The Mayflower Project, Chapter 1: "The End" - Page 2

Toastburner B · 06-30-2005, 01:35 PM

He couldn't remember the name of this song. He couldn't remember where he had learned it or if he made it up.

But it suited his mood perfectly, so he played it.

He was sitting on the roof of the home of Congressman...the late Congressman Demmington and his wife, looking over the grounds. A few groundskeepers worked to clean up from the mess of the funeral.

Poor souls. Raynard thought to himself. Might as well leave the mess. It's going to be gone in four days, anyways. You shouldn't be spending the last few days of your life cleaning someone else's mess.

He looked down as he played. Sarah Marie Demmington slept in his shadow, leaning against the stool he sat on. She hadn't left his side since her parents died.

Why me? Raynard thought. It wasn't a complaint, just a question. Why is she with me? Should she be with her family...

Raynard stopped playing. For all intents and purposed, he was her family. He had been the bodyguard for her family since before she was born. She had grown up around him, thought him part of her family.

Ray took a deep breath, and closed his eyes against the tears. All the Demmingtons had treated him like family. And now they were dead. The least he could do was to make sure their daughter had a chance to survive past the end of the world.

He looked at the young girl again, just eleven years old. Chances were she wouldn't even survive the hibernation process.

God, Ray said silently, I know you must be mighty mad at us to throw that rock our way...but please make sure she makes it, will you? Even if I don't...watch out for her.

With new zeal, Raynard launched himself into the song again, louder than before. The ground-crew looked up as the melancholy song reached their ears. They smiled sadly, thinking that Ray was playing the tune out of the sorrow for the death of their mutual employer.

They would never know that Ray was playing it out of mourning for the world.

lazy man · 06-30-2005, 02:09 PM

Mark had spent the past few days staying up in his room. He was one of the people to go on the Mayflower, but because of some of the things he had to do before he left, he felt he didn't belong there. He couldn't bear the burden of telling his friends that he was going to be launched off the planet in some 'Noah's Ark'. The fact that he couldn't even get near them now not only made him depressed, but almost sick. He felt like crying, but couldn't for reasons unknown to himself. He just felt like staying on Earth and living things through to the end instead of feeling like this.

"Mark, get down here and get something to eat!" his mom shouted up from the kitchen. Pulling himself up, Mark got off his bed and went to the door, then lumbered down the hall and stairs. Entering the kitchen, Mark noticed the empty spot on the kitchen table. His dad hadn't come home again. He was always so busy working on the Mayflower, trying to keep it working until the moment it took off.

"Mom, do you really think this is right? I'd rather just stay here..." Mark grumbled.

"I know what you mean, Mark, but this is very important. Everyone who's going on this thing probably doesn't want to go either, so you'll just have to live with it."

"But I never even got to tell my friends goodbye... I feel like I betrayed them..." Mark could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but they didn't come out. He didn't know how or why he was holding them back, but he was. Sitting down to eat Mark didn't even think about his appetite. He had barely eaten the day before and hadn't eaten yet today, so his hunger was catching up on him. All this sadness was really affecting his hunger, and he never did think about being hungry until he actually saw some food.

"We all feel like that. Believe me, I don't want to go as much as you, but I have to, and so do you."

"This still doesn't feel right..." Mark muttered after swallowing a mouth full of food.

Squishy Cheeks · 07-01-2005, 07:12 PM

Why? Why didn't we shoot this rock out of the sky? We have a large enough arsenal to destroy our planet 50 times over, why couldn't they at least knock this rock off course. This plan seems so stupid to me, There is no gaurentee the ship will reach it's final destination, no gaurentee that the cryogenic sleeping pods will unfreeze us in any condition to live. No garentee that we'll even find a habitable world when we wake up. The likely result is we will leave this world only to find that we only delayed the inevitable extinction of man by a few days, months, or years. The nearest star is 4 light years away, it will be centuries before we reach there.

CelesJessa · 07-01-2005, 09:02 PM

(OOC: if you haven't posted yet, be sure to get your character caught up.)

