R.E.birth

by Thomas W. Everson

I roll over, opening my eyes in an attempt to alleviate the spinning sensation, but I cannot get it to stop. Feeling nauseous, I sit up again but find myself losing grip on reality. Completely restless I feel like my body is on fire and I cannot speak. Ami stands up and I see her trying to talk to me but a ringing in my ears blocks her out. My vision goes black and when I open them again I am lying down and Agatha and Ami are hovering over me, placing cool, wet cloths all over my body.

  I can hear them talking now but their voices seem muffled. Agatha looks directly at me and I can read her mouth asking ‘can you hear me?’ but when I attempt to move my arm to respond and find myself immobilized.

  Panic begins to set in and my eyes begin to move left and right rapidly on their own. My body begins convulsing and I’m powerless to control it. Ami and Agatha do their best to keep me from falling to the floor by placing themselves on the edge of my bed and letting me convulse against their bodies. Sound comes in clearly for just a brief moment and I can hear Agatha.

  “His fever is causing a seizure! We need to cool his core down now! Bring him to the shower!”

  Picking me up by my feet and under my arms I feel nothing except my body spasm against their hold. Carefully they bring me from my room and down the stairs. With Agatha heading down first with my feet I fear for their safety, unable to control how I am moving right now. Agatha stumbles and nearly falls back first down the stairs.

  “Careful Mother!”

  “I am fine! We need to hurry or he is going to die!”

  My vision goes black and when my sight comes back I am in the shower while Ami soaks me, clothes and all, with the shower. Agatha disappears through the bathroom door and soon returns with towels, draping them over my entire body, all but my face. The tub fills with the water and I become encased. I lose my sight again but when it returns they are still there soaking me down. My body has ceased its convulsions and my mind drifts away as I lose consciousness.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  When I open my eyes again I feel a slight sense of disembodiment and wonder if I had died. But as my eyes adjust I find that I am just in a dark room. It’s not mine though. A light briefly floods in from my immediate right when a door is opened, and turning my head I find that I am in Ami’s room. Ami’s silhouette moves through the room and she comes to rest on the bed next to me.

  Straining to sit up I find that every muscle in my body hurts as there is a residual feeling of that built up pressure, but I’m in full control of my body again. As I let out a large grunt, Ami places her hand on my shoulder and settles me back to the bed gently.

  “Shh. Don’t get up Rain.”

  “Ami…Ami?” My voice comes out strained and hoarse.

  “I’m here Rain. You’re going to be okay.”

  “What happened?”

  “You had a fever and it spiked so high you had a seizure. But we got it under control with the shower. We are not sure why, but you should be fine now.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Three days.”

  “No…this cannot be…” the realization that time is running out hits me and my work is not complete. “Has Eve come?”

  “Not yet, but it’s okay. Mother and I finished the traps together and placed the cloth over them like I assume you wanted.”

  “It’s not enough. That will only slow them down, I have to do something else.” I fear that I will not be able to save them in my current state.

  “It will be okay. If it is Lady Eve we can try to appease her by giving her our supplies and then we will just survive until we are pulled through time again.”

  “Why do you still call her Lady Eve? It’s a self-imposed, undeserved title,” I grumble.

  “I’m not sure. Habit I guess.” She runs her fingers through my hair.

  “Why am I in your bed?”

  “After we knew you were safe for the moment we dried you off and brought you in here. We wanted to keep you near the shower in case you had another episode.” She brushes my cheek with the back of her hand.

  “Wait. You dried me off?” I ask a little alarmed.

  “I…uh…yes?” She says, understanding what I am getting at and looks away.

  “You didn’t take off my clothes did you?”

  “We kind of had to Rain, but don’t worry, I didn’t look!”

  “I am mortified. How embarrassing is it that I had to be stripped and dried?!” I turn away from her.

  She says she didn’t see me naked, but someone had to. If not Ami then Agatha.

