by Joseph Lallo
“So how do we slip outta this shithole?” Kole asked.
Major raised one palm and shook his head with a smirk. “Not so easy. If you want answers, you gotta shut up and quit asking me questions.”
Mara smiled and Kole closed his mouth.
“The last one had only wolves, not the horde. It felt more like winter than whatever the hell we’re in here, and it was forest as far as you could see. No mountains, hills, valleys. Just trees. I came across two people in that one. Two men, older. They had the growing paunch and shrinking hairline of middle age, although they didn’t seem to know each other. I found them arguing on a path that led to the Barren.”
“This place?” Mara asked.
“No,” Major said. “It was a series of caves, but I think it served the same purpose. The men called it the Barren, and so that’s what I called these cabins when I found them.”
Mara shook her head.
“Don’t know if it’s the slips or the fact that I’m always landing in a locality that happens to be fighting a reversion—and I don’t remember how I got there or where I came from. But I do know I didn’t slip from my birth locality, what you guys might think of as your ‘real world’ existence.
“Anyways, the wolves eventually became like the undead and they served the same function. Whatever runs the different localities must reformulate in different ways, because the wolves did the same thing. They pinned us down inside the cave. If someone went out, they pushed ’em back in. I know what you’re thinking, muscle man. I can see it in your eyes.”
Kole smirked.
“I searched every square inch of the inside of that cave, and it was solid rock, no way out.”
Kole stopped smiling.
“So we’re in the same boat. One of the guys decided he would make a run for it, not sure if the wolves would get him or not.”
“The wolves are here too, aren’t they?” Mara asked.
“They are, sweetheart, and I’m not sure why or where they’ve gone. Maybe they can smell the rotting corpses out there,” Major said with a light chuckle. “Good thing we can’t.”
“You said you got out,” Kole said, trying to force the pace of the old man’s story.
“Eventually. We tried a few times to get past the wolves. Hundreds of them blocked us in with fangs bared. Once we realized the cloud would get us before the wolves would let us out, things got desperate.”
“How desperate?” Mara asked.
“Bad enough that the two men came to fisticuffs, almost the way our two meatheads did.”
Mara looked at Kole, and he avoided her stare.
“The man that tried to get past the wolves had it all along. He just didn’t know how to use it.”
“Had what?” Kole asked.
“The talisman. It’s a physical item that somehow punches a hole in the locale and sets you up to slip and to take others with you. I can’t remember what mine were, but I must have had them to get here. It’s the only way of escaping the reversion. The kicker is I keep slipping into another locality that’s in the same shitty condition. The cloud keeps following me.”
Mara paused and looked at Kole. Major remained quiet, letting them process the information.
“You think one of us has a talisman that’ll slip us all out of here?” Kole asked.
“Nope. He knows that neither of us has it,” Mara said.
Kole looked at Major and then back to Mara.
“Then that means—”
“Yes,” Mara said. “That means Samuel has it. And if he doesn’t, we’re all going down in this reversion.”
Major sat back and folded his hands on his lap. He smiled at Mara.
“And you let him go They have needs to fulfillout there, carrying our key out of this place, to fend off the horde?” Kole said.
“It was a test,” Mara said, pointing at the door, “and now Major has his proof.”
Kole turned his head sideways as he looked at Mara. It never occurred to him the horde pursued Samuel because he was carrying the talisman. The creatures tried to devour Kole because he attacked them, but it was the talisman they were meant to isolate. If given the opportunity, the horde would have torn Kole apart, but not Samuel. Their role was only to contain him, protecting the talisman.
“So I guess it’s time we get him back here and find out how he’s going to slip us the hell out,” Kole said.
Chapter 12
The horde responded to the opening door with a consistent, sludgy movement. The creatures slithered toward the stimulus, dragging remnants of clothing and tattered flesh behind them. Samuel placed a hand over his eyes more out of reflex than necessity. No sunlight existed here to play with his vision. He saw Major, followed by Kole and Mara, stepping outside the cabin to stand shoulder to shoulder.
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled.
Mara stepped down and ran to the opposite side of the cabin, drawing a portion of the fluctuating mass to her. Major yelled something to Kole, who dashed in the other direction, creating a narrow gap between the undead. Major looked at Samuel and waved him down.
Samuel noticed there were only one or two creatures remaining at the base of the tree. They both paced tight circles, bumping into each other, mindlessly moving like forgotten leaves tossed by the winter wind.
Major waved again, his motion more urgent this time.
“Damn it,” Samuel said.
He turned for one final look at the path extending out of the Barren, blinking several times in hopes he could burn the features of the landscape into his memory.
He tied the loose end of the rope around the trunk of the tree, threading it over the top of the branch that held him aloft. He then checked to make sure the other end held fast around his waist. Like an expert rock climber rappelling down the face of a mountain, Samuel gripped the rope in both hands. He backed off the branch, using his feet to push outward while allowing the rope to slide through his hands. Samuel cried out as the friction of the rope on his palms began to burn. He descended in a lazy arc from the last push, and the rope slackened as his feet landed on the ground. Three of the creatures shambled in his direction, angling in a way that pushed Samuel toward the cabin. He cut the rope from his waist and ran to the steps of the cabin, where Major stood with his arms crossed on his chest. Kole came around the cabin from one side, and Mara appeared on the other. Like a drain clogged with blackened sludge, the horde oozed back out and around the cabin, encapsulating it. The creatures moved forward, tightening the noose, letting them know it would be best if they opened the door and went back inside.
