Quickly, Bonnie cut her off. “Give him a chance, Crystal. I’ll help Dezi.” Bonnie threw him a quick glance, looking for assent. Seeing surprise but no objection, she hurried on. “Dezi and I will do a good job. You know I can do it. We’ll make sure the little tucker gets all the attention she needs, won’t we, Dez?”
Bonnie edged over to Dezi where Ginger Mae and Daisy now peered over his shoulder at the newborn.
“Come on, Dez. Let’s get out of here before anyone changes their mind.” She quickly edged him out the kitchen door, Ginger Mae and Daisy following behind. Within a second, Gloria joined the exodus.
“Well, if that don’t beat all.” Crystal stood with Johno as the other newborns suckled happily with the proud mom.
Johno patted Crystal on the back. “They will be fine. If the little one wants to live, he will have a chance with their care.”
“But Dezi? Ah just don’t reckon I will ever understand men. He hates animals.”
“It is okay, Crystal. Did you not see his face? This little rejected creature means something to him. Let them be. Come . . . let me pour you some tea.”
With that, Johno ushered Crystal back to the table. Scotty and Chloe released the dogs and they raced to cluster around Tulip and her babies. Echo and Baby joined them from their posts on the wall. The royal pittie pair, King and Queenie, presided over the piglets as if they themselves were responsible for their births. The other truckers went back to their usual gossiping.
Glancing around the room, Scotty saw Elias watching Emma and Salina talking. Peter entered the kitchen having missed the excitement.
“I’m going to go talk to Peter,” Scotty decided. “He looks like he needs a friend. You guys want to wait for me here?”
Kenya spoke up. “I guess so, chicky. You want to stay here for a while, Kane?”
Kane ran his hand over Kenya’s huge abdomen. “Hope Tulip might give you some ideas?”
Kenya groaned. “Right now, I sure don’t give a zombie-ass nigga what Tulip is up to. I just want this kid a mine out. I should a had this babe two weeks ago.”
Chloe spoke up. “You feel okay, Kenya?”
“You kiddin’ me, chicky? I feel stoked, like I could boogie down all night. But my monster bump don’ agree. Y’all think it might be stress?”
Chloe’s eyes popped. “Stress? You don’t even know stress. Kane and Scotty have been doing your share of the work since we got here.”
Kenya arched her exemplary eyebrows. “Sounds like you got something stuck in your craw, baby doll. You got something you want to say ta me?”
All eyes swung over to Chloe at her unexpected attack on Kenya.
“You think y’all want to carry this beach ball around for me for a while, I sure be happy to do your work for you, chicky.”
Indignation stabbed at Chloe with every word. Before anyone could respond, Salina sat down accompanied by Emma.
“Everything good here? Kenya dear, how are you feeling? Any pains yet?”
Scotty could hear the undertones of worry but he knew Mama Diaz well. Maybe the others won’t pick up on it.
“I’m just nifty, Ms. Salina. Still hangin' in there.”
“Well, you boys look after her. If you start to feel any pain . . . of any kind, you send the boys to come get me. You hear? Chloe, that goes for you, too. This young lady’s baby is very important to us.”
Salina rose. Sliding her arms around her quiet daughter, she and Emma returned to the mixing counter to plan tomorrow’s meals with Netty.
Chloe picked up Kenya’s hand, clasping it in her own. “I’m sorry I ragged out on you. I’m under so much stress myself, but I’m getting better. I just don’t envy the position you’re in with the baby. We’re still just kids after all. All this is still so new and scary without having a baby to take care of . . .” Her voice tailed off.
“Well, chicky, you just better make sure you don’t get knocked up yourself then.”
Chloe cast her eyes down. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Easier said than done when you’re in love.”
*
Salina sorted through the ingredients she would need in the morning, giving Emma a further chance to come clean with the truth about what had happened between her and Elias. She rested her eyes on Clyde who sat across the room sipping tea next to Peter, where no conversation would be required since Peter never spoke to anyone unless forced to.
