Infinity

Chapter Seven: The Massacre

There was a giant explosion in the ceiling. The explosion was huge, and the building was mostly destroyed from the blast. Windows bursted, causing glass shards to fly everywhere. Fiery explosions roared throughout the building. Fires were created, raging in different parts of the building.

People in the building got caught in the blast and were immediately killed. Most of the people in the building had died then. The ones that were still alive after the explosion were Chris, Jake, and Carolyn.

"Those Dublekas!" Chris screamed as he held his injured arm, which had gotten smashed by falling debris. He stared at the UFO, which belonged to the Dublekas and was wavering above the topless building. The Dublekas had dropped a bomb on the building, causing the explosion. The UFO flew away quickly, staying hidden in the clouds.

"Sir, the entire building is on fire!" Carolyn cried, looking at Chris with a worried face. "There's no chance of escaping this!" Chris and Carolyn quickly looked over at Jake.

"Jake, you've got to save yourself somehow," Chris sputtered, smoke causing him to burst into coughing fits. "It's the only way to save the world. You have to survive and carry on the mission. Kill every Dubleka in sight, make sure none of them survive. But you need to go and get out of here... now!"

"But... but I-," Jake started.

"Don't worry about us," Chris muttered, looking at Carolyn. "We're only following the prophecy. We were supposed to go out like this, being brave people who sacrifice themselves to help the chosen one. We risked our lives this way, knowing the Dublekas could catch us. We had to give you this information and prepare you though. Now go... do it." Debris from higher floors started falling in huge chunks. They slammed onto Chris and Carolyn, knocking them out.

Jake started running around the ground floor, avoiding falling debris and roaring flames. He looked around to see a lady staring at him through a broken window. She was a beautiful 28-year-old lady. Her dark brown hair was very long, reaching to the middle of her back, and it was pulled back into a single ponytail. She also had light blue eyes that sparkled like the ocean.

The lady held her hand out to Jake through the broken window. She said, "Come with me if you want to live." Jake, not wanting to take any chances finding his own exit, grabbed onto the woman's hand. She yanked Jake through the window, pulling him out of the building. Right at that moment, the entire building collapsed into a huge pile of debris.

"Th...Thanks," Jake muttered, looking at the lady who had saved him from being crushed by the fallen building. She had saved his life.

"Don't mention it," the woman answered quietly. "So... now what are you going to do? This place is a wreck." Jake thought for a minute, and the prophecy flashed through his head. He imaged Ben saying, "The chosen one teams up with a partner to fight the aliens, and they save the universe together." Jake wondered, "What if she is my partner?"

"Well... I'm going to Florida to fight an alien race called the Dublekas," Jake explained. "They're evil, alien-like monsters that want to take over the Earth and the universe. The building that you just saved me from collapsing under belonged to a group called S.T.A.M.P, and they were looking for the chosen one and a partner to fight the aliens. I'm the chosen one, and you must be my partner! Come with me! I have a second set of weapons! We can fight the aliens and save the world... together!" Jake tossed the second backpack to the woman. She cautiously looked inside of it. Then she closed the bag and slung it around her shoulders.

"Uh... sure," the lady answered. She and Jake walked away from the debris. They headed to San Francisco to buy a car and drive to Florida.

"So... what's your name?" Jake asked. "Mine is Jake."

"Oh... I don't know," the woman mumbled.

"Aw, sure you do!" Jake laughed. "Everyone has a name!"

"What about kids that never knew their name because they were given away to a stranger at birth and never were given a decent name?!" the woman snapped. "Do they have names?!" Jake was speechless as the woman turned away and crossed her arms.

"Um... I'm not sure, but I'm going to stick with calling you Rose," Jake sighed.

"Why Rose?" the woman barked.

"Because... you're pretty like one," Jake admitted, looking away and blushing. Rose felt her face heat up, but she also turned her head so that he couldn't see her blushing. The two of them were silent until they arrived at San Francisco. They were heading for a car rental shop when they noticed smoke in the air. There was a TV inside of the car rental shop, so Jake and Rose looked at the TV there to see what was going on. There was breaking news on the TV.

"Breaking news: an unknown building on the edge of town has collapsed," a news reporter announced on the TV. "There seems to be no survivors. But that's not all. Not only has that building collapsed, but South Kennedy Apartment has been attacked and also collapsed, with no survivors of that as well." The reporter paused to listen to someone behind the camera speak.

"There also seems to be multiple reported murders in broad daylight," the reporter on the TV continued. "Witnesses report that bullets 'flew from the sky' and hit people straight in the head. We have a list of people who were murdered in those attacks."

Jake was numb with fear. South Kennedy was the apartment he lived at. If there had been no survivors of that, Miranda killed was murdered in the collapse. Jake's stomach turned, worried about hearing the list of people murdered in broad daylight.

"The people murdered were Tori Charleston, Hank Charleston, Maggie Charleston, Ian Charleston, Tommy Kinstead, Luke Olly, and Miranda Potter," another newscaster announced. Jake's heart shattered. Tori Charleston was his mother. Hank Charleston was his father. Maggie and Ian Charleston were his 18-year-old twin siblings, who had recently graduated high school. Tommy Kinstead and Luke Olly were his best friends. Miranda Potter was his neighbor and another close friend of his.

Jake's heart dropped even more when a realization came to his head. His siblings and parents had been murdered. Both of his parents had no siblings, and both of his grandparents from both sides of his family had died. That was when he realized... Jake was the last Charleston of the family.

"Jake?" Rose whispered, looking at him. "Jake... are you alright?" Jake kept on staring at the screen. Finally, he spoke.

"My friends... my family..." Jake muttered. Then it hit him like a brick wall. All of them knew about the Dublekas. And so did S.T.A.M.P, and their building had been attacked as well. He guessed his apartment was hit since Miranda lived there, and the Dublekas must had guessed Jake was there too. All of it... the Dublekas did it! The adventure hadn't even started, and he already wanted to give up. He was very tempted to slouch on the floor and sob into his hands, but he stayed frozen standing.

"You knew those people?!" Rose questioned.

"Yes," Jake sighed sadly. His voice lowered to a hush. "It's because I told them about the Dublekas. That's why this all happened. The Dublekas must have something or someone watching us somehow. How else could have they known about me telling them?"

"They knew about S.T.A.M.P, right?" Rose suggested. Jake nodded, holding back tears. "Maybe that's why. The Dublekas knew about S.T.A.M.P since they attacked their building." Jake sighed, having no response. He didn't understand anything going on.

"Whatever," Jake sighed. "We need to go now, before it's too late." Together, Jake and Rose purchased a car to drive to Florida in. They quickly drove out of San Francisco, out of California, and into a new adventure.