Zaphina Amijad
Zaphina watched the sizzling corpse tip over as she slowly lowered her outstretched hand. The burnt flesh tickled her nose with that utterly awful, smell she had grown used to. A tear rolled down her cheek as she realized what she had done. They used to be friends…
She looked down on her baby daughter. Her sweet face was buried in her breast. She had slept through the bloodshed. How perfect she was. How sweet and innocent she looked. All the love in the universe couldn't measure up to the love she felt for Kariya.
Another fire was shot and Zaphina instinctively crouched while holding Kariya close to her body. She turned her good eye to the field and scouted for anyone who dared to harm her. None were to be seen except those either dead, unconscious, or fleeing. The shot had come from her own people, firing at those who were on the run.
The chase wouldn't be worth it. Her own battery was almost drained, and she imagined the others were low as well. They had done it. The field was theirs. Covered with fire, smoke, body parts…just like she remembered.
"It's over." Raymond panted, almost out of breath. "We've won."
"The war is won when the last of these vermin are nothing but ash in the soil!" Kathy spat and began charging her palm, aiming at one of the unconscious men, before Raymond swiftly grabbed her wrist, forcing it down and away from the victim of Kathy's vengeance.
"Do you know where we are?" Raymond asked harshly, looking at Kathy.
"No," Kathy said. "Does it matter?"
"Yes, it matters!" Raymond let go of his grip around Kathy's wrist. "And maybe one of them knows. We will take them with us. And then…then we will see."
Zaphina clutched Kariya closer to her chest. She wasn't particularly happy about having those people around her child, that was for sure. This place was unlike anything she had seen before, and yet something about it evoked a sense of…familiarity. Yet that was all. She remembered the buzzing gate, the crumbling fortifications, the sky burning with crimson flames, the shouting of people as the army was closing in all around them. But this here…this was only a desert, as barren and devoid of life as they come. A mass grave for those she had killed.
"Everyone remembers, I assume?" Raymond asked.
Kathy nodded at one of the bodies, tipping it over with her boot. "I think we've established that. Old grudges die hard."
"But what happened to us," Zaphina said. "It's impossible."
"Quite so," Raymond said. "And yet intriguingly…here we are. Alive."
Zaphina wasn't sure what to make of all of this. They were here. In a place that seemed like home. The smell of the air. The sight of the stars. The firm soil beneath her feet. It was Earth. She died on Earth, together with the rest. Now, she was back… how? Was it like a second chance, given to them? By whom? She looked at her sweet Kariya and realized it didn't matter, at least not that much. Her daughter was alive.
"Zaphina," Raymond said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "There is one way to figure out when we are…and only one of us can do it."
"You think it's been that long?" Zaphina asked.
Raymond nodded. "I fear it has been even longer."
Zaphina sighed, hoping he was wrong somehow. Closing her right eye, her world switched from a blend of colors to an overlay of varying grid-like patterns. Her robotic eye still functioned, which didn't really tell her anything come to think of it.
She took a single breath and steeled herself before gazing toward the stars, easily picking out their alignment. As the truth became apparent to her, her jaw gaped open and her breathing quickened.
"N-no," Zaphina gasped. "Th-that's…what…h-how?"
"Zaphina?" Kathy asked anxiously. "Zaphina, what's wrong?"
The panic in her tone was justified. Zaphina could barely utter a proper sentence herself. It required all her strength to muster the words. Kathryn was right. How could she be right? Something was wrong, but the truth was written on the night sky. The stars never lied. She swallowed the lump in her throat and shut both her eyes. As she opened them again, they were wet from the tears of realization in aspects of both love and shock. She then took a good, hard look at all of them, and they were all looking back at her with eager, desperate eyes.
"Well?" Raymond asked. "How much has passed since we died?"
Zaphina rubbed her chin, not exactly sure how to break it to them. The only way that seemed right was the direct way. No filters just the plain truth. She could feel her mouth tremble and her body shiver just by thinking about it.
"At least half a million years," Zaphina said. "If not more."
All color vanished from Kathy's face. Raymond covered his eyes with the palm of his hand. The rest of those around her were either muttering, yelling or outright stunned. No one had been trained for this.
"What does that mean?" Kathy asked. "For us?"
"It means this is our last chance," Raymond said, now looking at the whole lot of them. "We're at the end of the line, and we are out of time. This is our last chance to set things right before it all ends. For real, this time."