by D. S. Murphy
I looked over the hovercraft. It was larger than a motorcycle, the leather seat looked like it could easily fit three people. Four shouldn’t be that much harder.
“We’ll fit,” I said. “Though if we get the girls back, that might be a problem. There’s a chance I might not even need a ride back though.”
Sam’s eyes widened and Meredith choked back a laugh.
I ignored them. “Head to Zamonta, save the girls. Jake, you and me can crash at the place we stayed last time, then head to Tracy’s in the morning. I need to talk to him anyway.”
“Last time?” Meredith said, crossing her arms and raising one eyebrow. I would have sworn Jake was blushing, but it was too dark to tell.
Sam nodded, catching on. “Meredith and me drive the girls back here, cross the river. Everybody’s safe. Great plan,” he said, winking at me.
“Fine,” Jake said. Sam ran back to grab his crossbow. I climbed on the bike, Jake scooted in and held on behind me, then Meredith pushed him forward even more, until his body pressed against my back. I held my breath and I turned the ignition key. The hoverboard purred like a kitten. It was so quiet I wouldn’t have been able to tell it was on, other than the vibration under my thighs. Sam squeezed in, holding onto the luggage rack at the back of the vehicle.
“Just don’t make any sudden turns,” he joked. I eased the bike forward slowly through the trees, until we were back on pavement. My eyes had adjusted to the dark, and the half moon cast enough light on the road to see, but I still drove slowly. It took about twenty minutes to get near Zamonta. I saw the crystal pyramid first—rising through the trees and glimmering like a beacon in the moonlight.
“Pull over,” Jake said, tapping me on the shoulder, after we’d crossed a small bridge over a creek. “If they take the shortest path back to Zamonta, they’d have to cross here. It would be a mile out of the way to go any other direction.”
I pulled into the trees on the side of the road, and the others jumped off and stretched their legs.
“Now what?” I asked.
“Now we wait,” Jake said. He pulled the Uzi out of the bike and handed it to me.
“Safety is on,” he said. “Leave it that way. You probably won’t need it, but it should be enough to deter anyone from coming after you.” He pointed out locations for Sam and Meredith to hide, then walked me further away behind a large boulder.
“Stay here until I call for you,” he said. He turned to go but I grabbed his hand. He searched my face, then leaned forward quickly and kissed me. I pulled him closer to me, and the kiss deepened. His lips on mine ignited a fire through my whole body. When he pulled away again, we were both smiling.
“To be continued,” I said. Jake grinned and hurried back to his hiding spot.
As I waited in the darkness, I couldn’t help smiling. In a little while, Jake and I would be alone in his underground sanctuary. My whole body buzzed with anticipation. After a few minutes, however, the warm glow faded, and the darkness and quiet crept in. Somewhere an owl hooted. The moon stretched the shadows of the pine trees into long, grasping arms. I heard the snap of twigs behind me and spun around, searching for the cause. I couldn’t see anything, but a chill ran down my spine. I was trying to shrug away the feeling of being watched when I heard the voices. Men. Getting closer. They came into view as they approached the bridge. I scanned their faces in the moonlight, surprised that they looked familiar—it was the men who’d abducted me last time. Bruce, Curt and their leader Tom. Bastards.
Two blond girls in cotton dresses were stumbling along behind them. Their bloody knees indicated several falls, as they were pulled forward like dogs on a leash. Tears had left streaks down their faces, and their mouths were gagged by strips of fabric.
“Stop right there!” I heard Jake call out.
The men ducked behind the girls, raising their weapons.
“That’s the guy who knocked me out,” Bruce said under his breath.
Tom raised his eyebrows.
“Looks like you cost us a hundred credits, son. Normally, for that kind of offense, we’d take your hands. But since we’re otherwise occupied, we’ll make you an offer. Let us through and we won’t come looking for you. Or your family.”
He emphasized the last word to make the full implications of his threat clear.
“There’s just one of him,” Curt said, pointing his pistol at Jake. “Just let me shoot him.”
