What the Earth will Reclaim

Chapter 2

The loneliness was starting to get to Maia.

I can't stay holed up in an empty home waiting for something to happen.

So she decided to start venturing out. It was terrifying out in the open, without anyone to depend on. People are scary when they've been backed into a corner; they become something else entirely.

Maia went looking for food first, hoping to bolster her dwindling food supply. As expected of someone with little to no ecological knowledge, she didn't have much luck. Berries and mushrooms were out, since she couldn't distinguish which ones were poisonous. And she didn't have a gun, or any other kind of proper weapon, so she couldn't hunt any large animals; not that she would know how to use it if she did. She did manage to catch two small fish, as she had found one of her grandfather's fishing poles in a closet in her apartment. She collected some sticks on her walk back home, and cooked the fish over a tiny fire on her balcony. It was the first hot meal she'd had since this had all begun, and the warmth almost brought her to tears.

◈◈◈

   Evan woke up in bindings, tied to a plush, velvet chair.

He was groggy, and tried to remember what had happened to him, causing a sudden sharp pain in his temples. As he took in his surroundings, a sprawling room far too opulent for any normal person, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Due to his sandy hair obstructing his vision, however, he was unable to identify his captors until one of them spoke.

" Ah, he's awake".

"Are you sure the bindings will hold, sir?"

"of course, he's as harmless as a bunny rabbit, for now at least".

Evan strained against his bindings, finally realizing the danger he was in. He knew that voice. His heartbeat was so loud in his ears he barely heard the conversation continuing on the other side of the room.

"Are the preparations complete?".

"Yes sir, everything is ready".

"Excellent, let's reintroduce our guest here to the Doctor. Bring him here".

"Yes sir".

Evan pulled so hard against the ropes tying him to his chair he was sure his wrists were going to bruise, but the ropes held steady. He heard a chuckle, which only made him angry.

"Welcome, Mr. Martin, you've caused quite a fuss. I certainly hope this behavior won't continue in the future".

Evan laughed internally. It hadn't been long since this all began, and he had spent all of it running from the people who were ending the world. He knew as soon as he saw the news, that they would come for him. It was true, he had caused them a lot of trouble. It had been pretty fun, actually, setting little traps and purposeful misdirections.

"I was sad to hear about your father, such a bright man. If we'd known what would happen we would have taken better care of him".

"Liar", Evan spat, tears threatening to come out. "All you would have done is keep him locked away so you could force him to keep working for you".

"Force?", a sinister smile crossed the man's face. " Oh dear, I think there's been a misunderstanding. We never forced your father to work for us, dear boy. He came to Us".

" That's impossible, he would never–".

" As much as I am enjoying this little epiphany of yours, I am afraid that I have a schedule to keep". He turned his back, causing Evan to lunge at him, and topple his chair in the process.

" Now there's no need for that, Mr. Martin", the man said, a hint of a smile in his voice.

He opened the door, allowing Evan to see into the hallway beyond.

" Send him in".

" Yes commander".

Evan felt a sudden sense of dread, and the twinge of a memory he couldn't quite place. A tall, thin man stepped through the door, bowing to the man before crossing the room and crouching down in front of Evan.

" Will his conditioning hold?" the commander asked as he sunk into a chair behind an ornate wooden desk.

" Of course, sir. I trained him myself, after all".

The thin man looked down at Evan with dark, seemingly lifeless eyes.

" Hello again, king, shall we begin?".

"Screw you", Evan said, even as the sense of dread gave way to fear.

" Oh dear, I'm afraid that won't do at all".

The man reached out and put his hand on Evan's head, despite his efforts to resist.

" I'll be sure to fix that. Now, listen to me and try to relax. 10... 9... 8...".

Evan's vision blurred, and a terrifying sense of calm began washing over him. His body went slack, refusing to do what he wanted.

"W-what have you–". Evan never got out the last word, as the thin man counted down to one, Evan's eyes closed and his world turned to darkness. 

◈◈◈

Maia was starting to go crazy, she thought.

She had started talking to herself, having entire conversations with people who weren't real. She couldn't risk seeking anyone out, or even talking out loud, certain that the second she made a sound her door would break open and those monsters would kill her in the middle of her kitchen. So, she talked to people in her mind. At first it was her father, desperate for comfort and advice, then her best friend, then her middle school history teacher. She wasn't sure how she chose who to talk to, but one second she was staring out her window and the next her history teacher was telling her that history was cyclical and that these people would get what was coming to them.

She really hoped he was right.