One Last Chance

PROLOUGE

SATURDAY: 2:13 A.M.

Year: 3407

"Mommy! Wake up!"

Cherry was being dragged away by a guard with the government's seal on his jacket. His shiny gold name-tag read: Sergeant Atwood. she was screaming and crying, trying to get back to her mother. The frustrated guard picked her up, then threw her over his shoulder. Cherry kicked Atwood, hard. Distracted by the sudden pain in his groin, he quickly let the little girl go.

She ran towards her mother, who was locked in a large glass cage, then placed both hands on the thick, glass divider and stared at her mother.

She cried, "Mommy! Please, d-don't let them take me!"

Shelly looked towards the little girl and smiled. She was looking straight at her daughter, but she may as well not have even been there.

"Mommy? Wh-what's wrong?" She said mourningly.

Atwood had finally gotten himself together and slowly approached Cherry.

"Your mommy is gone sweetheart. Say goodbye," Atwood told her sullenly.

"She isn't gone...she's right there."

"Does that look like your mother to you?"

She looked back towards her mother and frowned. Shelly wasn't in the child's life enough to know the answer to that question. She didn't really know what her mother acted like outside of the hour she spent with her child every Sunday afternoon. When she opened her mouth to question Atwood, a loud blaring noise rang through the night. Red sirens started to light up the room. Snatched snatched her small hands from the window, and she quickly covered her ears. A young officer rushed into the dark, otherwise empty room.

"Sir, somethings happening, you must come quick!" the officer exclaimed.

As soon as Atwood opened his mouth to respond, Shelly started screaming at an excruciatingly loud pitch. The frequency of the scream was loud enough to start cracking the high fiber, military grade glass. Cherry stood frozen, staring at her mother in horror. Atwood spared the child a quick glance, then he snapped his attention to the young man.

"Get more officers in here. NOW!"

The man quickly ran out of the room to follow his orders. Atwood turned to Cherry and spoke softly to her.

"Let's go."

"I c-con't leave mommy," she cried.

"Listen to me, Cherry. Mommy and I spoke earlier. You want to know what she told me to tell you?"

The little girl looked doubtful but nodded.

"She told me that she loves you-"

Cherry smiled.

"She also said that she wants to protect you, and she can't do it right now. She wanted you to know that you are safe, and she's going to a better place."

Shelly started glowing under her skin and the temperature rose forty degrees, making it well over the two hundred range. She screamed again, this time it was longer and more pain filled. Cherry looked back at her mother with worry etched on her face.

"She also told me to give you this." Atwood pulled out a heart-shaped locket, then opened it. Inside there was a photo of the mother, Cherry, and Atwood, holding a cherry pie. The all had a huge smile on their faces. Atwood had a blue number one ribbon around his neck, while Cherry had cherry pie around her mouth. Cherry's teared up. Her mother was like an inferno now. Smoke was now rising from her skin and pieces of flesh were melting off.

Atwood picked her up and ran towards the exit, "This will keep you safe."

Atwood held out his hand, with the locket, for Cherry to take, but before they could could clasp hands, the glass broke and fire spilled everywhere.

"Cherry!"

Her name being roared, glass flying into her skin, and fire burning her face was the last thing Cherry heard before her head hit the concrete floor and cracked on impact.

~~~~~~~~~~~

TEN YEARS LATER

~~~~~~~~~~~

CHERRY

WEDNESDAY: 2:22 p.m.

Cherry stared into the mirror. She ran her hands over her smooth face and through her long golden brown locks. She smiled brightly, then immediately frowned.

"Cheranise! Come on," her friend Hugo called.

Cherry forcibly turned her head away from the mirror and ran downstairs. Her friends were spread out around the kitchen island looking at a large blueprint of a technical facility. She walked around to stand by her dearest friend Elliot.

"So, what's the plan?"

Elliot turned to look at her and smiled. Her heart did a small flutter and her cheeks turned red. Elliot was just as nice as he was fierce about those that he loved. He had long, wavy dark hair. A few freckles littered his nose and cheeks, along with a dimple on the left. Looking at his long, skinny, body Cherry didn't think anyone would find him intimidating, but they would be surprised.

"This will be difficult. Not only have almost all the nursing locations been destroyed, but most of the shifters have taken over the rest," Harlow stated.

Cherry rolled her eyes and looked over. Harlow was beautiful to Cherry. She had long, deep red hair. She was very smart, but it did get quite annoying. Especially when she pointed out the obvious.

Elliot snapped, "No shit, Harlow. We need to know how to avoid the shifters. We all know that they exist."

Hugo snorted, "There are a few locations left, actually."

"You mean like last time," Harlow questioned innocently.

If Cherry didn't know her as well as she did, she might almost believe that Harlow just had a slip of the tongue.

"I'm just stating something that no one has a solid plan for so far. It can't go like last time. We all lost too much."

The room got silent. They did all lose something, a price Cherry wasn't willing to pay again.

"I have a plan

All eyes turned to Cherry. "I know that we don't know exactly where the nursing locations are, but we can always ask."

No one said anything until Harlow broke the silence.

"You can't be serious."

"But I am.

"We can't do that. I mean come on Hu-what are you doing?"

Hugo walked towards the chair in the corner of the room.

