Hope of the Future

by Ariana Browning

  Mothers raised their children under lock and key until the children came of age. Once that time came, the children went out and roamed the lands. The kids tried to find a place to live. Nowhere was safe from the Hunters. The need to protect children became so fierce in most women that their thoughts changed their bodies. Power of the mind became a stronger element.

  Children who grew up with those mothers saw what their mothers had to go through to protect them, and they didn’t want that life. The children who survived, didn’t want to spend over ten years of their lives doing everything possible to make sure a child of theirs suffered that fate. What life would that be for a child?

  Many of those sheltered children ended up sick because they were shielded from life so they didn’t build up the proper immunities. Many didn’t survive once they hit the open land. If they didn't have to worry over Hunters, they had to worry over the plagues that swept the Earth, one after another, the next fiercer than the last.

  The government’s push to get immunity shots achieved nothing but instilled a fear so deep in the hearts of their citizens that the shots were the problem, not the cure. They helped to pass on the flu and bring about the plague. Once it came, there was no stopping the advancement, or keeping up with the way the plague kept adapting and changing.

  Nobody wanted to help those children who roamed the lands. They feared the children bringing yet another disease from another zone into their own. So they turned them away again and again. Once they hit the open land, children were on their own—

  A light hit Hope in the face and her eyes flared. She snapped them shut. She raised an arm to block the light from her face. Bright spots formed behind her lids.

  A piece of wood cracked under the male’s foot who advanced into the building. Why couldn’t you boys just let it go, I won’t tell on ya. Nobody has to know but us. Leave it to Amaranthine Soldiers to have no fear about dark buildings like this. The light caused splotches to dance in her vision when she opened her eyes.

  “Hey, Clark,” the man shouted when he spotted her. He figured she was an average Freebird. He wasn’t too worried and remained casual. “Over here.” The man directed the light back her way and she flinched away from the brightness. Hope cursed under her breath. “Stay put, girl.”

  Clark entered the club. Hope shoved away from the wall and ran at the Amaranthine who held the flashlight on her. When the man with the flashlight turned to face her, her body smashed into his. The assault rocked him off balance. Before he could wrap a hand around her arm, she darted past. His fingers brushed her arm, unable to find solid grip. “How the—?”

  Clark called out to his buddy, “Earl?”

  Earl answered, while he stumbled away, and caught his footing. “Stairs!”

  Hope dove deeper into the pitch black building. A shot rang out next to her head. The bullet narrowly missed her and struck the wall instead. “Try to get her alive, you idiot!” One man yelled to another. She couldn’t tell which.

  Clark was on her heels as she reached the staircase. His grunts echoed through her, only to spur her on. She picked up pace and leapt for the bottom stair. Hope grabbed the iron railing and used the momentum to spin around the bottom rung and head up. Earl slammed sideways into the wall at the bottom of the stairs. He didn’t have the finesse she did. Clark’s hand wrapped around her ankle, but it was too late. She slipped free. He cursed.

  The two men battled at the bottom of the stairs. They each wanted to get to her first. Hope made it to the top and turned down the side. The metal clanged beneath the men’s boots as they advanced up the stairs, intent on catching her. A wooden door teased her from the end of the walkway. Hope went for it. She turned the knob and slammed against the door with an, “oof.” Locked. “Damn!”

  The two men crashed onto the top landing together. “I said stay put,” Earl ordered, his malice clear. He headed toward her first with his gun raised, his finger slid over the trigger. Hope backed away from the door until her back touched the metal railing.

  “You’re making this harder on yourself,” Earl said.

  “Yeah, right.” Hope reeled back, then charged into the wooden surface in front of her. It gave under her weight without issue. She half-stumbled through and her arms flailed before she caught up to her feet. The door had opened onto an outer roof that didn’t appear solid. Not bothering to risk the mere second she had to glance back, she plunged forward.

  “Sonofabitch!” the men both yelled from behind her.

