Episode V: New Beginnings

Zella awoke with a fright, sitting straight up. Before focusing on her surroundings, she rubbed her eyes. She felt confused and struggled to remember what had happened before she slept. As she yawned and stretched, the memories came flooding back. A tear left her eye as she remembered seeing her dead husband's skeletal hand, and then she remembered the strangers.

Maybe it was all just a dream, she thought. A nightmare that she never wanted to have again, although she couldn't shake how surreal it was. The cobweb-filled room did not give her much hope.

As her senses came into full effect, she noticed that she was in the master bedroom; something that did not fit the previous evidence. She couldn't remember having gotten out of her cryopod and into the bed. She still had on her cryosuit, but she was now convinced that it wasn't a dream, and that, that meant the two strangers had brought her there.

She quickly quieted her mind, but there was an eerie silence which motivated her to want to investigate. She could only assume that they would still be here. She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled before getting out of bed, and this is when she noticed the disturbed cobwebs along the floor and by the door. It proved to her that two persons brought her in here.

She turned and reached under the pillow and felt around for her Glok 79 that her father had given her before going off to college. She soon flipped the pillow over only to discover that it was gone.

Anxiety quickly washed over her as she lightly gasped and nervously perused the room to find another weapon. The cobwebs still covered most of the surfaces, but she remembered that there was a letter opener that was modeled after a medieval longsword in the desk drawer. It wasn't very sharp, but it had a pointy tip.

Zella rushed over to the desk, but slowly opened the drawer. To her surprise, it wasn't very full of cobwebs. She grabbed the letter opener, and as she wiped it off, she briefly looked at the six-pointed star on the hilt before her eyes drifted to the picture in the drawer.

Her eyes immediately welled up as she knew what it looked like before picking it up and brushing it off. It was of her and Gregg on their moonwalk from their last vacation. A picture she had every intention of framing, but somehow had never gotten around to doing it.

She blinked her eyes several times and looked up to hold back the tears that wanted to flow. Her grief was trying to overwhelm her, but she had more pressing matters. She folded the picture and tucked it into the tight sleeve of her cryosuit.

While turning to face the door, she eyed the closet. She badly wanted to change, but at the same time, didn't want to waste any more time. She had to know if she was in danger or not. She was desperate to find more answers, such as, just how long she had been in stasis. More importantly, she had to know more about those strange beings.

As Zella neared the door, she took in a deep breath and held it while silently opening the door. She slowly let out her breath, peering into the hallway which ended at this room. It was quiet, but she could hear some faint talking that sounded like a child. It was too distorted from echoing to make out any words.

She suddenly questioned whether or not it would be safer to stay in the room, but her curiosity about the humanoid animals gave her the courage to press on. Other than aliens or genetic mutants, she couldn't fathom another explanation to rationalize their existence.

As Zella crept down the hallway, she considered the fact that they had had a chance to harm her and didn't. Even still, she wanted to be careful. It's possible that they were holding her for ransom. However, even if only fifty years had passed, there would be no one willing to pay it.

Peering around the corner, she could see the two strange beings holding their hands up and looking at something that was out of her view. She could see the whites around the outer edges of the eyes of the one that looked like a guinea pig. She had had a couple as pets and knew that this was a sign of fear.

She then heard the voice of the person at which they stared.

"I can't remember anything prior to waking up outside."

She did not recognize the voice, and as she peered further around the corner, she was surprised to see a naked man, mostly covered in a thick, brownish goo, holding Gregg's Holt .45. She couldn't control letting out an audible gasp. She saw the man whip the revolver in her direction as she ducked back around the corner. She silently chided herself for her lack of control.

"It's okay, Zella, we won't harm you," Jaiko said calmly.

The man quickly looked around and found a cowboy hat hanging on the wall. He grabbed it to cover his crotch before saying, "I'm putting the gun down. We mean you no harm."

