Zero / Sci-fi Story

              Zero

I woke up. My alarm clock hadn’t worked. I panicked. What was the time?

I read the clock and it read 5:30. I quickly jumped out of bed and chucked whatever I could
find on, we had to leave by 6:00. I hadn’t packed my bags or eaten breakfast. I packed
anything that I needed and shuffled downstairs.

I stomped across the floor in a rhythmic beat and made my way to the kitchen. I quickly
opened the cupboard and moved everything around to find my breakfast cereal. Finally
I found it. I grabbed the milk, a bowl and a spoon and started shoving the food down
my throat.

I paused and remembered why I was in a rush. We were taking off today into space to
land on a new planet. Then I remembered who it was for. It was for Mum. I suddenly
dropped my shoulders and started to feel glum. I missed Mum, the time I last saw her
was when I was six. I remember the day that she had to go to the hospital. I remember
she was in there for weeks and then one day she was gone. I started to cry. Tears
streaming down my face.

Then Dad walked in. He looked over and saw me crying. He ran over and asked,
 “What's wrong?”.

“I miss Mum,” I bawled. He started rubbing my back helping me feel better.

“You’re be alright, remember this is all for her,” comforted Dad.

“I know I wish she was here with us though,” I replied.

“Me too, but she’s not,” sobbed Dad.  

“Come on, we have to leave in 5 minutes.” I finished my breakfast and ran upstairs
to clean my teeth.

It was time to go. We shut the door and locked it. It was the last time we were going to
see it for a while. We drove off down the street in complete silence. We were both too
nervous to break the silence. “So are you excited?” asked Dad. I didn’t respond, I just
sat there twirling my fingers around each other and he didn’t say anything else.

We had arrived. I got out the car and got my gear and waited for dad. The valet driver
came and took our car to put it into storage. The car had gone. Dad and I walked towards
the building where everybody was waiting. It was a big metal building filled with
confusing technology. We walked into the building. I was greeted by the inventor.
He briefly took us through a bit more safety and sent us towards the rocket. They
put our bags into safety and we hoped into the rocket. I heard Dad talking to me. I
couldn't really hear him because I was too busy thinking to myself. Helpers shut the
doors and walked of the platform. It was time for the rocket to blast off. I saw
everybody looking at the rocket taking off. They were all so amused. Anyway
it was a big thing for a little town.

Then all I heard was the sizzling of the flames. I looked down towards the glass
and saw we were off the ground and were flying through the atmosphere. I looked
over to dad and he looked over at me. Then I heard a bang and everything went black.

I opened my eyes and saw Dad above me. Fussing over me. I groaned.

“What happened,” I muttered.

“You got hit by a piece of metal,” replied Dad.

“Where are we?” I groaned.

“We arrived on planet Cledes,” assured Dad.

“Cool,” I replied.

“Come on then, get out!” blurted Dad.

But before I got out, I sat there and thought “Is there anybody else on there? Can
I breath on there? Can I walk on there?”

I got out of my seat and tentatively walked down 6 black steps and stepped softly
onto the ground and looked down at the dark shadow wondering what to do. I slowly
lifted my sweaty, heavy head up to look around. I saw green grass and lots of trees. I
saw that there was a sparkling bright clear ocean and I breathed the fresh air into my
stomach. I thought to myself, “ This planet isn’t so bad, I can walk and there is nobody
else on here.” Well, that's what I thought…

Dad walked down and repeated “This isn’t so bad is it?”

“No, not at all,” I replied.

“Thats go for a little walk then,” suggested Dad.

We packed some essentials into a bag and we were off. We walked into the jungle to
explore and head towards the ocean.

An hour later it was starting to get dark and the temperature was dropping quickly. I
decided it would be best if we put our warmer jackets on and got our torches out. We
kept on going until we could find somewhere to crash for the night.

It had got really dark. We decided it was time to stop and have a sleep. I searched through
the bag to find the tarpholen. I grabbed it and then grabbed the rope. I tied them between
to strong trees and hung the tarpholen over. I found a couple of blankets and we laid down.
We were sitting there is complete silence, except for the owls hooting in the background.

“Mum would be sooo proud!” exclaimed Dad. I didn’t respond I just laid there and it was
good because he couldn’t see me.

“Come on, what's wrong?” he asked.

“I am just nervous to be here in a complete random place,” I gulped.

“Me too, but we will be alright,” comforted Dad.

“I know but I just wonder what else is on here,” I added.

“That's why we are here to do tests, anyway it is time to sleep,” explained dad.

“Goodnight Dad,” I said.

“Goodnight George,” he replied. I then shuffled around to make myself comfortable
and then shut my eyes.

