The Dystopian Gene

by S. E. Meyer

  Cornelius wheezed, the tortuous tool hanging limp in his hand as he caught his breath.

  “Get out of my sight, boy!” he said through labored breaths.

  Richard slipped his shirt over his head, running down the hallway as spots swarmed his peripheral. He threw the main door open and leaped from the stoop. After forcing his arms through the sleeves, he pulled the shirt down over his back, wincing through the sting.

  Richard ran. He ran until the burning in his lungs matched his scorched soul. He ran until the sting in his side mirrored the bite of his back. Richard would have ran until his heart gave out, spanning the city and out to the other side, taking his chances with the crazies. But after an hour of jogging the streets, his legs grew as weary as his will.

  By subconscious or conscious effort, Richard was unaware, but he stopped to catch his breath in front of the Morton’s house. As his gaze wandered to an upper window, he caught a glance of Anna. He ducked behind the bushes bordering the property and stared between the thicket. Anna was undressing.

  Richard’s eyes widened.

  Anna removed her shirt and pants, stripping to her underwear near her bedroom window.

  Richard smiled.

  Happy Birthday to me.

  CHAPTER 43

  Shadow padded to Anna’s side. She reached for him, stroking his gray coat before scratching his ear.

  He looked deep into Anna's eyes. “Listen. This is imperative. You must wake up, Anna. Wake up! Now!”

  Shadow's shape faded with a final thought.

  “Only when sheep become wolves and wolves become sheep, will man have peace and restful sleep.”

  Anna's surroundings changed. She was back in her bed as a little girl with the man at its foot. She pulled the blankets down, against her own will. There it was. The dark figure loitering motionless.

  Anna bit into her quivering lip, listening to his slow breaths in the dark.

  As he took a step closer, his face moved into the faint streetlamp light. The man smiled, baring fangs.

  Anna’s small heart clubbed her ribs as the vampire licked his lips. The shadow neared, hovering over her.

  Anna shook, fists clenched, trying to release the coagulated cries in her throat. Sweat beads clung to her hair as she lay helpless, anticipation of hot lips on her neck.

  Will it hurt? she wondered, awaiting the bright white teeth to puncture her skin and steal her lifeblood.

  “Wake up!” Shadow's voice growled in her head.

  Anna opened her eyes, taking in the scene. Two men and a woman stood over her.

  Anna jolted.

  Unable to move with arms and legs bound, her vise-gripped chest tightened with every short gasp of air. She could only focus on her abductor's faces. They melted into different shapes, twisting and contorting.

  Am I still hallucinating?

  Anna squirmed in her bonds as the three red eyed, blotched faced, demons stared down at her.

  This isn't real. It can't be.

  Drool dripped from their fangs as they ran their fingers along her flesh.

  “You’ll wish you never woke up,” the bloodsucker on Anna's left said, hacksaw still in hand.

  The blade bit into her skin as a gunshot detonated in her ears. The man's face shattered into bits of broken skin and blood.

  Anna screamed, heart battering her breastbone.

  The vampire standing over her turned towards the kitchen doorway and a second explosion erupted.

  Anna's ears rang as she watched the top of the second man's head disappear. He fell to his knees, flopping to his side next to the couch.

  The female vampire went into hysterics, lunging towards something behind the couch. Anna rolled onto the floor, tearing at the ropes, trying to see the source of the gunshots.

  She wormed her way to the corner of the sofa in time to see a fourth man aiming a shotgun at the woman. The gun went off a third time and the woman crumpled to the floor.

  Anna writhed, attempting to free herself. The fourth man looked down at her and then knelt, moving his face close to hers.

  Horrified, Anna watched his features swirl into a puddle of eyeball, nose and fang soup before correcting itself into the shape of a man's face. A man she recognized.

  Anna's eyes widened.

  The dark goatee. The smooth jawline.

  “Richard,” she breathed.

  “Are you okay?” Richard asked, untying the knots.