The room was settling back down to normal, Johno holding court with Crystal and the other keepers, Elias sullen and flicking occasional glances toward Emma, who ignored them all. Truckers Tucker and Billy decided to head out to swim and Cobby sat conferring with Wil and Jose as Cobby’s eyes trailed after Abby, drawing away quickly when he saw Salina watching. He completely missed the lovelorn eyes that belonged to Karen as she too watched his interest in Abby.
Salina’s eyes lingered on her daughter, ready to do some gentle probing. Scotty ran over, his wing brushing the side of her table. “We’re heading out now, Mama D. Do you need anything before we go?”
“I don’t think so, sweetie. Just make sure you keep your eyes on Kenya. The baby will come any day now.” Scotty gave her a kiss and ran off with the other kids.
Salina turned to Netty. “He’s such a good boy. I can well understand why he was chosen to be The One, no matter what it means. Do you have any thoughts, Netty?”
Netty looked up. “I’m as mystified as you are, Salina. All I know is that the Womb insisted I implement some specific orders relayed through Baby. It is rare that Baby offers explanations. He is even more subdued than he was before we were all mur . . . died.”
Netty picked up the pace of her labors, clearly uncomfortable with the discussion. With a tight smile, she moved off to the sink, leaving Salina alone with Emma.
With a tired motherly sigh, Salina turned back to her daughter, her patience at an end. “Kenya’s delivery date is well past. She’s very uncomfortable. Even as we’ll gratefully welcome the baby, the road for her will not get easier. What a shame.”
Emma lowered her head until it almost rested on her chest. “Mummbble . . . Elias . . . did not agree . . . sorry . . . mummmmbble.”
Salina lifted Emma’s face with her finger, gazing deeply into her eyes, assessing the hurt that can only come from a rejected love. “If you need to tell me something, Emma, please spit it out. I can’t hear you when you mumble. How can I help you unless I can understand you?”
The hot tears Emma so fiercely labored to hold back broke over her lids. Salina gathered her up in her arms, sending a withering flash of motherly contempt to Elias, who stalked out of the room without a backward glance.
“Have you and Elias been intimate, honey?
Emma gave her mother a disdainful look. “If you mean, did we get it on, well, yeah, Mom.”
Salina’s crestfallen face left Emma antagonistic. “I cared about him, Mom. He said I was smart and pretty. He understood me.”
“You are smart and pretty, Emma. Too smart to fall for lines like that.”
“Well, I didn’t know then. I’ll be a backyard crumb snatcher before I submit, as he calls it, to him again.”
Salina found the next question difficult to choke out but she had to know. “Did you take precautions? Did Elias?” She tried to sound casual.
Emma looked askance. “Christ, Mom. A little personal, don’t you think?”
“Where did you learn to speak to me like this? I didn’t raise you this way.” Salina’s voice was raised and startled glances were thrown their way. Calming down, she stroked Emma’s hair, the glossy texture silken under her fingers. “Baby, I’m just worried about you. We live under rather extreme conditions right now. I don’t know what’s in store for our future. We might be down here for quite some time. You don’t want to bring a baby up in these conditions, do you? We need all of our strength to stay strong for what may lay ahead. After the bombs stop and it’s safe to come out, the world will be far different
and I have no idea what to expect. We need to be ready for anything. An unexpected baby would really complicate things. I don’t want to see you in the same position Kenya’s in.”
Emma raised her head defiantly but her voice lacked less passion. “I think what Kenya is doing is brave.”
Salina rolled her eyes. “I think you got the message. Let’s see how brave Kenya is when she’s screaming her pretty head off in labor. If Elias gives you any trouble or makes any demands, will you let me know?”
Now Emma rolled her eyes. “I can handle it, Mom.”
Salina looked deeply into the eyes of her oldest daughter, cradling her tender unblemished face with her worn hands. She banished the thoughts of what a happy trouble-free baby she had been. “I love you, Em. No matter what, I will always be on your side. You can come to me with anything. Bonnie too. Make sure you keep an eye on her for me, okay? I would never survive if something happened to either one of you.”
