by Maxey, Phil
They all nodded and got out.
“I need to pee,” said Ben.
“I’ll take him with me,” said Estella.
Grant nodded and, with Galo and Luciana, walked to the store.
Before they made it to the glass door, an elderly man was on the opposite side. Grant stood a foot away.
“How you folks get down here? I thought the highway was cordoned off?” said the balding man.
“We came in from the east. You open?”
The man frowned, then pulled two latches across, and opened the door.
Inside were eight aisles of snacks and drinks, and the sound of the TV news bellowing out from a screen on the wall behind the counter.
“Coming to you in this hour. The mutation spreads across the globe! We have reports from Japan, Australia, and Germany. Then back home, our reporters are on the ground in all the major affected areas, giving you an in-depth analysis of these strange and dangerous new animals. We talk to experts as to what you should do if you come across one of these creatures. In other news, there are rumors that there will be a scientific conference in Geneva, Switzerland on the seventeenth that will bring together some of the world’s leading experts to try to make sense of what’s happening across the world.”
Grant, Galo, and Luciana split up into separate aisles. Each grabbing what they could. Grant was mostly interested in the part of the shop that sold hunting equipment. As he stood looking at the knives behind a glass counter and the rifles on the wall, the glass front of the shop and door started to rattle. A repeating juddering noise came with the vibrations.
“Military helicopters. We get them every hour now flying over,” said the old man, walking to the counter. “Anything you like the look of, son?”
*****
In the shadows around Raj, people moved with purpose, bringing pieces of paper and information to their superiors. Between the darkness were fluorescent screens, showing maps, some geographic others genetic. Footage played out on others. The screens were attached to desks, all arranged in rows, leading to much larger screens at the end of the low-ceilinged room. The display which had kept his attention though for the past twenty minutes was one of the largest, containing a map of the United States. Across it were a few thousand red dots. Every few minutes another one would be added, momentarily pulsing then settling back down to its usual size. Its arrival would be heralded by an increase of noise in the room, and even more frantic shuffling between desks.
As he watched the spell of lights his mind drifted to his parents back in the UK. He wondered what they were thinking of what was happening.
I should contact them.
A hand touched his shoulder, breaking him from his memories.
“I would like you to sit in on a meeting I’m about to have. It will not be pleasant, but I think it’s important you are there,” said Stokes.
Raj nodded, being concerned by the doctor's words but thrilled to be included. He followed him with a soldier out of the CIC and through a few corridors arriving at a moderately sized conference room. Most around the large table were in military uniforms, with a parade of multicolored badges and motifs across their chests.
The person they were all looking at though was someone Raj vaguely recognized. A woman with tied-back, blonde hair, the secretary of defense, Allison Edwards. She was sitting on the front of a desk in an office. People kept talking to her offscreen causing her to nod.
She looked back at the camera. “Bring me up to speed, General.”
One of the impressive-looking individuals, who happened to be dressed in a green uniform, looked at the screen. “There are now forty to sixty events or incidents involving these creatures every hour, and that rate appears to be increasing. All military bases on both seaboards are on high alert and all leave canceled. We are coordinating with FEMA to minimize disruption to the major population centers, but curfews and closure of major routes cannot be avoided.”
A man in a black uniform with gold motif patterns across his cuffs cleared his throat. “The Navy has come in contact with a number of creatures, unfortunately leading to a number of fatalities amongst our personnel. We have implemented operation Condor to protect our bases and other assets, but I have to say, secretary, we are not equipped to fight these things.”
A number of heads nodded in agreement around the table.
Edwards angle of gaze changed slightly.
Stokes realized she was looking at him.
“Doctor, have you made any headway on what the cause of these mutations is? And, more importantly, how we can stop it?”
Stokes took in a deep breath slowly letting it back out. “We have studied a number of these organisms, and even though it is self-evident that their genome has somehow become completely altered, there does not seem to be any apparent cause—” there were a number of sighs around the table. “What we can say is that invertebrates were first affected. This appears to have begun at the latter part of last year. Then we saw the first class of vertebrates being affected, fish and amphibians, during the first few months of this year. During March, we started to get reports of birds being affected and small mammals, and now… we are starting to get reports of some larger mammals succumbing to the mutation. Some dogs and felines have been mutating.”
“Into what?” said Edwards.
“We have imagery of bipedal cat and doglike creatures…”
The level of unease rose in the room.
“And none of your scientists have come up with any cure for this?”
“Other than a major culling of a large proportion of animal life, no.”
The army general sat back in his chair. “The public will never go for it, hell, I don’t know if I go for it.”
Edwards looked down, then back to Stokes. “If this continues, what are your estimates?”
