Luke glanced at the furious battle going on at the hall entrance. Mark seemed to be holding on but even he couldn’t keep fighting forever. He tapped Conway on the arm. “I should talk to Sarah.” Conway slapped her forehead. She slung her rifle and cupped her hand around her mouth, but Luke beat her to it. “Sarah! Don’t be afraid. She’s our friend. She wants to help you.”
There was no movement at first. Then Sarah crawled forward on hands and knees. Sunshine lifted her with one hand and handed her over to the beast. The immense strength of the beasts became useful as they handed Sarah to each other. In half a minute, she stood white and shivering on the floor. Conway dropped her rifle and enfolded the rigid girl in her arms.
Up in the ceiling, Sunshine extracted another little girl and handed her down the pyramid. A roar came from behind. Two beasts managed to come out of the doorway. Their furious aggression pushed Mark away from the entrance. They attacked from two angles at once, forcing Mark to retreat. Several beasts seized the opportunity to enter the hall behind their vanguard.
Luke tapped Conway on the shoulder. “Major, I think you might want to use your rifle now. Mark is under pressure.” He’d hardly finished speaking when Sarah landed in his hands and Conway on the floor. The rifle became a living thing, an extension of her. A beast tumbled on the ground each time it spoke.
A whimpering child at Luke's feet. Sue and then john. He shook his head. At the rate the children were descending, the strain of holding the cage was showing on Sunshine, if something very wrong happened, they would be overwhelmed. The only solution was something he didn’t want to think of. He turned at the sound of his name.
Conway shook a magazine at him and. “Last ammo.” She slammed it onto the rifle.
That decided Luke’s mind. “Major, can you shoot the cable/”
Two beasts tumbled on the floor as Conway snapped off two shots. She glanced. “What cable?”
“The one suspending the cage.”
She took her eye from the riflescope. “Tell me you’re mad instead.”
“I’ll tell our friend to catch the cage, or we’ll; all die here when you shoot your last bullet.”
Conway considered for a second and then she stood. With hurried gestures, Luke conveyed his meaning to the one that spoke to the beasts earlier. Before he finished, the pyramid of flesh and bones had dismantled, placing two more kids on the floor. While the beasts arranged themselves in a ring under the cage, Conway stood off the side. She raised her rifle. It jerked into her shoulder with a sharp report. Unable to join the ring of catchers, Luke placed a hand over his mouth as the cage plummeted with the children. Everything blurred. There was no noise of crushing metal. When his eyes refocused, the cage was still suspended in the air, but this time from the beast’s hands. They set the metal structure gently on the floor and stepped aside. Luke wanted to hug all the kids but raging beasts were all over Mark.
Conway was on her belly in a flash. Her rifle sounded nine times in less than four seconds. The dead beasts laid in a tangle with Mark. Conway got on her feet.
Luke grabbed her arm. “Stay, we don’t know if they are all dead, or if they can regenerate.”
“I got one round left.” She slapped his hand away. “I’m coming,” she said and dashed away.
CHAPTER 22 WOMAN AS TEMPTRESS
Luke widened the rip in the cage. He pulled out the children. Sunshine knelt next to him, a soft sound coming from her. She stretched her hand. John shrieked and hid his face behind her palms. Luke thought he saw tears at the corners of Sunshine’s eyes. He looked away quickly.
He estimated about a hundred and twenty beasts—Mark’s beasts, as he now called them—milled about. He didn’t want to think of what could happen to him and the kids in a stampede.
“All right, let’s get out of here.”
He took Sarah’s hand. It was full and plump, like the hand of a well-fed child. He’d expected her to look emaciated from stress and hunger but she looked flushed, her muscles well-toned for a child. It wasn’t how he remembered her. A glance showed it was the same as the other kids. A nagging question tugged at his mind, but he pushed away from it. It was better to be hopeful. And it was time to get away from Maya. “Take each others’ hands and follow me.”
With a child in each hand, feeling as if he walked through a gauntlet, he opened the way for him. Only Sunshine trailed behind him.
Mark’s beast followed behind the last child. Near the hall entrance, his heart sank. Not far from the entrance, Conway lay on the floor, her head on Mark's shaggy coat. Strings of sticky red stained the glossy black hair and rubbed off on Conway’s hair. He shook his head. No living thing could ever lie so still as Mark lay, his thick fingers still curled around the oversized handle. The remains of chopped beasts laid scattered around Marin in various grotesque shapes. Luke didn’t know if he should mourn Mark’s death or rejoice that Mark had single-handedly denied entrance to the beastly hordes. He stopped near Conway. He nodded at Sarah
“Did he know?”
Conway shook her head and sniffed. She reclined on the still beast. Luke wanted to lift her and comfort her but he had two kids in his hands. He decided to take another tack. He gestured with his head.
“This place isn’t good for children. It reeks of blood. We should leave.”
“They’ll already have nightmares for years to come.”
“We’ll get the best help for them.”
“We’ll… how easy for you to say that. Maya took my daughter because of you. You should pay for this, at least. When I leave this place, my daughter and I are going to a secret pace, far away from anyone like you.”
