The Harvest (Book 1) (31 page)

“Do you know why the Sundogs are here?” He walked over to the bars, unable to sit still. Madison ignored him. He grabbed a bar with his good hand and pushed his face out between two bars. “They came to cleanse the Earth of the wicked. They’re God’s messengers.”

“You don’t say.” Madison remarked dryly. What a nut job, she thought and wished he would take a nap or simply shut up.

“It’s true. Father Roth spoke with the Supreme. He promised the lands to the Father after the purge is complete.” Chase informed her, thinking Madison had to find this of some interest. She didn’t move a muscle. “To those survivors who pledged allegiance to the Father, I’m sure it would be viewed most beneficially. If you were to help me I would put in a good word for you. We’re always on the lookout for selfless souls to join our ranks.” He paused. “Especially your kind.” The weaker sex he finished in his head, so as not to provoke her. He wanted to engage in conversation while he had the opportunity, before the Neanderthal returned.

“Got a death wish?” Madison asked, laying her hand on her gun for emphasis.

“You trust this Captain Reynolds?” He asked, switching his tactics on a hunch this woman had feelings running deeper than friendship for the Captain. “What do you know about him?”

“More than I know about you.” She returned calmly. This man had no idea what he was up against. Many before him had made attempts to push her buttons and failed miserably.

“Yes of course. But did you know he is a murderer of children?”  

“Of course he is. He also cross-dresses on Sundays.” In ten seconds, give or take, Madison decided she would go over and shoot him in the knee. Ten, nine, eight…

“Africa. The Marines decimated an entire village. Led by your wonderful captain. Children were burned alive. Their little arms and legs torn from their bodies. Mothers murdered as they tried to protect their babies…”  

Four, three… Close enough. Madison leaned forward. Madison walked over to him, her expression calm, her smile sweet, nodding her head at Chase. She stopped directly in front of him and stared him in the eyes.

Feeling triumphant at finally invoking a reaction from her, Chase kept on with his drivel, unaware she had grabbed her gun from the table. “I can tell you all you want to know about Captain Reynolds.” Chase cooed, breathing in deep Madison’s scent, thinking it intoxicating by its mere subtleness.

“I bet you can.” In a flash Madison grabbed Chase around the back of his neck, pushed his face into the bars and pressed the barrel of her gun into his forehead. “I want you to sit on your cot and keep your fucking mouth shut. Understand?” She slammed his head into the bars.

Chase took a deep breath through his nose. “Mm. Lilac. Very nice.”

Madison shoved him back from the bars, cocked her gun and aimed to shoot. Chase raised his arms. “I’ll sit.” He sat down, but Madison didn’t lower her weapon. “And I’ll be quiet, but you’re going to wish you’d listened. The Sundogs are coming for the wicked. All of them, including, and especially, Captain Reynolds. They have plans for him.”

Madison pulled out the radio. “Hello. Hello.”

“I hear ya Maddie. What’s wrong?” Colin answered.

“Find Captain Reynolds. Tell him I’m about to kill his prisoner.” She clicked the radio off before Colin could say anything more personal than her name, which was more than she wanted this freak show to know about her.

***

The lights of the x-ray machine flashed brightly against the darkness of the room. Over behind the protective glass, Austin stood to the side while Zack worked the computer controlling the machine. He punched in a series of numbers and letters, like mapping coordinates, and the machine swiveled over top the table repositioning itself to take another series of shots. On the table, tied down with heavy metal banding straps, was the alien.

After each sequence was completed, Zack and Austin watched the screen for the images to appear. Each image was a disappointment, nothing more than a dark splotch on the screen. Zack stopped punching in coordinates, realizing the alien’s skin was impenetrable by any man made device within their grasp. 

“I’m out of ideas.” Zack sighed in frustration. “I doubt even Superman could see through this things skin.”

“Everything has a weakness.” Austin replied, more to himself than Zack. He walked around the glass partition, over to where the alien lay motionless. The burn line had almost faded completely. Regenerative cells, Zack had surmised. And why not, Austin thought. Why not face an insurmountable force, to which they stood no chance in hell, but let’s make things interesting for the sake of it alone by adding to the creature’s strengths the ability to self heal.

