Unfortunately It Doesn't End Well

Nick decided to take a walk on the beach despite the blaring siren which warned him not to. The beach was deserted. "It's pointless.." he thought, " to stay back and wait for the inevitable". He went to the shore. Nick loves the sea shore. He loved the way the water comes up to his feet and then recedes back to the sea. Only this time its going to happen in a bigger scale. A huge wall of water was coming towards him. "The wrath of mother nature" he thought, "Every Empires are built to fall before it."

"Here it comes" he said to himself. "How predictable my life has been so far. Almost like a fairytale...Unfortunately it doesn't end wel........"

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He tried his best to swallow the air by jumping towards the surface, but ended up swallowing more water. "This is it" he thought. He could feel the water getting into his lungs like pricking pins. He fought violently with the water for a while. He could almost see the cars, trees & people struggling to escape death. The wave carried him towards the city until it suddenly stopped. He was floating inside the water & somehow, he wasn't dead yet. He looked upwards to the sun through the pale brown water. He could see the sun which appeared much more bigger and brighter than usual. "Strange!" he thought. "Is this death?" he asked himself.

He looked around with his eyes. The water was getting brighter. The source of light was growing bigger. The intensity of the light reached a maximum, almost blinding him. He felt like being held by invisible hands which was pulling him upwards. "Is that?" he thought but instantly gave up on that thought. But then it came back to him again only to find itself being rejected again. But it found a weakness and broke into his head. He then started thinking "Why am i not dead yet?". Suddenly with a shock he noticed something strange about himself. He was cool. Actually cool and he could breath too. He tried to move what felt like someone's hands on someone's body with his head attached to it. They didn't answer. The light now with its intensity completely blinded him. And then Suddenly *SLUSHHHH* he was out of the water.

The water was now far below him at least that's what it felt like. Around him all he could see was an unending expanse of whiteness. "WHAT THE F***" he thought. But it actually came out as very loud words and began to make embarrassing echos.

He was floating in mid air. He quite liked it. Nothing was pulling him downwards. "Anti-Gravity?" he whispered. Now he could feel his body. He stretched his body and it felt good. The air in, wherever or whatever this is, was quite hot. His wet dress was drying up pretty fast. He turned over & laid on his stomach in mid air. He stretched his hands & legs further and fancied that he's flying. But all he could see was unending and indistinguishable whiteness all around. There was no sense of depth or length. It was like being blind or closing your eyes, except that instead of black it was white. It began to suffocate him mentally. The only relief was the sight of his own body. Somewhere in all that whiteness he saw a red spot. He tried to move towards it but in vain. It was beautiful; all white and just a red spot in the middle. But to his disappointment, it disappeared fast. For a moment it seemed like the whole, whatever it is, was becoming less brighter. Just then 3 colors appeared in front of him. Red, Blue, Green. This time they weren't just spots. It was spreading all over, whatever it is, slowly consuming the whiteness. The 3 colors mixed into each other and displayed some of the best, weirdest and the most colorful patterns he had ever seen in his life. It was a dance of colors. Colors both familiar and unfamiliar to him were taking giant shapes in front of his eyes. He was flabbergasted. For a while he enjoyed it. But the dance started to get violent. The colors shone brightly, piercing his eyes & started moving at great speed. This was more than what his brain could take. He felt like puking. His head felt like spinning. He lost the sense of orientation. He put his palms on his face & closed his eyes but the colors were still there. His head ached like it was on fire. ARGHHHHHHHH!!! he screamed.

Then everything became dark. It was all black. Suffocation again. He even felt gravity. He felt like he is falling down with great speed. He looked downwards and saw a white spot growing big as he was nearing it. And then THUD! He hit on solid floor though, at a rather lesser force compared to the speed at which it seemed, he was heading towards it.

"Hey wake up! We've gotta go!! FAST" a voice said. He tried to open his eyes completely but he couldn't. Someone was slapping him on his face. He eventually managed to open his eyes and saw that he was in a white painted room and man was grabbing him by his shirt and trying to get him up on his feet. "NICK!! NICHOLAS! Get up Nick. Get up its me. We've gotta run before they come!!!!"

Nick got on his feet and stood up

"Nash??!! Where am I?""

"There is no time to explain now RUUNN!!" saying this he grabbed Nicks hands and started to run. Nick, astonished by all this, had no choice but to go with him. "What are we running from?"

"The Droids!!"

"THE WHAT?"

