The Protectors ( in an instant)

Profound darkness, so thick, so dense, I focused my eyes.  There was movement. A brief flash of light passed my window.. I saw, his eyes wild and bright. Florescent green poured from his pores. I didn't make a move. It wasn't necessary at this time, tendrils of sun peaked over the tops of the trees, they didn't like the sun. 1

I walked through the town, people watched me, a few acknowledged me, the rest turned away. They were afraid, I didn't really blame them, but I was what stood between them and the thing that threatened to annihilate them.
I walked the whole town, I checked the perimeters and found that two of them had been breached. It wasn't them that did it, no, they left a stench behind, this had been some of the towns people.. it pissed me off, 2

I was the only Protector for this town. That kept me busy enough, when the people didn't want to cooperate, it made the job three times as hard..
Lately they had been complaining.. the rules were too strict, why couldn't they go into the woods, why couldn't they go back to their circle, why did they have to have a curfew.. why?
I pulled the rope for the bell, as much as I hated it , I had to talk to them, I didn't want to. Pulling my hood up and my gloves on, I called them to the meeting.3

Explaining the reasoning behind the restrictions was like talking to three year olds.. which personally I think would have understood.. Finally one gathered up the courage to speak.. He started talking to me, then turned to the townsfolk. He brought out the point that there hadn't been any attacks for months.. (he didn't bother to acknowledge why). He showed them how much more brightly the sun shone now, and how it stayed up longer, not setting until after the curfew (he forgot this was the season of the sun for us, not for them.. the sun was strong all day but, about two to three hours before curfew, it lost it's strength and no matter how long it shone, there was no protection)..
I listened. I raised my hands, the long nails glowed red.. they all stopped. I warned them against becoming complacent, I explained to them that this was only a lull, I tried to make them understand that my implements were important for their lives, in fact, their very lives depended on it.4

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. I almost laughed when that thought came to mind. I looked at them, I controlled my anger, I dimmed the glowing nails and I acquiesced...5

                                              Do I ignore it?6

They left the meeting feeling superior, they had brought the protector down. I guess I can say I know how Jesus felt, when he wanted to gather the children of Israel to himself, but they didn't want it.
I wasn't really sure how to deal with this. When the destruction occurred, no one knew what to expect from the years that were to come.
I certainly never expected me... Yes Me.. my power, my scaly skin, my glowing red nails that could cut through iron, the flames that would explode from my lips, the eyes, cat like...my skill, my ability to kill... I speak of Jesus but, I wonder to myself did he talk to his Father when the explosions happened? Did he look on me and the others like me with pity or, did he help me to morph into what I am? Did his Father tell him to assign us the role of protector? Did he watch as we cried and screamed in pain as our bodies transformed, as the radiation seeped into our bones? Was it a blessing from above, or a curse from below? What ever it was, we protected the few humans that were left, they were to replenish the earth. We, could not reproduce, you wouldn't want mutants in the human race. 7

I pushed the robe from my body, the wind felt good. Sometimes the soft spots between the scales would itch. I stepped into the water.. and waited for the little scroungers to do their work..ahhh it felt so good.
I thought about leaving, going my way, where ever that would be, it would be alone. 8

                                            The Protectors9

Protectors.. that is what we were, there were more of us than the humans but, we didn't reproduce. The radiation had taken care of that. We were here to give our lives for humans, ingrates, self destructive animals yet, we shared that fight for survival, that fight for life, we still saw something in them. 10

It was ironic, humans set the destruction, started it, almost destroyed the whole race, I had been human and because of the radiation I was now something else, and I defended the very ones that had made me this way.
I didn't understand the point. I ducked my head under the water and felt the vibrations.
One of the creatures was close.. he didn't show himself because the sun was in full power. He was in the shadows, in the trees. I turned slowly, took in the perimeter. I was at a disadvantage because my sight was not as keen in the day. The thing snorted and in that second, I saw him.. He was at the edge of the treeline..still in the shade.. I swam towards the bank, treading water slowly. It watched me. It could never out fight me, but, he could get out of my sight because of the sun. The acid they spit, was very dangerous, especially if I couldn't see which way it was coming from.. He wasn't close enough for me to incinerate him.. I moved slow, very slow.
Then I saw movement on the right of him.. they just stood and stared. Well I couldn't stay in the water forever, plus the sun was starting to lose it's strength.
I swam to shore.. I stepped out, picking my robe up, it was funny, I thought I saw the things eyes go wide.. and it brought me to the awareness of my body, although I had scales, my body was still in the form of a woman, could it be the thing was male? I slid into the robe and walked in the opposite direction. 11

