Countdown

"Don't believe dad…"

What? But he just said…

"I know what he said!"

I was silent for a while before he continued…

"But he isn't in this world when it all happened so you have to trust me. And he isn't in this world for now… well at least not yet."

Shouldn't I trust dad? What will I do now? And what do you mean by him not being here yet?

"I can't reveal too much since it'll turn you into an abnormal Paradox instead of a harmless one."

What in the world is this guy talking about?

"Listen, I'm not telling you not to trust dad. He had a part to play in this. But you have to believe me when I say that you can't go to New York yet."

Why? Dad told me to find the next clue there.

"I know… but New York is on the other side of the Country. It would take you about 6 months before you get there. And you shouldn't be heading there until the third year. Otherwise, if you become impatient and rush things, this will cause a sudden change in the timeline."

What do I care? I just need to know!

"You should care… Because if you don't… you'll speed up the timeline and allow mid-grade decays to exist earlier than they should have. I know what you're thinking… I'm the future you. This is your future if you rush things. Do you want to get everyone killed?"

This is crazy… I don't want this… What should I do?

"Calm down… Just don't go to Queens next year… Wait for one more year. Listen carefully, here's what you need to do. After a year in the apocalypse, something big will happen that will destroy the town…"

What will happen? What's gonna destroy the town?

"Don't panic and wait for two of your comrades to come save you…"

You still didn't answer my question…And which comrade? Who will save us?

"Use the modified jet to escape. It's found under the tennis court. The switch is at the power supply box inside the tool shed near the court…"

You're not listening to me anymore… What Jet are you talking about?

"When you get out of the mansion using the Jet, let the auto-pilot do its job and type 'Alaska Emergency House'. When you get there, stay there for 6 months to train and find other clues. There are other places that we can find clues, New York is just one of them. Don't worry about the zombies because as you know the lower grade zombies can't move in the cold while the fast type zombies become slower."

I then calmed down and decided to listen to what he says. I have to memorize every detail.

When will I go to the apartment in New York then?

"After you master half of your abilities, fly over to our rest house in Florida, there's another clue there in the vault behind one of the paintings."

That old house had something hidden in it? Dad was really a mysterious person.

"Then head to our villa in Charles Mound, Illinois, the weather there will be in the negatives which is a good to avoid zombies. The villa might be small but if you open the top most drawer of dad's old desk there's a switch to a 50 acre bunker with 5 levels underneath. Make that as your base of operations. After the second year is over, head for New York. But you have to be fast. Take as few people as possible when heading to New York. After that, head back to base."

He really planned it out. Is this the effect of jumping twenty times? This must have been carefully strategized.

"Whatever you find in New York, just remember that you are you… And whatever you do after that is up to you. I can't tell you what to do next since I made a series of mistakes afterwards."

He looked really sad. I must have gone through a lot to get there. Whatever's there in Queens must be really important.

"Dwayne, take care of your flock… you need them as much as they need you."

I will…

Just then an explosion occurred behind the background devouring him in smoke.

[End of Transmission]

I took of the helmet and looked at everyone.

They had expressions of concern all over their face.

"Are you alright?" Lovely asked while as she places her hand on my shoulder.

"I've been better, but I feel… enlightened. Thanks for asking." I said while holding her hand.

We all went upstairs and continued the preparations for two days. No one asked what I saw during the Jump. They just went and did everything without asking me. That meant a lot to me. But I will tell them what I saw only when I'm ready.

_________

It was now 6PM and there were only 4 hours left before the Moon dies. Everyone was now having their last dinner where you won't have to fight for food to survive, as well as to always be on guard while eating.

Everyone was quiet and the room had a gloomy mood to it. I get that. This was the last time I'll be living a life as a student. The next time I wake up, I'll be a fighter willing to kill to survive.

"AAAAAAAH! I can't take this anymore!" Yan said loudly.

Everyone was out of their dazes and was now focused on Yan.

"Why is everyone so down?! We should be happy?!" Yan exclaimed.

"What's there to be happy about?" Ken asked.

