by A. M. White
Billy and Timothy landed on the ground with a loud crack. Jean fell in front on me. Her face landed next to mine. Her eyes were wide in surprise and blank with death. I wailed and rolled on to my back to get away from her face.
Timothy straddled Billy, but I could only see Timothy’s back and Billy’s legs under him. Cara leapt over me and on Billy. My sight faded into tunnel vision. My head hit the ground and I lay sprawled out. I stared above me and with every blink, the light dimmed.
Timothy fell beside me. He shook me and hugged me. I moaned from pain. I remember being turned over, my leg burning, and then darkness came over me.
Chapter Eighteen
Timothy was next to me. His body faced mine. I reached for him but my hand hit a barrier. I flattened my palm against it. It was hardened plastic between us.
Panic ran through my gut, I have to get to him. I hit the partition and yelled for him; he didn’t wake up. I turned my head and noticed that I was encased in a box. I realized there were wires and tubes hooked into my chest and head.
My eyes darted to my other surroundings. We were in a room that was stark white with machines lining one wall. An alarm went off and I heard, “Alex, Alex,” through an intercom.
I sat up straight, eyes wide and heaving for breath. “Alex, Alex,” Timothy called to me. He was cradling me. “It’s ok. You are ok.”
I took in my surroundings. We were in a room with wooden walls. I relaxed a bit and allowed Timothy to hold me. My heart and breath slowed.
I pulled one of his arms in front of me. I could feel dried blood on his skin. “Are you ok?” I asked.
He smiled, “Of course, thanks to Cara.”
Cara came over me. ”Yeah, I do what I can,” she boasted.
“What took you so long?” I joked.
“I had to have the right moment or those hillbillies would have killed all of us,” she mumbled, “They were just idiot bounty hunters.”
I closed my eyes and Timothy kissed me lightly on the head. When I reopened them, Cara was gone and Timothy filled my sight.
“How many times do you think we will apologize for getting each other hurt?” he squinted at me.
“Hopefully, not many more because I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” I confessed.
He laid his head on my stomach and sighed. I put my hand in his hair and listened to Cara moving about the room.
I took a moment to savor the calm and then asked, “Where are we?”
Timothy answered without moving, “A tree house we built some time ago. It is out of our way but it was the safest place I could think of.”
“Mmhmm,” I acknowledged.
Cara spoke next, “We built this place when we were moving people south, in the beginning of our fetching days.” She walked over to me and put a hand on my head. “I had to put you out for two days.” She gave me an apologetic grin. “I patched you up but had to take care of Timothy first. We wouldn’t have made it anywhere if he wasn’t able to carry you.”
“How far did you carry me?” I tapped Timothy on the head.
“About one of the two days,” he said. “You were healing that day.”
“Those morons had no idea what they were doing. If I hadn’t had my salves you both would have bled out,” Cara remarked.
“Thank you for not letting us die,” I said.
“Meh, don’t mention it,” she shrugged me off. “I don’t think Timothy would forgive me if I had let you go.” He swatted at her.
“So what’s the plan, now?” I questioned.
“We will wait a day or two for you both to regain your strength. As soon as you are able, I am going to take a few hours to show you how to handle a knife. I took Jean’s, I don’t think she will need it anymore,” Cara jeered.
My back was still sore but I could tell I was on the mend. I brushed Timothy off of my stomach and rolled over. He crawled up beside me and laid his arm across me. In seconds, I was asleep again.
I must’ve slept through that night, too. Whatever Cara had given me to knock me out almost worked too well.
My eyes opened in a haze. I shuffled around and realized I was alone. Being alone made me nervous. Cara and Timothy were becoming a part of me that I feared to be without.
I crawled back into our makeshift bed. My back didn’t hurt anymore. I wondered if there was even a scar. Last night, I had been too tired and groggy to look over Timothy arms in any detail. All I knew was that we were ok, and right now, that was enough.
Finally, I heard noises below on the ground. I softly sank onto the floor and pressed my face on the boards. I could see Timothy climbing the trunk. There were notches in the wood he used to hoist himself. I sat back, feeling better that he was coming back.
Timothy lowered his head to come through the entryway. He smiled when he spotted me awake. He placed a satchel of food on my lap. I didn’t hesitate and eagerly unfolded it to find a cooked fish and dried squirrel meat.
“Sorry,” he apologized, “there isn’t much else right now. It looks like we will be waiting a bit for fruit. It’s still a little too cold here for it to grow naturally.”
I didn’t care what I ate. I need to put something on my stomach. It did raise the question of how the village had been growing food in the cold though. I asked Timothy and he told me it was an advancement that his people had shared with Elijah as part of his negotiations.
“You have to give it to the guy, he is smart,” I said with my mouth full.
“Humph,” Timothy grumbled. He sat on the floor next to me.
“Your people are also smart,” I stated.
Timothy avoided the odd compliment. “The other meat is from one of the squirrels. Cara, the resourceful, had pinned one to a tree during the attack to save it for us.”
“She amazes me,” I swallowed. “Both of you do.”
