Adaptation: book I (27 page)

That’s why you get you a gun and learn,
Carmella said.

“Earl found us pushing a shopping cart filled with beer and soup.” Ma smiled crookedly. “That was generally what we ate. Soup. He helped us with the cart and invited us back to his house. He started doing things like hunting for fresh meat. He had guns and knew how to use them. He found places for us to rest our heads and protected us from the wolves.” She closed her eyes. “And for eight years I’ve been his whore.”

~***~

The wolf
crept
closer to his prey, which hadn’t moved for a long time. He stayed low to the ground and crawled within inches of his prey’s feet. He eyed the tender neck. Once he sank his teeth into that neck, he would crush the larynx and twist. 

The wolf leaped.

Bilal’s body bowed forward as the wolf flew through the air, and two sleek, new talon-tipped tentacles shot from the holes in his chest and abdomen to impale the torso of the young wolf. The tentacles held the wolf high in the air while the talons pumped poison into the wolf’s body.

The wolf writhed briefly before the tentacles retracted and the wolf’s body dropped to the ground beside Bilal.

Sensors sprouted from the tentacles, waved in the air, and pointed southwest.

They had found the fading scent of Carmella and Raj.

Bilal turned
his head and looked at the furry carcass next to him. A moment of confusion overtook him and he reached out weakly.

“Wolf … what did I do … ?” He pulled the dead animal to him feeling the warmth radiate from him like a furnace. He pressed his face into the animal’s fur and clutched him with stiff fingers. Without another thought he released his new tentacles as if he had always had them. In fact, reaching through them felt safe and familiar.

He remembered the last time that he’d saved the wolf; after stinging him in battle. Carmella would never forgive him if he hurt her child. His tentacles arched around the still body of the animal finding the entry points and then he latched on. Filaments quickly entered the body and sought the damage.

Bilal’s awareness moved through his filaments in a familiar way. He felt comfortable but the damage he had done had been bad. He had to force the wolf’s body to imprison the poison so that it could be expelled and then he had to find the trigger within the cells to make them begin healing.

His filaments thinned until they were invisible to the naked eye. Just one stem cell is all that was needed and if he could find one that was still viable then he could ‘turn it back on’. If he found the trigger in time then the others would learn and adapt because that is all life was—a series of adaptations. It would be a rapid wild fire in the dead animal; but only if he caught it in time.

He ‘saw’ the animals body crashing like a row of dominoes, moving swiftly and turning everything grey but he also saw that there were still areas of pink; life! He allowed a filament to surge forward and bury itself into the nucleus of a bright, living cell. Other filaments did the same. As the grey closed in to extinguish the last bits of life there came the smallest spark from one lone cell. The grey of death came to a skidding halt; waiting, and soon the spark spread to the other cells and life arose like a goliath forcing the grey of death to retreat.

Bilal knew that in order to get the blood to circulate so that it could feed the life the heart must beat. Bilal worked on the animal, sapping the little strength that he had but not caring, perhaps not even realizing. Exhausted he again lost consciousness and yet his body continued its work on both himself as well as the wolf that had only moments before intended him to be its next meal.

~***~

Ma’s bedroom walls
seemed to
close in on Carmella. After they ate tomato soup, Earl and Sonny were hovering around Ma until she fell asleep. Carmella had fed Raj and laid him in his car seat where he soon fell asleep.

As she sat in a chair in the corner, Carmella thought about smothering that hateful bitch with a pillow after the men left, climbing out the window with Raj, and running off into the night. Instead she patiently bided her time until she could take away everything that Ma loved.

Ma’s eyes finally drooped and her snores announced that she was sleeping deeply.

A spike of fear rose and fell in Carmella. This was the eleventh hour. Sonny continued to hold his mother’s hand, so it seemed raping Carmella was the last thing on his mind.

But it wouldn’t take much to make it the
first
thing in his mind,
Carmella thought.
How am I going to get out of this?

Earl stood near the bedroom door, his rifle slung over his shoulder, Carmella’s nine-millimeters in her holster around his waist. He shifted his stance and stared at her.

Oh, Lord,
Carmella thought.
Here we go.

Earl stepped over to her, grabbed her arm, and snatched her up from her chair. “Come on.”

Raj awoke and started to whimper, his pudgy hands reaching for Carmella. When he began to cry, Ma stirred and tried to sit up.

Sonny stood. “Earl?”

“Sit the fuck down, Sonny, and take care of your mother.” Adrenaline and need coursed through Earl’s body. He hadn’t planned on doing it this way, but as he watched the girl sitting there, he fantasized about shoving his cock into her, into her mouth, into her pussy, maybe even into her ass. She would have full firm titties instead of flaccid sacks like Linda. And maybe she would like it. Yes, he would make her like it. He had to have her, and he had to have her
now.

Sonny moved toward Earl. “What are you doing, Earl?” 

Earl ignored Sonny and dragged Carmella out of the room and into the hallway. He had almost reached the living room despite Carmella’s kicking and clawing when Sonny jumped on his back, knocking Earl to the floor and sending Carmella flying into the couch.

“Mine!” Sonny screamed, his face filled with rage as he pummeled the back of Earl’s head with his fists. “She’s mine!”

Earl was surprised that soft, stubby Sonny had jumped him, and some of the blows were starting to hurt. “Get off me, Sonny, or I’m going to hurt you!”

“No!” Sonny shouted. “Ma said she’s mine! You got Ma and she’s mine!”

Earl couldn’t let the fucker beat the shit out of him, so he worked his arm free until the gun was pressed into Sonny’s hip. “Get off or I shoot, Sonny.”

