Underlings (Not being updated at this time)

Underlings - 22. A Change of Heart

Bob knew deep down that he'd never see his wife again. She was dying. Most of the populace was, in the future. It wasn't just deformities, or broken weeping skin. There wasn't a corner of the world that had escaped the pollution. In the end, it didn't matter if you were living beneath it's cloud. It was all too far-reaching and in the years he'd spent there since his abduction, it had taken it's toll on him too.

The masks served their purpose. They tricked everyone into thinking that things were still top of the morning if you purchased the right products and behaved within the limits of the laws. Masks hid the truth, shielded ugliness and put a cloak around the broad shoulders of shame. Still, beneath it all, the death rate rose and the mortality rate fell from a global high of eighty two years old, to an unhappy valley of forty five years and dropping.

Bob breathed the air deep into his lungs as he climbed off his stolen motorbike. It was cleaner here and somehow he'd forgotten it, or never realised it the whole time he grew up under his parent's roof. He wondered what the air tasted like when the Americas belonged to their original natives.

He'd carried out his task and the President and the Prime Minister were both dead. His wife would be looked after, if she still lived. They would offer her transit, but Bob doubted she'd accept. Even though her version of Earth was falling to pieces, it was her planet. She didn't want to die in his world. She loved her own and found beauty in it, in everything she saw. She'd been a stubborn bitch and he told her often.

In carrying out his task, Bob had secured his future. He was high profile with the invaders, but it also meant in the immediate present, that he was being hunted down by every authority in the country. The thought of that made him laugh! All the resources available to the governments of Earth would be scouring their systems and chasing an old man, instead of looking over their shoulders and preparing for war.

He knew what was to come next; the invasion and the plan to lay waste to the cities, shut down all industries that had caused the ruin of an alternate Earth, substantially reduce the number of people walking the planet and start over in the open spaces; breeding a new race of humans in the wombs of women from the present day. A planet was invading itself and making slaves of it's own ancestors.

As he sped down the highway, far from crowds and sirens, his mind wandered. He'd planned to ride to his parent's home and explain what had happened to him, their son. He knew they'd think him insane, especially as he would appear to be older than they were. He wanted them to know that their son had not been hurt, that he'd lived and loved. He'd wanted to protect them, but as he sped on, he realised he was heading in a different direction completely.

He thought of Josie, the waitress that had tried to talk the red necks down before he'd kicked the fight out of them all. He knew she wouldn't run to the wilds like he'd suggested and if she wouldn't run, then she was in danger. He'd known that when he left the bar of course, but he'd had a mission to carry out.

Bob couldn't get to his parents in time, but he could save Josie. If she had a family, he would lead them as far from the invaders as he could and far from the cities. He was done with it all and he was done with Kree. He wanted to live his last days doing the right thing. It was what his wife would have wanted him to do and if there was a God, then he supposed he'd better attempt to impress that guy too. He had a couple of black marks against his name...

-

Josie was smoking a cigarette out the back of the bar as Bob pulled up on his chapter hog. She threw the cigarette to the floor and stamped it out with a heel. The car park was empty apart from a beaten Volvo parked badly next to the trash bin. It wasn't the part of town where people would be likely to walk past if she needed to call for help and the fire door has closed behind her.

She froze, uncertain if she should scream or run across the street to the IHOP and get help.

Bob held his hands in the air in a sign of peace.

"I come in peace Josie. I've come to help you."

Josie retreated, resting her back against the door.

"Your face is all over the TV. You killed two world leaders this week. That's not to mention smashing up this place. You're pretty fucking crazy if you ask me. I think you need help and you need to get the hell away from me."

"I'm not going to hurt you. I didn't kill anyone. I gave them a message. That's all I did. Just a trigger. They did the rest.. They were taking drugs that..."

"A message? What the fuck did you say to those poor bastards? Don't see many politicians doing the right thing in this world unless there's money in it for them. You done some mind control on them or what?"

"I just told them what I was told to say, at the moment I was told to say it."

"Tell that to the police! Hell, the FBI must be looking all over for you!"

A police car cruised past on cue but Josie didn't try to get it's attention, she wanted to find out what Bob wanted. She always attracted the bad boys, but Bob was proving to be the baddest of them all. Something about him made her feel that he wasn't a nasty person. He was unlucky; a wrong place, wrong time kind of guy.

"Josie, when I came here the other day, I told you to pack your bags and get far away from civilisation..."

"Honey, I get guys saying stuff to me like that every shift. The last thing I expected was to see you back here. Look, you'd better go, the boys you ass kicked last time have been driving around with guns looking to put you on a pole and dance around you. It's not good for you to be in this town at all right now."

"Josie, listen to me! That Kree guy, he is real. What he said, it's all going to happen. This planet is being invaded and I need to get you and your family somewhere safe. Everything you know is about to be destroyed and no one can stop it."

Josie looked uncertain. She studied Bob closely to see if there was any hint of a lie on his face. He held her gaze and waited for her to speak.

"You're a crazy old buzzard, but somehow I believe you. Why should I go with you?"

"Because if you don't, you will die, or be used as a hole for soldiers to put things in."

Josie actually laughed at that comment, surprising herself. Anyone who could speak so casually about rape to a woman was certainly not from town.

"You don't sugar coat do you? Nor do I Bob, we're two straight shooters... You're a strange guy, but you're all right. My boy is overseas, he's a fighter pilot. There's no other family. It's just me and all I've got is this job, these fifty dollar boots and a great pair of tits. My shift finishes in five minutes."

"You've just finished your last shift. You quit. We need to get out of town, steal a car and buy supplies. You got a vehicle by any chance?"

Josie pointed a the beaten wreck badly parked by the trash bin.

"We'd better take my bike. We're not going to survive the end of your world in that."

"My world?"

"Our world. I suppose, it's ours right?"

Josie threw her apron to the ground, sat on the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around the most wanted man in the world.

As they rode out of the town, neither of them spoke.

In the distance, the first fires raged. Bob was unsure if it was America or Canada. Borders mattered nothing anymore. Countries would cease to exist within days.

The attack was underway.