Darlings of Decay

by Chrissy Peebles

  Oh. My. God.

  More pieces slipped into place. The drug made people more fertile, made them territorial, ravenous, and made them disease resistant. The population of Nevermores was going to boom. And if the genetics didn’t pass the drug to their young and make new Nevermores, I had no doubt what they would be eating for their next pack meal.

  “No,” I said, startling both Jessica and Sebastian. “You can’t go out there.” I stood in her way. “They want you, the pack—pride, whatever it is, they want you.” I swallowed hard.

  Sebastian stood behind Jessica, frowning. “What are you talking about, Mara?”

  “Hey, come on guys, don’t leave me hanging here,” Tom yelled, and the pack went wild with the sound of his voice.

  “In a minute,” I yelled back, turning only my head to them, and then focused back on Jessica. “A breeder, that’s all you’d be. Something to make babies and those babies will be just like them.” I flung my arm out behind me. “And if they aren’t, you can guess what’s going to happen to the babies.”

  Jessica paled and Sebastian frowned at me. “They’d eat them,” she whispered.

  I nodded.

  “You don’t know that, Mara,” Sebastian snapped at me. “And you’re scaring her.”

  “It’s the truth,” Jessica said. “I can feel them pulling at me, wanting me to come to them. Especially that one there.” She pointed to a big male who stood back from the rest of the pack, overseeing their efforts. The leader stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes narrowed as he grunted and barked what seemed to be orders to the rest of the group. He was taller than the rest, but not as big as Sebastian, with light blond hair that had seen better days. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, but it was hard to tell with the changes the drug put them through. The male had a definite air of command around him, and I had no doubt who was in charge of this pack. Trouble, that’s what he was.

  Jessica stared at him, her eyes not moving away for even a split second, it wasn’t a look of fear that washed over her face—but desire. Shit.

  She walked past us, heading straight toward the gate. “He won’t eat the babies. I’ll come back after I get Tom out. I don’t have to go with the pack yet,” she said certainty strong in her voice as she climbed the fence and dropped lightly on the other side. The pack made room for her, touching her lightly, stroking her hair. She walked straight up to the big male, brushing her fingertips against his. He stared down at her and she shook her head, and then pointed at Tom.

  Sebastian shifted on his feet. “Is she negotiating with him?”

  “I guess,” I said, not sure this was a good idea at all. The big male shook his head and roared.

  The pack scattered, leaving the truck clear.

  “Tom! Hurry your ass up, man,” Sebastian yelled when Tom hesitated. Another breath and he jumped down from the truck and started to run toward our gate. “Shit, I forgot my stash,” he yelped and turned back toward the truck. He grabbed the handle and I grabbed Sebastian’s hand.

  “Forget your weed, man! Move it,” Sebastian yelled.

  “He’s not going to make it,” I whispered.

  “He’ll make it,” Sebastian said.

  One of the pack members crept forward, sniffing the air. It was too much for the creature’s desires. It lunged at Tom and I stifled a scream. Tom screamed for us both. Like unleashing a tidal wave, the pack rushed back in and Tom disappeared under a flurry of bodies and mouths.

  Jessica screamed and tried to run toward Tom, but the big male held her tight against his chest until she stopped squirming, her eyes glazing over with resignation.

  “Don’t hurt him,” she yelled, but the pack didn’t listen to her anymore than they listened to Tom’s pleas for mercy.

  I buried my head into Sebastian’s shoulder.

  “Look,” Sebastian said.

  I turned to see the pack retreating with their prize; none of it even recognizable as human, and Jessica and the Alpha male were walking to the gate.

  As if in a dream, we met them there, just out of reach.

  “Thank you. I wish I could have stayed with you longer,” she whispered, silver tears pooling in her quickly shifting eyes. She reached through, and though Sebastian grunted at me, I took her hands and held them with my own, rubbing my fingers over her knuckles. If she were my daughter, my child, I would want her to have this last moment of humanity, touching one of her own kind before she forgot everything she was and could have been.

