Beyond Earth

Rebirth

Then I climbed the stairs one final time. The steel hatch slammed shut behind me.

My eyes snapped open. I sucked in a ragged breath, instinctively grabbing my chest.

Pain. I was certain I should have felt unbearable pain.

Instead, there was nothing.

Confused, I looked down, slowly pulled apart my blood-soaked shirt. The stab wound was gone. All that remained was a thin silver scar surrounded by dried blood.

I stared at it in disbelief. "I... How am I alive?"

The memories came rushing back. Kara. Blake. William. Sheldon.

My heart sank. I slowly lifted my head. The bunker was exactly as I'd left it. Their bodies still lay scattered across the concrete floor. The silence was suffocating.

For several seconds I simply stood there, unable to move. Then I walked toward Sheldon. He looked peaceful, as though he had simply fallen asleep.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Carefully, I lifted his body onto my back, climbed the staircase. The moment I pushed open the hatch, I froze.

The forest was gone. Everything had burned. Towering trees had been reduced to blackened skeletons, the ground buried beneath a thick blanket of ash. Smoke drifted lazily through the air while the sky above had turned a deep crimson, staining the entire world blood red.

It was impossible to tell whether it was sunrise, sunset, or the middle of the day. The sky never changed.

I slowly laid Sheldon on the ash-covered ground. My eyes wandered across the ruined landscape. "Is this... really the end of humanity?"

I wanted to bury them. All of them. They deserved that much. I searched the area, hoping to find a shovel, anything. There was nothing. Only ash. Burned trees. Silence.

After several minutes, I accepted the truth. I couldn't bury them. The bunker would have to become their tomb.

With a heavy heart, I carried Sheldon back underground, gently laid him beside Blake, William, Kara. For a long time, I simply stood there looking at them. Then I quietly closed the door to their room.

The bathroom mirror reflected someone I barely recognized. Dried blood across my face, dirt caked into my skin, a thin blond beard beginning to grow along my jaw.

I turned on the shower. The water washed away the blood, the ash, the sweat, it couldn't wash away the memories.

When I finished, I shaved my beard, ran the clippers through my blond hair until only a neat buzz cut remained. The timid young man who had entered the bunker yesterday was gone.

I dressed in one of Sheldon's clean shirts, a pair of his jeans. They fit surprisingly well.

Before leaving, my eyes fell upon the strange black weapon I had dropped the night before. The weapon the alien had offered me. After a moment's hesitation, I picked it up.

I locked it with Sheldon's silver key, slipped the necklace over my own neck.

Rest well... All of you. I promise... I'll find the alien who did this. I'll kill him.

Without looking back, I walked into the burned forest. Ash crunched beneath every step. The blood-red sky cast an eerie glow over everything, making the entire world look drenched in crimson. There was no sun. No moon. No sense of time. Only endless red.

Hours later, I reached the highway. Or at least, what had once been a highway. The asphalt had split apart by massive earthquakes, leaving jagged cracks stretching for hundreds of feet. Entire sections of road had collapsed into the earth, forcing me to continue on foot.

I walked for what felt like forever before the remains of another town appeared on the horizon. It looked no better than New York. Buildings burned unchecked. Cars sat abandoned in the streets. Bodies lay everywhere. The smell of smoke mixed with death hung heavily in the air.

Then a terrified scream shattered the silence. I sprinted toward it.

Turning the corner of a nearby street, I spotted two Xaryth dragging a pair of young women from a black SUV. One of the girls struggled wildly while the other screamed for help.

Without slowing down, I raised the alien weapon. A white beam erupted from its barrel. The nearest Xaryth's head dissolved instantly into glowing particles, the body collapsing to the pavement. The second alien spun toward me, raised its own weapon, I fired again. The beam pierced straight through its chest. It staggered backward, collapsing beside its companion.

The street fell silent. The two women stared at me with wide, frightened eyes.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

Both nodded repeatedly. "Thank you," the blonde said, her voice trembling. "You saved us."

I gave a small nod. "It's over."

She studied me for a moment before asking, "Where are you headed?"

I glanced down the empty street, gave a faint smile. "I don't have a destination."

The brunette exchanged a glance with her friend before stepping forward. "Then come with us. Our grandparents own a mansion hidden between two fake suburban houses. From the outside it looks abandoned, but it's actually a safe shelter. The aliens haven't found it, our family and friends should all be there by now."

She smiled hopefully. "You'd be welcome."

For a moment, I almost accepted. Then memories flooded my mind. "We've got an underground bunker... you're welcome to come with us." "Then you've got somewhere to be now." Blake laughing. Sheldon smiling. Kara serving soup. Then... Their bodies lying lifeless on the bunker floor.

I forced another smile. "Thank you. But I'll only put you in danger. You should leave."

The girls looked disappointed but nodded. "Take care of yourself." "You too."

They climbed back into the SUV, drove away. I watched until they disappeared down the road. Then I turned around.

My body immediately tensed. Several Xaryth stood only a short distance ahead. More of them emerged from between the burning buildings until nearly a dozen had formed a loose circle around me.

