Earth Sentinels Collection

by Elizabeth M Herrera

  Someone asked, “What do you make here?”

  “This is a food processing plant. Not the most glamorous job, but an important one. You’ll make sure everyone has food on their tables, which is especially important after everything that has happened.” Sara cheerfully said, “Follow me, please!” then stepped down onto the sidewalk where she waited for everyone to disembark.

  Sara led them down the wide sidewalk to the gleaming glass doors at the front of the building. She opened one of the doors, motioning for them to enter.

  The lobby was more than large enough to accommodate everyone, but only a dozen of the lucky ones got to sit on the chairs. The receptionist sitting behind the counter glanced up at them with her blue eyes, then returned to her duties. Behind her was a sign with the company’s motto: “Quality People, Quality Food”.

  The HR representative weaved through the crowd, making her way to the door on the other side, swiping her ID badge over the security pad. A buzzer rang out, releasing the lock. Sara opened the door, saying to the group, “Ten at a time, please.” She counted the men and women as they walked single-file past her. John made the first cut.

  Sara escorted the group down the hallway. There were five metal doors on each side. She instructed them to choose one. “Once inside, you’ll need to disrobe and put on a paper gown. A doctor will come in to evaluate you.”

  John opened one of the doors. The room smelled of body odor, but he reasoned the previous occupants had come straight from a detainment camp so it was to be expected. He took off his jeans and t-shirt, laying them neatly on the chair, then sat in his underwear on the paper-lined exam table, awkwardly wrapping the paper gown around himself. He waited for the doctor to arrive.

  Instead, it was a stout nurse who entered the room carrying a small plastic basket filled with syringes and glass tubes. She briskly told him, “We’re going to need a blood sample. You faint easily?” John shook his head. The nurse expertly strapped rubber tubing below his bicep. After finding a suitable vein, she jabbed it with a needle, filling a vial with his blood. She placed the sample in the plastic basket, then, before leaving, informed him, “The doctor will be in here shortly.”

  Thirty minutes later, a doctor entered the room carrying a tablet, which he set on the counter. “All right, let’s take a look at you.” He pulled out a handheld device from his lab coat pocket, using it to peer into John’s ears, eyes and nose. “Stick out your tongue, please.” The doctor took a peek, then turned around and entered a few notes into his tablet. He stared at the screen a moment. “Okay, now I just need to confirm that you are you.” He picked up the tablet, holding it in front of John’s face. A beep rang out. Seeming satisfied, the doctor said, “Go ahead and get dressed. And when you’re ready, open the door. Someone will come for you.” He left the room.

  Fifteen minutes passed before Sara strolled down the hallway, calling out, “Everyone! Follow me, please!”

  The future employees exited the rooms, following Sara to the end of the hallway where she shepherded them up the stairwell. When she opened the door at the top of the steps, the sounds of machinery working at full speed on the production floor bombarded the group, making it difficult to hear her instructions as they proceeded along a steel-grid catwalk. They came to an office suspended over the storage area below. Everyone shuffled inside.

  Sara shut the door and the factory noises subsided. “Okay, here’s what’s happening. You’ll sit here until I call your name, then you’ll head into the next room to get your picture taken for your employee ID. And after that, you’ll receive your first work assignment. Okay, ladies first.” She glanced at her clipboard, reading from the list, “Connie Pérez.”

  The woman opened the door, which automatically closed behind her as she entered the next room.

  After a few minutes, a buzzer rang out, cueing the coordinator to announce the next name, “Mary Romano.”

  The woman got out of her chair and nervously headed to the door.

  This happened three more times before it was the men’s turn.

  Sara called John’s name.

  He stepped into the other room, surprised that it was so dark inside. His eyes didn’t have time to adjust before two men crept out of the shadows from behind him. One pressed a device against the back of John’s neck, injecting him with a serum that rendered him senseless. The men grabbed his arms as he fell, then hauled his body out the door at the opposite end of the room.

  The factory noises drowned out the sound of John’s body hitting the wire-grid platform. One of the workers, wearing blue coveralls with his name embroidered on it, grabbed a pair of industrial scissors, cutting through the unconscious man’s t-shirt, jeans and underwear, peeling off his clothes, throwing them over the railing. The items sailed into the dumpster below. The other worker reached above his head, grabbing a large metal rack shaped like an inverted “U”. Its cables lengthened as he pulled it down. He used his body weight to press the rack flat onto the floor. Together, the workers placed the victim on the rack, quickly spreading his arms and legs wide, securing his wrists and ankles with electronic metal cuffs.

  One of the workers took a few steps over to a control panel, moving the joystick in the center. The rack’s cables tightened, and the top end rose into the air until the entire contraption was fully vertical. John’s head slumped forward. He resembled a crucified man as he was hoisted higher, sailing over the railing. The rack was guided by an overhead track that descended as it crossed the three-story room, leveling out before curving around a wall.

  On the other side, John joined a horrifying lineup. The women who had preceded him also hung naked on their racks, which had temporarily stalled. But, unlike him, they had regained consciousness and were screaming and fighting against their restraints. A double-glass wall insulated the rest of the factory from their cries for help.