Kaitlyn froze dead in her tracks, staring at her television. It was still at least a couple days from the estimated time of blast off, but she had a feeling that that couple of days had just turned into a couple of hours.

Her eyes were glued to the television, yet she wasn't watching. Her mind was replaying the video from the live feed that was shown just moments ago. A chunk of rock from the asteroid had reached earth preemptively, landing within the city of New York. The damage was not much less than a nuclear exploasion. In a matter of seconds, The Big Apple was decimated. But the worst part of it, Kaitlyn realized with a sick feeling, was that this pebble harolded what was to come to the entire world. If a "pebble" from this asteroid could do so much damage, there was little question as to what the whole thing could do. There was no way to hide the truth from everyone now, and just in a matter of time, pandemonium would sweep the world.

Before too long, a dark black van appeared at their house, and Kaitlyn and her family were wisked away, as she left, she shot one last glace at her home, it was the last time she would be able to see those ugly pink flamingos in the yard, the lawn would never be mowed again, she thought, it seemed like a silly thing to think of at a time like that, but it made the whole event seem even more sad and pathetic than it really was. She felt a tug on her arm and looked down to see Keren, looked the most afraid he had been since news of the asteroid had come. Kaitlyn hugged Keren close to him, choking down her own fear and panic for the sake of her brother.

At last they arrived at the spaceport, as they drew close to the gate, they saw hordes of people massing outside, armed army personel had been deployed to keep civilians away from the launch site, and to keep them from rioting. As the van approached the gate, shouting, screaming at them. In a matter of moments, marines had circled the van, keeping the people back as the van entered the space center.

Time seemed to race by as her family was herded out of the car, and into a waiting room, where other families who were going to be on the Mayflower were standing as the crew made final preparations. Marines were positioned at all entrances and exits of the room, completely armed. Others were going through the crowd, making sure nobody had brought any additional luggage.

"Please," She heard a voice begging right behind her, she turned to see a man, in his early 30s, pleading with a female marine. She was trying to ease a large teddy bear from the man's arms, "This belonged to my daughter...." His wife was hugging him as the marine explained that no belongings bigger than what one could fit in their pockets could go on the ship. Gently, the marine eased the bear from his arms, the man looked at the empty space where the bear had once been and seemed to hug the invisable space, tears streaming down his cheeks. Kaitlyn heard a muffled sob, then realized it had come from herself, tears pouring down her own cheeks, as she held her brother's hand tightly.

(OOC: we're all going to be brought to this room, so if you want to start interacting with each other, you can. (not that you need permission, heh)

Squishy Cheeks · 07-01-2005, 09:22 PM

Thomas sighed and tucked the pen into the spine of his notebook. He wa one of the first in the room, since he was being kept on the base while the techs and scientists studied him to make sure he was in good mental and physical health.

Dante · 07-01-2005, 09:27 PM

"Get in there."

The orderlies shoved Daniel through the open door and closed it behind him with a metallic thunk. He looked around. There was only one other man in the room, holding a notebook.

Daniel felt strangely vulnerable here. He decided to break the ice by calling out to the stranger.

"Greetings. You are here for the Mayflower project?"

Shadow Otenaki · 07-01-2005, 09:51 PM

His eyes peered onto the carpet as he held his head low. A sigh just left his mouth and filled the air. Then suddenly he heard tires rolling onto his driveway. They had come. Now was the time to leave to board that Mayflower. He sat up from the sofa and answered the door seconds before they rang the doorbell.

�Hey, I've been expecting you.� He gives the men in black a slight smirk as he closed and locked the door behind him. He took one last look of the keys to his house and just chucked them into the sky.

�I won't be needing those anymore...� He followed the men in black into the black truck, which then drove on to the launch site. The windows were tinted, so Taiki looked out and saw a mass crowd out there.

He patted the pocket where his lucky pencil resided in as they pulled to a stop. The crowed roared even louder when they spotted him being led into the room where the 'Chosen Eighty' would meet up. The only one he spotted had been a young boy and what looked like his elder sister. He raised an eyebrow because for some reason, she intrigued him. Taiki decided to walk towards her direction. This probably wasn't the right time to be doing this, but he chose to nonchalantly stand by her.