Zella was concerned for a moment, not sure as to how they knew her name, but she figured that they must have investigated the cryostasis room. Knowing now that she wasn't in any danger, her emotions flooded her, causing her to sink to the floor and drop the letter opener. She immediately put her head in her hands and let the tears flow. She tried to keep the sobbing at bay, but she couldn't control its escalation.

The man turned to look at Jaiko and Gresh with a sympathetic, but confused look.

Jaiko saw this and explained to him that she had just learned that she had lost her husband before fainting.

The man's expression quickly changed to that of concern as he turned back to the hallway and began to walk that way.

"Wait," Jaiko said, and waited for the man to stop. "We should give her some space."

The man looked at him with a confused look as Jaiko began to explain her situation, filling him in on the details.

"You mean to tell me that she's a True Terran?"

[True Terran - Despite repopulating the planet a thousand years after the apocalypse, their population isn't as high as you might think. However, hybrids born of a Terran and non-Terran mating are increasing exponentially.]

"Exactly. From before the apocalypse like Xyphus himself."

This brought on a sudden flashback in the man's mind.

The man was sitting on an uncomfortable metal chair seated in front of a large metal table in a room with no windows except for the frosted glass on the top half of the door. He immediately remembered this moment. He was just eighteen, and was awaiting the results of his DNA test which would determine whether or not he is a True Terran.

He felt nervous and was chewing at the inside of his lower lip, when suddenly, a man in a dark suit quickly came into the room, letting the door shut on its own while he thrust a folder onto the table. The man's face had a very serious look, almost as though he was annoyed.

This raised his nerves and he sat forward to look at the folder, which no doubt had his results. Before looking back at the older gentleman, he caught a glimpse of the name on the tab: Gallagher, V.

The vision suddenly ended with a gasp from him, and his eyes went wide as he looked to Jaiko and Gresh. "I know my name... well, my last name."

Both Jaiko's and Gresh's face brightened as Jaiko asked, "Well, what is it?"

"Gallagher, and my first initial is, V."

"Hmm," Jaiko responded, putting a hand to his chin, "I feel like I know that name, but I can't remember why. Isn't that just so frustrating?"

"Hmph, no doubt." The man said, nodding his head. "Imagine feeling that way about everything you know you're supposed to know."

"Well," Zella began as she had stopped her crying and stood leaning against the corner of the hallway, arms folded. "It sounds like we both need to catch up."

The three looked her way, but all had a hard time seeing her. Her dark grey cryosuit hid all but her face in the darkness. Gallagher thought it looked like a mask floating in mid air.

"I imagine you're both very hungry. I'm assuming there's a cache of food somewhere in here, am I right?"

"Oh, yes," Zella replied. "There's literally a ton of food here in those crates."

Gresh wasted no time in going over to them to search for the food. Having found another bunker a few months back, he had become addicted to the freeze-dried meals. He loves how simple they are to prepare.

"As hungry as I am, I need to take a shower and find some clothes." He turned to Zella. "I hate to ask this, but do you think your late husband's clothes will fit me?"

Zella gave him a courteous smirk before replying, "You're a bit shorter than him, but I think so, yes. I'll show you where a shower is, too."

"Wait," Jaiko began, putting a hand out toward Gallagher, "You'll need to use a de-basing solution to get that off. Let me grab it for you."

Gallagher watched Jaiko as he skipped over to one of their bags. Along the way, Jaiko hopped and his body wriggled slightly while in the air. This made both Zella and Gallagher laugh.

"What was that?" he asked, still giggling.

"It's called a popcorn," Zella stated.

"When I get excited," Jaiko began, rummaging through a satchel, "I can't control myself."

"Why are you excited?" Gallagher asked more seriously.

"Well, I was really scared there for a moment, and now everything is copacetic, and now we've rescued two people. Ah, here it is."

Gallagher met up with him and thanked him before Jaiko explained how to use it. They all went their separate ways, as Jaiko went to the kitchen to begin boiling water, and Gresh continued to search for his favorite freeze-dried meal.

Please consider supporting my work at Ko-fi

Thank you so much for reading. Please like, comment, and share. I hope you have a wonderful day….[[|:-)