“No problem, Major, as long as Sarah comes to school. Now, let’s get out of here.” Conway stood. She snatched Sarah’s hands from Luke. She picked her rifle. The last thing Luke saw was a flash of anger in Conway’s eyes. He wished she’d expended all her ammo. Luke led the way into the corridor.
He scanned behind them. All the children were between him and Mark's beasts. He let Conway catch up and lowered his voice.
“What are we going to do with these people?”
“Funny you’re asking that. Even if they have lost most of their humanity, thank you for still calling them people. That shows you agree with me that we’ll let them go free.”
“They’ll be hunted down like monsters.”
“My Mark was one of them. What would you have me do? Shoot them all because they don’t look like me? Forget about it, buster.” Her shoes echoed from the corridor walls as she hurried away.
Luke searched left and right as they passed each room. He made sure no one was lurking anywhere to spring at them. He overtook Conway and pushed the door at the end of the corridor. “It’s locked.”
A beast brushed past with a great metal ball in its hands. Luke gnashed his teeth at the furious noise that filled the enclosed space. The lock mechanism shattered, he easily slid it aside and then passed into the next hall. It was too easy. Luke peeked. Nothing seemed suspicious. He led the children out, one after the other. A few minutes later, the last door slid aside and Luke walked into the Sunshine.
The nagging feeling wouldn’t let go of him. He nudged Conway. “The break out of Maya’s facility proved too easy, don’t you think so?”
“I think only how to pierce her skull with a bullet.”
“She isn’t here now.”
“Then get us out of this damn place. The experiment subjects can find their ways. Their survival instincts are still as strong as yours or mine.”
A whimper came from behind. Mark’s people crowded at the doorway. Their eyes squinted in the sunlight. Sunshine stood at the forefront, her hands outstretched toward the children. Someone pulled her inside and the same hand slid the door across.
Conway shrugged. “I guess they made their choice. There should be enough food for them inside. Anyway, there’s transport just around the first corner.”
Luke helped her marshal the children down a concrete pavement. At
the first turn, there stood a gleaming glide car. He pointed. “Can you fly that thing?”
“You’re flying it. You’ll find the electronic manual on the dashboard. Take the children away. I want to find Maya.” She slid the door open.
Luke entered and stretched his hands to receive Sarah. Conway didn’t let go of her. The woman peered at a small dark spot on Sarah’s arm. She rushed to the second child, inspected his arm. With a sinking feeling, Luke watched as she inspected the arms of each of the children. She turned eyes now the color of flint on him.
“Your Maya has injected these children” She stepped closer. “All because of you.”
Luke peered into the muzzle. He crouched to spring. A bullet exploded into his chest, knocking him back head over heels into the craft. “Why did you do this?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
A blurry Conway hurried into the craft and shut the door. She jumped over him and plunged into the pilot’s seat. The sinking feeling in his gut told him that the craft had fallen into the sky. A moment later, the craft on autopilot, Conway came and knelt beside him.
“Where shall we go?”
Luke hesitated. He suspected that his wound was a flesh wound and that he’d heal. If it were only that he wouldn’t give granny’s coordinates to Conway, but the way she was, he wasn’t ready to leave the children with her. And he wanted to slough off the thick black hair that covered him if it would cost him his life. He gave her the eleven figure digits and closed his eyes.
CHAPTER 23
A sharp sinking gut feeling meant the ground approached fast. The sound of the opening door came through a mist of pain. Squinting through the rectangular opening, Luke could recognize the quaint façade of granny’s house. He wondered if he’d made a mistake by bringing Conway there. As if she heard his thoughts, she turned sharply.
“Are you sure this place is safe?”
“It’s technically non-existent.”
“I know there’s a protective force field. The resistance built this place, after all. I mean…”
“It’s always on. A robot officer found this place only once in its history because granny turned off the field during maintenance. But I think it’s safe.”
“You’d better hope so, buster.” Conway wagged a finger. “If something happens to the kids…”
“Get them into the house.”
Conway narrowed her eyes at him and then she activated the pneumatic steps. His hand pressed onto his right chest, Luke waited while Conway sent the children out of the craft. When she finished she turned a softer face to him.
“Can you walk?”
“I would if I could.” Luke looked away.
“How am I supposed to get you off this thing into the house, eh?”
“You’ll find an exoskeleton in the vault. They’re old tech but in good working condition.” He gave her the override codes and she marched the kids away.
The seemingly interminable pain in his chest lessened considerably before Conway appeared in the distance. Standing several feet higher on well-sprung metal feet, she bounded closed in three steps. The metal hands telescoped with a thin whine. He winced, the rough floor grating his back as he slit to the doorway.
“I’m sorry. I had to figure out how to start this damn thing. It’s different from the new ones. Petrol powered exoskeletons are to be found only in museums.” She said and heaved.
The metal arms that had nearly broken his ribs under granny’s tender mercies now carried him gingerly. In four steps, Conway reached the house and the door hissed closed.
