“It has to be now, doctor,” she said with authority, ignoring everyone else in the room. “We must go through the veil.”
Dr. Elstein picked up a detonator from a table and pressed a yellow button. A few seconds of silence followed before he sighed.
“Go, Lillian, I’ve armed the explosives. Take these young people with you.”
Zack and Sammy looked at each other; everything was happening too fast.
“You haven’t explained anything y—”
Lillian grabbed Sammy by the shoulder and launched her inside the room with the strange projection of the other world before she could continue arguing. The soldiers were already in the corridor outside the lab and Zack could hear their steps approaching quickly. Faye was the first to step through the veil — as Elstein had called it — and the rest followed. Lillian reached out to grab Zack, but he shook his head.
“I’m making sure that the doctor is safe. Go.”
The tall woman shrugged and ran, leaping into the other world before it was too late.
“Zack, get out! I have to destroy this place!” The older man had tears in his eyes. Zack knew what he was planning on doing.
“I’m not letting you die without giving me the answers!”
“Someone has to blow the charges, and I can’t do it from the other side!” The first soldiers entered the room, and a hail of bullets hit the walls around them and bounced off the door. Zack pulled the doctor into cover and tore the detonator from Elstein’s hands, pushing him into the other world. The bags! Crap, Zack cursed as he saw them, so close yet so far. Their food was in there. Another burst of gunfire made him throw himself against a wall.
I’m all alone now. There was a way to pull this off without throwing away his life. He crawled to the veil separating both worlds, the soldiers pushing their way past the equipment outside and getting closer to him as he edged as close as he could to the space-time curtain and breathed deeply. When the first soldier entered the room, his rifle peeking out from behind the doorway, Zack pulled him inside with all his strength and pressed the button of the device in his hand.
Several pounds of explosives received the signal and lit up. Their destructive power annihilated the lab in an instant.
Zack pulled the man close and used him as a human shield as the blast reached the room he was inside.
The blast wave was enough to throw him into the other world.
A final cloud of doubt crossed his mind as a strange feeling enveloped his body and he left Earth behind:
What if we’re wrong?
Chapter 4
No Turning Back
He rolled out of the veil at speed, his body hurting from the shockwave and steam rising from his skin and clothes.
“Zack!” Sammy screamed, turning him onto his back and looking at his face with worry.
“Get back,” the medic, Julia, said with confidence. She took out a handheld device and pointed it at Zack’s face. A small beam of light shot out of it, illuminating him and showing the readings of his heart rate and other parameters. “He’s fine; we need to take care of his burns.”
“Guys,” Zack breathed, sitting up and realizing he was the only one who wasn’t too distracted to look around and admire the beauty around him. “Leave me alone and just take a look at this world…”
Green and blue, brown and white. So many tones and colors. The sound of birds chirping in the forests and the soft smell of nature in the gentle breeze. Sammy hugged Zack and kissed him on the forehead.
“We’re here, brother. We made it.”
Dr. Elstein was standing away from the group, but he turned and smiled as he saw Zack stand. He had a grateful expression, mixed with a bit of worry. The veil had collapsed behind them, and they knew what it meant. We’re here to stay.
“This is one beautiful world,” Faye said with a sad smile. She looked up at the sky and remembered her parents. I wish you could be here with me right now, Mama, Papa…
Zack pushed Sammy away with a chuckle. He insisted he was okay and she rolled her eyes. No more having to scavenge for a while. Whatever happens now, we get to actually live.
Lillian rested the machine gun under her arm on the strap around her neck and put a hand above her eyes to shield her sight. The lake should be their first objective; hydration was always the priority when marching through unknown terrain. Let’s see what threats this place throws at us; it surely can’t be all safety and happiness.
Julia bit her lip. Her children and husband…She waited too long to desert the army, and by the time she returned to them, they were gone. I will find you one day, my beloved. And I will make the world better for you.
Finally, Shinji crouched and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He didn’t feel right. Since entering this world, he had been sensing something on the edges of his vision. Doubts filled his mind, and he could only wonder: What comes next?
Clearing his throat, Dr. Elstein raised his voice and gave the order.
“It is time to set off and get to know this place. More importantly, we need to gather food and water. To the lake!”
The group began its trek down the hill, carefully avoiding slipping down the moist grass. Grass, they purred in their minds. None of them had seen this much of it for years. Pollution and burning of the lands had made sure of that. A few animals looked up as they came closer to the forest edge and watched them curiously. The muddy bottom of the hill arrived finally, and the group looked up. It was time to find out what this world was about.
“Northwest, remember to follow that direction if you get separated,” Lillian growled. She was a scary woman, Samantha thought. I thought I was intimidating but wow, she’s a war general.