Emma’s arms snaked around her mother’s neck for a quick hug, followed by a peck. “I know, Mom. We both know. I gotta go find Bonnie now. I want to see what she and Dezi are up to with this new piglet of theirs. We good?”
She smiled as Salina swatted her butt. “We’re always good. Now off with you. See you at bedtime.”
*
Nighttime came quickly to the hard-working and tired survivors. Sleep was never a commodity they searched for with difficulty. It was more like a drug undulating through a healthy body, claiming conscious thought like a seductress, softly enticing her victim to her solicitous embrace, promising oblivion as cavern walls dimmed, animal excrement lay fallow, and all living creatures, save winged ones, were visited silently and unobtrusively to render unto their innocent flesh the mechanism by which the Womb had chosen to send its tendrils to invade.
Body functions took their course: an occasional groan, a soft expulsion of breath, the unexpected fart. Sounds of the sleeping . . . the unaware. Throughout the caverns, similar scenes were being replayed with the creatures. All was restful, all as expected. Cool air wafted through cavern hallways, sweeping away the daily odors of a busy Hive.
Echo’s mesmerizing eyes drew open as a light probe pierced her unconsciousness. The time was near. The probe danced in her brain as she rolled away from My Barney to behold Baby at the doorway to the alcove.
“Sister, we are ready.”
“I am ready too, Brother. Time to saddle up as my Brother Scotty would say.”
Baby reacted with a faint blink, his golden eyes sparking. “This is our secret, Sister. No one is to know. Not even your Brother Scotty.”
“Yes, yes, Brother, this will remain a secret.” Echo stood, following the noiseless Baby through the alcove into the corridor where old Tobi and her ragtag herd—babies and all—awaited.
Without any communication, Echo mounted Tobi’s proffered trunk, which she raised high to deposit Echo on her head. They would be moving quickly and silently like elephant ghosts in the night, just as their ancestors had done for thousands of years in Africa. Only this time their mission was not to protect the babies from nightly prowling predators. No, they would be following Baby to a source they needed to sustain their lives; a source that had been eluding a frustrated Tobi for weeks.
Lifting off, Baby shot into the air, his fluttering wings enabling him to move so much more quickly and easier than his wobbling step allowed him to. He had become quite adept at walking since arriving on this planet. Gravity was heavier on Earth than on Oolaha. But now that his wings had repaired themselves, the Womb had reasonably allowed him to retain the ability to fly, another privilege stripped from the minions upon the discovery that they were creating life on their own with their DNA.
Baby realized early on that the more you differed from the creatures around you the more suspicious they became. Humans were no different. So he walked when he was around them. Why upset them by flying? He remembered how upset they had appeared to be the night they had chosen the Hive as their home when they saw Sister Netty fly.
Baby led the elderly but spry Tobi and her small herd for a mile deep into the bowls of the Hive. When he landed, the herd found themselves in front of a large boulder that appeared to mark the end of the corridor.
Tobi allowed Echo to clamber down with the assistance of her trunk. Turning to Tobi, she sent an aura to probe inside Tobi’s giant head, to proclaim, “At one time I had my own vehicle, a Carriage, and had no need to sit on the backs of others. But I thank you for the privilege anyway, great creature.”
Echo’s golden eyes flamed as she felt a deep rumble in the pit of her being from Tobi’s response.
In the past, Echo had yet to find a reason to use her wings. My Barney had no wings so what was the purpose? She wanted to stay close to Barney, not create distance by exemplifying their differences.
As Baby approached, his wings crackled with their unexpected use, motioning for the restless herd to follow. As they rounded the boulder, an opening to a large, dark cavern could be seen, much like the opening to the Hive from the ground above. As no membranes halted their way, the procession ventured in, milling at the bottom of the passageway that led to a gentle but great rise of the cavern floor.
Tobi waved her trunk madly as if to taste the air. In the distance, they discovered the pathway split into two directions at the crest. The vastness of the cavern rose ten stories from the crest, the floor appearing to fall away on the right side. The temperature felt a full ten degrees cooler.
Suddenly, Tobi let out a scream and a great trumpet, marshaled her charges, and took off, her herd following as if pursued by demons. Baby began to waddle forward.
