Hive

by J. K. Accinni

  “Come on, Penny, Barney. You big guys can walk.”

  Penny whined softly then stood, waiting for Barney. The aura gyrated. “My Barney is different, Sister Abby. He is sick. I need to cure him, put me down.”

  “Not now, Echo. Barney’s fine.” She glanced back to check on their progress as Barney stood, walking forward slowly, with Penny at his side. Jose met her at the base of the hill.

  “Here, let me take Echo. Let’s go . . . double time.” They scaled the hill, plunging into the woods, following the well-marked trail, animal droppings marking the way in the moonlight. As they approached the huge granite rock, Penny ran ahead to follow Jose into the Hive. Abby paused to steal a last quick peek at the ever-present moon, wondering how long it would be before she enjoyed the pleasure of standing under it again. Hurrying on, she followed Jose into the Hive.

  *

  The iconic moon sent its silvery beams down to the quiet neighborhood on Lily Pond Road, illuminating the silent homes; the abandoned tractor trailers motionless, no movement anywhere. Cool air settled to the ground as wisps of fog floated over the backyards where the laughter of children sounded, just a fragment of elusive memory mocking the moon. Crickets sent their nightly message to the gleaming globe, grateful for its magnetic presence. A red fox skimmed the edge of the forest, startled by the unfamiliar smell of cooling elephant dung, shivering at the image of the beast that had left its calling card on the edge of its territory. The fox picked up the trail of other canines, following the scent that led toward a huge boulder he knew well. A sound perked his ears. Cautiously, the fox crept through the underbrush where he came to a stop.

  Three yards from the brush lay a medium-sized white dog with curly hair. The dog whined, its body shaking with tremors and seizures. The body stilled; then the dog’s head rose. Struggling to its feet, the disorientated dog walked in a circle, its legs trembling. Its body seized again, falling to the ground. The fox moved, causing the underbrush to rustle. The dog glanced at the spot where the fox hid, his tail thumping a lonely message of hope, then fading and still.

  The moon cast a beam on the clearing, the fox trembling as he watched the light in the white curly-haired dog’s eyes dim and fade.

  The fox stood rooted to his spot in the underbrush. After a time, he crept slowly up to the body of the white dog, sniffing . . . sensing the warmth of the body saying goodbye. Suddenly the fox raised its head to the air, his nose to the east and, in a blink, disappeared into the woods, leaving the forgotten white curly-haired dog named Barney alone under a moon that mourned.

  Chapter 10

  Abby and Jose marched down the corridors of the cavern; what Echo called the Hive. Jose was the only one other than Echo who had explored the depths of the Hive.

  Appraising the walls, she noticed they appeared coated with a thick, viscous, vaguely undulating layer of glop, almost as if it lived. Well, that can’t be possible. She felt pleasantly cool, breathing in an overtly organic odor, suddenly feeling a sense of déjà vu. Abby scanned the walls, trying to locate the source of light that enabled them to traverse the corridor so nimbly.

  Suddenly Echo bucked in Jose’s arms. Her aura flashed painfully, forcing Abby to drop Mimi, sinking to the hard floor to hold her temples, the aura nasty and black.

  “Help . . . I need, I need. Let me go, Brother Jose. My Barney is still outside. Let me down.” Echo squirmed out of Jose’s arms and headed back to the cavern opening. Without warning, they were tossed up in the air as the ground shook.

  The next bomb has arrived.

  “Echo, come back, girl! Echo.” Jose picked himself up and ran toward the cavern opening. Abby screamed.

  “No, Jose . . . Echo, stop! Please don’t go out there.” She grabbed Mimi and Penny, who tried desperately to follow. If indeed the bomb had exploded in Manhattan, they would feel the devastating aftershock this far away. She didn’t know enough about radioactivity to guess how far it could reach. She didn’t even know what kind of bomb had destroyed Las Vegas.

  As she lay sprawled on the floor of the cavern, Cobby and Kane appeared, taking the dogs from her and pulling her to her feet. She adjusted her shirt, smoothing it back down over her wings.

  “Jose and Echo,” she sobbed. “They went back for Barney after the shock.” Kane turned to his father.

  “Dad? Want me to go after them?”

