The Dystopian Gene

by S. E. Meyer

  “You‘ll pay for that!” the man roared, grabbing the boy around the throat.

  “Run!” Moon screamed. “Run to the woods and never look back!”

  The boy clawed at the thick fingers squeezing his small windpipe.

  “No,” Moon cried, struggling to her feet. “Leave my son alone!”

  The man fought Moon with one hand, still holding the woman's son off the ground with the other. “Lie down and take what I have for you.” he demanded. “Or I'll kill him.”

  Moon took a ragged breath. “You'll kill us both, anyway.”

  “I'll let one of you live. You decide who.”

  Moon dropped her shoulders. “Let him go and I'll do whatever you want. Please stop,” she urged, grabbing the man's wrist as the child's pale cheek dropped to his shoulder.

  The man laughed, dropping Moon's son to the ground. Moon collapsed beside the boy, checking for signs of life. “Atticus!,” she wailed. “Atticus, wake up.” She slid a finger across his brow, brushing the long black hair from his blue lips. “Breathe Atticus!” Placing an ear to the boy‘s mouth, Moon listened for a breath. “Come on Atticus,” she urged, pink tears dripping from her blood clotted nose.

  With lips on her son‘s while plugging his nose, she breathed into his lungs.

  “Come on!” Moon slapped the ground. “You can't die out here. My only son.” She placed her ear to Atticus's lips. “My sweet boy.”

  Atticus coughed.

  Moon's eyes widened as she rolled him onto his side. “Oh, thank God.” she whispered.

  “Hurry!” the man urged.

  Moon helped her son to his feet before turning towards the man. She stared into his bloodshot eyes. “Wait here, I will be right back.”

  “I'll be ready for you,” he replied while grinning.

  Moon led Atticus to the edge of the clearing, facing him towards the woods. She knelt in front of him wearing only her shirt and underwear and kissed his cheek. “Atticus. Listen, this is important.” She stared into his green eyes. “Run. Run as far away from here as you can and don‘t look back.”

  “Mom, why can‘t you come with me?” he asked, tears welling his eyelids.

  “There's something mommy has to do first. But you can't wait for me. Run, without stopping. Run as fast as you can. Do you understand?”

  The boy nodded.

  Moon stood up and got behind Atticus. “Okay, when I say go, you will run straight ahead. Don't stop, ready?”

  “Okay, but you‘re coming too right?”

  “In a while, honey. I'm giving you a head start. I'll catch up, just don't stop running.”

  “Ready. Set. Go!” Moon said, pushing her son forward with her hand between his shoulder blades. “Run Atticus!” she yelled after him. “Run until you can't run anymore.”

  Moon turned towards the man in the clearing. With a clenched jaw she planted each bare foot in front of the other, forcing her legs to move. One struggled step at a time, she neared, heart hammering at her chest as she stared at the wild animal awaiting her return, readying himself.

  Disgusting.

  Sprawled in the grass she stared at the red disk in the sky, losing herself in its perfect, round shape and thinking only of her son. Thinking of his small frame. Lost in the memories of her son's childhood, Moon removed herself from where she was and what the Awesiinh was doing to her.

  At least Atticus will be okay. My boy will survive.

  CHAPTER 35

  Montana Winter Wool stepped into the chilled mud of the Easton river's bank. She dropped her pack and pulled the zipper, fishing out the waterproof bag that held her dry clothes. Anna shivered in the moonlight while drying her naked body, happy to be out of the river with her feet back on dry land.

  Anna dressed and pulled the final article of clothing from the bag, her wool coat, and pulled it over her hooded sweatshirt.

  She removed the gps and turned it on, tapping the pre-entered coordinates of where to meet Atticus.

  We will have words when I see him, Anna thought.

  Making me come out here.

  Anna navigated the thick brush, pushing through the moonlit boughs and bramble thickets. After several hours of twigs snagging her hair and switches snapping her face, Anna made it to the perimeter fence. She stepped out into a narrow clearing.