I heard it, ever so slight, like a sound you aren't sure you hear. There it was again.. A whisper. I stopped, turned toward the pair of things that were apparently following me. 12

"we would like to talk." I stared at them, putting my feet in the defencive stance. "We do not want to fight, we NEED to talk."
Nothing had prepared me for this surprise. We had taken it for granted that the creatures were some type of mutant reptile. We had mutated from the humans, that was known but, now, watching the things mouth move, I realized it had once been human too. Times that I had been close to them was in combat and burial. Hadn't really paid attention to their features..but now I could see through the oozing phosphorescence a form, a little gnarled, but very much a human form. They had no color to their eyes, just black holes. Their mouths had always appeared round like the top of a bottle and, that was where their lethal weapon spewed forth... But when the thing spoke, it had lips, teeth. It tried to straighten under my scrutiny, it turned it's head and started to speak again..
"I am sure it has come to your attention our species is dying," I was aware of that long before now. "and?" "There is a way to preserve our kind," I looked at it and laughed.. preserve your kind??? "Why in the name of all that is holy would you want to preserve your kind.. you mean you like the way you look, you like being something hideous, something that spits acid, something that can't even be touched..?" It looked at me for a moment and then spoke so very softly, but I heard it like the sound of crashing thunder. "You don't remember me Miranda..." It called me by my .....name. Miranda.. all of a sudden it made me feel, , I should kill it for that... I stared at it for along moment. "Should I REMEMBER you?" 13

It is said that the mind has a way of protecting itself, it will push out memories that are too painful.. it will remember something you choose to remember as opposed to what really happened.
And now.. my protective gates opened, I should have killed it for that. 14

Yes that night.. I also remembered I had been having the dreams, little changes but always the same, the bright light.
Brian.. oh god how that hurt, watching Brian fold in upon himself, watching the shards of glass from the car window showering down on him, the light, the light that cleansed everything from sight, that cleansed everything from mind, that turned the world I knew to molten ash and dust, that turned me into the monster that I am and it into the monster it is.. It spoke again. "that night, it was warm with a myriad of twinkling stars floating above, we, yes, we sat there looking up at the sky, never speaking, because we didn't need to speak,, because everything was perfect, except, that one moment, except in that instant!" YES... that instant......15

                                                  In an Instant16

Some feeling, threatened to smother me, threatened to pitch me into darkness. I shook my head and steadied my breathing. Sleep flittered away like so much chaff, climbing out of bed, I walked over and flung the window open. 17

I could not understand the significance of the light.. so bright , like a solar flare, directly in front of me yet I was cold. It blew down buildings, shattered glass, blinded but, it was cold. It was always the same, basically, some things would change, sometimes the buildings folded in upon themselves, sometimes the glass blew out and then was sucked back in, similar to a backdraft. But, the blinding, freezing light was always the same.18

Brian held my hand, he squeezed it a little.. we didn't speak, we didn't have to. We sat back on the mound of grass and watched the night sky..
It was good not to have to keep a conversation going, it was good to not have to try so hard. We were comfortable with each other, it had been that way from the beginning.
Brian leaned over and kissed me.. he jumped to his feet and headed down the hill for a surprise he'd left in the car, I laughed, I loved surprises..19

It started as a point of light hovering over the horizon, there was no time to think about it, suddenly the night sky went red, I looked down the hill at Brian, his eyes fixed on mine.
I saw his last moments.. the car flattened like a can, the glass flew, he didn't have time to shield himself.. in the distance I watched light pour over the city, it started red and the intensity grew it became brighter and brighter, until it was white..I could hear explosions, the buzzing sound of electricity, it flew around me causing my hair to stand.
Brian dropped to the ground, collapsing, folding.. the white heat covered him, the wind blew the clothes from my body.. my skin bubbled, flames surrounded me..I was going to die..it was our final act of stupidity, our final act of anger, our final road, that led to destruction. 20

The elements were white hot, they burned, what seemed like a lifetime, was an instant, a blink of an eye..
The city was gone, Brian was gone, life as we knew it was gone, I was gone.21


                                                  Good Bye Humans22

I stood there staring at him, all the memories flooding my mind, causing me to wretch, cause the things I could remember, came back in FIOS, clear, slow, as if my mind had taken all these years to process and develop it. It played, like a scifi movie but with outstretching arms that encircled us all. I could see something like tears fall down his putrescent skin and I knew two things, one, the thing that stood across from me, was Brian, and two, the human race would have to be eradicated..23

I sat on the ground, he sat next to me, not too close, but he was there. It was different this time, no night sky with shining stars, no car down the hill, no green grass and wildflowers.. just a sky with one cold golden sun.. and two beings, that planned the extinction of mankind.24

                                                 to be continued!25