A New Beginning In A Mana Apocalypse

In my room I tossed all the clothes I could grab into my personal s.p.a.ce. It was the basic function of my s.p.a.ce ability. At level one it could create a ten feet cube for me to store things, I made a seven feet cube and saved the rest of the "s.p.a.ce" for other uses. After the clothes went my tech, batteries, solar charger, then every drink and snack I had hidden in my room. Next came blankets and anything else I could think of, I thought about putting my mattress inside but settled for the futon cushion off the couch I used to sit on for my gaming. It made my room a bit tight but it fit and was comfortable. I rolled it up first before putting it inside but that didn"t stop it from taking up a lot of s.p.a.ce. A quick reconsider had me changing the s.p.a.ce size to a ten by ten room that was seven feet tall. It left me with a three hundred cubic feet for later but I stopped. After thinking for a moment I searched the info I had on my s.p.a.ce ability. The ten feet cube was the max amount of s.p.a.ce I could create, but it was fluid. With a thought I changed my s.p.a.ce into an eleven feet by eleven feet room with a eight feet ceiling. It didn"t use all of the thousand cubic feet I was capable of, but it was most of it. At level one I couldn"t use my s.p.a.ce ability to attack anyways. However the last thirty two cubic feet could make a good shield. I think. I needed to try it out as soon as I got a chance.

With my s.p.a.ce finally set I headed down stairs to find Megan watching the TV avidly. I glanced at the television to see a news article showing people running out of the closest mall.

"No information has been released as to where these beings have appeared from but sightings have been limited to the Phoenix, Arizona region, and all occurrences have been violent. With every confirmed sightings of the beings there have been casualties." the news reporter explained from off screen as more people rushed out of the mall, then the image changed to an overhead view of a shopping center. There was blood and bodies on the ground as a large green man roared angrily at a group of police officers. A red man was standing nearby beating in the head of another man. The police officers opened fire on the green man, hitting him in the chest and causing him to stumble back.

"If you encounter these beings do not engage them. They are incredibly dangerous, and difficult to subdue." the reporter told us. As if proving the reporters words the green man didn"t fall even after taking all those bullets.

Hearing the gunshots the red man stopped bashing in the other man"s skull and looked over. He stood up and rushed over to help. While he wasn"t the flash he was very quick reaching the police before they could react. It wasn"t pretty.

"Shouldn"t you go help?" Megan asked looking at me. Her face was pale and obviously scared.

I shook my head. "No." I replied.

"What about the whole, with great power comes great responsibility, thing" Megan argued animatedly.

"This is not a comic, or some movie." I replied then walked into the kitchen. "Grab whatever clothes and things you want to keep around." I yelled at her. "Michael"s too." I added.

"Are we leaving?" Megan asked from the door to the kitchen as I raided the pantry for anything I could store in my s.p.a.ce. I didn"t have the time ability so I couldn"t freeze the time of anything meaning the perishables had to stay, unless…

"Daryl?" Megan called out again sounding scared.

I sighed then looked at her. "I don"t know. I pa.s.sed out and got abilities, I can understand how to use some of it, and I am sure I can figure out more later, but I won"t be the only one, add that to those beings out there and we are going to have chaos soon." I told her. "Call Michael and tell him to get back here fast. We need to stick together, things will get worse before they get better."

Megan swallowed nervously then nodded and disappeared.

Taking my own advice I dialed my best friend Arnold.

"Daryl? Have you seen the news?" he asked in a rush. As a fellow nerd he had to be freaking out right now.

"Zombie Apocalypse Protocol." I told him quickly trying to cut off his deterioration into panic mode.

"Huh?" Arnold asked surprised. "They aren"t zombies." Arnold argued.

"The protocol still works though." I replied as I tossed heavy packages of water bottles into my s.p.a.ce. Thankfully my step mother liked to shop in bulk.

Thinking about my step mom reminded me of my parents. None were in the state right now. My dad and step-mom had just flown out to Washington to visit her mother. My mother and her boyfriend had flown out to Hawaii for a vacation a few days ago. Momma, my ex step-mother who had raised me lived in Colorado with her new husband.

Once I was done talking to Arnold I would call them and warn them. I had no proof, not even the information I got with my ability told me anything about what was going on, but I was certain it was going to spread. If I was wrong, then it would be a pleasant surprise.

"You sure?" Arnold asked me.

"Yeah, get all your s.h.i.t together and get out of there, bring whoever you want and trust." I told him.

"Where are we meeting?" Arnold asked.

"My place is fine, most of the houses here are still empty." I responded.

"On the way." Arnold replied then hung up.

I kept tossing everything we could eat into my s.p.a.ce then went into the garage to grab the cooler into which I dumped all the ice we had before tossing it into my s.p.a.ce. The fridge would make more ice while I could get an idea how fast it would melt in my s.p.a.ce. I could add the meat and other perishables later. As one of my abilities was fire I wasn"t worried about cooking it later.

Thinking about cooking reminded me to grab the pots, pans, and silverware, metal and plastic, and everything else I could think of which we could use if we needed to run. Appliances like the toaster and blender didn"t make the cut. My s.p.a.ce was limited.

Megan had returned to the living room to watch the news report, a few suitcases full of clothes for her and Michael sitting beside her. Along with a makeup case and oh whatever. I tossed all of it into my s.p.a.ce.

Megan saw it all disappear and shivered. "Could you fit me in there?" she asked.

I nodded.

"G.o.d help us all." Megan said drawing the cross in front of her. "The psychopath has a hidden s.p.a.ce." she said mockingly, obviously she had caught onto the idea quickly. Then again while not obvious she was also a nerd herself. I had introduced her to light novels, though our tastes didn"t collide. I liked the transported or summoned to a magic world type, while she was all about the cold and powerful CEO, or mob boss romances. Though I had caught her dipping into other genres before.

"Think what a real psychopath could do." I reminded her.

"Did you think I was talking about you? For you I would call it a dog house." Megan retorted then giggled. "You will probably find a way to farm in there sooner or later."

"I haven"t sent anything living inside yet, want to be the guinea pig?" I asked.

Megan shivered then turned her attention back to the television. Another location where the beings were was on the screen, this time it was a red man, a red woman, and a green couple. It was b.l.o.o.d.y and bad. The cops were there and firing away, as I watched the red woman fell down. The others tried to shield her but more cops were arriving. An order must have been pa.s.sed around because the new cops started shooting immediately.

"At least they can kill them." Megan murmured.

"The governor has just informed us that the president has declared a state of emergency and marshaled the national guard to help with subduing the beings when they appear." the reporter announced after the image moved back to the studio. "All citizens are encouraged to stay indoors until the situation has been resolved."

"Did you get a hold of Michael?" I asked Megan.

"Yeah, he and Karen are on their way back." Megan replied.

I felt a stab in my heart but I ignored it. Not the time.

A loud scream from outside disturbed my thoughts.