  “I understand Rain, I would feel the same way, but I know if the situation were reversed you would do everything to make sure I survived first and worried about embarrassing situations later, as well as not looking.” She lies down behind me with her face in the nape of my neck and her arm wrapped around me.

  If she says she didn’t look I’ll take her word for it. I would rather have Agatha, someone who’s like my mother, have seen me than Ami who’s more like a best friend or romantic interest.

  “So what happens now?” I ask.

  “You get better and save us,” Ami says playfully, her warm breath causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end while I shiver.

  “I’ll try,” I close my eyes and drift off again.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “Rain! They’re here!” Ami bursts in the kitchen door frantically.

  Using the roof as a lookout while performing regular cleaning of the solar panels, Ami and Agatha have been keeping an eye out for movement and it has finally come. I place my fork on the plate in front of me, having just finished my breakfast and push up off of my chair, grabbing my newly sewn white cloak from the back of it and tossing it over my shoulders.

  I was beginning to wonder if maybe they couldn’t find their way here, or if they were even coming at all. I don’t know if I can fend them off until the vortex takes us.

  I make my way out of the house quickly, flipping the white reflective hood up over my head and I put my feet into my shoes, making sure the sand attachments are snuggly in place. Ami follows me back outside, retrieving the ladder from against the side of the house and collapsing it to its compact form. Ami, Agatha and I walk to the deep trench and we lay it across as a bridge. Once on the other side I turn back to them.

  “Pull it back and go inside,” I tell them firmly.

  “Be careful Rain. Don’t over work yourself. And take this water bottle.” Ami tosses me a bottle from the pocket of her pants.

  “Do not come to my aid,” I tell them. “If I have to die out there to make sure you are safe, I will.”

  “Rain, don’t talk like that,” Agatha scolds me.

  “I am not playing around.” I frown. “I am going to do everything that I can to keep you two safe.”

  “Rain, please…” Ami tries but I shake my head at her.

  Watching, I wait for them to retreat into the house before I make the climb up the sand dune I have visited so frequently these past few weeks. With my eyes against the landscape I cannot tell where I had placed the holes, finding that Ami and Agatha had done a tremendous job in hiding them with a layer of sand. Beyond the immediate smaller dunes, on a plain just a little bit to the right of our original course I can see a single wagon making its way here and I can tell there are dozens of people with it. The people are split in half on the two sides of the wagon as well as an uncountable amount underneath pushing it. Knowing that I can see them, I’m certain they can see me as my white cloak glistens in the sunlight.

  Nothing says ‘come get me’ better than standing in one spot with my arms crossed and tapping your foot impatiently waiting for a whole caravan of people to reach you. With every step they take my heart beats a little faster and even more so when Eve pokes out from the front side of the wagon. Our eyes meet and even at this distance I can see she is furious.

  They come to a stop a few hundred yards out from the traps and she stands perched on the edge of t
he wooden platform. I drop my hood, smile and wave excitedly just to get her blood boiling. She makes a brief glance down to the group and when I follow the direction of her gaze I find Kohan. Her voice rings out but at this distance I cannot discern the words. Her attention reverts back to me.

  “Come on, move closer,” I mumble while crossing my arms again, having positioned myself so they will walk into the traps as they come for me.

  Her arms begin flailing and she motions for them to advance once again. They do as ordered and their speed picks up. As they get closer I can see that they have their rifles tucked in at their sides, likely loaded and ready to shoot at me. But they move forward instead of shooting and Kohan leads the wagon and the small army right toward the traps. Eve stays steady through the bumping by propping one leg up on a wooden beam, leaning forward and crossing her arms.

  Keep coming.

