Unlocked: A Collection of Short Stories

The Astronomer's Tragedy Trip

The Astronomer's Tragedy Trip

The world was surprisingly in better shape than Rickell Kendricks. 20,000 years into the future and the world hadn't a harm over it's pretty little head.

Except for what was Upstate New York. That was the only place that looked puturied in comparison to the rest of the well-developed world. Ravage and desolation filled empty streets and the distant sounds of gunfire and war cries knocked on deadbolted doors from time to time. Machinery and the sight of the future were being used in the fight that should've been over decades ago.

Yet as the astronomer held her ground against the mindless, soulless machines that raged across the battlefield, she was more concerned with her well being than the rest of the world. She didn't have much time left. If she wanted to remain alive, she needed to stop this once and for all.

She couldn't just walk through the field hands in the air in surrender. Bullets and arrows galore would kill her instantly. The...things on the other side, they held no mercy against her. They were barely human at most, and barely monsters at least. But they knew her intentions. She'd discovered them after all.

All of this was her doing, and in her research she never would have thought to have to put 'cause of the world's imminent death' under skills in her resume.

Rickell Kendricks, if you step out now, no one else has to get hurt. The leader's voice echoed in her mind as the ricochet of gunfire smacked against the stone walls that seperate her and the people that wished to end her life.

If I step out, they'll kill me. She retorted over the gunfire, machine guns still blaring. Her's was jammed, and the bullet that was stuck in her leg wasn't making her feel any better towards surrendering herself to the galaxy's most feared enemies. The blood wasn't spilling out like it was when her hands first grazed the wound, instead it was oozing out slowly, nothing but a bad sign that she could bleed out any second.

Am I the only one you're talking to?

Rickell's lips were sealed but her mind active as she fidgeted with the gun, aching for it to work. Never would she have been able to imagine that she could learn how to talk to people without having to talk to them verbally. Mental telepathy now being a common norm for her, she leans her head against the stone wall as she hears the words of one of the soldiers fighting against her.

One she knows all too well.

Yes.

Raphael...

I swear it. I wouldn't lie to you Rickell. Seemingly there were a lot of things he kept from her. Lying wasn't something new for him. She'd trusted him well enough to let him into her world, teach him her ways, the ways of humans. She trusted him enough that when the rest of his people came she thought she could change them, bond with them.

Oh but how wrong she was.

I don't believe you. You've destroyed this place. My people, my home. Your people won't stop until they've conquered every stretch of land-

'Your people'? Rickell didn't want to give him the satisfaction of levelling the playing field.

Tell those angels to stand down. Raphael if there's any trust I have left in you, you can stop this. Rickell pleaded, her tears hidden from him. She knew he couldn't see the pain but he sure as hell could feel it. Her body was slowly giving up on her, and as her hands graced her leg, her vision blurred.

You're hurt.

Only...only barely. Her thoughts were scrambling. She was sure she'd give into shock anytime soon.

Rickell. This was a moment that would stand the true test of time. Would Rickell really bet her trust on an angel who'd crashed into her world just to rip it away from her?

When she could hear his wings flutter through the grey skies, the dust clearing at his feet as he made a hard landing against the gravel before her, she knew her bets were placed in the right hands.

Do not leave me. I won't allow it. 

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