Poppy's Promise ~ 1/5

Poppy tumbled back as a clawed, oversized hand smashed through the reinforced door and grazed him. He rolled with the strike, bleeding off the force of the blow even as his own blood sprinkled the ground. On his feet in an instant, the elite private security liaison assessed the situation and involuntarily nodded as he made his decision. The claw may have gone deeper than he originally thought, but with a slight wheeze to his breath, the man turned and ran down the hallway toward the final door leading into the panic room.

“The world is actually ending. This is ridiculous,” he muttered raggedly as he pushed open the heavy door, forcing it closed before throwing the lever. Huge bolts of metal shot from the door, combining with the room’s bespoke design to create a thick lattice of steel. Taking a moment to breathe, he lifted a hand to his chest and looked at it, his palm coming back coated in blood.

The bunker had been designed as a sanctuary for the uber rich on an island only those in the know would even realize existed. He had secured a spot here by signing on to protect… well, who he was contractually protecting didn't matter. They were all going to die in the next few minutes, unless they moved quickly. 

Poppy turned his head and tried to hide his freely-bleeding wound from the jumpy group, attempting to distract them by sending out a brilliant smile. “Everything's going to be fine. Everyone! If you would all kindly grab one of the cores from the bucket, I believe it is time for us to accept the terms and conditions of survival.”

“How useless can you be?” a well-dressed man bellowed at him. Poppy's gaze snapped to him, and his piercing eyes dug into desperate, panicked ones. Before they could continue their impromptu conversation, the panicking man snatched one of the gems out of the bucket and slapped it against his forehead. In an instant, without any fanfare, the man was gone.

“We've been here for three weeks, and never once did I see him out of a tuxedo,” Poppy murmured softly to hopefully ease the tension in the room. “It always seemed like an oddity to me–how we all got more casual with each other, but he always stayed formal. Still, as jittery as his actions appeared, he did have the right idea. If everyone would take one of those, I would love for us to get to safety.”

Hearing the only armed and trained person in the room point out a chance for safety, the room erupted into a frenzy as the others lunged for the remaining gems. Poppy closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh as one of them knocked over the bucket, sending the glittering stones scattering across the table and onto the floor. The clear thuds of flesh hitting wood, then people screaming at each other in frustration and fear, evaporated only seconds later as the last of the people vanished as well.

Finally alone, Poppy reached down and pulled out his phone, flipping it open and checking whether he had service. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he reached over and grabbed a core off the ground, keeping it in his left hand. “Perhaps I should not be surprised how a bunker designed to be impenetrable still has cell service.”

As soon as he tapped at his favorites list, the call connected and was answered on the first ring. “Poppy?”

“Mom? It's time to go. I don't know if things are this bad in Mykonos, but I'm only a couple miles offshore, and we are getting overrun by whatever these monsters are. Can you get her to safety?”

“Right now? Poppy, she is asleep. You do not wake a sleeping child in the middle of the night–”

“Mother.” His words took on a steely edge. “I'm dying. I have a chance to live; I'm holding it in my hands. But if I don't know that she will be there, that she will be safe, I'm staying.”

“W-what? You’re… Poppy!” His mother began to panic, and Poppy closed his eyes in resignation. He hadn't wanted to share that fact, but she had been against the transfer to Eternium since it was announced. “She will be alone in there until you find each other. Is this truly what you want for your daughter?”

“I just want her to live. Whatever that looks like.” His words came out slightly slurred, and Poppy shook his head to try and stay conscious a little longer. “Please… Mama… I have no time.”

There was a long pause on the line, and footsteps echoed through their connection. A moment later, his mother's shaky voice came through once more. “I sent her away… still asleep. I'm a coward, Poppy. I couldn't face her, couldn't tell her this is the last time she sees her grandparents. But, she's safe, if this new world is a real thing.”

Poppy took a deep breath and let it out sharply. “I made sure there was a core for you and Pappa. Please, come with us.”

“No, my son.” His mother's words came through the line sadly, and Poppy listened carefully to make sure he could etch her voice into his memory. “We've had this conversation before. This is our home, and if we never–”

*Wham.*

The door just behind Poppy shook in its frame, bending and warping with the first hit from whatever was on the other side. Whatever his mother had just said, he missed it. “They are breaking through the doors. I need to go; I need to be there for her. one… last time… please come with us?”

“Goodbye, Poppy,” his mother whispered, breaking into a soft song as the sounds of the monsters came faster, louder, and it became harder and harder for Poppy to pull in enough oxygen. “I’ll love you, forever… I’ll like you, for always… as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.”

The phone slipped from his fingers as unconsciousness drew closer. Poppy focused all of his efforts on lifting his left hand to his forehead, the only action he needed to take to escape this failing world. The stone came up to his skin, pressing firmly against it just as the door blasted inward, flying over his prone body—when had he fallen?—and Poppy's last view of Earth was of a creature that should not, could not exist. 

It had far, far too many teeth.