I woke up and checked my watch. It said 8:09, but I didn’t know if it was the same in
space. At least I know what time it is on earth. I looked over at dad and he was still
asleep. Should I let him sleep? Or should I wake him up? I took a breath and screamed
his name. It was really funny because he sat up and screamed. He sat up and looked at me. His face started to turn red.

“Why did you do that!” yelled Dad.

“Um, because it is time to get up,” I replied.

“Okay,” he said sarcastically.

“I know, you don’t have to tell me i'm such a good son.”

“You should be thanking me,” I commented.

“Come on then we better pack up and head back towards the spaceship,” coughed Dad.

I could tell he was still angry with me, he would never make it into hollywood. After a
little break we packed everything up and shoved it into our bag and headed for the long
walk back.

An hour into the walk we stopped to find some food prints lying in the mud. We started
to follow them but they looked like they were going on forever, so we decided we should
turn back and continue back to the spaceship. We still had to do our testing which could
take up to 4 hours. That gave me a headache thinking about it.

“Come on George!” screamed Dad.

“Coming!,” I yelled.

The space ship was coming into site, but the closer we got to it the more horrible it looked.
We reached it and saw a beaten up space ship. The windows had been taken out, some of
the metal had been stolen and when we stepped inside, the most valued items had been
stolen. My jaw dropped. I didn’t know how we were going to get back to earth, but we
needed to think of something.

“Dad, how on earth are we going to get back to earth,” I asked.

“I don’t know, but we will work something out,” he replied.

“Plus all of our stuff is stolen,” I added.

“We will get it back,” “Anyway, in the meantime we need to do some testing,” added Dad.

“That's make me even more excited,” I said sarcastically. Of course they didn’t steal
the testing kit. It was sitting there. Right in front of my eyes. Gleaming in the streaks
of sun running into the spaceship. I grabbed it and casually walked outside. I handed
it to dad. He laid it out and grabbed some samples. We then put them in the machine
so it could analyze the data. Now we had to wait for like 3 hours to let it analyze the
data. But lucky enough for us it was time for dinner and then time for bed.

I decided that I would cook dinner tonight. I grabbed some rice and some curry mix.
I cooked the rice and then got the ingredients that I needed and made the curry. I got
some plates out and dished the food onto the plates. It was time to eat. I called dad in
and we ate our meal. We checked the machine, but it said it still had 3 hours to go. I
decided it was time for bed. I cleaned my teeth and then got changed into other clothes.
I climbed into my bed in the spaceship and before I could say anything I was sound
asleep.

I woke up to the sound of banging and clashing. I sat up and looked around. I couldn’t
see anybody but I could see some more things missing again. I went over to dad and
woke him up and told him everything. “We really need to do something dad” I said to him.

“I know maybe tonight we can stay up and see if we could find anybody” he suggested.

“Okay that sounds good” I replied.

At 9:00 that night I decided it was time to get into our positions. I grabbed some tools
and the supplies I needed to stay up night. It was 10:00 and nothing happened and I was
starting to get tired. But I knew that I needed to stay up and find out who it was. Then
right on the dot at 5:00, I heard somebody walk in. I sat silently and waited for them
to do something. I saw a creature. I recognise some stuff it had with it. I saw some of
my belongings. The creature walked over to the table and put them down. It then
started to move towards the door. It started to look around and move around. I grabbed
the bag that I had and ran up behind it and shoved the bag over its head. “Aaaaaahhhhh”
it screamed. I moved over towards the chair and blocked it on the chair. I grabbed some
duct tape that I saw nearby and wrapped it around and around until the whole roll was gone.

“What's your name?,” I demanded.

“Zero,” admitted Zero.

“What's 1+1,” I asked.

“Ahh, window, I know you were going to trick me,” he said

“Okay, that's not what I meant at all but okay,” I explained.

“Ohhh, sorry,” he replied.

“Why did you steal our stuff though,” I asked.

“Ahh,it it it wasn’t me,” stuttered Zero.

“What do you mean, it wasn’t you,” I argued.

“It was my family, they are really naughty and always steal stuff,” He admitted.

“Ohh, so why were you here then,” I asked.

“I was returning your stuff,” He replied.

“Oh,” I coughed.

“Yeah” he snickered. I started talking to Zero a bit more and I really started to like him.
He told me that his family was nocturnal and thats why its easy for them to steal stuff.
Later on he asked me “ Do you want to come and see my house,”.

“Um, what about your family though,” I asked.

“Remember we are nocturnal,” He replied.

“Hold on, I need to talk to dad first,” I said.

“Okay then,”He replied. I headed off towards dad and woke him up.

“ I am going to go to do some testing and I will be back later, “ I advised.

“Okay then, but when you get back I need to tell you something,” he muttered.