Jake whistled, and Meredith and Sam emerged from their hiding places, weapons trained on their targets.
“You can’t shoot your guns out here,” Jake said. “But I can put this bolt in your forehead without a whisper.”
“You wouldn’t risk the girls,” Tom said with a smile. “And actually, this close to Zamonta, we could probably get inside before any mods show up.”
Bruce flashed a smile, raising his rifle. Before I could shout a warning, a flash of light darted from Meredith’s outstretch hand. The knife embedded itself in Bruce’s neck. His eyes widened, and he reached up to grab the handle.
“Bad idea,” Meredith said. “You’d bleed out in minutes.”
“Let go of the girls, and you can still save your friend,” Jake said. Tom looked thoughtful for a minute, and shared a look with Curt.
“Or we can let him die and collect more credits for ourselves,” Curt muttered.
“That’s assuming we let the rest of you live. If you don’t let go of those girls, things are going to get messy.”
“Think we’re afraid of you?” Curt said. “You’re just a bunch of kids.”
“I’ll give you to the count of three,” Jake said, raising his crossbow to his shoulder. It was going to be a bloodbath. I held my breath, my heart racing. And that’s when I heard it. A low rumbling behind me, not quite a growl, more like a loud purr. The mod snarled at me when I turned around, baring its teeth. It was so close I could feel the hot stench of its breath on my cheek. Then it pounced.
***
Pink flames flared in my vision as time slowed down. My fingers fumbled at the safety on my gun as the modified launched itself at me. Its claws were inches from my face when I pulled the trigger. Yellow flames burst from the muzzle of the gun, and seven rounds filled the mod with holes. It screeched; an unnatural sound like fingernails against a chalkboard. I released pressure on the trigger, and a curl of white smoke rose from the barrel of the gun. My eyes were nearly blinded from the flash of the gun. I tried to blink away the spots of light in the dark forest around me, until they started moving. Not lights. Mods. We were surrounded by them.
I dove out from behind the rock, sprinting toward the others.
“Run!” I shouted. “They’re coming.”
The words barely left my throat before one of the mods lept out of the trees and landed on Bruce, ripping off his head like he was uncorking a bottle of champagne. Then it crouched over the body and sipped the blood from the base of the skull like a coconut. The fingers of Bruce’s decapitated corpse twitched on the trigger of his gun, sending a spray of bullets. Jake dove to the side as they kicked up dirt near his feet.
One of the girls screamed. Tom picked her up and charged past Jake towards Zamonta. Curt grabbed the other girl by the arm but she struggled against him. He tried to fire at the mods with one hand and pick her up, but she bit his hand. He pushed her away, just as another mod jumped out at him. He fired at it in midair and it landed heavily against him, knocking him over.
“Cover Alicia!” Jake shouted, running for the girl. Meredith grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the hovercraft. I ducked as a mod swiped its claws at us. Meredith lashed at it with her knife and three gnarled fingers fell to the ground. The creature’s scream was cut off as she put another knife through the its chest. Black blood sprayed over my clothes, and I shuddered in disgust.
“Move!” Meredith shouted into my face, forcing me on the bike. I fumbled the keys towards the ignition, trying to keep my fingers from trembling. Jake and Sam stood on either side of the girl, protect
ing her and firing into the horde of oncoming mods. Jake’s crossbow was too slow to reload, so he grabbed Bruce’s semi-automatic rifle. Meredith grabbed my Uzi and fired off shots behind us. Once I felt her weight on the bike behind me, I peeled into the road and pulled up beside the boys.
Jake jumped on behind Meredith, then helped Sam lift the girl into his lap. Sam squeezed onto the edge of the vehicle as I sped forward. There was only one place I could think to go. We’d be safe at Tracy’s, as long as we could get there. I turned the lights on, figuring that speed was more important than stealth at this point.
