Covenant

by Jim Miesner

  “What about the truce?”

  “The truce is with the Covenant, not each other.” He looked up at the sky. “Better get moving.”

  They climbed back into the cart and were on their way within a couple of minutes. Sam could feel the world rock as they bounced over the rough terrain and she felt the dull throbbing crystallize in her head. She coughed into her hand again, only to pull it away and find flecks of blue neon liquid on her palm. She wiped her mouth as Jenny looked back at her and smiled. Sam forced a smile back at her before Jenny looked forward and the wind whipped her hair around. It was another sign. Time was running out, and she needed to find Jenny’s parents before it did.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  It only took about fifteen minutes to catch up to Marlena and John. They had realized shortly in that they weren’t following behind and found a shaded hollow where they had waited. Once they were all together again, they seemed to make good distance.

  The tarp over the dune buggies was welcome shade as they made their way through the hills and Sam was grateful for the breeze. The Covenant always seemed hot, but she never remembered it getting like this. She didn’t know how these people put up with it. It was like they were living on the sun. Even with the shade and the wind she still felt sweat trickle down her face and her back. She wicked it away by fanning herself with the sweater vest again. God, it was itchy. The headaches continued to vibrate her skull as they rode, and she coughed up blue specks twice more before they slowed and pulled up under a rocky outcrop that jutted out. It was almost a cave, but not deep enough that it could be considered one.

  Sam got up to ask why they had stopped when she realized the reason. The boy stood off to the side as a stream of water poured onto the ground between his legs. She was staring at it dumbfounded when she heard the familiar buzz and turned to see the drones a few hundred feet up. One by one, each of them turned their heads and stood motionless until they were just specks in the sky.

  “We should take a break here for now,” Emmanuel said. “We can all use a bite.”

  Marlena smirked.

  “How long till we are at your friend’s?” Sam asked.

  “Not long,” he said. “Only about an hour or so.”

  Marlena opened baskets and pulled out plastic containers that contained eggs, nuts, corn, and tortillas. She also pulled out the brown fruit from earlier. John took twigs and kindling from his cart and formed them into a pyramid. Emmanuel held out his hand and shook his head.

  “Smoke,” he said.

  John nodded and took off the larger pieces. Leaving only the small sticks as he tore off the bark. The boy knelt down next to him and watched as he went about his business.

  “Make sure they don’t see the fire, too,” Emmanuel said. “Do it just inside a cave."

  “What can I do?” Sam asked.

  Emmanuel looked at Marlena as she shucked the corn, then to John as he continued with the fire. John held out a piece of flint for Jenny to try as Daniel ran toward Marlena, sat down beside her and helped shuck corn.

  "There’s really not much left for you to do. Just hang out," Emmanuel said.

  “Hang out? Oh, an expression.”

  Emmanuel nodded. She didn’t have to be a mind reader to see what he was thinking. It was the same thankful tone and smile one gives a toddler when they want to play with sharp scissors.

  Emmanuel hesitated before he reached into the basket and pulled out a rabbit carcass. Its arms and legs dangled limp, and he laid it on a flat stone with a knife next to it. He paused a moment before he gripped the knife in his right hand. Sam turned away from it as her tongue rolled out of her mouth. She couldn’t help but gag and cough until a sharp pain erupted in her temple. When she had finished hacking and could catch her breath, she rubbed her fingers across her eyelids. Everything was fuzzy for a few seconds after that as little specks of light danced in front of her. That was when she noticed Marlena staring and she felt something drip from her nose down her upper lip. Sam wiped it away to find the neon blue liquid on her hand.

  “Excuse me,” she said and stumbled away from the site a few feet.

  She sat down to catch her breath again with her back turned. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, especially not Marlena.

  If only there was something she could do. She was useless. Flames already licked the sticks Jenny and John stood over. Sam pulled the pendant from around her neck and opened it to look at the photo of herself and Dr. Tesla. He was the closest thing to a father she had ever known, and now he was gone. She shared that with Emmanuel, but at least he still had family left, Sam had no one.