Science wasn’t Austin’s strongest subject, but he knew enough to assume that if the creature’s cells were regenerating then it was most likely still alive or on its way to being alive. Zack agreed and being that science was his second strongest subject after math, he estimated the process would be complete in five to eight hours. He followed up this assumption with the assumption that the creature had organs, maybe a heart, and that they operated similar to a human’s. In considering his assumptive thought process, Zack concluded that the timing was a shot in the dark and therefore they must conclude the alien could pop back to life at any second. To this Austin nodded and they decided the creature needed to be returned to the forest as soon as possible.

As defeated as he felt over the possible loss of Roxi, Austin felt a sense of excitement over the discovery of the aliens perching in the trees. If nothing else they had guessed or surmised or considered about the alien’s habits turned out to be correct, the fact they were animalistic in nature despite their obvious high intelligence, gave Austin hope. Hope of finding their camp, or nest or whatever it might turn out to resemble. If he could find that, maybe he could find his son. If not the latter, or because of the latter, either way he would determine how to destroy them or die in his efforts.

He stood staring down at his wavering image in the dark pools that were the creature’s eyes. Curiosity was a luxury not afforded to a Marine or one he ever explored to any great extent, not even as a kid. Patience kept you alive; sticking your nose where it had no business got you killed. Yet his fingers itched to touch the eyes, to see if they would sink below the surface, if they would create ripples like a pebble dropped in a puddle of water.

Zack had warned him about the high body temperature readings around the head and chest, so he resisted the impulse. Warnings weren’t necessary, since he could feel the heat radiating off the alien’s body and a drop of sweat was sliding down the side of his face.

“We need to move it now.” Austin announced, taking a step back from the body. Every assumption they made could be completely off target. This was an alien and they had applied human reasoning to try to explain the regeneration.

“Shit.” Zack grabbed a bottle of water and threw a few droplets at the alien’s chest. The drops sizzled, steamed, and evaporated almost instantly. “Mother fucker’s gonna burn up.”

“Or explode.” Austin replied dryly.

Zack pursed his lips. He hadn’t considered that possibility and it turned his thoughts wheeling down a new path. “Maybe it’s dying. Maybe it’s too hot in here. It needs the cold to survive. The regeneration is some type of defense mechanism against heat, but it’s only temporary.”

“We can’t risk being wrong.”

“I don’t think we can risk letting it go.” Zack muttered. “It might be listening to us right now. I don’t know if it can understand our language, but it might be able to track our location.”

“What do you suggest?”

Shrugging, Zack simply answered. “Let’s turn up the heat.”

Austin paused for a long minute. It had been a bad idea to bring the creature to the bunker, but he wasn’t going to express this opinion out loud, guessing Zack regretted the decision without having it pointed out to him. His suggestion was plausible as any theory they might put into action. Austin finally looked at Zack and nodded. 

They talked their way through a plan as they wheeled the alien back to the work room. The plan was simple, involving a blow torch and protective gear from head to toe. Despite the Captain’s strong objections, Zack insisted on performing the operation. “The world can afford to lose me Captain, but not you. People need you.” He explained in his typical casual manner. “I’m no hero. Just a kid with an above average IQ, who sold pot for a living.”

Austin didn’t buy his arguments, but Zack’s mind was made up and there wasn’t time to convince him otherwise. “Ok. Let’s get started.” After helping Zack into his gear, Austin took his place behind a thick sheet of metal.

Zack fired up the blow torch and pointed the flame at the alien’s chest, turning the heat on high. Only a few minutes into it perspiration was running down his neck and back. His hands felt like they were on fire and he began to doubt his decision to take the helm. Physical endurance wasn’t one of his strong suits, but he’d be damned if he was going to puss out in front of the captain. Taking a deep breath, Zack stepped closer, pushing the flame on the alien’s body.       

The first wisp of smoke was barely visible through the flame of the torch. Zack raised his hood for a better view, killing the torch at the same time. Austin came to stand next to Zack. They watched together as the outer skin began to disintegrate and fall off the alien’s structure. They stared in awe at the intricate system of what looked like hundreds, maybe thousands of fiber optic wires that wound in and around human like organs.

