Salazar

by Chariss K. Walker

  Sue Ellen cleaned the dried blood away while her mind was whirling with questions... Questions that she had no opportunity to ask and that begged to be answered. Since Salazar was still top-side, she tried to get a moment alone with Miki to discuss Phillip's baffling case and symptoms. However, Salazar's mother had her hands full too.

  Sue Ellen could tell that Miki was overwhelmed by her new role and she didn't want to interrupt those responsibilities. She felt that she had no other choice than to put her worries about Phillip aside for the time being; however, she did return to check on his condition at every available opportunity.

  She documented Phillip's changes in a notebook that Miki had given her and the page was beginning to fill. She glanced over the list and silently read the highlighted list.

  Red iris and sclera

  Unnatural bone, nail, and hair growth

  Bones, tendons and nerve endings fused together on their own

  Self-healing below the neck

  No notable self-healing above the neck

  Guttural mumblings and speech pattern

  What on earth could make a person change this fast?

  36| Push

  Due to Miki's keen organizational abilities, the process of establishing Eden moved slowly and smoothly for the most part. However, as in most societies, dissention easily arises. Even though it had been two days, the people were still camped in the center of Eden's town square waiting for home assignments.

  With the empty houses right in front of them, they couldn't understand the delay even though Salazar had explained that once the power was restored, the houses had to be inspected to make sure they were safe.

  Several of those waiting in line to be helped grumbled and complained to each other as they considered that they could have slept in a bed in their own dwelling the previous night if those in charge would just get the ball rolling. They were tired and weary and these feelings came out in aggravated criticisms.

  "If he wasn't always above ground looking for more people, we would already have a home."

  "He needs to make us a priority, not those outside."

  "There's always a line in front of each station. I can never get my situation addressed."

  "It's because he brings more and more survivors to Eden."

  Even though the first eleven survivors worked the stations in shifts and rarely took a break, grievances continued to flow. It was soon obvious that negative emotions were contagious and harmful. The negativity spread like wildfire if not quickly given a positive injection.

  Nearby, Margaret, the elderly grandmother who had nearly caused an earlier panic, also seized the opportunity to express her grievances to all who would listen. She spoke in a clear, loud voice that could be heard by many, including Miki, "Does Eden have room for everyone…," she planted a seed of 'not enough' that caused worry to grow in those closest to her, "and that young man, the leader, is out there looking for more people, more survivors every waking moment… there were a hundred people who came in with our group and we haven't even gotten through the admission process while he sends more down here by the dozens. Can we really afford to allow just anyone in? We have to set standards, don't we? What if we run out of room? What if there isn't enough for everyone?"

  "Yours is the same mentality that caused all the hell out there," Tereese hissed. "Isn't wisdom supposed to accompany age? For an old bitty, you're not acting very wisely. Why don't you stop your selfish gripping and make yourself useful! Maybe if some of you helped with the process instead of crying about it, things would move more quickly."

  "Well, I never!" Margaret screeched. "Aren't you supposed to honor and respect your elders, young lady?"

  "Only if they deserve it!" Tereese shot back.

  "Now, now, ladies," Miki scolded. "There's no need to bicker. Margaret, there is plenty of room for everyone. Look around and see. This city is apparently as large as Fallhaven above. There is room for everyone. Soon, we will have our own homes again and we'll have more than safety, we will have community."

  "Not if your son keeps sending people down here!" Margaret grumbled.

  "If my son hadn't looked for survivors, where would you be?" Miki asked. "Consider that, please. Now, in this new home, we must let those old egocentric thought patterns of scarcity die and become more accepting of our neighbors. I ask each of you to think in a new positive way and put prejudice and bigotry aside." She smiled at the nervous faces that had allowed Margaret's seed of 'lack' to take root in them and added, "We will keep the faith now, won't we?"

  This time, the new residents didn't repeat the phrase. This time they were truly bothered by the things Margaret had said. Like a virus, they had allowed her bias and selfishness to spread, to infect their own feelings of worry. Those emotions took tangible shape and became a spongy wall that surrounded the people closest to Margaret.

  Meanwhile, a lone child who had lost her mother stood to one side of the new arrivals and watched the dissention unfold. Even though she had wandered in with the latest arrivals, so far, she had stayed to herself and had not paired up with any lonely parents.

  As the child listened to Margaret, she noticed a ripple effect of fear that swept through the crowd. It was a tangible brownish-red energy that she could see and feel. She didn't like it and she wanted it to go away. However, she was not alone in her assessment of the situation. Sondra also saw the same energy pattern as she looked up from her table to observe the commotion.

  After Henry's teachings, energy had become tangible to Sondra. She not only felt it, she saw it. Now, Sondra was surprised as she also witnessed the child's manipulation of that energy. The young girl 'pushed' a soft, yellow positive force into those who were afflicted by Margaret's thoughtless words.

  It was a friendly, peaceful energy; it was childlike and innocent and pure. It gently nudged the negative energy pattern away until, when it no longer fed on the others' emotions, it easily dissolved.

