The Mesmerized

by Rhiannon Frater

  Minji unequivocally agreed with this opinion. “If we can find a way to do this without anyone else dying, we have to do it.”

  The retired soldier sorrowfully regarded the black smoke rising from the Las Vegas skyline as he rubbed his hands together, almost as if he were washing them. “I killed people in Afghanistan. And they weren’t just men who wanted to shed American blood. There were young boys armed and ready to kill. One of them shot me multiple times before I killed him.”

  “Sweet Jesus,” Simone whispered.

  “I’m so sorry, Alec.” Minji knew her words couldn’t bring real solace, but said them anyway.

  “The reason why I was shot and two of my men killed is because the soldier who initially spotted the boy hesitated. Later, he pleaded for my forgiveness because when he spied the boy –who killed two people and wounded three others – he identified him as a child and not a threat.” Alec directed his gaze at Ava again. “I see the child, Minji. I see the threat.”

  “Alec...” she started to protest, but the steadfastness she saw in his eyes caused her to falter.

  “Let me finish, Minji. If I could go back in time and disarm that child and send him home to his mother and save his life and the lives of my men, I would do it. In a heartbeat.” Alec straightened his shoulders. “We’ll try to send it back. And if that fails...well, we’ll do what I was sent to do.”

  Simone bobbed her head once. “Fine.”

  “Thanks, Alec,” Minji said gratefully.

  The possibility of a peaceful resolution was welcomed, but twinges of fear and doubt pinched at her nerves. Tilting her head to gaze into Ava’s eyes, she hoped the other within her would realize they were trying to help. Maybe then it would release the mesmerized and stop the slaughter.

  ***

  The drive was long, boring and made her drowsy, but Minji resolutely drove on. Alec and Bailey dozed in the seat behind her, the man and the baby both snoring. In the rear, Simone was checking on Jake and Jesse. Ava stood next to the driver’s seat, the leash knotted around a pole to keep her securely at Minji’s side. The young mother hated that the entity in Ava refused to remain seated. Its stubbornness was reminiscent of Ava, which was just one more confirmation that the entity was a child.

  The highway sliced through the Nevada desert under a cloudless blue sky. The mountains loomed in the distance beyond the flat land spotted with desert foliage and herds of the mesmerized. It was the first she’d seen of the victims since they’d left the city. A large gathering sprawled across the road ahead forcing her to bring the vehicle to a gradual stop. Clutching the steering wheel, Minji frowned at the commotion in the center of the road.

  “Alec, wake up! Something’s wrong!”

  “What?” The military man was instantly awake. “What is it?”

  Simone hurried up the aisle clasping a water bottle in one hand. “What’s wrong?”

  A large cluster of the mesmerized gathered around a big blue truck blocking the shuttle’s passage. From the way the top of the cab was bobbing side to side, it was evident that the mesmerized were rocking the pickup.

  “What the hell?” Minji checked Ava, but the blank stare was unchanged. A rapid study of her husband and Jesse revealed they were sedate as well. On the road, the mesmerized were in an uproar. Over the idling engine of the shuttle bus, she could hear inhuman cries issuing forth from the throng.

  Simone gripped the pole near the steps to the front door and leaned over to peer out. “What are they doing?”

  “Have you seen anything like this before?” Alec stopped next to Simone, pressed his palms against the ceiling to steady himself and slanted forward to watch.

  Simone shook her head while Minji said, “No, never.”

  “Are they attacking it? Or is it just blocking their way?” Simone asked.

  “The people at The Venetian tried to grab me this morning, but I think it was to return me to the girls.” Minji clasped her hands together and tucked them under her chin as she scrutinized the scene. “Are there people in the truck?”

  “I can’t see anyone, can you?” Adam’s fingers drummed against the roof, his eyebrows lowered in a thoughtful pose.

  “No,” Simone answered. “There’s too much glare on the windshield.”

