Deliver Us: Ouroboros Archives Book One Read online

  A History of the World – Entry 12.12.2225

  Africa, Asia, and Australia have all been decimated. The Euro Alliance—aka the West—is being blamed. A biochemical weapon was deployed three months ago, killing every living thing on those continents and now Europeans are getting sick. Seventy-five percent of their population has perished. Blowback from the agent? Nobody knows.

  Political upheaval has disappeared overnight—there is no one left to fight. The world is in a state of confusion with only one goal: survival. How did this happen? Seventy-five years of war, so many cultures decimated, was the opinion of each side that the rest had to be eliminated?

  In the course of a few weeks, the world population plummeted from twelve billion people to just over one billion. Fear has gripped the people of the North and South. They must act to ensure that this new world continues to function. Factories and farms remain open. But the world as we know it is over. This is the apocalypse.

  “Lulu, what are you reading?”

  Lourdes jumped at the sound of the small voice that crept up behind her, and she gently closed the notebook. “It’s a very old history book and someday it will be yours.” Lourdes opened the pages and let Liv trace the blue writing with her index finger. “This is the only copy, it’s very special.” And in a whisper she said, “There is much for you to learn.”

  Chapter 8

  THREE NIGHTS PASSED before Jeremiah visited my room again. It was late, but I was awake as usual. Even barefoot, his heavy footsteps could be heard crossing the common area. I couldn’t see his face, but knew he was standing in the doorway trying to figure out if I was awake.

  I propped myself up on my elbows. “Come in.”

  We sat in the same positions on my bed as before. I was leaning against the wall at the head of the metal bed with knees propped up and held in close with my arms. Jeremiah in the middle, sitting up straight some of the time and then leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at the ground. We sat in silence for several minutes. I didn’t want to say anything in case he was gathering his thoughts and had something to tell me. So I waited.

  “Six months ago, I moved to the coast just north of your home. You may have heard of the sickness that invaded our villages last year. Hundreds of people died, and my family decided to move or risk being victims of the horrible disease. My entire village moved.”

  “You were part of that group. All the kids in my village wondered if a bunch of new kids would start coming to school.” We rarely saw the people from that village, only a few adults would come and do business in our area.

  “Yeah. I missed home, but no one was sick anymore. Our elders concluded that the virus finally migrated across the Atlantic.”

  “I’m sorry you had to leave your home.”

  He shrugged. “We adjusted quickly, and this new land became home. Then six weeks ago I was out on our boat, the waves were calm. I especially remember the fish, there were so many, I thought my boat might sink if I took too many in. But winter would be closing in on us soon, and we could use all the fish we could net.

  “Suddenly people were screaming on the beach, it was like nothing I had ever heard. The village was in chaos and aircraft were hovering above. I turned the boat toward the shore and scanned the land, searching for my family as I sped to the beach. The boat crashed up onto the sand and halted. I ducked and tried to lay low.”

  Jeremiah was speaking in a monotone whisper with little emotion. Every few minutes, he would shift his eyes to mine as if he were confirming that I was still there or to gauge my expression, I wasn’t sure which.

  He continued in the same low tone. “These people, beings, they looked human, but not. They wore strange clothes and carried guns. I’ve been everywhere on the North and South continents, I’ve never seen anyone like them.

  “They were shouting, ordering everyone to get on their knees. Some grabbed small children and took them to the aircraft. Others gathered the older children and women. Then the strong males callously executed the village men. I watched as my father was shot in the chest. He’d done as they asked—knelt helplessly with his hands up, shaking his head from side to side. I could tell he was saying, ‘Please don’t hurt us, take what you want, there is no need for violence.’ The monster didn’t care; he just lifted his gun and pulled the trigger.

  “My brother was standing next to him, he let out a blood curdling scream and dropped next to my father. I wanted to bolt toward him, but I was no match for these freaks. The man walked away like nothing had happened and then a woman approached my distraught brother. She bent down and pointed to one of the ships. I think she was telling him to go with her. He shook his head and when she touched him to get him to go, he resisted. The more she tried, the more he flailed. I whispered, ‘Just go with her, please, just go with her.’ I was terrified she’d hurt him. He stood and screamed, and two large men ran over to them. They picked Jacob up by the arms and carried him to a ship.”

  I sat up straight and hugged my knees tighter. I wanted to hug Jeremiah, my heart ached for what he’d gone through.

  “They left as quickly as they had arrived. More than two hundred men and women lay dead on the beach. I lifted my head but stayed in the boat and searched everywhere for my mother. I couldn’t find her. I hoped she was hiding somewhere good. By then I could take in more of the scene. There were five dark-gray aircraft in total. Three were large and two were smaller, but all of them had the same five-sided shape, like a pentagon, but with the two front sides elongated. The large ones were where the children were placed. They lifted off, hovered low in the sky, and flew east. The other two headed south. When they were gone, I crept out of the boat and ran to my father, hoping that he was still alive. He wasn’t. I didn’t have time to think or weep, I had to see if anyone else was alive. I went into my house; my mother wasn’t there. I searched every other house and finally realized I was all alone. I hid for two days, then I was captured. You know the rest.”

