Year-The Future (Then)

*Then*

Luan Nyla Ailis frowned as she held the lifeless limp body of the five year old in her crouched embrace, this wasn't the first time for the young woman; Luan was only 22 and she had seen more death then some of the oldest war veterans. Luan wasn't positive what year it was though the destruction told her awestruck mind that something had hit the town of Mattison extremely hard... the word extreme didn't even begin describing what had befallen the woman's hometown. It had been three years since Daire brought her back to Mattison... Or had it been longer? Luan couldn't remember as she sat crouched holding the dead boy, all she recalled was seeing Daire ride up to her at the old church and then she had felt this overpowering, all-consuming surge of pain strike her mind from out of no where, then all went dark and there was nothing.

The next vision Luan remembered seeing once opening her weary eyes was a creepy pock marked, sore covered man who had cataracts, he was inspecting her stomach, pressing and tapping it with his gooey sick looking fingers. He hadn't noticed her awakening, so Luan had shut her eyes not needing them to assess the situation. She was naked, spread eagle, hair matted and filthy as was the rest of her, she was lying on top of a jagged stone table top, there were five other nasty looking males surrounding her, all were bare. Mentally Luan groaned as her stomach turned upside down with extreme sickness. She had minor scrapes and bruising, several cuts over her back, arms, and legs.

The young woman figured she had another minute before she would be raped and most likely killed by these hideously gross creatures, Luan would rather die then become such a victim of chaos and savagery. Her senses clamored to find any kind of human life outside of this deathtrap, nothing, there was no one to even send a vibe to for help, but her weapons had been tossed stupidly in the far corner of the room in which she was being held captive. In a matter of thirty seconds Luan had determined, due to the current circumstances, that she would rather come out alive. Luan's heart began to race as her skin tingled with the nearness of those ugly perverse hands to her lushes breasts, lightening fast she improvised on her yoga training and fighting skills, executing a shoulder-stand swiveling her torso around to catch the bastard's neck between her legs twisting her back and ankles just so, snapping the creatures neck as if it were a mere twig. Instantly the commotion brought the remaining five right where she wanted them, shoving herself upwards as hard as she could the woman clasped the ropes that were holding her legs suspended in mid-air, climbing them until she was nearly standing upright on her tightly secured ankles a good six feet above the dumbfounded monsters' heads. Luan's metallic gaze reflected the dim stream of light that poured into the darkened room from a slight crack in the ceiling, the moon was just ascending to it's masterful thrown above the horizon of earth's devastated surface. A soft smile of confidence spread across the young woman's face.

"You want me... Come n' get me!" she taunted in a husky tone. Growling in anger and lustful rage the five sick men quickly climbed and as each came to stand atop the stone table Luan killed them, snapping their neck or delivering a deadly hand chop to the middle of their throats; every movement was precise and survival driven. Luan relaxed her mind just a bit as she hung in the two ropes, her legs straight out to her sides as she executed a perfect well balanced split, true her ankles hurt like hell with rope burn but she needed to be sure there was nothing else that might attack her; at least for the moment. Once the area had been monitored from her perch for an entire three minutes and thirty seconds, Luan then set to figure out how to undo her confined ankles all the while keeping her every sense on full alert. Spotting a sharp piece of rock the girl snatched it up and began to saw threw the thick binding rope, it only took her half an hour to break loose of those awful things. Dripping with sweat and chilled once she hit the cold hard floor Luan scented the air smacking her tongue and lips as the stench of rotting life consumed her, the taste left her wishing she hadn't inhaled as deeply but as she gathered her weapons and dressed herself, again she clucked her tongue giving her a sudden splash of the nasty scent.

Among the filth and rotting flesh Luan tasted human sweat, male and female, they had to be somewhere within three miles of her own position, they tasted fresh and healthy. Strapping one gun holster to her back and one to her waist she secured her weapons, one on her back between her shoulder blades and the other on her left hip. She then laced up her black and neon green nylon spandex pant legs, and tied her matching corset more tightly. The corset laced completely up the back and then halfway from the bust line on down, it was designed by Daire himself, meant to be sexy, revealing, and practical for all weather and all types of strenuous exercise. No air resistance and the fabric was breathable so sweat wouldn't become a hindrance. Luan smirked, she was reminded of the movie Aeon Flux as she then entwined her dagger holsters into the lacing of her pants, finally tying an unbreakable knot around her waist. The slight memory faded instantly as she slotted her prized eight set dagger collection, this was nothing like a movie. Everything within a three mile radius of her belonged to her multiple honed senses, and at the moment the only thing alive was 45 degrees south of Luan about two and a half miles away.

