A Leg Up

The golden light of sunset bathes the calm forest surrounding them. Ray takes a deep breath of the forest air before opening another can of beer. "Summer is coming to an end boys, and we only have tonight left out here."

Jimmy fishes out a new beer for himself before plopping down next to Ray. "If we can make the beer last that long." Jimmy laughs, accompanied by his three friends. After taking his first sip, Jimmy points to the west. "If we go now, we'll be able to watch the sunset from the cliffs. Wouldn't be a bad end to our first day of camping."

George and Al groan, but Ray stands up, "I'm game. I just love the way the forest air makes me feel."

Jimmy joins Ray on his feet, casting an impish grin to the two lazier friends. "Come on guys, it'll be fun." George and Al cast weary glances at each other before shaking their heads. "If we don't go now, we'll have to run to make it."

"You know those guys are gonna keep pestering us until we give in. Let's just get it over with George."

George grumbles as he throws himself back, laying flat on the floor for a second. "Fine, but one of you assholes has to carry the cooler out and back. I'm not doing it."

Ray laughs as he scoops up the smaller cooler. "Don't worry fatass, I got it."

George rolls over, climbing to his feet as Jimmy lends a hand to Al, his prosthetic leg making a small squeak as it straightens. George rummages through his duffel bag as the others start walking, finding what he's looking for before hustling to join them.

George pulls out one of his joints and lights it, taking deep drags before passing it to Jimmy. "Hey Ray, you need to quit calling me fatass."

"Why's that fatass?"

"First off, I lost the weight." George lifts his shirt to reveal the beginnings of his abs. "Second, you're looking like you picked some of it up." As Jimmy passed the joint to Ray, George pokes at his side. "See? You're starting to get a bit flabby." George laughs as Ray takes a swing at him, nearly dropping the joint from his mouth.

Al scratches his leg just above his prosthetic. As Ray offers him the joint he simply shakes his head, passing on the offer.

Ray takes another long drag on the joint before passing it back to George to restart the rotation. As he exhales, Jimmy nudges him with a playful punch. "Cut it out. I'll wrestle you when we reach the cliffs."

Jimmy takes another hit of the joint, nearly finishing the roll before passing it to Ray again. "Damn George, you get the shittiest pre-rolls. Ray, you know you're too scared to actually wrestle me, since you got that chubby when I pinned you." Jimmy laughs with Al and George joining in.

"I told you guys, that was because of the meds I was on. I don't swing that way!" Ray finishes the joint, pinching the roach off with his fingers to put out the small burning remnants.

George pulls out another joint. "It's okay, when you're ready to come out of the closet Jimmy will take good care of you. He'll be your daddy."

Jimmy runs his hand over the back of George's head. "Just like I'm your daddy?"

George shivers and pulls away. "Now you made it creepy jackass."

"You're the one making fun of my sexuality, I might as well use it against you too."

Al continues to scratch at his thigh. "You guys are all way too comfortable with touching each other."

Ray lets out a raspy huff. "That's enough guys. I'm done talking about this gay shit."

"So my sexuality is shit to you?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Relax macho man, I'm just messing with you." Jimmy stretches his arms wide, "But you're still too scared to actually wrestle me."

The four men let out another roar of laughter as they continue through the trees, finishing another joint as they make their way.

True to Jimmy's word, the men make the cliff edge just as the sun is sinking, its final rays of light coloring the sky in iridescent hues of red and orange. With the final rays dying out, a strange wave of blue light Cascades across the sky in a flash, bathing everything around the group of men before disappearing just as quickly.

"What was that?"

"I don't really…"

Their speculation is cut short as Al begins screaming, falling to his side while grabbing at his leg.

George kneels beside Al, asking pointless questions while trying to help him. A sudden ripple in Als thigh causes the prosthetic to become loose, falling away from him. Al goes quiet, the pain becoming unbearable, rendering him unconscious.

Ray checks Als pulse. "Should we try…" Ray's words are cut short as red and orange light washes over them.

The three conscious men stare in shock as they watch the sun rise rapidly from the western horizon.

"What the fuck?"

