Sleepers (Convergence Book 1)

by Stephen Landry

  Nate came to Alaska after making sure his family was relocated to Cambridge. Not an easy task as the withered were beginning to overtake small towns such as his.

  “Another gang is moving in,” said one of our neighbors, an older man named Niles on a walkie. “How big? Are they heavily armed?” I asked. Michael and I had been working with several others to keep our neighborhood safe from gangs and raiders for several days. The gangs were moving away from territory that contained many dreaming and withered and making their way into smaller suburbs stealing food.

  “Why does it seem when shit hits the fans humans have to be such shits,” said Niles. He took a shot. We could hear the gun fire echo throughout the street. It was over in just a few minutes.

  “Lucky for us we’re the worst of them,” said Niles laughing. He had killed several members of the gang that was beginning to move in.

  “We need those supplies,” said Michael.

  “They were a truck. I took out the driver and it hit a pole. I took out four of them before they even got a shot off, took out the last two as they were running away. There was another car but it drove away back the way they came. I don’t think we have to worry. Didn’t seem like they figured out where the shots were coming from. Gonna need to burn the bodies too,” said Niles.

  “You are one sick fuck you know that right, we still have to try and call this in, the city is still under martial law and there is still a city we have to try and save,” said Michael.

  “Every man woman and child for themselves out here. Downtown is full swing full of withered and that so called military is forcing the gangs out our way so screw them,” Niles replied.

  We did things his way but not by choice.

  The dreaming weren’t the only thing the withered were attracted too. The bodies of the dead attracted them just as much if not more. We learned in the first few days we had to quickly burn the bodies of the dead.

  “The fact that they eat dead totally makes them the Z word,” I said.

  “Don’t say it,” said Michael.

  “Why not, everyone is thinking it,” I replied as we packed up the last of the food and water the truck was transporting.

  “It’s just not right, it doesn’t feel right. Imagine if Vee woke up like that. Imagine it had been her. I couldn’t believe it when I shot the dreaming next door. She was human, she was just the same as us once,” Michael said. He had made a good point. I hadn’t shot any of the withered. He had already killed more then I could count at this point. Each time I could see a part of him slipping away. He was losing himself.

  “I’m sorry,” I said trying to comfort him. Michael was the closest thing to family I had aside from you and you were trapped.

  “I just want her to wake up… I have done everything I can my whole life to protect my family. Yeah I may have messed up here and there but I have given this my best shot. Money, time, energy, everything to make things right to make things good. It’s not fair,” he said.

  I should have given him a hug but instead I sat there in silence. We stood next to each other for about half an hour before finally heading back home to drop off our supplies. First we had to make our way to Niles. We were going to drop off some water and food for him. I’m glad you weren’t awake to see what happened. I can still remember the smell of the stale air mixed with copper as I opened the door to his home and crept my way inside. The lock on the door had been broken. Michael and I raised our handguns. We found a withered hunched over gnawing at Nile’s neck. He was dead. The withered had been severely injured but that hadn’t stopped it. It must have caught our neighbor by surprise. I’m not sure if I killed it or Michael did. Either way it felt wrong. I felt for the first time what Michael had been feeling since the withered first appeared. The guilt in killing them. The fear they would jump right back up and bite. The fear they were not really dead that there was a cure and that by firing at them you were taking away any hope that they might be saved.

  ________

  “There are several things that have happened now that have gotten us here,” began Ed, “first the day dreaming. All of you were and still are close to someone that fell asleep that day. One of the reasons we have given consent to take them with us it that Nate and several others here believe that there is a link between your powers and the dreaming and we don’t want you to possibly lose those powers when we reach our primary target. Second, the U.E.D’s formation as a result of the powers that began to emerge and the second attack that birthed the withered. Third but not least. The day the first daemons came to Earth.”

  Invasion

  “I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong.”

  - John Lennon

  “John Lennon, the legend. He should have said I believe in God but I know the devil is real. He is not one thing he is many. He is not an old man, nor a young man, he is an animal that has come from the sky. Lucifer, Mephisto, Satan, all the names are real. The devil has come for all of us.”

  - Nate, U.E.D. Intelligence

  Three years since you entered the dreaming…

  The fear of the withered only lasted a few weeks. Those that weren’t shot and killed starved or were captured by the U.E.D who at this time had more control over everything going on then the military. Soon the fear crept back to those with powers. Many of the heroes that came about fought against the withered protecting communities and towns. They were praised as heroes. The U.E.D approached them creating programs that utilized them sending them on black ops missions and missions to serve and protect the public. Many of the ‘heroes’ were tools used to combat the ‘villains’ that came about. Every so often you would see or hear about their escapades on the news. Each given a code name (some great and some not so great). Examples such as the Incredible Shadow who claimed to be an ancient god sent to Earth to learn a lesson in humility. He was indestructible and could manipulate light in a way that he practically turned invisible. He was overrun by withered but remembered as a martyr. Other such as the Mirror Mask could generate illusions. At first Mirror Mask used his powers unpredictably but soon he like many others began standing up for those less fortunate then himself. He defended an entire hospital against the withered and joined the U.E.D.