The kids crowded around and tagged along to the bedroom. Not seeming to recognize him, they were more interested in the whirring noise emanating from the contraption that propelled Conway with such ease. He sank into the bed thankfully. He winced again as Conway turned him over on his back. “Why is he so hairy?” one of the kids asked.
“He fell into a vat of gun and a bad woman covered him with fur.” The children tittered. TheyThey pressed closer as Conway prodded his back. “I think the bullet passed through.”
“Thank goodness the glide car didn’t crash from a leakage.”
The silence was punctuated only by the kid’s soft voices and the exoskeleton servo motors. Conway backed against the wall, turned off the engine, and stepped away. “Sarah, you and the others, go to the dining room. I want to talk to your teacher, Luke.”
“He doesn’t look like Luke. He’s all hairy and big.”
“Darling, he’s Luke all right. Now, go.”
The children trooped out. Conway closed the door and the bed squeaked under her weight.
Luke froze. Her hands moved over his back, around the seat of his pain.
“I guess we can’t ring up the robot doctors. Do you have any medicine in this place? There’s supposed to be a self-use medical facility somewhere in here.”
“There is, but I don’t need it. I’m healing.’
“You can’t be serious.”
“But I am.”
Conway leaned on him, her weight pressing into his back. “The exit hole seems to be closing.”
“Maya said regeneration is the fortunate consequence of the treatment.”
Conway clicked her tongue. “Very fortunate indeed. But I still think you need medical attention, though.”
“I don’t.”
“Where’s the house handheld?”
Luke shifted away from under her and turned on his back. He faced her. “I only need to get this damn hair off me. Then I will find Maya.”
“Maya, of course.” Conway laughed bitterly. “How will you get this much hair off you?”
“You’ll find a large steel pot in the kitchen. It contains a depilatory granny taught me to make. Make sure you don’t put any other metal into it apart from steel.”
Conway returned with the post and a steel scooper. She fetched a cup of the brew.
“Take off your shorts.”
Luke glanced at her. She seemed to be in earnest and time was passing. He clenched his jaw and slipped off the elastic pants. He quickly lay on his belly.
The coldness of the hair removal brew spread from the back of his neck to his arms and lower back and legs. She rubbed it in with her hands.
“Turn over.” She said.
After a short hesitation, Luke turned his eyes tightly shut. He forces himself to think of something else, yet the dampness slithered all over him and between the fingers he used to protect the remnant of his modesty. He thought he heard a chuckle and cracked his eyelid open. The woman lathered away as if it was normal to cover someone with an oozy depilatory.
Conway picked a towel and wiped her hands. “How long before the hair comes off?”
“Twenty minutes, at least.”
“Ok, I’ll be back by then.” She packed the brew pot and scooper and turned.
“Hey.”
She stopped without looking around. “What?”
Luke wanted to ask if she missed Mark. He decided it was too early. “Nothing.”
Twenty minutes later, she returned with a steel spatula and scraped off the hair. The moment she finished, Luke grabbed a bed sheet and covered himself with it. She didn’t laugh at him. She patted his hand instead.
“I’m sorry I shot you, OK?”
He nodded. She’d exited the room before he remembered not to stare.
CHAPTER 24
In a few hours, Luke sat up with only a little pain. He hesitated before he checked himself in the mirror. His entire skin looked pale and new. It was better than being hairy. He needed to go and make sure the shield generator worked fine.
He walked gingerly to the living room, from where the subdued noises of excited children filtered through the doorway. They would be secluded in the place for a while but at least they seemed to be having a good time. Not wanting to attract their attention, he passed the living room and stopped in his stride. Conway stood with her back to him, hands on her waist, facing the murmuring children. They all focused on
an unbelievable scene.
As straight as a wall, Sarah stood with the weight of the left side of the heavy dining table balanced on her forefinger.
Conway nodded. “Lower it, Sarah. Sue, lift the table.”
Amid much tittering, Sue tilted up her side of the table, seemingly with insignificant effort. One by one, obeying Conway’s terse command, each of the kids lifted one end of the table. It was more than enough confirmation that Maya had given them the gorilla gene treatment.
Conway wheeled as he entered the room. She pointed a stiff finger.
“You see what Maya has done to these kids?”
“I saw them lift the table…”
“All because of you.”
Luke stepped closer. “Come on, Maya would have done whatever she wanted to do with anybody. She doesn’t care.”
“But she took them to draw you to her.”
“But she admitted she didn't need me. There must be something else she’s working on, and these children are the subjects of a different experiment.”
“You wouldn’t know that.”
“No, but it's a few days now since she gave them the treatment. You can see their scars are old. By now, they should be having hair all over them. I started growing furry the second day after her injecting me.”
“Conway quickly went closer to the children. She scrutinized John’s hand, and then randomly selected the kids and peered at the black scabs on their arms. She shook her head.
“I don’t see any hair, but the kids are growing, faster than normal, and, believe me, they’re hungry. While you slept, they ate all the food I cooked for them and asked for more.” She placed her hands on her head. “What has Maya done to these innocent children?”
MARK OF THE EARTHWALKER: Evolution Protocol Page 8