Gehenna Lost, 11-12 1 As Adam stares at the starry night in confusion he awaits for the message, an angel perhaps, or a bottle at the shore of the skyline, something that will tell him what to do and when to do it. Every day at the dawn of morning around three, he looks up through mask with a glance of hope in his eyes to one day see *** It is the year 2159; most of the human race has the foggy gas his father. been wiped out by war, famine, and a common foe. Fifty years ago the world went into a deep state of war over scarce resources; diamonds, gold and silver where no longer precious as water, food and shelter for the billions of people on earth had become far more valuable, causing inflation in economies and ultimately taking the world into a third war. Twenty five years in to the war, a cowardly act by the United States left the world in ruins, Sargent. Moloch took command of the powerful country and proceeded to take as many resources as possible then bomb each continent with five nuclear warheads, but not before leading his “superior race” into a nearby planet which was recently found to have the necessary conditions to live in. He acknowledged that what he did was terrible but a necessary sacrifice for the survival of the race. The new planet was named Gehenna after the Sargent’s daughter, as the beautiful girl gave a new shed of hope in times of perdition to both the pure and the wicked. Few countries saw this coming but there was no stopping a nation as big as the United States so they led few of its people into underground chambers where most of the population died due to hunger, radiation and a constant anarchy state as no one seemed to be in charge. Twenty years later when the world stabilized, all nations Gehenna Lost, 11-12 2 joined together to create a super power that vowed to destroy the common enemy and live through as a human race. The few leaders who survived began to gather the resources and geniuses around the globe to build an army worthy of fighting: an army of strong men with intelligent thought and tactical abilities which the name of “The angels of hope”. Adams father, Gabriel, was chosen to be a leader in the French fleet due to his impressive flying abilities and mechanical thought, yet it has been five years and he has yet to return from Gehenna with any news. Eva, Gabriel’s partner gave birth to Adam in Normandy while he was on tour - during the process of birth Eva was killed in an attempt to save resources for humanity, the sacrifice was considered noble because she did it so that Adam could survive as she often would foretell that he would do great things in life, she knew he would bring back paradise. Adam was fed the remains of Eva except for the hard rib cage which upon her death became a solid rock, the anarchist buried the rock so that Adam would never know the truth, any other toddler would have not lived without the sufficient nutrients and milk from her mother but he was an odd and unusual case. After three years Eva’s rib cage grew into a beautiful apple tree that boggled everyone’s mind because it did not receive any sunlight or water but only her son could eat from this holy tree because it seemed to be too toxic for anyone else; so in the spirit of not wasting resources Adam lived of her dead mothers Apple tree without ever knowing it was hers. Adam was different as he was one of the few children born in the caves with no notable deformities like other infants who were exposed to the extreme Gehenna Lost, 11-12 3 radiation from the nuclear outcome. Adam had one deformity but he kept this a secrete as only he knew its true potential. The child could feel everything a lot more than regular humans, his sense of smell, sight, hearing, and touch seemed to be a lot stronger than everyone else to the point where he spent a lot of his childhood isolated next to his diseased mother’s apple tree where no one dared to come close. He did not feel anger or resentment towards those who treated him indifferently, instead he remained a lonely but all knowing child. Adam also had an infinite amount of knowledge at his power, everything he ever learned stuck and he quickly applied it to the real world with the help of his powerful senses. The youngster grew in isolation and began to embark on journeys to learn everything he could, from the great leaders in history to scientist that changed the way we lived, he would sneaked into the outside world to stranded libraries that where for the most part destroyed or burnt; risking his own life in the process with only a gas mask to protect him. This outside world is what the underground anarchist called the paradise-lost, or the “forgotten land”. If the cave people ever found out what he did they would ban him from the underground city; fortunately he was so ignored no one ever did. Adams whole life was filled by curios thoughts of the outer space and Gehenna, something besides the dirty cave where no one seemed to acknowledge him. When Adam hit the age of nineteen the Angels of hope army came through recruiting and he did not hesitate to join where thanks to his abilities Adam was successful in the training and extensive exercises that where given to him – but that came with a cost. He traveled a long Gehenna Lost, 11-12 4 distance and brought his apple along with him to a space ship located relatively close to Gehenna only to get rejected once more by the Angels. Many people in the army saw him as a freak, an abnormal, and the a-social wallflower, so no one followed him or ever took him as the leader he deserved to be. Despite his best efforts to fit in with the society his supernatural senses always got in the way of peoples commodity. He would meet the generals of the angels to discuss war tactics that he knew would work because of his extensive studies in the libraries but he was rejected along with everyone else in the army. He was used to this type of rejection so each night in his bunk he would remind himself that “I know better than them, Nikolas Tesla knew better and he did great things, just wait and watch” He repeated this over and over again to a cut out page with a picture of the mythical electrician. Adam