  Jeremiah’s story was a lot to take in, and it was the first I’d heard of anyone’s experience. It was nothing like mine. I didn’t even know our villages were being invaded. We sat in silence for a long time. I replayed his story in my mind and tried to imagine the events as if they had happened in my own village.

  He was looking at me, maybe waiting for me to say something, to respond after he had just bared his soul probably for the first time since it occurred. It was my turn.

  “I didn’t see anything. I didn’t even know there was an invasion, and that people were murdered and taken until I found myself here with all of you. It was in the middle of the night, I think, well after we had gone to bed. I woke to a noise. I thought it was my brother; he sometimes crawls into my bed. He’s only seven. I waited for him, but he didn’t come in, so I turned to look out the window.

  “I remember the moon; it was full and low. I remember thinking it was so bright that it lit up the entire village. I thought about getting up and going outside, but my bed was so warm as the cool breeze blew through the window. Instead, I let the crashing waves lull me to sleep. Until I felt something on my neck, I turned quickly, and saw a large figure. Then I passed out. They drugged me. I woke up here, in that cold cell. I thought I was the only one.” I paused for a minute. “I guess that means my parents are dead too.”

  Jeremiah shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

  As if he might have all the answers, I asked, “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know.”

  We spent another three hours talking about happier times, our families, where we have traveled. I thought about telling him about my grandmother and her visions but decided to hold those stories for another day.

  For the next few weeks, we continued our ritual of talking late into the night. I felt bad that Sarah wasn’t participating, but I liked my time alone with him and changed my mind anytime I thought of inviting her. Plus, she didn’t want to talk about anything that might be prohibited anyway.
r />   It was like I had known Jeremiah for years, not just weeks. We connected on a level that I’d never connected on before with another person, except for Zeke. My friends were few, and in our world that is the norm since there aren’t very many people. We had a lot in common, but so does almost every other person on this planet. We mostly work in fishing, farming, textiles, and electronics. In our free time we travel and explore. There’s little else to do, except study of course, which takes up the majority of our childhood anyway.

  One night Jeremiah blurted, “So I guess this is our life, training to be soldiers for some unknown war.”

  What was he talking about? Training? Soldiers? I haven’t seen anything so far that would even lead me to think of those things.

  I guess my expression screamed confusion because he asked, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “I’m just not sure what you’re talking about.”

  “Um, the fact that we spend each day training,” he said as if the answer was obvious.

  “What kind of training?” I ventured.

  “What do you mean, ‘what kind of training?’ What are you doing every day when you leave here in the morning?”

  “I work in a lab assembling microchips.” Now he had the stunned look on his face. “And the lab next to mine mixes chemicals all day.” I paused for a moment and asked, “What kind of training are you doing?”

  “Weapons mostly. But we work out and lift weights too.”

  “What kind of weapons?”

  “High tech stuff, almost futuristic. Laser guns, electromagnetic spears, but also knives, and bows and arrows. We spend a lot of time with hand-to-hand combat, martial arts, and using ancient weapons you only read about, but never thought existed.”

  “This is so bizarre. I mean, what could you possibly be training for?”

  “And what could you be making microchips for? Or the others you mentioned, what are they making with chemicals?”

  “Well, honestly, I thought we were slave labor, making electronics for the masses of this strange race. The chemicals I couldn’t figure out either, but I thought of the recent plagues and maybe they are manufacturing a cure or something.”

  He stifles a laugh. “Nah, I think it’s war. I think these beings, whoever they are, human or not, are planning on taking over the world, and everything that is going on in the Underworld has to do with a plan bigger than we can even imagine.”

  I nodded in agreement, but then shook my head back and forth. “But who are we fighting? This planet doesn’t even have a population large enough to warrant any type of war. Wars are ancient history.”

  “Like I said, it’s bigger than we can imagine.”

  Chapter 9

  SOLDIER. I hate how he says it, in a condescending tone. Like he’s talking to the lowest form on Earth. Maybe he thinks he is, I am the one lying face down on the ground after all, dirt rising into my nose and mouth with every breath.

  I don’t know much about soldiers, that hasn’t been a profession in hundreds of years. But I know what they are; our ancestors were obsessed with real war, and with making movies about it, they couldn’t get enough. And, soldiers were revered, no matter what side you were on. So, what’s with this guy’s attitude?

  “Soldier, did you hear me? Get your ass off the ground!”

  Technically my ass is not on the ground, but I’m not going to argue. I get on my hands and knees, ready to push myself up when the hard sole of his boot slams down on my back. My stomach hits the ground. I can’t breathe, but I remain calm. If I’m calm, my breath will come back, and I won’t give him the satisfaction of watching me suffer.