29 GHOSTS

Colin tracked Zack to the infirmary, but when he arrived the place was empty. The work shop seemed like the next obvious place and would give him an opportunity to check on Charlie.  The expression on her face had worried him, but she insisted everything was fine. Women always say everything’s fine, Zack informed Colin after a fight with his girlfriend. The thing is, Zack had added, when they say everything’s fine, it really means nothing is.

Colin knocked softly and waited. When Charlie didn’t answer, he tried again a bit louder this time. Panic ebbed into his mind, but reason argued she might be asleep, and there shouldn’t be cause for alarm. That look though, it kept creeping back into his thoughts. The handle turned easily and he pushed the door open.

Inside was dark except for a shard of light coming from the bedroom. He called out her name, and was answered with silence. A knot began to form in his stomach, twisting tighter the closer he came to the door. He reached out, as if in slow motion, and pushed the bedroom door open. The light was coming from the bathroom. He called out to Charlie one more time, hoping she would yell at him to get out. Again he was disappointed and the knot twisted tighter. He took a step toward the bathroom and his foot made a squishing sound on the carpet.

“What the hell?” He leaned down, examining the carpet. “What.” He muttered in surprise and then his eyes widened into saucers. He pounced on the bathroom door; throwing it open against the wall behind causing it to momentarily bounce back in his face, but not before he glimpsed the red tide flowing from the tub. He ran over to where Charlie lay submerged up to her chin in water tinted red from her blood. Colin reached into the water, hooked his arms under her armpits and yanked her from the water onto the tile floor.

 Colin inspected the slashes she’d made across her arms. There were at least four on each arm and at least two cuts appeared deep. He grabbed towels and wrapped the wounds best he could, all the while he fought to ignore the images flashing before him from a past he’d forgotten. Placing a rolled towel under her head, Colin left, returning in seconds with phone in hand.

He tapped the phone against his head waiting for Zack to pick up. He hoped he was right about them being in the workshop.

“What is it twerp? I’m in the middle of a...”

“Charlie tried to kill herself.” Colin stopped him.

“What? Whatta ya mean?”

“She cut her wrists and arms. She’s bleeding really bad. You got to hurry!”

“Wrap her arms and keep the pressure on. We’re on our way.”

Colin knelt next to Charlie and tightened the towels wrapped around her arms. Not wanting to, but knowing he had to check, he placed two fingers on her neck. He held his breath, hoping to God or whoever would listen, that he’d found her in time. After an eternity he felt a faint pulse underneath her skin. Commotion from the other room announced Zack and Austin’s arrival.

“In here!” Colin yelled out. “In the bathroom!” Zack rushed in ahead of Austin. Colin stood up, his legs shaky from the after effects of the adrenaline rush. “She’s got a pulse.”

Zack carefully scooped Charlie up. “You better carry her.” He handed her over to Austin and they ran to the infirmary.

***

After the first hour, Zack felt certain Charlie would live through the night. He glanced over at Colin, who sat in the corner staring at the air, looking ghost like. Zack sighed, wishing it had been anyone else to have found her, knowing it was a sick thing to wish on a person, but thinking there should be some kind of limit on the number of times a person witnessed a suicide before they turned twenty.

Colin’s eyes focused in on Zack’s concerned stare. “Maddie called.” Colin announced in a monotone voice. “She said Austin needed to hurry before she killed his prisoner.”

Austin stood up. “You got this?”

Zack nodded and waved him to go, telling him not to worry, but Austin was already out the door. Staring at the door, a sudden wave of sadness fell over him. A sadness for them all, for their unlucky existence, for chance, or fate, which had allowed them to survive while everyone else was murdered, for being human and unable to do a damn thing about it. He glanced down at Charlie, who was breathing steady, and couldn’t help wondering if they had done right by saving her. Zack stroked the side of her face. Who were they to make that decision for her, he thought sadly? They, who had no idea what she had suffered through before reaching the bunker, had decided she should live, but why? Because what they had to offer was so much better, so much safer.