Earth's End

You Got This

After what felt like several miles of aimless running in a general direction and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, we finally slowed to a stop. It felt like my heart was pumping blood through my body faster than my veins could handle. I gasped for air and collapsed under a tree. Alex and Kelly were catching their breath too, but they didn't seem to be nearly as winded as I was, considering they were still standing. One looked angry and about to snap, the other, slightly terrified as if he knew it was coming too.

"What the hell were you thinking? You could have not only gotten yourself killed but Izzy too! Do you not understand the importance of this mission??!! Do you not understand what is at stake?" Kelly ranted at Alex. He was waving his hands around in a way that made him seem like he didn't understand someone's stupidity. "Everything was just fine and completely under control until you guys decided you wanted to be a hero and save everyone possible. We have one job. It doesn't matter how many lives are sacrificed in order for us to carry it out."

It took me a couple of seconds to get the air to breathe again, but when I did, I stood my ground to him, "Ok, first of all, you shouldn't be yelling at him, I was the one who stayed behind to try and help you out, he just followed. Actually, he tried to make me leave you there, with a gun to your head. So, I guess that should make you happy. Second of all, I don't fucking care about our 'one' job if we come back with any fewer people. We've already lost your sister, and despite what you may think, it does matter how many we lives we come back with. If we have 'one' job we might as well do that one job right."

"You, Izzy, don't get to decide how we do are one job. You haven't been here long enough to decide that. And based on your recent actions, you won't be able to get that right for a very long time. I don't care if you are probably more powerful than all of us combined. The fact still stands that you clearly don't know what you're doing. Until that time comes, you will follow the orders given to you and not make stuff up as you go along. In order for this operation and potential future operations to work, we must work as a team, one cohesive unit. Because if we don't have that, we don't have anything. Do you understand me?" With every word, his patience seemed to be coming back and he waited for me to respond. I waited for a second, debating the pros and cons of his plan and if I could do what he asked of me, before nodding slowly. "Good. And what about you, Alex? Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." Alex replied quickly looking down at his feet. Sir? Why would Alex call him sir? They're best friends. Besides, I don't think Alex has ever shown that kind of respect to anyone, including his parents. And Kelly scared him enough to use the word 'sir'? What happened between them?

We rested for an additional five minutes, none of us saying a word to each other. After the five minutes were up, we followed Alex along a rocky path that went seemingly nowhere. But as the hours passed, I realized that the vegetation around us grew less dense. It was still dark, however. It was almost as if wherever we were in the world, it had fewer daylight hours. My internal body clock was telling me it was nearing five in the morning, but the sky wasn't getting any lighter.

After another hour of walking, I asked no one in particular, "So, what exactly are we looking for, again? That beam of light I was talking about, that guy Kelly doesn't like, or both?" Kelly stiffened but refused to answer my question. A few seconds of awkward silence passed before Alex hung back, realizing that Kelly wasn't going to answer.

"Kelly should be the one to respond, as he the one who's elected himself leader. But to answer your question, we are thinking that both of what you stated are in the same proximity of each other, so if we find one, we should be able to find the other. So, yes, we need to find both. What we don't know, however, is how we're going to be able to do this. We are relying on your powers to figure that out when the time is right."

"And if I don't figure that out when the time is right?" I ask, hesitantly. In my gut, I already knew the answer that he was going to give, but I still hoped that it wouldn't be true. We had to have a second chance, right?

"If you don't figure it out, then we're all screwed. The light will go out, and we'll either be trapped here, most likely for the rest of our lives, or, and this is the worst-case scenario, time rewrites itself, leaving the three of us out of it. That would mean that there would be no possibility for the ghosts to go to for another five centuries and there's barely enough room for them on their plane as it is right now. Which means that people might just stop dying, sending the world into chaos."

"Great, this doesn't stress me out at all. You know, you guys placing the lives of every single person ever born in my hands." I say sarcastically. He clapped me on the back and smiled broadly as if he was a proud dad.

"See, easy, right? You got this." He, then returned to Kelly's side where he whispered something in his ear, leaving me alone in the back once again. It wasn't long, though, before we reached an abandoned cabin, and after a thorough check of the inside, Kelly deemed it to be uninhabited by any dangerous creatures.

It was a small, two-room place and just about everything looked to be handmade of wood. We crammed together on the floor under the only blanket in the house, which Alex found folded neatly across the back of the couch. It was going to be a long day when we woke up again. Kelly believes we're not far from the spot and we should get there by what would be nightfall if it wasn't for the fact that the sun hasn't come up yet.

After only sleeping for a few hours earlier and walking for several hours, I was exhausted. It wasn't long before I felt the lovely feeling of unconsciousness creep over my drained body and take over.