The Keras Genome

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Madison’s face turned sour. “Yes, that is certainly a negative. I hate spiders. Especially spiders as large as freaking houses!”

  “Spiders? I think they look more like a praying mantis than a spider.”

  “It has all the legs! It’s a spider!” Madison was getting comedically hysterical.

  Noah had to stop himself from laughing. “Madison, all insects have legs.”

  “It’s a spider dammit!”

  “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

  Madison was about to respond when they heard a knock at the door. A muffled voice spoke. “Are you two done yet?”

  Madison sighed. “I guess hunting is over.”

  Noah smiled. “Wasn’t much of a hunt to begin with.”

  She winked at him. “It could be…when we get back to the room, you can hunt me. I’ll be your prey.” She seemed thrilled at his sudden embarrassment. He was surprised by her boldness, but then remembered she had only been shy at the hotel due to wanting to hide her vanished bruising .

  The soldier punched in the code, and opened the door. He looked like he was about to say something, but then just stood there staring at the empty bags of blood in their hands. After a second, he found his words. “What were you guys doing in here?”

  Noah was quick on his feet. “They’ve been drawing her blood all day, so she needed a few bags of blood. We already threw away the needle and tubing. I was just checking out what kind of information they keep on the bag, other than blood type.” Noah then noticed that the three different bags they were holding were all different blood types. He quickly grabbed the bag from Madison and threw them in a biohazard container, hoping the soldier hadn’t noticed the large letters on each bag.

  The guard didn’t seem suspicious, only annoyed at having to wait on them. “Right, well if you’re done, let’s go.”

  On the way back down the hall, Madison appeared to have something on her mind, but it was too quiet in the hallway to ask. Even a whisper could be heard echoing off the concrete walls and floor. Once the soldier led them through the last locked door, he grunted and walked away down the hall. A voice on his radio spoke another location as he went. Noah and Madison exchanged glances as they watched him return to his post.

  Madison spoke first as they began heading back to their makeshift room. “So, do we need to worry about sunlight? I mean, I assume not since we’ve been exposed to it all day… ”

  “You realize we aren’t actually vampires, right? I mean, sure that’s one way to perceive this, but vampires don’t really exist. All the things you know about ‘vampires’ are just from peoples’ imaginations.”

  Madison corrected him. “Didn’t exist…until now. Although, we also didn’t know aliens existed until recently. So maybe vampires are real.”

  Noah just sighed. He realized he wasn’t going to win this argument, so he instead addressed her question. “Dr. Robinson said she believes we actually need the sunlight for energy, like a plant. She described our need for blood as the ground, and our need for energy as being like photosynthesis.”

  “Oh!” Madison exclaimed. “So, we’re like reverse vampires!”

  “Umm. Sure.” Noah shrugged. “I thought it was more like we were the ultimate vampire, having no apparent weaknesses.”

  “I like the sound of that!” She held her hand out in front of her as if she was running it over words. “Madison Ross. The ultimate vampire.”

  “Cute.”

  She grinned at him. “I’ll show you cute when we get back to the room.”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  They had just reached the door to their closet. Noah opened the door and was abruptly pushed forward by a surprisingly strong Madison. He turned around questioningly, and she shoved him onto the bed, kicking the door closed behind her. The foldout bed creaked under his sudden weight.

  He was surprised by how strong she was. Her thin arms didn’t match the force she was generating. He was about to comment on the attractiveness of her sudden aggression, but she jumped onto his lap, grabbed his face, and muted his voice with her lips. Madison’s breath was sweet. Her legs straddled him as she wrapped herself around his body. He reached his hands up the back of her shirt, feeling her smooth skin with his fingertips. She broke their kiss briefly, grabbing the bottom of her shirt to pull it off, when suddenly they both froze.

  Chapter 23: Pincer Maneuver

  Noah and Madison looked at each other with blank stares as they both listened carefully to a noise far off in the distance. It was something only they could hear, too far away for normal ears to catch. Something big was coming. Looking up towards the ceiling, Noah could feel the presence of an enemy falling from the sky. Except this enemy wasn’t just big. Big wasn’t the right word. If the other Keras had been as large as buildings, this monstrosity was as large as an entire city.