I tightened my grip on the weapon. "If it's a fight you want... come and get it."

Instead of attacking, they parted. A taller Xaryth stepped forward from the center of the group, speaking calmly to the others in a language I couldn't understand. Then he looked directly at me. When he spoke again, it was in perfect English. "Aren't you the son of Avada?"

My eyes narrowed. He tilted his head. "You were stabbed with Xervix steel." His expression shifted from curiosity to disbelief. "How... are you still alive?"

The Xaryth's voice stirred something deep inside me. Then I remembered. He had been there. In the bunker. Standing beside the towering alien who had murdered Blake, William, Sheldon, Kara.

Rage consumed me. Without a word, I let the alien weapon slip from my hand. It clattered onto the broken pavement, I charged straight at them.

The nearest Xaryth barely had time to react before my fist crashed into its chest, sending it flying through the wall of a ruined building. The others opened fire instantly. White beams slammed into me from every direction. Each impact felt like being struck by a sledgehammer, forcing me backward, they couldn't stop me.

I roared, launched myself into the middle of them. One alien swung the butt of its weapon at my head. I caught its arm, twisted it aside, drove my elbow into its jaw, hurling it into another warrior. A second lunged at me with a glowing blade. I caught the strike with my forearm, ignored the pain, slammed my fist into its torso, dropping it instantly.

More beams struck my back. My clothes smoked where they hit, my body refused to give in. I fought like a man possessed. Every punch sent another Xaryth crashing across the street. Within moments, the battle was over. Bodies lay scattered across the shattered road. Only one remained standing. The one who had spoken to me.

He stared at me with disbelief, as though everything he thought he knew had just been shattered. I picked up one of the fallen alien weapons, pressed its glowing barrel against his forehead. "Tell me where your master is."

The Xaryth smiled. Then he laughed. "You humans are amusing. Your kind betrays one another for survival." His smile widened. "But we are not like you. We do not betray our own."

I held his gaze for a moment. Then I pulled the trigger. A flash of white light ended the conversation.

Silence returned. A deafening clap of thunder suddenly echoed across the ruined city. I looked up. Dark clouds had gathered beneath the blood-red sky. Moments later, rain began to fall. The first drops landed on my shirt. Smoke rose immediately. I stumbled back, the fabric hissing, dissolving against my skin. A burning sensation spread across my body, leaving my skin bright red wherever the rain touched.

"It... burns..."

The rain wasn't ordinary. It was acid. Around me, the ruined city began to dissolve. Rusted cars hissed, their paint peeling away. Broken street signs slowly melted. Glass cracked, dissolved, while scorched trees smoked beneath the relentless downpour. Even the asphalt bubbled in places as the corrosive rain continued to fall.

I pulled my ruined shirt over my head, sprinted through the empty streets. The acid rain chased me through what had once been New York City. Finally, I spotted the entrance to an old subway station. I rushed down the stairs two at a time until the rain was nothing more than a distant roar above me.

The underground tunnels were silent. Too silent. Bodies lay scattered along the platforms, abandoned where they had fallen days earlier. Time and the damp air had already begun to take their toll, the stale smell filling the station making my stomach churn.

I covered my nose, searched for somewhere to rest. At the end of the platform, I found a small restroom. It wasn't comfortable. But it was dry.

Exhaustion finally caught up with me. I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes... drifted into a deep sleep.

When I woke, the station was just as silent as before. I climbed back to the surface. The sky was still blood red. The acid rain had stopped, it had left the city in even worse condition than before. Buildings had partially collapsed, vehicles were little more than corroded shells, entire streets looked as though they had aged decades overnight.

For the next two days, I wandered through the ruins searching for survivors. I called out. Checked abandoned homes. Searched shelters and wrecked vehicles. Everywhere I looked, there was only silence. No voices. No answers.

By the third day, hunger had become impossible to ignore. As I walked through the devastated streets, I spotted the remains of a shopping mall. Its roof had partially collapsed, shattered glass covering the entrance. If there was any food left in the city, there was a chance I'd find it there.

Taking a steady breath, I stepped into the dark, ruined mall, began searching through the wreckage for anything still safe to eat. As I searched, a faint noise echoed from somewhere ahead.

I stopped. For a moment, hope flickered inside me. "Survivors..."

Maybe someone had managed to stay alive all this time. I tightened my grip on the alien weapon, cautiously followed the sound, stepping over broken tiles and collapsed shelves. The deeper I went, the quieter everything became.

Then I reached the source. It wasn't survivors.

Inside a game store that had somehow escaped most of the destruction, a group of Xaryth wandered between the shelves. Some examined game consoles while others picked up controllers and boxes, studying them with quiet curiosity as if trying to understand the people they had conquered.

The moment I appeared in the doorway, every one of them turned to look at me. The entire store fell silent. I was about to raise my weapon when my eyes locked onto one of them. My breathing stopped. Strapped to both of his knees were two long, broad black knives.

The sight of those blades sent a chill through my body. Flashbacks flooded my mind. Kara screaming my name. The cold blade piercing my chest. The alien whispering... "Then die with your precious humans... traitor."