  Hope picked her way over the roof, going as fast as she dared. Another building lay in front. She judged the distance small enough to leap to. She slowed enough to calculate the strength of the roof that remained, then ran with everything she possessed. The men behind her picked up speed. She had to risk the jump.

  The ledge came upon her faster than normal. At the last second, she figured out it was farther away than she first thought. By the time she was in the air, it was too late to stop. She slammed into the brick wall at the opposite side. Her hands raked against the stone edge. The breath puffed from her chest. Her fingers could find no grip and body scraped over the edge to the ground.

  Hope’s fingertips grated along the rough edge of the building. Her fingernails scraped over the sandpaper like texture. The bricks slipped under her fingers. With each one that went past, she believed she was plunging to her death. She clawed at the wall to no avail.

  At the last second, her fingers found purchase and she dug them into the small indentation. Hope hauled her body up and over the ledge, throwing one leg over, then the other. She dropped down onto the roof, taking a moment to catch her breath, sucking in a few lungfuls of air. The world around blurred in and out, her heart raced.

  When she glanced over to the club, she spotted the two men still headed her way. They didn’t plan to stop, either. They had figured her out and they wanted the payday Darrok would give. Anger flashed through her. It shouldn’t have been so obvious. Her eyes flashed, but before she could react, one of them leapt from the roof of the club.

  Hope flew to her feet and took off across the roof. A huge thump came from the place she had been a breath ago. The man had made it to the roof. The other had disappeared. He must’ve went around to the other side. The one who ran behind her didn’t misread the distance like she did.

  Clark and Earl proved to be as stubborn as she was. The payday she presented meant more to them than their lives.

  Earl gave her an evil grin when she checked on his location. His eyes sparkled with the threat. He thought for sure his buddy Clark would cut her off. Hope planned to prove them both wrong. Don’t be fools.

  Focusing on where to head next, her one choice was to head down into this building. Unless she planned to go back, but there were no other buildings to choose. She scanned the area and spotted a door that may head inside. She spun on her heel, the rooftop crunching beneath her boots as she sped toward the door.

  Hope made it to the door and a thrill of excitement swept through her. The door stood wide open. Rushing through, she circled round and grabbed hold of the edge. She shoved the door shut. A large body collided into it on the other side at the same second. Hope and the man both rebounded backward with a grunt.

  Hope scrambled to her feet, then pressed her palms against the surface and pushed the door back into place. The door clunked into place. The guard cursed on the other side and struggled to get back on his feet.

  A padlock sat unused on the door’s latch. Hope lifted it from the ancient metal and prayed it held long enough. She pressed the latch into place, slipped the hook through the hole, and snapped the lock together, then listened for the faint click.

  The guard grunted as he crushed his body against the door again. The door creaked on its hinges. Hope didn’t have much time. She shoved away from the door and took off to find the stairs. When she located them, she all but tumbled down the stairs in her effort to increase her speed. Her legs were sore from misjudging the distance between the two buildings. Sh
e pushed her limits, but she still possessed reserve strength.

  Strength she used.

  The other guard was around here somewhere so she kept an eye on the rest of the building. Her eyes flashed in the darkness, illuminating the pitch black into the silvery purple of the moon’s glow.

  At the bottom of the stair, she spun around the corner, but didn’t notice the small box hidden by the post. Her foot caught the edge of the wood and her body careened over the top. She yelped and tried to recover, but the effort flipped her onto her back.

  She sat up to find a gun aimed at her face, and ready to fire. “Kinda fucks up your plan, don’t it?” Clark asked.

  Hope glared up at him and snorted. “In fact, it didn’t. I’m fine, thanks for asking by the way.” She leaned back to place her palms on the gritty and grimy floor behind her.

  “Don’t suppose you’d want to make this easy and get up without causing trouble, would ya? This gun may not do much, but I imagine it’d hurt.” He raised an eyebrow.