  Anna scanned the fence with a tense jaw.

  It was a twelve-foot high chain-link fence running west to east from the river. Moonlight reflected the frost-covered razor wire encircling its top, a second line of defense from anything trying to climb over.

  Anna paced the fence-line, referencing the gps. She was thankful to have swam far enough downstream, avoiding the need to penetrate such a partition, however she also knew what it meant to be without its protection. She was in the wilds. The place of terrifying stories and childhood boogeymen. The place where shadowy figures lurked and only the darkness to hear your screams.

  Anna swallowed the lump in her throat.

  The moon dropped behind the trees by the time she arrived at her waypoint, making it difficult to see. Anna tried to take in her surroundings with only a hint of dawn clawing at the eastern horizon.

  Anna took each step with caution, snapping her neck to glance in front and behind her. The stalks of frosted grass swished passed the legs of her pants as the smell of frozen foliage filled her nose.

  The fence rattled.

  Anna froze, head cocked to one side, listening.

  She peered into the darkness in the noise's direction with the fence at her right shoulder.

  The fence's links clattered in a sudden burst, confirming Anna's fears.

  Crazies.

  Anna’s chest tightened. She held her breath, waiting, straining to listen over the sound of her pulse throbbing in her ears.

  Anna took another step, and the fence shifted.

  She slid her weapon from its holster and loaded the chamber while sucking in a breath. With ears piqued and breath bated, Anna stepped in the movement's direction.

  The fence rattled with more intensity and Anna heard a whimper just ahead.

  She trained her eyes, straining to make out the shape twenty feet away.

  Another whimper broke the silence.

  Is it a child?

  The small shape moved and as Anna stepped closer it let out a cry.

  With just enough light in the growing dawn to see the animal in front of her, Anna clenched her jaw with widening eyes.

  Caught between the links of the chain fence was a wolf.

  Anna let out a sigh.

  “How did you get caught in there?” she whispered.

  She pitied the majestic animal, bleeding from its front leg and trapped in the wire. Anna moved closer and the wolf let out a low growl while raising its hackles.

  “Shh, I won’t hurt you,” Anna replied, squatting on her haunches to get a better view of the wolf‘s paw. She moved with caution, grasping the cold metal on one side of the wolf's front leg. It whimpered as Anna tried to pry the embedded wires away from the animal’s skin, just above the joint.

  Letting out a yelp, the wolf snapped at Anna's face.

  “Knock it off,” Anna said. “I'm trying to help you.”

  Anna hummed in the growing light, hoping to calm the helpless beast. The wolf lowered the black hairs running along its spine, blending into its full gray coat.

  Anna continued humming, attempting to free its leg from the fence. She opened her bag and lifted out a pocketknife. While using the blade to pry the wires apart, she raised her other hand to pull the wolf‘s paw free.

  The animal bolted away on three legs, then turned to face her. He lowered his head, bowing in what seemed to Anna a gesture of gratitude before disappearing into the forest.

  Anna slid the knife in her pocket as her heart settled back into its rightful place in her chest.

  It would not have escaped on its own.

  Anna took a deep breath.

  Not without leaving a paw behind.

 
; Anna stood, pacing the fence while checking the GPS receiver. The device let out a tone signaling her arrival at the waypoint.

  Anna shook her head.

  No Atticus.

  “I guess I'll have to wait.”

  Anna set her pack on the grass next to a large pine and sat with her back against the trunk. She shivered while rubbing her eyes.

  I have to stay awake.

  A wolf's howl tore into the silent dawn from her east and Anna couldn't help but think it was the wolf she freed.

  She rubbed her eyes again and slapped her cheeks to stay awake.

  Anna's stomach growled.

  She rifled through her pack and found Jax had packed protein snack bars. Not knowing how long she would have to wait for Atticus, she stared at the four snack bars for a long minute before deciding to wait.