  A loud pop startled Minji and it took her a second to realize it was gunfire. Moments later, more shots followed, and above the crowd, geysers of blood appeared. The mesmerized responded by swarming over the vehicle like ants. The shooting continued and there was a bright flash when someone kicked out the windshield and the glass caught the sunlight. Two figures scrambled onto the hood of the pickup truck dressed in Army fatigues.

  “Shit!” Reaching under his jacket and shirt, Alec pulled a handgun from a holster hidden at the small of his back. “I need to help them!”

  “You have a gun? You didn’t tell us you had a gun!” Simone exclaimed.

  “Don’t rag on me,” Alec tersely replied.

  Outside, the two people, a man and a woman, struggled to maintain their balance on the rocking vehicle while shooting and kicking away the mesmerized reaching for them. Minji took hold of Ava’s hand and tried to get her attention. “Stop it. Leave them alone.”

  Ava’s only response was to stare past her at the rampaging mesmerized.

  “Alec, you can’t go out there anyway. They’re acting like zombies!”

  “Simone, back off. I have to help them.” Alec opened the door to the shuttle bus.

  Gripping his upper arm, Minji tugged on him. Alec swung toward her, blue eyes boring into hers.

  “The mesmerized are not going to stop their attack and bullets aren’t slowing them down. You can’t help them, Alec.”

  “Minji, I have—”

  “Oh, shit!” Simone cried, flinging out a hand as though she could somehow stop the unfolding drama. “He fell!”

  Minji shot out of the driver’s seat when she realized only the woman remained on top the truck. The female soldier was backed onto the roof and the mesmerized were swarming over the hood and bed. Though she was obviously screaming, her voice was drowned out by their disturbing cries. Horrified, Minji watched as the woman was dragged off the cab and disappeared into the throng.

  “Fuck!” Alec roared. “Fuck!”

  “What are they doing to her? What are they doing to her?” Simone screamed.

  Bailey let out a bleat, then started to wail.

  Minji swiveled about to calm her baby, but instantly froze. Ava was staring at her with a small smile on her lips.

  “Moommy,” she said.

  Pressing her freezing fingertips to her face, Minji resisted the urge to grab the little girl and shake her. It was difficult to find her voice, but she said, “Stop it.”

  Ava’s eyes flicked toward the gruesome violence outside the shuttle bus. Lifting one hand, she pointed at the scene. “Moommy.”

  Returning her attention to the frenzied mesmerized, Minji seized upon Ava’s comment and snapped it into the puzzle she’d been piecing together in her mind. “Oh, my God!”

  “They’ve stopped,” Simone whispered in a fear laden voice. “Why?”

  Like a wave crashing onto the shore then retreating into the sea, the mesmerized stilled, then staggered away from the pickup. There were so many it took several minutes before the sad scene around the vehicle was exposed. Numerous bodies haloed by pools of vibrant red decorated the long strip of asphalt. The desert wind kicked up dust devils that danced among the dead like wraiths.

  “I need to go see what the hell is going on,” Alec said, then exited the bus.

  “Simone, can you watch the girls?”

  “Be careful, Minji. This isn’t a good sign.”

  Leaving the other woman to deal with the crying baby, Minji sprinted down the steps and out into the bright sunlight. Despite the time of the year and the clear skies, the air was freezing.

  Further along the highway, large herds of the mesmerized continued to cross over while the group that had attacked the
truck resumed their hike into the desert. None of the mesmerized took notice of the man with the cane and gun. Minji shadowed Alec, shivering in the cold.

  “You should stay on the bus,” Alec said, realizing she was trailing him.

  “No,” she answered.

  “Right,” he grunted. “I keep forgetting you’re stubborn as a mule.”

  “Exactly.”

  They reached the outer ring of bodies. All were dead, riddled with bullet wounds and appeared to be from all walks of life. Near the front of the pickup, Alec bent over a figure covered in blood and gore. Parts of the body looked like raw meat.

  “Don’t look, Minji,” Alec said. “He’s torn apart.”

  “Torn apart like eaten?” For a second she doubted her own theory and feared Arthur’s zombie speculation was more feasible than she’d imagined, then she dismissed those thoughts.

