The earth was cracked and dry, and there wasn't the tiniest sign of moisture anywhere. Mike continued looking, and noticed that the earth that was near the building was scorched. "It was probably from the flamethrowers" he thought. "What exactly is happening out there?" asked Mike. "Well, since we will all be dead soon, I might as well tell you," replied Jack. "Every bit of plant life on our planet has come to life, and is quite literally sucking the earth dry. We are battling with the plants now, trying to keep them away from our main water sources, but our ability to fight them is limited. We prepared for all of this, thought we could control it. We were going to make more money on this than the big oil companies ever dreamed of. Provide food and water to everyone, create new jobs reconstructing cities all across the world."
"The plants took over much faster than we thought, and they were able to spread the fertilizer without our help. The worst part of it is that the plants are intelligent, we aren't sure if this is a side effect of the fertilizer or if this was always the case. But after just one shot from our flamethrowers, they knew the effective range of them and to keep their distance. The entire world is under siege, and we have enough water here to hold out for about a month if we can keep the plants out." Mike was welling up with anger, and had his fist curled by this time. His blood was beginning to boil, his heart pumping adrenaline through his system. The bracelet beeped, and Mike drew his fist back to hit Jack. What Mike got instead was the butt of a gun in the side of the head. Mike staggered and dropped to his knees, and Jack knelt down to meet eyes with him. "There is nothing we can do about it now, so there is no use for violence Mike," Jack said. "How else would you expect me to react? Did you really think you could just own the world?" Mike's eyes flared with anger.
"There has to be a way to stop this, to remove what the fertilizer has done, right?" asked Mike. "There are none that we know of yet, although we are working on a plant killer that we can use on a global scale." said Jack. "A global scale? Certainly that is not necessary considering the fertilizer is not everywhere, right? Every bit of life on the planet would be wiped out if you did that, and even if you found a way to localize it to just one continent, the effect on the planet would be incalculable." Mike continued his speech, and his tone changed to a helpful one. "When the fertilizer first arrived at the nursery, the guys and I took a dare. I ate a spoonful of it, and was really sick that night." "Go on," said Jack. "The next morning was really strange, I didn't touch my breakfast, and drank 3 glasses of water. When I got outside, I felt like I was in a nice warm bath, the sun felt so relaxing and my head was spinning with thoughts that were not my own. Maybe the plants were trying to communicate with me, or maybe I was just sick from the fertilizer, I don't really know yet."
"The fact that you survived eating it is a miracle, and it would be a miracle for us if you could communicate with the plants." Jack seemed excited about this new development. "Shall we test your theory out Mike?" asked Jack. "It might just be our only hope," said Mike.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Chapter 6: A Cold Place
Mike awoke to a cold hard bed, one made from cement, and similar to those found in the local prison. He could hear some noise that he couldn't quite make out yet, coming from an adjacent room in the facility. When Mike picked up his head, the throbbing pain from earlier immediately returned, sending him back to the icy cement slab. A bracelet, on Mike's right wrist told the time, date, and had a small red blinking light that indicated seconds passing. Mike reached over with his left hand to further examine the bracelet, but upon touching it he was poked by the bracelet. This sent Mike straight back into his unconscious world, where he had been for 36 hours already.
When Mike awoke again, there was a tray on the bed across from him. Mike was famished and the smell was amazing, even though it was just a basic nutritional meal of pot roast and mashed potatoes with a side of broccoli. Also included with his meal was one bottle of water, which appeared to have been opened for him. At first, Mike could barely get the fork to his mouth, but before long he was ravaging his plain meal. Just as he was finishing up, there was a loud buzzing sound.
The sound of footsteps coming closer and closer made Mike's heart race. His hands were still shaking from low blood sugar, and though he was too weak to fight, Mike felt like he had to. There were three men, one of them wearing a lab coat. The other two were wearing dark suits, and were heavily armed. One man carried a flamethrower, and the other had two small machine guns. Both men carried machetes on their back as well. "Mike, you're awake." The man in the lab coat said. "Glad to see you are eating now. Get some more rest, you're going to need it." Just then, another poke from the bracelet came and put Mike back to sleep. The next time Mike awoke there was finally a familiar face, but not a friendly one. Jack Sperino greeted Mike with a smile, "Good morning sunshine." "What is this place? Why do you keep putting me to sleep?", Mike questioned. Jack's guards were dressed the same as the other scientist's, and armed similarly too. They were both clean cut, well built, and had a certain attitude to them that said, "don't try anything".
"Come with us," said Jack. "It's clear that you won't believe this until you see it. Be ready though, because everything you know has changed quite drastically over the last few days." Mother Nature's facility stood on a small hill outside of town, and from up there, you could see for miles. When they got to the window, Mike gasped for air. There was too much for him to take in. Homes were wrecked, windows broken and doors missing, trash strewn about everywhere. There were cars overturned, even roads that had literally been ripped up. The strangest part about everything was that every little bit of plant life was gone. The once lush, green scenery had now become a dry, barren wasteland.
When Mike awoke again, there was a tray on the bed across from him. Mike was famished and the smell was amazing, even though it was just a basic nutritional meal of pot roast and mashed potatoes with a side of broccoli. Also included with his meal was one bottle of water, which appeared to have been opened for him. At first, Mike could barely get the fork to his mouth, but before long he was ravaging his plain meal. Just as he was finishing up, there was a loud buzzing sound.
The sound of footsteps coming closer and closer made Mike's heart race. His hands were still shaking from low blood sugar, and though he was too weak to fight, Mike felt like he had to. There were three men, one of them wearing a lab coat. The other two were wearing dark suits, and were heavily armed. One man carried a flamethrower, and the other had two small machine guns. Both men carried machetes on their back as well. "Mike, you're awake." The man in the lab coat said. "Glad to see you are eating now. Get some more rest, you're going to need it." Just then, another poke from the bracelet came and put Mike back to sleep. The next time Mike awoke there was finally a familiar face, but not a friendly one. Jack Sperino greeted Mike with a smile, "Good morning sunshine." "What is this place? Why do you keep putting me to sleep?", Mike questioned. Jack's guards were dressed the same as the other scientist's, and armed similarly too. They were both clean cut, well built, and had a certain attitude to them that said, "don't try anything".
"Come with us," said Jack. "It's clear that you won't believe this until you see it. Be ready though, because everything you know has changed quite drastically over the last few days." Mother Nature's facility stood on a small hill outside of town, and from up there, you could see for miles. When they got to the window, Mike gasped for air. There was too much for him to take in. Homes were wrecked, windows broken and doors missing, trash strewn about everywhere. There were cars overturned, even roads that had literally been ripped up. The strangest part about everything was that every little bit of plant life was gone. The once lush, green scenery had now become a dry, barren wasteland.
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