  “Is it really you? What are you doing here?”

  Richard pulled the ropes from Anna's legs. “You sent me over here, remember?”

  “I mean, what are you doing here, at this house?”

  Richard helped Anna to a sitting position, unraveling the rope from her arms and torso. “Saving your life.” Richard smiled. “That's three times now, but who's counting.”

  Anna rolled over, snapping the shotgun off the floor and pointing it at Richard.

  “What are you doing?” Richard asked.

  With lingering effects of Psilocybin twisting her thoughts and a man she could not trust standing before her, Anna realized the importance of caution. “I’m being careful,” she said. “Put your arms behind you back.”

  “What? I just saved your life.”

  Anna took the rope and tied Richard's hands together. “Yes, thanks for that, but I still can't trust you.”

  “Some kind of thanks I get.”

  Anna ignored him, nodding towards the door. “Let's go.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the fence, there's someone I'm supposed to meet.”

  They stepped out into the chilly air and sloshed through the layer of melting snow blanketing the ground. “You don't look very sick to me,” Anna said, keeping Richard out in front with the shotgun to his back.

  “Don't worry, shouldn't take long now. I found one of Grandpa's food drops.”

  Anna wrinkled her brow. “What?”

  “Food drop. He started them as a humanitarian effort after the walls went up. My grandfather donated the food and took all the credit for his philanthropy. He still drops crates on this side of the wall, but not out of the kindness of his heart.”

  Anna understood Cornelius well enough to know he always had an angle. “Why does he do it?”

  “It's all poisoned and always has been. He does it hoping anyone still alive out here, and everyone that is banished, will find it, ensuring a quicker death.”

  “And you ate it? Guilty conscience for all the rotten things you've done making you want to off yourself.”

  “I'm going to die out here anyway, I figured there's no reason for me to die hungry.”

  “Poisoned with what?”

  “High doses of Fleishman's.”

  Anna touched a finger to her lip as she recalled the confrontation with the wolf.

  Could Shadow have known?

  They continued to the fence in silence until Anna heard a twig snap behind them. She turned to find Shadow trotting along behind.

  “You're still here?” Anna asked the animal.

  “Careful Anna,” Richard said. “That wolf looks hungry.”

  Shadow squared off with Richard and let out a growl through bared teeth.

  “Don't worry about him. That's just Shadow.”

  Richard took a step towards the wolf. “What, you have a pet wolf?”

  Shadow snapped at Richard, forcing him to retreat.

  “Well, he's not a tame wolf. Good judge of character though, I'd say. Doesn't seem to like you much.”

  “Tell him to back off.”

  “I told you he's not a pet, and he's not tame. I can't tell him to do anything.” Anna pointed the shotgun at Richard. “Keep moving, we have to get to the fence.”

  They pushed their way through the brambles and boughs, slogging through the dead grass with wet feet before finding the fence line.

  Anna found the place where she drew her initials.

  Still no Atticus.

  Anna kicked the dirt.

 
Where the hell could he be?

  “Who are you supposed to meet?”

  Anna shook her head. “Doesn't matter. He's not here.”

  Anna's stomach growled.

  “I can tell, you're frustrated. And hungry by the sound of it.”

  “Obviously I'm frustrated, yeah. I'm cold, hungry, and fumbling around out here like a virgin in the backseat on prom night when I could do something helpful. I almost got eaten by crazies and now I have to babysit you so I don't end up being your next meal, or worse.” Anna grabbed the cold fence with her fingers, shaking it with her arms. “This entire situation is pissing me off!”

  Anna sensed a presence behind her.

  She turned to find Shadow heading towards her, carrying something in his mouth.

  “What have you got there?” Anna asked the wolf, squatting on her haunches.

  Shadow moved in front of Anna and set what he was carrying onto the ground in front of her.

  “Rabbit. No, two rabbits! You brought me food?”

  Anna smiled. She reached out, moving her hand to stroke the top of his head and scratch behind his ears. “Some appreciation for saving your life? Good boy!”

