Life-After

by J. A. Laraque

  The doctor introduced himself as Henry Flag, lead doctor and researcher for cellular disorders. The title alone nearly frightened me to death. I was told I had a disease that affected my mitochondria. They told me the name but it was much too hard to pronounce much less remember. They explained to me that mitochondria are the cellular power planets for the human body because they generate most of the cell's supply of adenosine triphosphate which is used as a source of chemical energy.

  In addition, Doctor Flag stated that recently it was discovered a secondary form of energy was found to be created from mitochondria. He did not elaborate but stated that in some human beings the secondary energy would interact with every cell in the human body. Most of the time nothing would result from this, but in very rare cases a human can develop additional cellular energy and the ability to push themselves to a limit higher than normal human beings.

  In my case something within my cells were draining me of energy causing my weakness and other affects to my body. They told me they believed it was hereditary and likely passed on to me by my mother. I was brought to Alpha Medical because the local doctors had limited information on my disease. Doctor Flag had studied the disease and the primary and secondary energy production within mitochondria.

  The treatment was experimental and dangerous. This was made extremely clear by Jonas, Shawn and Doctor Flag, but it was the only chance I had to be normal. Otherwise, I would be bedridden for the rest of my life. It was a choice that had no choice. I was not willing to have my story end in a hospital bed. There was no one else to make the final decision for me. The decision was mine and I choose to proceed.

  Over the next six months I was subjected to countless tests. At first I would ask whenever they would inject something into my I.V. or scan me with a device, after the umpteenth time I did not care anymore and frankly did not want to know. It was during that time the physical and mental pain I had endured proved useful as the pain of the tests and treatments were nearly unbearable.

  One night Doctor Flag entered my room alone. By then most of the equipment was removed from my room as the treatment was going well. I was able to move with seventy percent of my normal energy and after months of painful treatments and setbacks I was more than grateful just for that. Flag sat on the edge of my bed looking out my window into the night sky. He was quiet, in deep thought. I believed at first he had bad news to tell me until he turned to me and smiled.

  “We have reached an impasse, David.” Doctor Flag said. “From here you can go back to the campus and live a relatively normal life or we can go beyond that.”

  “I don’t understand.” I said. “What do you mean by beyond that?”

  Doctor Flag stood and walked over to the foot of my bed and pulled a large folder from a compartment on its edge. He walked closer to the window allowing the moonlight to shine down upon folder. Slowly pacing back and forth I could see he was reading over whatever was in my file but I did not know why. I was just about to ask him a second question when he turned back towards me.

  “I learned much about you during our time together.” Doctor Flag began. “…David Vincent Zavior, born January twenty-seventh, thirty-one-twenty-nine. Your parent’s Martha and Alexander fled from Alliance territory leaving you all alone.”

  “What are you getting at?” I interrupted.

  Doctor Flag closed the folder.

  “You’re special, David.” Doctor Flag said. “Your genetic condition allows you to go beyond what normal humans can do, but that power lies dormant within you and needs to be awakened. It was slowly draining you of your energy because it wanted to awaken and all we have done was cut of its access. It still hungers, David, and if we feed it then you will become more powerful than any other human on the planet.”

  “I…I don’t understand.” I stammered.

  His demeanor had shifted so radically. In front of the others he was just like any other doctor I had ever interacted with, but when he stood before me talking it was as if he were an obsessed mad scientist. But, to a ten year old that wanted nothing more than a means to differentiate himself, the prospect of gaining power, to be better than everyone else was too much to pass up and Flag was counting on that.

  “I have been working on a procedure for the Alliance military.” Flag began. “What you need to know is that it can be applied to your condition. My device will feed bio energy into your body. It will feed your cells to the point where the secondary or “life energy” your mitochondria will produce will allow you to become stronger, faster, smarter than not only your fellow classmates but in time your fellow humans.

  However, this process is untested on someone with your genetic makeup and has risks. It is possible the energy could overload your body and it could kill you but because of your age and physical condition coupled with your DNA structure, I believe it will succeed. If you agree to let me proceed you must understand that no one else can know of this. I would take you now and have it done and by the morning you will become a new man.”

  Under any other condition someone would have stepped in and stopped me. Flag knew I would accept any risk for the slim chance of success. I did not spend much time thinking about it. I told him to do it and promised to never tell anyone of it. With a wide smile he took me from my room to his lab.

  I had been in Flag’s lab numerous times during my treatment and there was one machine that was never used. It looked like a coffin made of glass with six arms that wrapped around and over the top of the capsule like spider legs. On the end of each arm was a diamond shaped crystal. A large control panel sat behind the rear of the capsule. After placing me inside Flag stepped around to it and I could hear him typing furiously on the board.

  I could hear a low hum coming from beneath me. Flag spoke through a speaker within the capsule insuring me that everything would be alright and that soon I would awaken to a completely new reality. I watched as each crystal lit up each a different color, red, blue, yellow, green, orange and purple. I found myself staring at the colors, they calmed me.