"There are only 3 of them. But they're intelligent & cunning and they're fas.. Oh god there they're... !"

Nick turned back and saw three black huge balls chasing them and one of them shot something which looked like a laser, hitting the wall & instantly pulverising the impact area and creating a big hole. Now Nick started to run faster than Nash. "WHY ARE THEY AFTER US? ARE THEY .....ROBOTS?"

"YES!! NICK JUMP IN THROUGH THAT" Nash said pointing to a small outlet on the wall and both of them did. They slid down what seemed like an unending stinking pipe. Finally they fell into a large pile of rubbish. "WHAT THE HELL?? I was...at ... end ...of.. world! Niks said, panting.

"I know. Calm down. The droids wont find us in here. I've made sure of that"

"DROIDS? Minutes ago I was being sucked into the sea by a killer tsunami. Now I find myself in Star Wars? What the hell is going on?"

"Calm down."

"I am calm."

"We can't stay here forever. The droids would eventually find us."

"But you said they won't"

"Eventually, means we've got some time before they find us; time for us escape from this place"

"And what place is this?"

BOOM. A huge explosion was heard from the top.

"My god they've found us. RUN"

They ran through piles & piles of rubbish. Nick was on verge of puking but Nash was determined on getting him out. Finally they reached what looked like exit doors though they were small. "Wait, how do you know they aren't waiting outside?" "Nick, you stay here. I'll go first and check."

"No! I'll come with you."

BOOM!!! An explosion was heard.

"Somethings going on up there. The droids are up there." said Nash and he opened the small door.

"Clear. Lets go."

Nick found himself tiptoeing through air conditioned corridors. The place looked like a direct rip off from sci-fi films. The walls were white colored and had a shiny appearance. Nash was always on the alert. He looked out for hidden cameras. They finally reached a junction. Nick saw a couple of boards. He read one of them.

"Prison Block 5 -->"

"Is this an asylum?"

"Okay Nick. Let go in that direction and I'll explain."

They ran at a slow pace.

"You've been living a lie for 11years Nick.”

They heard footsteps. They got inside a room and hid themselves behind a table.

"A lie?"

"How long, do you think, since we've met?"

"I don't know...about a month?"

"Nick, we've known each other since we were little."

"What? Since we were kids? Who are you?."

Nash looked over the table and saw a silhouette of foot through the opening between the door and the floor.

"SHH! Somebody's there."

"Who are you?"

"The question is Who are YOU?"

"You know who I am.. I am Nicholas"

"No. You're not. You were brainwa.."

Nash looked over. The foot had gone.

"Hurry! Lets get outta here!!"

They slowly ran through a long corridor. At the end of it there was a room in which they went. Nash gave Nick a white uniform and a big something that looked like a gun.

"You can't walk outta here like this. You've gotta blend in. Its the guard's uniform. Don't ask me how I got these!"

"Back there you said I've been living a lie"

"Put that on V...Nick please. I said I'll explain."

He put them on. They walked out of the room. Nash, pointing at a door straight ahead, said "Behind that door is the way to escape the building. There'll be a lot of Guards in there. Just act natural. Ha Ha!! I can't believe it. It’s you who's supposed to give me courage."

"What?"

"Nick.. You were in a prison. It seems that they did something to your memories. For 11years you were in an artificial dreamworld.

"ARTIFICIAL DREAMWORLD??"

"A mental prison" saying this he opened the door.

They saw a dozen guards walking about in, what looked like a giant hub with doors all around. Another dozen were guarding few doors.

"That is our exit" he said pointing towards an guarded automatic door.

A few guards were walking towards that door. They both walked towards it but couldn't catch up with the other guards.

"We can't walk back. It’s just us now. C'mon" They walked. Before they reached the door a guard stopped them.

"Where do you think you're going John?

They were stunned. Nash almost didn't expect this.

"We just wanted some fresh air."

"Isn't the air fresh enough here John? asked the guard.

Nick didn't like the helmet he was wearing. He felt uneasy.

"Hey whats wrong with you?"

"As you can see sir he needs a little fresh air."

"You've been taking in a lot of fresh air lately. For your Information John only the best of best get selected for this job I am beginning to doubt that you're one of em fucking rats. Rebel rats."

"Sir, ...why would yo.."

"Shut up John. No body has ever escaped this prison. Its simply because the prisoners don't wanna leave. I don't want that to change because of you."

"Understood, Sir"

"Be back within 10 mins. Report to me."