  “You know,” Hope tilted her head, “that isn’t my nature. Not much fun, either.” The sarcastic edge that remained in her voice earned her a glare. He pressed the gun against her temple. Her eyes flashed. His eyes widened.

  The door above them crashed open. Hope took the moment presented and sat up. While he was distracted, she slammed her palm against the barrel of his gun. Clark didn’t expect her to prove so strong. The gun slipped from his hand and clanged to the ground. He went to punch her and Hope ducked.

  She grabbed her blade from her waistband and in the next instant, plunged the knife between his legs as hard as she could, the blade slicing his flesh with ease. Hope finished the job and twisted the blade to make sure the wound wouldn’t close.

  Clark crumpled beside her. Earl shouted from above them. Hope tumbled to the side, grabbed the gun, and hopped to her feet. She was in luck. It wasn’t ID’d to user. She spun and aimed the gun on Clark, touching the button to ignite the core. The gun crackled to life and she pulled the trigger. Clark’s head exploded and small pieces of his skull flew everywhere and blood sprayed the room. His headless body dissolved to the ground.

  Earl’s heavy weight thudded behind her. Hope spun and his fist slammed into her cheek. Blood flew from the side of her mouth. The hit spun her around and she dropped the gun. She fell to the cement floor. Earl reached for the gun and she twirled her legs around to straighten. Once straightened, she circled a leg under him, and hit Earl’s legs. He reeled backward.

  Hope dove for the gun and just about had her hand around the handle. Earl recovered and grabbed her ankle, giving it a harsh yank. She cried out and flipped around on her back with a glare, gun idea abandoned. Enough of this basic fighting.

  Earl’s eyes widened. Her eyes flashed and her hair flew out from her hoodie. She arced her arm toward him. An explosion rocked the building to its core. Earl flew backward, his body burst into a million pieces. The former Earl littered every corner and dribbled from the walls like hundreds of small slugs crawling downward. Hope stood up, brushed herself off and fixed her clothes.

  She wiped the back of her hand over her mouth and glanced at the blood. Hope grumbled, “asshole” beneath her breath, then ran from the building, grabbing the gun as she went. If anyone caught her near the area, Darrok would put Hunters on her case. She’d already dispatched one of his groups, and they hadn’t been hunting her. She knew better than to deal with another.

  Blocks and blocks later, she had rid herself of the gun and quit running. She had no use for guns. Even less when it was one of Darrok’s. She didn’t need another way for him to trace her. They would never round her up like a common Freebird. Shoving her long locks back inside the hood of her coat, she went back to being anything but remarkable.

  FOUR

  WOMEN DIDN’T WANT TO pass on the curse as they saw it. The curse . . . of pregnancy. It got to where they gave up trying, so their body altered to fit their new state of mind.

  The innate urge to stay alive struck human females deeply. It became nearly impossible for women to get pregnant afterward. The fact that men’s sperm count dropped hadn’t helped.

  Women no longer trusted what males had become, and the sexes separated further. It became women against men. Most female systems stopped creating eggs, their wombs died. Fewer and fewer females were born with the ability to bear a child. Those who could give birth earned the label, Breeder, but it seemed more Freebirds—traditional diseased humans—still possessed the ability to give birth.

  Scientists wondered how women ever birthed children. It became a myth that people spread. If Amaranthines lived so long, why was there a need to have children? They experimented to see if it was possible to make a baby in a lab, but the problem they faced was the complexities of the female body.

  The scientists needed quality females who still possessed the ability to have children so they could study them. Women proved uncooperative and stopped volunteering. They knew it meant certain death. The ones who could have children became rarer still.

  As time went on, powerful males craved offspring to carry on their legacy. The most powerful group of men, The Associates, most of all.

  Somehow, in certain places here and there a female came along, capable of having a child or two. Human, not Amaranthine, but still, it was a child. Once in a rare while, one of those Breeders gave birth to another Amaranthine, which was how Amaranthines survived.