�So, you were chosen too, huh?� he glanced his eyes towards her. �I wonder what other types of people will be coming...� he said as he grasped his hands from behind.

Nathano · 07-01-2005, 10:18 PM

As they were heading to the barracks so Kay could change, a black van pulled up and two men stepped out. Stopping, they waited for them. "We need you to come with us. Several asteroids have already impacted on earth and the launch date has been moved up. You will be joining the others shortly." Following them to the van they got in. As they got closer to the launch site, lagre crowds were forming. Passing the gate, Kay saw the marines guarding the entrance. Pulling up to one of the buildings on the grounds, they got out and were lead to a room. Approaching the door, the guards snapped to attention. Going through, one of them spoke up, "Sorry Sir, but you will have to leave your rifle here." Handing it over, they stepped trough the door and into a room with other people. Looking around Kay thought that these must be others selected to go on the Mayflower. Seeing two seats by a table, Kay lead Amy there and they sat down to wait.

Toastburner B · 07-02-2005, 12:07 AM

As he walked into the room, Raynard's bodyguard instincts took over at first. He guided the little girl behind him as he stopped in the doorway to scope out the room.

Oh, stop it, you moron. he thought to himself. Most of these people probably have never held a real weapon in their entire life...except the solider over there. Raynard said, recognizing the solider from his haircut.

Ray looked behind him. "You okay, Sarah?"

"Yeah." The girl said. "I'm alright."

Raynard lead Sarah over to a couple of seats where he could keep an eye on people coming in the room. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Truce · 07-02-2005, 01:20 AM

Everything had happened so fast. The "pebble" fell, the black vans came, and suddenly he was in a room full of strangers. He hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye. Henry couldn't handle it, and with every passing moment the pressure he felt grew bigger and bigger.

And then the phone in his pocket vibrated.

Even if it was only by a little, he calmed down, and answered it. His father was on the end, telling him everything would be alright, and for some reason Henry believed him.

06-30-2005, 01:35 PM	#11
Toastburner B Toasty has left the building Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Hiding...because I don't want to die. Posts: 3,936	He couldn't remember the name of this song. He couldn't remember where he had learned it or if he made it up. But it suited his mood perfectly, so he played it. He was sitting on the roof of the home of Congressman...the late Congressman Demmington and his wife, looking over the grounds. A few groundskeepers worked to clean up from the mess of the funeral. Poor souls. Raynard thought to himself. Might as well leave the mess. It's going to be gone in four days, anyways. You shouldn't be spending the last few days of your life cleaning someone else's mess. He looked down as he played. Sarah Marie Demmington slept in his shadow, leaning against the stool he sat on. She hadn't left his side since her parents died. Why me? Raynard thought. It wasn't a complaint, just a question. Why is she with me? Should she be with her family... Raynard stopped playing. For all intents and purposed, he was her family. He had been the bodyguard for her family since before she was born. She had grown up around him, thought him part of her family. Ray took a deep breath, and closed his eyes against the tears. All the Demmingtons had treated him like family. And now they were dead. The least he could do was to make sure their daughter had a chance to survive past the end of the world. He looked at the young girl again, just eleven years old. Chances were she wouldn't even survive the hibernation process. God, Ray said silently, I know you must be mighty mad at us to throw that rock our way...but please make sure she makes it, will you? Even if I don't...watch out for her. With new zeal, Raynard launched himself into the song again, louder than before. The ground-crew looked up as the melancholy song reached their ears. They smiled sadly, thinking that Ray was playing the tune out of the sorrow for the death of their mutual employer. They would never know that Ray was playing it out of mourning for the world. __________________ I came, I saw, I got team-killed. A lot.

