by Pepper Pace
“What’s your name?” Earl asked.
Carmella glared at Earl.
Earl took a step closer. “I’m Earl. This here is Lester but we call him Sonny. The woman in the other room is Linda, his mother. I’m going to ask you again. What’s your name?”
“Carmella,” she whispered.
Earl walked toward her and offered his hand.
She looked at it and saw a series of scars on his knuckles. Ignoring the offered hand she stood on her own.
Earl chuckled at the rebuke. “Have a seat.” He gestured to filthy green couch.
Carmella sat on the edge.
Earl sat across from her in an armchair covered with a quilt. “I’m sure you’ve figured out that there is no walking out of here for you and the little man. You’re smart, I’m guessing. I can make it pretty or I can make it plain. I’m thinking that you’re the type who wants to cut through the bullshit.”
“You’re the boss,” she stated while giving him a chilly look.
Earl smiled and then laughed. “I like you. Yes, indeed I do.”
And I want to smash in your faces and feed your bloody carcasses to Wolf, Carmella thought. But her only response was a cold stare.
Earl’s smile disappeared. “All right, here’s how it is. There ain’t that many humans left here on Earth. We’ve been traveling all over, and you’re the first person we’ve seen in five or six years.”
“What happened to the last person you met?” Carmella asked.
Earl squinted. “He’s as dead as your man cuz he sassed me.”
The response stabbed at her as purely as if she’d been knifed. “I’m sure you gave him a reason,” Carmella stated.
Earl leaned forward. “Yep, I surely did. You planning to sass me?”
I’m planning to kill you, she thought.
Earl seemed to read her thoughts and threw back his head in laughter. “Carmella, we’re gonna get along just fine. You see, you’re obviously a fertile woman. We need you here with us. But if you don’t go along with the program, then we’ll just take your kid and continue our travels.”
Carmella gripped the edge of the couch. “And what exactly is the program?”
“You just need to be nice to us.”
Sonny stood. “Us? She’s mine, Earl.”
Earl looked over his shoulder at the unkempt man. “She’s ours, Sonny.”
Sonny stood over him with his hands on his fat hips. “You got Ma. You already got a woman. Now I do, too.”
Earl’s nose flared. “What do you know about it, pig fucker?”
Sonny’s face turned red. “Now you hold on there just a minute.” He looked at Carmella. “I ain’t no pig fucker.”
“Do you think I don’t know what you were doing to those pigs that time?” Earl asked. “And the goat?” He looked at Carmella. “He even tried to fuck a horse, Carmella. That’s the reason his leg is messed up, not because he tried to ride it.”
“I did not!” Sonny yelled.
“You tried to fuck it,” Early said, “and it kicked the shit out of you!”
“Shut up!”
Ma came from the back room and closed the door behind her. “What the hell? Are you trying to wake up the baby again?”
Sonny hurried to his mother. “Ma, tell him that the girl is mine! I ain’t got a girl, and she’s mine!”
“Of course she’s yours, son.” Ma glared at Earl. “What are you up to now? You know he can’t live the rest of his days without his own woman.”
Earl stood. “Well, I’m certainly not going to be stuck the rest of my days fucking your withered ass. I get a piece of her, too, and that’s all there is to it.”
Carmella wanted to vomit. She was about to be tied or chained up and turned into their sex slave, and there was absolutely no one to help her. She had to be smart and strong even though she wanted to rage and kill every one of them.
“You don’t ever have to touch me again for all I care!” Ma yelled. “You think I like having you shove that thing in me?”
Earl closed his mouth and inhaled. “Then I guess we have an understanding. You won’t have to worry about my dick anymore.”
“Ma!” Sonny yelled.
Raj began to cry from the next room.
“You dumb shit,” Earl said, glaring at Sonny. “You woke that baby again. Go get him and give him to his mother before I really get angry.”
Ma wrung her hands. “No one is going to put a hand on that precious baby.”
“Give him to his mother, or I will leave you two to starve to death,” Earl said.