  Many of the larger cities were designated protectors. Ms Puma, with reflexes like that of a cat defended her hometown in Louisiana. Nueron, who like the Incredible shadow could manipulate light around him defended the city of Boston,Massachusetts. The GalacticMancer who had the power to move objects with his mind defended several areas in both Washington state and Oregen. Point is the world was changing. Heroes were coming forward that the public could look up to. The media milked it. Bloggers loved it. Soon every kid on the street was hoping one day they would have powers. Other reviled them. Wishing the U.E.D would put them all down. Wondering how the heroes would protect the cities when the daemons themselves drifted at the edge of our solar system. Everyone had their eye on the sky. Even those of us that tried to live normal lives were lost.

  I feel like I can’t tell you the whole story, everything that will happen without first telling you about the day the daemons came. The day Michael and I. The day all of us lost everything. The day we joined the U.E.D, the day we learned we too had powers. The day of the invasion.

  Most days we began by feeding you through your PEG tube. I would then spend the next several hours working the muscles in your arms and legs. Moving you from one position to the next. There were so many risks. Many sleepers had died already from blood clots, sepsis from bed sores, muscle atrophy, bone density loss. No picnic. Only intensive nursing care kept most patients from catastrophic death. Every week we had a nurse check in with us from Emergency Services as well. Being in the dreaming was one step away from death. Without your brother and I who knows wh
at would have happened to you. No matter how many “range of motion” exercises you kept losing weight and getting weaker. When you fell into the dreaming you were healthy but now you weighed just a little more then a hundred pounds and had lost half your muscle mass. You were pallid, flaccid, weak, soft, loose and flabby. Not that any of that mattered. You were still the same woman I loved. The same woman I chose to marry. The same woman I had dedicated my life too and I wasn’t going to lose you. If this had been a normal day I would have been about to take a break. I would have sipped on some home brewed tea and began drawing while I sat next to you. I had started selling my art again. I thought maybe that would make you happy. You always loved my pictures. Michael and I needed the money so I was taking commissions. Drawing portraits of the lost for families that couldn’t keep their loved ones alive.

  It began around 11:00 A.M a massive ship came out of the sky and landed in Paris,France. Michael and I watched in terror on television as it unfolded in real time. Moments later the entire city was overrun. The station stopped broadcasting. Hours passed with the emergency broadcast signal playing repeatedly on air. There was nothing new reported online (most websites could not establish any kind of link) or by radio. It was like the entire world had stopped. A complete blackout across the globe. A few hours later we saw a similar ship. A dark object that looked like an arrowhead flew over the city above us. It landed near the Willis tower. Half the city was covered in dust… the other half was gone. The baphoment daemons quickly spread out. Within minutes they were so close we could see hear them as if they were just up the street. The military and the U.E.D were on the scene in minutes. They must have had a camp closer to the city then I nor anyone ever imagined. I carried you out of the house myself and placed you in the backseat of our car. We were driving a dark brown jeep. An older model that your brother bought before you fell into the dreaming. As I buckled you in place I could see helicopters and VTOL's flying above us. As I jumped into the back seat to help hold you your brother hit the gas pedal to the floor. We tore out of our neighborhood. Hundreds of soldiers were pouring into the city. The invasion had begun. The real end of the world.

  We were maybe half a mile down the road before we hit our first snag.

  “Dropships, they have god damn dropships!” I shouted as a daemon ship black as the night shaped like an exotic version of our own fighter jets came down in front of us. It looked almost like it was organic. Like it had been grown from a seed. The sides had the same texture as the bark of an oak tree though solid black. The only reason I saw it so well was that for the first time time began to slow down. My powers were manifesting themselves. I could see the smoke roar up from the tires as your brother slammed on the breaks. I could see the glass shatter in slow motion around me as I folded my arms around you shielding you from the shards that pressed against my skin. Small straight cuts. Like a blind surgeon had started operating on me while I was awake. I felt everything even the pressure in the air change as the daemons jumped down from the side of their craft. They looked just as they did in space. Baphomet faces with human like limbs only they carried themselves more like raptors. I could see tails protruding from their backs. They had pieces of armor sewn into their skin. More like riveted in. I could still see what looked like blood dripping down between small grooves that lined the spaces in between. They carried with them large rifles. I saw one of them fire. I wasn’t sure if it had seen another human or it was firing just for kicks. A blue bolt of energy disintegrated anything it touched. It looked like something you would see in an alien invasion film except now I was living it. I imagined it all playing out in my head. Michael had run us into a drainage ditch. We were halfway down Harrison street only a half mile away from 290. The front radiator was smashed against a piece of concrete. Behind us the Willis tower fell. A random rocket smacked against the alien dropship. The rocket blew spar but the alien ship didn’t explode. It seemed as if it was protected by some kind of field. It caught them off guard. Lucky for us. We had just long enough for Michael and I too drag you out of the car and make our way inside Sunny’s Bar and Grill.