  “David, the energy will begin being fed to your body slowly.” Flag began. “You may feel some discomfort at first but as your body adjusts you will not feel anything. It is possible you may lose consciousness but I assure you no permanent damage will come from it.”

  The more he explained the process the less I wanted to proceed but it was too late. As the light from each crystal brightened I could feel my body growing warm. My strength was increasing but it was more than that. My mind cleared and I could better understand what Flag was doing to me. The words and explanations given to me during my treatment made sense, it was working. I could feel it.

  Then the pain came, slowly at first. I tried to take it but it steadily increased until it felt as if every cell in my body was on fire. I screamed out in pain but Flag ignored my cries and continued on. It felt as if my body was melting from the inside out. I wanted to die just to end the pain.

  I opened my eyes to sunlight shining down on me. I quickly sat up in my bed realizing I was back in my room. Looking down at myself I could see no difference in my appearance but I felt different. The world looked different to me, sharper, clearer. I hopped out of bed and for the first time in a long time felt renewed. I wanted to see what was truly different about me. I had so many questions for Doctor Flag.

  When the door to my room opened my heart skipped a beat, I turned excited to begin questioning Flag, but it was Jonas standing in the doorway. He sat me down and said me he had something to tell me. I was not prepared to learn that Doctor Flag was murdered in his home. Jonas told me it had occurred earlier that morning and looked to be an assassination carried out by the Federation. I did not know what to do. Flag had made me promise not to reveal to anyone what was done to me but I wanted answers.

  Later I made my way down to Flag’s lab but it was guarded by Alliance troops. I could see inside much of his equipment, including the one used on me was gone. With Flag dead and his equipment confiscated there was no w
ay I would have any of my questions answered. I could have told someone about what was done to me but the power that I felt inside was to strong and I was afraid they would try and take it from me.

  Over the next few weeks a new team of doctors and scientists completed my care. They were astonished at how well my body had taken to the treatment. I was told I was completely healed. What they did not mention was any strange reading or differences within my body. I had to learn to hold back as my strength and agility increased during those final weeks. I was certain they would see the difference and investigate, part of me wanted that. That never happened. I was released three days before my eleventh birthday and sent back to the campus.

  With my new found power I began training for the next competition. My test scores sky rocketed and I became the top student for my QUAD division. None of that mattered to me. I wanted my revenge on Rictor for taking advantage of my weakened state. But it was not to be. Rictor transferred to the teen QUAD division and would not be in my bracket for the yearly competition. I refused to be denied, if I could not fight Rictor in the ring then I would have to face him the old fashioned way.

  I waited until Rictor was away from the main building and confronted him in front of his new classmates. He boasted about how he knocked me out with one punch and his fellow classmates laughed along with him knowing full well that I was sick when we fought. I became enraged and attacked knocking him to the ground. Everything went red and I could feel my body becoming hot. I lost control of myself and did not stop raining blows upon Rictor until security pulled me off.

  By the time I had calmed down security had taken me to a detention cell. My hands were still bloody but I could not remember exactly what I had done to Rictor. Jonas arrived a few hours later. He told me I had nearly killed Rictor. I had no explanation for him, not that I would have given him one. I was barred from all competition both physical and mental and removed from QUAD seven. The forced me to see a consoler and talk about my feelings, but the only feeling that mattered to me was the feeling of power within me.

  Nearly a year to the day that Doctor Flag preformed his procedure on my I collapsed one morning during breakfast. When I awoke I was back at Alpha Medical, my condition had returned. I spent four weeks receiving treatment at the end of which I was told once again that I was cured, but this time it was different.

  I no longer felt powerful. The energy I felt inside was gone. I cried wanting nothing more than to feel it again. When I returned to the campus I had nothing. I spent my remaining years focused on finding a purpose for my life and cursing the day I allowed Doctor Flag to experiment on me. When I heard of the Alliance’s life energy program I wanted nothing to do with it. I no longer believed in life energy or The Awakened Project, it was all a lie.

  My thoughts returned to the void. I began to wonder if death would ever come or if I would be trapped within the darkness forever. From the nothingness I could slowly feel my body again. It ached, every muscle in my body felt as if it was burning. I could hear a sound in the distance, it sounded like wind. My skin felt chilled and I could feel a breeze blowing across my body. I could breathe again, slow and heavy as if awakening from a deep sleep.

  The sound was getting closer. I tried to open my eyes but they were so heavy. There was earth beneath me, I could feel it. A light was shining down upon me. Though closed eye lids I could tell it was bright, focused on me. There was a taste in my mouth of dirt and blood. I began coughing and slid my hand across the ground, it was rough and broken.

  The sound was right upon me. Through blurred vision I could see something hovering over me. My mind identified the sound but I did not want to believe it. I lifted my arm from the ground and placed my hand on my chest. I could feel them, my grenades, they were still there. I forced myself to sit up and could see my weapon on the ground a few feet from me. I was in a daze but as impossible as it seemed there was no denying it.