Ray and Jimmy turn to see what George is staring at now, finding Al's leg growing from the point of amputation. Al regains consciousness, gritting his teeth in severe pain, unable to scream any more.

As the sun continues to rise back to a noon position, Al's leg finishes growing into a complete, healthy appendage.

Al gasps in relief as his leg sits whole, his body made whole. "What the actual fuck guys?"

The four men stand in fear, unable to move as the sun beats down on them.

Jimmy is the first to come to his senses. "We have to get the fuck out of here. I don't know what the hell is going on, but we gotta get Al to a hospital, he needs to get checked out now."

The others agree, with Al grabbing his prosthetic, switching the sock and shoe to his new foot. "I don't know what is going on, but damn my leg feels great. Shit, I feel great!" He stands up, flexing his regrown leg.

"Damn George, what was in those pre-rolls? That shit is miraculous!"

Al looks at Jimmy. "That can't be it, I didn't take a hit."

Ray taps each of the others on their shoulders. "Whatever, let's go. We'll find out more about this at the hospital."

The four men start running through the trees back to their camp, eschewing the trail for a more direct route. They each dart past the trees, covering the distance quickly.

"Hurry up! Just grab what we need and let's get going. Don't slow us down either fatass!"

George stops as he picks up his backpack. "Now that I think about it, that's the fastest I've ever run. I don't even feel winded."

The others look at George with unease, each murmuring that they feel the same. Ray is once again the voice of reason, reminding them that they need to get moving.

The run out of the forest, and the drive afterwards feels like a blur as the men enter the waiting room of the small hospital.

"Hello! We need some medical attention! Hello!"

A nurse pokes her head out from a backroom, a concerned look on her face. "What seems to be the problem?"

Al comes forward with his prosthetic leg in hand. "A little under an hour ago, after the sun had set, I guess I regrew my leg."

The nurse looks at Al with wide eyes. "Come to the backroom. You need to see this with the rest of us."

The five of them make their way to the room the nurse came from, crowding in with almost two dozen other people, all seemingly in their late twenties to early thirties.

On the television against the wall a large flying object is seen in the background sky, with a large, muscular man standing in the center of the screen, the focal point of the camera. Everything about the man seems normal, aside from the slight blue tint to his skin and hair. When the camera zooms in on his face, his eyes become visible with shocking white iris against blue tinted sclera.

"I apologize for making you wait so long. I needed time to assimilate your primary languages. You should all be capable of understanding me now. I am Crume Talgast, an emissary of sorts. Your sun, and planet, and indeed, all of your people have been altered by my intervention. I have caused a temporal shift of sorts, to ensure that you are all at your peak physical conditions for what comes next. Another race is currently en route to attack your planet, to seize it for themselves. They don't use advanced weaponry, only ferocious, brute force. They enjoy their malicious extermination of other races. It is my hope, that with your newly revitalized and enhanced bodies, along with my advanced weapons and technology, that we may be able to halt their expansions, to halt their brutal slaughter. Please, I beg of you to join my resistance, I cannot lose yet another species to these monsters."

The camera zooms out from the strange man, bringing the flying object back into frame, as well as the forty or so soldiers that surround him with their firearms trained on him.

Crume Talgast's voice rises once more. "I am not your enemy, I seek to aid you in the coming war." With that, Crume Talgast lowers himself to his knee, in a sign of surrender.

Al looks down at his leg. "I think I believe him."

Another man in the hospital's backroom looks Al in the eye. "Why's that?"

Holding up his prosthetic leg Al answers, "Because I've needed this prosthetic for the past two years, and now I have my leg back, stronger than before."

"Well son, I'm right here next to you in believing him. You see, just about an hour ago, I was shitting my adult diaper, but now I look like I did when I was in the army."

A woman with unkempt red hair steps towards them. "I think I have you both beat." Her clothes are mismatched, the colors clashing, giving her a childish look. "I just turned seven yesterday."

The people in the room gawk at her, muttering words of disbelief. One woman asks, "What does all this mean?"

Al throws his prosthetic leg to the side. "It means we're going to war."