  “I don’t think so. There are bites, but honestly I think they were just trying to kill him. His head is bashed in.” Alec crossed himself, then searched through the man’s blood-soaked pockets. “Nothing. From his uniform I can tell he was a private and his last name was Hernandez. I wonder if there is something in the truck that would explain why they attacked him. I’ll check.”

  Minji pointed her attention away from the grisly remains in the direction of the mesmerized herds. “They’re not even aware of us. Why attack them, but not us?”

  “Damned if I know,” Alec said distractedly, crunching the glass from the shattered windshield underfoot. He jerked the cab door open.

  Drawn by curiosity, Minji walked along the side of the pickup to the truck bed. The vehicle had severe body damage and was slathered in blood. To her disgust, she saw that a corpse was wedged into the wheel well of the rear tire. Pressing upward onto her tip toes, she looked into the truck bed to see the female soldier’s mangled body. Minji climbed onto the tailgate, and gingerly stepped into the bloody mess. The rubber soles of her boots squelched in the red liquid causing her to cringe with revulsion. Carefully, she inched her way to the body of the woman taking extra care not to slip, then crouched to search through the woman’s uniform. The warmth of the fresh blood and the reek of copper, urine, and feces made her task even more harrowing. Gritting her teeth, she fumbled about until she pulled a white card from the woman’s pocket.

  It matched Dr. McCoy’s.

  “Alec, I got something,” Minji called out.

  “Me, too.” Alec flattened a white card against the rear window.

  Minji flashed the one she’d found. “What the hell?”

  “Get her dog tags. I’ll get his. It’s the least we can do.”

  Swallowing any trepidation, Minji bent over and gently worked the chain over the woman’s head. Her hair was cut very short and was a cloud of silky black against Minji’s hands. The female soldier had lost so much blood her dark skin looked gray. Minji noted the tattoo showing through the woman’s torn uniform. It was a heart with a cross.

  When she rejoined Alec, Minji was close to losing her calm demeanor. Alec peered at her face as she approached and held out his arm, offering a hug. Minji shook her head, delivered the dog tags, and set her hands on her hips.

  Dropping his arm, Alec sighed while storing the tags in his jacket pocket. “The tank was running on fumes and the truck has severe body damage.”

  “There’s a corpse wedged into the wheel well.”

  “Yeah, I saw that. Also, they had a map with the first and second facility marked on it.”

  Minji tapped her fingertips lightly against her hip bones. “Do you think they were trying to enter the first facility and were stopped by the mesmerized?”

  Rotating the card with his fingers, Alec pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Why would the mesmerized stop them? They’ve been peaceful up to this point. What did they do to upset your kidnapped baby?”

  “I don’t think it’s the baby that did this,” Minji answered.

  Alec chuckled without any trace of mirth. “Okay, lay it on me.”

  “I think it’s the mother. I don’t think the door closed all the way because the mother was attempting to rescue her child when the scientists tried to close it. Like someone stopping a door with a toe, I suspect that’s what’s happening.”

  “She shoved a toe in the door, huh?”

  Minji shrugged. “I think so.”

  “And this mother has an influence on what’s going on?”

  “These creatures are obviously telepathic in some way. I suspect she’s projecting her will through that crack between our worlds and has something to do with this.”

  Laughing without mirth, Alec tilted his head back to gaze up at the heavens. “Of course! So…how do you know this?”

  The reaction pissed off Minji and she folded her arms across her breasts and glowered. “Because the entity looking through Ava’s eyes said 'Mommy' when the attack was going on.”

  Mimicking her pose, Alec muttered, “Just fucking great.”

  Now that Minji had spoken her thoughts aloud, she perceived how it made sense. The mesmerized had shown different signs of awareness throughout the last day. What if the baby’s influence was limited, but the mother’s wasn’t? What if it was the mother who was dragging humanity to the doorway of her world?

  “But that doesn’t answer why this hypothetical mother would attack these soldiers, does it, Minji?”