“No!” Sonny screamed, ignoring the weapon while his fists landed on the other man more painfully than Sonny could have imagined possible.

Carmella ignored the pain in her neck and shoulders, dug out the butcher’s knife from under a cushion, and scrambled off the couch. While Sonny continued to pound on Earl’s back, she darted into the bedroom for her screaming son.

Ma was trying to pull herself out of the bed and had one foot on the floor but froze when she saw Carmella waving the knife. 

“Don’t move, bitch.” Carmella snatched the car seat.

“No!” Ma screamed. “Don’t take my baby!”

“This boy is
mine,
” Carmella hissed, throwing up the window beside Ma’s bed. She maneuvered the car seat out and reached her arm out as far as she could. “Hold on, Raj.” She dropped the car seat to the ground below.

“Earl!” Ma yelled. “Sonny! Come quick! She’s getting away!”

Carmella climbed out of the window and landed near the car seat. As she grabbed the handle and started to run, she heard the loud crack of a gunshot.

~***~

Bilal’s violent shivers
pulled him out of unconsciousness. Dull pain engulfed him, but it wasn’t as bad as the ripping pain that had coursed through him earlier.

He tried to sit up and felt the warmth of the wolf next to him. He braced himself and looked at the
unfamiliar animal, vaguely remembering hurting it and than healing it. The wolf merely thumped his tail once and allowed his ears to fall back in submission.

A frown creased Bilal’s brow at the vague memory of a new set of tentacles and how he had repaired both himself and the wolf. He pulled up his shirt. It was stiff and cold with blood, but he felt his chest and abdomen as well as the new patches of roughened skin. He saw what his son had on his side, only his holes were the size of bullets.

He pulled himself to his feet, and the wolf stood. Bilal watched him warily, but the wolf waited with his tail tucked between his legs. Bilal turned to examine the dark night. The tentacles in his tongue pushed their way from his mouth, and Bilal followed the scent near the dried pool of blood. It smelled like Carmella.

Bilal turned to the dealership building and pictured the woman and man who had exited it. He relived the surprise of being shot and stared at his feet. Something had happened to Carmella right here on this spot of ground.

His heartbeat quickened in anguish. She had fallen to the ground right here. He didn’t see blood. She hadn’t been shot. He hurried to the entrance of the building and pulled the door open. The wolf scampered in behind him.

He crossed his arms in front of himself and tucked his hands beneath his armpits. He scanned the large showroom, his body shivering. The wolf began to sniff and investigate. Bilal moved to a bright red convertible sports car and saw a key in the ignition. Carmella said regular gas didn’t work, but maybe it would since this car had been sitting inside for all these years. He got in and turned the key.

The rumble of the engine startled the wolf, who backed away from the offending vehicle and raised his hackles, thick smoke filling the showroom. Bilal fumbled for the heat controls and turned them on full blast. When his stiff fingers had warmed up enough to be useful, the engine sputtered and the car died. He climbed out of it while the wolf growled at the vehicle.

Bilal spotted
a large black Toyota Tundra that reminded him of Carmella’s truck.
Her truck was diesel,
he thought.
Is this a diesel truck?
Anxiously he climbed inside and started the engine. It sputtered to life but quickly died.
Not a diesel.

But there’s one outside. We were coming inside to find the key.

He checked several offices in the showroom and found no keys. He did find a vending machine in a waiting room outside the service area. The machine contained chips and snacks old enough to have become new life forms, but he didn’t care. He needed sustenance. He pushed the machine over, the loud crash of the shattering glass and metal causing Wolf to scamper away and hide behind a desk.

The wolf looked out at the pack master, who stood fearlessly over the destruction. The human reached down and lifted the broken machine onto its side where several small packages fell out and landed among the glass. The wolf watched the man pick up one of the packages and tear it open. He greedily ate the contents and picked up a second package and did the same. The wolf watched from his hiding place, and then the pack master tossed him one of the packages. The wolf eased toward it and sniffed but didn’t find anything about it particularly interesting. But following the example of the human, he ripped the bag open and found something tasty. He ate greedily and eyed the other packages.

The human tossed him a few more, and they ate. While he munched on the stalest of pretzels, Bilal found a mechanic’s jumpsuit. He shed his bloody clothes and pulled on the jumpsuit, “Mike” written on the breast. Without the blood stiffened clothes he didn’t feel as cold. He looked around at the service area then ransacked desks in the sales area, yanking drawers and searching, always searching—

And then he smiled for the first time.

~***~

There were a
series of shouts behind Carmella, both male and female, Ma screaming “No! No! No!” and “Why?” repeatedly and Earl cursing up a storm.

Carmella ran around the house to her truck with Raj in his car seat. She ripped open the driver’s side door.

No key.

For a moment shock froze her.
Earl has to have it!
She looked toward the front door of the house and saw Earl crouched and aiming the nine-millimeter out into the night.

“Don’t move or I’ll shoot!” Earl shouted.

With trembling fingers, Carmella unstrapped her son from his car seat and held him tightly against her. Moving low to the ground, she darted around the truck to the opposite side and began sprinting into the darkness.

“Stop!” Earl yelled, and a shot rang out.

Pain flared in Carmella’s right thigh, and she stumbled.
Please God, no …

Carmella didn’t feel a lot of pain, but when she tried to put weight on her leg it crumbled beneath her. She rolled before she hit the ground to keep Raj from hitting the ground. She tried crawling on her knees through the dirt, but there was nowhere to go.

She had no place to hide.

She felt a kick on her side, and her breath colored the cold air.

“You stupid bitch!” Earl growled.