“They’re working with the CDC. I’m sure they’ll invent some medicine soon,” I lied. They didn’t have any idea what it was, let alone how to stop the spread and fix people. “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?”
“No, just keep me updated.”
I promised I would and we ended the call shortly afterwards. First Lochie, now Lola. The people I loved were dropping by the day around me. It was frustrating not being able to help them in any way.
Garrick knocked on my door and came in before I could give him permission to enter. His crumpled clothes and mussed up hair rivaled my own.
Which made me instantly worried. “What’s wrong?”
“Ella’s entire family is sick,” he stated bluntly. The knot in my stomach was getting tighter as the morning progressed.
“And Ella?”
I didn’t really need to ask, the stricken look on his face was answer enough. “She’s bad.”
“Lochie and Lola have it too. Krom swears it isn’t us, despite what the Originals are saying.”
“Are you sure?” Garrick asked, his eyes burning with worry and rage.
Was I sure? I wasn’t one hundred percent certain, but I did think the chances of Truconians doing something so horrible to wipe out the human race was minute. More likely, it was some mutant bug that occurred naturally and wasn’t yet identified. That’s what I would have put my money on.
I answered as honestly as I could. “I don’t think it’s us.”
“Then why can’t we get sick? Why aren’t any Truconians out there suffering this illness when we’ve been around all the infected humans?” That was a good question. I hoped Garrick wasn’t really expecting me to answer.
“We’ve never been sick. I guess this thing isn’t any different.”
Garrick sunk onto the bed next to me. His shoulders sagged as he stared despondently at the wall. “We can’t lose any of them, Ame. We just can’t.”
“I know.”
“We’re going to,” he whispered, more to himself than me.
I wasn’t going to buy it though. There was no way we could give up. While all the humans we loved were still fighting their illness, we had to keep fighting to find the cure. Hope was a powerful motivator.
“We’re not going to lose them, Garrick,” I said resolutely. “We are going to keep going until we can save them all.”
“And how are we going to do that?”
“I don’t know but we’ve got to try. I do not want to live in a world where there are no humans. There are several that I am particularly fond of and I would die for all of them.”
“Pretty words are one thing, Ame, but we don’t have anything else.”
My phone beeped with a reminder. I checked it, hoping I wasn’t supposed to be anywhere. Senph’s weekly meeting was on in twenty minutes. Damn it.
“Then we’d better work on having something else,” I replied, more determined than ever. There was nothing like someone telling me I couldn’t do something to spur me on further. “We have to get to Senph’s meeting.”
He struggled to his feet, his body protesting as much as mine was. I quickly changed out of my sweats, which were not appropriate for the meeting, and waited for Garrick in the car. He only changed his shirt, not bothering to fix his hair.
I drove across town to the house with the three garages and entered without knocking. The meeting had already started as we joined the others at the back.
Senph was speaking at the front. She was standing on a stool so everyone could see her. “We need to start our defense now while the humans are weakened. They are too distracted with their sick to put up a good fight against us now. It’s the perfect opportunity.”
My mouth dropped open. Surely I had misunderstood? Or perhaps I was asleep and didn’t realize it. Senph could not have just said she wanted to attack now.
Looking around at the other faces, nobody else seemed too concerned. Perhaps I had heard incorrectly. Maybe she was speaking about something else entirely.
Senph continued and I tried to listen more carefully. “We are ready for this, our powers are restored to their former glory. We can show them how much we deserve our rightful place here.”
So I had heard correctly. A few people nodded, some cheered her on. I couldn’t believe they were actually agreeing with her. How could they think this was a good idea?
The settlers, I could kind of understand. They had come down to Earth and experienced hostility against them from the humans. They hadn’t seen the best of humanity yet.
But the project members, that was something different entirely. They had lived with the humans for seventeen years, they each had human families. They didn’t know any other planet, Earth was the only one they called home. How could they have changed their minds in such a short period of time? Was it the lure of having extraordinary powers? The idea of being a superior race? I didn’t know.
“The humans are weak,” Senph droned on. “The way they have so readily succumbed to this disease outbreak is proof of that. They don’t deserve this planet. We do. And now is the time to take it from them.”
Nobody was arguing against her, challenging her with some logic or compassion. A pure and strong panic was running through my veins. She had created an army over the last few months. A whole town full of soldiers ready to rise up and fight the humans.
If things continued, she was going to succeed. My eyes darted around, desperately searching for one ally amongst the crowd. I needed to find just one person that was shaking their head or looking as terrified as I felt.
But there was nobody. No-one else was going to speak up and oppose Senph. They were all ready and willing to follow her into battle, a war that could cost them their life. That was dedication for you.
I couldn’t let that happen. If nobody else was going to do it, then I guess it had to be me. Consequences be damned. “We shouldn’t do that,” I said loudly, making sure my voice carried to the front of the garage. Silence stilled the crowd before hushed voices started murmuring throughout the group. I felt a hundred eyes turn to face me.