  Ahead of them was an enormous saw blade, shrieking an ear-piercing battle cry, waiting to slice the victims in half as soon as they arrived above the stainless-steel trough designed to catch the spilled blood. Beyond the blade, a mechanical mouth was open and eager to consume their bodies. Their flesh would be cooked off the bones, then shredded into a tidy end-product chocked full of protein, hormones and adrenaline. At the far end, vacuum-sealed cans labeled “Minced Meat, Grade A” traveled along the conveyor belt to where blue-eyed workers packed them into boxes, which were stacked onto pallets. Forklift operators moved the pallets to the loading docks.

  John opened his eyes, groggily lifting his head. He saw the lineup of screaming women in front of him, twisting and struggling, trying to free themselves. Fear threw his adrenaline into overdrive. He wildly yanked on his shackles, tearing at his flesh.

  The group panicked when a buzzer rang out. The assembly line inched forward, taking them closer to the spinning blade.

  At the forefront of this ghastly procession, jets of water bombarded the first woman in line, blasting off all of the grime she had accumulated at the detainment camp. As the drenched woman emerged out of the power wash, electricity surged from the cuffs, searing her wrists and ankles. She screamed in pain and terror as the current tore through her body. Her back arched. Strands of energy sizzled over the rack, scorching her wet skin. The woman pitched herself back and forth, jerking on her metal bonds. Her fear level escalated so high, she went into shock. Her screams abruptly stopped and her eyes stared blankly, but the rack continued chugging ahead, escorting her limp “Grade A” flesh toward the deadly blade.

  The torture began again. Electricity tore through the next woman in line as she exited the power wash. She screamed and struggled, reacting like a caged animal willing to chew off her own appendages to escape.

  At that moment, Tom Running Deer emerged inside this genocidal chamber, remaining invisible as he tried to figure out why screams filled the air. Despite the confusion, he spotted John, then went to his side where he let himself become semi-physical.

  Stunned by the sight of Tom’s strange appeara
nce, John stopped struggling. Confused, he wondered if both of them had died and now existed as spirits.

  Tom shouted in John’s ear to be heard over the screams and buzzing saw, “I’ll explain later! Let’s get you out of here!”

  Based on Tom’s words, the young man assumed they were still alive, so he yelled, “Okay, but save everyone!”

  Tom wasn’t sure what he could do within such a short time frame. The racks continued advancing forward. Another shackled and unconscious man slid around the bend, taking his place at the back of the lineup. Tom studied this assembly line of unending victims. Even if he saved these people, there would be a fresh batch within the hour.

  The saw blade spun only inches from the comatose woman at the forefront.

  With only a second to think, Tom noticed the rack holding John was fastened to an overhead track that carried all of the racks throughout the factory. The entire system was connected. With no time to spare, he touched John’s arm.

  The factory’s exterior shell, and its attached overhead conveyor system and inner structures, landed on top of a green wheat field. The inverted “U”-shaped racks squeaked as they slowly stopped swinging. Each one was empty, except for the one holding John.

  Tom released his grip on the young man, giving him a moment to adjust. A flock of sparrows flew through the open dock bays, continuing on their way.

  John hung there in disbelief. “How did you do this?”

  “It was the virus. I’m mutating. Cecile’s mutating.”

  John shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ll explain later.”

  The young man looked at the barren racks. “Why didn’t the others come?”

  “I think it was a permission thing.”

  Both men were solemn, knowing the others remained captive at the slaughterhouse.

  After a respectful amount of time passed, Tom said, “Well, let’s get you off that thing and go home. Well…not home, but…you ready?”

  The young man nodded.

  Back at the food processing factory, now void of its facilities, the hybrids, who had been working in the second-floor offices and on the catwalks, plunged to their deaths after the inner structures were whisked away from beneath their feet. They hit the concrete slab. The sun beat down on their twisted and broken bodies.

  The naked victims, who had been strapped to the racks that were no longer there, dropped a few feet to the floor—a bruising, but nonlethal, fall. A few of them sat up, wondering what had happened. The spinning saw blade eased to a stop. The conveyor belt was motionless. One man jumped to his feet, streaking through where the wall of the building had been a moment earlier, bypassing the idling big rigs and eighteen-wheelers. He was not going to miss his one shot at freedom. Several of the potential “employees”, still waiting in the wall-less lobby, watched the streaker run through the parking lot.

  A bus pulled up to the curb with a fresh load of people who would not be processed today.

  Saving Billy

  THE TRANSLUCENT HARUTO arrived inside an empty prison cell. She stared at the spot on the floor where Billy sat the time before. She hadn’t expected him to be gone. Her mind called to him, Where are you? But no vision or answer came to her. Panic set in. Afraid he might be dead, she had an overpowering desire to search for him, but didn’t know how to find him without being able to connect with his consciousness.

  Without any specific destination, Haruto moved her ethereal body through the block wall, entering the murky hallway lit by dim and infrequent overhead lights. She aimlessly drifted down the prisoners’ row where moans seeped out from under the reinforced metal doors.