It was him. The one who had murdered my friends. The Xaryth noticed the hatred in my eyes, slowly stepped away from the others. He walked through the shattered entrance of the store until he stood in the middle of the empty hallway, facing me. The rest of the aliens remained inside, watching silently.

A faint smile spread across his face. "I've heard interesting rumors about you. They told me you survived my attack." He looked me up and down. "I dismissed it as impossible." He tilted his head slightly. "But here you are." His white eyes narrowed with curiosity. "Tell me... How did you survive a Xervix blade?"

I stared at him without blinking. "I don't know." My grip tightened around the weapon. "And honestly... I don't care." I took a slow step toward him. "I'm here to kill you."

Instead of becoming angry, he laughed. It wasn't mocking. It sounded almost... excited. "So much hatred, good."

Without breaking eye contact, he reached down, drew the long black knife strapped to his right knee. The blade shimmered with a faint blue glow, he casually spun it between his fingers before flicking his wrist. The knife shot toward me. Almost on instinct, I caught it cleanly by the handle. He nodded in approval. "Good."

Then he unsheathed the second blade from his left knee, settled into a relaxed fighting stance. "Let's make this a fair fight."

Behind him, the remaining Xaryth quietly filed out of the game store. One by one, they spread out into a wide circle around us, lowering their weapons, watching in complete silence.

"So," Xervix said with a grin, "let's see if you're truly worthy of Avada's blood."

The moment the words left his mouth, he vanished. I barely raised my knife before his blade crashed against mine with enough force to send me skidding across the broken floor. He attacked relentlessly, every strike faster than the last. Sparks flew, our blades colliding again and again, the sound echoing through the ruined mall.

I fought back with everything I had, Xervix was far more experienced. He twisted beneath one of my swings, drove his shoulder into my chest, sending me crashing through the remains of a display shelf. Before I could recover, his knife flashed across my side. A sharp pain burned through my body, blood soaking my shirt.

I gritted my teeth, charged again. This time I managed to slash across his arm, forcing him to retreat a step. Blue blood stained the floor. He smiled. "Better."

Then he attacked even harder. His blade cut across my shoulder before spinning toward my ribs. I blocked one strike, couldn't stop the next. Pain exploded through my body, another wound opening, my knees almost giving way beneath me. Every breath became harder. Every movement slower. Xervix, meanwhile, looked as though he hadn't even begun trying.

He knocked my knife from my hand with a brutal strike. The weapon spun across the floor. Before I could reach it, his boot slammed into my stomach, launching me several feet backward. I hit the ground hard. Xervix calmly walked toward me, twirling his knife. "I expected more from Avada's son." He raised the blade over my head. "Your father would've been disappointed."

Something inside me snapped. With a roar, I surged forward instead of backward, grabbing his wrist before the knife could fall. We struggled for control, muscles straining, he tried to force the blade down. Slowly... painfully... I pushed it away. His confident smile faded.

Using every ounce of strength I had left, I drove my shoulder into him, knocking him off balance. His grip loosened for just a moment. That was enough. I snatched the fallen knife from the floor, before he could recover, drove it straight into his chest. His eyes widened. He staggered backward, staring at me in disbelief. "You..."

Without giving him another chance, I stepped forward, finished the fight. Xervix collapsed onto the cracked tiles without another word. Silence filled the mall.

Then I threw back my head, roared, "I AM THE SON OF AVADA!"

The remaining Xaryth froze. Several instinctively stepped backward, their large white eyes filled not with anger... But fear. I bent down, picked up Xervix's second knife, stood with a blade in each hand. For the first time, they looked uncertain. Then they attacked together.

The mall erupted into chaos, they rushed me from every direction. I met them head-on, my blades moving almost on instinct. Steel clashed repeatedly, I dodged, countered, forced them back. One after another, they fell until the last survivor turned to flee. He didn't make it far.

Minutes later, silence returned. The floor was littered with fallen Xaryth, blue blood covering my clothes, my hands, both knives.

Breathing heavily, I stumbled out of the destroyed mall. The adrenaline that had carried me through the battle finally faded. Every cut. Every stab. Every bruise. I felt all of it at once. My vision blurred. My legs gave out beneath me. I collapsed onto the ruined street.

...

I don't know how long I was unconscious. When my eyes finally opened, everything was hazy. Several figures in military uniforms stood around me, their voices distant, almost dreamlike. One of them sounded exactly like Sheldon. "How are we supposed to transport him?" he asked nervously. "Isn't he the most dangerous one?"

Another voice... Kara's voice. "Oh, come on. Don't be a coward. Just shoot him and let's get out of here."

My heart stopped. They were alive? I forced my eyes open wider. "Sheldon... Kara..."

One of the soldiers jumped in surprise, immediately swung the butt of his AK-47 into my head. Pain exploded across my skull. The illusion shattered instantly. Those weren't my friends. The man only resembled Sheldon. The woman only sounded like Kara.

The woman glared at the soldier. "You moron!" Then she turned her rifle toward me. "He's waking up." She shot me in my neck, surprisingly everywhere became blurry, I collapsed again passing out completely.