Different

by Tony Butler

  Mary opened her mouth to scream. Russell, who’d been expecting it, deftly pushed the rubber ball part of the gag into her open mouth and fastened it behind her head.

  “Oh, don’t worry. You won’t bleed to death. Nathan here knows about tourniquets, he’s had lots of practice. Of course, you’ll feel out of it for a while but later you can watch Nathan feed it to his dogs, before…” He patted her other leg. “Before we cut off this one. I’m sorry I can’t stop and watch, but I have to meet Scott Williams off a plane in an hour. But don’t you mind none, because I’ll be back later to find out how it went!” Laughing, he watched her thrash and struggle against her restraints. Then with a nod to Nathan, he ascended the cellar steps. In the rear of the limousine, he poured himself a stiff drink before ringing Henry to get the authorisation to send in a doctor. A doctor who would have to be killed once he’d examined and treated the freak. Russell would have to find out what had happened to Marcus. He could do with a doctor he could trust.

  * * * *

  Janine dressed entirely in black and, using her new night sight binoculars, watched Russell drive away from the cabin. She had seen him load the body bag into the limousine and wondered whom he’d killed now. She hoped it might be Blake, whose body Russell had heaved unceremoniously in the boot. It had been difficult to resist the temptation to shoot her ex-lover and husband with the highpowered rifle that lay on the grass by her side. Janine was observing him from the hillside and from behind some bushes that were growing about two hundred yards above the cabin. The temptation to blow his head off while she could, had been almost overwhelming, but hadn’t Russell always insisted that close up and personal was the only satisfactory way to kill?

  Look deep into their eyes and feel their terror before you pull the trigger, he used to say. Climbing to her feet, Janine slid the rifle back into its bag and slung it over her shoulder. It was time to have a look at the cabin and find out what the hell that big guy with the dogs was up to. The dogs were in a compound at the side of the cabin. They looked massive but she could tell they were hungry by the way they fought over any scraps of food they found. Janine reached into her backpack and removed the meat from the sealed plastic bag, hoping the guy who’d drugged the meat knew what he was doing, otherwise she would have to shoot the dogs, and that would alert the man in the cabin. Yes, Russell had taught her a lot about killing and she was now going to use what he’d taught her to kill him! Fortunately, in New York, money bought information and contacts who were willing to supply literally anything for a price. Janine thought that she’d got everything she could possibly need.

  The dogs barked briefly when she lobbed the meat over the wire mesh fence of the compound before falling on it with a ferocity that would have been alarming if she’d been on their side of the

  fence. She waited until the first of the dogs slumped onto the dirt before moving closer to the hunting lodge. The other three dogs sank down seconds later and she ran for the door. The cabin seemed empty but Janine could hear the big man humming to himself as she crept down towards the cellar. Drawing her freshly loaded automatic, she switched off the safety and held it out in front of her as she’d been taught. Then she walked through an open door into the basement. There was a naked girl gagged and lying on a large wooden table. Her arms and legs were held apart by restraining straps and the big man was bent over her, winching a leather strap so tight that it bit deep into the flesh of the girl’s thigh, just above her knee. The girl’s head was thrashing from side to side and she was making moaning sounds through her gag. When the big man picked up a stainless steel surgical saw, the girl’s moans and struggles increased.

  “What’s the matter, woman? When I’ve finished humping you, I’m only going to cut off this one.” He laughed and placed the blade of the saw just below the girl’s knee.

  “Drop the saw, shit-head!” Janine advanced towards him, the pistol pointing at his huge chest. She couldn’t miss. “I said drop it!”

  He turned slowly towards her, the saw in his hand, and smiled. “You want to play with Nathan, too?” Without warning and with a speed that belied his size, he threw the saw at her face then leapt toward her.

  Janine desperately threw herself to one side and cried out in pain as the blade of the saw sliced into her ear. His huge hand gripped her throat while his other one crushed her wrist and her pistol fell to the floor.

  “Nathan’s going to fuck you first,” he said, raising her up onto her toes, his spittle spraying into his face.