“Is that you, Member Amery?” Senph asked.
Those immediately around me took a step back like I might be poisonous. Perhaps I was. “Yes, it’s me. I don’t think it is a time for war. I think it is a time for compassion. Our friends and family are sick with this illness, we should be caring for them. Especially considering we won’t catch it.”
Senph snorted, it echoed around the room. “Your family? Your family, Member Amery, is in this room. You are fighting for your family, not those filthy humans.”
“Those humans raised your children for the past seventeen years. They created a family for them, gave them love, supported them. We cannot now turn against them.” I refused to let my voice quiver. It didn’t matter what I felt like inside, all that mattered was how strong I looked on the outside. Senph wanted me to be a leader and that’s what I was doing.
“Clearly I misjudged you,” Senph sighed out the words, like it was difficult just having to listen to me. “The humans have brainwashed you.”
“They haven’t done anything except love me,” I countered. I wasn’t going to get anywhere with her by trying to use her emotions. I needed to throw in logic, perhaps that would help my odds. “Listen, think this through. The Originals are already blaming us for causing the disease and purposefully infecting humans. If we choose now to fight against them and take advantage of the illness, it will be enough confirmation for them. Everyone will believe it was us and it will make it so much worse.”
Steam was practically coming from Senph’s ears. “It doesn’t matter what the humans think us capable of. You are a traitor to your people. Get out and never come back. You can die with all the other humans.”
I shot a pleading look at Garrick to back me up. He looked away, not even meeting my eyes. So Senph had him believing in her too. Great.
Two of her followers suddenly grabbed me, one on each arm. I tried to shake them off but
it was to no avail. Still, they hadn’t clamped my mouth… yet.
“You are making a huge mistake, all of you. We should be making the humans our allies, not turning them against us. We should not be hurting them.”
My words trailed off as I was escorted – forced – out of the garage. The guys didn’t stop until I was shoved outside and the door slammed closed behind me. The thud sounded ominous, like it was signaling the end of something important.
I drove but I wasn’t sure where I should go. Garrick was right, I needed a plan. If I had an idea of what I needed to do, I could actually start doing it. The problem was I just had no answers to the plethora of questions swirling around in my head.
My first instinct was to call Rob and confess everything to him. If he knew what Senph was planning, he would have her arrested in no time. Without a leader, I doubted any of her soldiers would move in her absence.
But that would also cause a scandal. It would be impossible to keep Senph’s arrest a secret from the media. Someone would blab and then everyone would have a good reason to hate the aliens. It would set back our integration by twenty years. If not longer.
I needed to keep the idea of calling Rob in my back pocket for another time. What I really needed was a way to stop her myself. Perhaps if I spoke to her outside of the group she would give me a fair hearing? Maybe I could work out a way to phrase it so the idea of waiting seemed like her own? I did that to Lochie all the time when we were disagreeing, it normally worked with him.
Speaking of Lochie, my car was heading toward his house before my brain realized I was doing it. I needed to see how he was for myself, I didn’t believe him when he told me he was fine over the phone. He was a good liar.
He was sleeping when I arrived. Mrs. Mercury finally let me in to see him but he was out like a light. I didn’t want to wake him so I headed home. He had apparently been sleeping for most of the day, letting his body heal itself in rest. That was a good thing, I was sure of it.
Arriving home, Garrick wasn’t there yet so I couldn’t confront him, but my birth parents were in the living room. They still had no idea what was going on with Senph’s group. I doubted they would think any more of the plan than I did.
“Amery, little bug, I’m so glad you’re home,” Birth Mom said, giving me a quick hug before I perched on the arm of the couch. “We didn’t know what to do.”
“Do about what?” I asked, my brow wrinkled with confusion and instant worry. I didn’t know how much more bad news I could take.
“Sarah and David have taken to their bed, they aren’t feeling well,” she explained.
“Both of them?” My entire world was on the precipice of collapsing. If my adoptive parents were ill…
“Both. We didn’t know what to do for them. We’re not used to caring for the sick.” She reflected my concern in her eyes. “What do we do?”
“How can we help?” Birth Dad asked. He looked equally as worried.
“I need to see them.” I stood, moving toward the stairs. “I’ll explain everything later.”
They let me go up alone. I ran down the corridor once I was done with the stairs and entered their bedroom. My adoptive parents were both lying in bed, washcloths on their foreheads. I had never seen them so ill before. I instantly felt like a five year old again, just needing my mommy and daddy to be okay.
I sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m so sorry.”
Mom opened an eye and squinted at me. She resembled nothing of the woman I had spoken to only hours earlier. The disease was rapidly taking over. “Don’t be sorry, honey. We’ll be okay. It will pass.”
“Can I take you to the hospital? The doctor, at least?”
She shook her head carefully, like the tiniest movement hurt. “No, they are telling people to stay home. We’ll stay hydrated, that’s the best thing for us right now.”