“If we cannot find a way to stop the mutation, and so far, it would seem no species are immune to its effects…” Most around the table were shaking their heads, but Stokes continued. “With the greatest respect gentleman, I do not think you are understanding the true gravity of the situation. Yes, if there is a cull, the loss of animal life is a catastrophe for this country, for all countries, but the animal kingdom outnumbers humankind by many factors to one. Just taking into account one species of vertebrate, the brown rat. There are probably more of them than us across the globe. That’s one… species, and it is estimated, although we cannot be sure, that there are over sixty thousand vertebrates and… millions of invertebrate species. These new mutated creatures are larger, more complex, and, in most cases, fiercer than their predecessors.”
The general looked confused. “What are you saying, doctor?”
Edwards was looking down. “He’s saying, General, that this is a far bigger problem than we even thought. Thank you for your thoughts, gentleman.” She looked again at Stokes. “Find me a solution, doctor, and be ready for the conference.”
He nodded.
She got up from the desk. “I will take what you have all said to the president.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The drive from the convenience store was uneventful. They even were joined by a few vehicles on the highway, which came and went. Occasionally, military trucks would pass them going in the opposite direction. The sound of helicopters was almost a constant though overhead.
“Twenty minutes and we’ll be in San Diego,” said Grant. He could hear Luciana’s sigh from the back seat.
As they drove along the highway, apartments sat within lush green hills. They approached an overpass and a collection of military vehicles positioned across the four-lane road. They, and a few other cars, slowed to a stop.
“Why are they stopping people?” said Sofia.
“Everyone be calm and it will be fine,” said Grant.
They all watched as the soldiers approached the cars ahead, had a brief exchange of words, and then waved them forward. Grant eased down on the gas and pulled forward.
The young man, in fu
ll military gear, approached their sedan.
Grant smiled. “What can we do for you, Private?”
The man pointed at the thick blanket of trees that lay ahead of them, off to the side of the highway. “There’s been reports of creatures in these hills. We have been tracking them best we can, but we lost them.”
“Creatures?”
The soldier nudged his helmet up and smiled. “Yeah, I know it’s crazy, but I saw them with my own eyes. You folks keep up a good speed and don’t stop until you’re past the reserve and into the city.”
“Thanks for letting us know.”
The soldier nodded and Grant drove forward, past the Humvees and back onto an almost deserted highway.
They all studiously looked at the distant hills and cliffs, but no one could see any sign of the creatures the soldier mentioned.
Grant’s mind was already in San Diego and he wondered what he would do there.
Drop everyone off, get the second payment. Maybe head east, back out of the city.
It seemed a simple enough plan. He hardly knew the city he was on the outskirts of, only visiting it when he had to go to a conference or to testify. When he wanted to vacation, he would always head north to Orange County.
He switched on the radio, twisting the quaint knob to find a station. Block-shaped buildings and stone-colored homes, all below the level of the road, passed them by.
The road was now eight lanes wide, made to feel even bigger by the lack of traffic.
“I wonder why no one is on the roads,” said Estella, more as a statement than a question.
“The government is telling everyone to stay in their homes. If you travel, you run the risk of running into one of those things,” said Grant.
“No one in LA was taking that advice.”
“LA had a cordon. You tell people not to leave, that’s exactly what they will try to do. I don’t think it’s the same for San Diego, yet…” He finished twisting the knob when he heard a clear voice.
“Should the citizens of our finest city be concerned that what is happening to LA will happen down here?” said a concerned man. “Callers to this station are already mentioning strange creatures they have seen with their own eyes and we are getting reports that supplies are running low in most major stores. We’re now going to Ruiz Perez in Clairemont. Go ahead, you are on the air…”
“Am I on?”
“Yes, please tell the listeners your story…”
“Well, we were outside, in the yard, when above our head we saw a giant blue demon!—”
Grant switched the radio off.
“Hey, I was listening to that!” said Luciana.
“This situation is crazy enough as it is.” He looked at Galo. “We are only a few minutes to the main part of the city, is there anywhere you want to be dropped off?”
Galo looked back at his wife.
“Where are you going?” said Estella.
Grant looked in the rear mirror. “Where are we going, Luciana?”
She looked at her fellow passengers and frowned. “Just keep driving. I will tell you when we are close.”
The banks at the side of the highway rose, as did the buildings. Large office blocks loomed across the road surrounded by tall trees.
After another few minutes of vibrant green hills passing by, Luciana leaned forward. “Take the next exit.”
“It’s so green here,” said Sofia, looking at the parks and abundance of vegetation.
A sign passed by with ‘Welcome to Horizon Beach’ displayed on it.
Luciana gave directions along clean roads, bordered by rectangular light-colored buildings and tall palm trees. “Here, on the right, pull in here.”
Grant turned into a small parking lot which ran along the side of an apartment complex.
“Now what,” said Grant with the engine idling.
Before she could reply, a man appeared from the corner of the building, his head was shaved, and he wore a basketball vest with a large number eight on the front and back.