  I’m not sure how I got here or what I’m supposed to be doing. After the invasion I headed south to the larger village in 32–117, surely there’d be people there who I could trust. I never made it. One night I was sleeping under a cliff on the beach and was awakened by two white-headed men who told me to go with them. When I asked why, they said it was by order of the New Alliance. I didn’t even try to fight back, I’d seen how they murdered anyone who resisted.

  For days they held me in a private room, took several vials of blood, and loaded me with shots that they said were vitamins. Hours were spent testing my physical strength and mental aptitude. On the last day before being moved to my permanent quarters, they told me what this was all about.

  “You are now a soldier for the New Alliance.”

  “What are you talking about?” I’d heard of the Euro Alliance, one of the four sides of the Final Revolution, but that was ancient history.

  “We will ask the questions. You will speak only when spoken to.”

  “I’m not a soldier, I’ve never even held a gun.”

  “You will be trained.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Who are you fighting?”

  He kicked the leg of my chair sending it into the wall behind me. “I shall think you will be proud to be one of us.”

  Then they walked me to the concrete and metal cell block with several rooms occupied by other kids.

  On the first day of training, I was picked up at the door with two other boys who were a few years younger than me. The man was tall, muscular, and wore a tight black uniform. He looked like the rest of the invaders: light skin, long white hair that clumped into heavy locks, long faces with angled chins, and sharp noses. Isaiah whispered, “They look like ghosts.”

  As we walked down the cold corridor, the guard gathered more teenagers from other cell blocks and led us to a large warehouse. At the entrance there were tables that served as check-in points for the weapons that lined the long wall. It was guarded by five or six Ghosts. The rest of the warehouse was split into several areas. At the far left was a replica of a modern-day village, but the houses were made of brick instead of bamboo. To the far right was a forest interspersed with large rocks and thick brush. The forest was surrounded by narrow ditches and deep fox holes. Directly to our left were wood and stone statues that were clearly being used as targets because many had holes blown through them. To the right, nearest to the entrance, was an obstacle course, the kind with tall structures for climbing, objects to jump, and ropes to walk.

  The first few weeks were spent on rigorous physical training. We spent hours running laps, lifting boulders, and doing exercises like pushups, sit-ups, lunges, and squats before completing several rounds on the obstacle course. They trained us on old-fashioned automatic rifles, first handling the weapon, practicing safety, and then shooting at various targets. They eventually moved us to the high-powered electronic guns, similar to the weapons they kept at their sides, but in varying sizes. We were trained to use other weapons too, primarily spears, knives, and axes.

  It was several weeks later that we started simulated combat in the fake village and forest. We took turns playing the part of the other side, identified by wearing a white uniform instead of black. I couldn’t imagine that this was anything like a real battle, but we got good at handling our weapons, anticipating movements, and strategizing to defeat the enemy.

  The Ghosts must’ve determined we were ready for the next step once we could eliminate our targets within minutes, but it was easy since we had memorized the landscape. The final training sessions were in an empty room that transformed into a virtual, computerized city. The buildings and the enemies were simulated holograms and the fighting was more intense, especially since the people we were fighting didn’t look like our own teammates playing the other side.

  The day came when we were put into true combat. They hadn’t warned us that we wouldn’t be doing our regular training, but my heart started beating a little faster when they walked us down a different corridor and filed us into a hangar with six giant aircraft. The second we stepped inside every person gasped.

  The guards were shouting for us to put on our combat uniforms, which were hanging to the left and organized alphabetically by last name. Down the line, they issued each soldier their weapons and loaded us onto the aircraft. Seats were lined in rows
of ten and at least a hundred people could fit on one craft. Once everyone was seated, one of the Ghost officers stood at the front and began explaining our mission.

  “You will be dropped in a city identical to the one in your simulations. But this is real. This is what you have been training for. The Vehlik are talented, ruthless opponents, but the New Alliance soldiers are stronger. You are stronger.”

  His cold pep talk fell flat. Every boy and girl on my ship looked wide-eyed and terrified.

  The trip was short, maybe twenty minutes. Before arriving at the drop-off point, the same officer said, “Stay with your unit and follow your commander’s instructions.” Then other guards passed out electronic bracelets with screens that would show the location of the enemy soldiers in our vicinity.

  There were ten of us to a unit, including our Ghost commander. We later learned that twenty units with two hundred troops were dropped into battle that day. Chaos ensued as commanders shouted orders and sent soldiers chasing after the enemy. When one was found, the soldiers would freeze, paralyzed at the sight of their opponent. Tall and muscular, they had large heads and broad features, all with black hair cropped close to their heads. They were giants that towered over both my human counterparts and the Ghosts. The oddest thing about them was their metal headbands, and we soon learned that they gave them a huge advantage over us. Whatever electronics were in them, they were able to detect us before we even came close.

  This enemy killed without hesitation—fifty percent of our team lay scattered on the ground, and we barely touched them. The slaughter threw me back to the destruction of my village. I was small and innocent, like my brother.