Other Future

Since the incidents, everything changed. Time dilation and flip in space gave us insight into the future. It was something that came in glimpses, but one day it happened and it never reverted back to normal. It is redundant to say that world plunged into chaos. Nobody could explain why humans could see their death minutes before it happened. It was clear we had to adapt to our new way of living. Wars and side effects were so great, there was a generation of soldiers that suffered from a new level of PTSD.

Still, there were wars, a mechanic and remotely operated drones swapped places with meat. Now superpowers oppress others who are underdeveloped and incompetent to defend themselves. Of course, there was an answer for that. If properly harnessed, this was a power soldier used to foresee their death and evade it. I was one of them.

– Five minutes till it arrives. – Franco said looking at his watch, then he laid his head on a scorched helicopter carcass and stared at the cloudy sky, – Do you see it? – he asked by habit and smirked at me while I absently loaded a magazine.

– Yup. Rockets, fire, two overpasses and a good shot in his CPU component. I saw it. – I replied my head stuck down, eyes running left and right over the busy fingers.

– You also saw me, right? Do I live in your version of the future? – he asked again, but this time a little more stressed which he tried to conceal with a meaningless shake of a head.

– You live. If you get to cover in time… You live. – I gave him a wink and a smile with it, perhaps I felt generous, so I got up and started walking away, where crumbling dirt beneath my feet gave him a pause to think.

– Oh, yeah. I see it now. I always wondered how you can see farther than me. Damn time distortion. It gives me nightmares. Sometimes I don’t know was it a dream or a vision. – he laughed also getting to his feet, spat on the ground and snorted in the stench of a burning building.

Drone glided in a slow buzz that bounced against the walls, hiding its exact location. A part of his wing peeped for a second while he turned to frisk the ruins and a rusty tank in the middle of the street. With a short glide left, he entered my sight, just enough for me to take aim at it.

Trilling shot sparked over his protective panel. The machine turned and took a look at me. Franco was on my side, covered with the scorched bus roof where he took a knee and waited for me to lure the “bird” in. With a nod, I signaled him to get ready and started to run. Instantly, boosters on the machine ignited and he gave me a chase.

Both of his guns rattled at me, raising dusty pillars off the ground while a stream of fire comets raced the surface like hounds in pursuit. I jumped into the gap, crawled through the tunnel. Drone fire was close by so I wasn’t hesitating to slither out.

Franco used this time to take a better position and fire at the whirring bastard. Bullets ranged over the thick plates forcing the drone to rotate and again, show me his behind. The pilot saw through our plan and moved to a higher position when we both engaged the aircraft.

The machine pulled back, then it slid down to level with us where he opened a hatch and used rockets to draw a line of fire over the ruins. Our speed was barely enough to get out from the flames, wherein mid air I managed to send a shot that pierced his plating and damaged his CPU.

Drone spiraled down and caught flames. Tired from all of the running around, I prompted myself by the knee and looked at the burning mess of metal. I took a deep breath and checked the magazine again.

– Franco! Franco!… – I called for my friend, kicked the trash and rusty pieces of the car, but I couldn’t find him.

Trill