As they stepped inside the forest, the world began to transform again. The tall canopy of massive trees cut the light into small but sharp rays of light that beamed down on the floor from above. The rest was a mix of shadows and curious animal eyes that met them amongst the thick tree trunks.
Samantha pulled Faye away to look at the trees as several of the others hunted the animals — though it didn’t require much effort since they weren’t afraid of man — and returned when they were done. Dr. Elstein and Lillian cut the meat quite quickly, and soon they were on their way. They would cook as soon as they reached the lake so that they could properly wash their hands and get some boiling water.
While the others continued their walk through the deep forest, Zack allowed himself to trail away and looked at Shinji.
“Well, well, well. Imagine life bringing us back together like this.”
Shinji smiled nervously. He had always been shy, even in their lessons in the underground shelter that served as high school education — until it was bombed and they were separated, that is.
“Weird stuff, Zack. It’s nice to see a familiar face. Well, you and your sister who I never really knew that well.” He smiled awkwardly.
“How did you get to work with Elstein?” Zack hadn’t seen his classmate for a couple of years, and he felt curious despite Shinji’s obvious uncomfortable behavior.
“One of our teachers recommended me to him, and we began to work together. He was getting strange readings at that part of Earth. I was there when he built the lab alongside a large group of workers, but slowly the war took them one by one…” He trailed off and stared into the distance and Zack nodded. Enough for now.
“It’s okay. War has hurt us all. We must find a way to recover and fight for those that are gone. We can talk at another moment, my old friend. Let’s continue on to that lake, eh?” Shinji nodded at him, and Zack smiled.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
It might have been his imagination, but his sixth sense (which was weaker than his sisters) was rarely wrong.
Something — no, some things — were following them through the forest. Something sentient.
Something dangerous.
Chapter 5
Mistake
They arrived at the lake, hungry, exhausted and th
irsty. The enemy attack back home — they were trying not to dwell on the fact that home was now gone, possibly forever — had ensured that they weren’t able to pack any food or gear other than the stuff they carried on them.
Lillian threw her rifle over her shoulder and launched herself into the water like a cannonball, wetting everybody as she plummeted inside.
“How careless, Lillian! You don’t know what sorts of creatures live in there,” Dr. Elstein said with a frown.
“Creatures that are pretty far away from here after she scared them away,” Samantha chuckled. “It’s water! How many of you have ever seen so much of it in a single place?!” She, too, got inside the water but in a more delicate manner. Before long, they were all taking a dip, even the doctor himself. Julia mumbled in annoyance as she had to collect drinking water ‘far away from their dirty clothes and bodies’ but returned a while later with a smile. She had managed to catch a fish while she was at it.
Zack got out of the water and joined her as she returned with a crude net made of tied shirts and jackets (Zack, Shinji, and Dr. Elstein were forced to remove their tops) and began to fish. The rest looked for fruit in the nearby trees and were highly successful. It was a tough challenge not to gobble them all up immediately — Faye hadn’t ever seen a fruit in her life, only tasted them in the strange rations issued by Imperial and Conglomerate governments. By the time the sun began to set behind the horizon, they had set up a fire and prepared the best dinner they’d ever had. Fruits were mashed, juice was shared around, and by the time they were done, the group’s smiles were beaming.
With talk of staying the night by the lake being suggested, Zack got up and walked a short distance away to pee. The night air was cool and pleasant, and he felt strange to be so calm. Usually, night meant turning all lights off and hiding in crevices to protect himself and his sister from the infamous Midnight Patrols and other horrors. Now it was just lying on the side of the lake and—
He blinked. Was that a pair of eyes looking back at him? Wait, it totally was. He jumped when his eyes began to get used to the gloom and saw that it wasn’t just one pair of eyes. There were a dozen or more, hiding in the underbrush and staring.
“What do you want?!” Zack roared as he zipped himself back up and took a step forward. The eyes continued to stare, only there seemed that more and more were approaching.
“What’s going on?” Sammy was at his side, her rifle ready in her hands. She took a step back as she saw what Zack was seeing. “We have to go, now!”
Dr. Elstein agreed with the siblings once they returned to where the rest lay.
“We don’t know what we might be facing here. They don’t flinch, you say? We should just leave while they’re just watching. We don’t know what they’ll do once they feel secure.”
Lillian Valentine stood with a grimace. Zack tensed. He knew that she was a bit reckless despite her brave and protective manner.
“You know what? I’m not letting some little midgets ruin my night. I’m staying here, whether they like it or not!” Dr. Elstein pleaded her to stop, begging her to stay calm and just find a new place to camp. It was useless.
By the time Zack and Samantha saw her lower her machine gun at the forest, they began to walk as quickly back to the camp as possible. Sammy grabbed Faye, and they prepared to run. Lillian was about to ruin everything.