"You don't have to do this-" Harlow started.

"Yes, he does. We're running out of options. The world, if that's what you want to call this shit, was always shit, but since the explosion, its becoming an unbearable pile of shit. We're running out of time to find the cure. We've lost a lot, we've learned a lot, but most importantly we've come too far to let them win. I refuse to do this again. Too watch you all die. I couldn't bear it. I'll take my own life before I have to feel that pain again."

Cherry stared at Elliot. She loved when she saw him passionate. She thought she might already be in love with him. Her heart shrank when she thought of them being together in that way. He knew too much...had seen into her soul. He knew her. Maybe she was in love.

~~~~~~~~~~

Elliot

WEDNESDAY 2:40 p.m.

Elliot knew Charenise loved him, and he loved her too. He loved her so much that he let her go on thinking there was something going on between him and Harlow. Harlow had told him to tell the truth for years, but he couldn't. Harlow didn't understand and neither did Hugo. Elliot sometimes wondered how Cherry never heard them fucking. They weren't very quiet. They have been going back and forth for fifteen minutes, and Elliot was getting fed up.

~~~~~~~~~~

HUGO

WEDNESDAY 2:40 P.M.

Hugo is a tall, dark, muscled man. His dark skin and long, curly hair wasn't the best thing about him. At least, that's what Harlow told him. The best thing about him was his lightning bolt birthmark. In his opinion, that wasn't the best or biggest aspect of himself. His girlfriend was standing in front of him arguing about him going into his second body and speaking to his ancestors for guidance.

Sometimes he would stay too long. Sometimes he wouldn't come back himself. He knew what he had to do. So he did it. He liked to keep it simple. He sat down, and closed his eyes.

"I'm doing it Harlow. Be quiet." Hugo shut his eyes and prayed to his closest friends.

~~~~~~~~~~

CHERRY

WEDNESDAY 3:10 P.M.

Some time later, a couple drinks, weapons, and food were packed, and they were off. This excursion was different. More...deadly. They wouldn't come back the same from this. She felt it in her gut.

~~~~~~~~~~

ELLIOT

Friday 9:31 P.M.

Elliot and Cherry were siting under the stars in the forest. Elliot stared at an oblivious women. They had hiked for days and they would arrive to their destination tomorrow.

Elliot turned towards Cherry. It was time for the truth.

"Cherry?" Elliot looked nervous, but he was determined.

~~~~~~~~~~

CHERRY

Friday 9:31 P.M.

"Cherry?"

Elliot was the only man to ever call her Cherry besides her father. She loved it.

"Yes, Elliot?"

Elliot leaned forward and kissed her softly.

"I love you," he whispered.

He kissed her again.

"I loved you too."

They made love under a shooting star.

SATURDAY 3:32 A.M

It was a trap. They knew they'd come. They made a grave mistake.

~~~~~~~~~~

HUGO

SATURDAY 3:41 A.M.

Hugo looked at Harlow who was fighting off a lizard like creature. He looked at the hive. It was infested, once an outsider taints it, both die. Hugo knew what he had to do.

Hugo ran into the hive.

"NO!" Harlow screamed in agony.

~~~~~~~~~~

HARLOW

SATURDAY 3:42 A.M.

Harlow feels everything right now.

She watched Hugo run into the hive to save her.

She broke.

~~~~~~~~~~

CHERRY

SATURDAY 3:43 A.M.

Cherry watched Hugo run into the hive to save Harlow. Then she watched Harlow change into...something mad.

She ran into the hive after him. Not long after, Cherry got bit too many times. She got knocked down onto the floor and hit her head. She saw Sergeant Atwood.

"Daddy?"

She closed her eyes and thought of her childhood locket. She had never been happier. She then bled out on the ground.

~~~~~~~~~

ELLIOT

SATURDAY 3:45 A.M.

He watched Cherry fall. He saw her lips move, so that gave him hope. Then the blood came, and he stopped fighting. He dropped his weapon and walked into the hive, ending his life.

~~~~~~~~~

EPILOUGE

SATURDAY 11:12 A.M.

YEAR 3502

A museum was built on the bodies of the Mighty Four. They became legends soon after their deaths. Word of what happened spread everywhere. A new world formed, and the story got more embellished over time. Only few remembered the gory details on that fateful day.

"So this is where the great battle of the Mighty Four. Four heroes sacrificed their life for one another. They put much of their blood into the hive at one time, and it couldn't heal fast enough. The hive shut down, and the survivors after the explosion came out of hiding. They walked into another realm that far more beautiful than the last." A tour guide said to a group of children.

"What's that?" A little girl, with a lightning bolt tattoo on her lower arm, pointed to a locket that was in a glass case.

"That is Cherry the forceful's necklace. Elliot courageous gave it to her as a present to remember her family," the tour guide said.

"My great great grandma told me that her dad gave her that necklace, right before her mama blew up in another room."

The entire class gasped and the teacher rushed to stop her.

"She also told me that her daddy really was the one behind the hive and he had her killed."

The tour guid looked uncomfortable until the teacher told her to be quiet and led her away.

"Alright then, let's go see how Hugo and Harlow led a massive group of lizard like monsters into the hive," the tour guide said nervously.

THE END.