“I must follow, Sister.”
Echo gauged the distance to the crest, shook out her wings, tested their strength, and remarked, “Now is as good a time as any, my Brother.” With those words, Echo took to the air. Baby followed, leading the way to catch up with Tobi and the herd as they veered toward the left pathway.
When the two creatures set down, they discovered Tobi and the herd placidly eating the dirt at the back of the hard-packed cavern wall. Tobi set her yellowed and splintered tusks to scraping at the enormous wall. Trickles of the dirt she dislodged were quickly sucked up by questing trunks, the minerals in the soil a necessity for the digestion and survival of the pachyderms.
Echo and Baby eased their furry bottoms down onto the hard, cold floor to observe.
“The matriarch knew. Tobi knew.” Echo’s eyes threw golden refracted light on the wall, not distracting the elephants in the slightest.
“Yes, Sister. The Womb knew she would smell her own earth and know it for what it was.”
“African earth. Was the trouble great?”
“No, the Womb has obtained much for the human survivors. Why would anything be too great for the creatures? It just took longer to bring this here. They will be happy now. The Womb keeps them healthy but Tobi does not know this. Her instinct to travel great distances for her minerals would never change. She will now pass it on to the rest of the herd. They will be happy with the trek. It will represent a challenge they can conquer, a must for Tobi’s mental health. She will no longer take her frustrations out on the growing fields. There will be peace for her. As you know, that is all that matters to the Womb.”
Baby swiveled around to gaze down at the end of the other pathway, very visible from their higher elevation, yet allowing them to remain hidden. The view took on perilous proportions as they observed the catastrophic drop from the sudden end of the right-sided pathway, a drop that widened into a bottomless chasm.
Echo’s fragile leathery arm shot out to signal silence. She sent an aura to the shadow that had resolutely stalked them from the moment they had left the sleeping rooms.
Baby stood. “We must go.” His aura dimmed, yet dismissed the shadow as of little significance. “Sister, we must go now, the time is near for the exchange.”
Baby’s aura buckled in Echo’s mind, a reminder that Bab
y had agreed to share with Echo the burden of his deep responsibility. A responsibility he had guarded with absolute secrecy for a very, very long time.
Leaving the elephant herd behind, Baby and Echo flew unobtrusively over the lurking shadow at the top of the right pathway. Slipping through the entrance behind the huge boulder, they flew back the way they had come; down empty corridors lined with the ever-present membrane, the air warmer and the light improving.
Veering off a side passage, they approached another cavern, this one easy to find if you knew where to look. Echo estimated they were two miles from the sleeping rooms. He had no doubts about the unlikelihood of any survivors accidently discovering the cavern. Their activities were more concentrated in the other direction. Who had the time anyway?
The Womb made sure they were kept busy with responsibilities. It kept the restlessness at bay. Restlessness worked on a man’s brain until he tied himself up in knots; and then trouble started. The Womb felt it best to keep them busy of their own volition rather than step in with drastic measures.
“We are here, Sister.”
Baby wobbled over to the entrance. As Echo followed, a low moan emanated from the bowels of the smaller cavern. They stood in the darkness listening to the breathing sounds of a creature. Is it more than one?
Another low moan, cut off by a faint whimper. Echo joined him to stare, transfixed by the sight before her. Turning to Baby, she watched his eyes narrow, a perplexing smile playing contemptuously across his golden face. Turgid auras threatened to bring Echo to her knees with pain, generated from Baby’s highly emotional state. She reached out to place a leathery finger on Baby’s cheek. The auras calmed and brightened. The moment passed.
Now for the perfunctory business that routinely brought Baby to this spot. He stood ramrod straight as his antlers split. He held out his hand as his mind shouted a call. From inside the bowels of the cavern came three blackish red projectiles, almost too small to be seen. They landed on Baby’s hand, lying motionless as three similar objects dropped from his antlers to replace the spent ones, flying back into the bowels to reach their targets. A fresh round of whimpers and actual screams told them the replacements were successfully at work.
Hive Page 18