  “I wish we could’ve done more.”

  Sebastian stepped closer and the Alpha male growled, his grip tightening on Jessica. Sebastian held up his hands, then slowly lowered them to my shoulders, squeezing me almost painfully tight.

  I ignored the pissing contest and stared at Jessica. “Be safe, sweetheart,” I whispered and lifted her hands to my lips, kissing the back of them.

  The skin underneath my lips was spinning into a dusky yellow with faint lines that looked like veins, but weren’t. They were images of yellow teardrops like a poorly drawn tattoo of a broom flower. The plant was taking hold of the humans it inhabited like it did all the areas it was introduced to.

  The Alpha male pulled her away, but not before giving Sebastian one more glare, one filled with hatred so intense that I was surprised he didn’t try to come over the gate.

  “I don’t think he likes me.”

  “What does it matter? He’d kill either of us,” I said. I turned away from the gate, heart heavy at losing Jessica, though I’d known it would happen. I just didn’t think it would be so soon. I reached up, took Sebastian’s hand off my shoulder and wrapped it around me, taking some comfort in the warmth. If only I could so easily ward off the chill in my heart.

  9

  The next week was spent digging the garden, watering it daily, checking fences, and drinking lots of water to keep our hunger at bay. Nero romped at our feet oblivious to the danger all around us, though he quickly learned to stay far away from the fence line. Only once did he stray close to the front gate; the growling and fury, along with a set of hands reaching for him, sent him running back to safety.

  We phoned family and friends, trying to find out who had taken the shot, and who hadn’t. Of them all, only Sebastian’s Gran was still answering her phone, and she was in London.

  “You two take care of each other. I’ll be fine here, I have a flight to—” She was cut off, the line going dead, but at least we knew she was still alive and well. It was a small ray of sunshine.

  We argued about whether or not to go to Dan’s, but I won out.

  “Fine, Mara. Fine. We won’t go to Dan,” Sebastian said, his body slumped on the couch.

  “We can’t trust him, Sebastian. He came here to raid us, not help us. He said so himself. We’re safe here; the Nevermores can’t seem to get in. If it comes down to desperation, then yes, maybe then we could go to Dan, but he’s a last resort.” I went back to attempting to hand-stitch a patch on a shirt.

  The pack left us alone for the most part, sending out what seemed to be a scout once or twice a day. He was smaller than the rest, and slightly hunched over with angry red slashes on his upper body and face, with one that went right across his forehead. The scout, who we simply started to call Scout, would attempt to rattle the massive gate, give us a growl, and then wander off.

  The long hours, hard work, and emotional stress taxed us, making us both edgy and out of sorts, not even leaving us enough energy to make love, which was unusual for us. The day before the power went out, we checked the TV as we did each morning and each night. For the first time in over a week there was an announcement of sorts.

  “Mara, come here, the TV’s on,” Sebastian called out.

  I ran downstairs, a towel wrapped around my hair.

  There was no announcer, just a single picture like a page out of a book that scrolled up on a continual loop.

  I read it out loud as it went. “All areas of North America are now considered dangerous territory, as is the Nort
h and West of South America, all of Australia, Europe, and much of Asia.”

  There was a long stretch of blank screen and then a last warning.

  I read it slowly, disbelief and a low thrum of resignation settled over me.

  “All remaining residents from these named continents are now considered independent of any government, agency, or military command. We consider . . . .”

  That’s where it ended. The screen blinked and slid into white fuzzy static, reminding me of the twilight zone. I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

  “What does that mean?” I already suspected the answer, but wanted Sebastian to say it out loud.

  He reached up and took my hand. “We’re on our own, babe. That’s what it means. No one’s going to come help us or try to get us out of here. They’re going to let nature take its course, just like Dan said, and hope the Nevermores die off.”

  I squeezed his hand and slid onto his lap. He circled his arms around me and we held each other tight, the fear surrounding us.

  “We’ve still got each other,” I said.

