watched you die.” she told him, fresh tears appearing in her eyes. The word, ‘Terrified’ appeared on her forehead, and the guilt he felt threatened to overwhelm him.

  “I’m sorry, Za,” he began, feeling bad, “It just kinda struck me that we could bring Kara back to life, and I didn’t have time to explain. I knew the Omegas were about to resurrect the South Americans and that seconds counted. If I would have stopped to discuss it, I never would have made it in time.” he said, looking into her beautiful brown eyes, “Is she ok? Are the other two Air Soldiers ok?”

  He could tell she wanted to be mad at him, and that she was currently wrestling with the emotion. The words, ‘Angry’ and ‘Love’ kept appearing on her forehead in regular intervals as one emotion overshadowed the other. To his relief, she appeared to settle on love, or at least, that’s what her forehead display led him to believe when the word stopped scrolling and instead began flashing on her forehead.

  She smiled at him, “Yes, Kara is alive and well. I put her on leave for a couple weeks, once she was declared fit for duty by our medical staff. She knows what happened and remembers everything up to the moment that she was killed. She kept talking about a bright white light, and then how she remembers waking up on the landing site. Her clothes still had the bullet hole in them, but her flesh was clean, not so much as a scar or a blemish to show for it.” she laughed a little before continuing, “She told me when she gets home she’s going to have Matt put another baby inside her so they can name it after you.”

  Blackshade was beyond relieved to hear that Kara was alive. The fact that she was planning to have another kid just to name it after him seemed a little extreme, but he wouldn’t try to deter her from doing so. Matt would love nothing more than a third child to raise. The man existed to be a father.

  “What about the other two, the Air Soldiers, are they ok?” he asked.

  Zahera frowned a little, “Yes, and no… The woman, Sergeant Thomas, is incredibly grateful and has left call after call to your room wanting to thank you for bringing her back from death. I don’t believe she saw a white light, like Kara claims, but she’s all over the internet singing your praises. You’re becoming a bit of an internet celebrity.” she told him. Blackshade smiled at the news, not because of his pseudo celebrity status, but to hear that Sergeant Thomas was alive and grateful to be so. He knew that wasn’t all of it though, he could see that Zahera was hiding something from him, and he didn’t need her forehead display to show him the words, ‘Do not want to tell him’ to figure it out.

  “What is it?” he asked he encouragingly, “You can tell me, Za.”

  She looked angry again, although he didn’t know at what, “It’s the guy, Sergeant Cervano, he didn’t cope very well with the resurrection. When he came to, he was screaming that he was still on fire. It took four people to restrain him and convince him he wasn’t on fire. They brought him to the hospital to sedate him and get him talking with a cop so he could get the counseling he needed. The man had some intense survivors’ guilt, Bill, he kept asking why you chose him, and why not one of the others. He kept saying that he could feel the fire burning him and that he wasn’t sure if it was fully out or not. A few days after you brought him back, the ungrateful son of a bitch killed himself. The funeral was a few days ago. His family was grateful for what you did, and don’t hold you accountable at all, but they’re pretty mad at the Omegas and blame his death on them.” she told him reluctantly.

  Blackshade was startled by this news. Not because Sergeant Cervano had killed himself; that, he could reconcile rather quickly. What surprised him was her timeline. “How long have I been out, Za?” he asked bewildered.

  “Twelve days.” she answered him at once, he wasn’t positive, but he thought he detected a little resentment in her voice. “When we finally got to you, you were bleeding out. The gate had been set to maximum, and when you passed through it, the electricity arced through Sergeant Thomas, through Kara, and then went in through your shoulder and out your side. You lost so much blood, and your body was so badly burned that when we got you to the medical tent, it was all the med drones could do to keep you alive.” she explained, as fresh tears ran unchecked down her face. “We air lifted you to this hospital, and they operated on you for six hours. When they finally stopped, they said your fate was in God’s hands. They’ve been feeding you through those tubes and taking your blood every few hours. It wasn’t until the third day that they realized you were healing. Some of the doctors took samples of your skin and hair, before I put a stop to it. When they found out that the Omegas had done something to you, they began trying to dissect you for their little research projects. I almost tore the throat out of some prissy bitch that wanted to cut you, so she could time how long it took for you to heal.” she said, almost glowering at the memory. She must have seen the look on his face, because she favored him with a sly smile, “Don’t worry, she’s alive, but she won’t walk without a limp for the next month, I can promise you that.” she told him with a wink, “No one cuts my man but me.” she told him, semi-jokingly and then kissed him passionately. It was a good kiss that promised many more, and soon, but for now it simply conveyed how relieved she was that he was ok.