  In an attempt to locate her lost lover, as well as distance herself from the surrounding misery, Haruto imagined herself at the laboratory where she had once been shackled. When she arrived, she saw the familiar gurneys lined in a row, empty, waiting for their next victims. The sight resurrected painful memories as she remembered the inhumane experiments the aliens had performed on her. Because of this, she was glad Billy wasn’t strapped to a gurney, but she was also disappointed. It would have been so easy to take him out of here. She wondered where else he might be.

  Just then, three small-statured aliens, wearing black hooded cloaks, walked past the glass doors as they moved down the hallway. One of the aliens glanced inside the laboratory, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood. Forgetting she was invisible, Haruto held her breath, standing perfectly still, expecting to be discovered. Instead, the alien moved out of sight with the others. She breathed a sigh of relief, but then wondered where they were headed. Maybe they will lead me to Billy. She knew it was a long shot, but it was the only one she had right now.

  Haruto floated down the long desolate corridor behind the aliens, who walked without talking, intent on reaching their destination. They eventually came to a “T” intersection, turning right, walking down yet another passageway.

  The monotony wore on Haruto, who felt she wasn’t making any progress. Just when she was about to give up on this endeavor, the aliens passed by a set of steel doors. Haruto decided to see what was behind them.

  She glided into a dark industrial-sized space. A phosphorescent green mist rose out of the metal vats lining the wall on the right-hand side. On the left, eight-foot-tall glass capsules stood in the gloomy room. The nearest one contained a male body floating in embryonic fluid.

  Haruto hoped it wasn’t Billy as she hesitantly moved closer, dreading the answer.

  The specimen bobbed in the capsule’s artificial current, slowly rotating.

  Its face bumped against the glass.

  It was part alien and part man.

  Haruto screamed, but no sound came out of her invisible mouth.

  Down the corridor, the aliens stopped walking, sensing something was amiss. They turned around, the hems of their hooded cloaks following their motion. Their shrouded eyes searched for anything out of the ordinary, but the long corridor stood empty and quiet. They resumed moving forward.

  Standing before the capsule, Haruto shook with fear. What are these aliens doing with these…creatures? Only God knows what they’re doing to Billy. She needed to find him before it was too late—if it wasn’t already.

  She vanished from the room, reemerging behind the aliens. It took her a moment to calm down enough to realize they were waiting for an elevator to arrive.

  The steel doors slid open. Haruto followed the aliens inside. The elevator began its descent. She felt strange being so close to these hooded creatures, especially in such tight quarters. None of them felt her presence.

  They arrived at their floor. The aliens exited, walking past two hybrid guards who did not acknowledge them. After a short distance, they stopped in front of a mercury-like door, its form constantly swirling. One of them stepped up to the security pad, extending his gray four-digit hand from beneath his long draping sleeve, placing an exceptionally long finger on the touchpad. A blue light flashed over the silvery door, causing it to dematerialize.

  The aliens crossed the threshold. Haruto trailed behind them, entering the circular-shaped room furnished with curved metal benches. At the far end, a tall reptilian commander studied a grid of holographic screens displaying different areas within the underground complex: a lobby, a laboratory, corridors, and prison cells holding anguished people crumpled in misery. He stood with his clawed hands clasped behind his back, wearing a black double-breasted military uniform with gold trim and buttons. A black metallic sash was draped over one shoulder. His reptilian face did not betray his anger.

  The short aliens stood in the center of the room and bowed. One of them said, “We are at your service, Commander Guado.”

  The commander continued staring at the images as he asked, “Have you recaptured her?”

  “No, sir.”

  He turned around to face them. “Explain yourselves.”

  “Yes, sir. After the woman disappeared from the laboratory, her DNA was detected back in Japan.”

&
nbsp; Haruto realized they were talking about her.

  “She was discovered during a routine search, but once again escaped. Hours later, the woman showed herself, seemingly on purpose, setting off a DNA detector. What’s most interesting about her is she seems to be able to transform her body at will. Changing from physical to what can only be described as a visible ghost—instantly. Unfortunately, it’s only her physical form that sets off our DNA detectors.”

  “Why didn’t you know this would happen?”

  “We conducted extensive testing for decades on hundreds of thousands of people, and none had this mutation. But the Omega Project infected billions—a much larger pool.”

  Commander Guado breathed deeply as if cooling his rage. “This could ruin millenniums of planning. She and any others like her need to be eliminated.”

  “Yes, sir! We are working on it day and night, sir.”

  “Our Supreme Leader will want an answer soon. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Dismissed.”

  The cloaked ones bowed, then left.

  The commander returned to staring at the surveillance images. Haruto approached him. She could see his skin was almost as thick as armor. When he breathed, a hissing sound, along with his forked tongue, came out of his mouth.

  Repulsed, she turned away to view the holographic screens. One showed the aliens that had just left the room and were now entering the elevator. Another screen showed a six-foot-tall praying mantis, which wore a tunic that was open on both sides, exposing its spindly barbed arms and legs. The praying mantis leered over a man, strapped in a chair, whose head was covered by a black hood that expanded and collapsed with each gasping breath he took. Wires coming out of a nearby machine were attached to the man’s neck, arms and chest. Hybrid soldiers stood guard. Two alien scientists observed the proceedings.