  Sebastian didn’t answer me, just laid his head against my breast, his breathing uneven as if he were holding back tears.

  The next day, two weeks in, the power finally went and we had to break out the flashlights and candles, hoarding them, using them only when necessary. At that point, we realized we needed to dig a latrine of some sort. Shit—in the most literal sense of the word.

  Worse than that realization, was the fact that we were through half our food stores—not that we had much to begin with—and our garden was a long way from producing.

  “We’re just going to have to cut back some more,” I said, staring at our already meagre meal of pasta and a half a can of tuna cooked over the barbecue. Come winter we could use the wood stove and the old wood-burning stove I’d thought to replace for heat and cooking. But there were so many things on the list of needed items: candles, seeds for the garden, and canning equipment, just to name a few.

  Sebastian scrubbed his hands through his hair, his wedding band catching the last rays of the setting sun. I watched as it slid around, bumping up against his knuckle. The weight we were both losing was a testament to our hard work and lack of nutrition.

  I started to laugh at the irony of the situation.

  “What’s so funny?”

  I gulped the laughter down enough to answer him. “We’ve wanted to lose weight for so long and all it took was for the world to shut down.” Another peal of laughter ripped its way out of me, leaving me shaking and gasping for air, tears running down my cheeks. Hilarity rarely gripped me, and now I seemed unable to shake its grasp.

  He frowned at me, which only made me laugh harder; lack of food, poor sleep, and hard work making me giddy. I sat on the floor and the laughter rolled out of me, Nero dancing around my head woofing, and making me howl all the louder. Sebastian got up, left his plate of food and went outside, the back door slamming behind him.

  I lay on the cool tile of the kitchen floor till the laughter subsided and the tears threatened to start. I forced them back, refused to let them get a hold of me. I wouldn’t let the fear rise again. We weren’t going to die here, we were going to live and survive. Nero lay down beside me, ever attentive, the perfect puppy, and I was grateful he took to his sit-stay commands so well. I couldn’t have handled an unruly dog with all that had been happening. I let my hand rest on his quickly-growing body for a moment. What were we going to do about him? We could barely feed ourselves and the dog food was diminishing as fast as our own.

  I stood slowly, wobbling a little, the distant thud of axe and wood telling me where Sebastian was. I ate half my meal and covered the rest with plastic wrap, something else we were nearly out of.

  Crap. I knew I’d made a mess of it with Bastian. I headed outside, Nero at my heels and Sebastian’s plate in hand to find him chopping wood, sweat dripping down his rapidly slimming frame. He would always be a big guy, but it was scary to see how fast he, especially, was losing weight.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve pulled it together,” I said in between chops. Sebastian lowered the blade and half-turned to me.

  “It’s okay. I suppose from time to time you’re going to have breakdowns. It’s to be expected. As long as you can always pull yourself up and out of it,” he said.

  I handed him his plate and he sat down on a log to eat.

  “Well, it’s not like I’m going to be here by myself, right? You’re not planning on doing a walkabout in the middle of the night, go for some sort of marathon run to see if you can outdistance the pack, are you?” I smiled at him and he gave me a half-hearted smile back.

  “No, not planning on it.”

  I blinked hard, wondering at the sudden fear that gripped me. Was he trying to say something without saying it?

  “What’s wrong, Bastian? I know this is a crap situation. I know it’s not how we planned our lives, but we are alive and we still have each other. That’s all that matters.” I sat down beside him. A rattle drew our attention to the gate, Scout making motions at us, more than usual. He grunted and pointed at the food on the plate.

  Sebastian stood and walked to the gate without a word, Nero whined the closer he got to the Nevermore. Scout backed off, obviously intimidated by his size, until Sebastian held the plate of food out to him.

  “What are you doing?” The scene disturbed me. Why was he showing kindness to the Nevermore? Why would he give him food that we had so little of, which we so desperately needed?

  Scout slunked forward cautiously, his eyes downcast until he was right at the gate with Sebastian towering over him. One shaking hand reached out to grab some noodles, streaking back to his mouth so fast I could barely track it with my eyes.