  “Absolutely not. We don’t know what’s out there. Come on, Abby. We need to get deeper. Everyone else is in a huge cathedral further up. They’re scared shitless and ready to bolt. Most of the animals are oddly calm but we need you to take charge. It might be time to clue us all in to what this is really all about. Jose can take care of himself.”

  Cobby’s stern voice snapped her out of her panic. She hiccupped, admitting to herself that she better get a grip. Fast.

  “I don’t know how you and Echo managed to leave Barney behind.” Kane sounded peeved. “For Christ’s sake, they were glued to the hip.”

  Abby’s face burned as she remembered Echo’s entreaties as they ran into the woods. Oh, my God. It’s my fault. Echo knew and I didn’t listen.

  Very shortly they spilled into a large cathedral-style room. The dark rock ceiling rose almost three stories; people huddled on one side, animals on the other. Johno and the keepers huddled apart from everyone else; the larger elephants restless. Tobi kept a strong matriarchal position between her small herd and the big cats, sending an occasional warning trumpet their way.

  As Abby made her way to the crowd huddled with their pets, Scotty’s voice rang out. “Where’s Jose and Echo? Where’s Barney? Abby, what’s happening?” A chorus of voices followed, everyone shooting questions at her, the truckers the worst.

  Crystal stepped up, yelling at everyone to “Shut the hell up for a minute.” Sitting back down, she said, “Now, one at a time.”

  No one spoke; the silence was awkward and reeking of belligerent fear. Out of the void, a watchful damaged voice demanded answers. Ginger Mae stood up to challenge Abby.

  “You promised us. You said we would be safe. We can’t stay here. It’s a cave, for heaven’s sake. We have no food or water. And how long do you think it will be before these cats decide we look good to them?”

  The swelling around her mouth had improved enough to allow her bitter tone to project loud and clear. The truckers started shouting again, calling Abby a fool and worse. Her head whipped around as someone called her a stupid bitch.

  “Why don’t you shut the fuck up?” Scotty jumped to his feet, quick to defend his sister.

  Mama Diaz sat stoically, her arms around Bonnie and Emma, trying to cover their ears. Kimir and his turtle found Clyde to latch on to, bucking each other up. Abby prayed Clyde’s grandfatherly maturity would be a strong influence on Kimir when he freaked out about not being allowed to go home.

  “All right, all right.”

  All heads turned as Jose entered the room with Echo trailing behind, her wobbling gait stumbling and chaotic. Jose stopped in the middle of the room and dropped to his knees on the floor. He gently set down the bundle in his arms, removing his jacket from Barney’s lifeless body. Echo caught up and waddled over, throwing herself across the dog.

  Abby snapped out of her shock as Scotty and Chloe knelt down, tears dripping quietly to anoint the cold body of the sweet grateful dog that never stopped begging for love.

  Abby watched as everyone stared in wonder, observing the tableau that included a very strange-looking golden creature that they recognized did not belong to this world.

  Echo suddenly sat up, detaching from Barney’s cold body to wobble over to the side, then collapsed on the floor next to Penny and Mimi. Everyone watched as Abby talked to the creature.

  “Echo, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize.” Her voice sounded beaten and low, tentative and pleading. She sat next to Echo on the floor. As she tried to pick Echo up, the creature wiggled out of her arms. Abby sent an aura to Echo that remained rebuffed. />
  “Please don’t freeze me out, girl. You know we all loved Barney too.” Silence. Everyone watched; the truckers frozen in shared incredulousness. Abby’s tears dropped freely, yet Echo did not relent.

  “Well now, if you’re all finished crying over the funky thing there, maybe you could tell us where the supplies are that you mentioned. I could sure use a little something to wet my whistle on. How ‘bout you all?” one of the truckers said. Another struggled to his feet, a scrawny middle-aged guy with the German shepherd, his hands on his dog’s leash visibly trembling.

  “Look, I’m a little shook up, so you have to excuse me.” He pointed to Abby’s group of huddled refugees. “Do you mind telling us who these people are? This is just a gig I got filling in for a buddy. He didn’t say anything about trucking people from the airport. I know the bombs aren’t your fault but I have a sneaking feeling something else is going on here.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah—what the fuck . . .”

