Chapter 2 - Trevor the friendly neighbor guy

With multiple tch sounds, the tongue clicking sounds stood a guy behind me almost breathing down my neck.

“Ah. That poor guy just wanted some water and you killed him. You didn’t even attempt to talk to him”

My heart felt like it literally jumped out of my body and my stomach just wanted to throw up whatever I had eaten that evening. Oh sweet allen, what the fuck have you done to another person. This is total murder. At least pray that is not Alvin or Camille. “I didn’t mean to do that. I really thought that was something alien and acted on the assumption that he was a threat. It was self defense”, self defense my ass. Like the guy said, you didn’t even talk to it or make contact to establish motive. You are so fucked. This is involuntary manslaughter at best. 20 years to life with no conjugal visits! Sometimes I wonder why my brain knows so much in general, because you fucking read it to sleep everyday. Focus now.

“Ha ha ha.”, laughing like a maniac, “I was just kidding. You did well kid. I am sure you had some kind of premonition that the warrior scout was going to hurt you. It was the right choice. Pray tell, how did you come up with that plan in the 5 seconds you had?”

What? I had only 5 fucking seconds to think and murder that guy? Did he say warrior scout? What the fuck is a warrior scout? I am too scared to turn and face this guy now. “I knew exactly how tall the bookshelves were. I come here often to check out books and stay in the quiet. I knew exactly where to trap that thing and then how to finish it off. All I needed was a distraction which worked out better than I expected. If the plan didn’t go well, I would have made a run for the exit on the right because that thing was holding a weapon in its right, it would have had difficult time catching up to me”, who the fuck are you dude? And why am I explaining my actions to him?

“Oh my. That is surprising. I didn’t even have any time to explain you what was happening and here you are, standing victorious. Congratulations. You have just killed a warrior scout of the ‘Seruya’ clan. They are not the brightest of the bunch nor the strongest to get done in by a falling shelf and some dusty old books. But you did well, so accept your reward and I will be on my way”

I turned around sensing no malicious intent and feeling slightly confident. The thing that talked to me looks nothing like what you would have imagined. It had no shape and looked like that liquid robot from terminator 2. Damn that was a fine movie. Ask about what this shit is? What have I gotten myself into? Is this a deliberate ploy to humiliate me later? And what the fuck is a warrior scout? Seruya? Is that something like Oprah? “Ok. Thanks for coming all this way. I’ll be leaving now”, that dude is so fucking scary. I am not asking any of those questions. I’ll be lucky if I even get out of here. And how the fuck did it breathe?

Bursting out into laughter, that ball shifting its whatever that’s flowing, spoke again, “You got lot of spunk for a kid. I like you. I am Trevor, your friendly neighbor. You can call me Trevor. Now do you have any questions for me?”

Why did he repeat Trevor twice? Is he mocking me? “Alright good sir, could you tell me what were you going to explain before I killed that thing?”, safe question!

“Your world has entered the *****[email protected]@@ phase. I am the warden of the ****@@@@ quadrant. I came to inform you inhabitants that the assimilation has begun and all of you would have to fight tooth and nail to keep your life. Also, you can call me Trevor” [Trevor]

Wow. what an asshole. Half the shit he said sounded like a bunch of made up stuff. Other half of that shit is making no sense whatsoever. May be I should ask for specifics. “Um.. Trevor, would you be kind enough to elaborate on some of the things you said? I couldn’t get everything in one go”, oh way to go myself. I think I am getting smart!

“Its understandable since you are all primitive life forms. Picture this. The universe as you know is quite large. It has more than one dimension and more than one form of energy. Some of those energies leak in between dimensions. The universal laws dictate they either assimilate these energies or eradicate them altogether. During assimilation, energies from inter-dimensional beings merge and sometimes adapt into a single dimension. This could be stable or unstable depending on a lot of factors. However, sometimes universal laws deems these changes to be too unstable and might completely eradicate or destroy everything altogether. You are right now in the former situation” [Trevor]

“So you are saying multiple dimensions exist and something is pouring into our dimension and we either die or we merge?”, how did I even manage to understand the shit he was saying.

“You are a clever one. Yes and No. But for all our purposes, you can take that as an yes. Now, if you would just claim your reward, I will be on my way. You see, I am a very busy neighbor” [Trevor]

“I have a couple of quick questions. One, is this event happening right now all over the world? Two, is there any way this can be prevented? Three, what happens from now and how do we merge?”, more than a couple of questions and why does he insist on neighbor so much? Is that like a title? [Allen]

“One, yes this is happening all over the world. Two, no this cannot be prevented. It is the universal law. Three, you fight for survival. Merging takes a lot of time. Your lifetime would possibly end before that even happens. Now, if you would just claim your reward ….” [Trevor]

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why have there been no warning? What happens to all the people who cannot fight? What happens to other life forms of this planet? What is the reward that you keep talking to me about?”. I need a minute to process all of this. Did shit really hit the fan now? Why do I have lot of questions and not enough answers? Fuck I am going to go into overload and die of brain tumor or something. That’d be a relief, wouldn’t want to die to a monster like that scout guy there.

“I care nothing about your concerns. This is the way of the universe. It has existed long before your planet was created and would likely exist long after it is forgotten from existence. Think of it as a game that came to life. Only, you could die here for real. The reward is for killing the scout”, the ball seemed to point at that dead ‘Seruya’ or whatever. “I wanted to give you a little extra for decisively acting before the game even began. Is that all your bickering? Can we proceed with the reward? I am losing my patience”. The ball either looked angry or annoyed, couldn’t really tell.

“Can I have status windows? Do I get upgraded stats? Do I make weapons or armors? What about inventory slots and monster drops?”, shut it you game maniac.

“Hmm. I am not your guide or help. Figure those out for yourself”. Refusing to answer further, the ball materialized a box or something similar to a gift box out of nowhere and prompted me to accept it. “This is your reward. It is a treasure chest. It could contain anything from the mysteries of universe to unappealing ordinary everyday junk. Make use of it however you wish. Well then goodbye”. The ball gave out a bright light and was gone.

“Man that was so surreal. I still wonder if that is a dream. Why did no one come even after this commotion?”, as I was murmuring to myself another bright light appeared and the ball was here again. I think it just wanted to bully me or may be scare the shit out of me. I am not going to agree that it’s working. I may have peed a little

“I forgot to mention this to you. Time stopped in this place and the moment you step out, it will resume. The assimilation process begins at 7:00 your time. So, you have plenty of time to warn your friends or whatever. Bye. Also, don’t go into thinking you are special. There are at least a couple of hundred thousands who have already begun” and the ball just poofed away.

Wiseass. Fuck. I totally forgot about Alvin and Camille. What happens now? Should I go out and try to warn them? I have one fucking minute, not plenty of time to warn them. I can’t even make a call from here, my cell phone is still switched off. Trevor said time stopped here, what if I stay here indefinitely, would that work? No. It’s not that simple. Time will still find a way to flow. I cannot possibly hope to delay the doomsday. It’s happening and it’s time to accept that. I can only improvise on the given situation and come up with a plan to survive at least the next three days. It is the first 72 hours of any pandemic that will cause the most damage. Mass hysteria, riots and governments unable to maintain order all happens within the first 72 hours. After which, either everything is in chaos and we adapt or the governments with a show of force retakes order. I got a library of books, indefinite time, treasure chest to ride out this apocalypse. And a dead monster of ‘Seruya’.... God damn it