The sound of Elstein’s shouts faded as the short bursts of gunfire echoed through the night. Lillian was at least wise enough not to waste much ammo.
Silence followed…but then something began.
Zack shook his head in disdain and lifted Faye onto his back.
“Anyone could have seen this coming, Lilli,” Samantha said with a sigh. The rustling of leaves began, and the smaller trees rocked softly as a larger host began to approach.
It wasn’t until the first arrow flew past Elstein’s face, cutting his cheek slightly, that Valentine understood. They had awakened the evil in these curious creatures, and now none of them could be stopped. The trees rustled one last time and the group was sure now — they were coming.
The monsters tore from their hiding places: small ugly, green creatures with similarly ugly and awkward weapons in their grip. Goblins. They roared as they left the bushes, their malicious eyes shining in the moonlight.
Lillian turned and uttered a single word.
“Ruuuuun!”
Chapter 6
Bigger Problems
Sammy knew that she had five bullets, so she had to make them count.
The quickest goblin had an axe in each hand and a maniacal grin on its face. He sprinted ahead of the rest and leaped forward toward the trailing Dr. Elstein with glee. The axes rose and came cleaving down at the man’s head.
Bang.
The blades dropped from the goblin’s hands as it collapsed awkwardly to the ground and remained there, unmoving. Samantha sighed and lowered the rifle, still running as she got ready to fire again.
Bang. Another shot, another dead goblin. The monsters kept their distance after that, but they had forced the group back into the forest. Though at first the scenery within the trees had been one of beauty and elegant mystery, now it was more of a claustrophobic hell that was too dark to distinguish at night. Faye stumbled and fell on a root and Samantha pulled her to her feet.
“Keep moving, Faye! We can’t stop, especially you!” The little girl nodded and picked up her pace.
Zack growled in anger, realizing that the goblins were only herding them toward something. Whenever he took the group one way, the green creatures would already be there, flanking them and forcing them to continue forward into the deeper forest.
“Get back!” Lillian roared, but it was useless. The goblins only laughed and arrows stabbed into the tree trunks around the group. They had to keep moving or die.
Elstein pointed at something as the group ran past it. A wooden sign with crude markings on it. The form of axes and an ugly face on it was unmistakable: the sign was a warning for intruders.
Sure enough, the group began to enter a creepier section of the forest. Bones hung from the branches of the trees, and there were signs of battle everywhere. Spikes had been hammered into the ground and skulls of different sizes decorated them. The goblins kept a distance now, only watching cruelly as they reached their destination.
One of them shouted something from its hiding place, and the rest laughed. The sound echoed all around the forest. None of the group understood, but it was clear what the creature had more or less said:
“Let’s see how big and bad you are now.”
Shinji looked angrily over at Lillian and shook his head.
“This better end well. You put us all at risk.” The young man was livid, his eyes narrowing at her and his fists clenched.
“What are you so angry about? We’ve been through tougher stuff and faced aircraft and armed soldiers, what can a few creatures from this little fantasy world do to us that our Imperial and Stripe friends couldn’t?” She cackled at him, and her lack of responsibility only served to make the lad angrier. Julia put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down but Shinji shook her off and walked away.
Zack agreed with his old classmate but couldn’t find himself to understand why the young man was so furious. It could have been any of us that screwed up, really…
“Be quiet,” Elstein hissed. There was sound coming from up ahead. Zack had a bad feeling. The goblins were numerous and all, but the group could have taken them out if they had been more patient and known the land a bit more. Whatever was coming toward them, however…There was something chilling about the place that filled Zachary with doubts.
A giant humanoid figure stepped out from between two trees, covered from head to toe in crude iron armor with large spikes on its shoulder guards. Similar creatures — yet a whole head smaller than the first — began to emerge from the bushes and trees around the group. The smallest of the yellowish-green beasts was as tall as Lillian Valentine. Several of them carried
torches that lit the darkness with bright, flickering light.
The largest one grinned as he saw the group and Zack spotted its tusks jutting out of its mouth.
“The goblins have done their job, for once,” it said in an ugly, guttural voice. It tore the sword from its scabbard, and its grin spread further on its ugly, scarred face. “My name is Gaar. I would request your names, but you shall be dead in a very short time.” The blade in its hands was quite possibly the largest piece of metal Zack had ever seen in the hands of a living creature. Gaar was massive, his chest almost like a barrel and his arms thicker than Zack’s thighs. His eyes were a shiny black and showed malice. His nose — scarred just like the rest of his features — was a small flap of skin barely covering the two mismatched nostrils below it. “Still,” he continued, “I’ve never seen your kind before. Not up close at least. I wouldn’t mind one last duel before you all die.”
Beyond the Veil (Dawn of Hope, Book 1) Page 2
