The Hopeful- Part One

prologue

No one would have guessed that what some people claim as the most cataclysmic event in the history of Earth would have happened deep into the summer of the year 2009. Not the pastors of the churches, who were waiting for the day that their Lord would return to take them to paradise with him had warning of this event. No where could they turn in the Holy Book to find a prediction of this massive destruction that swept the world. Not the fortune tellers or telephone psychics, who made quick easy money by filling customers minds with useless nonsense. No, the event that some people call “The Lurching” was totally unexpected on Earth, and the consequences of these events were devastating. This is the story of a small group of people who learned a great secret they never should have; the group of people who rebelled against corrupt powers; this is the story about the Hopeful.

part i.

In the late 08’s, the massive government manufacturing company “N-Genius” released an enormous secret machine to the US government. It was so enormous, in fact, that it was carried by a large military plane to a base deep in a remote deserted area of Arizona. On May 18th, this large aircraft was seen over the states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and of course, Arizona.
Foreign nations and conspiracy nuts viewed it as a threat to safety, whereas the remainder of American citizens thought they should know what it was. At American citizens’ stubborn persistence, the president revealed its nature: a massive viewing machine that took detailed snapshots and reading of deep space to reveal what lived in that great mass, or as most people viewed it, “a really big telescope.” However disappointing this reveal was (many people expected- maybe even wanted- it to be a weapon) was the topic of many dinner conversations. One of the families who chatted about the “big telescope” was the Ruthier family, located in Arizona.
Igor Ruthier, father of two, married to Robin Ruthier, was the one who brought it up. “I don’t see what the big deal about that big ol’ telescope is,” he said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes. He was a small guy, and worked as a dentist.
“This could give us information about planets that we haven’t even seen before,” said Robin, the beautiful slender psychiatrist in the family.
“And how are we gonna get there is what I’m wondering,” Replied Igor.
To that, Robin shrugged and took a sip of her iced tea.
“I bet they’re lookin’ for E.T.,” said the 16 year old oldest son, Jason,
“I doubt it,” said the ever intelligent younger brother, Eustace, age 8.
“That was actually sarcasm, Eustace.”
“What?”
“Forget about it.”
Jason reached for a bread roll to put on his plate of ham, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Igor made a grunting noise that Jason recognized as the noise his father made when he was thinking hard; a rare and often disappointing occasion. Jason pretended he did not hear his dad, but Eustace asked the question.
“What, Dad?”
“Well,” said Igor. “I was just thinking... maybe Jason is on to something.”
“Like I said,” sighed Jason. “I was joking.”
“Yeah, I know,” said Igor, straightening up as if to really focus on how to put his thoughts into words. “But, I mean, the government has always been interested in aliens, right?”
Jason wanted to say, “No, they haven’t dad, but hey, at least you tried”, but instead he nodded and cut a bite of pork to eat. When he looked up, he was surprised to see that everyone else was all ears to Igor.
“Well, this would be their perfect opportunity to find the little aliens.”
“I guess so,” said Robin, the main supply of intelligence in the family. “But why would they spend so much on it now, when they don’t seem to have spent too much time on it previously?”
Igor put on his thinking face and said, “Maybe they’ve found something big.” He said, more like a question then a statement. Robin sighed then changed the subject to something about Jason’s academics, at which Jason quickly finished up his dinner and headed off to his room. In his opinion, his family was having what he called a “stupid-burst” and wanted to leave them to it. What he did not realize was that his family had
pretty much hit the bulls-eye with their suggestion.

***

Less than a year later, seven-teen year old Jason stumbled out of the front door of his house and recalled this that seemingly innocuous moment at the dinner table. He looked up at the sky expecting to see a giant steel disk with a green beam coming down and wreaking havoc on the citizens of Arizona. Rather, he saw the red dawn sky, tainted black with what appeared to be ash. Tears welling up in his eyes, Jason
looked back at the tiny neighborhood he lived in. Then he wept. The houses around him, including his, had fallen in. In a giant shake- but not an earthquake- had rocked the foundations of the buildings which buckled and let the roofs simply fall in. The lucky ones houses stayed at least upright, with some of the bottom floor (if it was a two-
story) intact. Jason was a lucky one. However, he was the only one who slept on the ground floor. He didn’t check on his family members; he didn’t have the guts. Some of his neighbors were not as lucky as him.Their walls caved in and their house fell over, crushing those inside. In the distance, Jason saw the Falte Mansion. The once glorious building was now somehow miraculously leaning forward supported by a fallen and unrecognizable piece of wood, with most of the back crushed. Also, it was ablaze. Jason had found the source of smoke. The problem with the mansion was that it was up on a hill that led straight to the main road through the little town in Arizona. With the way the fire was going, the Mansion would soon collapse and fall right on to that little road.
As Jason was wiping tears from his eyes, he heard a great snap, followed by a groan and a crash that could be heard at least a mile away. He whirled around and saw that what remained of the roof of his house fall inward. In despair, he fell to the ground. For a good five minutes he lay there, crying, until he heard a shuffling noise and a cough. He lifted his head slowly and saw that his father Igor stood there, his left arm
bleeding furiously. “Son.” He said, hoarsely.
“Dad!” Jason said, wiping his tears once more. What ha-”
All of the sudden there was another jerk of the Earth, this one much more violent, knocking down both Igor and his son, and the rest of their house. As Jason slamed into the ground, all he saw was the Earth. The shaking lasted for about three or four minutes, and in the middle of it ther was a loud booming noise, followed by a cracking noise and a jolt of movement that made Jason’s stomache flip-flop as if he was
going down the slope of a rollercoaster. Something knocked into him and knocked his breath out. Finally, the shaking stopped. Jason lay on the ground in fetal postition, holding onto himself like his life depended on it. He looked up. The first thing he noticed was that the ground around him was uneven. It was like an earthquake had occured during the shaking, like they were two different things. The elevation could be fairly level and suddenly rise up to six feet straight up. Jason was on a slight depression, only about three feet deep. As he climbed out, however, he realized his father was not so lucky. He was at the bottom of a twenty foot drop straight down. Judging from the position he had propped himself into, Jason guessed that his arms and maybe one of his ribs were broken. His father was moaning. “Dad!” Shouted Jason.
“Son,” he said. “I’m sorry I’m so quiet. A piece of-” He coughed and grasped his throat as though he was in great pain. “A piece of wood,” he continued, this time more slowly. “got lodged in my throat or something. I can’t talk well.”
“Dad it’s-”
“Son, let me talk.” He was not stern in his voice, but his command was apparent. Jason kept silent. “I know I’ve been kind of a bad father and not payed as much attention to you as I should have. I don’t want you to remember me by that though. I want you to rember me as a dad who... who cared. I love your mother... and I love you and your brother.” He coughed once more, this time bringing up something that Jason thought
was blood. He groaned again. He tried to speak but could not. With a last cough, he slowly passed away.
Jason stood. What had once been an ordinary life had turned into a whirlwind of destruction. Two giant lurches had shaken the Earth and it’s inhabitants. The sky had become black with ash and millions of households had been destroyed. There were a few lucky survivors, Jason among them. They had to bond together and hold on to the only two things that could possibly help them; hope, and eachother.