He plucked a small morsel from the fish in my hand and ate it. “Of all the food, fish is my least favorite up here,” he sighed.
“I am not the biggest fan either, but I have no clue how long it’s been since I ate last. I could eat fourteen fish in one sitting. I am that hungry,” I exaggerated.
He poked me in the ribs, “Fourteen, huh?”
I giggled and he handed me a bladder of water. I drank way too fast and gagged.
“Slow down,” Timothy ordered. “You’ll make yourself sick.” He took the water from me. “You haven’t eaten in days so take it easy,” he warned.
I groaned at his overprotective behavior. I chuckled, nonetheless, because he was right. I did pace myself from that point on. The fish was going down well so I didn’t want to chance it coming back up.
Timothy lifted himself onto the bed. “Let’s have a look at your back.”
I slid the loose shirt up my spine and to the base of my neck. “How big was the cut?” I asked.
He lightly touched one shoulder blade and traced his finger down to the bottom of my rib cage. There he placed his palm open against my side. His touch and the knowledge of how large of a wound I had gave me the goosebumps.
He pulled me back into him and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I could smell the blood again. There had been so much of our blood everywhere. The memory, made my stomach turn.
“They were idiots. There was no need for them to hurt you. I thought I was calling a bluff; I swear I really didn’t think he would do it,” Timothy whispered into my ear, full of regret.
“It wasn’t your fault. Obviously, they were desperate,” I reassured him. I leaned into his embrace.
“That’s not a gamble I will take again. I promised I wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt you. I take that seriously but I let you down,” he spoke through a lump in his throat.
“Timothy, you already apologized,” I replied. “It is done. I will learn to fight so this won’t happen to me or you again.”
I pushed back the sleeve on his arm to see the damage that was done to him. A jagged, white line ran across his muscles. I mimicked his tracing of the wound. I k
issed the scar gently. He sucked in air and rested his head on mine. I moved to the other arm and kissed the mark across it too.
Timothy bent down and scooped me up onto his lap. He looked at me in a way I have never had someone see me before. I swear he could see my heart beating through my eyes.
He brushed a few strands of hair from my face and kissed my lips. My heart pounded in my ears and blood rushed to my face. He laid me on the bed, looked over me with an unreadable expression, and then left hastily.
What in the heck was that? What had I done? I hadn’t planned on kissing him, ever. I didn’t even know if we were the same species, for God’s sake. Not to mention the fact that he had been paid to rescue me. A rush of embarrassment over took me. Ugh, and now I had gone and complicated things.
I bit my bottom lip. I could still feel the kiss. It had been sweet and exhilarating, but at what cost? If there was one rule that always rang true, it was that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Now he was gone and whatever drove him to leave was partially my fault. I slapped the bed beside me in frustration.
Cara walked in just in time to see me slap the bed. “What is going on? I passed Timothy on my way to the tree and he greeted me with a grunt and I come in here to see you fighting with the bed,” she frowned.
“Oh God, Cara, I kissed him. I mean he kissed me. Ugh!” I swore.
She held up a hand. “Wait, for it,” she hunched over dramatically,” Ew, on top of that, ok, makes total sense.” She shrugged.
“Well, your brother gave me a strange look and then left right after, so that was a little weird,” I said sarcastically.
She plopped on the bed. “Did you just eat the fish, because that might be it,” she joked.
“Forget it Cara,” I snarled and turned my back to her.
“Ok, ok.” She rubbed my arm. “It is just since we left below ground Timothy has always made his life about business. He wanted to make a difference for your people and he thinks he can’t have anything that he cares about because it might keep him from doing that. Alex, you are blind if you can’t see that he has been caring for you more and more.”
“I have too,” I admitted, “I care about both of you.”
Cara opened her mouth to make an inappropriate joke. I cut her off, “You know what I mean. I guess I do have feelings for Timothy and that scares me.”
She patted my shoulder. “It’ll work itself out. Give him a little time and you two can figure it out. Maybe it’s a good thing, maybe not. We will still have each other’s backs.”
“Thanks, Cara,” I smiled at her.
She went over to the over side of the room and took her knife from the bag. She brought a stone from her pocket and began sharpening it. The sound grated on me at first and then the rhythm of her strokes became melodic. She quietly hummed to the beat she was making.
I laughed at myself. “What?” Cara looked insulted.
“No, not you; it dawned on me that here I am worrying about a boy when less than a week ago I was worried about the roar taking me. That is how long it took me to become so dense,” I said in a self-loathing voice.
“Goes to show you, we are all creatures that focus on the present,” she grinned. She returned to sharpening and humming.
Chapter Nineteen
Timothy returned later in the day. I was hopeful when I saw the proud look on his face.
“I got us a boar,” he boasted.
“Where is it?” Cara eagerly asked.
“I went for a run and came across one. It’s downstairs, can you help me with it Cara? I thought we would take it to the pond and clean it,” he said avoiding my eyes.
“Sure, but I think some fresh air would do Alex some good. Are you alright to bringing her down?” Cara winked at me.
