The Proposed Prophecies

“Ship! Ship!” One of the men on the beach yelled. But Liv didn’t even care. She continued to lay on the wet sand and stared at the rainbow and sun that had started to peek out of the clouds. She hadn’t seen a rainbow or the sun for such a long time.

“Liv?” she saw Carmen sitting up out of the corner of her eye, holding her still bleeding head. “I am so sorry. I know I shouldn’t have lied but you don’t know how fast the water was rising and the bunker was falling apart. Alters were fighting and I couldn’t find Becky. It was a chaos and there was no way to…” Her voice stopped. Liv sat up and touched the sand. Her mind went blank for a while now. “Liv?” Carmen said again and Liv felt her hand on her shoulder. But Liv was unable to talk, unable to feel or to think.

“I love you and I would never forgive myself for letting you go down there.”

Liv kept staring at the blue ocean and the high waves that moved the big ship approaching the shore from side to side. She wasn’t even angry at Carmen anymore. She would have done the same thing, she thought. But it was hard to look at her, to look at anyone at that point. People continued to cry and yell all around her. She wondered how many people had been buried under the ground. She felt Carmen’s head on her shoulder and Liv placed her cheek on Carmen’s messy wet hair.

The ship was approaching and Liv heard people clapping their hands. It was long and heavy and dark grey and reminded her of a military ship

“We should get in line to board,” Carmen said after a while and got up. “Liv?” she said her name again. Liv looked up at her. The sun shined right above Carmen. “I am going to check out the ship. I will come back soon.” Carmen started to walk away. Liv laid back down again. The sun was slowly getting warmer with each second.

Suddenly she could hear Carmen’s voice again yelling her name. “Liv!” She sat up and noticed Carmen running towards her. She sounded as if she was gasping for some air as she reached her. “I found Joann,” she said and gasped for some more air. “She is up front with some of the Alters and Jake. He said he needs to talk to you,” she added. Liv thought she must have misheard. “Who?”

“Joann and Jake.” Carmen repeated again.

“Jake is dead. Joann shot him right in front of my eyes.” Carmen raised her eyebrows. “Why would Joann shoot him? He is very alive, unless I am hallucinating.“ Liv’s mind kept repeating the scene where Joann had killed him. Her face, her trembling hand as she held on to the gun and Jake’s body falling onto the ground. Liv remembered the thick material on Jake’s uniform, it had always felt so heavy and bullet proof. “But there was blood everywhere and on the sheets.” She thought out loud. “Liv? What are you talking about?”. “Evan has to choose me in order for me to become a commander and he either has to step down or to die.” She remembered his exact voice from the night he shared his plan with her. “You need to convince him to make Eve step down.” His voice sounded like an echo.

“Liv?” She looked at Carmen, whose eyes were popping out just like the day at the motel where they saw an infected person for the first time. “This can’t be true!”

“You scare me.” Carmen’s voice sounded worried and low.

Liv started to run, thrusting people out of the way as scenes of the past repeated themselves in front of her like chain of events, over and over again. Eve, Joann, the gun shot, Jake’s lifeless body. Liv’s anger made her legs run faster. She realized everything had been a game and she had been outplayed “Jake!” she kept yelling and running and eventually falling onto the sand. Her knees buried deep and her hands supported her body from sinking completely. She got up again and continued running to the ship. She passed the line of people. “The line is at the end sweetheart,” an older man said with his arms crossed. “I have to get onto the ship,” Liv said “We all do,” he added.

“Liv?” the voice calling her name was familiar and yet confusing. She was afraid to turn around to face the truth. She wished she was buried by the sand or crushed by the waves for a change. “Let’s take a walk.” Liv slowly turned around. Jake was standing right there. Alive and untouched. She wasn’t sure if she was dreaming. Suddenly she felt his hand on hers, just like the night before he was shot in front of her eyes. He started to walk and pulled her hand. His boots looked like they barely touched the sand whereas Liv’s sneakers buried deep each time she made a step. They walked for a while without a word, leaving the crowd of people and Alters lining up for the ship.

The sun shined brightly and the clouds disappeared. The ocean looked calmer and the waves became gentle.

She couldn’t follow anymore. “I saw you die,” she said and stopped. He stopped too as she let go of his hand. “I am sorry, I had to play it this way. But I need you to understand that Eve needed to be stopped and only Evan was able to do it, but he would never do that if you hadn’t been around him.”

“So you used me? And tricked me so I could play along with your game?” She turned towards the ocean. “I could have convinced Evan without all these games of yours.” She turned to him as he stepped beside her. “I know you could,” he said and paused. “But Evan would never step down if you hadn’t spent that time with him. He would never have given up the post so easily if I hadn’t told him the truth.” Liv realized that the plan hadn’t even been about her, it was about stringing Evan all along. “What are you talking about? What truth?” she raised her voice as the anger spread through her veins.

“The truth about you loving me and the fact that you were only around him to complete my plan. I told him the truth shortly before the election, which made him disappointed and he stepped down and chose me as his next in command. He knows he can’t be a good commander as he was so easily played by you and me.” He said. “That’s not true, no!” said Liv. “I didn’t know. I would have never done this if I had known that this is what you planned.” She felt upset and started walking away, holding her head and breathing heavily. She thought of Evan and what he would think of her right now. He probably hated her, she thought. “Liv, everything worked out just like I had planned and now we can be together,” he said. “How could you do this to me? I loved you!” She turned around again and felt too shocked to even cry.

“I am sorry but now you can have whatever you want. There are no limitations. You can have the whole earth if you want or even better. You can have the whole universe. With me leading the Alters we can have it all.”

