Chapter 2: Cure Evolver

Year 2069

***

The rustic metallic roll-up screeched as the people behind strained to open it. With only one eye exposed behind the concrete foundation, he spied on potential intruders. Luckily, the wide foundation concealed his body from them.

Three went in, flashlights gleaming against pitch darkness. The persistent rain drenched their clothes. A female and two males, had twenty or so ages, with their rifles, clad in an unkempt way of tattered clothing. As soon as they entered the premises, they nimbly scattered into a triangle formation maintaining a safe distance from each other. They executed hand signals that Luke could not comprehend.

'They probably noticed the drone and my glow stick,' Luke assessed, gawking at the faint green light meekly illuminating one corner.

He regretted having not memorized the meaning of these signals during his training. One thing was sure though, they were military. Perhaps, the Movement members finally arrived to fetch him. But he waited for the code to verify. He got to be careful though, Bugmen looked the same as them, only aliens controlled them, hacking human brains while maintaining human form.

Humans called the aliens bugs because, in their true forms, they looked like spiders wrapped in thick translucent white skin. They had bodies like worms, sharp pointy talon tails, and their half-a-meter oversized legs permitted fast movement and could manducate human flesh so easily. After a few minutes inside human hosts, these bugs clasped themselves in human spinal cords and the control would take place from there, sustaining human memories and innate human skills. That's what makes the Bugmen dangerous if they infiltrated world leaders, which they did, exploiting human previous knowledge and experience.

"Are you sure about the coordinates?" The female asked his comrade.

"Yes. This is it. Maybe the time is mixed up." The male one responded checking on his equipment.

Unsure that they were from the Movement, the human military representatives that battled the invading aliens for decades and enlisted military personnel from 2030 traveled through a portal to the year 2069, Luke remained obscured behind the mercy of a cylindrical concrete column.

Unfortunately, the progress seemed to deteriorate. Meanwhile, humankind had discovered that these aliens were vulnerable to diseases as humans do. Hence, a Virus evolver was called for a necessity. But only to the selected few - the rarity of human blood that could only evolve viruses successfully without compromising one's health.

'Code please, c'mon,' Luke thought almost impatient.

The three closed on him, each footfall raised a heartbeat. If he tried to fight and escape, he would be outflanked and outmatched. He had a small body frame at nineteen, and facing three well-trained individuals would be conclusive for his death.

'There is no escaping this,' He thought, assessing further the surroundings to where his eyes permitted him to grasp.

"State your names," Surprising them, Luke aimed his handgun at the female a few meters from him amidst the disorientation apparent in his blurred aim. He exposed only half of his body with his hand outstretched for his gun. Startled, the two comrades quickened their senses and aimed their rifles at Luke while the female remained nonchalant.

"Rain had been pouring this season," The female said neglecting the gun, her rifle aimlessly pointing at the ground.

It was the code. Luke remembered it.

"Tomorrow will be a sunny day," Luke responded. It had to be the exact words, no more no less. Or else, they would suspect him as one of the Bugmen.

Then they were disengaged. A deep sigh was perceptible from one male comrade.

"Luke. Welcome to 2069." The female said and Luke came out from hiding.

"What took you so long?" Luke responded and placed his handgun inside his knapsack. The female soldier smiled upon pondering on his weapon.

"We intercepted bugs on the way here. We have to eliminate them." She said while wiping her wet forehead with a cloth. The others settled on the ground, grabbing their respective knapsacks, and scrambling supplies.

"Are you sure you are not followed?" Luke asked. Even though he lacked the training as a combatant, he had the utmost awareness of how the Bugmen operated.

"No. That I am sure of it. Calyx here bombed them." She pointed to a guy with thick eyebrows, a fair complexion, and wavy hair. While the other had curls on his hair, dark skin, and deep eyes. The female had blonde hair, a heart-shaped face, and smoky eyes. Apparently, they were soldiers sourced from different countries, as their appearances suggested.

"That one right there is Kristo," she introduced. "And I am Nica."

"I am Luke. The Virus Evolver," Luke released a cough. The remnants of meat itched his throat. They exchanged nods and smiles.

"So, you are one of the few," Nica said.

"One of the few? What do you know about me?" Luke asked.

"Well, you have a rare bloodline. One in a hundred million." Nica responded.

"Rare bloodline? That's new." Kristo asked. He activated the lamps that illuminated a portion of the encroaching darkness.

"Yes. His blood has this immunity over the virus genome that we are creating. We can't mutate these viruses without the blood of the immune. It has to feed with human blood, the immune ones, to stabilize its mutation." Nica explained.

"How do you know so much about it?" Luke asked.

"You are not the first, Luke. You are the second they sent with the same objective as you." Nica said.

"What happened to the first?" That question delivered a cold chill down his spine.

"Dead." Nica said, "The likes of you are hunted now. They know about the evolvers and they know your objective."

"Dead? How?"

"Ambushed. He was daring and stupid. He wanted to be alone. He talked about being contaminated as he collected the materials for virus mutation. So, he went alone and was killed. Therefore, you are our priority number one now, Luke."

"Jameson, yeah. He was daring." Calyx interjected. "Poor kid. Such a waste."

"Where is his virus right now?" Luke asked.

"Destroyed by the Bugmen. They know about the evolver and so, they destroyed his lab. Unfortunately, they found him and killed him." Nica said. "The Bugmen even have their anti-virus and Jameson had to mutate the virus even further as a workaround for the cure."

"Anti-virus? Command did not tell me that the Bugmen are making a cure."

"It's just new. They found out that we are using viruses as a weapon, and their scientists are also making a cure on their own. You have to be artistic enough to battle against the cure."

This was what he anticipated. The Bugmen would retaliate knowing about a weaponized virus. In theory, the cure works the same way as a virus evolver. It meant that the Bugmen had also found a way to manufacture a cure and perhaps, had found someone with a rare bloodline.

Kristo handed him an opened canned meat. It was just the same as he had back in his timeline. "Here, I know you are hungry."

"How did you manage a canned good here?" Luke asked.

"From our timeline. There are no canned goods here. We raise our own livestock. "How was home?" Kristo was talking about their timeline in 2030. Apparently, these soldiers had not tasted home for years. Behind their eyes, there was sadness and suffering. On his shoulders carried a tremendous amount of pressure.

"The Bugmen don't quit. They attacked our facilities, destroying potential weapons that could defeat them in this timeline." Luke responded.

"Eat, Luke," Nica interjected. "After this, we will go to our camp. You can set up there. The enemy will come here after knowing their scouts are dead."