  “What are you doing?” the boy’s voice asked.

  Sam glanced over her shoulder to see him standing there.

  “Hi,” she said. “Aren’t you supposed to be pulling off corn leaves?”

  “Shucking? We’re done already.” He inched closer and came up to her side to get a better glimpse.

  “Who’s that?”

  “Just some people.” Sam closed it and stuffed it back inside her shirt.

  He looked at her confused. Then held out his fist toward her. There was something in it.

  “Food? I can’t.”

  “It’s not food. It’s a gift. I made it.”

  Sam held out her hand, and he dropped it into her palm. It looked like a little gray U with foam on the ends.

  “You made this? Thank you,” she said. “What is it?”

  “Your nose,” he said and pointed to his own. “It plugs your nose.”

  She lifted it up and twirled it around. “You made this?”

  He shuffled his foot in the dirt. “Kind of.”

  “Wow. Thank you. It’s very nice. My name’s Sam.”

  “I know.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Daniel.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Daniel. Thank you.” She held her breath. Pulled out the fabric and pushed the thing up into her nostrils. She felt the foam seal off the airway, tried to blow air through it, but she couldn’t. It was the perfect fit and instead of clothing hanging out of her nose, all that showed was the little U that joined the plugs together. Like some kind of tribal nose ring.

  “Perfect. Thank you.”

  Daniel smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  They stared at each other a moment before he bit his bottom lip. “Can I see it? Your necklace?”

  “It’s just a pendant. It has pictures of me from when I was a little girl.”

  She took it off and handed it to him. He turned it over in his hand. “What do all the stars and the planets mean,” he asked.

  “Nothing. It’s just a design. Dr. Tesla gave it to me when I was a little girl.”

  Sam clicked it open to reveal the photos inside.

  “That’s me.”

  Daniel turned it over in his hands with wide eyes. He pressed his lips together and looked back at Marlena before turning back toward Sam.

  “What’s it like inside the Shell? I heard no one ever dies.”

  Sam smiled. “Not exactly. Our lifespan is longer. Some people live three times as long, but we still die.”

  “Are you going to die?”

  Sam nodded her head. “I’m sick.”

  “Why do you get sick?”

  “A long time ago some bad people poisoned the planet. It destroyed many crops. Many people died from starvation, others from disease. The people in the Covenant sealed ourselves off. We found a way to survive on an alternative food source, but it came with a trade-off .”

  “Trade-off?”

  “We had to alter our bodies so we could ingest it. Unfortunately, it affected our immune systems. That's why we can't survive beyond the Shell.”

  He looked down at Sam’s necklace before handing it back to her and bringing something out of his pocket.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asked.

  It was another pendant on a necklace. This one much smaller than Sam’s. He placed it in her hand and the familiar i
mage of the sleeping lamb between the paws of the wolf was etched across it. It was very light, like a cheap aluminum.

  “It’s a souvenir,” she said. “From the Covenant Zoo. Where did you get this?”

  Marlena grabbed Daniel by the arm and jerked him away. “I thought I told you not to bother her,” she said. “Didn’t I?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “It’s okay,” said Sam.

  “Excuse me?” Marlena said and raised her voice.

  Emmanuel jogged over. “What’s going on?”

  “I told him to leave her alone,” said Marlena.

  Sam felt lightheaded and had to study herself on a rock to get to her feet. At the same time, a muscle tensed in her back as she tried to stand.

  “I’m sorry. He just wanted to give me a gift,” she said as she winced.

  Emmanuel looked at him. “Don’t bother Sam, Daniel.”

  “He wasn’t bothering me.”

  “We don’t want you talking to him. Do we have to spell it out for you?” asked Marlena.

  “I thought,” Sam said. “I thought.” She looked at Emmanuel but he said nothing and looked away. Then she took a step, her knees wobbled, and she caught herself on the rock again.

