Zion

She was almost to safety. Amelia was running as fast as she could. She was so close. Liam anxiously stood on the other side of the fence, his hand stretched through the breach. The Predator roared behind her. She reached out, ready for Liam to grab her and pull her through the opening. The Predator’s claws stretched out to kill her. Her hand seized Liam’s, their eyes locked, then a sudden scream, and she was gone.

Liam shot up, breathing in big gulps of air, his body was covered in a cold sweat. He could still feel his wife’s soft hand touching his before she was ripped away. Tears welled up in his eyes, she was so close.

Leaving his bed, Liam walked down the stairs, the sun high in the sky. The house was creaky. The floor was uneven. The place was old. After a few miles, they had found this abandoned farm. It had only been a week since Amelia’s passing and their escape. Carefully, Liam examined how much food was left, and decided if he only ate one meal every other day, they could last another two weeks. They had not brought much when they escaped: food, a gun, a signal broadcaster for his daily SOS calls, a mini tv, and some bear traps for security. He sat down in his chair and flipped on the tv. Immediately the screen lit up, showing images of happy families while a narrator urged people to join the Miracle by finding and living in a Colony.

Liam scoffed. It was all a lie. In the colonies, his family received a sparse box of food each month. Liam remembered the fear of not being able to make the food last the month, and quickly shook off the feeling. Abruptly Liam heard a small cough and turned to see his daughter staring at him.

“Star, you know you can’t be down here.” Liam uttered as he picked up the toddler. He carried her upstairs.

“Daddy, I’m bored.”

“Go play with your sister then, I'm busy.”

Liam then turned and walked back down into the basement. Star walked down the halls of the eerie house and into Ava’s room who was sitting in the corner reading.

“Ava, will you play with me?”

Ava looked up from her book and into her little sister’s eyes and sighed.

“Ok.”

Although Ava was much too old for it, the two began playing with dolls. Ava was the doctor, and Star was the patient.

As Ava gave the doll a sling made from a yellow cloth, Star curiously asked, “Ava, where did you learn that?”

“Mom.” Ava said quickly.

“I miss mom.”

Ava bit her lip, suppressing tears. Suddenly, they heard yelling from the kitchen.

“Stay here.” Ava said as she hurried out the room.

When Ava entered the kitchen she found her father and brother shouting at each other.

“There was nothing I could have done! It was too late!”

“No it wasn’t! It was never too late you could’ve saved her! She was your wife! But you got scared, you coward! It’s your fault she’s dead!”

Without warning, Liam hit Ezra, knocking him back. Ezra’s eyes welled up with tears. Instantly, Liam’s face was filled with regret and shame. Ezra angrily grabbed a fork and threw it at him before rushing out of the house. Quickly Ava ran after him.

“It’s his fault. Mom could’ve been saved.” Ezra mumbled under the tears. His face was still red from the hit. Ava caught up to him and blocked him from walking any further.

“Ezra, what are you doing, it’s dangerous out there.”

“Get out of my way.” Ezra pushed past her and continued walking towards the forest. Ava grabbed his arm, which he quickly pulled out of her grasp and began running away.

“Just leave me alone!”

When Ava returned to the house, her father had once again locked himself in the basement.

_________________

Night came, and Ezra had still not returned. Liam left the basement, prepared to confront his son, only he couldn’t find him. He rushed throughout the house calling his name but received no response. He barged into Ava’s room and grabbed her by the shoulders.

“Ava, where’s Ezra?”

A look of fear spread over Ava’s face.

“What? He’s not back yet?”

“Ava! What direction did he go?”

Tears began falling down her cheeks as she pointed out the front door. Liam bolted down the hall. Bursting out the front door, he raced forwards at full speed.

“Ezra! Ezra!”

Liam sped into a thick wood, “Ezra! Where are you!?”

Finally, he spotted him, bleeding badly and curled up by a tree. Liam ran to him.

“Ezra, talk to me, oh please say something.”

Ezra’s eyes fluttered open, his face tense in pain, “Dad, dad help me.”

“It’s ok, I’m gonna get you home.”

Swiftly, Liam picked him up and shot out of the forest at full speed. He blasted through the front door and quickly laid Ezra on a table, examining his wounds.

“Ava! Bring your mother’s medical bag.”

Ava rushed down the hall as Ezra wailed in pain, “My head! Something’s in my head!”

Scanning his head, Liam made a disturbing discovery. A sharp piece of metal was protruding from the back of his son’s skull. Ava sprinted back into the kitchen and laid the box of supplies on the table, rapidly opening it.

“Ava, mom taught you how to remove foreign objects right?”

“What? Yes, but-” Ava’s eyes caught the piece of metal, “Oh no, dad I can’t-”

“Ava, we need to get this out of him before…”

Then, Liam heard that small cough again and spun around. Star’s face was full of terror.

“Daddy, there’s a monster outside.”

Liam’s face went pale, they had come for them. Immediately, he grabbed Star and ran her down into the basement.

“My sweet girl, I need you to stay down here. Don’t make a sound, Ava and Ezra will be joining you soon. OK?”