  “How ‘bout some answers?”

  “What the hell is that creature thing over there?”

  “What’s with the dead dog?”

  Angry voices and suspicious questions aimed their ruthless poison at Abby. She slipped her fingers under her glasses to remove lingering tears.

  Jose crossed to her side, his arm wrapped protectively around her against the angry onslaught. Abby opened her mouth to speak when she fell awkwardly on her butt, Jose landing painfully on top of her, the cavern shaking from what they horrifyingly supposed could only signify another bomb.

  The elephants trumpeted in consternation as the babies fell over, unsteady on their feet. A lion snarled and the dogs whined, clinging tightly to the closest warm body.

  In the melee, Abby’s glasses fell off, radiating golden swirls around the cavern.

  “Holy fuckin’ shit.”

  “Oh, my God.”

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  The truckers shrank away from Abby as she stood to face them. The odor of fear and fright mixed with the organic smells from the animals, causing her stomach to roll.

  Abby glanced over at the wildlife, strengthened by the improbable sight of a magnificent Tobi standing her ground against an assortment of twenty five awesome predators and a twenty-five-pound male turtle that was determined to sort through a pile of elephant dung, happy as a pig in . . .

  “There is nothing wrong with me.”

  Abby turned her head to find Scotty and Jose at her side. Behind them stood Cobby and Kane. She gazed into Cobby’s eyes, recognizing the quiet support she fervently needed to lean on. She placed a hand on Jose’s arm, raising her eyebrows, seeking assent.

  Scotty spoke out to the crowd. “You want answers? You got it.”

  As the truckers gasped in astonishment, the three removed their shirts and remaining glasses. Shaking out their wings amid astounded exclamations, Abby realized they would never again be forced to disguise who they were. She felt poking fingers on her legs.

  Gazing down, she discovered Echo holding open her arms to be picked up, recriminations forgotten. Abby bent over to pick up the creature, setting her on her hip to proudly stand before the survivors, the golden glowing commonality between the creature and the three humans perfectly clear as four sets of luminous eyes faced, quite likely, the last of the human race that would be assured of surviving Armageddon.

  Chapter 11

  “Mommy, Abby’s beautiful.” The child’s voice rang out in the stunned silence, the atmosphere changing from belligerence to reverence. And fear, always the fear.

  “Well, I guess I was right about you after all. I knew you were more than you pretended to be.” Ginger Mae rubbed the side of her face, her pronouncement reeking with resentment.

  “I don’t know what this attitude is about. You must realize Abby just saved your life again. Would you rather we’d left you back in Sarasota with what we left behind of Armoni? Is that what you wanted for Daisy?” Scotty defended his sister’s actions, shutting Ginger Mae up.

  “Peter, you’ve been awfully quiet the whole trip. Are you okay?” Peter raised his head displaying a sickly, resentful grin, his owl eyes unblinking, glasses askew and unnoticed. “What do you want me to say, Abby? My life already got shot to shit the day ole Ginger Mae walked into it.” Ginger Mae turned on him like a starving vampire at a blood buffet.

  “You were all over me, couldn’t wait to have me to yourself, so don’t get all sanctimonious on me. You aren’t the one left with this.” She pointed to her face and turned away to let her bitter resentment smolder in private.

  “Excuse me, eh, Abby, if you don’t mind, I need to know what is going on here? Who are you? What do you want with us?” Crystal knelt on the floor, her arms around her pig, who tried mightily to stretch as far as he—or she—could on its leash, just dying to root in the elephant dung with the turtle.

  Abby prepared to speak, flexing her wings and her tail doing the stretch it had long waited for. She watched the faces of the people before her. There were no signs of fear on the faces she knew well. Just acceptance and was that respect on some?

  The truckers presented a problem, though. If they didn’t accept the situation and fought to leave, she couldn’t allow that. She didn’t know how she would stop them, but she couldn’t have them on the loose, talking about the cavern. They would be swamped by humanity as word spread about a safe place to wait out the catastrophe. Little did anyone know the wait would be a mighty long one.

  “Hey, babe.” Dezi’s impudent voice shook her from her reverie. She watched as Jose took a step toward him.

  “Hey, hey, now. I don’t mean no disrespect.” Abby placed her hand on Jose’s arm, restraining him.

