by Jim Miesner
“You okay?” Jenny asked.
Sam nodded. Her fingers felt along the console until she found the emergency hatch release. She coughed again from the dust and didn’t think anything of it. As she yanked on the release, the doors lifted up and the crisp night air flooded in. She heard Jenny’s feet hit the sand almost immediately and the sound of the aircraft’s parachute flutter in the breeze. Then she reached under the console for the second time, found the emergency kit and pulled it out.
The moonlight gave her just enough light to see as she pulled two flashlights from the kit, moved toward the hatch and tossed one to Jenny who already had the backpack. Sam looked out into the dark, empty desert and inhaled the sweet night air as Jenny flicked her flashlight on.
“Ms. Samantha?” Jenny asked.
“What?”
Jenny pointed at Sam's chest, her eyes were wide. Sam looked down to see the suit no longer invisible. She rubbed her hand over her chest and found the long tear in the front where the seat belt had cut into it.
“Can we fix it, Miss Samantha?”
Sam raced back to the emergency kit and knocked it to the ground, dumping its contents to the floor of the plane. Getting on her hands and knees, she searched until she found the small container of sterilized wipes. Pulling one and rubbing the inside and outside of the plastic tear, she moved on to her chest and scrubbed it. When that one was spent, she pulled another and another until there was only one left. The dust still floated inside her helmet as she yanked it off and shook it out. Then she rubbed the last wipe over her face and inside her mouth. Her face soured from the taste of the alcohol. She rummaged through the kit again, throwing odds and ends away until she found the medical tape and tried to tape together the long tear on her chest. The suit didn’t want to cooperate as the tape kept sliding off. Finally, she threw it aside.
“Dammit!” she screamed.
She inhaled a deep breath and could almost feel the host of deadly pathogens inside her lungs, the same ones that had once destroyed global civilization.
“Ms. Samantha,” Jenny said, as she peered into the ship.
Sam folded her arms on her legs as she rested her forehead on them and closed her eyes.
“What is it?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“What about your suit? Aren't there any extras? You know, for like an emergency?”
“No. Don't you think I would be wearing one if there were?” Sam snapped, instantly regretting it.
Jenny froze and slid back out of the ship. Sam bit her bottom lip and looked up at the moon. The odds were impossible now. A journey that should have taken a little less than an hour would take weeks. Weeks that Sam didn’t have, thanks to the torn suit. Maybe if she was lucky, she might have a few days at best. Patching it up was useless, the damage had already been done and there was only one place in the world that could treat the pathogens she had been exposed to. Standing up she looked back out the hatch into the night at the rainbow-colored city skyline on the horizon.
She took another deep breath and jumped to the ground. The reason for the crash was obvious. You didn’t have to be an investigator to see what had brought the ship down. The side of the battery had been punctured several times. Stains showed the path the fluid had taken as it poured out, some still dripped into the sand.
So many mistakes had been made. Of all the ships she could have taken, she had to take this one. She hadn’t even tried to see if Dr. Tesla’s card would have worked with the newer models, many of which had escape pods capable of flying long distances on their own. They were like mini-ships within a ship. Jenny could have been minutes away from saving her mom. Now not only was Jenny and Sam’s life at risk, but her mother was probably as good as dead, all because of Sam. She was such an idiot. Thirty feet away Jenny sat looking up at the night sky. What would she tell her?
Sam looked at the useless suit and slid it down her body. Strangely enough, the gentle breeze felt good on her skin. When she had freed herself of it, she made her way up to Jenny and sat down alongside her. They both stared up at the milky way listening to the parachute flutter, and the crickets sing their night song for a full minute before anyone spoke.
“I’m sorry,” Sam finally said.
Jenny shrugged her shoulders. “It’s okay. You’re exposed.”
Sam tried to figure out how to say what she needed to. How could she convince Jenny they needed to go back? They were surrounded by desert. On foot they were as good as dead. They had maybe only a few hours until the sun came up before they would fry out here. Would they even make it past noon?
Her mind was searching for more justifications when Jenny’s laugh surprised her, and she turned to see the girl holding the flashlight as a green creature fluttered and danced in its light. It was the biggest moth Sam had ever seen.
“It’s a Luna moth,” Jenny said.
“A what?”
“My dad told me about them.” She smiled and looked back at Sam. “They’re just like you.”
“Like me?”
“They don’t eat. The adults don’t anyway…”
“What’s it doing out here in the middle of the desert?”
“Maybe it’s a sign,” Jenny said and held out her hand as it landed on her fingertips.
Sam blew out a breath. “We can’t stay here, Jenny.”
At the sound of her words the moth fluttered up into the sky and disappeared.
Jenny turned back to Sam and nodded. “We need to start walking. If we’re lucky, we’ll find some caves we can rest in during the day.”
“Jenny. We’ll never make it across this.”
Jenny pulled her knees to her chest. “We’ll find a way. We made it this far.”
“Did you hear what I said? We’re in the middle of a desert, on foot. Your mom is hundreds of miles away. We’ll never make it in time.”
She got up and dusted the sand off her pants. “You want to go back?”