Tears filled her eyes. Liam tightly hugged her.

“Star, I love you so much. I love you, don’t you ever forget that.”

Snatching his gun, Liam sped up the stairs, closing the basement door behind him.

“Ava, Star is in the basement. Once you are done, I need you to go down and hide, OK?”

“Done? Dad, I can’t do this alone! I don’t have the right supplies, I don’t know how to-”

“Ava, you have to try! Please, do it quickly and quietly.”

Suddenly, a bone chilling roar rang out.

“Was that- it can’t be...”

“It is. The Predator is coming for us. I have to go, I need to lead it to the traps.”

“No! Dad, don’t leave me-

“You can do this. I’ve got to try. You will be ok.

Liam tightly embraced her.

“I love you.” He said, then he rushed out the door. Ava took a deep shaky breath as fear and panic fought to overwhelm her. She began searching through the medical supplies and quickly found the small vial of Lidocaine. She hooked it to the syringe and injected it into her brother’s bloodstream. Ezra’s eyes began to flutter, as his mind drifted out of consciousness. It was working. Ava grabbed her medical knife and took a deep breath.

“One, two, three.” Ava began carving at the flesh. Blood slowly oozed from each incision. After just a few minutes, she could clearly see the entirety of the intrusion embedded in her brother’s skull. At the end of the metal rod, dug deep into the flesh, was a heart-shaped, golden object, almost like a piece of jewelry.

“What? What is this…?” A chill ran down her spine. Finding her tweezers, she carefully examined the odd piece to discover small hinges, almost like those on a locket. Curiously and delicately, she opened the unique object to discover a message inside:

Love, The Miracle.

Terrible dread and fear swelled up inside of her. Flashbacks of her days in the colony overwhelmed her. Instantly, a red light began flashing from inside the locket, and a ticking sound commenced. It was a bomb.

________________________

Rushing out of the house, Liam cocked his gun and searched the darkness. Eighty feet away the Predator stood, it’s jaws hanging open, it’s white scales glowing, it’s eyes darting around frantically before landing on Liam. It let out another piercing roar and charged towards him. Liam lifted his gun, aimed the muzzle, and pulled the trigger. Immediately after the bullets left the gun he dived to the left and began running away from the house. The bullets sunk into the Predator’s shoulder, just wounding it. Angrily it continued chasing him. Liam ran as fast as his legs could carry him, it wasn’t much farther. He just had to get it to the trap. Then, he could kill it.

___________________

Ava felt lightheaded as anxiety overwhelmed her. She felt hopeless, not knowing what step to take next. Suddenly, her brother let out a groan. His eyes twitched. The lidocain was wearing off. In just a minute or two, Ezra was going to be in so much pain, it might kill him. In that moment, Ava set aside all her fear and doubt and focused on what she had to do, remove the bomb. Instinctively, she continued to carefully cut away the flesh surrounding the locket bomb, and was almost finished when Ezra’s eyes shot open. His expression was full of discomfort. Then, the full shock of pain hit him, and he let out a bone shattering scream.

________________

Liam could see it, the trap was just up ahead. The Predator was getting closer, he knew he couldn’t outrun it much longer. His legs were becoming weaker, his lungs screamed for air.

“Just a little farther, just a little farther.”

He jumped past the bear trap and turned, the Predator was almost there. Suddenly, Ezra’s horrific scream rang out. The Predator stopped and turned towards the house and hissed. Quickly Liam grabbed his gun, it was so close to the trap it just had to come a little closer. He speedily aimed his gun and shot the beast right in the side, regaining its attention. It roared at him and charged. It reached out to murder him, then the snap went off, and a blood-curdling cry sounded. Blood gushed from the Predators leg. The bear trap had worked. Liam cocked his gun and prepared to fire again when the monster suddenly lunged forwards and sunk it’s claw into his chest. Liam gasped for air. The Predator crawled up to him, it’s jaws opened wide. Struggling to breath, and frantic to escape, Liam began seeing visions of Amelia. With his teeth gritted, Liam pointed his gun, and shoved the muzzle down the beast's throat. Taking his last breath, he pulled the trigger.

___________________

Ezra was unconscious. The operation was almost complete, the bomb was ready to be removed. Carefully Ava extracted the bomb. She gasped in relief, but then the ticking became faster. Without hesitation Ava turned and threw the bomb as hard as she could out the window. It exploded. The light was blinding. Ava found herself lying on the floor, her ears ringing. Quickly, she got to her feet and began wrapping gauze around Ezra’s head. She couldn’t move him by herself. She needed her dad.

Suddenly, the front door opened. People rushed in. Ava grabbed the scalpel. The Miracle had found them.

A man in camo sped into the kitchen, Ava screamed.

“Two in here! Bring the medics!” He called, then he addressed Ava, “Who else is in the house?”

“No! No, we’re not going back!”

The man lowered his gun and pointed to a badge on his chest, “We’re with The United. We received your signal. We’re here to rescue you, now, who else is in the house?”

Reluctantly she replied, “One’s in the basement, the other’s outside. Where are you taking us?”

“Zion.”