“C’mon,” Major said, waving over his shoulder.
He opened the door and stepped inside, followed by Mara and Kole. Samuel stopped and turned to face the rope dangling from the tree. He watched it sway back and forth, writhing like a snake. Samuel looked at the cloud above, and then to the unseen trail in the distance, before entering the cabin and pulling the door shut behind him.
***
“I saw a path. East.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Sure it does,” Samuel said. “It’s going away from the cloud.”
“That thing will eventually swallow this entire locality. Going east on the path only buys us a little more time,” Major said.
Mara and Kole sat on the floor, waiting for their heartbeats to subside after the dash around the cabin.
“Unless you have a plan for getting us out of here, I’m not sure what choice we have,” Samuel said.
“You have something that will allow us all to slip with you. Get us out of the path of the reversion and land you in another locality. It might be a world degenerating faster than this one, but it’d be a different locality either way,” Major said.
“I don’t have much on me,” Samuel
He didn’t trust Major and was not about to submit to a search. Samuel thought about the fact that Major let him leave the cabin, knowing full well
the horde would try to contain him. The old man knew Samuel wouldn’t make it out of the Barren.
“Then it shouldn’t take long to determine which object is the talisman.”
Major stepped forward with a smile cracking the lower half of his face. Samuel stepped back into the wall without thinking. He felt the rough planks nibbling at the fabric of his shirt.
“What are you doing?” Samuel asked.
Mara stood and looked at her feet. Kole jumped up and moved beside Major.
“Just let us look at your shit. No need to get your panties in a bunch,” Kole said.
Samuel exchanged glances with Mara. He saw a flicker of fear in her eyes.
“I don’t need help from either of you,” Samuel said.
He separated his feet to match the width of his shoulders. He bent at the knees and balled both hands into fists. Major stopped his approach and held both hands in the air, palms facing out.
“Calm down. This doesn’t need to be messy. Once we determine which object is the talisman, you can try to punch a hole that slips all four of us out of here. I know how it works, and I can show you.”
“No,” Mara said. “It’s a trick. They’ll leave us.”
The men looked at her as she trembled.
“What?” Kole asked with a sneer.
“Don’t give them anything, Samuel.”
Major chuckled and shook his head, treating Mara like an insolent child. He turned and spoke to Samuel.
“We’re going to find the talisman, I’m going to show you how to use it, and then you’ll get us all out of here just like you were doing in the tree. Except this way will work. There’s nothing on that path out there but painful emptiness. More nothing until the reversion claims the last pathetic creatures here. It’ll churn us in the cloud along with the horde and the wolves. If you’re fine with that, then so am I. I’ve been punched through enough localities. I’m tired.”
Kole stepped between Major and Samuel.
“Give Major the talisman, you little bitch.”
When Mara’s eyes met Samuel’s, she knew what he wanted her to do.
She lunged forward, placing her hands on Kole’s forehead and plunging her thumbs into his eye sockets. She felt his warm, moist eyeballs against the pad of her thumbs as he screamed in pain. Samuel raised a knee upward until he felt it stop against Major’s pelvis. The old man dropped to the floor and pulled his knees to his chest while writhing in the fetal position. When Samuel looked back at Kole, he was on his knees with Mara draped over his back. She removed her thumbs from his eyes while dragging her nails across his face. Samuel watched the crimson lines appear like whiskers. Before Mara could utter a sound, Samuel grabbed her by the wrist and spun for the door. He pulled it open to reveal the horde exactly where they had left them. Black orbs in gray faces lifted at the change in the environment. Samuel dashed forward, pulling Mara with him. They stepped outside the cabin, and before Samuel could slam the door shut, he heard Major.
“They won’t let you leave,” Major said. His voice sounded shaken, defeated.
“We can try climbing the trees and get back on the path to the other side of the Barren.”
Samuel knew this would not work but he was not going to give up or let Major determine how he was going to leave the reversion. Samuel would rather be torn apart by the horde than leave his fate in Major’s hands and he was not about to leave Mara to Kole’s wrath.
Major’s laugh slid into a ragged, choking cough. Kole remained on the floor with his hand over his eyes, blood seeping through his fingers.
“I’m not talking about the undead.”
Samuel looked at Mara with his head sideways and eyebrows raised. Before they could speak, a distant, muffled howling came from the west, riding the black cloud that hovered above the Barren.
***
“We’ll never catch up to them.”
Major pulled himself upright and placed a hand on Kole’s shoulder.
“We won’t have to. The pack will eat their flesh and leave the rest.”
Kole rocked back and forth, his eyes running with a watery pink mixture of tears and blood. He blinked and wiped his face with the back of his hand. The lines drawn into his flesh by Mara’s nails turned black as the blood coagulated and dried on his skin.
