Location: North America, Earth 9-A
Country: United States
Synopsis: More or less the same as our own Earth, cataloged as Earth 1. However, in this universe, there is one especially significant difference: scientists have discovered that a meteor the size of a small country has fallen out of its regular orbit, and is on a direct collision course with Earth. By all estimates, the planet and all forms of life on it will be destroyed by the impact. According to the local astronomers, the collision will occur about three hours from the time of this entry. The populous is, to say the least, not taking it well.
Addendum by Ty:
In an effort to help the people here, as well as our own planet back home, I’ve started ferrying people through the portal to Utopia. Those people lucky enough to get out will be some of the first citizens of Esperanza, our urban development project just south of the Citadel. Unfortunately, the Scyphozoan can’t carry many people, and I’m running out of power. Right now, there’s only enough left in the tank for one final trip home. After that, the ship will need to charge before it can move again. In other words, this rescue trip will be the last of its kind before I have to leave this doomed planet and its people for good.
And I made the fatal mistake of telling them that.
“Please, take me with you!”
“This isn’t fair! You’ve gotta help us!”
“Everyone, I’m sorry!” Ty held up his hands, trying to calm the crowd of people. He sat in the pilot’s seat of the cockpit, along with some nine people whose names he didn’t even know. The ship was surrounded on all sides by countless more desperate, panicking people who wanted nothing more than to live. It tore his heart out to see this, but he knew there was nothing more he could do to help them.
“You can’t just leave us here to die!” a voice yelled from the crowd.
“Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. The ship is already completely full. I can’t let anyone else in.”
“So we’ll pile in on top of each other. Please, I can’t stay here!”
“That won’t work. If we try to add any more weight, the ship won’t even be able to take off, and then we’ll all be dead.”
Someone started banging on the hull of the ship. “Let me in, dammit! I don’t want to die here!”
Ty tried feebly to quiet everyone down. “I know, I’m sorry, but I can’t-”
“Let us in!”
“You can’t leave us here to die! I’ve got a family!” The man pointed at one of the guys in the ship. “He hasn’t even got anyone! Leave him behind; save someone who matters!”
“Hey, who says I don’t matter?” the guy yelled back out.
“Look, I’m not playing favorites here,” Ty said, “so just stop it! I’m sorry, I can’t help anyone else.”
“You selfish bastard! You can’t do this!”
“Let us in!”
More and more people started banging on the sides of the ship. The crowd was growing louder by the second, and Ty was quickly losing his nerve. At the front of the ship, an older guy with a thick beard started climbing up into the cockpit.
“Hey!” Ty yelled. “Get off of there!”
“You can’t do this!” the guy hollered in a raspy voice. “It’s murder, you hear?!”
The guy threw an awkward punch at Ty, who ducked out of the way.
“Stop that! Back off, you psycho!” Ty yelled back.
“If you leave me behind, you’re committing murder! You hear me! Murder!!”
“I’ve already done all I can! I can’t help you!”
Ty’s voice was drowned out by the roar of the crowd. More people started climbing up the sides, trying to pull existing passengers out of the ship. All the while, the guy at the front kept screaming at Ty’s face.
“Murder! It’s murder!!”
BANG!
A single gunshot cut through the air. Instantly, the crowd went silent. The man at the front of the ship looked shocked, clutching a bleeding hole in his chest. He coughed and fell backward, landing headfirst on the pavement and dying instantly. Ty sat frozen in his seat, still holding the smoking revolver in his hand.
“Now, that,” he said slowly, his voice breaking slightly, “was murder. See the difference?”
He looked around wildly at the people surrounding the ship. He suddenly swung around and pointed his gun at the others that had been climbing into the ship.
“Back off!” he yelled. “Everyone, get back! Back!”
The crowd slowly did as they were told. The area around the ship cleared, and Ty had room enough to lift off. He quickly started the engine, looking around at all the people left behind. He had a million thoughts racing through his mind, but as the cockpit began to close, he could only get one thing out.
“...I’m sorry.” His hand was shaking, and he could barely hold back the urge to burst into tears. “I’m so sorry.”
The ship closed, and lifted off, leaving the planet behind for good. Ty and the refugees rode in total silence. For most of the flight back to the Citadel, and for sometime in his room afterward, Ty sat staring at his right hand; the one he’d used to shoot a man in cold blood. Even after he dropped the gun, he couldn’t seem to make his hand stop shaking.
Ty’s wandering mind was brought back to the present by the hundreds of moans growing louder below him. The creatures moved even more slowly on the stairs, but they tirelessly climbed up toward him, their chilling moans echoing throughout the building. Ty steadied his enormous gun against his hip, its six barrels pointing at the nearest moaning body. His left hand gripped the side handle tightly. With his right, he pulled the trigger and kept it held down. The rotor inside the gun roared to life, and the barrels began spinning faster and faster. Ty smirked.
“And here comes my favorite part.” Ty braced himself as the gun fired a torrent of bullets into the oncoming horde. The nearest undead body was shredded almost instantly. The body fell backward down the stairs, quickly followed by others behind it. Ty kept the stream of ammunition flying, forcing the undead back. He adjusted his aim and knocked two right over the railing, then reduced the railing itself to splinters.
Satisfied for now, Ty released the trigger, and the gun ceased. Immediately, the creatures started up the stairs again. Ty got out his last grenade, pulled the pin and tossed it down the steps. The grenade landed right at the feet of a teenage boy, who completely ignored it and kept climbing forward. The explosion destroyed more of the staircase and sent the closest few bodies flying in all directions. The teenage boy was flung forward up the stairs. Ty staggered back a few steps, as the guy landed just a couple feet in front of him. At least, half of the guy landed in front of him. His legs had been blown completely off. Ty stared down at the creature in disbelief. It was still feebly crawling toward him, moaning deeply.