  “Maybe they were perceived as a threat. Like the white lab coats resulted in the death of everyone wearing white. Were there Army soldiers at the facility?”

  Alec swore under his breath. “They all died, too.”

  “So maybe their uniforms identified them as an enemy.”

  “That’s a distinct possibility based on what we’ve already seen.”

  Alec gestured at the gore laden area further up the highway. “They were driving through the mesmerized. They were probably desperate to escape when things went south at the facility. Hell, they were desperate enough to try to signal us for a rescue. Or at least I’m assuming that’s why they crawled onto the hood.”

  “They probably thought they could push through the crowd.” Minji shuddered remembering her own struggle with the mesmerized at the waterfall. It felt like a million years ago.

  “Possibly. We’ll never know now.”

  “So if they tried to go to the facility, how’d they know about it?”

  “Any soldier with immunity would have immediately reported in for orders.”

  “Which means more may be on their way.”

  “Yeah. And they’ll be in danger if they’re still in uniform. Shit. There’s no way to warn them.”

  “So where did they get these?” Minji attempted to rub some of the blood staining the white plastic, but gave up when she realized it was also on her hands.

  “That I don’t have an answer for.” Alec appeared just as baffled as she was at the unexpected situation. “Maybe they were assigned to the second facility and got those off of the affected scientists. But it’s hard to say.”

  The mesmerized continued onward, crossing the road a hundred yards away from the bloody scene.

  “There aren’t any neat answers are there?”

  “You tell me. How do we make sure Mommy doesn’t see us a threat?” Alec stared at her, fully expecting her to answer.

  Minji shrugged. “Hell if I know. Humanity kidnapped her kid, so she’s pissed already.”

  “If you’re right...”

  “If I’m right...”

  “And we have her kid.”

  “Which could be good or bad, depending on how she reacts. My hope is that the child can help us.” Minji shoved the card into her jacket pocket with a sigh that turned her breath into icy mist.

  “So we keep on the baby’s good side.” Shaking his head, Alec started to return to the shuttle bus. “We better get back on the road.”

  “How will we get through?” Minji pointed toward the flocks of the mesmerized.

  “Carefully,” Alec called out, and kept walking. “Very
carefully.”

  Chapter 30

  The sun was close to setting and the sky was awash in bright orange, pink, and gold beneath a curtain of diamond studded darkness. Minji sat in front of her husband, attempting to compel Jake to drink some water and a protein drink, but to no avail. Surrendering to dismay, she set the water aside and took Jake’s hands in her own.

  Who was staring through his eyes? The child or the mother?

  Ava stayed in the aisle at Minji’s side. Whenever Minji moved, Ava followed. Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt as though the entity within Ava was settling into her daughter’s body like the fingers of a puppeteer in a hand puppet. The thought made her a bit queasy.

  At the rear of the shuttle bus, Simone rested next to Jesse, eyes closed, her hand lying on his forearm. At this point, Minji had given up hope Jesse would wake before the door between worlds was closed. Simone and Alec were doing their best to take care of Jake and Jesse while Minji drove, but they were only following what they’d seen Jesse do for the other patients. It wasn’t the medical care that Jesse could provide.

  The one major relief was that there were no more attacks during their slow journey.

  Alec hobbled up the aisle to sit near her. “We still can’t drive any further. They’re blocking the way.”

  The day had been long and complicated by the occasional migration of the mesmerized across the highway, which had significantly slowed the progress of the shuttle bus. It was apparent the mesmerized were walking in a straight line to the first facility, ignoring roads and enclosures along the way. A few times Minji had witnessed fences collapsing under the onslaught of the crowds. For a period of time, the hordes flanked the highway in a distant dark wave surrounded by dust clouds, but now their path had intersected with the road again. The throngs trudged toward the first facility from all directions, gradually morphing into one large mass. Now the mesmerized filled the road as far as the eye could see and blocked their passage. Minji had parked the bus so they could eat and rest for a bit in hopes that the crowd would eventually thin.