07-01-2005, 09:02 PM	#14
CelesJessa DA-DA-DA-DAA DAA DAA DA DA-DAAAAAA! Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Zanzibar Land Posts: 6,531	(OOC: if you haven't posted yet, be sure to get your character caught up.) Kaitlyn froze dead in her tracks, staring at her television. It was still at least a couple days from the estimated time of blast off, but she had a feeling that that couple of days had just turned into a couple of hours. Her eyes were glued to the television, yet she wasn't watching. Her mind was replaying the video from the live feed that was shown just moments ago. A chunk of rock from the asteroid had reached earth preemptively, landing within the city of New York. The damage was not much less than a nuclear exploasion. In a matter of seconds, The Big Apple was decimated. But the worst part of it, Kaitlyn realized with a sick feeling, was that this pebble harolded what was to come to the entire world. If a "pebble" from this asteroid could do so much damage, there was little question as to what the whole thing could do. There was no way to hide the truth from everyone now, and just in a matter of time, pandemonium would sweep the world. Before too long, a dark black van appeared at their house, and Kaitlyn and her family were wisked away, as she left, she shot one last glace at her home, it was the last time she would be able to see those ugly pink flamingos in the yard, the lawn would never be mowed again, she thought, it seemed like a silly thing to think of at a time like that, but it made the whole event seem even more sad and pathetic than it really was. She felt a tug on her arm and looked down to see Keren, looked the most afraid he had been since news of the asteroid had come. Kaitlyn hugged Keren close to him, choking down her own fear and panic for the sake of her brother. At last they arrived at the spaceport, as they drew close to the gate, they saw hordes of people massing outside, armed army personel had been deployed to keep civilians away from the launch site, and to keep them from rioting. As the van approached the gate, shouting, screaming at them. In a matter of moments, marines had circled the van, keeping the people back as the van entered the space center. Time seemed to race by as her family was herded out of the car, and into a waiting room, where other families who were going to be on the Mayflower were standing as the crew made final preparations. Marines were positioned at all entrances and exits of the room, completely armed. Others were going through the crowd, making sure nobody had brought any additional luggage. "Please," She heard a voice begging right behind her, she turned to see a man, in his early 30s, pleading with a female marine. She was trying to ease a large teddy bear from the man's arms, "This belonged to my daughter...." His wife was hugging him as the marine explained that no belongings bigger than what one could fit in their pockets could go on the ship. Gently, the marine eased the bear from his arms, the man looked at the empty space where the bear had once been and seemed to hug the invisable space, tears streaming down his cheeks. Kaitlyn heard a muffled sob, then realized it had come from herself, tears pouring down her own cheeks, as she held her brother's hand tightly. (OOC: we're all going to be brought to this room, so if you want to start interacting with each other, you can. (not that you need permission, heh) __________________

07-02-2005, 12:07 AM	#19
Toastburner B Toasty has left the building Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Hiding...because I don't want to die. Posts: 3,936	As he walked into the room, Raynard's bodyguard instincts took over at first. He guided the little girl behind him as he stopped in the doorway to scope out the room. Oh, stop it, you moron. he thought to himself. Most of these people probably have never held a real weapon in their entire life...except the solider over there. Raynard said, recognizing the solider from his haircut. Ray looked behind him. "You okay, Sarah?" "Yeah." The girl said. "I'm alright." Raynard lead Sarah over to a couple of seats where he could keep an eye on people coming in the room. Old habits die hard, I guess. __________________ I came, I saw, I got team-killed. A lot.