  As they listened, an explosion erupted far away and the ground began to shake. Abruptly, the floor beneath them gave way, and they fell downwards into the Earth. Noah quickly created a blood-sphere around their bodies as the entire building caved in on top of them. Within seconds they were buried under layers of concrete, steal, and rock.

  It was pitch black in the sphere. Noah and Madison clung to each other waiting for the ground to stop shaking. He could hear her ragged breathing from the sudden shock of being buried alive. But it wasn’t just that – it was the feeling. The feeling of an enemy so large that its impact crater had demolished the entire building from miles away. Noah realized that if a building-sized monster could make a crater that was half a mile wide, then this monstrosity must have made a crater at least a hundred miles wide, if not more. He wondered if their home city, almost two hours away, had been spared. For Madison’s sake, he hoped the destruction didn’t reach that far. He still didn’t remember his parents, so losing them wouldn’t have the same effect on him as it would for Madison if hers died.

  “Are you okay?” Noah could tell Madison was scared. He felt scared too.

  “No.” She said honestly.

  “Are you physically okay?” He clarified.

  “Yes.” Simple answers were all she had to offer.

  “I’m going to get us out of here.” He reassured her.

  “No!” She exclaimed. “I’d rather stayed buried than find out what that thing is.”

  Noah sighed. She had never fought one of the Keras, so she certainly didn’t have any confidence that she could handle them. While Noah was worried about the size of the monster, he knew it hadn’t been a problem taking care of the smaller ones. He also felt compelled to face the enemy after having promised Dr. Robinson he would. Maybe this was his chance to end the invasion. If he could defeat this behemoth, then maybe the Keras would give up.

  “Madison, you don’t have to fight it. I’ve been fine on my own.”

  “Are you kidding me?!” She sounded shocked. “If that thing was a person, we would be smaller than ants to it. No! We’re the size of microscopic germs! ”

  “I know. But I’m the only one who can do anything to stop it. If I can just hurt it enough, then it might leave on its own. Plus, I’m indestructible remember?”

  Madison clung to his chest, trying to regain control of her breathing. “It’s just…scary. It’s so big .”

  He kissed her on the top of the head, squeezing her tightly. She was shaking from fear. Noah realized he was trembling uncontrollably too, suddenly appreciating the option to stay buried. They could feel that it was already on the move, heading straight for them. Despite its massive size, it was moving fast, traversing miles in minutes.

  “Madison, we aren’t safe here either way. It knows where we are.”

  “Make it stop! This is just a bad dream. I’m still asleep!” She was sobbing now, fear overwhelming her.

  Noah didn’t have time for her to collect herself. He didn’t have time to be afraid. Staying buried wasn’t an option, but running was – at least for her. The monster was fast, but he knew they were faster. He
shot his blood upward, bursting through their tomb. He was surprised by just how deep they were buried, as his blood lifted them out of the ground.

  It was dark outside, still being early in the morning, but they could see in the moonlight that in every direction it was a wasteland. The ground where the building had resided had dropped at least a quarter of a mile. The smell of dirt was strong, but the visibility wasn’t bad. The dirt seemed to be too heavy to remain in the air. The sound of thunder ricocheted in the vast empty space, but Noah didn’t see any clouds. Nothing was on the horizon except a mountain that blocked the stars. The monster wasn’t in sight yet.

  “We should run. I don’t want to fight it in the dark.” Noah knew the moonlight provided plenty of light to see it, but he didn’t want to have any disadvantage in this fight. They could run towards the sun and hope it rose before they had to confront it.

  Madison nodded weakly in response. Her legs were shaking. Noah grabbed her hand, and pulled her along. But within seconds, she had gone from being dragged to the one who was leading him, as her fear channeled into raw speed. Noah wasn’t sure what their max running speed was, but he was confident it far exceeded 100 MPH as they ran from the predator pursuing them.