The old woman retreated to get the baby while Lester looked at Carmella as if she was slowly disappearing.
~***~
ad-ap-ta-tion n. any alteration in the structure or function of an
organism or any of its parts that results from natural selection
and by which the organism becomes better fitted to survive
and multiply in its environment
Bilal’s body was stiff and cold on the cement parking lot. Even the blood which had pooled from his body had stiffened in the cold. His chest no longer rose and fell, and his heart no longer beat. Only his long hair moved, fluttering in the wind above lifeless eyes that did not notice the flakes of snow drifting down. He no longer had memories of his biggest desire: to love and to be loved.
But his cells did.
One cell remembered to turn on adaptation.
The other cells swiftly followed.
Chapter 27
~Something New~
The dormant cells in Bilal’s body sparked to life, regenerating enough to start his heart beating sluggishly in his chest.
He lay there without knowing or thinking until the sun fell. By the time his eyes popped open and he took in the night sky, he was covered in a fine dusting of frost. He moved his rigid arms to his chest where he felt hot blood on his cold fingers. He tried to close his eyes and sleep to continue repairs on his body, but his thoughts overruled the urge.
He opened his mouth. “Carmella …”
The sound was less than a whisper.
His heartbeat spiked as he remembered what had happened. Two men and a woman. The men had guns. The woman wanted …
“Raj!”
He tried to sit up but the pain overwhelmed him and left him on the brink of unconsciousness. He squeezed his eyelids closed, fought the pain, and looked inward. How is this happening? How can my body be repairing itself without tentacles or sensors?
He tried to stop his mind from charging ahead and to concentrate on making the repairs, but he couldn’t stop thinking of Carmella or their son. Where had they been taken? And were they okay? He had to get up. He had to find them …
He opened his eyes and looked around. The dark didn’t inhibit his ability to see, but the dark concerned him. His blood would draw predators. He might be able to repair the damage caused by two bullet wounds, but he couldn’t survive being ripped limb from limb by wild animals.
I need time to heal, he thought. Time and shelter.
He bared his teeth, braced, and forced himself into a sitting position. The bullet wounds pierced his body and left him lightheaded and nauseous. He fought the blackness swimming in front of his eyes by thinking about Carmella and Raj. He thought about kissing her on the Roebling Bridge while their son quietly watched. He thought about that supremely human moment as he scooted himself a few inches toward the dealership door. He ignored the trail of blood he left behind, and fifteen excruciatingly painful minutes later, he was out of breath and leaning against the glass door of the building.
He felt numbness in his hands and cold spreading through his chest. He tried to lift his hands to reach the door.
Pull it open.
He couldn’t lift his hands.
He heard growls and snarls and looked across the street into the Best Western parking lot. Four sets of yellow eyes flitted among the burned out cars and trucks.
He smiled despite his pain. “Wolves,” he whis
pered. “More wolves.”
He fell into unconsciousness.
~***~
Raj stared out at his strange surroundings periodically crying out in distress. Carmella rocked him and held him close to her. Whenever Ma came close, Raj would turn his head away and scream against his mother’s chest until the older woman retreated.
“I’m going out for a smoke, but I’ll be back,” Earl scowled. He headed toward the front door. “Maybe you should think about making us something to eat.” He opened the door, stepped through, and slammed it behind him.
Sonny’s eyes lit up, and he stared at Carmella with open desire, a tendril of drool spilling from his lower lip.
Carmella watched Ma leaving the room for the kitchen. Don’t leave me alone with this dumb shit! “Ma’am!”
Ma turned and looked at her in annoyance. “What?”
“I need to use the bathroom.”
The old woman rolled her eyes as she returned to Carmella. “Why? You ain’t eaten nothing.”
Raj shrieked when he saw Ma approach.
“Shh, Raj,” Carmella whispered. “It’s all right.” She looked up at Ma. “I have to pee.”