continued to train and learn, he knew one day he would be needed and that day would be the day he could be remembered for the things he did in his life. Even so, he never lost his calm and remained focus at the task at hand, Gehenna. Ten years have gone by and Adam still lives in the space station. One night as Adam slept in the bunkers the yellow warning siren set off and everyone got in to assigned positions. The commander of the fleet came in and explained the situation, “We have been observing Gehenna for a while now, and it seems as do the planet has gone into somewhat of a chaos, we must act now for it is our only chance of retaking what is rightfully ours”. Adam observed the screen and saw what was once a beautiful blue planet being tarred down by a pit of fire, He was exited to prove himself useful in times of need so he quickly got in to the Gehenna Lost, 11-12 5 ship along with his fleet companions in the month long voyage to Gehenna. During this time spent in solitude, Adam carefully studied the situation that caused the planet to suddenly burn, he analyzed gravitational statistics and odd electrical pulls the world was giving off, the information did not fit in... something was missing. Adam flashed the red alert and contacted the general, he warned them to not attack, but rather defend the planer, for the people within where innocent. The general was appalled and order an arrest capture for they considered Adam had become insane and a traitor. Adam knew that the planet could not take an attack for its gravitation pull and electrical impulses would cause an imbalance in the thin nature of the godly world but once again he was rejected and ordered to be apprehended at once. Adam in the impulse of the moment decided to run and take a leap of faith, he used his knowledge in gravity to impulse his ship out of the way and into a void that would make him disappear in the dead of space but get him closer to Gehenna. That same night he landed in a stranded part of the planet, he took a fresh breath of clean air, looked around at all the animals and plants that glowed at the sight of the sun and he smiled, he smiled because he knew he was where he needed to be, a world full of curiosities and endless possibilities. Adam hid his ship and packed some apples to take with him on the journey, with the help of his graphical positioning system he arrived to the main city that was covered in flames and destruction, in the center Sargent. Moloch sat in a thrown with his now beautiful daughter that smirked as huge line of starving people sacrificed family members in the hopes of getting food and resources to live. Above Sargent. Moloch, a sign that Gehenna Lost, 11-12 6 read, “Sacrifices are the necessary means to survive. One must die for the other to live” Guards with helmets stood by as the crowed followed and did as ordered. Adam watch horrified and appalled behind one of the structures of the city with beautifully painted roman symbols on it. As he looked over the horrible scenery a bearded man approached him and whispered “You are not from here are you? – Are you from earth?” Adam terrified stood still as he tightened his fists, “don’t worry, I am from earth as well young man” He stopped and stared at the old bearded man. The man walked away silently and Adam knew he had to follow him, nearly instinctively, he knew this man was to be trusted from just looking at his eyes. The man explained the situation Gehenna was going through, he explained how Moloch lied and took large amounts of unknowingly humans to the planet to quench his thirst for sacrifice and suffering, he talked about old earth and how there was once enough for everyone but it seemed as if the whole earths had been cleaned off thanks to Moloch’s supernatural powers, Moloch had taken over one world and planned to take over the next. Adam never said one word to this man, he just attentively followed and listened to what appeared to be a very old wise man. “In the midst of Chaos” he said, “If we don’t end war, war will end us”. Adam once more sat in silence as he thought of that quote from H.G Wells. “I am dying son” the old man said, “follow the dirt road to the right, the road less taken. That road will lead you to your fate” The man seemed as if he had rested, completed his job in life, Adam would dare to ask him who he was but knew that was not needed, and instead he followed the dirt road and left the senior behind. The journey was long, it took Adam three days until he finally Gehenna Lost, 11-12 7 reached a cave with giant metal doors. Before he knocked the doors opened and Adam was welcomed. Hundreds of men whispered at his sight, African, Indians, Americans, Asians; they all whispered at the sight of Adam and his apple, “The prophecy” they all said in inside voices. Adam did not understand but he followed the trail to the darker section of the cave. When he got there he was greeted by three men, known as the Magi. Melchior one of the men thanked him for coming, Caspar vowed, and Balthazar revealed Adams only faith. He was destined to bring back paradise. They gifted him three essential items for his fight against Moloch, Melchior gave the young man gold, gold to remember his old self and to never forget where he came from, gold because they know such things could not be found in Gehenna. Caspar gave young Adam Frankincense which would help him control his supernatural senses, with this strange element Adam could either abuse his powers or control them, but he knew Adam would do the right thing. Balthazar gave Adam the last of his items, Myrrh, the minted scented residue of a plant that would allow his mind to never be corrupted by the powers of Moloch. Adam proceeded to warn the three leaders of the secrete sect that the planet would be destroyed by the angels of hope, the three leaders dismissed young Adam and told him not to worry; it would all be taken care of. Adam embarked on a journey to the city accompanied by five other people from the sect who would help him on whatever he needed. The future was uncertain and so was Adam, but what followed would determine humanities future. The End Gehenna Lost, 11-12 8