“Um, I guess, Alex, you up for it?” He asked.
“I would love to get out for a bit,” I answered.
I shuffled out of the door and to the trunk behind them. Timothy crouched so I could get on to his back. I still was light headed from loss of blood and not eating much. He descended carefully pausing to make sure I had a good grip on him.
At the bottom, he set me on the ground and held my arm to steady me. We all walked through some brush to a small pond not far away. I noticed that I ran out of breath easier than before. I was glad neither of them brought it up.
The boar was laid on the ground. It had to be a juvenile male. He was a good size, but had small tusks and looked young.
Cara guided me to a stump on the edge of the pond. They had used the tree to build the treehouse. I sat and watched them get to work.
“It looks like we will have bacon tonight kids!” Cara exclaimed.
My mouth watered at the thought of fried bacon. I could use the fat and calories. I tried to relax, but kept a good ear out to the forest.
“How far did you go?” Cara asked Timothy.
“A few miles south,” he said while skinning the carcass.
“You see any signs of people?” Cara continued.
“I saw gray smoke further south. It looked like it wasn’t anything for us to worry about though.” He looked up at me. “At this time of the day, no one is traveling far.”
They had the skin off and began gutting the hog. “I already drained it,” Timothy explained. I’m not sure how he did that so fast. I nodded at him.
“Elijah told me the machines are broken, is that true?” I asked bravely.
Both of them stopped and stretched. “Yes, for now,” Cara mumbled.
“What else did Elijah tell you?” Timothy prodded. He wiped his hands on a rag.
“That’s it, he only told me about his bargain with your people, and that the big machines were broken for now,” I shrugged. “Oh, I almost forgot, he did say something about the energy source needing replenished. You told me that my camp was an energy camp. Do the two correlate?”
Timothy looked weary. “That doesn’t make sense. We had tons of ore and fossil fuel stored.”
“Unless the engineers have decided alterations may make the machines work more efficiently,” Cara explained. “They were always looking for ways to replace the mines.”
They both went back to cleaning and stripping the meat again. I could tell they were both thinking. Both of their wrinkled brows announced it. It was one of the few times you could tell they were siblings.
“So, something has been bothering me,” I pried, gently. “I get that they use us for slave labor, but I never found out where the people go that disappear?”
“Oh my God, Timothy, that is it!” Cara exclaimed, “I knew that they were working on a way to replace the mines. They were dangerous because of eminent collapsing tunnels. The weight on the surface from humans caused many deaths.” She looked at me, “Your people saw the increase in sinkholes over the last decade due to our aggressive digging.”
“Cara, are you saying what I think you are?” Timothy plopped down. His eyes pled for the connection he made to be wrong.
She froze, piecing the puzzle together in her mind.
“What? What?” I stammered.
“Good lord, they are using humans to make fuel,” her bottom lip quivered.
Timothy put his head in his hands. I tried to take it in, these creatures had not only harvested our lives, but they were also harvesting us. I stared at my lap and watched drops of tears as they collected into a spot on my pants. No one moved or spoke as we worked through the details silently.
“Your people could do that?” I cried. “They could use us for the energy inside us?”
“The technology was being formed before we left. I didn’t understand it then. Most down there believe humans to be expendable,” Cara’s voice was small.
I had never seen her this way. She was weak and helpless.
Timothy sat there hiding his face. He was clearly distraught as well.
I demanded, “How, how do they do it?”
“The engineers and scientists were planning on a way to use bodies
to make fuels. Under great pressure and heat, which is in abundance down there, it is possible to make large amounts, quickly. There was another idea they tossed around. The brain and nervous system works off of electrical pulses. That would take more time and space-.”
“Stop,” Timothy cut her off.
I couldn’t stand to sit there with them anymore. I was repulsed by the actions of their people. Their people had gone beyond comprehension to commit genocide. It was clear that they would extinguish all of us and use our flesh and bone for their benefit.
I knew it wasn’t Cara or Timothy’s fault, but I needed to be alone. On wobbly legs, I got up and shuffled in the direction of the treehouse.
Cara reached out for me. ”Please, give me a minute,” I requested.
She stepped back, her mouth opening and closing, trying to find words. I parted the bushes and moved through.
“I’m so sorry,” Cara said at my back.
I ignored her and shuffled back to the tree. I was out of breath long before I reached it. The treehouse could’ve been in the clouds because there was no way I was going to be able to climb the notches.
I sank to the ground and cried for my people; the individuals I had already lost, those that had become animals in this new world, and those still being taken by our enemies. This wasn’t even a war; there was no fighting them. This was a slaughter.
My body curled into the fetal position. My day would come, too. The moles would have every one of us. They would use everything we had so that they would own the Earth.
Eventually, I wore myself out. No more tears would come. I shut my eyes and slept. It was the first time nightmares didn’t find me.
“Come on,” Cara shook me. “It’s time for your first lesson.” She laid Jean’s knife beside me.
“Are you serious?” I lifted my head.
“I’m very serious. You can use your anger to try and kill me,” she commanded. Cara cocked her head sideways.