“I don’t want to, but our only other option is to die out here from heat stroke.”
Jenny shook her head. “No. We can’t. There has to be another way.”
Sam sighed. “At least back there we have a chance. Maybe we can find some help.”
“From the people that were shooting fireballs at us?”
“We don’t have many other options.”
Jenny turned with her back to her. “You mean you don’t.”
“What?”
“You’re scared.”
“I’m not scared, but yes, I won’t survive out here long and I can’t leave you in the middle of the desert to fend for yourself.”
Sam reached out for her shoulder and Jenny shrugged it off.
“I can take care of myself,” she said before she hitched the backpack strap onto her shoulder. “Go. Don’t worry about me. Go back to your city.” She turned and began to walk away.
“I can’t leave you out here.”
“Yes, you can. Go. Just…”
The distant sound of engines froze Jenny mid-sentence and Sam whipped her head around to get a bearing of where it was coming from. Off to the east, she saw the first pair of headlights bounce over the hills, followed by eight more behind it, coming straight for them. Sam flicked off her flashlight, grabbed Jenny’s and flicked it off too.
“What are you doing?”
“They could be dangerous. Come on.”
They hurried together over a small hill where they laid as low to the ground as possible. As they watched them approach the sounds of the motors gradually overtook the sounds of the desert. In the darkness Sam felt something large slither across her hand and she bit down on her lip to silence a scream.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sam watched whatever it was that had slid across her hand, serpentine through the sand in the moonlight until it disappeared into a large shadow.
It didn’t take long for the first of their new guests to arrive. Their blinding headlights made it impossible for Sa
m and Jenny to get a good look at them. All she could do was make out their silhouettes as they went to work on the downed ship, still she could tell they were dressed in rags, animal skins and scavenged garbage. One man appeared to wear an old hubcap across his bare chest, another what looked like an old sports mask of some kind, and another seemed to wear an assortment of heavy chains around their neck. The one with the chains might have been a woman, but it was hard to tell and Sam certainly wasn’t going to ask. If their wardrobe was any inclination as to their sanity, it was best to keep their distance.
Despite their dress they appeared organized. They worked in pairs without much talking. Two of them cut away and removed the parachute in seconds. Another pair entered the aircraft with crowbars and Sam could hear metal moaning and plastic snapping as they tossed pieces out. A third pair with large sledgehammers in hand, went to work on the outside. Some of them moved like women, but they were just as big as the men. One of them picked up the discarded bio-suit turned it in the air in confusion before pressing it against their hulking body as the others laughed. Then they threw it onto the sand before going back to work. Out of all of them, one man walked around the ship surveying it all.
Jenny seemed focused on the whole scene. She was as still as a statue. “We need to go,” she finally said.
The man that had been surveying everything walked over to Sam’s suit and picked it up. He held it up close to his face for a very long time as if smelling it before he looked right at the spot they had been sitting earlier. Then he grabbed some dirt and tasted it. He looked down at the path they had traveled. If there were tracks, Sam couldn’t see any.
Jenny gripped the handles of the backpack. “He knows we’re here.”
“Don’t move,” Sam said, but it was too late. Jenny was already running.
Sam looked back to the man as he turned, barked an order at another and together they jumped into a dune buggy. Sam swallowed hard. There was only one thing to do. She turned on her flashlight and waved it in the air.
“Over here,” she screamed. “Over here!” Then she took off at a ninety-degree angle.
As she ran the dune buggy took a sharp turn in her direction. The flashlight slipped from her hand after ten steps but despite her sore muscles, and the total darkness, she still found her legs running full speed. Oddly the darkness was comforting. It meant they weren’t close to her yet. She pumped her arms and legs as she blindly ran through the desert. For a moment she thought she might get away until something tore through her leg, and she screamed out in pain, falling face first into the sandy dirt. She spit it out and wiped it from her face. The approaching dune buggy now lighting up the path in front of her and she could see a three-inch-long cactus spike embedded in her thigh. Sam took no time to pull it out as she struggled back to her feet and began to run again.
She limped along as the path grew brighter and brighter. The light from the buggy poured over the ground in front of her and then something knocked her off her feet. She felt rough hands pull her arms behind her, a heavy knee dig into her back and rope slide around her wrists. She heard herself cry out as they pulled her back by the hair.
“Who are you?” a man’s voice asked. “What are you doing out here?”
Sam stared up at him as someone else had a hold of her arms. It was hard to make out his face as her eyes adjusted to the bright headlights but she could tell he was wearing jeans and a ragged t-shirt. When she didn’t answer he stepped forward and crouched down to be eye level with her. From there she could make out a scar on his cheek that led to an eye patch over his right eye.
“Are you alone?” he asked.
Sam couldn’t help but gag as he blew his hot rotten breath in her face. He smiled as she did, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth. He cocked his head as he looked her up and down.
“It’s just me,” Sam finally managed to get out.
He turned his head and pointed at the ship. “What did you do?”
“What?”
“Those holes in your ship didn’t put themselves there. Looks like you pissed someone off.”
Sam pressed her lips together, there was no way to answer that without mentioning Jenny.
