The Contractors

Prologue

Unknown POV

I ran down the hall, the lights flickering for a moment before cutting out. Even though I couldn't see I still knew where I was going. Pretty much everyone who worked here had memorized the entire building layout in two months or less. Finding the room I was looking for I quickly slipped inside, shutting the door and locking it. I walked to the back of the room and pressed a notch that was hidden slightly behind the bookcase. The wall slid to the left revealing a metal wall with two scanners; one for your eyes and one for your hand. After the wall shut behind me, I let out a sigh of relief. Today has been a looong day and I still had work to do. Once the computer had established a secure connection I typed in a message.

Subject: F9- Code Red

I pulled the mike from beside the pc towards me, and after taking a deep breath began speaking.

"Today is Saturday October 7th 3045. This is my final report for the Axium Project. In short, it was not successful. The facility is currently under Code Red protocols. By the time I finish this report it will be Code Black. I don't know where we went wrong. We followed every rule we knew, or rather, thought to be true. It's disappointing that the last ten years of research have proved futile. I must include a warning with this report. Whatever happens the Axium Project must never be revived. It....... disasterous......conseq.... If...... c...ful... deal ... will die ."

The computer suddenly shut down as the building rattled. I guess someone activated Code Black already. A team should be here soon to gather us all up and get us out of here. I decided to wait in this room since it was safer than going out there. When I heard the planes half an hour later I thought it was time to go. But when I tried to open the door it beeped and said access denied. That shouldn't be possible, unless someone from the main building locked me out. Except, that would mean all doors with a scanner are locked, which in turn means I couldn't get out of the building at all and no one could get in either. The main building is where our bosses work and where all our reports go to... I realized the truth when the explosions started. They were going to destroy this building and everyone in it.

They never intended for us to walk away alive.

SIX MONTHS LATER

Kelsie's POV

It was early April and had been raining on and off all day. March and April were when we got a lot of thunderstorms and today was no exception. My younger brother Lucas, who is ten, and I were playing catch inside our family's barn after school. He plays baseball at his school so I help him practice at home and catch is how we warm up.

"Is it just me or does the thunder sound louder now?" Lucas asked. Throwing the ball to him I replied, "The storm is probably just closer now than it was earlier. It's no biggie." He nodded. I knew why he was nervous. Lately a lot of weird things had been happening and people around the world were freaking out. Europe and China had gone dark, no one could get into those countries, they were currently on lockdown and no one could get in touch with people living there. Not even the government could be reached. A high pitched screeching suddenly sounded, covering the noise of thunder and caused us to drop to our knees and cover our ears. If you've ever heard nails scratched on a chalkboard you'd have an idea of what we heard, it was that bad. When the sound faded a couple minutes later, we cautiously lowered our hands. We started to head back to the house when our father ran up to us holding a couple jackets. He tossed one to both of us as he spoke.

"Come on! We're leaving right now!" His voice was calm but urgent, face slightly pale. Following him we ran to the car, our mom already inside and her face white as a sheet. The back of the car had our emergency suitcases and a couple boxes filled with canned food and utensils. As soon as we shut the doors our dad pressed the gas pedal, the car jerking forward onto the road.

"What's going on?" I asked. Mom simply shook her head and checked different radio stations. The only sound that came through was static.

"We can't say what's going on because we don't really know," dad started. "All we know is that a government broadcast over all the radio and tv stations played. The message instructed people to head to specific air bases and sea ports. But it cut out while explaining the situation, so we didn't get all of it. Just that there's a threat to our safety."

"Sources suggest this may be what caused Europe and China's silence." We all jumped at the sound coming from the radio as none of us were expecting it. Mom quickly adjusted the volume. "It's not just the US.... South America... under attack... warning came too late..."

The radio became staticky, only a few words coming through before it cut out completely. Our parents exchanged a look and I knew this was serious. My brother and I were scared but we ended up falling asleep on each others shoulders. Waking up I saw just a short half hour had passed and Lucas was already awake. The sky had gotten significantly darker and it started to rain again. But unlike earlier it wasn't light rain. It was pouring down, reducing visibility to just a few feet ahead of the car. Fifteen minutes later everything around us took on a reddish hue, like blood.

"Umm, what's that?" Lucas asked. He was turned around in his seat looking out the back of the car. I turned and saw something I knew was possible but had never seen in person, red lightning. Even the clouds were red, like how they might appear in the evening as the sun sets, but a little darker. It would have been a pretty sight to stop and admire if our lives weren't in danger. Whatever was falling from the red clouds could take us out if we got hit. They looked like balls of fire, maybe meteors. Dad pressed the gas pedal harder, but our car wasn't fast enough. We couldn't outrun the fireballs falling from the red clouds.

"Honey look out!" mom yelled. Our dad swerved the car but it was too late.

BOOM!!!

The car flew to the side and rolled, stopping upside down. We all blacked out for at least a couple of hours, because the next thing I noticed, it was getting dark. I groaned, my head now pounding like a jackhammer. My father's hands pulled me from the car to the side of the road.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"My head hurts but I'll be okay." I replied but in truth I felt a little dizzy. I must have hit my head pretty hard. Together we pulled out the suitcases and boxes out of the back of the car so dad could find scissors or his pocket knife. Both my brother's and mother's seatbelts were jammed so we couldn't get them out. He had me take our stuff to the woods. We'd be traveling on foot now and the woods would provide us with some cover. When I came back for the last bag he spoke up.

"Stay hidden in the woods over there. I'll be right behind you after I get your mother and brother out. It'll take several minutes since the blade on this pocket knife is dull. So you need to be patient." he said.

"But..," I tried to protest before he cut me off.

"Just go!" He hugged me then pulled back to look me in the eyes. "No matter what don't come back. Wait for us in the woods. We'll be there soon. I just need to know you're safe. Okay? Now promise me!" I shook my head, hesitating.

"Promise me!" he said again.

"I promise," I whispered. Running to the edge of the woods I paused, my head spinning. I couldn't keep standing and dropped to my knees and threw up. I knew immediately that was a bad sign, I most likely had a concussion. Glancing back, I saw my dad pulling my brother from the car and even from this distance I could tell he was unconscious from his limp body. Right then, one of those fireballs hit the car and there was an explosion. The blast forced me flat on the ground, the heat rolling my direction in waves. Shakily getting to my feet I stared at the crater where the car had been. When another fireball struck the ground further away it snapped me back to reality. I quickly headed back through the woods to the cave where our stuff was, right next to a river. When I fell asleep that night huddled alone near the entrance of the cave, just one thought echoed through my mind.

They were gone.