  The effect of the child's 'push' on the people was immediate. Once again, they calmed. Once again, they shook their heads as if to dispel the negative thoughts. Then, reason returned to them. They chose to ignore the old woman who was bent on criticizing their new home.

  "Freddy," Sondra called out. He immediately went to her table. "Do you see that little girl standing alone over there?" He turned to look and then nodded. "Please, bring her to me." Sondra smiled and Freddy eagerly did as she requested, bringing the child to her. "What is your name?" Sondra softly asked.

  "Anila."

  Anila's skin was a rich, velvety chocolate. Her hair of long braided ropes hung to her waist. However, the locks that had once been fashioned with such care were now terribly tangled and held evidence of the hell she had suffered before entering Eden. Her face was smudged with white ashes from the fires outside. Her blue dress was torn and singed. Nevertheless, her liquid brown eyes were clear and pure, seemingly unaffected by the terrors she had seen.

  "How old are you, Anila?"

  "I'm six years old."

  "Have you lost your parents?"

  "I didn't know my father and my mother died when the roof on our shelter fell in and crushed her. I am now alone," Anila softly responded in a way that was far more mature that her age implied.

  "You are no longer alone, Anila. If you would like to, you are welcome to live with me," Sondra offered. "Would you like that?"

  Anila eagerly nodded and then she smiled as she added, "I don't like that grandmother woman."

  "You mean Margaret?" Sondra asked.

  Anila vigorously nodded again.

  "Do you know what the name Margaret means," Sondra whispered near Anila's ear. Anila shook her head with her eyes wide in question. "Margaret means pearl. Do you know how a pearl is formed?" Again, Anila shook her head. "A pearl is formed because something very irritating works its way into a shellfish such as an oyster or clam. The shellfish then coats the irritating object with fluid until it becomes smooth and no longer irritating. When I think of the name Mar
garet, it reminds me of the grit that irritates the shellfish so much that they turn that irritation into a beautiful pearl. I suppose that is what we have to do with Margaret. We'll have to coat her in some sort of protection until she is no longer bothersome."

  "Then, Margaret might turn into a pearl if she irritates everyone enough," Anila concluded.

  Sondra nodded as she tried to suppress a giggle.

  "What does my name mean?" the child asked.

  "Anila means 'to be remembered,'" Sondra replied without missing a beat even though she wasn't sure where the knowledge came from when it popped into her head.

  37| Discoveries

  While Jesse led Salazar to the apartment he had shared with his mother in Fallhaven, Sam and Dinah scoured nearby Winterhaven.

  When Jesse and Salazar arrived, they discovered most of the remains of Jesse's mother buried in the rubble. It was hard to know for sure because she was nearly completely covered by the debris of their shattered home.

  "Can you positively identify these remains as your mother?" Salazar respectfully asked.

  "It is my mom," Jesse reassured. "It has to be her because I recognize that simple plaid house dress she always wore. It has to be her."

  "We'll do the right thing by her, Jesse," Salazar comforted. "We'll bury her and mark her grave."

  Salazar and Jesse carefully excavated Mrs. Slater's remains from the piles of rubble and then wrapped her broken body in a blanket. Then, they carried her to the nearest area they could find that wasn't covered in concrete. After she was buried, Jesse looked to Salazar to say a few words.

  "May your mother find peace in the next life," Salazar said.

  Although Jesse grieved, knowing what had happened to his mom and placing her in the ground had given him closure. It wasn't the same for Salazar. Unlike Jesse, he couldn't search his own home in Fallhaven for Rob because his father had been in Summerhaven when the air raid had begun.

  While Salazar and Jesse tended to the death of his mother, Sam had taken Dinah to the remains of the two creatures that he and Salazar had killed. However, when they got to the area where the fight had occurred, only one body was there – the one that he had killed with his knife still lay on the street with evidence of the knife wound in his head.

  The other body was gone.

  "What do you think happened to the other one?" Dinah asked.

  "I don't know," Sam thoughtfully replied, "but we certainly need to find out."

  "You're sure this is the right spot?" Dinah asked as the gazed at the many buildings that were now mostly rubble. They all looked the same to her.

  "I'm certain," Sam replied. "If not, why would this body still be here?" He looked at all the signs allowing his unique tracking ability picked up the trail. "The other dead creature walked away."

  "Then, it must not have been dead," Dinah pointed out.

  "It was dead," Sam insisted.

  "Then, explain how the dead can walk away? How is that even remotely possible?" Dinah asked in surprise.

  "I don't know that either," Sam replied, "Still, I clearly see the tracks. A set of footprints leads away from this area. There are no indications that someone carried it away. I need to find out more. Come with me. We need to check another place."

  Next, Sam led Dinah to the rubble where he, Salazar and Jesse had battled with the monsters which had attacked the survivors. Only the body of the creature that Jesse had decapitated remained; the others were gone. Puzzled, Sam considered what it could mean.

  "Listen," Dinah began when she saw the headless monster, and then she hesitated, fearful that Sam would laugh at her.

  "What is it?" Sam asked, "Go on, and spit it out."

  "I've always been fascinated with the idea of monsters such as Zombies and Vampires… well really, just about anything that was considered supernatural…," she hesitantly began, however, Sam didn't give her a chance to finish.