Hydrated? They needed more than damn water, they needed medicine, something that would actually help with their condition. I prayed the CDC were close to figuring it all out. If not, I was going to lose every single person I loved.
I stayed with my parents for the rest of the day, checking in with Lochie and Lola over the phone at regular intervals. I think they all got tired of me hassling them. There was nothing more frustrating than having my loved ones in pain and having nothing I could do for them.
After making sure everyone was okay for the night, I locked up the house and went to bed. Garrick still wasn’t home, he probably didn’t want to confront me after the meeting. Either that or he was with Ella. He didn’t seem to be the nurturing kind though, I couldn’t imagine him waiting on Ella, wiping her forehead with a cloth.
Just as I got settled into bed, my cell phone buzzed with a text message. I was still debating whether to ignore it when it sounded with another. I groaned and reached for it. There were two messages from Lochie.
I’m outside.
Then, only a few seconds later:
Which means come and open the door. I’m not climbing up the tree tonight.
Lochie, such a patient guy. He shouldn’t have been out of bed. I hurried downstairs and opened the front door. At least he was standing, that was better than he had been all day.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “It’s late and you should be in bed.”
He strode in past me, heading for the staircase. “I should be in your bed, so I’m here.”
“Your mother was driving you crazy, wasn’t she?” He nodded. I knew him too well, we were like an old married couple already. “You should have called and I would have picked you up. You shouldn’t have been driving.”
He waved away my comments and started on the stairs. He took them deliberately and slowly, but he was doing it by himself.
The illness seemed to come over in waves. It would take its victim into a sea of horrible symptoms and then release them just as easily. It definitely wasn’t the flu.
Lochie was already lying in my bed when I caught up. I curled next to him, trying to make sure he had enough room so he could breathe comfortably. He pulled me flush against his chest, ignoring all my efforts.
“Do you want me to turn the night light off? I don’t mind, if it bothers your eyes,” I offered. My parents seemed to be sensitive to light, I didn’t want to make his head hurt.
“No, it’s okay. Leave it on.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.” I smiled into his shirt. The light probably always bothered him, but he never made me turn it off. He understood completely why I needed it on. The nightmares attacked when I turned it off.
I listened to him breathe, his chest still wheezing. He didn’t seem to be too keen on sleeping just yet. Neither was I, now that he was there. “My mom tried to have the talk with me this morning.”
“Like the talk?” He asked.
“Yeah. She thought we were up to no good last night when I didn’t come home.”
He squeezed my shoulder. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. I set her straight.”
“And by straight you mean you told her about how I rock your world, right?” His voice betrayed the smile across his face.
“Maybe I rock your world,” I replied.
“Oh, you do that quite well. But I’d like it known what a prime male specimen I am.”
“Known by my mother?”
He let out a small laugh, which caused him to cough. “Maybe not her. Feel free to spread the rumor amongst others, though.”
We settled into silence again. But then a thought occurred to me. “Only quite well? I only rock your world quite well?”
He started rubbing my shoulder. “I can’t compliment you too much, then you’ll get a big head about it.” He was teasing, I didn’t need to see his face to know that.
It didn’t matter anyway. I had Lochie there, he was okay for now, that’s all that mattered. “I love you.”
He kissed the top of my head, the only thing he could reach with his lips. “I love you too. Don’t
ever leave me, Ame, okay? I don’t think I could live without you.”
I wasn’t the one planning on leaving. If anyone should have been concerned, it was me. So many humans had already died. So, so many. Life seemed too fragile at that moment. “Don’t you leave me. You’re the reason why I can breathe. Okay? Promise me.”
“I promise. Now you.”
“I promise,” I replied.
“That’s settled then. Nobody is going anywhere,” Lochie said, like it was something we actually had some control over. We didn’t. Unfortunately, fate had the last word.
I fell asleep sometime later with Lochie’s heartbeat singing me a lullaby. With him there I could pretend everything was okay. But my dreams didn’t lie. They were full of death and decay.
Hands were gripping my shoulders. They belonged to a skeleton in a hooded robe. He had no eyes, just deep holes that seemed to bore directly into my soul. He turned my entire body cold, sending a shiver down my spine from a chill it felt like I would never be able to remove.
“Amery, wake up!” The shrill voice came from the skeleton but it didn’t belong to it. The voice was female and familiar. “Amery! Hurry!”
It took me a few moments to realize the skeletal hands weren’t only in my nightmares. They belonged to a real person, my birth mother to be exact.
I blinked a few times in the near-darkness of my lamp. The light streaming from the hallway cast an ethereal glow around Birth Mom’s head. “Amery, it’s urgent. Please, wake up.”
Her fear was contagious, completely waking me up in a second. I sat, shaking Lochie at my side to do the same. Embarrassment briefly crossed my mind at being caught in bed with him. “What’s wrong, Mom?”
“We need to run. They’re coming for us,” she said, all the color completely drained from her face.
There could only be one they and if they caught us, I was certain I would never see the light of day ever again. We needed to run like hell.
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