"Well, as early as now, we have a clue to what we're going to do." Yan explained.

Everyone was still not convinced.

"Why does it matter? We're going to forget it anyway." Lovely said.

"Then why don't we just record the plan on the helmet and put the instruction on the wall to remember it?" George asked

I immediately lifted my head in surprise. And I saw everyone did the same. There was hope in their eyes now. We were all thinking of the same thing. That was a brilliant idea!

"That's genius George!" The twins excitedly shouted while slamming their hands on the table.

Everybody was now smiling. Finally the atmosphere has changed! We then separated into two groups: The people who will paint the instructions in the rooms, and the other half would head to the hidden lab to record a message. I was with the group that was in charge of painting the instruction. After each of the group was done with their task, we then swapped with the team who was recording the message and started to record our message.

1 HOUR LEFT…

We were now at the back at the dining hall to finish our meal and just have a good time. We were now sure that in this timeline, we had the ability to change our fate. And that was what we were holding on to.

"Alright! 30 minutes 'til the apocalypse starts. Let's head out to our rooms and prepare for it. Our battle suits and our weapons are already inside our rooms. Jerome has prepared it for us. If you have nothing more to prepare, or if you don't have any more questions, let's begin." I said in a serious voice.

Nobody said anything. All of them had their game face on. That assured me that we were now ready to face hell on earth.

"Good… See you in hell." I said that with a smirk on my face.

Everyone then hurried to their rooms. I on the other hand remained on the dining room.

"Master Dwayne? Shouldn't you be preparing by now?" Jerome asked me as he walked in the hall.

"I'm just worried that I'd fail them and let them die... Again…" I said in a worried tone

"Master Dwayne, the things that will happen will not be your fault. We all made our choice to follow you. And if anything happens, we are happy that we get to follow someone like you." He said while putting his hand on my shoulder.

I was now relieved. Jerome really did have a huge part to play in putting my head back in the game.

I then ran to my room and started putting on my armor. The armor was jet black with dark blue linings. It was composed of three parts: The head gear, Body armor, and leg armor. The head gear was a simple leather mask that covered the lower part of my face. This also covered the entire head except for the upper part leaving my hair exposed. This might be made of leather but it was completely bullet-proof. The other pieces of the suit covered my entire body and legs with two layers of armor.

The first layer was made of stretchable leather invented by Porter Tech, one of my father's tech industries. The material would never wear or tear. It had a weird ability to dry off in just 5 seconds after being wet. When it was torn, it would self-regenerate. And the best thing about it is that it was cold-proof, fire-proof and bullet-proof. Basically, it was almost indestructible!

The second layer was the armor itself. It was made of metal that was discovered by Porter Mining Industries in one of the ruins of Russia. It was built to automatically stick to the first layer after it was put on. So after putting it on, the parts of the breastplate floated and stuck to my body. The armor pads also stuck to my arm. And the lower armor did the same.

I then grabbed my long sword, a katana that was made out of the same metal as my suit. I found this on my father's lab with my name on it. It also had a message saying, "for the first month only". I understood right away that this was only capable of handling the first wave of zombies during the first month of the apocalypse. I strapped it on my back and grabbed the next weapon, which was an M14 gun. It was not advisable yet to deal with fast-paced zombies with melee weapons on the first month since our abilities didn't manifest yet. Hence, the gun. I then sat on the ground waiting for it to start.

30 SECONDS LEFT…

I focused on my breathing and meditated. I then put on my coms which connected me to everyone.

"This is it guys! Endure the pain and don't get out of your rooms."

"Roger that!"

I could hear the tenacity in their voices. I could feel the killing-intent through the radio.

The twenty-first jump.

Let's make this our last!

10 seconds left… 9 seconds… 8 seconds…

A bright light could be seen outside. I could now feel it coming…

7…

6…

5…

The light was now brighter than ever…

4…

3…

"I have my first order for everyone…"

2…

"Copy…" Everyone answered.

1…

"Live…"

__________________________END OF CHAPTER________________________________