“I don’t want to have it all!” her tears finally found their way out once she turned around and yelled. “I don’t want the earth. I don’t want it,” she yelled. “I just wanted you. I wanted us to be happy and safe, that’s all I ever wanted.” She lowered her voice.

“Liv,” he reached his hand towards her but she moved away. “Don’t touch me,” she whispered. “I saw the blood everywhere. How did you do it?” she asked quietly. “I used some special effects and Joann didn’t use real bullets. I needed Eve to think I was dead. She would have killed me and this was the only way to survive.” She remembered Joann’s words about sometimes doing the impossible to survive.

“Jake!” Liv heard Joann’s voice from the crowd of people. He stepped in front of Liv and looked at her as if he was in hurry.

“I want you to be with me. I know you are angry right now but maybe you can forgive me in time. And think of the baby too. We can be a family and the Alters can stay here on Earth.”

“I think you should go.” She said as everything felt too heavy to be dealing with. Slowly, she turned around. “I love you and I always will, no matter what happens in the future and despite what happened in the past.” This was exactly what he had said before he faked his death. “I have to go,” she said and walked back to the line of people waiting to board the ship. It was warm and sunny. A light wind blew her hair from side to side.

She heard her name called from the crowd. It was Carmen yelling. She was at the start of the line, ready to board with Joann. “Are you alright?” Carmen asked but Liv didn’t respond. Joann stood right next to her and raised her eyebrow. “I need to talk to you,” Liv said and pulled Carmen aside, giving Joann stank eye. She told Carmen about Joann and Jake and their plan. “Joann is not who you think she is.” She saw Carmen’s world slowly crashing in her eyes. Liv remembered the way Carmen had looked at Joann. Telling her about Joann was just as hard as telling Tiffany about her brother Evan back in Miami. Tiffany had never truly believed her but Carmen seemed to believe it. She didn’t even try to argue or make excuses for Joann. “I knew she was too good to be true. Plus I always found it strange that they didn’t kill her when the guards found her in my room. She just said she was lucky and it was a miracle,” said Carmen quietly. Liv placed her hand on Carmen’s shoulder. She felt guilty that she had been the one who’d had to tell Carmen. Liv realized that they had both been outplayed. Perhaps Eve wasn’t so wrong after all. Jake wanted to stay on Earth with the other Alters, ruling it. But now that she thought about it, maybe Eve was right. Maybe the world needed to be reestablished. It was time to complete the proposal and for the Alters to leave.

“What do you want to do now?” Carmen asked and it wasn’t a question that was hard to answer. “I want to find Evan,” Liv said, as if all she wanted was to explain the unexplainable. As hard as she thought about it, it was hard to come up with the right explanation. Joann approached with Jake and smiled. “I think you should think of the baby right now, L.” Joann said. Liv narrowed her eyes and stepped in front of Joann. Only Tiffany was allowed to call her L. “I can punch your other eye too.” Liv raised her voice and Carmen pulled her back. “Let’s board, Liv,” Carmen said quietly and Joann started to laugh. “That’s right! You should board and head into a worse situation than you were in here,” Joann added. “That’s enough!” Jake raised his voice. “What are you talking about?” Liv looked at Joann and then at Jake. “Isn’t that obvious? Alters are staying on Earth and we don’t need to follow the proposal anymore. Even if you reach a safe city it will be slavery for human kind as they rely on our pity.”

“I said that’s enough!” Jake raised his voice again and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Joann. Suddenly the gun reminded Liv of Jake’s faked death and Evan. “I am only telling the truth,” Joann said and looked back at Liv. “There is no more Evan to save you. You broke his heart and now he hates you.” Carmen pushed her. “Hey, what is this about?” Carmen raised her voice. “Get onto the ship!” Jake ordered and Liv could not stop staring at him. She felt used and lied to and each time she thought of Evan and what she had caused she couldn’t breathe and a sudden pain overtook her body and she dropped to her side. She held on to her belly as it felt like it was about to tear her apart. The pain was paralyzing to the point she couldn’t breathe. “She needs help!” She heard Carmen yelling. “We need a doctor! She is bleeding,” she added. She saw Joann standing above her and Jake calling her name. She felt his arms lifting her up. Her vision was becoming blurry and she blacked out from the pain.

When she opened her eyes again, her sight was still blurry. “She is giving birth,” she heard someone say. It was an older female voice. The pain was agonizing and it felt worse than any other pain she had ever felt. She saw the lights above her head and sensed unfamiliar people around her. The room was dark, with only a small amount of light above her head “Where am I?” She mumbled and someone leaned closer, opening her left eye and shining a light that blinded her for a while. She did the same to the right eye. “You are in the ship. We are trying to get you into the hospital. You are about to give a birth,” she said.

The pain started again and this time Liv couldn’t stop screaming from the pain. The lady in front of her, who was dressed in doctor’s overalls, had a bloody knife in her hand. She felt as if all her blood had been drained and all control had been taken from her. Even her voice was quiet, as the pain was unbearable. “She needs sedation,” the doctor said and she heard many more voices enter the room creating a cacophony of sound. Suddenly she felt an overwhelming tiredness and it felt as if she was falling asleep, but then all of a sudden she still heard a crying baby. “It’s a girl.” The doctor raised her voice. “A girl?” Liv tried to say but each word came out slowly as the tiredness completely overtook her ability to talk. “We have given you some sleeping medicine. It’s going to be alright,” said the doctor. Her vision blurred again and the voices around her were lost into the darkness.