Ma gazed down at Carmella. “Okay. This is what we’ll do. Let Sonny hold the baby, and I’ll take you out back where you can do your business.”
“No,” Carmella said. She held Raj tightly.
“You ain’t walking out of here with that baby,” Ma said. “You think I trust you not to run off as soon as you have the chance? Maybe you’re thinking of knocking me in the head or something. I’m not stupid. I know you won’t try to run away without that boy of yours, so you hand him over to Sonny, and then you can go pee.”
Carmella looked at Sonny, who had both of his hands in his pockets and a bulge filling his crotch. “Does Sonny know anything about taking care of a baby?”
“Hell no,” Ma said. “Boy can’t hardly take care of himself.”
“So why don’t you put Raj in the other room until we get back?”
Ma shrugged. “So you can bop me on the head while we’re outside and come collect him through the window? I don’t think so.”
Think! “Earl’s outside, isn’t he? He wouldn’t let that happen, right?”
“Nope,” Ma said. “He’d shoot your ass.” She reached out her arms. “We’ll do it your way. Give him to me.”
Carmella lifted Raj into Ma’s arms, and Raj kicked his pudgy legs and wailed, “Mamamamama!”
Ma grabbed Raj and propped him on her hip. “Oh, don’t be so angry, little boy. I’ve been taking good care of you, haven’t I?”
“It’s okay, Raj,” Carmella said. “Mommy’s not going anywhere.”
Raj’s wails slowed until his small body hitched with residual tears. He looked from his mother to the woman carrying him and then opened his mouth exposing his tongue.
Carmella saw translucent strings springing from the tip of Raj’s tongue. They seemed to be straining and stretching to reach the old woman’s neck He plans to sting her! She scanned the room for a chair, a vase, a lamp, anything to bash Sonny’s brains in. What was he waiting for? She thought while frantically watching for her son to strike. Sting her! Sting her … and then she realized that Raj was forbidden to do it. Damnit!
“What’d you call him?” Ma asked.
“Raj,” Carmella said distractedly while scooting to the edge of the couch. “It’s short for Roger.”
Ma squinted at Raj. “He don’t look like no Roger.”
Raj tried to twist his body away from the women, his chest still hitching in anguish. Luckily the old woman would not have realized that small thread-like filaments were ready to make contact and then zap the living shit out of her.
Carmella looked into Raj’s eyes. “Go ahead, baby boy,” she whispered. “On her neck. It’s okay.”
Raj’s sensors lashed out at Ma’s neck, his mouth locking onto her flesh giving the appearance that he was giving her a slobbery baby kiss.
Ma’s face alighted with delight seconds before growing slack. Her mouth dropped open to reveal slightly greenish bottom teeth. “AHHH!” She screeched.
Sonny’s eyes swung to his mother in surprise. He’d been fantasizing …
Ma grabbed for her wrinkled throat and Carmella lunged forward to catch Raj before he hit the floor. She clutched her son to her, soothing and thanking him quietly, praising him for being a good boy.
Damnit! Sonny was too far away for her to both catch her son and brain him with a blunt instrument! Instead she quickly returned to her seat on the couch to bide her time as Ma dropped to her knees attempting to scream. The woman gasped breathless, no sound issuing from her withered lips. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Hurts like a bitch, doesn’t it? Carmella thought, cradling Raj. “You done good, son,” she whispered in his ear. “Thank you.”
Ma then flopped to the floor, her arms and legs twitching as foam spit from her mouth.
Sonny lunged forward and dropped to his knees beside her. “Ma!”
“She’s having some type of seizure,” Carmella said. “Go get Earl!” And when you do, I am so out of here.
Sonny ran to the front door and threw it open. “Earl! Come quick! Ma’s dying!”
Leave! Run off! Carmella leaped from the couch. But where should she run?! Out the back door? Out a window?
“Earl! Hurry! It’s ma!”
Carmella heard rapid footsteps approaching the house.
Shit! She dropped back on the couch, out of time.