  I put my arms straight out as if to embrace them as they near; they’re so close now. As they near the edges of the first two pits my heart begins to beat faster and I can see the wagon’s wheel lining up to hit the first hole. A smirk crosses my face, one I know that Eve and everyone else can see, and as it touches the cloth covered void my grin gets wider. The sand begins to sink inward under the weight of the wagon and starts to roll to its side. Eve screams in shock as she is thrown down into the pit. As the sand begins to collapse inward, several servants from underneath and to the side are pulled in as well. The wagon tips far enough that it falls completely onto its side and the cries can be heard as they fall in and the sand sinks around them. Several scramble to jump away while others are sucked down in. Attempting to rush me, more are caught off guard by the other two traps.

  Now is my chance to strike.

  I let out a bestial roar and break into a sprint toward those left standing. In disarray they are either too distracted in helping those who fell in the holes or are too shocked to notice me coming. Without any one to block me I dart around the first hole and aim my right shoulder into a man who is trying to help another out of the pit. Connecting hard with him causes both of them to go tumbling to the bottom. Spinning around and slamming the bottom of my foot into the stomach of one of Eve’s bandits who is behind me puts him back first into the sand and before he can retaliate I grab his gun and lob it over a nearby sand dune.

  “GET ME OUT OF THIS HOLE!” Eve bellows.

  A few men mobilize against me with their rifles pointed but I refuse them the opportunity to fire by sprinting into the middle of them and throwing my fists and knees around. I hammer one in the ribs with a quick succession of blows and then spin around and grab another who tries to put the knife of his gun to my back.

  Grabbing the barrel I rip it from his hands and grab his arm, pulling it up behind his back and yanking hard to dislocate it. Another comes upon me and puts the butt of a rifle in my back, but I find that I am able to ignore the pain easily enough. Reaching back, I grab the attacker by his shirt and head-butt him directly on his nose, shattering it. A gunshot is heard and I protect myself with the man whose nose I just broke and he arches, hit in the back.

  Using his body as a shield I run at the direction of the fire and lob the body, sending the dead man and the attacker to the bottom, but I am caught off guard and shoved from behind. Tumbling down I fall into a few men trying to get back out and when we hit I find myself on the bottom of the pile. Pushing hard with my arms to try and muscle out, I find struggling against three men and the soft sand is too much. Captured, the three men hoist me out of the hole to another group of Eve’s minions and she too has made it out of her hole, finding her way over to me.

  “Don’t you move!” Her voice rings with hatred.

  Surrounded by raiders, their guns aimed directly at me, I am held by my arms, stretched out to the side for her to do what she will against me. She circles like a vulture as she had before and though I have been defeated I speak to her smugly.

  “Long time no see Eve.” My grin is wide.

  “That’s Lady Eve to you, worm.” She punches me in the stomach.

  Coughing while fighting back vomiting, I find an opportunity to goad her more. “Aww, is that how you treat the man you wanted so bad?”

  “Shut your mouth. Did you think I wouldn’t find out that you were still alive? How did you escape?”

  I spit at her feet and give her a dirty look, provoking her to kick me in the ribs.

  “Now, instead of being my lover and my second in command you’re going to die, but not until I kill Ami in front of you,” her threat is convincing.

  “I won’t allow it,” I wheeze.

  “You can’t stop me! You are but a single man who thought he could outsmart and out-fight a small army. You had no chance of winning.”

  As I am under her control, I take her threat seriously and struggle against those holding my arms tightly. My mind reels in an attempt to thwart this situation from happening.

  The two men holding me don’t have their guns. The one on my left is large enough to be used as a shield if they do fire on me. I don’t want to kill anyone but I will to save Ami. In fact the only way this is going to stop now is if I get a rifle and begin firing.

  “I can and will stop you Eve,” I calm myself and retort.

  She reaches over and slaps me across the face then paces away. “No, you won’t.”

  With a quick motion, I slide my leg over to my right and wrap my foot around one captor’s, pulling it out from under him while yanking with my arm. He loosens his grip and I’m able to get my arm free, swinging quickly to slam the other man in the gut. Free of their grip, I jump behind him quickly and shove him forward into Eve. Another shot is fired and it misses my head nearly, whirring by me, and I dive to roll behind one of the men with a rifle. Under his legs I jump back up just as another shot is fired and I use him as a shield, snatching his gun and opening fire. They scatter back a little bit, but quickly begin firing back and the man I am using as a shield is hit multiple times.