  Within minutes, the ground began sloping upward. Noah could see what looked like a black wall far away in front of them. Realizing it must be the edge of the crater, he checked behind to see if the monster was in sight, but nothing that hadn’t already been there was visible. Something else tugged at his mind, as they ran. The presence of the behemoth was behind them, but there was something else to their right. Something else moving as fast as they were.

  “Madison.” Noah was shocked he wasn’t out of breath. His endurance really did seem like it didn’t have a limit.

  Now that she was putting her fear to work, Madison seemed to have calmed down some. “What’s wrong?” She asked in a more level-headed tone.

  “Do you feel that? To our right. ”

  She had been so focused on what was behind them, that she hadn’t noticed. “Is it another one?”

  “It must be, but it’s small. It won’t be a problem for me. But let’s get out of this crater before we face it.”

  Madison didn’t respond immediately. She seemed pensive. “I can’t let you face this thing on your own. I’m afraid, but I’m more afraid of losing you. There’s no way that monster can’t hurt you. I don’t care what Dr. Anderson said.”

  “You don’t have to fight.”

  “I know. But I can’t leave you behind. And I can’t just watch.” Her voice sounded more determined. “So, I’ll fight. By your side.” A slight smile touched her lips as her determination slowly gave way to courage.

  The ground was steeper now, and they were almost to the wall. Noah wanted to stay together, so he communicated his plan. “Let’s jump on my count, and then we can grab the top of the edge with our blood. Pull ourselves up like a grappling hook. Ready?” Madison nodded. “Three, Two, One, Now!” They leapt in sync, higher than any normal person could, blood shooting from their free hands. Within seconds they were climbing over the top.

  Noah initially thought they were at the edge of a large city, but then he realized they were in the middle of it. The crater had instantly buried half, and the portion still above ground was still mostly destroyed. Far across the city, he could hear that there were still signs of life, as distant sirens and screaming filled the air. For the first time, he wished his hearing wasn’t so sensitive .

  “This is horrible!” Madison exclaimed. She was almost too stunned for words.

  They were both disturbed. But Noah wasn’t just disturbed by the destruction, or the significant loss of life. He was disturbed because he could sense the blood amongst the rubble. There was so much split blood that it felt like it had a voice – a voice that called out to him, asking for a taste of immortality, to partake even just briefly in his existence. He shuddered.

  He pulled himself back to the reality. The behemoth was still rapidly advancing from behind, but more pressing was the second presence approaching from their right. “It’s coming!”

  They both prepare themselves for attack, but the presence went for the city, concealing itself among the rubble as it curved around in the near distance for a frontal attack. Noah decided to meet the Keras head on, confident he could defeat it quickly, especially without a handicap like before. He didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing him this time.

  Dashing down the slope into the middle of the city, he ran at his enemy. It was coming around the corner of a fallen building. He shot out tendrils of blood just as it made its appearance – stopping abruptly as Riley ran at him full speed, her blonde hair almost glowing in the moonlight.

  She took advantage of his pause, shooting out tendrils of her own, striking him in the chest, piercing his skin – skin that was supposedly resistant to the force of a nuclear bomb. He could feel her dig deep into his chest, spreading like a web.

  NO! He refused to die like this. He would not be defeated. He would not lose. Focusing his thoughts, he shoved Riley’s blood out of him as she continued her advance. Just as he finished pushing her out of his chest, she collided into him with full force, sending him flying through the air backwards. She too was forced backwards from the impact. He landed flat on his back and quickly rolled forward to return to his feet. Madison joined the fight as tendrils shot from behind Noah, aiming for Riley.

  Riley swatted them away with whips of blood, and then dashed out of sight. Madison was at Noah’s side then, ready to fight. But they were out of time. The behemoth had caught up. They had been flanked, trapped in a Keras pincer maneuver.

  As Noah gathered himself, still shocked by having been briefly invaded by Riley, Madison spoke quickly. “I’ll take her. You get the big one.”