  An hour passed as the sun climbed above the horizon, diffused by the forest canopy. Anna continued to force her eyes to stay open in the scarce light, but was losing the battle as time slipped by.

  I'll just close my eyes for a minute.

  Mind reeling, Anna's subconscious understood the danger, but her exhausted body gave in. Anna's chin found her chest.

  Transported to a childhood memory she was suddenly a young girl lying in bed, blankets pressed to her nose, sleeping. The young girl stirred, experiencing an intuitive moment when one can sense a person's gaze, or feel someone's presence.

  The child, fighting her heavy lids, opened her eyes.

  Through the scarce light scratching its way around her curtains from the streetlight outside, she scanned the room from her childhood bed.

  All seemed to be as it should, a curly maple dresser, her favorite blue, three-button blouse peeking from the open bottom drawer. Faded orchid border below chocolate crown molding streaked across walls painted rose.

  The girl's gaze fell onto the room's corner.

  A shadow hovered.

  Her eyes widened at the intruder's return.

  With tensed muscles the little girl swallowed hard, squinting through the darkness as the shadow prowled her bed.

  The child covered her head.

  Go away, go away, go away.

  A whisper penetrated the air, thick as wool. “Anna.”

  If I can't see it, it‘s not here. Anna hoped.

  The floor creaked near her foot board, pushing Anna’s heart into overdrive. She had to look, had to be sure, but she didn't want to see what monster had appeared from the depths of her mind, or the corner of her closet.

  Droplets of sweat formed on her forehead as thoughts stirred of terrifying apparitions from under her bed. But this was real. She saw the shadow and heard the floor creak.

  Anna slid the checkered comforter to her chin with a trembling hand.

  She blinked, then blinked again. Waves of green-sea nausea lapped her midsection as her eyelids fluttered at the shadow of a man standing at the foot of her bed.

  Mouth agape, Anna choked, her miniature frame shaking below the blankets.

  The man bent over the bed.

  Anna tried to scream, the sounds congealing in her throat, escaping only as a muffled cry. She could smell him. The thing. The animal hunched over her. Watching her, staring, his hand reaching out for her quivering flesh from the shadow of night.

  Beneath the pine boughs Anna jolted awake, her breath coming in rapid bursts. Straight ahead of her was the wolf. It sat, staring at her from ten feet away. Anna's pulse continued to throb in her ears from the animal in her nightmare, spurred on by the animal before her. The wolf lifted its leg and licked its paw, unbothered by Anna's anxiety. The wolf showed no sign of aggression. It just sat, staring with unblinking yellow eyes.

  Anna rolled to one knee and stood while keeping her eyes on the wolf.

  “What do you want?” Anna said.

  The wolf responded with a yawn before stretching.

  Anna shook her head, angry with herself for falling asleep out in the wilds with no protection. An easy target, and the wolf wasn't helping her feel any better.

  I can't trust myself to stay awake.

  Anna scanned the trees, finding what she was looking for. A tall oak with a branch low enough to climb. She pulled the length of rope from her pack and cut it into two pieces with her knife. Finding a lighter among her supplies, Anna burnt the ends of each piece before placing the lighter and knife into her pocket. With one piece of rope secured to her pack, she threw the other end over a high branch, pulling the pack to the top before tying it off.

  Anna turned to the wolf. “There, that will keep animals like you out of my food.”

  The wolf cocked its head.

  Anna jumped to the nearest oak branch and climbed up to a crotch between two strong limbs. She tied herself off to the trunk with the leftover rope, making several wraps around her torso before settling into a comfortable position between the trunks.

  As comfortable as one can be, sitting in a tree, I guess.

  Anna slapped a biting fly from her cheek.

  Damn, you would think the frost would have wiped out the bugs.

  Anna sighed.

  The wolf stood and meandered away from her tree, stopping a moment to peer up at her from the forest floor. Anna noticed it was a male.

  “Are you going to follow me around everywhere I go, like my shadow?”

