Wings of Death

The path to knowledge

Mr. Browning had woken up early in the morning and made a list of supplies. He was still thinking about the Bloodwings. Who would have thought that humanity would be facing such a crisis? If only he could roll back time, he thought. The monsters were still outside; he could hear their faint screams. He had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end anytime soon.

Mrs. Browning walked up to where Nathan was sleeping and started caressing his locks. She loved him a lot and was constantly worried about him. Just like any other mother she was prepared to do anything to keep her child safe. Nathan peeped through a cloud of sleep. His head was still foggy with dreams.  He took a look at his watch and realized it was almost midday. Nathan had always been a late riser since he always went to bed late at night. Before the creatures showed up, he used to be an ordinary college student. He was a student of English Literature and loved Romantic poetry. When he was in college he had also tried his hand at writing some science fiction stories. His final exams were supposed to commence next week. After a few more minutes of deep introspection, he finally decided to get up. He grabbed a bottle of drinking water and splashed a bit of cold water on his sleepy face. He was wide awake now.

It was breakfast time, Nathan yearned for his mom’s home-made apple pie but he had to manage with a cup of chocolate ice cream. Not that he disliked ice creams but he was craving something warm and homely. He knew it would be near impossible to cook something in that situation. It was 12 PM now; Nathan recollected his thoughts and went over his plan once more. There wasn’t much to be done right now since the Bloodwings were still outside. He had to wait for it to rain. Patience had never been one of his virtues and he was eager to learn more about these monsters. Well, at least he could talk to his friends he thought.  He took out his cell phone from his pocket and noticed the four missed calls from Alex. Without wasting any time he called him back.

“Awake at last, eh? I guess the apocalypse hasn’t had much of an effect on you. I couldn’t sleep all night just thinking about those darn monsters. I still don’t know if mom is safe, her cell phone is switched off”, said the voice on the other end.

“I am sorry man, I overslept. You know how I am. I am sure your mom is just fine. She is probably hiding in her office basement. We will find her, I promise”, Nathan tried to reassure him as best as he could. He had always been a wild optimist.

“I hope so too. Well, I have some news for you”, Alex went on to talk about his own little mission. Even though he trusted Nathan a lot he didn’t mention anything about the handgun or the grenade.

“Wow! You really can’t sit still can you? Once a computer geek, always a computer geek”, said Nathan and they immediately broke into peals of laughter.

Alex had already saved the map of the local area in his palmtop and he had marked all safe hiding spots, fuel depots, shopping malls and hospitals on his map. He wanted to gather all the essential supplies while they were out. Nathan felt confident that they could turn the tide of battle if they worked together. They decided to meet up near the Mexican restaurant nearby and from there they would head to the research facility. For their plan to be successful, it had to rain tonight.

Nathan missed the sunlight; he wanted to go skateboarding on the street again. He realized how foolish it was to take things for granted. He missed his college friends and his cousins. Perhaps he would never be able to see them again. At that moment he realized that change was the only constant. He hugged his mom tightly and breathed a sigh of relief. Mr. Browning sat down beside him and put his arms around his shoulder. None of them spoke, they didn’t need to. They knew that words wouldn’t be able to express their emotions.

“Dad, we will survive this, no matter what it takes”, Nathan spoke with conviction.

“I know we will. We have each other and that’s our biggest strength. I am sure the government will find a way to deal with this problem. Dr. Erica won’t let us down. She is our only hope”, said Mr. Browning. He was completely ignorant of the fact that his own son was already making plans to save humanity.

Turning to his dad Nathan inquired, “Have you taken your insulin shot?”

“Oh! I had almost forgotten about that”, he replied.

Nathan handed the insulin shot to his dad and started making a list of all nearby pharmacy stores in his mind. That was the last injection, he knew he had to find more insulin injections or his dad might go into diabetic shock.  All he could do was to wait for the right moment. Meanwhile Mrs. Browning decided to sing an old lullaby.

“Do you remember this song? I used to sing this to you when you were in kindergarten”, she said

“Of course I do. It was my favorite”.

Her lullaby soothed their broken hearts and it gave them hope. Nathan got up and turned on the radio. He asked his dad, “Were there any announcements on the radio?”

“The radio was on all night. I just switched it off half an hour ago. I didn’t hear any announcements”.

With an anxious look on his face, Nathan took out the phone from his pocket and dialed Margaret’s number. Maybe she would have something new to tell.

“Hello, Marge. Good morning”

“Good afternoon Nathan”

He apologized for waking up so late and then they both started giggling.

“I guess the Bloodwings weren’t screaming loud enough to disturb my sleep”, he added.

“Ha ha. That’s very funny”, said Margaret sarcastically.

“Anyway, did you find out anything new about the Bloodwings? Oh! Did you manage to contact Dr. Von Hart?”

“No, I haven’t been able to find out anything else. I need to study those clumps to find out more about them. I tried to contact Dr. Hart but the network was down. I will try again later.”

“Okay, let’s focus on our plan now. I will email you the details. You know, can’t talk right now. Let me know what you think about the path selected.”

“Roger that. I am on it”, Margaret was super excited to check the details of the plan.