  “Are you okay?” asked Emmanuel.

  Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and she peeled it back. “I’m fine,” she said. But it wasn’t her voice. It sounded like the voice of a hundred-year-old woman outside the Shell. She tried to clear her throat. “I’m fine.”

  The sun was blinding as she walked out of the shade. Throwing her hand up to shade her eyes, a fresh wave of nausea came over her. A ringing in her ears grew and the sharp pain in her temple returned. She knew it was a headache, but it was stronger than all the others combined. The world around her blurred as she felt the nose plugs with her hand. Were they working? They seemed tight. She lost her balance and fell forward into the dirt. Someone was there in an instant. It was Emmanuel.

  “Sam?”

  She pushed him away and got to her feet. “I’m fine. I must have smelled something when I switched plugs. I just need to get away from here.”

  Emmanuel turned back. “We’re not cooking anything yet.”

  “Then it’s the fire. Or something. Look I just need to be alone. You don’t want me around, anyway.”

  “No. We never said that.”

  “You just said it. You don’t want me around. It’s fine. I understand. I’m not one of you.”

  “Wait.”

  She pushed him away and felt the liquid climb up her throat. Turning her head at the last minute, a torrent of the neon blue fluid gushed onto the ground. The wave of nausea enveloped her entire world, and she went to her hands and knees and vomited a second round as more muscles tightened in her back. It felt like a hundred little ropes had been thrown over her and she was floating at the same time. The second round was a darker blue-black. She continued to cough up little specks as footsteps scurried around and then hands lowered her onto her back. It was hard to see who it was as the sun glared in her eyes and then she felt the drops coat her cheeks, her eyelids, touch her lips and slide down her throat before she pushed the canteen away.

  “Stop,” she screamed out. “Stop.” She spit out whatever had found its way into her mouth.

  “You’re dehydrating,” said Emmanuel.

  “No. It’s not that. It’s… the food. I can’t be around food. I must have smelled something when I changed the plugs.”

  He didn’t listen to her. He kept dripping it onto her face until she had to slap it away and the canteen fell to the ground where it poured out into the dirt.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Emmanuel yelled. “You need to drink.”

  “I told you I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can.”

  Sam felt the cramps in her stomach pass. Wiped her mouth and got to her feet again.

  “Just leave me alone. Okay? Just let me, be alone.”

  She looked around and saw everyone was staring at her. Then she wiped her mouth and turned and walked away. She was tired of it all. It didn’t matter though. None of it mattered. In a few hours, they would find Jenny’s parents. Sam just needed to make it a few more hours. She looked down at her forearms to see the black tendrils peeking out and pulled down her rolled-up sleeves. Yes, just a few more hours.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  When Sam felt far enough away, she sat down on a rock in another shaded spot. She could rest if it wasn’t for the dull throb that still echoed in her head. Her fingers went to her temple again, and she realized she still held Daniel’s necklace. Looking back at the camp it was like nothing had ever happened. Emmanuel roasted the rabbit, John chased Daniel around and Marlena laughed. It was the first time she saw a smile on her face. Of course, she would be happy now when she wasn’t around. Soon, Sam would be gone and she could be like this all the time. Who knows, maybe she was the happiest person in the world when she wasn’t here.

  Soon Jenny would be with her parents again too and this would all be over. Maybe in the final stages Sam would be able to slink away before it got too bad. There had been rumors of people forgotten outside the Shell. When they found them, their hands were constricted so tight they had become talons. All the capillaries in their eyes burst until the whites were dark red. Looks of agony frozen on their twisted faces as they lay in a large neon puddle of blue. Most people dismissed them as stories school kids told each other, but being here now they didn’t seem too far of a stretch.

  She looked down at Daniel’s pendant in her hand before turning back to the desert and looking out over the hills. If only they had enough white tubes, she wouldn’t have to worry about the pain. As she hugged her legs to her chest, she wondered what else might be in Jenny’s satchel when the footsteps came up behind her.