“It’s rude to not answer when spoken to,” said a woman’s voice.
The ropes twisted around Sam’s wrists and she cried out from the burning pain.
“What should we do with her?” asked the woman.
The man lifted Sam’s shirt, revealing the blue port where her navel had once been, before he dropped it back down and shook his head.
“She’s got a short shelf life, but maybe we can trade her for some cactus wine.”
The hands holding the ropes let go, and Sam was thrown off-balance as she once again found her face in the dirt. She rolled onto her back and spit out the dry, bitter taste. She tried to wipe it from her mouth but her hands were tied so tightly together she couldn’t even reach her lips to her shoulder. The woman cackled at the sight of this and moved closer, drawing her face only inches from Sam’s. It was the dirtiest face she had ever seen and dark black makeup surrounded her eyes. The woman took a deep breath, inhaling Sam’s scent before she laughed again, something green danced between her teeth as she did.
“She’s so clean. Look at her. She smells like she rolled in a bed of wild flowers.”
Her grimy fingers rubbed across Sam’s face before grabbing hold of the chain around Sam’s neck and pulling the pendant out from her shirt. As soon as she saw it, her smile turned into a sneer.
“Where did you get this? Who did you take this from?”
“It’s mine.”
The woman yanked it sideways, but it didn’t break as the chain pressed against Sam’s windpipe. She tried to pull the chain from around her neck, or give herself room to breathe but the woman held on, her eyes were wide as the corners of her mouth curled up. Stars danced around Sam and everything began to grow dim as she struggled for breath.
“What are you doing?” a deep voice asked.
The woman let go and Sam heard the air whistle through her windpipe as it trickled back into her lungs. The woman still stood over her but her attention was turned toward a man at least seven feet tall. He had the biggest scar Sam had ever seen that stretched across his cheek and disappeared behind a patchy beard while tribal tattoos ran up and down his muscular arms.
“We found a Coven,” said the woman.
The giant knelt down and pulled Sam’s eyes open wider as he looked into them. Then pulled her lips apart with his dirty fingers as he looked at her teeth. There was almost no energy left in her to resist but she managed to pull her face away and spit on the ground. The woman laughed again. The giant lifted up her shirt to look at the blue port where her navel had once been. Shadows from other men and women began to surround her now as they eyed their new play toy.
“What are you doing with her?” the giant asked. “You know the rules.”
“They shot her down,” said the man with the eye patch. "They were after her."
“Even more so,” said the giant.
He pulled a six-inch knife from his pocket as the headlight beams glinted off it. Sam closed her eyes, waiting for it all to be over, at least this would be a quick death. In reality he was doing her a favor. She waited and then felt the ropes fall away. Her eyes opened, and she looked around confused as the giant stuck the knife back in his pocket.
“Leave her,” he said. “Get back to work.”
“But she’s ours,” said the woman. She grabbed Sam by the arm and yanked her towards her. “We found her.”
Sam squirmed a moment until she felt the cold metal against her throat.
“I want her,” said the woman.
The giant sighed. “You know the truce. Emmanuel won't be happy.”
“Screw him, John,” said the man with the eye patch. “Who is he to tell us what to do?”
The giant whipped his head around. He towered over the man by a foot. Sam’s eyes had adjusted and she could see his nostr
ils flare as he looked down at his challenger. The man with the eye patch surprisingly stood his ground as they locked eyes.
“He keeps us alive,” John the giant said. He pointed a finger at Sam. “If they find her with us, you know what will happen. We can't take that risk.”
“Stop!” Jenny shouted.
Everyone’s head turned in unison and looked out into the darkness. Sam tried to find her, but couldn’t.
“Leave her alone!” Jenny shouted again.
“No. Jenny, don’t,” Sam tried to yell but she could barely manage a whisper as she clutched her throat with one hand.
Then Jenny walked into the light. Sam had almost forgotten her age, she acted so grown up but with the large Neanderthals that surrounded them it was every bit apparent that she was only a child. She cinched up the backpack higher looking like a kid fresh from school who was taking on a group of bullies and not savages in some nightmare apocalyptic world. The seven-foot giant who had approached Sam stepped toward her as Jenny lifted her shirt to show them her navel.
“She was bringing me home,” Jenny said. “That’s why they were after us. She’s not like the others. She saved me.”
The giant got closer, squinted his eyes and cocked his head as he looked at her stomach.
“Don’t touch her,” Sam said through gritted teeth.
The giant glanced at Sam and then back to Jenny.
Jenny shifted on her feet. “I have supplies. It’s medicine. You can have it if you let her go. It’s worth a lot more than she is.”
“No,” Sam said. “Your mom.”
Jenny didn’t seem to hear her as she tossed the backpack at the woman’s feet. The woman looked back and forth before she released her grip and pushed Sam aside. This time she managed to land on her hands and knees.
The woman unzipped the pack and rifled through it with the man as they each looked at each other and smiled. They pulled out bottles and injectors, dropping some in the sand before stuffing them back inside and nodding their head in agreement.
“No. You can’t take that,” Sam said as she crawled toward them.