Age of Men Read online

reached for the door and opened it.

  The jet was nestled between cars and it was a short drop from the door to the rooftop of a car. Jack noticed the approaching doom again and jumped without a second thought. He shielded Timmy’s head as they tumbled onto the roof of the car and then slowly got to his feet as he glanced at the approaching ash-and-fog bank that devoured everything in its path and then he stared into the opposite direction – the cars were packed too tightly. There was no way that he could use one to get away – that’s why everyone simply started running for their lives.

  “Hang on!” Jack said.

  Jack started running in the direction everyone else was running with Timmy in his arms who looked back over his dad’s shoulder; watching as everything he knew burst into ash and disappeared behind them. Terrified, Timmy closed his eyes and buried his head in Jack’s collar. Jack struggled to keep his footing as he ran through the labyrinth of cars with the approaching nothingness gaining on them. Water from the ocean flooded into the abyss left behind as everything disintegrated into nothingness behind them. Some of the people, who weren’t as fast as Jack, vanished forever before they could even let out a single scream for help or gasp of terror.

  Jack climbed over the roadside border and ran across a field that stretched along the highway. He glanced back over his shoulder against his better judgment and gasped when he saw the nothingness was a mere few yards behind them.

  “Hang on!” Jack said, “Daddy’s got you! I won’t let anything happen to you!”

  As Jack ran, his eyes started tearing up. He was only then realizing the situation they were in. He no longer heard people screaming or sirens or any sounds. He had no idea whether anyone got away from the nothingness. He knew that there was nothing he could do to keep Timmy safe.

  They were approaching a small hill in the middle of the field. Jack had no idea where he was running to. All he knew was that he had to keep Timmy safe no matter what.

  When they reached the top of the hill Jack stopped in his tracks; as he stood on the hill he had a panoramic view of the world around him – the nothingness was approaching them from every direction… there was nowhere to go… nowhere to hide. There was nothing he could do. They would meet the same fate as everyone else in mere seconds.

  “I can’t protect you!” Jack cried gasping for air.

  He grasped Timmy tightly as the nothingness approached them. Jack kissed Timmy on the forehead just as the nothingness immersed the hill. Jack, Timmy and the hill degenerated into ash and disappeared.

   

  17

  Jack gasped for air and opened his eyes. He was still holding on tightly to Timmy… They were still alive and stood in a field with grass greener than he had ever seen. What happened? When the nothingness overpowered them he could feel his body tearing apart and every part of his soul disappearing, and yet he was still standing in the field.

  He looked at Timmy who looked up at Jack with fear in his eyes and smiled at him and ruffled his son’s hair… By some miracle they were alive.

  “We made it.” Jack said with a smile, “We’re alive.”

  Jack kissed Timmy on the forehead. He was relieved that his son was alive. He couldn’t imagine life without Timmy. He wasn’t sure how exactly they survived the nothingness, but he was relieved that they did.

  Jack glanced at the field around them – it was completely unfamiliar to him. The field was flat and there was no hill. What happened to the hill? The grass at his feet was lush and had millions of small yellow flowers scattered across the field that seemed to stretch on for ever.

  Jack felt his pockets for his phone, but couldn’t find it. He reckoned that he must have lost it when the ash cloud descended upon them on the highway and he ran for dear life.

  The field stretched out for miles in every direction. Where were they? Jack studied their surroundings and then looked up at the sky; the sky was a bright, deep blue with scattered pink clouds so light one could almost mistake it for white. Jack watched as a bird soared across the sky and then noticed that there were two suns in the sky; the larger sun was setting and stretched along the horizon for miles while the smaller one was at least one tenth the size of the larger one and was a few miles up higher in the sky.

  Two suns? Jack wondered astounded. Where are we?

  His theory about the disappearances was right; they had been transported to another planet, but what planet was it? Why could they breathe the air? Where were the other people? If they made it to this strange and unknown planet, surely others would’ve made it too? Except for the bird that soared across the sky, Jack didn’t see any other signs of life.