06-30-2005, 02:09 PM	#12
lazy man Harrumph! Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: My not-so-humble abode Posts: 2,891	Mark had spent the past few days staying up in his room. He was one of the people to go on the Mayflower, but because of some of the things he had to do before he left, he felt he didn't belong there. He couldn't bear the burden of telling his friends that he was going to be launched off the planet in some 'Noah's Ark'. The fact that he couldn't even get near them now not only made him depressed, but almost sick. He felt like crying, but couldn't for reasons unknown to himself. He just felt like staying on Earth and living things through to the end instead of feeling like this. "Mark, get down here and get something to eat!" his mom shouted up from the kitchen. Pulling himself up, Mark got off his bed and went to the door, then lumbered down the hall and stairs. Entering the kitchen, Mark noticed the empty spot on the kitchen table. His dad hadn't come home again. He was always so busy working on the Mayflower, trying to keep it working until the moment it took off. "Mom, do you really think this is right? I'd rather just stay here..." Mark grumbled. "I know what you mean, Mark, but this is very important. Everyone who's going on this thing probably doesn't want to go either, so you'll just have to live with it." "But I never even got to tell my friends goodbye... I feel like I betrayed them..." Mark could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but they didn't come out. He didn't know how or why he was holding them back, but he was. Sitting down to eat Mark didn't even think about his appetite. He had barely eaten the day before and hadn't eaten yet today, so his hunger was catching up on him. All this sadness was really affecting his hunger, and he never did think about being hungry until he actually saw some food. "We all feel like that. Believe me, I don't want to go as much as you, but I have to, and so do you." "This still doesn't feel right..." Mark muttered after swallowing a mouth full of food.

07-01-2005, 09:27 PM	#16
Dante Sent to the cornfield Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Crushing the weak beneath the iron jackboots of tyranny Posts: 7,703	"Get in there." The orderlies shoved Daniel through the open door and closed it behind him with a metallic thunk. He looked around. There was only one other man in the room, holding a notebook. Daniel felt strangely vulnerable here. He decided to break the ice by calling out to the stranger. "Greetings. You are here for the Mayflower project?"

07-01-2005, 09:51 PM	#17
Shadow Otenaki Aspiring Writer Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Southern California Posts: 59	His eyes peered onto the carpet as he held his head low. A sigh just left his mouth and filled the air. Then suddenly he heard tires rolling onto his driveway. They had come. Now was the time to leave to board that Mayflower. He sat up from the sofa and answered the door seconds before they rang the doorbell. �Hey, I've been expecting you.� He gives the men in black a slight smirk as he closed and locked the door behind him. He took one last look of the keys to his house and just chucked them into the sky. �I won't be needing those anymore...� He followed the men in black into the black truck, which then drove on to the launch site. The windows were tinted, so Taiki looked out and saw a mass crowd out there. He patted the pocket where his lucky pencil resided in as they pulled to a stop. The crowed roared even louder when they spotted him being led into the room where the 'Chosen Eighty' would meet up. The only one he spotted had been a young boy and what looked like his elder sister. He raised an eyebrow because for some reason, she intrigued him. Taiki decided to walk towards her direction. This probably wasn't the right time to be doing this, but he chose to nonchalantly stand by her. �So, you were chosen too, huh?� he glanced his eyes towards her. �I wonder what other types of people will be coming...� he said as he grasped his hands from behind.

07-01-2005, 10:18 PM	#18
Nathano death from the shadows Join Date: May 2005 Location: in the shadows Posts: 227	As they were heading to the barracks so Kay could change, a black van pulled up and two men stepped out. Stopping, they waited for them. "We need you to come with us. Several asteroids have already impacted on earth and the launch date has been moved up. You will be joining the others shortly." Following them to the van they got in. As they got closer to the launch site, lagre crowds were forming. Passing the gate, Kay saw the marines guarding the entrance. Pulling up to one of the buildings on the grounds, they got out and were lead to a room. Approaching the door, the guards snapped to attention. Going through, one of them spoke up, "Sorry Sir, but you will have to leave your rifle here." Handing it over, they stepped trough the door and into a room with other people. Looking around Kay thought that these must be others selected to go on the Mayflower. Seeing two seats by a table, Kay lead Amy there and they sat down to wait.

07-02-2005, 01:20 AM	#20
Truce Lakitu Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 3,856	Everything had happened so fast. The "pebble" fell, the black vans came, and suddenly he was in a room full of strangers. He hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye. Henry couldn't handle it, and with every passing moment the pressure he felt grew bigger and bigger. And then the phone in his pocket vibrated. Even if it was only by a little, he calmed down, and answered it. His father was on the end, telling him everything would be alright, and for some reason Henry believed him.