  The Associates banded together to round up Breeders. The hunt for Breeders became a priority. Few were left and they became as precious as the rarest diamonds had been.

  But as before, the females proved uncooperative, and because of that, their bodies did. The ability to study them and still conserve the body so the female could produce children again was impossible.

  The Associates wanted offspring so much they tried cooperative females who allowed the scientists to study them. Those females’ bodies were nothing like the Breeders’ body and it proved problematic. The volunteers ended up dying. It grew to where it was lose the entire female population, or focus on Breeders alone.

  The human body had changed so much in those centuries. The females capable of bearing children were more like the humans of the past. Amaranthines possessed special abilities that harnessed the Earth’s energy. Humans could do many things now with nothing more than their mind. The ability to have healthy children was not one—

  Hope wasn’t sure where to go for the night. The dark crept in around her, ready to squash her. Time to hide. The distant whirs of the Cleaners echoed in the air. Her body tightened. Time to clear The Streets.

  She needed a place to hide. I guess there is only one place to go. One door always remained open. With a look at the sky and the surrounding buildings, she nodded. A narrow escape, but Scott’s wasn’t too far away. By the time she arrived at Scott’s, The Cleaners would have swept that zone, and been on their way. Scott’s wasn’t that far from Darrok’s zone. Beneficial to Scott, bad for her. She had to risk it.

  None of the Breeders rounded up on The Streets were pure. The Breeders were diseased. Once they went through the cleansing and sterilization routine, the eggs harvested always failed inside the space of a few years. The babies of implanted females didn’t make it to term, faced disease, or the worst part: were ordinary humans.

  The sad reality for those kids, if the children survived past five years old, was a life of a SlaPet. People regarded SlaPets as less than a Freebird. Lowest of the low. SlaPets did what the one who owned them wanted them to do, and nothing more. Whatever interest that owner held, whether for sexual or other, SlaPets were there to serve. They were expendable.

  There were stories of a female who hadn’t just survived, but who had advanced further than an Amaranthine. The children born to her would survive and retain her abilities, and they would possess the ability to bear children of their own.

  A new version of Amaranthine who possessed the ability to bear a child. Not just one, but as many as her heart desired.
She could bring life back to this world. Nobody had ever seen a female who encompassed those attributes. In the end, she became a fictional story told to would-be mothers. A myth that dashed hopes. One who didn’t exist in this darkness.

  The rivalry to be one of those women was everything that became nothing. People gave up hope she existed. They let the myth die with the dreams humans once possessed of a better life.

  Most men who wanted children, did whatever possible to stay in a near perfect physical state. Doctors conducted DNA tests on everyone to make sure those who registered to have children were the best physical specimens. And to keep everyone under the control of The Associates and the man who stood at the top of it the world. The man who came when reality fell apart and put everything back together: Darrok.

  It seemed Darrok had been there since the beginning, but that wasn’t possible, unless he was an Eternal. An advancement that haunted the dreams of humans. Humans and Amaranthines wanted nothing more than to progress into an Eternal.

  An Eternal being the next phase in the human development. An Eternal lived centuries, unlike Amaranthines. They possessed many abilities, but the most beneficial aspect was the ability to bear children. The world believed that female who was to be a savior, was an Eternal.

  The most Amaranthines could hope for was to live twice as long as a Freebird. Eternals were a legend that the youth told each other to guide their path. The only light in the younger generation’s darkened world. A legend that didn’t exist. . . .

  When she rounded a street corner, Hope slammed into a wall of a man. “What the fu—” Her mouth snapped shut.

  Hope craned her neck to the face of the male she walked into. Her breath caught. A dark-haired male stared down at her in amusement. A guard stood next to the stranger. They were both a tad familiar, but in the low light, it was hard to tell. Hope didn’t risk focusing on either. She hoped it went both ways and in the fading light, they both had a hard time studying her.