  “What are you doing?” Jenny’s voice asked.

  “Just resting,” Sam said. “Trying not to bother anyone.” She took Daniel’s pendant and pushed it into a pocket.

  “They don’t hate you.”

  Sam grunted. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t belong here.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  Sam shook her head and stopped as another wave of nausea passed over her. They were becoming more frequent.

  “This isn’t my world,” she said between burps.

  Jenny sat next to her and sniffled. “I’m sorry I got you into this. It’s all my fault.”

  “Jenny, how can you say that?”

  “It wouldn't have happened if I hadn’t run in the zoo.”

  “None of that matters.”

  A tear rolled down Jenny's cheek, and she wiped it away.

  “It’s going to be okay, Jenny.”

  Jenny pulled away. “No, it’s not. It’s not okay. You’re going to die out here. They think I don’t hear but I hear what they are saying. It’s only a matter of time. Please just drink some water. Please.”

  Sam sighed. “It’ll make me sick.”

  “You’re already sick.”

  “It will be worse.”

  “Worse than this?” Jenny said and held up a spoon.

  A bulbous face reflected back that she didn’t recognize. The eyes and lips swollen and crusted, the skin pale and down the corner of her mouth, a dry stream of the blue bile lingered as she tried to wipe it away. When it didn't come off, she pushed the spoon away as Jenny’s beautiful eyes and warm skin took the place of the ghostly figure.

  “You don’t understand. There is bacteria in the water. The sickness will only progress faster.”

  “It’s been boiled. Sanitized.”

  “What?”

  “Marlena boiled it for the corn but let me have some.” She held up the canteen as it sloshed around. “Please. Just take it. It can’t hurt you.”

  Sam looked down at the faded canteen. She rolled her fingers without thinking. Testing the tightness of her joints. She took in a breath as the air wheezed into her lungs.

  “Once we get to where we are headed. I’ll-�
�

  “We’re so close now. Please. What are you afraid of?”

  Sam took the canteen and looked back at the camp.

  “Jenny?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who gave you the orange?”

  “What?”

  “The orange? On the day we were at the zoo. Where did you get it from? Was it Dr. Tesla?”

  Jenny stared at the ground with her mouth open.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t have to protect anyone out here. It’s just me.”

  She looked at her. “Really, I don’t know. I wish I did but I don’t. I would just wake up and there would be food under my pillow. At first, I thought it was you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. I never… I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Sam said. “I was just curious. Besides me, Dr. Tesla and the guards did anyone else ever visit you? Another team? Another doctor?”

  “No. It was just you.”

  Another wave of nausea passed over and some water sloshed out of the canteen and down Sam’s hand as she braced herself. Jenny grabbed her other arm to keep her from falling. Then Sam took a breath and put it around Jenny’s shoulder as Jenny leaned her head into her side.

  “Please drink,” she repeated.

  Sam sighed as she looked at the canteen again. It was sterile, somewhat. Considering all she had been exposed to it couldn’t make things much worse. The simple act of drinking wouldn’t kill her either. She had accidentally swallowed water before in the shower or in the swimming pool. It was the act of it though. The shame that hovered over it all. How could she still think like that after everything? Maybe it was those old grade school posters that talked about water being the gateway to broths and juices, to mild foods and finally animal flesh and mammary gland secretions. She smiled at the thought.

  “What?” Jenny asked.

  “Nothing,” she said, just a public service announcement.

  “A what?” Jenny said and wiped her eyes.

  “Nothing,” said Sam. She lifted the canteen again as it shook in her hand and she held it a few inches from her lips. It had been a long time. She had done this before, but no memory of it remained. She poured it through the air and let the water hit her tongue. Some went down her mouth as she coughed but most of it got on her shirt and the ground. The metallic canteen gave it an odd taste she didn’t expect.