The Long Way To Reno (30 page)

            "I
don't even know," I said. I tried to look past the disgusting display of
death, focusing on the fantastic creature hiding inside. Then I shoved them
back at the guy that had given them to me. "How did you find them?"

            "I
need answers on how to defeat them," Tavis said firmly.

            "I
don't know what they even are. How can I tell you that?"

Wiping
his sweaty hands on his pants and leaving behind moist streaks, Darrell interrupted
with, “If these things, well, if these things are things that we’re familiar
with, and they regenerated parts of the body they were incubating –
"

It
hit me what he was trying to explain, and I threw in my two cents. "Using
a human body to help them mature? The legs were spread eagled, like a human's
– maybe they were waiting for the chance to operate them, like a
mecha!"

"Yes!
Yes,
exactly
!" Darrell practically beamed, clapping his hands.

            “So
you’re saying they’re using the dead to grow? To mature?” Tavis interrupted. I
grew excited because Darrell had come to the same conclusions that I had. I
couldn’t help but look at him as a fellow comrade-in-arms, and he recognized
that same thing in me, too. It was too bad things happened too late for us to
connect before shit happened.

            “
– well,
yes
! I think.
I don’t know
! I’ve never engaged into
alien situations outside of – y’know, gaming consoles! I can’t even
begin
to tell you what these things are capable of, but they might be the second wave
into the aliens’ agenda of eliminating the human race from existence!”
Darrell’s voice rose, and people shuffled anxiously as the front offices were
reached. "They're on the ground, man, it might just be a second wave!
They're fucking adapting to our situation by creating ground soldiers entirely
different from the first wave!"

            "Almost
like sorting through their creations and finding which one works best," I
said. "Destroy most with a mass shot, see how the humans react and send in
another based on the adaptations they've learned from watching us."

            "They're
watching
us," Darrell stressed on a half gasp, half choke. It was
an unsettling thought. "They saw us figure out how to stop the Ushers,
thereby stopping the zombies, and - !"

            Tavis
said tersely, “Assuming that they might be a second wave, what other knowledge
do you two hold about their capabilities?”

            “Do
you mean, like, powers and stuff?” Darrell asked as the door shut behind them,
closing out the chaos in panic within the halls. “Well, see, the Flood
regenerated corpses of both human and alien into super-powered monstrosities,
with strength and a level of invincibility, but they’re killed. Not easily, but
they can be killed.”

            “
How
?”

            “Guns,
energy swords? I don’t know, man, I don’t know. Don’t consider me an expert on
things, I used to play these games and I know how game villains are handled.”

            Tavis
turned, scanned the crowd, and spotted the man that had killed the things
inside the house. “How many shells did it take you, Manuel?”

            “Two
each, sir. Torso shots.”

            “Harley?”

            Harley
answered, “I was aiming for vital areas. But those things were found in the
stomach cavity.”

            I
stared at him, wondering when he'd come into contact with these things without
telling me. There was no time for a backstory, though.

            “What
if they’re using the bodies as more than an incubation unit?” I spoke up,
looking at Darrell. “Maybe they’ll use them like suits of some kind. Sort of
like, infiltrating the human race, taking control of dead bodies to penetrate
our hideouts and flush us out into the open.”

            “So,
they’ll take control of these dead bodies they’re incubating in, and use these
bodies to…?” Tavis trailed off, gesturing at them to finish his theory.

            I
shrugged. Darrell said, “Maybe while they’re growing in them – well, all
the bodies are pretty fucked up, right? None of them really look human. After
all this time, has any of you seen a long-time dead corpse look, y’know,
different?”

            Most
of them had to admit that they hadn’t. All bodies had been in stages of
decomposition, lacking the features that made them vital. Bloated, ugly, torn
to shreds by animals – a corpse was a corpse. But with this threat, all
of us had to wonder if these new aliens were growing inside of them. I felt
that panic start to rebuild in my gut. That same one that had been bubbling
since the pulsing started.

            Darrell
slapped his knees with dropping hands. “There. See? No worries. Maybe these
things are just taking advantage of the body cavities, growing inside, and then
they’ll release themselves upon maturation? Not using the bodies at all, unless
they’re the ones regenerating limbs, workable organs. WHICH – “

            Tavis
held a hand up. The tension within the office was mounting, and I shuffled
uncomfortably as most of it was focused on us. I was starting to feel
suffocated, swallowing tightly as I wished I’d been able to escape hours
earlier. I felt like running out of the building without looking back. Anxiety
made me desperate and scared, and it felt like I was going to hyperventilate. I
looked at Harley for a sense of direction, and he was facing away from me,
looking terse at something Tavis was saying.

            I
admit I'm a manipulative cow that was in it only for herself. I do things
shamelessly. But it felt like once I realized what would make me feel better, I
couldn't even stop myself. I watched my fingers shake as I reached for his
hand, squeezing his fingers anxiously once I felt him react to my touch. I
couldn’t explain how much better I felt for the contact, even as I looked down
at the floor to escape his bewildered look.