“Okay then,” I agreed. I walked towards Zero and we headed off down a track towards
a bunch of treehouses. We walked past all of them and towards one with a bright red door.
He stepped inside and I followed. It was so cool there were a bunch of decorations and lots
of items.

“It’s so cool Zero, but I have to go back to the space ship,” I confessed.

“Okay then,” He agreed. I walked back the way I did and into the spaceship. I sure Dad
lying down, I walked over to him.
“What did you want to tell me?,” I asked.

“You know how before we left I went to the doctors,” He advised.

“Yes,” I replied.

“Well I was diagnosed with cancer and I probably won’t make it back to earth,”
He admitted.

“Oh, but what am I going to do,” I asked.

“Well, you are going to look after me,” He said. “They told me that I am going to lose
my memory and will go a bit loopy,”

“How long are you going to live?,” I asked.

“Probably for like another 2 months or so,” He replied.

“Oh,” I cried.

Over the next 3 weeks Dad and I spent ages together and did lots of things together as
he was slowly losing his memory, getting sicker and going a little bit loopy. I also went
and saw Zero alot and told him what was happening. We made a home for Dad, so when
we were going to leave he had somewhere. I also made Dad a bed because he was getting
really sick.

A couple of weeks later I went and saw Zero and he agreed with me that it was time for us
to get everything back and fly back to earth. I made my promise with him also that I
would take him with me. It was 1:00 in the morning and Zero had told me that they
were asleep. It was hard to get our stuff back because they were nocturnal, but we were
going to do it. I grabbed the torch and snuck out the door, trying not to wake up Dad. I
felt so sorry that I was going to leave him, but I just couldn’t handle looking after him
when he had cancer. I also just didn’t want him to go through the pain going back to
earth, because I knew he wasn’t going to make it. I ventured out the door and followed
the same path I always followed. I saw a shadow and as I got close I started noticing
the body features of Zero. I meet up with him and he showed me the way towards all
of the metal and all of our belongings. Slowly and quietly we started getting all of the
supplies out and towards the space ship. We started building our spaceship together
and fixing it all up.

It was 5:00 in the morning and it was time for Dad to wake up. I went over to him
and gave him his pills and some breakfast. Little did he know that we were flying
back today, but he also didn’t know we were leaving him. I told him I was going to
do some testing but actually I was going to go and get Zero so we could head back.
I walked through the track and snuck round the trees to find the treehouse that he
lived in. It was easy to identify because of the red door and all of the decorations. I
walked in and I saw zero. He was packing all of his stuff and getting ready to go. I
walked over to him and helped pack his things. About 30 minutes later he was ready
to go.

“Are you sure you want to do this?,” I asked.

“Yes I’m sure,” he replied.

“I can go by myself,” I suggested.

“No, I am coming with you” Zero demanded.

“Okay then, but what about your family,” I asked.

“They were rude and mean to me anyway,” he replied.

“Okay then let's go,” I instructed. With all of zero’s stuff we started our walk through
the track. About a hour later the spaceship was coming into site.

“Okay Zero, I am going to go get Dad out and then you are going to put your stuff into
the rocket,” I explained.

“Okay got it,” He commented. I walked into the spaceship and saw Dad lying there. I
could see he was in argushiatiing pain. I walked over to him and asked him how he was.
He didn’t respond he was just lying there in pain. My heart was beating, I just didn’t
want to leave him here. But I had too. I made sure he was lying down and I carefully
carried him out of the spaceship on his bed that me and Zero made. I rolled him across
towards the bush. I went over towards the hut we made for him. I rolled him into the
hut and propped the bed against the wall. I had tanks of water, food and all of his
supplies there for him.

“What am I doing here,” he asked.

“Um,” I muttered. I knew I had to tell him sooner or later. It was probably best to
tell him now.

“Um what?,” he hissed

“I am going back to earth today,” I replied.

“Finally we are going back,” He chatted.

“No just me and my friend Zero, not you,” I admitted.

“No, please just take me with you,” He begged.

“Sorry Dad, I can’t,” I explained.

“Why,” He cried

“You are just too sick,” I confessed. I stepped closer to him and gave him a big hug
and a kiss. This was the last time I was going to see him for awhile.

“No don’t go” screamed Dad. I hated hearing that, but I knew I had to leave him.
I walked out of the room and closed the door. I saw Zero there and I started to bawl my
eyes out. Zero walked over to me and comforted me.

“It’s time to go,” Zero admitted. I slowly walked over to the spaceship and hoped in.
I got into my seat and looked over like I did when I was taking off. But this time it
was Zero not Dad. Zero clicked his seatbelt together and it was time to take off. I
pressed the button and loudly it Yelled “ 3, 2, 1,”. Then were were bursting off the
planet Cledes and heading to Earth.