“...I don’t know what you want from me,” Ty said, “but I can’t help you.”
He shifted the gun around, holding the heavy butt end in front of him. As he stared down at the young man struggling and reaching for him in vain, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. At that moment, Ty felt like he was back on Earth 9-A all over again. The pitiful creature sprawled out in front of him used to be a person. That person was doomed to death; there was nothing Ty could do to change that. And yet, there he was, clambering toward Ty, arms outstretched as though begging for his help.
“...I’m sorry.” Ty raised up the gun and dropped it like a sledgehammer, crushing the creature’s head flat with a sickening crunch. Its moans ceased and it stopped crawling, but even then, its fingertips kept reaching forward.
Ty sighed and picked up his gun. Down below, he could see the remaining undead were already at work again. They started piling up the bodies of their disabled brethren at the base of where the first floor stairs were. Ty turned and started further up the staircase, up to the top floor.
“Somehow, I always knew I’d be going to hell.” Reaching the next landing, he turned back to the horde. “I just didn’t think it would be so soon.”
He sat down on the top step, setting the gun down gently beside him. He looked at his watch.
“20 minutes to go. And I’ve got... about 45 seconds of ammo left.” Ty rolled his eyes. “Sounds like the fat lady is warming up.”
The Scyphozoan emerged again from the portal above the Citadel. Deejay made another hasty landing on the roof and popped the cockpit open.
“Alright, everybody out,” he said. “We gotta move fast. I’ll explain everything when I get back.”
“Mom! Dad!” a little voice yelled from nearby.
Lou’s eyes lit up. “Joey! Hey!”
One of the boys ran up to meet the adults, followed by the rest of the kids. Lou jumped out of the ship and gave him a big hug.
“Aw, I missed you, buddy,” he said as his wife ran over to join them.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” she half-cried.
“I’m fine,” Joey said with a smile.
“Thank God, we’re all together again...” Lou looked around the group as the other kids reunited with their parents. “Wait... where’s Steven?”
Joey just sheepishly pointed up. Lou looked up just in time to see Malus swooping down from above. He landed nearby with a small boy, presumably Steven, who was laughing merrily.
“Who the-?”
“That’d be Malus,” Deejay said. “Half-brother. He lives here with me and Ty.”
The survivors stared in disbelief as the kids ran over to him.
“Can I go next?” a little girl asked.
“No, it’s my turn!” shouted another kid impatiently.
“You’ve already gone twice,” Malus said. “Let her go first.”
“Hey, man,” Deejay said with a friendly smile and a wave. “How’s it going? Seems like the kids like you.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Malus said, giving him a dirty look. “I’m only doing this because I had to. They wouldn’t stop crying otherwise.”
Malus picked up the girl and took off again, flying straight up and circling overhead.
“Okay, looks like you guys are in good hands,” Deejay said. “I gotta get going. Peace.”
Deejay closed the cockpit and flew the ship back up through the portal, leaving a group of very confused survivors below. After several seconds of dumbfounded silence, Tony spoke up from the back of the group.
“Uh... is that a bat-guy flying around giving the kids rides?”
“Yeah,” Carl said, hardly believing it himself.
“...Okay. Just making sure.”
Back at the hotel, Ty emptied the last of the Maxi-gun’s ammunition into the approaching horde, forcing them back. With no bullets left, Ty released the trigger, and the gun’s barrels slowed to a stop. He took the gun’s strap off his shoulder and looked sadly at it.
“Sorry, Maxi, but it’s you or me at this point.”
Ty waited several long seconds as the horde recovered and drew closer. When he felt they were close enough, Ty hurled the massive weapon forward, hitting the closest undead square in the chest and sending him flying back into the others, knocking scores more of them down in succession like dominoes.
As grim as the situation was, a small part of Ty’s mind couldn’t help but be amused as the undead tumbled backward down the stairs. He thought for a moment that his impending death must be driving him insane, but decided that was unlikely. After all, he’d always found humor in watching people fall down flights of stairs.
“Hmm? What’s that?” Ty put a hand to his ear. “Why, that sounds like the fat lady singing. Wouldn’t you say, guys?”
The undead clambered back to their feet and started shambling up the stairs toward Ty again. Their echoing groans made it obvious that they weren’t going to stop anytime soon. Ty reached in his pocket and pulled out the spherical thing Deejay had given him earlier. He saw a simple white button set in one side. He held the object like a baseball, with his thumb over the button.
“God, I hope this works.”
Ty kissed the thing for luck, depressed the button and threw it down the stairs. He ducked into a nearby room and covered his ears, not wanting to see or hear what happened next. Almost immediately, there was a horrible noise from the hallway, like an amplifier exploding. Ty felt it more than heard it. The sound shook through his whole body. There was a cracking sound, and the entire room suddenly shuddered and lurched to one side. Ty lost his footing and fell, sliding into the wall.
“Ah, shit! Shit!”
Ty couldn’t even hear his own voice over the crashing and crumbling. It sounded like the building was coming down around him. Ty scrambled across the floor to the doorway, bracing himself against the door frame. He vaguely remembered hearing something about that a long time ago in some emergency preparation class. In the event of an earthquake, if you can’t get to a basement, stand in a doorway. Clutching desperately to the wall, Ty started to wonder if the bathroom would’ve been safer, but didn’t have time to finish his thought. He felt a sudden blunt impact on the back of his head. His vision went blurry for a second, and then everything went black.
(the end)
(just kidding; to be continued)
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