Earl pushed past Sonny and into the house, a cigarette dangling from his lips, his rifle trained on Carmella and Raj. “What the fuck’s going on?”
Sonny looked at Earl with tears in his eyes. “I think Ma’s having a heart attack. Do something, Earl!”
“God damnit!” Earl howled. “Sonny, turn her head so that she doesn’t choke to death!”
Sonny hurried back to his mother and gently turned her head to the side. “Is she dying, Earl?” he looked at the man fearfully.
Earl put the cold muzzle of the rifle against Carmella’s temple. “Did you have anything to do with this?”
“How could I?” Carmella asked in a shaky voice.
“She’s never had a seizure before,” Earl said. “Not until you showed up.”
Carmella gave him an innocent look. “One second she was holding Raj, and the next she was foaming at the mouth. She dropped my son, and I had to catch him. I didn’t touch her, I swear.” My warrior baby did, though ….
“Put the kid on the couch,” Earl said.
“Why?” Carmella was terrified.
“I’m gonna have to tie you up while we deal with her,” Earl said.
“You ever have kids?” Carmella asked in a desperate rush not to have lose this opportunity to escape.
“Yes,” Earl said. “Two.”
“You can’t put an infant on a couch and not expect it to fall off,” Carmella said.
Earl smiled. “Then you’ll have to figure something out, won’t you? Put the brat on the couch.”
Carmella placed Raj on the couch. “Stay put, Raj, okay?” She stated.
Raj opened his mouth to begin wailing again and Carmella wondered just how much of this her son understood. Did he know that they were in a life or death situation?
“Put your hands behind you,” Earl commanded.
Raj cried but watched intently while Earl secured Carmella’s hands behind her with coarse rope.
That’s right, baby boy, Carmella thought. Take notes.
She scooted next to Raj while Earl helped Sonny pick up and carry Ma down the hallway, her withered legs still twitching.
Raj pulled himself onto his mother’s lap and clutched her. Carmella smiled at Raj wishing that he could read her silent thoughts.
One down, she thought. And two to go.
Chapter 28
~Battles~
Carmella waited until she heard a door open and close before leaping up and darting to the kitchen. Her eye
s frantically scanned the counter for a set of knives. Every kitchen had them—except this one.
Damnit!
She looked into the sink and found a dirty butcher knife among some unwashed dishes. She backed up to the sink and felt around blindly, her hands closing carefully around the sharp blade. Once she had it securely in her grasp, she dashed back into the living room and sank back onto the couch, working the knife under the cushion behind her.
Little man had pulled himself up on his hands and knees when he saw her leave but was now exploring the couch, rocking back and forth and gurgling nonsense words. Good, he was being so good, she thought.
“Blablabla,” Raj gurgled. “Dadada …”
Carmella swallowed as fresh tears welled in her eyes. He was calling his daddy. Bilal. Dada … It broke her heart. Fuck! Bilal …
She couldn’t think about the loss of Bilal. It felt like a cavern in her soul that she couldn’t explore. It took everything she had to grasp the impossible fact that her son was three times as advanced as the average baby—maybe even more.
A door opened, and Earl stalked into the room. He roughly yanked her arm, and she went skating off the couch onto her feet. “Come on.”
Raj began to whimper.
She turned to Raj. “Don’t cry. Mommy will be back.”
As Earl half dragged Carmella down the hallway, Raj rubbed his eyes and stopped whimpering. He crawled to where his mother had hidden the knife.
He sat back on the couch and guarded it for his mother.
~***~
Wild dogs owned most of ruined civilization and wolves claimed the woods, but all bets were off in the winter.
In the winter it was eat or die.
A pack of wild dogs warily watched the wolves battle for the man from hiding places under broken down cars and within abandoned building. Some of the older ones remembered the time ‘of man’ and thumped their tails in want of a remembered neck or belly rub. Others didn’t know what to make of humans and wanted no part of them.
Two wolves were all that remained in the battle; the weaker ones having already retreated or injured too badly to be a threat.