Genesis 2.0 (Monster Apocalypse Survival) Sci-Fi/DarkFan/Horror

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Penny for your thoughts?" Joe says as he falls into step beside me. I imagine he's making a huge effort to keep my snail pace, considering his legs are longer than I am tall.

"Save your money." I'm not in the mood for small talk; I'm too busy cursing myself for taking on this crazy quest to begin with. Life after the End was bad, but it wasn't all that bad. All I had to worry about was keeping myself alive, and in one piece. Sure, some days proved challenging, but I'd done all right for three years.

Then, I meet an angel.

"Why me?" I ask out loud, interrupting my internal hissy fit.

Tilting my head back, I stare at Joe through narrowed eyes. His hulking body makes for a really good shade, and I feel a slight twinge of remorse. He's probably made sure to walk on my right side for that purpose alone. "Why did you choose me for this? There has to be someone smarter, stronger, and more capable than a sixteen-year-old girl."

The menacing War General puffs his cheeks and squints his eyes, as if he's looking at something off in the distance. Honestly, it looks like he's trying to sit on the toilet. But hey, I'm not one to knock a person's 'thought' face. I allow him a few moments to decide what and how much he wants to tell me before nudging him with my elbow - in the hip. The dude is tall.

"I've already said that we can't tell you why you were chosen, but I can and will tell you this. You have something very special inside of you Andrea, something no other living being on this planet has. That is the one and only reason why you must locate the Tree."

Great; as if I wasn't already confused and bombarded with a million questions? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"Is is an unspoken rule that you guys have to talk in riddles? Why can't you just give me a straight answer?"

"It's because the worthless, winged parasites don't know," a strange voice calls. Joe reacts instantly, sweeping my body around behind his, and brandishing his gigantic sword. A blinding flash of light illuminates the air before us, leaving Daniel and Aeriel behind as it fades back to nothing. Both warriors have weapons drawn and at the ready.

All four of us face a rock formation housing a small outcropping of trees amongst it. A quick look around and I realize we're about halfway up the mountain and the trail had widened about a hundred yards back. We haven't encountered so much as an insect in the few hours we've been walking.

And as if my life isn't strange enough, a sickly pale guy, who looks about my age, saunters out from behind the straggly trees and offers us a bright smile. The first thing I notice is that his clothes are worn, ragged and very dusty. The next? He's flashing canines longer than my pinky finger.

"What the -?"

Aeriel shoots me a sharp glare over her shoulder. "Vampire," she breathes. "Don't look him in the eye."

"Too late," he and I say in perfect unison.

Author's note: I'm so sorry for the hiatus, personal things and all that jazz. But I hope this revelation has made up for it?

First the world as we know it ends and zombies take over. Then Angel's and demons start fighting over a lost tree. Now vampires are joing the party! What's next? Werewolves? Faeries? The Loch Ness Monster?

Evolution has taken its next step. Where does that leave us humans?