I raced down the road, swerving around cars that had been sitting there for twenty years. When the bike flew over the remnants—the remains of the people who didn’t survive modification—it kicked up clouds of dust that smelled like death and decay, and I knew I was breathing in human skin. I felt them inside me, the people I’d let down, the ones I’d killed, and it felt like they were tearing me apart from the inside. But I had to keep steering. The gunfire behind me was deafening, and Jack and Sam continued to fire their weapons. I could see the mods on the edge of my vision; white shapes that flew through the darkness, keeping up with us even as I pushed the hovercraft as fast as it would go.
My heart lept when I saw Tracy’s house up ahead, its square exterior dimly lit by accent lights.
“We’re almost there—” I shouted. My words were ripped away by the wind. Then suddenly, one of the mods appeared in front of me, right in the middle of the road. I swerved and the bike leaned dangerously to the side. The mod swiped its claws at us and sparks erupted as bone hit metal, and then a scream as its claws sank into flesh.
Sam tumbled off the side of the bike, but rolled to his feet. He killed the mod that had attacked us, but two more slashed at him, tearing a cut in his stomach so deep I could see his intestines.
“Run!” he shouted. Blood gurgled from his mouth. Meredith grabbed the girl and started pounding on the gate in front of Tracy’s compound. Jake switched to pistols, wielding one in each hand. The mods moved so fast his bullets only found their mark half the time. One of them took two bullets and still got close enough to swipe at Jake.
“No!” I shouted. There was a crack and a bullet hole appeared in the creature’s forehead. The gate slid open, and Meredith pushed the girl through the crack, then ran for Jake. We both reached him at the same time. He was clutching his chest with one hand, and Meredith put the other around my shoulder. We stumbled towards the gate, with Meredith firing the Uzi behind us until we were inside the property. The gate closed firmly, and spotlights from the house flooded the area with light. The mods screamed outside the fence.
“Get him inside,” Tracy yelled from the doorway, holding a sniper rifle in one hand. We carried him inside and lifted him onto the counter in the kitchen. Tracy grabbed a medical kit and used a pair of scissors to cut away Jake’s shirt. My eyes went wide at the sight of blood. Jake’s face was so pale. Too pale.
“What can I do to help?” I asked, my eyes filling with tears.
“Get the fuck away from him,” Meredith said, sticking a finger into my face. “This is all your fault. What the hell were you even thinking? Shooting like that. Sam’s dead, because of you, and the rest of us barely escaped with our lives. This never would have happened if you hadn’t forced us to bring you along. You’re useless,” she finished.
“Not her fault,” Jake muttered, gritting his teeth. There was sweat on his brow as Tracy poured alcohol over the wound. Meredith turned her back on me, threading a needle and leaning over Jake. That’s when I finally noticed the girl. She’d shrunk into a corner when we came in, and was crying quietly, her hands still bound.
I grabbed a knife and she whimpered as I approached her.
“I’m just going to untie you, sweetheart. What’s your name?”
“Laura,” she said, looking up at me with wide eyes.
“Well, Laura, you’re safe now, I promise.” I cut through the ropes, freeing her hands, and she threw her arms around my neck. I picked her up and took her into the other room. I found a towel in the bathroom and cleaned her up a little, then returned to the kitchen to grab some milk and cookies.
Tracy was in the kitchen alone, putting the last strip of tape on a piece of white gauze over Jake’s wound.
“Where’s Meredith?” I asked quietly.
“Outside,” he said. “I gave her a pack of cigarettes and sent her to check the perimeter. She’ll be back when she cools down. Our boy here will be fine. I gave him something for the pain, he’ll be out for awhile.”
I was so relieved I was shaking. I sucked in a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. My heart was still racing from the encounter, as adrenaline pumped through my veins.
“No thanks to me,” I muttered, mostly to myself.
“She shouldn’t have blown up at you like that,” Tracy said. “But seriously, what are you doing here? Running around out there at night, are you insane? You know when we were younger, I looked up to you. You always had all the answers. I thought you knew exactly what you were doing, but I just realized, tonight for the first time, that you’re just a kid. Irresponsible. Immature. It’s not your fault, I mean you haven’t had to deal with any of this shit. But still. You can’t do anyone any good if you trip into the future and get yourself killed. In this time, every decision matters. You can’t afford to make mistakes. There are no second chances.”