  A second time he reached out to grab the food and as his hands grasped noodles, Sebastian’s big hand clamped down on his arm. Scout squealed—setting Nero off, barking like a mad dog—and tried to pull away, but couldn’t. Sebastian held onto him, not doing anything but holding. Scout squealed and screeched so loud and high-pitched, I found myself on my feet, heart pumping and ready to run.

  “Bastian, he’s calling the others,” I said, fear blooming once more. We’d been almost back to normal; I could almost forget the scene of Tom’s death, of the pack surrounding our property, of Jessica going off with the Alpha.

  “I know.”

  Two words, so simple and yet, they meant so much. He wanted Scout to call the pack in, but, why?

  Rustling in the bushes was the only warning we had before the Nevermores exploded onto the road, screaming and gnashing their teeth. They were thinner than the last time I’d seen them, but they didn’t seem worse for wear, their energy still high.

  I searched the group, standing on my tiptoes and finally standing on a log to see if Jessica was with them.

  “She’s at the back,” I said. “She looks okay.” She was thin, her clothes ragged, but unlike some of the others who had scars and missing pieces of hair, she looked . . . like the queen of the pack. The Alpha male stepped out of the bush and put his hand on her shoulder, claiming her while he stared at Sebastian.

  “What does he think? That you’re going to fight him for her?” I asked more to myself, but Sebastian heard me.

  “That’s exactly what he thinks. I’m bigger, stronger, and younger. A threat to his position in the hierarchy of the pack,” he said.

  “But you aren’t.”

  Sebastian turned to look at me, his eyes sad.

  My heart dropped.

  “Mara, the results from the fertility tests came back while you were out of it. It wasn’t you that had fertility problems, it was me. The day I gave you Nero, when I went into town . . . .”

  I started to shake my head, backing away, half-falling off the log and stumbling over Nero.

  “No, no you didn’t, you wouldn’t have. You said that it was stupid, that there was no way you would ever . . . .” The world swayed around me and I fell to my knees, grabbing at the axe
for support.

  Sebastian walked to me, and turned me so that we both faced the gate and the pack beyond it. His hands were hot on my bare flesh and I began to itch, the concentration of broom in his body coming through in his sweat. It finally made sense, and I understood my reactions at strange times, after he kissed me or we made love. My body responded to the concentrate within his system and I had to take antihistamines. I was allergic to him, to what he was becoming.

  I let out a moan and he held me tight.

  “I’m sorry, Mara. I took the shot.” He looked me in the eye, his own beginning to tint a light yellow that I’d been telling myself was just the way the light reflected on his iris.

  “I took Nevermore.”

  10

  I sobbed into his chest, pounded on it in a fit of rage that he could do this to me, that he would be leaving me, forgetting that if I’d had it my way, it would be the other way around.

  The pack dispersed, once more stymied by the gate and their inability to climb it or unlock it, melting back into the bush as if they had never been there.

  All that was left was Scout, who stared at us with his slitted eyes and rattled the gate to get our attention. In less than three weeks, that would be Sebastian, outside the property, an animal who no longer loved me, an animal who would as soon eat me as make love to me.

  I stood up, pushing away from him, anger and pain at war with one another inside my heart. “I need to be alone.”

  “You’re going to get a lot of that in the not-too-distant future, probably more than you want. I would take advantage of the time we have.”

  I spun on my heel, ready to slap him. “You asshole! Why didn’t you tell me you’d taken the shot?”

  He frowned and shook his head. “I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “It’s my right to worry! I’m your wife. If anyone should know that you’re going to turn into an animal, it’s me!” Nero whimpered at my feet, upset by the yelling. I bent and scooped him into my arms.

  “The right time didn’t come up. And I wasn’t sure at first. I didn’t feel any different. I wasn’t losing weight, but at the clinic they said that might not happen as fast to me because of my size,” he said, shrugging and lowering his eyes.