  “You better watch your tongue, buddy. You don’t know who you’re talking to.” Jose’s clenched fist relaxed as Abby’s intervention calmed him down. Crystal opened her mouth to speak again but found herself silent as one of the other female truckers stood up, the one with the rescued mice.

  “My name’s Gloria. We haven’t met formally. My contact has been through Peter. I would like to know one thing.” Gloria teetered on her tiny feet, her two-hundred-and-fifty-pound frame threatening to topple her over.

  “What is it, Gloria?” Abby asked. Gloria cleared her throat nervously, her plump black face shiny with nervousness.

  “Are you all angels?” Abby glanced quickly at her brother and her boyfriend, a suggestion of a smile tugging at her lips. She wrapped her arms around them both.

  “Believe me, my brother is no angel, but yes, I often think of Jose as an angel.” She reached out to give Jose a hug and Scotty a punch on the arm. Her levity helped to relax them a bit. Gloria cleared her throat again, her tone suggesting she failed to recognize the humor in her question.

  “I’m not comfortable with your answer, so if you don’t mind . . .” Her voice cracked and started to shake. “Ummm, I think it would be best if me and my mice just let ourselves out the back door. Anyone else want to come?”

  Gloria started to edge away, picking up her diminutive aquarium with its plastic wheel and huddle of wild mice.

  “I’m sorry to tell you this, but . . .” Before Abby could complete her pronouncement, the cavern filled with an ethereal glow emanating from a corridor that disappeared deeper into the Hive.

  The group of truckers recoiled. Gloria shuddered and cowered over her mice, preparing to run.

  Abby broke away from Jose, taking tentative steps toward the light as she remembered why the cavern felt familiar, hoping . . . All eyes focused on the golden swirls encased in the light, transcending anything their minds could conjure. And then they appeared.

  Netty, Wil and Baby stepped into the cavern to be greeted by a stupefying silence. Baby stepped forward, a young tabby kitten trailing comfortably under his arm. They watched as Echo scrambled out of Abby’s arms to wobble over to Baby.

  The two creatures stood silent, glowing eyes reflecting wi
ldly, faces stoic. Baby reached up with one long leathery finger to trace patterns on Echo’s face. Echo reached out to stroke Baby’s kitten.

  Gloria opened her mouth to speak, but was soundly hushed by Dezi. They watched as Echo touched Baby’s face with her slender finger then placed a hand on his shoulder, guiding them both to where the dead dog lay on the hard floor of the cavern.

  Baby squatted down, releasing her kitten to pat Barney’s cold body reassuringly. Echo turned to Scotty then bent over to awkwardly scoop Barney’s body up in their arms as Scotty rushed over to help them lift.

  Together they maneuvered Barney’s body to a wall of the cavern where they held him high, kissing his head lovingly. They pushed him toward the wall where he was sucked into the organic membrane lining the walls of the cavern and disappeared.

  “Oh, shit.” The soft exclamation came from someone in the crowd on the floor. Abby heard the restless anxiety pass through the crowd, breath held as everyone turned back to the two mesmerizing adults still standing at the back of the cavern.

  Abby hurried over to Netty, suddenly shy. Ignoring the people in the cavern, Netty took Abby into her arms, encircling her with her wings. She held her hand up to Abby’s ear as a drop of brilliance fell into her hand.

  “You no longer need this assistance, my dear. I will always be available to you now to answer any of your questions and to help you through the next chapter of your life with us in the Hive.”

  Netty released Abby, glancing softly at Wil. Her voice filled with the same loving pride heard in the voices of women in love for millennia all over the world.

  “Allow me to introduce you to my husband, Wil. We are the Elders.” She drew Abby and Wil toward the others. Wil’s smile swept the room, including them all in his powerful gaze. His muscled arms stood out in bulging relief as he gently flexed his fine down-covered wings. His lion-like tail hovered in the air, occasionally reaching out to brush subtly against Netty.

  “We are happy to finally meet you. Netty and I have waited for your arrival for a very long time. The Womb, along with both of us, is here to help your transition from your old world to the new one that awaits you after the planet heals from the destructive forces wrought by humans. You might say you are the lucky few.”