  "Oh hell no, don't tell me you think these things are Zombies! Not the way these creatures moved. They were fast and incredibly agile." At her look of surprise, he added, "I have seen the old movies too. I know how Zombies were portrayed in those films."

  "No, that is not what I think," Dinah nearly choked, "please just hear me out. Like I said, because I was fascinated, I researched all that I could find on the topic. Zombies are supposedly the end results of cannibalism… they were humans who ate other humans. From what you described about the injuries our new residents suffered, they were bitten. The creatures who attacked them, took big bites out of them. If these creatures are eating humans then we have to consider them as cannibals. From my research, when a human eat other humans, especially the brains and organs, it makes them sick."

  "Except these creatures are only half-human," Sam interrupted again.

  "Don't tell me that you are the kind of man who discounts all that a woman says because she is a woman," Dinah stormed.

  "I'm sorry," Sam meekly replied. Dinah was right; he sounded misogynistic even though he knew he wasn't. He held a great respect for women, especially his mother. He wished Dinah could understand that he was in a hurry and agitated by the delay. "You were saying."

  "The sickness is a condition called 'kuru.' Kuru is similar to mad-cow disease. People with kuru have trouble moving and controlling their muscles; they jerk around and appear like the Zombies in old movies. They are almost impossible to kill."

  "Dinah, just get to the point," Sam urged, growing more concerned by the delay and anxious to track the ones that had gotten away. It was his duty to Salazar to get to the bottom of this.

  "If Kuru is mixed with the DNA of these mutated humans, then it might mean they can somehow regenerate."

  "I'd like to track them," Sam replied as his anxiety grew over the current situation causing him to ignore what she had just said. "Go back and join Salazar and Jesse. I'll find you when I am done."

  "Hell no!" she shouted her objections. "I'm going with you and I am not finished. You need to listen to me, Sam Lightfoot. The only ones that are still where you left them are the ones that had head injuries. One with your blade in its forehead, the other one that Jesse decapitated. The rest were either able to heal from their wounds or regenerate enough so that they got up and left. That means that in order to kill them, we have to cut off their damn heads. Do you hear me!"

  Sam reconsidered Dinah's statements for several moments. Even though he couldn't prove her theory was accurate, he couldn't disprove it either. Salazar would have to be the one to make that determination. Besides, what she had pointed out was true. The only bodies that remained were the ones with head injuries or removal. From all the signs he could read, the others had walked away. How was it possible to walk away from such an injury?

  "The one that Salazar had punched in the chest had no heart or lungs," Sam admitted." It is preposterous to think that a creature could survive that. However, let's say for argument's sake that you are correct. Are you sure you are up for this?" Sam asked.

  "I'm ready when you are," Dinah assured.

  "Then, look around for something you can use as a weapon," he encouraged. "Jesse used a broken pipe like a sword to cut off that one's head so find something sharp. If we do find them, we might have to kill them again."

  Dinah looked for a weapon and, after she found one with which she was satisfied, she then followed Sam as he led the way. Keenly interested in his tacking technique, Dinah paid close attention to everything Sam did.

  38| Bug Out

  Meanwhile, before Miki had a chance to speak to the others about Phillip and what to do about him, he woke up. He wasn't restrained in any way and although he was still woozy from the sedatives Sue Ellen had constantly administered, he immediately ripped the IV from his arm and jumped off the cot he had been lying on.

  He took off at a run, stumbled, caught his balance, and ran some more. Bent forward, he used his good hand to propel himself forward to offset the effect of the sedatives, however, since his right wrist was in a brace, it was not eff
ective in his maneuvers. It also affected his balance. Like a drunkard, Phillip stumbled again, but determined to clear the passageway his awkward gait did little to slow him down.

  Those who witnessed his escape were dazed by his bounding, almost ape-like, movements. He was fast. Even if someone had been inclined to stop him, no one could have outrun him. All they could do was watch as he disappeared up the passageway towards the tunnel's exit.

  By then, it was late afternoon. Salazar and Jesse along with Sam and Dinah were headed back to the tunnel entrance from their prospective searched areas. They stopped in their tracks when they saw Phillip burst out of the jagged opening and onto the street in front of them.

  Once outside, Phillip growled and roared his rage to the early evening sky. His loud rumblings were not only heard by Salazar and his team who were in the area, they were heard by others with a comparable affliction… Others who had also been severely and similarly affected by the fumes.

  All four of the humans watched from a safe distance as a pack of half-human creatures appeared from the ruins to answer Phillip's call. Once regular men and women, the pack had now mutated into something that was anything other than normal. With hunched backs, red eyes, clawed hands, and furry upper bodies, they could only be classified as beasts now… maybe monsters.

  Salazar and his team were filled with dread as the creatures beat their own chests in response to Phillip's summoning. It was as if those changed men understood Phillip's guttural utterances and communicated with him.

  They were speaking their own language!

  Then, as if he knew someone was watching, Phillip turned to search the area, looking for whoever spied on him. When he saw Salazar in the distance, he threw both of his arms into the air and, with his chest puffed out, he roared again.