Luan heaved a heavy sigh as she began to climb threw the ruins of the dilapidated two story building, as she ascended the moon's brilliant light bathed her body until she broke her way to the surface only to have her entire soul stunned into silence. There was absolutely nothing, the only objects visible were that of shadowy empty remains that once was Mattison, buildings looked dangerous and haunted, the streets were cracked and uprooted in most places; any signs of life simply wasn't there. No trees, no grass, no vines, not even the dead skeletons of these things remained, no thorns, no underground root systems. Luan glanced skyward, no visible stars, the night sky looked of smooth undisturbed black glass the only thing powerful enough to break threw the blackness was that precious light from the moon. Though as Luan scanned the horizon line for her intended direction, she saw a soft glow emanating from the scent she was going to follow. The light was a campfire, and now that she was on the surface Luan scented and heard, there were multiple males and females about fifteen and they were... Luan shivered as the powerful hormones struck her, all of them were engaged in erotic intercourse save for one; the man who stood guard. Luan began to tremble violently as she hopped down from her perch, she instantly touched her fingertips to the ground and thrust her neck out to gain full advantage of her sight and auditory abilities.

The group of people were nestle in an large dugout of earth, meanwhile the guard was standing on top at the surface pacing back and forth, holding his arms to his chest as he hummed to himself. Daire... Luan gasped, honing in on his scent, his body language, his voice... DAIRE! The second her thoughts had named him the man's face jerked in her direction, he then bolted for her in no time at all. Luan shouted for pure joy and was off running to meet him reveling in his familiarness, two miles seemed like nothing as the reunited couple reveled in each others presence. They sank to the ground, Luan seated in his lap her arms wrapped securely about his neck.

"I knew you would rock this suit babe." smiled Daire, his eyes were a metallic white-silver, the moon caused him to look unearthly.

"Daire what the hell has happened, where is everyone? Where are the towns, the cities? The stars? Why are they having sex?" Luan's voice shook.

"Mutants, like you and me Luan caused the blackout."

"WHAT! You a mutant? What do you mean? If it had been empathic waves that caused the whole world to blow up... apparently that's what happened from the looks of it, I WOULD HAVE KNOWN!!!!" growled Luan. Daire took her face softly between his palms, looking her right in the eyes, calm, intense and aroused.

"Luan, you said it yourself 'the world's gone mad, why should we'... Luan shuttered trying to remember..."yes you did, I was with you when the explosions went off." Daire stared at her as if he were desperately willing her to remember.

Luan felt as if her mind was blank, empty and yet her conscience was spinning out of control, her empath was on the fritz suddenly in her attempt to recall all that had happened, she felt as if she were floating outside of her body, like her mind was somehow lost in the effort... like she was going insane; but most importantly... Time.

"What time is it, the year?" Luan nearly screamed, or at least that's how it sounded in her own head.

"May of 2020." Daire swallowed hard as he told her, as if he was waiting for some hysterical outburst, his mind tingled with thoughts, memories. Luan gasp and gasp slamming her eyes shut not believing, the electrical 20,000 volts of emotions that he was unintentionally emitting to her nervous system was nearly numbing with it's extremity.

"No." whispered the woman, Daire's eyes merely widened yet he didn't move, Luan screamed a sound of utter pain as she broke their connection forcing herself into a corkscrewed backflip round off. Crouched on her hands and knees, her eyes were like lasers in their intensity, she had only moved a mere four feet away from where the pair had been seated. Daire had gotten the brute force of her extended legs as he simply spat the blood from his mouth, standing slowly, calmly. As if he had gone threw this before, he smiled lovingly and sadly at his beloved.