"Yes, sir"

They began walking & as they walked, an alarm rung. A voice said "Prisoner 563 Missing Search The Entire Parametre. Possible Intruder".

"Everybody in your positions" said one of them.

"DON'T LOOK BACK AND RUN!"

Just then laser beams surrounded the exit.

"RUN RIGHT THROUGH IT AND DON'T STOP."

Both of them ran through it and got out. They ran out as fast as they could. Behind them the guards were catching up quickly.

It appeared to be evening time. About 4km ahead of them was a electric fence.

"There is no way out."

"I've got the keys to a ride parked in there."

Just then!

ARRGGH

Nash took a laser beam on his back.

"HEEYY!!" Nick screamed.

"Its okay. We've gotta get into the ride." said Nash painfully. Nash popped some pills into his mouth. They found the vehicle. They mounted on to what looked like a motorbike with no wheels and accellerated it to top speed. Just before few foots from the gate it took off the ground. Just as it crossed the high fence it stopped.

"Shit they stopped the engine!"

They fell downwards into a forest. Their fall was partly cushioned by the vehicle and bushes but it wasn't enough to prevent Nash's legs from breaking. Nick fell on his back into the bush. Nick got up and picked up Nash from the ground, layed him on his shoulders and ran.

"RUN NICK. Put me down. I am as good as dead!"

"NO! NEVER! Where do I go!"

"NICK put me down. They'll catch you. All of this would be a waste."

Nick didn't listen and ran as far as he could.

After a while

"Put me down nick. Put me down. I can't take it anymore. I've got things to tell"

"You can tell it to me later. Now tell me where do we go?

"Nick. I am bleeding. They put a hole in me."

Nick layed him on the ground and checked the wound. The laser burned most of the lower left side above the hip.

"What do I do! WHAT DO I DO?"

"Van..Nick listen. Its very important that you escape this place alive. Go straight ahead in that direction. You'll reach a cliff. Do you hear a waterfall. Be careful nick that you don't fall. There's a thin path by the cliff. You can't go around because they will catch you. You'll have to take that path. Carefully walk on it. I've kept ropes in case you fall. At end of it you'll find our men waiting. ARRGGH.

Nash couldn't bear the pain.

"Its okay. Its okay."

"Listen you're name is not Nick.

"What is my name?"

"Your name is Vangelis"

"Vangelis?”

"You are Vangelis The Great. The light that leads the blind. The voice of the mute. The Great Teacher. The God of our people. The Leader of the resistance against the KRONOS EMPIRE."

Nick was dumbstruck.

“Haven’t you always wondered if your life was a dream?"

"Its true" he thought He aways had fancied that the life he was living was not his. But this, he couldn’t believe.

“Look…all of this….God….. Are you sure I am the right guy??”

“Look at me Nick. I took a laser and broke my legs to save you.”

“But how can this be true?”

"They captured you 11 years ago. We thought they killed you until a month ago. Its strange that they showed mercy. There are many of us in there. They must be brought out. For over a decade we’ve been fighting The Empire who has brought nothing but fear, oppression and death. It must be brought down. Go to your people Van. You must help us. You must lead our people. The revolution has been reborn Van. It has been reborn....”

Nick ran as fast as he could, though a little hesitantly. Nash succumbed to his wounds. The name Vangelis The Great echoed in his head. It did ring a few bells. Whatever it is he has to accept this reality. The man had died trying to help him escape; the man who, if all of this is true, was his right hand, great follower & a friend to death.

He reached the cliff. The water was atleast a 1000ms below. He saw the path by the cliff. If he slips, he'll go straight into the river.

He slowly held to the rock and bits of vegetation. Just as Nash had said he found ropes. He grabbed it. He walked sideways slowly.

Just then he heard a voice. He tried to look towards it's direction. But he told himself to concentrate on getting to them. He carefully put his next step. Unfortunately he put it on loose rock. He fell. He grabbed the rope. The rope broke. He slid down the rocky surface. His legs hit on a rock and he was thrown away from the rocky surface into free fall. He plunged into the, not very shallow, rocky river. He hit his head on a boulder. Nick cried in pain in the water. Nick looked up and tried to swim. He saw vague images in his eyes. Long forgotten thoughts now came back to him. Nick slowly started to loose consciousness.

"I must be dying." he thought.

He felt weak.

He closed his eyes.

Nick slowly lost his consciousness.

Nicholas Frank thus died in the river.

THE END