  Chapter 24: Riley

  Noah turned to face the behemoth while Madison disappeared into the rubble to chase after Riley. Looking around, he couldn’t see anything except pitch black. The stars had disappeared. Examining the moonlit ground in the crater, he realized a dark shadow was rapidly approaching him. The thunder he heard echoing in the air wasn’t thunder.

  Noah looked up.

  A black wall continued to rise forever, further than he could see. The massive body passed beyond the few clouds high in the sky, which were lit up white by the moonlight. Noah’s mind went blank as he tried to grasp the size of what he was looking at. He knew this monster had to be several miles large, but he hadn’t considered it might also be several miles tall . He couldn’t even see the top. What he had thought was a mountain earlier was actually this monstrosity.

  Abruptly, a massive black pillar as wide as a building came falling from the sky. Noah jumped backwards as it slammed into the spot he had just abandoned. It was far wider than even a skyscraper and much taller, and it had hundreds of appendaged claws attached to it, giving them the appearance of hundreds of insect arms .

  It wasn’t a pillar. It was a massive spike attached to an arm, attached to a behemoth Keras. Noah realized the clawed arms must be more elaborate versions of the barbs on a normal sized Keras.

  Without time to waste, he immediately attacked the skyscraper-sized claw with his blood. It entered just as easily as a normal Keras, and within second it had sliced the foundation of the building-sized pillar. But there was no screeching from the monster above. The black building wasn’t even fazed, despite having lost its foundation. It abruptly shot towards Noah, faster than he could respond, and it smashed into him, sending him flying into the demolished city. The hundreds of smaller insect claws caught his clothing, and like large hooks they sliced through, revealing portions of his hardened body underneath.

  Noah slammed against a building, falling to his knees. He looked up, getting a better view of the monstrous arm that had attacked him. Like the body, there was no end to it as it rose into the sky seemingly forever. Noah realized he might as well have just clipped its fingernail, causing no real damage. The wide claw came at him a
gain, faster than a bullet fired from a rifle. He tried to cut more off as it smashed into him again, but it was too fast. It sent him crashing through several building walls. Getting to his feet, he realized neither he nor the monster were really hurting each other.

  Riley did more damage than this beast .

  Noah gasped, fear filling his heart. This was only a distraction! Riley was the real threat! Madison was in danger!

  With all the power his legs could muster, he sprang to the side rushing to get to where he felt Madison and Riley. He was fast, but the monster’s claw was faster. It collided into him again, sending him flying off course.

  No! He could sense that Madison’s tension had risen. He had been too focused on his fight to notice it earlier. As he crashed into another destroyed building, he shot his blood straight for the black spike, aiming as high as he could go. As soon as it made contact, he sprung himself into the air, rapidly climbing high above the destroyed city below.

  Reaching the black arm, he clung to the skyscraper with the blood coming from his hand. He was higher up than the hundreds of claws reached, but there was no end in sight to the spike when he looked up.

  Noah looked into the distance to see another black skyscraper towering out of the ground far away. In the moonlight, he could just barely see two small figures close to it from his vantage point. The light hair, almost silver from this distance, gave it away. Riley had a tendril of blood stabbing into Madison’s chest, shoving her against the black pillar as the tiny appendaged claws attacked her, piercing her body.

  Riley was killing her. Riley was killing Madison.

  Noah’s thoughts turned homicidal. It filled every fiber of his being, as an unquenchable bloodthirst called to the blood that had been beckoning him in the streets below. A rod of blood burst like a rocket out of his body straight into the ground, exploding further into vines leaping from corpse to corpse covering hundreds, then thousands, of bodies in seconds.

  Blood ruptured out of his back when he exceeded his capacity to contain it, rapidly growing into massive crimson wings as he transformed into the angel of death. Thousands of bodies turned to tens of thousands – his wings of death growing denser and larger. The light inside Noah withered away, giving rise to the darkness within. There was now no greater monster, no greater predator, than him. And he was ready to devour his prey.