Voynich Shift - Planet Killer

Leonis - 1;1, 2;10 - Part Two of Three

'Parker Raymond, there will be times that you feel you are lost and alone. You must remind yourself that you are never lost as long as you stand in the light of the moon. Do not give up, Parker.'

Parker's eyes fly open as the mysterious voice quickly fades and is replaced by a loud mechanical roar. He stirs, crawling on all fours from beneath the stone bridge to discover the source of the noise. The sun's rays beat onto his face, blocking his vision temporarily. As he regains his vision, purple spots cloud the sky and he sees a vibrant flash of yellow zoom above and past.

Parker grasps his aching forehead, once-again questioning his reality. His body is covered in sweat in response to the heated, sweltering air. Is it an oasis? Is that a tangible, yellow school bus disappearing into the horizon, he wonders. As parker sits up, attempting to restore his equilibrium, he realizes the warm water engulfing his shoes. He did not fall asleep this close to the river. Parker's body lies just beneath the threshold that separates the bottom of the bridge and the grass on which he slept. How could the tide rise this quickly, in such a small body of water? Parker reaches down to his feet, feeling the water hardly move between his fingers. The current has slowed as well. What on Earth (or whatever Earth-like planet he appeared on) could have caused this sudden change in nature? He takes in his surroundings. Everything he encountered yesterday was engulfed in murky water; the garden, the pathway that led him to this spot, the few trees in the area. Parker stands, knowing that the water will soon engulf the bridge and every other way out. He hastily climbs up the side, ignoring the stone cutting deep into his hands. As he sprints across the long bridge, he can still see a yellow spot disappear over the interstate's horizon. Still, his instincts scream at him to flee from something inescapable.

After two miles of running, half of Parker's clothes have been stripped off and laid over his head as protection from UV rays. His skin is suffocating in the extreme weather. There has been nothing but an unforgiving heat, a black asphalt road beneath his feet, and wilting trees to his left and right. Parker collapses, like an egg yolk to a pan. Just as the thoughts of defeat occur...

KAUCAW! 

Through a twisted and hazed vision, Parker sees a large bird fly overhead in the direction he has been running. 

The gray falcon cringes its talons as it screeches in utter terror, KAUCAW, KAUCAW!!!

Suddenly, Parker hears thunder crashing in the city, like no sound he has ever heard before. He runs, forgetting about the heat that bounces off the pavement into his skin. The falcon continues to fly ahead, not turning back for a second. Parker mimics it, unable to see the clouds of smoke that rises in mushroom-shaped plumes where a city once was.

Parker reaches the top of a steep hill, his breath shallow and his heart uncomfortably thumping to the pace of his own foot-steps. He is shocked and relieved to find the yellow bus he had seen hours before. He turns around, analyzing the gray sky behind him compared to the blue, cloudless sky ahead. The falcon is nowhere to be seen.

As Parker approaches the school bus, he hears the commotion of panic-stricken children. He ascends the small stairs and immediately sees the corpse of a man wearing some kind of uniform. His eyes are rolled to the back of his head, his back bent from convulsion. There are two children, attempting to drive the bus. There is a boy at the pedals and a girl standing on the driver's seat, both now staring at the strange man that has come to hijack their bus.

'I don't care who you are or where you have come from,' calls a weak voice from behind the first seat. He peeks over the seat to find an 80-year-old woman sulking next to the dead man's feet. She looks up at him with metallic gray eyes, 'but you'd better drive or we'll never make it!"

"Make it? What do you mean?" Parker asks nervously.

"Before time runs out, for all of us."