  “Not today,” Janine gasped and kicked him hard on the nerve at the side of his knee. His leg collapsed and he fell down on one knee, releasing his grip on her throat. She leapt away and then lashed her foot out again, aiming at his nose. Bone crunched and blood sprayed over her boot but Janine was already scooping up her pistol. She backed away from him with her pistol at the ready. Yelling in pain and rage, he rushed towards her and she emptied almost the full clip into him before finally he sank back down to his knees. Nathan stared at her for a long moment and then fell forward onto his face.

  Breathing heavily, Janine freed the girl from her restraints and removed the gag. The girl cried out in pain as blood flowed back into her lower leg, but Janine continued to massage the girl’s leg, ignoring her cries of protest. She kept rubbing and kneading the flesh until colour returned to the limb.

  “Jay! We’ve got to help Jay, she’s sick,” Mary said. Janine recognised the girl now. Mary pointed to a steel door set in the far wall. So Russell had Jay Williams here as well, but not for long, she thought. She would get the girls safely away from here, not for any humanitarian reasons, she told herself. No, she was just putting an end to whatever Russell had planned for them. She helped Mary to draw back the heavy bolts that held the metal door shut and swung it open. Jay lay unmoving on the bed. Mary pushed past her and rushed over to the bed and then stepped back in horror.

  “She’s dead!”

  Janine saw the paleness of the girl’s skin and reached down to touch it. It felt cold and the skin was hard, almost rigid and there was definitely no pulse. Shit, she hoped that whatever killed Jay Williams wasn’t contagious. “Get dressed, Mary,” she said. “We’d better get out of here before Russell comes back.”

  Mary turned to her tearfully. “But we can’t just leave her…”

  Janine hugged the girl. “I know how you feel, but we haven’t any choice. Get dressed now, love. We really have to hurry.”

  Mary started pulling on her clothes and Janine sighed. The girl was beginning to get to her.

  “Compassion is a sign of strength, not weakness, Janine.”

  Janine spun towards the sound of the voice and stared incredulously at Jay Williams, who smiled warmly at her.

  “Jay, you’re alive!” Mary rushed past Janine and then stopped hesitantly in front of her friend. Jay had changed. Janine had already noticed the girl’s serenity and the eyes that seemed almost to glow. Her forehead seemed larger, and even her skin seemed to possess a translucent quality. She seemed almost ethereal.

  “Jay, you look so different,” Mary said hesitantly.

  “Yes, I have become. Finally, I have become myself.” She reached out and fondly stroked Mary’s hair and Janine saw her start as though she’d received some kind of shock. Blue light streamed from Jay’s fingers and swept over Mary’s body. The angry red marks on her wrists, caused by the restraints, and the bruises on her face visibly faded, and she seemed to straighten up a little. Janine felt almost like an intruder as finally the two women embraced and then Jay released Mary, coming to stand in front of her. Jay smiled, reached up and lightly touched her on the cheek. It was as though every nerve in Janine’s body had come alive. She actually felt the cut in her ear close and heal.

  “What are you?”

  “You and the scientists thought that they were awakening the past—a primeval strain. Instead, they accidentally evolved the next stage of human evolution. I am the future.”

  “Well, if we don’t get o
ut of here before Russell and his men return with your cousin, we won’t have any future—”

  “He’s got Scott,” Mary said. “Russell was going to let Nathan rape me, Jay. They were going to cut off my legs and feed them to the dogs!”

  “He’s gone fucking mad!” Janine said bitterly. “He’s completely insane.”

  “You know him.” It was a statement not a question and, looking into Jay’s eyes, Janine knew that it was pointless to lie.

  “I loved him,” she said.

  Jay nodded. “You cannot pull back and change the years, days or even the hours. They are gone and irretrievable. There is only the now and the future for all of us. You are set upon revenge, but your hatred will destroy you. Let it go! Join us and be free!”

  “Fuck you!” Janine said angrily. “I’m going to kill that bastard. Now, are you coming with me or not?”