Luan shot upright and only seconds before she had moved, Daire tackled her to the dusty ground holding on as if he had anticipated her reaction to escape, confining her body within his impossibly strong grasp as if he had known how much pressure to exert; like this whole thing was a replay! Luan stilled the second her sharp mind formed this thought, allowing her body to absorb and be encased in his violent trembling body. The energy it was taking for Daire to hold her and bombard her empath with his history, on such an emotional level was too much but Luan snarled within herself determined to remember the truth.

Daire had just picked her up at the old church, they were headed back to Mattison when Luan got a call from her mother, the woman was hysterical and frantically crying, begging them not to come back then someone cursed and struck Luan's mother effectively killing the call. Daire sensed his partner's distress and emotional wave patterns, he increased the speed of the motorbike.

"My parents, my brothers are being held against their will Daire."

"What!"

They were drawing closer to Mattison with each passing mile.

"They want me."

"Fucking bastards!" growled Daire.

"Oh No!" cried Luan as a scout MSR helicopter zeroed in on them just outside Mattison city limit, targeting her with a stun gun.

Milliseconds before the dart struck Luan, "Find me soon Daire, find me in the future and remind me of all that I've lost no matter what I've become, no matter how long it takes. The world's gone mad, why should we." she whispered into his ear, just as she was hit and dragged like a rag doll up into the copter by a hooked line.

"LUAN!" screamed Daire, he turned the bike as fast as he was able to, speeding after the helicopter following it late into the night. He came to a screeching halt at the edge of a canyon, his eyes ablaze his heart beating so hard it hurt, as he watched the helicopter swoop low enough into the crevasse to literally drop her sedated body into a electric fenced arena, which was filled with hundreds of partially drugged bodies. Tears streamed down Daire's face and his mind felt like it was going to explode from the pressure built up by being emotionally crazed.

"An MSR Concentration Camp." he choked out, as he watched men in full body white suits come out and start stripping the bodies, tossing the clothes in a huge burn pile while other men in blue suits loaded the people onto several large garbage trucks. Helpless, feeling completely defeated the young man vowed he would free Luan and the other survivors, he turned the motorcycle around and headed back to Mattison to see if he even had a chance at saving her family members, and his own for that matter.

Pulling up to the Ailis' house he knew he was too late, the house looked as if a tornado had struck it right threw the midsection, jumping from his vehicle Daire raced into the giant hole that led into the building.

"Mr. and Mrs. Ailis! Ethan! Marcus! Ethan, Marcus, Max, Angelica! Anyone are you here! Hello! Hellooooooo!" called Daire as he looked over the wreckage. He was picking threw the large objects searching, calling for the next hour, until he sensed something while standing in the upstairs parlor. A soft moaning, almost an inaudible noise, Daire fought threw the destruction to get to the individual, calling out each of there names to identify who it was, it was Ethan!

"I'm here Ethan, I'll get you out buddy, hold on, keep making noise, Ethan come on, I'm here for you." groaned the man loudly, as he picked, pushed, shoved, and lifted remnants of household items to get to the boy. There buried beneath what was left of the grand piano and half an antique writing desk lay Luan's youngest brother, three gunshot wounds, a six inch piece of piano protruding from his right hand, blood everywhere. On top of it all that, Ethan was contorted in an sickening way, as if he had been thrown across the house, his lower body was suspended dangling by curtains that had entangled themselves around his legs, while his torso was rather lopsided amongst the piano damage.

"Oh Ethan oh my dear boy!" gasped Daire as he set about to untangle his legs. The boy groaned and writhed in pain as Daire lowered his legs as slowly as possible to the floor, Daire then took on the task of resetting any broken bones right there, Ethan's screams of anguish would forever be seared into Daire's memory as he worked to get Ethan out of the devastated home. Daire had taken Ethan up into the nearby mountains, to a cave that he knew no one knew of then he went back to find his own parents; fearing the worst. He gathered everything he could think of that he and Ethan would need, food, keys, weapons, clothes, radio, mini t.v. set, and water. Daire's fears were confirmed the second he walked threw the front door of his own home. The young man didn't even bother walking threw his home, he simply turned and headed into the main part of town.