  The wolf turned, strutting deeper into the forest, but not before growling at Richard.

  Richard shook his head. “Now if I could only get some appreciation for saving yours.”

  “What do you want from me, Richard? Am I supposed to grovel at the feet of my mother's murderer?” Anna shook her head. “You still haven't changed.”

  Richard hung his head. “I can't change the past.”

  “No, and now you have no future.”

  “I've known you a long time, Anna. Almost your whole life, and I've been nothing but nice to you. All the flowers, the chocolates, the cards and gifts.”

  “Yes, except for when you threatened to hurt Sara, or when you attacked me on the wall and there's that little thing about murdering my mother you keep forgetting.”

  “Killing your mother was unintentional.”

  “What is that supposed to mean? One morning you got out of bed, slipped, tripped and fell into a murderous rampage?” Anna threw up her arms. “Pardon me everyone, it was an accident.”

  “At least you had a mother,” Richard snapped.

  Anna rolled her eyes. “Oh, here we go. So now I'm supposed to feel bad for you because you never had a mother?” She stepped towards Richard, pointing her finger in his face. “You're better off not having experienced a mother's love than to have it ripped away from you by some pampered, pompous asshole.”

  “You think he pampered me?” Richard shook his head. “If you call regular whippings with a belt, pampered.”

  Anna cocked her head while pouting her lips. “Aww, did the poor little rich boy get a spanking?” Her glare pierced into Richard like a pair of bayonets. “What did you do? Murder the maid?”

  Anna snatched the rabbits from the ground with one hand while fishing the knife from her pocket with the other.

  “You have no idea how I was raised. You know nothing about me!”

  Anna split the skin at the hind legs of the first rabbit, peeling the hide back to its neck with a shaking hand, her jaw muscles popping below her flushed cheeks.

  She whipped around to face Richard. “I know everything was handed to you on a platinum platter, never having to work a day in your life.”

  She turned back to her task and finished dressing the rabbits, leaving the organs and entrails as a treat for Shadow.

  Anna collected sticks and skewered the rabbits, setting them up on a spit she fashioned from branches.

  “You're lighting a fire? Are you insane?” Richard asked.

  Anna turned, pointing her knife at Richard. “Oh, you'd rather eat it raw, like Shadow?”

  “Gross, I'm not eating that, and my gut says this is a bad idea. There are crazies everywhere.”

  “Mine says I should have killed you back at the farmhouse.”

  “What didn't you?”

  “Because someone told me all life is precious.” Anna raised an eyebrow. “And I think I was still tripping on mushrooms. Either way, I'm regretting the decision, all you do is piss me off!”

  Anna pulled out her lighter and set flame to a small pile of dry grass and sock lint.

  “At least I would have some peace.”

  Anna cooked the rabbits, fat sizzling along with her boiling, silent anger. When finished, she tried to eat as much as she could, however the fight with Richard stole her appetite.

  Anna stepped to where Richard was sitting. “Here,” she said, handing him the other rabbit.

  Richard waved her off. “I'm fine,” he replied, pulling a package from his jacket pocket. “I have pudding.”

  “Fine!” Anna speared the spit into the ground an inch from Richard’s big toe.. “I'll be right back, I need some sand to put out the fire.”

  Anna clawed at the ground near the fence where there was little grass and used her knife's handle to loosen the sand.

  Thank God there's no frost yet.

  She flipped her shirt, turning it into a cradle and filling it with sand before standing. As she turned around, she saw a thick column of white smoke rising above the trees.

  Anna's jaw slacked.

  She ran back to the fire. “No, no, no. Richard, what did you do?”

  She arrived at the fire to find Richard with his pants around his thighs.

  “What the hell were you thinking?”

  “You said we needed to put the fire out.” Richard shrugged. “I had some extra liquids on hand.”