  “No! Take Mary and keep her safe. I must stay and help Scott.”

  “Jay, come with us, please!” Mary begged. “We’ll go to the police and—”

  “Russell is the head of security for Henry Matheson, who’s being sworn in as the Vice-President of The United-fucking-States of America in three days time. The FBI, CIA, State Police and every other law enforcement agency answer only to him. Russell is the law!” Janine shook her head in exasperation. “It’s about time you two got real! This isn’t a game we’re playing here, and I doubt that being the next generation, or whatever you say you are, makes you bullet proof. The only chance we have is to get out of here now! Before he comes back! Then maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to catch the bastard by surprise.”

  “Mary, go with—” Jay stopped and looked at Janine quizzically. “You never told us your new name?”

  Janine was shaken by that, because there was no way that Jay could know she was using a false name. “Laura, Laura Green. Okay? Now you know. I’m out of here. Are you coming or not?” She glared at Mary.

  Jay hugged them both and then gently stroked Mary’s cheek. “Love you,” she said, and gently pushed her towards Janine. “Go with, Laura. I’ll be alright—I promise.”

  Before Mary could make any further protest, Janine took her wrist and dragged her up the cellar steps. Leaving the cabin, she hurried them towards the car, which she had hidden on a dirt road that ran high up into the pine-strewn hills above the cabin.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Adam awoke feeling suffocated. He was encased in something hard that seemed to be moulded to his body. He recalled unbecoming once Jack and his men had gone, and then he remembered. He’d been about to put his clothes back on when he was suddenly overcome by an irresistible urge to sleep. What had happened to him? Had Jack returned and found him? He strained against whatever it was that held him in its grip and felt it give a little. It was similar to when he’d been trying to breaking free from the ice, except this strange covering seemed less threatening somehow. Inch by inch, he fought to straighten his legs, then suddenly there was a tearing sound and his encasement fell away. Struggling out of it, he stood shakily and looked down to see what appeared to be the shed, semi-transparent skin of a giant snake. It was split from head to foot. He stooped to examine it and saw the mould of his body, blurred but definitely human. He felt a little wobbly as though he’d slept for a long time, but otherwise he seemed to be fine. Puzzled, he pulled on his shirt and it felt uncomfortably tight. Adam wondered if there had been a rainstorm. Perhaps the shirt had got wet and shrunk. It seemed dry enough now though. His trousers were too short and his shoes too small. “Bloody hell,” he said aloud. “They haven’t shrunk, it’s me—

  I’ve grown!” That really was a shed skin that he’d emerged from – his own!

  Wearing only his underpants, Adam loped silently through the trees towards the Williams’

  house, which seemed deserted, and his senses assured him that he was alone. There was an electronic lock fitted to the front door and Adam studied it for a few seconds, then pressed a selection of buttons set into the body of the lock. The lock clicked and the door opened. Primitive, he thought. Standing in what was obviously Scott’s bedroom, Adam studied his reflection in the mirror. He’d grown taller by about six inches and his body was lean and well muscled. It was an older and more assured face that stared back at him. He now looked more like his true age. His forehead seemed slightly more pronounced and he was aware of the energy all around him. He could even detect the faint humming of electricity that flowed through the cables around the room. For a while he examined the world around him as though for the first time, reaching out with his mind to explore and savouring his new perception. He was aware of the poor design of the electrical equipment that wasted so much energy. A few simple modifications and…but there was no time for that now, he had to find Jay and the others.

  After rifling through Scott’s wardrobe, he dressed quickly before returning downstairs to the kitchen.

  An hour and a couple of ham sandwiches later, the microwave oven, toaster and the television lay dismantled on the work surface. Adam placed the final component he needed into the casing of a small electric drill that he’d modified and deftly soldered it into place. Inserting the small cadmium battery that he’d removed from a portable CD player, Adam screwed the drill casing back together and weighed the contraption in his hand. He thought it weighed about five ounces. Putting the drill into its pouch on the tool belt that was now strapped around his waist, Adam spent three hours carrying out modifications on Scott’s Chevrolet before he heard the rumble of heavy trucks. Taking the oxidization gun out of the pouch, Adam ran outside and saw armed State troopers crouching behind barriers. The driveway was now completely blocked by military trucks. He mimed drilling a hole in the wooden main support beam of the porch, looking unconcerned by all the firepower that was pointing in his direction. He heard footsteps on the gravel and studiously ignored them as he continued to apparently use the drill.