  I remember we use to come here for drinks. You would always order a hard ice tea or something with lemon and I always drank local. Whatever new brew the keep would recommend. Your brother came with us a few times. Here and there. He was a hardcore drinker. Whiskey, Jack, he could handle it all. I remember once a long time ago we use to watch the games. We hid behind the bar. Even stole a few sips here and there as we waited out the daemons. They were searching for us. Every once in awhile we would here them fire their energy weapons. Every once in awhile we would hear the screams of those around us. Something came over Michael. I had never seen it before. His eyes became solid white and he moved towards the entrance. We had left our guns in the car. I thought maybe he was going back for them. It seemed like suicide but if anyone could do it I believed it was him.

  From what he told me he felt like he had lost control of his body. Like some kind of entity had possessed him. He said he felt like he was moving through the shadows. One moment he felt awake and the next he was blacking out. When he finally came too he was holding one of the daemons energy rifles standing over three of their dead bodies and a wrecked drop ship that had been torn in too. Michael’s power had manifested. He could mimic those with ‘powers’ as long as they were around him. He said he felt it when we ran into the ditch. When time slowed. Not to the extent that it had on me but he knew it was happening none the less. Apparently his power also worked with the daemons. He was invisible as he made his way around them. As the world turned red and he slaughtered them with their own weapons. First he had made quick work of their ship drawing the three scouts back to investigate and then he took care of them.

  When the sun finally began to set we moved. We packed a backpack with as much food and water as we could carry. Michael brought the alien weapon with him leaving our patriotic guns behind. Michael and I took turns carrying you until we finally met up with a convoy, a group sent into the city by the National Guard that were helping evacuate everyone away from town as quickly as possible. They had never seen anything like it. Apparently your brother and I were the only ones capable of touching the alien weapons without burning our hands. It was a dead giveaway that we were gifted or rather ‘chosen’ as some others might say. The convoy immediately moved us to safety within a U.E.D safe house. All three of us. They didn’t disarm us. Spray us down. They didn’t even ask if we wanted you moved to another location. They provided us with all the support and help we needed even a hospital bed for you to lay in. Around midnight we were told not to look in the direction of downtown. They dropped a nuke. We were just outside the radiation zone for the moment but we would have too move.

  The next day we signed up to be a part of the U.E.D. We had lost everything at this point. Our home. Our friends. The three of us were lost. Ed knew we had powers. He flat out said it when we first met, “so what makes you kids so damn special?” We were straight. We held nothing back. We told him everything that had happened in the last three years. He gave us his word that you would be safe. That he would teach us to use our powers. That we were ‘chosen’ and that we would play a greater role in the war that was to come. The daemon ship that drifted at the edge of the solar system was moving closer to Earth. Slowly but surely and there would be many more days like this if nobody stood to stop them. There is no such thing as a hero. I wasn’t about to put on leather or spandex and prance about like some kind of comic book character. I didn’t sign up to give anyone hope. Even now I’m only doing this because defeating the daemons means there is a chance I can save you. I would walk through hell to wake you up and now I was going to have to prove it.

  If I had to choose between you and this world…

  …damn this world and everyone in it.

  Ruins

  I plunged head first into a dark tunnel. I could barely make out the light on the other side. I was in full tactical gear though I lost my backpack
on the trail the night before. I was taking point followed by Michael and Todd. We were back in Chicago. The burnt down ruins that surrounded us were all that was left of the Field Museum downtown. Most of the city was torn to pieces by the nuke a year before but there were still parts of structures that remained. The whole thing looked like it had been torn straight out of a video game. Half the world had become a wasteland. Europe and Asia had it the worst. The daemons spread across most of Europe and the forces there were splintered into smaller and smaller groups banding as close together as they could to survive. Humanity had descended back into tribes only we were all united fighting a common threat.

  So many crazy thoughts ran through my brain. I knew exactly where I was once we reached the exhibit that once held the Terracotta Warriors. Before the event, before the dreaming the two of us spent an entire day here. We looked at the Tattoo exhibit, the Emperor and his warriors, we walked through the learning center and learned about many of the deep traditions and changes that took place in China. All of it was dust now. All we had were our memories. More thoughts passed through the slush I called my brain. My senses were heightened. I moved as quickly as I could but every time I pulled around a corner I felt my power ignite. On and off again. I like the others had just spent a year learning everything there was to know about surviving. We weren’t just put through basic training. They didn’t try to break us down. We were taught military tactics and meditation. We spent six months learning religions and another six months guns, swords, knives, and bows. One night seven of us were knocked out and placed in the woods in the cold in Alaska. We had to work together as a team to survive. We skinned rabbits, deer, snakes, and drank from cold rivers. It took us two weeks to make it back to camp and that was only because half the time we were lost and or arguing.