  Anna ran to the fire and dumped her sand filled shirt onto the steaming coals. “You're an idiot, Richard! You're supposed to put a fire out with sand if you're trying to remain inconspicuous. It chokes the coals and seals the smoke.” She looked up at the trees. “You just sent a steaming piss signal to anyone in a one-mile radius.”

  Anna shook her head. “And pull up your pants, I don't need to see that.”

  “I can't with my hands tied.”

  Anna growled. “You're infuriating. How the hell did you get them down?”

  “Gravity, and a little wiggling.”

  “Well, I'm not untying you. I'm not sure if the Flieshmans is already affecting your ability to reason or if you're just that much of an imbecile!”

  “You're yelling is more likely to attract attention.”

  She set the shotgun on the ground and moved behind Richard, tugging his pants from each side. ”You think this is yelling?” Anna's pitch grew in intensity. “You have not heard me yelling!” Anna tugged harder on Richard's pants. “Now this is yelling!” she screamed into his ear with the squeal of Little Richard as she accomplished her task of covering the aforementioned.

  “Freeze!,” a voice called out from behind them. “Don't move, we're armed.”

  Anna snapped her head around to find four armed men with their weapons aimed.

  “Told you,” Richard said.

  “This is your fault. Pissing on the damn fire.”

  “We might have heard them coming if you weren’t in the middle of a tirade,” Richard replied.

  A man wearing a black jacket and blue jeans picked up the shotgun. “Shut up, both of you. Any more weapons?” he asked.

  “She has a handgun in her jacket,” Richard replied.

  Anna shook her head while rolling her eyes. “Now I know the Fleishmans is shutting down your higher reasoning.”

  “Frisk them both,” the man holding the shotgun said.

  Two men stood at a safe distance with their weapons trained on Anna and Richard as the other patted them down, taking Anna's knife and gun.

  The man in the black jacket nodded toward Richard. “Check him.”

  A bearded man wearing a camouflage jacket took a hold of Richard's left hand and pricked his finger. He squeezed the tip and smeared the drop of blood into an electronic tester. A red light illuminated within a few seconds. “Positive.”

  The same man grabbed Anna's hand. Anna squ
irmed free and punched the man in the face.

  “Feisty one,” the man said, touching his lower lip. “Hold her down.”

  The two men holding Anna forced her to the ground. They secured her hand and pricked her finger. This time a green light illuminated on the tester.

  “What? That's strange. She's clean.”

  “Check her again. We've had false negatives before.”

  The man repeated the test with the same result. “Nothing. She's negative for Fleishman's.”

  The first man leaned over to check the result, shaking his head. “That's impossible.”

  “Cuff them. We have to get back. The mayor can decide what to do.”

  CHAPTER 44

  Six Humvees swarmed the curb next to a brick building on railroad street. The sergeant looked up at the windows as the squads set up a perimeter around the premises.

  He raised an eyebrow as a light flashed on and off five times in an upper bedroom. The sergeant turned. “They’re signaling help from outside the building. We can't wait. Execute. Move in. Move in,” he yelled while jogging towards the lead squad.

  Delores walked into the dining room. “Busy outside this morning.”

  Jax wrinkled his brow. “What do you mean?”

  Delores pointed at the window. “The street is full of people.”

  Jax jumped from his chair and ran to the window, sliding back a curtain. His muscles tensed. ”Oh, no. They've found us.” He ran to the kitchen where everyone assembled for breakfast. “Quick, get everyone. We have to leave now.”

  The group shuffled down the stairs to the grow op room.

  “Do we have everyone?” Damarion asked.

  “Everyone but Jax,” George replied.

  Jax jogged through the dining room to take one last look outside. The window exploded, raining shards of glass onto the living room floor, followed by a smoking canister of tear gas. Jax covered his mouth with his shirt, running back towards the kitchen. Noticing Damarion left his phone behind, he snapped it off the table as he passed. Jax's eyes widened, glancing at the call history.

  “Here's Jax,” Damarion said. “That's everyone, lets go,” he said, touching the subway tile near his shoulder.