The Other Earth - Derek Schumacher (good novels to read .TXT) 📗

of all things? Everyone in his family is dead, all that's left is him. He doesn't want to be alone. He wants his mom, his dad, his brother. He wants someone, someone to be there with him.

But there wasn't anyone to be there. Everyone was gone, except him. He was alone, on an entire planet. Everyone was gone, all of them gone because of these creatures. These shades have ruined everything, his entire life has been thrown off the rails. So now what? What's Marcus supposed to do? Wait till one of those things comes and kills him too? It's only a matter of time. A matter of time till everything is over.

Marcus stares at the body. He really was gone. His brother was gone.

Overcome

Everything was dark, so dark. It was cold, and he couldn't tell where he was. But he knew who he was. He was Neil Bright, the brother of Marcus Bright, son of William and Rubie. A man that had been thrown into an existential crisis within himself. A man who was torn from his life by ungodly creatures of unknown origin, creatures he called shades.

These shades had forced humanity to leave the Other Earth because of their unbelievable violence. They closed in on the humans, killing more and more each day. But, even after evacuation, there were still people who remained. People who had gone to live out in the wilderness of this new planet. They weren't as fortunate as the others.

These people were hunted down, slowly, and without warning. It seemed that these shades enjoyed toying with their prey, watching them succeed, just to tear them down, and down into the ground. But, Neil would be the last one to suffer this fate. He would make sure of it.

He would make sure that no other person should have to suffer the way he did, being forced into a life of nothingness and a life of no emotion. To become a husk, one that wasn't really living, but one that had to wait until they lost their minds and became shades, or overcame whatever was inside of them, and became something else.

Except, no one has ever won this battle. No one. Until today. Neil was determined to change everything, for the sake of his fallen family members, and for his brother. He would find a way to grow strong enough to destroy them. He would kill the shades, one by one, just as they had killed the humans, one by one.

He would ignite the flames within himself, and release the pent up frustration and anger. He would burn all of it to the ground, everything will be destroyed. He will not stop until they are all gone. He will protect his brother no matter what, he will protect everyone no matter what. No one will die at the hands of a shade ever again.

Neil began to feel it within himself, the hole growing full once again. A hole that had been eaten into him when he drowned, but will soon be refilled, with pure rage. Nothing will be able to stop him once he's done overcoming this thing, this thing inside of him.

Suddently, he began to see fire. Fire, everywhere. The flames that would be used to purge the Other Earth, to make sure that no shade will survive. They will not win, no, they would lose. They would lose absolutely everything, their home, their people, their lives. Nothing would be spared in the wake of the flames. Neil would be sure of it.

Another spark began to grow. He felt his entire body begin to heat up, from it's cold and dead previous state. Soon, it would be more alive than anything else. Nothing would put out the flames of revenge, of true anger and hatred.

The thing was, would it be enough? Maybe Neil would have to give up a little bit more, just to make sure everything is destroyed. He can't afford to lose, to fail. He would let down every single human. But especially the fallen, and more than anyone, his brother. He wanted him to be safe from the shades. The fire would be used as a weapon against the darkness.

It will burn and burn, an eternal flame to purify the planet. Everything will be purged. It will all be clean. Neil would make sure of it, he would make certain.

The Other Earth will burn.

Fire

Good Afternoon, Today is September 30, 2118.

 

It had been nearly a half an hour. Marcus sat there, looking at his brother's body, still with no signs of life. He still couldn't come to grips with it, that he was really gone. It crushed everything in his body. It hurt more than death would.

Suddently, something began to happen. He noticed that something began to gather around the body. It was like some kind of smoke. Actually, it was smoke, like, smoke from a fire. But, it just showed up out of nowhere. How does that work? Marcus slowly stepped backwards, unsure of what was going on.

Then, in an instant, his brother's body became engulfed in flames. Marcus yelped and jumped backwards, the heat more intense than anything he had ever felt. The man stared in awe, confusion, and terror. This made absolutely no sense, first his brother comes back from the dead, then he kills himself, then lights on fire? At this point, he figured he was really losing it this time.

The body began to rise to it's feet, as if it was alive once again. This was insane. Marcus stared in horror as his father's corpse, burning in fire, stood up, and looked down at him. He didn't dare speak up, for he didn't know what it would do to whatever it was that he was looking at. Was this really his brother, standing in front of him? Or was it some unholy devil creature, who possessed his body, and lit his body aflame?

Neil then opened his eyes, the color of them being orange, his pupils melting into sharp slits in the middle of his eyes. He continued to stare at his brother, unaware he was actually there. After a minute or two, Neil turned and began to walk away, moving towards the hill riddled forest, the other way the river went.

With every step, flames spread from Neil's feet. Before long, Marcus watched the grass around him begin to catch on fire. He screamed and got up, running to the river. The entire field had begun to burn down, and it wouldn't be long before the entire forest was destroyed. With that much fuel for the fire, this thing would be unstoppable.

He watched his brother walk away, off into the other side of the field, the flames swirling around his body as he dissapears from view. Marcus coughed and wheezed, the smoke already spreading all around him. He looked around, and then realized where he should go. He should try and make it back to the mountain lake. There would be plenty of water, and the stone ground around it shouldn't catch fire. Thing was, he would have to outrun this blaze, before he was cooked himself. They say that being burned alive is the most painful death imaginable, and Marcus didn't feel like testing it.

The man began to make his way back the way he came, watching the ship he made it to the planet becoming covered in flames, and melt. After that, he turned, and began to run upstream, his destination being the mountain lake. He wasn't sure how quickly the fire would spread, but hopefully not as fast as he could run.

The sound of his feet pounding the ground was almost nullified by the enormous roaring of the flames behind him. He didn't dare look back, for that if he did, he might slow down too much, and not be able to catch back up to speed in time, and would be charred. Marcus loved barbacue, but not when he's on the menu.

As he continued to run, he noticed the river's water steam up, the heat from the fire making it boil, the water vapor rising up and coating the sky, in combination with the massive amounts of smoke rising around the area. Before long, the entire forest region would be suffocated in black smoke. Marcus just needed to keep running, and make sure not to slow down. It wouldn't be long before he reached the hut, which would be the halfway point. At least, he thought it was halfway. It probably wasn't, but he didn't really have time for any kind of indepth thinking.

In no time, Marcus watched the bridge shoot by as he sprinted past. It was a real shame that all that work his brother did was about to go up in flames, but then again, Neil was doing the burning, so should he really feel sorry for him? Probably not, but the man still felt bad for everything. It didn't deserve to be treated like this, to be burned to the ground. Sure, the shades deserve it whole-heartedly, but not all these trees and other parts of nature. Suddently, it seemed like Marcus cared a whole lot about nature. Everything burning around sure must have that effect on people.

His breathing became more and more sporatic, wheezing and coughing in between breaths. The smoke was beginning to cover everything as far as the eye could see. Thing was, the smoke spread much faster than the flames, which made it practically impossible to outrun. And, to make things even more difficult for Marcus, because he was running, he would be forced to take in much more smoke than he had hoped for. But a bit of smoke in his lungs was better than being burned to death.

Everything had happened so fast, and the man was still attempting to piece things together. What did all of this mean? He might have an answer, but it was still incredibly crazy. But, then again, was his father ever wrong? He had trusted him whole heartedly ever since he was young, and had been very close to him. Maybe it was true.

The man heard his head pound, his heart pumping blood two fold within his body. Adrenaline began to kick in high amounts, causing Marcus to be able to run even faster. He wasn't sure how long this little self-created boost would last, but he hoped that it would be a good while before he tired out. Because once an adrenaline rush ends, the body grows stiff and