“She’s not like us. We knew the time would come when we’d have to force the situation. We can’t slip three,” Major said.
Kole huffed and dabbed his face with the collar of his shirt.
“She tried gouging my eyes out. I want to hurt her. Bad.”
Major stood and swayed as the nausea radiated from his groin into his lower abdomen. He sat down again.
“Samuel is like us,” Major said, ignoring Kole’s desire to inflict pain. “He slipped into this locality under the same circumstances as we did.”
Kole shrugged, nurturing his wounds and festering revenge. “So what?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m not sure it means a thing,” Major said. “But unless you or I get our hands on the talisman, well . . .” Major’s voice trailed off.
More distant howls reverberated off the mountains, resonating back to the Barren, trying hard to puncture the oppressive silence.
“They’re coming,” Major said.
“Did you call them?”
Major leaned his head back to rest on the wall of the cabin. He did not answer.
“That means you did,” Kole said. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing, old man. Ain’t like these are trained canines sniffing for drugs.”
“Well, I’ve been trying to dig my balls out of my abdomen since he kneed me. Do you have any better ideas?”
Kole wiped another drop of blood from behind his ear and decided to shut up. Major had been beaten down by a man, but he had been bested by a woman, a flimsy girl.
“Yeah, me neither,” Major said. “Besides, the pack don’t know the deal. They’re only working on animal instinct.”
“You sure about that?” Kole asked.
“What’s it matter?” Major said.
***
“Don’t stop,” Samuel yelled as they dodged the oncoming horde that tried to reconfigure itself and block the path.
They sprinted for the tree, but several of the undead arrived first, making it impossible for them to climb the rope. Samuel recalled the view of the landscape, adjusting the altitude to fit where he was on the ground. When the howls rolled in underneath the dark cloud, Samuel pushed his legs to pump even faster.
“The pack. The alpha male. They’re back.”
“What are you talking about?” Mara asked as she followed Samuel, struggling to keep his pace.
“We’ve got to get back on the path and find ourselves another shelter.”
Samuel didn’t have time to consider why the horde was now allowing him to move freely. He was focused on getting Mara to safety.
Deva was accelerating the unwinding of the universe, pushing Samuel toward the cave in the east where the two would meet. Deva’s powers grew stronger the closer he was to the last open portal in a reversion. In this place, that spot was the cave. Meeting there would give Deva more influence on the outcome, much like cell phone reception improves closer to a tower. So anything that happened in that cave would favor Deva. If the cloud swallowed Samuel before he got to the cave, it could dump him into an infinite number of unknown universes—and it could take Deva thousands of cycles to find Samuel again. Deva accepted the calculated risk.
Mara could only make out a word or two as Samuel ran, projecting his comments into the heavy, dead air. The horde started to recede as Samuel and Mara put space between them. No new creatures appeared from the west, which led Samuel to believe they could outrun the horde created by the cloud. He pushed the image of the alpha male from his mind, as well as the inevitable reversion that crawled ever eastward. He kept on the path, which was only visible for ten or fifteen feet into the distance. Samuel thought if a new g
roup of the undead stumbled upon the path he’d have no choice but to run at them.
“Up there,” Samuel heard Mara say as he dodged right to miss a low-hanging branch.
He saw the outline of a structure about ten feet from the path. Samuel traced the shape with his eyes and knew it was another cabin, almost identical to the ones he already discovered in this locality. When he took a few more strides, his hunch was confirmed. Samuel slowed and let go of Mara’s hand. She leapt to his side as they both stood in front of the door.
Samuel turned to see the first of the horde coming into view, shuffling down the path in slow pursuit. More howls reverberated through the silent stillness until they raised the hairs on his neck. Mara looked at Samuel, and they made a decision without speaking. Samuel stepped into the inky blackness of the cabin, pulling Mara behind him. He slammed the door shut, her sweaty hand in his and his heart hammering in his chest.
***
Major opened the door to a desolate and empty scene. He had become so accustomed to the horde occupying the space that the Barren felt like an underwater realm, filled with a formless void of darkness and silence. The locality held no trace of its occupying army of the undead—it had pulled up stakes and set off on the path, following Samuel and his talisman. He could not muster a lick of concern over the girl. She was cute, like a pixie, punk-rock chick, but Major felt he was far beyond the ability to ever experience a crush again. While he felt no direct animosity toward Mara, he would gladly remove her if she was in his way.
The howls grew in intensity, but Major did not need verbal confirmation to figure it out. He could feel the alpha male coming. And the wolf was angry. He had been denied the hunt and the spoils.
“We going after them?”
The question broke Major from his thoughts. He turned to see Kole standing several feet back. He had dirty scraps of cotton in his hands to dab the blood from his face. Kole blinked constantly, and his puffy, red eyes looked possessed.
“Can you see?” Major asked.
“Yeah, enough,” Kole said.
“The horde followed the path, which I’m sure they used. Samuel said he saw it extend to the east on the other side of the Barren. No doubt he headed that way with Mara.”