Luciana quickly got out and ran into the embrace of the man, who briefly looked at her, but mostly kept his eyes on those inside the pickup.
Luciana said some words to the man, then turned and walked to the driver's side window. She rummaged into her bag and pulled out a similar chunk of dollars that she offered Grant days before.
“As promised.”
Grant took the money, then briefly looked at the stout man. “Who’s that?”
“My brother, Gabriel. Thank you for getting me here.” She turned.
“Hey, you or your brother know anywhere around here where my son and I can stay? A hotel or something?”
“Umm, hold on.” She walked to Gabriel, who looked over her shoulder, and then walked to the pickup.
“You want somewhere to stay with your son?” said Gabriel.
“Looks that way.”
He looked at the others. “These people as well?”
Galo nodded.
“There are hotels a mile from here, all along the beach front. But you don’t want to stay there. People been seeing some weird things. Would all of you be willing to share an apartment for eight hundred per month?”
“Umm…”
“Yeah,” said Ben.
Grant looked at his son and smiled, while Galo and his wife nodded.
*****
Grant looked out of the second-floor bedroom window. A few miles off, the afternoon sun glinted off the distant waves of the ocean, and beyond that were the coves and beaches of Mission Bay. As the sun warmed the gardens and sidewalks of the boxlike homes between him and the sea, it was hard to believe that there were monsters in the world.
“Mama is making some food, do you both want some?” whispered Sofia from the doorway.
Grant looked back and smiled. “Smells good already,” he said quietly. Ben laid asleep on the single bed.
Sofia smiled and left.
Luciana’s brother, Gabriel, worked for the building’s owner and had asked him to allow the apartment to be let out on short notice, at a reduced rate. The middle-aged man in a Hawaiian shirt didn’t need much convincing, as the ‘monsters’ had already caused three of his tenants to move out of state. But the lease would only be for three months to ‘see how things go.’
Grant wasn’t planning on staying there that long. He looked back out across the roofs of Horizon Beach. His mind still hadn’t grasped how he had gone from, just a few days ago, being concerned over whether he had gotten the right present for his son, to being in a two-bed apartment in San Diego with another family, due to the plague of strange animals.
He sighed and shook his head.
Stepping across their bags, he moved outside and then into the small bathroom and closed the door. His phone was already back down to twenty percent battery. He opened up the map app and zoomed out once the phone locked his current location. South, was the border with Mexico. North, took him back the way he came. West, was the Pacific. Which left east through the state parks and eventually to Arizona. As far as he knew, there had been no ‘incidents’ in that state. Beyond that was New Mexico.
Brad.
He returned to the main screen and went to recent calls. At the top was ‘unknown’ from the special agent.
A knock came on the bathroom door, accompanied with Sofia telling him the food was ready.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
He looked back at the screen. After the last call, he discovered from Luciana that Hendricks was the man she was running from. She didn’t explain why, other than she had done nothing bad, and she just needed to get to her brother. Hendricks was the ‘wrong’ kind of jealous she said, and she just needed a break from him.
Grant only believed about half of what she was saying, but he really needed the other ten thousand. He had planned to get the money and leave, but a part of him felt responsible for this woman, and even the people he had traveled with from LA.
Stay a few days. If the monster situation settles
down, head back home, otherwise head east.
It seemed a good plan.
Ben was shot.
He felt a wave of emotion build up inside him and he grabbed the edge of the shower door.
He’s okay. He’s safe.
Turning on the faucet, he sprinkled some cold water across his face, dried, then headed back out into the hallway then the living room.
Ben was sitting, eating what appeared to be a plate of vegetables and meat while watching the news.
“You’re awake?” said Grant, stating the obvious.
“Yeah. I’m still sleepy, but I’m hungry,” said Ben, his eyes glued to the news footage of people running.
The others sat around the TV, eagerly doing the same.
“Yours is in the bowl in the kitchen,” said Estella to Grant.
“The monsters are being seen in other cities,” said Galo while watching the TV.
A simplified map appeared on the television screen, with angry monster icons popping up across the east and west coasts. It then zoomed out to show the world, with more of the childlike imagery being used to show where ‘incidents’ had been reported across the globe.
“Doesn’t look like it’s stopping anytime soon,” said Galo.
A ticker tape of new reports slid slowly across the bottom of the map.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“You hear about that crazy dog-monster that attacked that school bus?”
A sinewy man, whose face was covered in liver spots, looked at Brad. They were both inside “Roswell Quick Buy” convenience store. It was one Brad hardly visited, preferring the stores closer to his home, but after visiting two of those, and finding they were almost completely empty of goods, he ventured further out.
Brad was looking down at the canned meat. “Yeah, I heard.”
“Darnest thing. My grandson showed me pictures of it on the internet. You from around here?”