“You’re right,” I said. “I didn’t get it before. I couldn’t imagine a world where you can’t go out after dark, because you might get eaten. To watch your friends die in front of you. To always be hiding, always be afraid. It’s horrible.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” Tracy said, switching topics. “How are things going in your time?”
“Not super,” I said. “You’re still an asshole. I gave you the lotto ticket but you still don’t believe me.”
“I’m stubborn like that,” he smiled. “Wait till after the drawing. I’ll come around eventually.”
“You’d better,” I said. “I can’t do this without you.”
“Isn’t Tamara helping?”
“She published some stuff on her blog, but it’s not enough. She needs money, too. Influence. We have to make her famous, so people take her seriously.”
“Say no more,” Tracy said, heading up to his office. He returned with two more Powerball tickets. “Don’t spend it all in one place.”
“One for you, one for Tamara?” I asked.
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Tracy said. “That’s what you told me to do. You needed Tamara to start buying property in Defiance, but you also wanted me to build this architectural marvel,” he said, raising his hands. “And you had my dad set up other accounts for you and your friends. But Tamara needs more than money, right? I mean, people didn’t listen to her. They thought she was crazy, until it was too late. So maybe let her win both of these, for the publicity—just make sure she doesn’t get to keep all the money.”
I nodded, then scrutinized the tickets, trying to commit them to memory. My brain felt like it was moving through Jello. All I could see was Sam. The gaping wound in his stomach. The blood on his lips. I doubled over the sink, expecting to throw up. His body was still out there, in the middle of the street.
“How can I concentrate right now? After what just happened?”
“You do it because you have to,” Tracy said, pouring me a glass of Diet Coke to settle my stomach. He took out a pad of paper and a pen and started drawing shapes and numbers. “Look, each number gets an image. One, sun. Two, poo. Three, tree. Then just arrange the images into a scene. You’re on a path, a journey, walking past the items.”
He fixed himself a cup of espresso from an expensive looking machine, and then set an extra steaming mug on the counter. I took a sip and let the rich bitterness soothe my nerves. I grabbed the pen and rewrote the numbers a few dozen times, drawing pictures like Tracy told me to, until I could recite them from memory. Then I had him ge
t me some more predictions for Tamara’s blog. I memorized as many as I could, until my eyelids were so heavy I couldn’t keep them open.
“Get some sleep,” Tracy said. “There’s nothing else you can do here tonight.”
I stumbled upstairs. The house was large and had several bedrooms. One was Tracy’s, and the first guest bedroom was full—Meredith and Laura were curled up together. I found Jake in the next bed. I didn’t want to disturb him, but I’d probably be gone soon anyway. I just needed a place to rest my eyes until the phylia wore off. I lay down next to him gently and watched the rise and fall of his chest until I fell asleep.
***
In my dreams, I was in the future again, but this time everything was different. There were so many bodies lining the streets that I could barely wade through them. I stumbled on corpses and felt hot tears roll down my cheeks as I tried to find someone to help me. I searched and searched, but everywhere I went, I only found bodies and death. There was no other living person. I was alone. I dropped to my knees and started to cry out loud when I heard a strange noise. I turned around and saw the bodies come to life. Only they weren’t alive—not really. They all turned into mods. I started to panic as they moved toward me. My legs felt heavy and I couldn’t stand. I was stuck. They moved faster and rushed at me. I covered my face with my hands and waited for what I knew was coming.
I heard a scream and sat up quickly to find a shadow leaning over me.
“Relax,” Jake whispered, brushing the hair out of my face. “You’re safe.”
“I’m okay,” I said, even though I was still shaken from the dream. “How long did I sleep?”
There was light outside the window, but not much.
“A few hours,” he said. “Sun’s not up yet. Bad dream?”
My mouth felt suddenly dry. I looked away from him and pulled my knees up to my chest.
“Not just a dream,” I sniffed. “A nightmare. And it was real. I got Sam killed. It could have been you. It almost was you. I thought, by coming here, I could save you, but I failed.”