chapter three: The slumber

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It was now morning, and Nicholas' lifeless body was lying down on a pile of broken concrete, while one of those rat creatures was licking his wounds. Surprisingly, wherever the rat's tongue touched, the wound would heal. This continued for a while as the rat finished licking and healing all of Nicholas' wounds. Suddenly, Nicholas gasped and sat up, breathing heavily. But as soon as he did, he noticed the rat and, without thinking, immediately kicked the rat away and stood up, ready for a bloody fight. Luckily, the rat ran away after being kicked.

"What the heck? What just happened? And where am I?" he thought, looking around. He found himself behind a building on a pile of broken concrete. "How did I even end up here? And why the hell was that creature licking my body?" Nicholas thought, totally confused. Something even more confusing had happened to him: a creature was licking his body. Naturally, beasts were heartless; they would never see a dead person, even an alive one lying on the ground helpless, not moving, and leave them be without ripping off a limb or two. All of this was confusing for Nicholas, but nevertheless, he decided to get out of the area to avoid those beasts.

Looking up at the sky, the sun was a few hours away from the black rift in the sky. "I better get out of here. At least I have about two hours before the sun goes behind the rift," Nicholas thought and proceeded to leave the area.

After an hour of moving cautiously, hiding in the collapsed buildings, and taking longer routes to avoid beasts, Nicholas arrived at the building he lived in. He entered the building, checked it a few times to make sure that no beast had made it their home while he was away, and moved to the corner where his bed—that composed of a few straps of old clothes with a slab of concrete beneath—and laid down in it. His mind was still wondering what he had been doing on a pile of concrete.

"I wonder what Michael's up to..." Nicholas didn't finish the sentence as a brain-splitting headache hit him. It seemed like Michael's name was some kind of trigger because as soon as Nicholas said it, a flood of memories entered his head. He began to remember all that had happened the night before. When the rush had stopped, Nicholas sat up on his bed with his hands on his head and tears in his eyes while muttering, "Why? Why? Why, Don? Michael, why? What did I ever do to any of you?" He was devastated, reliving all the pain and agony he had gone through. Then, gradually, Nicholas' sadness turned to anger. "Don, what did I ever do to you? Why have you chosen to make me miserable?" "What?! Tell me?! Tell me what I have done!" "I swear, Don, I won't forgive you. I will make sure that you die a horrible death!" Nicholas screamed with anger and hate.

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**Arax City,** a place full of beasts, pain, and death. It was a horrible place to be, but the same could not be said for those living at the center. Those living at the center had it all: a good life, secure homes, not needing to fight to survive. They even had a proper dome protecting the city, making it look like a smaller version of the original Arax City.

In the mini-city, on the top floor of a very tall tower, a man and a woman were inside a square-shaped room with huge screens on three sides of the walls and a door on the last wall, with a weird-looking chair in the middle. Right now, the woman was sitting on the chair, which had projected a holographic image that she was looking at. The man was talking to another man on one of the screens.

"Sir, the beta ship has been lost. It seems like the space storm is too strong," the man on the screen said.

"No, Dennis, I don't think it's a space storm. I feel like we are being attacked or something doesn't want us to enter the rift. Nina, what do you think?" the other man said, turning to the woman on the chair.

"Tell me, Darryl, is it right to put the lives of our men at risk for the sake of an almost impossible mission?" she asked calmly without letting her eyes off the hologram.

"No, it isn't?"

"Then call the leader and tell him to stop the expedition," Nina said.

"I... I... You know I can't do that," Darryl said, with a look of horror.

"Well, the only way to stop this is to find a way to stop the slumber. Then you can stop the project," Nina stood up and left the room, but not before saying, "You know how the slumber messed up the human population ten years ago, and another one happened just two years ago, and you are here complaining about what? A few men? Just do your job." But if one were to see her face as she left the room, they would see tears welling up in her eyes.

"Well, you heard her. Keep sending them to their deaths and make sure to keep me updated," Darryl said with a downcast expression, then closed the transmission.

"Oh, Cage, where do you go? People need you."

In the same city, this time near the residential areas, a boy of about 15 years old was walking down the street on his way to his house. He walked for a few minutes before arriving at a modest two-story building that was identical to the rest in the area and went in.

"Mom, I'm home," the boy announced his presence as he moved to the living room. The room had a cream-colored couch at the center and two sofas on the right and left side of the couch. Directly in front of the couch was a center table, and just above that was a hovering glass panel that served as the TV. On the couch, a brown-haired man was sitting down and looking at the TV, which was showing a news channel.

"Oh, hey, Dad," the boy said, surprised.

"Why the look? Today's my day off," the man said with a smile, stood up, and gave his son a hug.

"Let's go see what your mother is up to, eh?"

"Okay," the boy said, smiling.

A few minutes later, the family had just finished eating, and the boy, Justin, was telling his parents the list of things he needed to do before going out with his parents.

"So, I have to do my homework and a few other things before we can go out, that is if you guys don't mind."

"No, honey, take as much time as you need. The sun will be blocked out by the rift in a few minutes anyway, and it will last for four hours, so take as much time as you need, okay?" his mother said.

"Okay, then I better get started," Justin said as he stood up from his chair, ready to leave. But then he suddenly fell to the ground. His mother immediately rushed over to check on him.

"Honey, are you okay?" she was now holding him up.

"Yeah, just that I suddenly feel dizzy and a little sleepy," he said, yawning. But when he said the word 'sleepy,' his mother and father's eyes met, worry and horror evident in them.

"Mom, are you okay? What happened?" Justin could tell something was wrong.

"Oh, nothing, honey. You know what, why don't you go to the living room and watch your favorite animes? Me and Dad have something to do."

"Okay, but what about my homework?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll do it later."

"Okay, thanks, Mom," Justin said with a yawn.

"And whatever you do, don't sleep, okay?"

"Okay."

Once Justin had left, his mother immediately broke down, sobbing, while her husband tried to console her.

"Why did the slumber have to affect him? Answer me, Prince, why?" she asked, grabbing her husband's shirt.

"It's terrible, I know, but there's nothing we can do," the man, Prince, was just trying to put up a brave front for his wife, but deep inside, his spirit was broken. He was crushed; this was their only child after 14 years of marriage.

After a few minutes of crying, they both stood up and went to the living room. Justin was still watching his anime, but one could tell that he was struggling to remain awake. Justin's mother went over to give him a hug, and his father followed suit.

"We love you, Justin," they said.

"Yeah *yawn* I love you guys too," he had dropped the tablet he was using.

"Mom, Dad, I feel very tired. Is something wrong with me? Is it the slumber?"

When he said that, his mother couldn't hold in her sorrow anymore and started sobbing softly.

"I knew it, but you guys shouldn't worry about me. I love you guys so much; you are the best parents one could *yawn* ever wish for. So even if I die, I won't ever forget you guys, *yawn* never," Justin said.

"Even if I go now *yawn* I know that I will still meet you and become your son again," Justin whispered the last part as he closed his eyes and fell asleep, and a while later, his body disintegrated into a flurry of white light.

"Justin, no, no, no, Justin!" His mother cried her eyes out, even her husband cried too. They had just lost their only child to the slumber.