  The sound was coming from a military helicopter. It hovered above me aiming its search light over me. Two soldiers had their rifles trained on me. I slowly rose to my feet to look around. My mind could not believe what my eyes were seeing. Not only was I alive, but I was back home.

  10

  It was impossible, that much I could agree on at that moment watching the global resistance attack chopper hovering directly in front of me. What I could not agree on was which reality was the impossible one. The sky above was dark, filled with the ashes of the dead. The chilled air cut through my body, it re-enhanced the cold reality. I could taste the powdered bones of the fallen in the dust the helicopter had blown into my face. Everything was just as I remembered. Everything felt just as real as before, but then, so did Clara’s touch.

  “Sergeant Zavior!” A solider from the helicopter yelled. “Stay where you are! We have…”

  The night sky lit up a bright green. My eyes barely made it up to the clouds to see them split apart as a beam of energy tore through the sky striking the helicopter. The blast decimated the machine as it hovered. The explosion reduced it to pieces. As the energy beam hit the ground it created a blast wave. I watched as it expanded out heading directly towards me.

  My hand still held the trigger for the grenades. I was about to smile. It was a sick joke, to believe I was dead only to awaken just to be killed was too much to bear. What stopped me was turning my head slightly and seeing the burn marked street where the little girl’s remains were. Instead I closed my eyes and hoped my death would lead to nothingness. I no longer wanted an afterlife. I just wanted it all to end.

  “He’s coming around. Get the doctor.”

  It was so reoccurring I was becoming accustomed to it. I could hear two soldiers. It was clear who they were by the smell of the oil on their weapons and the phrases they used. My body was sore, battered and beaten. Pain itself was familiar. I was truly back in the body I had known. I forced my eyes open and to my surprise another familiar sight was around me.

  Alpha Medical had changed since the last time I was there. The bright white walls with the glass and metal accents were worn and dinged. Sounds from the equipment was different, there were less of them. I was in a room by myself, it was strange. Alpha Medical was refitted to a trauma center. The worst injuries were attended to there. It was one of only twelve buildings that were outfitted with a shield generator.

  My limbs were intact. Besides the many cuts and bruises and scars from my past I could not see any serious injury. I wondered why I was brought to such a facility and more so why I was under guard. The solider was young, new to the war. His eyes told me he had seen some death, but was not prepared for it. Perhaps that was why he was watching over me, but I still did not have a reason.

  The blast should have killed me. Considering the fantasy I had just endured perhaps it did. There were no dreams or even visions of Clara. Tried as I did, the memory of my experience with her was not fading. I could not see her face, but I could feel her absence. With my mind racked with questions I was desperately looking for answers. Clarity and truth was all I wanted. When I saw who walked through the door I hoped she would be the person to give them to me.

  “David…” She said.

  Her jet black hair struck a deep contrast to the white lab coat worn by Alpha Medical doctors. Those amber eyes stared at me with a concern only a friend could have. Doctor Lola Kane, I knew her from Naxum Research. We had become friends after I and her husband transferred there.

  “This will surely earn you a few medals.” A familiar voice said.

  Directly behind her was another friendly face. I forced myself to sit up. I wanted to salute not only my commanding officer, but my best friend, Jonathan Kane, Vice Commander of the Delta resistance squad and former Alpha Factor leader. Seeing their faces made everything slightly better.

  I did not know Jonathan had been assigned to Naxum when I first arrived. Seeing him there made the transition an easier process. He had served his country with honor and distinction in the war not only training Alpha Factor members, b
ut taking command on the final push into the heart of Federation territory.

  That was the past. After the meteors fell Jonathan was put in charge of Delta Resistance. After losing Clara and finding most of the people who survived from Naxum killed, finding Jonathan alive and in charge of my new unit allowed me to focus on my mission, my revenge. He gave me a lot of leeway during my time with D.R. There were many instances where I should have been reprimanded or worse but he understood my drive and allowed me to peruse my goals.

  What I could not help but wonder was why he was at Alpha Medical. The D.R. base was relocated over one hundred miles from Alpha Medical. While it was possible he just wanted to see his wife or was aware of what happened to me, Jonathan was never the kind of person to leave his post for one man, any man.

  “I need to get back out there.” I said. “I’m fine. Just get me on the next transport.”

  “You need to rest.” Lola said. “You have been unconscious for thirty-six hours.”

  Her words surprised me. It had felt as if I had only been out for a few hours max. There was a look of concern in her eyes, much more than just for my medical health. Jonathan too had an expression, but it caused me concern.

  “Look, the truth is we can’t let you leave just yet.” Jonathan said. “You were patrolling a sector that had already been attacked by the Ashers. There was no intelligence on any activity there and then a few hours later the place becomes Asher City.”

  “Ashers” I asked.

  My question was not the one that first popped into my head. According to Jonathan everything that happened to me up until the blast occurred within a few hours. I had to accept that their timeline was correct and if so that would definitely mean that everything I had experienced with Clara and the other world was nothing more than a dream. I thought that, but I had not accepted it.