  “Don’t back off, shoot him! I don’t care anymore!” Eve cries out.

  I look down and train my sight on her. “Hey Eve! If I get shot, you get shot too!”

  As men circle around me, my shield no longer useful, Eve hesitates. She raises her hand to halt them and glares at me.

  “I don’t want to do it Eve, but if I have to in order to protect my family, I will,” my threat rings out in the silence. “You can just turn around and head back to wherever you came from and no one else has to get hurt.”

  “I can’t do that. You have humiliated me and you no doubt have supplies that we can plunder,” she yells.

  “If you want the supplies, you can have them, but my family stays out of this.” I slowly stand up, keeping the gun trained on her head.

  “We could have been family Rain. I wanted to be your wife.” She crosses her arms and I can see her eyes well.

  “You didn’t know me. You still don’t. You couldn’t possibly want to be my wife for any reason other than for me to be your trophy.”

  “I’m a woman who knows what she wants. If I can’t have you, then no one will!”

  I hear guns cocking, ready to fire at me. With my sight trained directly on Eve’s face I try to strengthen my resolve to actually pull the trigger if I need to.

  Can I really do this? Am I destined to just be violent?

  “Kohan. Go get Ami and the other woman. We’ll execute them all together and take their supplies,” Eve commands.

  “Don’t you dare Eve. Don’t you bring them into this.”

  “It’s too late Rain. When you rejected me, you brought this upon them too.”

  “Wait. Wait! I have a proposal! You could leave with me and the supplies we have, but you have to leave Ami and her mother alone,” I bellow out and Kohan stops to look at Eve.

  “You would insult me further by pretending you have the power to bargain? You have lost! Why would I gamble on your proposal?”

  “If Kohan moves, I will pull this trigger. You and I will d
ie in this desert and Kohan can take the supplies and leave.” I keep the trigger squeezed just enough to not fire the rifle. “He has no reason to harm them.”

  Looking back, Kohan waits for another command to move. Eve puts her hands on her hips and sighs, staring me down and I can tell that she is giving it thought. She waves her hand at everyone to lower their weapons, but even though they have I keep mine trained on her.

  “What is your proposal?” she scoffs.

  “You and I duel. No weapons. Just us. If you can defeat me, you get to keep me and take all of the supplies from the house that you can.”

  “How arrogant. Thinking I would still want you.” She snubs her nose at me, but I can see her eyes are still directly on me and she’s buying it.

  The tension in the air is high as she thinks about it and I know with her overconfidence in her physical prowess it is too good a deal for her to pass up. While I can acknowledge that I am being arrogant, if only to myself, I know that she will go for it because she’s the obsessive type and won’t give up until she has what she desires. Eve lets out a low growl.

  “Fine, if I win I take you as my personal slave and the supplies are mine,” she says, a confident smile finally returning to her face.

  “And if I win, you leave and we never see you again.” I grin back.

  “Sounds like a deal. Drop the gun and let’s go now,” she says, trying to coerce me from the only thing keeping me alive.

  “I’m afraid that’s not how this is going to work. As soon as I drop the gun I die, so here’s what we are going to do. You will stand right there while your people retreat several hundred yards away.” I let that arrogance shine, the tide tipped in my favor for a brief moment. “When I know that I will not be shot, then we can have our duel.”

  “And what’s to stop you from killing me once they are that far away?” She honestly questions me.

  “If I wanted you dead, you would be dead right now, even knowing that it would cost me my life.” I blink rapidly to rehydrate my eyes against the arid desert air.

  “Fine,” she says while moving around and I keep my scope trained on her. “You heard him! Get out of here! Grab a few tents and some food from the wagon and go set up.”