As he ran threw the little town of Mattison, gathering anykind of supplies, he got things for future needs, things that he would need as well as others. He gathered fabric, blankets, sewing supplies, shoes, winter clothing, tents, fire starters, rope, knives, solar panel generators, anything else that his frenzied mind was able to spot in his trek threw his hometown. Meanwhile the townspeople simply watched him in his seemingly crazed rush, they murmured and gossiped as he ran in and out of stores, as he babbled some excuse to individuals that had known him for years, having no clue as to the explosion that would soon befall them as well. Daire felt as if he was out of his own body in his haste, like his mind had switched most of his thinking and motor skills to autopilot, he raced back to the Ailis' and took the Hummer in order to transport all of the supplies that he had accumulated outside of the gas station. His mind's singular thought screamed, LUAN, while his sane mind told him to calm down to take care of himself and Ethan first, to gather information and make an effort to make a plan before running headlong into his own personal tornado. He piled all of the things into the back of the Hummer and then he drove to Mr. Ailis' shop, the main door key in hand, he prayed that none of his other staff was on duty, he hoped that he would be able to hijack most of the stores contents, knowing that it would be necessary. He loaded the weapons and ammunition in stages, in company boxes, to make it appear as if he was doing something with the owner's permission, once he'd finished it was mid-afternoon and he had over fifteen boxes of heavy duty weapons to very minimal equipment, like barbed wire.

Daire then stopped by the Ailis' and his own home to gather his and Luan's more personal collection of weapons and clothing, he managed to find most of Luan's things in the wreckage as well as recover clothing and first aid kits for Ethan. Lastly he locked all of the doors to the mansion, securing all motor-vehicle and safe keys in a small box to keep in his possession, then he gathered as many gas filled cans as he could find in the garage. On his drive out of town he noticed four men dressed in all black suits pull up to the Mattison courthouse, ducking low so they wouldn't see him, Daire watched as the men looked around at the town and then slowly walked into the courthouse. Daire didn't stop to see what would happen he stepped on the gas petal, while flashes of Luan and that MSR camp nearly blinded him with grief, he sped along ignoring all people and cars. He was half way up the mountain when a massive shock-wave rocketed from behind him, the car and he lurched forward as it rolled across the area. Glancing in the rearview mirror Daire was stunned to find Mattison had nearly been flattened, it didn't look like much had happened, but all metal and glass objects were broken or bent out of place, trees had been blown to bits. The majority of the damage had come from inside the courthouse, which was now crumbling and slanted. The four men Daire had seen earlier walked out of the shattered building as if they were merely leaving a business meeting, they got back into their car and drove north. Daire growled and focused on navigating threw the thickening forest back-roads. He drove until he literally couldn't drive anymore which was nearly on top of Ethan's location in the cave.

Daire jumped from the truck, snatched the first aid and went to Ethan as fast as possible, Ethan had managed to sit up against a bolder that was in the cave, his hand cradled in his lap. "It's okay Ethan, it's me Daire, I'm going to get you cleaned up and fed alright. It's okay." murmured Daire as he stooped to help his brother-in-law. Laying out his kit Daire began to clean the open wounds and cuts on Ethan. Finally he made the boy a sling to support his hand, Daire stood and looked up to gage the time, the sun was just beginning to set.

"I'm going to get you some water and food Ethan but then I have to do a few things before it gets dark alright, I'll be nearby so if you need my help you call for me okay? I won't leave you, you hear." said Daire. Ethan nodded leaning back against the rock for support, Daire jogged to the truck returning with water and nutrition bars for Ethan. He then set to work securing the area, marking trees, burying weapons nearby, and suspending food and gas cans from high strong trees. He left some of everything in the Hummer, and then began to transfer necessaries to the cave by the time dusk had set in. He set up torches around the mouth of the cave and a small cooking fire inside the entrance of the cave. He then set to searching threw the cave, inspecting every inch of it, finding that the cave was not too deep, and fairly dry within it's shallow depths, no animals inhabited the hollowed cavern just a few species of bugs. He then helped Ethan change into some warmer clothes, and started a pit fire for food, wrapping a blanket around Ethan and checking his wounds.