  He put Timmy down and took him by the hand while they walked through the field as Jack investigated their surroundings. Jack crouched down and looked at the scattered small, yellow flowers tucked away between the grass; their petals were unlike anything he had ever seen – they seemed like little feathers and closed up at his touch.

  “Daddy, what happened? Where are we?”

  “I have no idea.” Jack said in thought.

  He picked one of the delicate flowers and scrutinized it for a moment before it withered and died between his fingers. What a peculiar plant, Jack thought. Everything about their surroundings was peculiar. They continued walking towards a small group of trees to their left.

  The branches of the trees had no leaves – only small pink blossoms and dangling fruit. Jack plucked on of the fruits and hesitated as he inspected it, but then took a bite of it. It was sweet and tasted a bit like an apricot. He plucked another fruit and handed it to Timmy whom was a bit more hesitant.

  “Go on.” Jack said, “It’s sweet. You’ll like it.”

  Timmy inspected the fruit and cautiously took a bite while Jack stared back at the field and noticed a lonely elephant grazing into the field. Finally, he saw signs of life – life from earth. If an animal from earth made it to this strange planet, humans must’ve made it too. They simply had to locate others.

  A little creature the size of a watermelon scurried across the grass at their feet. It looked a bit like a hippo and had antlers that looked more like tangled thorns. The little animal glanced up at Jack who glanced down at it before it scurried away. It was definitely a native animal of the strange planet.

  A moment passed and then a snake-like creature hovered through the air a few feet from Jack’s face. He stepped back and watched as the creature floated away on a breeze.

  “If we ended up here,” Jack told Timmy, “Others must’ve made it as well. We have to look for others. We have to find your mother.”

  The thought of finding others – of finding Alicia – was a comforting one; it meant that life would continue. Jack stared at the two setting suns again and was able to look at them without shielding his eyes. The density of these suns had to be different from earth’s sun – which meant they were definitely not in the same galaxy. He knew very little about astronomy, but can’t remember any documentaries about any known planets with two suns.

  “This place is amazing.” Jack said still in awe.

  He took Timmy’s hand and started walking again. He wasn’t sure how long before nightfall came, but decided to make the most of the daylight and find others. They came across more peculiar animals as they made their way across the lush field of grass and flowers. Though the animals were wild, they seemed curious about the humans, but kept their distance. A small, blue animal that looked like a hybrid cat came close enough for Timmy to pet it with caution before it disappeared into nearby undergrowth, making the boy giggle. For a second the two of them forgot about the disaster that brought them there.

  They were both fascinated about the world they found themselves in; Timmy was amazed by the majesty around them while Jack was dumbfounded about where they were and how they got there. Though the world was picture perfect, he was cautious as Jack had learned a long time ago that looks can be deceiving.

  He stopped and watched in amazement as a school of brightly colored fish
creatures swam through the air about three feet away. The creatures looked and moved like fish, but had wings instead of fins.

  His eyes followed the school of fish as they swam up towards the two suns and then Jack noticed that he was able to see stars in the sky above them. Though it was daytime, they could clearly see a constellation of faraway stars.

  About half a mile to their right a vine rolled down from a low lying cloud and a primate climbed down. Jack watched in astonishment as two more monkey-like creature climbed down the vine before it retracted into the cloud again. The primates glanced in their direction and then scurried off towards the distant trees.

  “Monkeys!” Timmy exclaimed.

  “I saw them, but I don’t think they’re monkeys.”

  What other marvels awaited them in this alien world? Were all the creatures as harmless as the ones they’ve encountered so far, or were there more dangerous creatures out there just waiting to eat them? There were many mysteries that awaited them and the biggest mystery of them all was who brought them there and why?

   

  18

  Alicia opened her eyes and found herself lying in a bed made of animal skins. Her head was throbbing and felt like she had the world’s worst hangover despite the fact that she wasn’t much of a drinker. She stared at her surroundings, but recognized nothing. One moment she was in the cafeteria at work and the