            I
don't even know what prompted him to return the squeeze. Maybe he was too sleep
deprived to realize what he was doing.

            “I
wonder if those guys over there discovered this already, and perhaps that’s the
reason behind the rising mutiny?” Darrell then said thoughtfully. I looked up
because I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Maybe the people they’re
shooting are – nah, not that.”

            “The
deserters we’ve been shooting were obviously uninfected, and their vaccination
probably provides resistance to infestation of this sort,” Tavis said, a
skeptical look on his face.

            “You’ve
been shooting deserters from the camps?” I spoke up, starting to panic. Despite
not having yet confirmed whether or not my parents were actually in those
camps, I felt that I should be concerned anyway. “There’s mutiny?
What’s going
on
?”

            Darrell
flailed his hands. “And enough about those things, I think this is an
indication that
things
were around to lay these things
inside
of
those things!”

            Everyone
went still, the thoughts running through their mind. They looked at each other,
as if they could see any signs of any possible contamination in each other.
Darrell cleared his throat loudly.

            “Does
anybody feel weird? I mean…weirder than normal?” he asked tentatively. “Or,
even, perhaps, once the aliens saw that we had a cure against the original
vaccination, maybe they didn’t bother with us
living
. Maybe all they
intended to do was infect the dead with their, uh, their babies. Soldiers.
Whatever they are.”

            “It’s…it’s
a lot to think about,” Tavis said slowly. He was tense, worried as he looked at
the group. “For now, we’re going to keep this quiet, but we’ll remain fully
alert. Please, do
not
let this leave this room. We’ll need to get out of
the city. We’ll need to find safe routes out of here. Immediately. We need all
capable persons familiar with the area to find a way out by tonight.”

            As
Tavis left with the members of his security team, Chuck advanced towards us, looking
only at Harley. “The teams are stretched out as it is. This is not working out,
Harley. To be honest, there are always supplies of some kind in any of these
buildings, but what’s worse is that when summer comes along, the heat will be
just as deadly. What water is left will not keep, and fuel should be gone.”

            “You’re
thinking about escaping to the mountains?” Harley asked. I noticed that his
fingers had tightened around mine. I wanted to wince, but I didn’t want Chuck
addressing me in any way. He seemed like he was forcing himself to focus
entirely on his son.

            “I
was already antsy about staying behind before, but this is different. This is
shit I didn’t expect,” Chuck admitted. He spoke like I wasn’t there, and,
considering every possibility, he had probably rendered me invisible the moment
he started talking. “I thought those things were gone. I thought all we had to
deal with were these people.“

            “It
was never really confirmed.”

            “What
happened before was only a preamble. What this is now, is extinction. What
hadn’t died before by the Rabid and those other things,
these
things are
going to finish. We’d have more of an advantage, a better chance of survival if
we weren’t in the city. Humans we could deal with, but more alien creatures?”

            “I
agree with you,” Harley said.

            Chuck
stared at him for a few moments. “But…?”

            “I…I
can’t...leave these people behind.”

            He
had the chance to leave a long time ago. I felt myself look at Harley with
silent regard, noticing his faintly embarrassed expression. But I noticed that
his hand didn’t release mine. I felt the gravity of the moment in my chest. I
felt it
change
something in me.

            Chuck
was
pissed
once his eyes dropped down to our linked hands, and the
realization on his face was almost comical. I felt awkward and uncomfortable
being the source of this tension. His hand finally dropped mine, and I couldn’t
help but watch as Harley gave his father an ugly expression.

            “Goddamn
it, Harley! Think about it, son! There’s a better chance of living out there!
They aren’t attacking the animals, they haven’t even bothered with the water,
or the elements -! Mankind has survived just off the land itself, without all
these modern amenities for
centuries
before civilization was
established! That means we can do it, easily! I’ve prepared you for this - !”

            “I’m
well aware of that, but – but I guess my priorities are different, now.”

            “There’s
Chloe - !”

            “Chloe’s
a dyke, Dad!”

            Chuck
then looked bewildered. I suddenly had the urge to go meet her while they
proceeded to forget that I was there. “Since
when
?”

            “You
didn’t know that? Don’t you people have, like, sensors or something?”

            “It
doesn’t matter - !”

            “I
made my choice,” Harley interrupted him. “I’m not going without – them.
You’re just going to have to accept that.”

            Chuck
jabbed him, and I thought they were going to start swinging at each other as
Harley shoved that hand away from him. I’d never been around a family that had
so much tension running through them. This situation actually scared me. I’d
been around man fights – but this was so different. I wasn’t even sure
how to deal with it, trying to stand as small as possible as to avoid anything
that might come my way.

“I
won’t. Even if it means taking matters into my own hands, and making you see
what sort of stupid decision you’re making chasing after puss –“