  “Drop the drill and put your hands on your head, now!”

  Adam turned towards the barked command as though in surprise, his hands raised as though in surrender, the drill swinging in a wide arc as he turned.

  There was pandemonium.

  Troops found their weapons disintegrating in their hands and their trucks collapsing into rusting metal flakes. The men brushed frantically at the bits of metal that used to be helmets, which now invaded their eyes and slipped between the collars of their shirts to mingle with the remains of their dog-tags. Some men were knocked over by the tyres from the trucks that were no longer fastened to wheels.

  In all the confusion, Adam walked unnoticed back into the garage and, climbing into the Chevrolet, he gunned the engine and roared up the drive, making the troops leap for safety. He roared around tyres, windscreens that lay on the ground edged in rubber, and then he was clear. Winding down the window, he aimed the drill ahead of him and passed more scenes of chaos because of the devastating effect of his weapon.

  He wondered how the military would react now that they could not communicate with each other or call for assistance, as all the wiring and components in their telephones and radios had been destroyed. The oxidisation gun was so simple really. It drew oxygen out of the air and released it under intense pressure rather like a laser beam. Because all metal was contaminated to a degree by oxidisation and the effect of concentrated bombardment of the gas, it sped up the process to milliseconds instead of years.

  It’s just knowing how, he thought, as he sped west along the freeway. He would keep to the speed limit until dark, before transferring power to the new rotary linear engine that would power the car’s wheels in excess of two hundred miles an hour. The foils that ran the length of the vehicle’s body to keep it from rising off the road gave the car a distinctly alien look. Not that it mattered –

  nothing was going to stop him from reaching Jay and the others. He could sense her more with each passing mile and, abandoning caution, he switched engines. The car leapt forward, silent except for the wheel noise. Adam promised
himself that he’d eliminate that later too. The car was rocketing along when he saw the flashing lights of a pursuing traffic car in his rearview mirror. He slid the power lever forward and was jerked back in his seat as the Chevrolet surged forward. Immediately the lights of his pursuers receded and then vanished from sight. Grinning, Adam drove towards the setting sun.

  * * * *

  Russell and his men arrived back at the cabin just before 11am. Rebecca Carlyle and Scott Williams sat apprehensively in the back seat with their hands shackled behind them. Russell had laughed as he told them that one of Mary’s legs had been amputated and that he would make them all join her and watch the dogs eat it.

  “Oh, you can refuse to watch of course,” he said without humour. “But if you do, I guess I’ll just have to cut off her other leg, or maybe an arm!”

  “You’re insane!” The woman hissed as she glared at him, struggling ineffectually with her manacles. Russell decided that he would enjoy cutting her up personally. He could see the despair in the Scott’s eyes as the younger man realised he was powerless to protect himself, let alone the women. He decided that he’d force Scott to kneel in front of him and then slit his throat as a warning to the women to do exactly what she was told.

  Russell was half out of the car before he sensed something was wrong and it took him a few seconds to realise that he couldn’t hear the dogs. Drawing his automatic, he turned towards the compound and saw that the gate was open. Nathan’s dogs were gone and the cabin door was open.

  “Blake, you come with me!” he barked. “The rest of you check out the back and shoot anything that moves, and I mean anything!” He waited until the other men disappeared around the far side of the cabin. They were carrying enough firepower to cope with the freak if she was there, he thought. Cocking his gun, Russell gestured to Blake and cautiously they walked towards the open door. Russell, holding his pistol in a two handed grip, flattened himself against the rough log-wall a few inches from the doorway on his right. He nodded to Blake who spun with the gun held in his extended arms, pointing into the opening.