  The wolf nodded, then turned, sauntering deeper into the forest.

  Did it just nod?

  Anna shook her head.

  More likely a trick of the light. Maybe a shadow.

  Anna raised an eyebrow. That’s not a bad name.

  “I think I‘ll call you Shadow.”

  She rested the back of her head against the trunk and closed her eyes, hopeful the nightmares were over.

  A final thought drifted through her head as she fell asleep.

  Where the hell is Atticus?

  CHAPTER 36

  16 years earlier.

  Atticus Johnson entered the empty church on Folsom St carrying a small package under his left arm. He wasn't here to confess or worship, although it was a regular enough practice as a child in this very building. The dying light whispered through the stained glass, casting rainbows across the statue of a crucified Jesus set in the center of the back wall. Atticus took a seat near the front and checked the time.

  He's late.

  Atticus tapped his foot as Father Jeffrey passed by.

  “You seem troubled my son,” he said, facing Atticus.

  “Just waiting for someone.”

  “Are you sure? I have not seen you in quite some time and you wear a struggle on your face. Will you take a minute to talk and lay down your burden while you wait?”

  Atticus didn't reply, deep in thought while staring at the candles burning just left of the front of the church. He let out a deep breath before nodding.

  I'll meet you in the booth.

  Atticus let out a sigh sitting in the confession booth. Father Jeffrey slid open the door.

  “Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It has been two years since my last confession.”

  “I am in love, Father.”

  “Ah, love. Yes, it can come with struggles, but not a reason for confession.”

  “It is when she is a married woman.”

  “I see.”

  “I have also just recently found out that her oldest daughter is mine.”

  “That is a difficult trap you have found yourself caught in. You must escape the trap you have set for yourself to make things right, but I understand it may be as difficult as chewing your own leg off.”

  “That is not as easy as one would think. The woman is also my work partner.”

  “A tangled web. God will forgive, but you must stop fornicating with a woman bound to another by God..”

  “The heart wants, what the heart wants, Father.”

  The Narthex door closed, echoing through the cathedral ceiling. “My friend has arrived. I have to go.”

  “I will pray for you my son.”
r />   Atticus left the confession booth as a tall man with dark hair and thin waistline crossed the center aisle. He extended his hand and Atticus shook it. They sat side by side in the third row.

  “Did you bring what I need?”

  The man nodded. “Yes.” He pulled a small box from within his jacket and set it down next to Atticus.

  “Excellent,” Atticus replied, plucking it from the hardwood pew and burying it in his breast.

  “And did you bring more?”

  “Yes,” Atticus replied, handing the man a similar-sized package.

  The man nodded. “Good. We will meet here again at the same time on the same day?”

  “Yes. Remember to never bring your phone and be sure no one follows you. I know I don't have to remind you how important this is.”

  The man nodded a second time as they stood.

  “Until next time then,” Atticus said while tipping his chin in a parting nod before leaving.

  CHAPTER 37

  Anna's Present

  Steven Morton walked into his home and dropped the keys to his brand new truck on the entryway table with a smile. Feelings of happiness flooded through as he replayed the conversations with coworkers from both of his full-time jobs.

  “How did you afford that?” Jacob asked him the other day.

  Steven smiled.

  “Someone found a sugar momma,” Chris said, overhearing the question from the coffee machine.

  “You guys are just jealous.”

  “Damn right,” Chris replied. “I'm taking care of my first and second wife with my first and second mortgage. It's about time I upgrade my truck, but I don't have a sugar momma.”

  Steven turned to face him. “Sounds like you've spent too much time upgrading wives.” Steven cocked an eyebrow while grinning. “To each his own, I guess.”

  Steven walked through the living room to find Sara sitting on the couch. “Must be nice having time to sit around,” Steven chided.

  Sara rolled her eyes. “Did you bother to look around the house, Dad? I just sat down. I did the dishes, finished the laundry, and dinner is in the oven. It will be done any minute so you can eat before heading back out.”