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LIFE AFTER EARTH

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Chapter Three: "Moving to Rethian"

George is lying in bed at night. He is using his phone, scrolling through social media. He looks drained and bored. There is a loud bang and he jumps. He turns towards the window and gets out of bed, using his phone to illuminate the floor. He looks outside. There are several robots in the street, and smoke clouding the air.

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'Hmm.' George reacts. He hears the sound of footsteps and turns towards his door. His parents run in. They looks panicked. 'What's going on?' George asks. Alivinia and John walk over to him. 'We don’t have time to explain very much, but there’s an invasion happening.' Alivinia says.

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'What…?' George says. 'You need to stay here and wait for your uncle Gechriald to pick you up. We called him, and he's going to take you somewhere safe. We're going to try to help the neighbors.' Alivinia says. George realizes that this is why Sil had left. 'O- Ok.' He says. Alivinia and John hug him. 'Everything is going to to be fine.' John says. They run out of the room.

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George stands in shock for a moment. He grabs his backpack off of the floor and begins packing his stuff. Clothes, his phone and charger, and a few other things. He puts on his jacket.

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He puts his shoes on. He looks out the window. There’s smoke in the air, and he can no longer make out what’s happening. There is a load bang. The floor begins to tilt. The smoke alarms start going off.

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George runs to his bedroom door and opens it. He runs down the hall and into the storage room. He looks down the stairs, but it looks too dangerous. He is panicking. 'Shit.' He swears.

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He runs back into his room and opens the window. He climbs up onto his desk and looks outside.

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He reaches for the tree outside the window. He grabs onto it. He climbs down. He stares along the road at the bodies.

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He walks over to where his parents and the two people they tried to save are laying on the road. He sways a little, stunned. He bends over and retches.

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He steels himself and keeps walking. He and runs around the road corner and up the other street. There are robots everywhere, moving down street, looting houses and killing people. Canon blasts are flying everywhere. The air is full of smoke. There are bodies being piled in the street. People are running in all directions and screaming.

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David's house is in ruins. David is running out of his house, towards George. He looks shaken and his right shoulder is badly burned and smoke is coming from it (part of his neck is also slightly burned and his hair is singed as if a blast went right beside his head). David runs up to George. They register each other’s presence, holding panicked eye contact.

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'Where’s Tanya?' George asks. David stares at him, mouth agape in an expression of shock. George looks at him and the grabs onto his hand. 'Come on.' George says. They begin running together.

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They run up the street, and to the edge of the woods at the top of the street corner. They are partially in the woods as they run up George’s street, until they’re across from his house. It’s burning. 'We’re supposed to wait near my house. My uncle is going to be here to pick me up.' George says. They two of them stand still. Smoke is filling the air. Their eyes are starting to water from the smoke. George is still clutching David’s hand.

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They see a robot walking in their direction. 'We need to go.' George says. George turns and runs into the forest, practically dragging David with him. They’re going along a hiking trail of sorts. They are both coughing and crying from the smoke as they run. George trips and faceplants on the ground.

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David helps him up. George pulls a bit of glass out of his cheek. They keep running. Eventually, the come upon a figure in the dark. A human one. It’s Gechriald.

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'Uncle Gechriald… !' George says. 'Where are your parents?' Gechriald asks. 'They’re- they’re not coming.' George says. Gechriald has a moment of silent realization. 'Who's your friend?' Gechriald asks. 'This is David. He's coming with me.' George says. 'Alright. C’mon, this way.' Gechriald says.

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Gechriald walks through the woods. George and David follow him. They walk for a while until they reach a cave in a bluff. They walk in.

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They walk for a little while until they see a door standing in the middle of the cave, leading into a fenced in area. The door has a little screen on the front.

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Gechriald types something into the screen. Gechriald opens the door. It opens into a crowded, brightly lit restaurant. David looks surprised. Gechriald walks in. George and David follow.

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They look around at the crowded restaurant. It is full of humans and aliens alike. The boys look around in wonder. 'How… did we get here?' David asks. Gechrial closes the door, and types something in. 'A Wyvern Point portal. Wyvern Point is this place and they… have portals? There are other places like this, but Wyvern Point is my favorite.' He says. He opens the door. 'This way.' He says. He walks through the door. George and David follow, David is a little confused. As the adrenaline wears off, George and David are also starting to be in a lot of pain.

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They walk out into a cave, but a different cave now. They walk out of the cave into a forest. The forest is full of strange plants, and it is sunset. George and David are surprised. 'What- ?' David starts. 'This is Rethian, my current- uh- base of operations.' Gechriald replies. Gechriald continues walking through the woods. George puts his hand on David’s shoulder (not the burned one). George and David follow.

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They walk through the woods for a little while until they reach a hill, in which there is the entrance to a house. Gechriald unlocks the door and walks in. George and David follow. They walk down a long hall until they reach the TV room. Gechriald opens the door. George and David walk in and look around. 'This is your room. There’s a bathroom at the end of the hall on this side. The kitchen is the second door when you enter the building.' Gechriald says.

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'Please don’t go in any other room unless I say so.' Gechriald says. George takes off his backpack and sets it on the floor. 'Now, let's do something about your injuries. C’mon.' Gechriald says. He walks up the hall towards the bathroom. 'This is the other bathroom. You’re allowed to go in here too.' He says. George and David follow him. He opens the door and walks in. Gechriald opens the closet door. He pulls out out a bottle of liquid and some cotton balls.

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He grabs a cotton ball and puts some of the liquid on it. He hands it to George. He hands George some kind of wet-wipe or tissue. George wipes off the cut, then cautiously dabs the liquid on it. His eyes start to water and he flinches. 'Careful, it burns.' Gechriald says. Gechriald pulls out another container. He hands it to David. 'That'll help with your burn.' He says. David cautiously dabs it on his shoulder.

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Gechriald pulls out a large band-aid and holds it out. 'George.' He says. George puts it over his cut, still noticeably in pain. Gechriald pulls out some wrap and hands it to David. 'You can try wrapping this around your shoulder. There’s not much I can do for your face, though.' He says. He walks towards the door and begins walking out. He turns around to look at them. 'I'm gonna go look for other survivors. You two need to get some rest. If you want, in a few weeks, once it’s safer out there, you can go back and try to get your belongings.' He says. 'Thanks.' David mumbles. Gechriald leaves. David takes off his torn shirt.

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George looks in the other direction. David begins trying to wrap his shoulder. 'I should have done more…' George says. 'What?' David asks. 'I... Got word from a friend- an- uh- alien friend- that something was coming. I should’ve- like- told the authorities or something.' George says. 'You had an alien friend? Like- You've known about… aliens and other weird stuff all this time?' David asks. 'Yeah. Uh- My-my mom's a human from another planet, and I've been friends with Sil- the friend that I mentioned- for years.' George says. There is a pause. David looks surprised. 'Uh- Knowing about aliens, and that sometimes disasters happen, doesn’t make this your fault…?' David says. David looks at his torn shirt. George takes his jacket off and hands it to him. 'Here.' George says. 'Thanks.' David replies. He puts it on. 'Uh- Did you see which stuff was the disinfectant? My feet are bleeding.' David says.

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They walk out of the bathroom and into their room. They walk over to the couch. They sit down next to each other. 'I don't feel like sleeping.' David says. 'Me neither.' George replies. Pause. They notice the TV. 'Lets watch something. Just... to have something else to think about.' George says. 'Sure.' David replies. George walks over the TV. There is a remote and a list of channels, one of which is labeled 'Earth junk' in pen. George turns it on. Some anime is playing. George walks over the couch. George and David huddle next to each other to watch the show.

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