The Romero Strain (Book 2): The Dead, The Damned & The Darkness

by Ts Alan

  James could not afford to be locked up. He had come to the armory to see if any of his 69th Infantry Regiment compatriots were still alive, explain his absence to Colonel Travis, and appeal to his sense of fairness and understanding as both a commanding officer and as a friend in hopes of securing aid and assistance. This was not about his welfare but that of others. The lieutenant knew it was in the best interest of those others to cooperate, and perhaps in doing so he could still complete his mission with the assistance of the man who now controlled the armory.

  “Very well,” James agreed.

  J.D opened a thick file folder that lay in front of him.

  “It states in your file that your MOS was Transportation Officer. It also says you were awarded a Medal of Valor in 2007 for going above and beyond the call of duty and were also given a service commendation in 2011 from Colonel Travis for outstanding duty. Furthermore, I see you are a certified kick box instructor. But none of this tells me why a soldier with such an exemplary service record failed to report to duty.” It was perplexing to J.D. why a model officer with such noted courage and dedication to duty would betray everything he stood for. “You abandoned your regiment and your country in a time of catastrophic need. Why?”

  “It’s not what you think. I’m not a coward. I had to take up a defensive position in the Hearst Publishing building.”

  “And why there?” J.D. asked, knowing something was off with his answer.

  “Sir?”

  “Why that particular building, Lieutenant? Did you randomly pick it or was there reason you ended up there?”

  “I was protecting some civilians.”

  “So you’re stating that you decided, for no apparent reason, to go back up town, randomly pick a building to take up a defensive position so you could help a bunch of book editors instead of reporting directly to base as ordered? Is that what you’re telling me?!”

  “More or less,” James replied.

  “More or less. Interesting phrase more or less. It always seems to be used by those who are underplaying or exaggerating facts. So, which is it? Because according to the colonel, he spoke with you at approximately 1300 hours and he stated you were on 23rd Street and 10th Avenue and expected you shortly, but you never arrived and were unresponsive to his calls. That sounds like cowardice to me, unless you have another explanation for why you failed to report and chose to save a random bunch of strangers.”

  James did have a legitimate reason for never making it to the armory. He knew that Colonel Travis would have understood, and though he knew that what he had done was a court martial offense, he was pretty sure the colonel would have been sympathetic and only charged him with being absent without leave not desertion. However, he knew nothing about the man wearing the sunglasses and wasn’t sure if he would be sympathetic to his reason.

  “If I am candid with you,” James Alexander began, “would you answer one question truthfully for me?”

  “Do you one better, I’ll answer yours first.”

  “If I had been a civilian and came to this base would you have offered me comfort and aid?” James asked.

  J.D. was surprised at the question; it wasn’t what he had been expecting.

  “That’s not a question I can answer with a simple yes or no. Not all are welcome. There are those that would take this base by force or subterfuge in order to control and deprive those in need of food, shelter, and medical attention. There are those who have tried, and I’m sure will try again. Those are the ones that we fight against, the ones that wish others harm, and that is why you sit before me. I need to know if you are one of those who wish their fellow man ill will or do you stand with what is moral and right. With that said, if you are a survivor and need help, that is why we are still here, and that is why we shine the beacon nightly.”

  James was satisfied with how J.D. had answered his question, and conveyed his story to the self-proclaimed leader of the armory in hopes the man would agree to help him. A half-hour later he and J.D. left the armory to save the Hearst Tower survivor group.

  11

  The Greenhouse

  October 20, Day 195.

  The nine survivors were weak, hungry and frail but alive. Their situation could have been worse. They could have been dead if it had not been for James’ military training, ingenuity, and his great determination to stay alive. James’ group was on their way to full recoveries with the help of Doctor France. Liz, too, had survived and was told that though there would be some permanent hair loss and scarring to her scalp, it could have been fatal if it hadn’t been for Lieutenant Alexander’s first aid skills.

  With the survivors secure at the armory, J.D. and James returned to Hearst Tower two days later. It was James’ desire to find his wife and see what happened to her, and to see if she had birthed the child she had been carrying. Though J.D. had caught scent of her several times, after several hours of searching they could not locate her. J.D. knew Ann-Marie was being elusive for a reason. He believed it was the scent of human from James.

  As he and James started their departure, J.D. had an uneasy sensation that something was watching them. Rotating his head around, he scanned the interior, but could not find the source of his anxiety. James was too engrossed in his thoughts to notice J.D.’s 180-degree head rotation. As the two walked down the motionless escalator back to the lobby, J.D. realized what was causing his unease; he was being observed by a transmute. Though he couldn’t smell James’ wife, he was certain she was near. J.D. kept moving. It was best not to let James know Ann-Marie was watching them, especially since the creature had not made its presence known.

  However, Ann-Marie and the child were ever present in James’ mind. James stopped at the bottom of the steps. “Colonel,” he addressed J.D. “I can’t leave. Not without knowing. With your permission, I’d—”

  “Negative, Lieutenant,” J.D. interrupted, knowing full well what James was going to request.

  “Colonel, please? I’m sure I can find her on my own. I just need more time.”

  “Lieutenant, you’re not going to find her,” J.D. told him. “She doesn’t want you to.”

  “You can’t know that, sir.”

  “I do,” J.D. said, and then revealed, “I caught their scent several times, but she is evading us, hiding, afraid.”

  “Their scent?” James questioned, like he needed confirmation that he had heard J.D. correctly. “Then I need to find them, more than ever.”

  “Lieutenant, she’s not afraid of me, she’s afraid of you. You reek of human,” J.D. told him like it was a bad thing. “I prefer not to have a dead lieutenant or a dead mother and child on my hands, and one of those outcomes is what will happen if you go hunting them down. She won’t react well to your presence, especially if you corner her.”

  “With all due respect, I don’t believe that will happen. Luci isn’t afraid of you. And you made a child together. I don’t even know if my child is a boy or girl.”

  J.D. had told James about Luci and her pregnancy, but he hadn’t discussed it with him in great detail. Now he was going to have to clarify the uniqueness of his own situation so James could better understand. “Okay, James, rank aside,” J.D. began. “Yes, Luci and I are going to have a child together. But you’re not me. You’re not part transmute. Being part transmute is the reason why I am more of a curiosity than a threat to them. Besides Luci…” J.D. paused momentarily knowing to fully explain the difference between the two transmutes sexes, and how Luci even differed from the few other female transmutes he had encountered, was a long conversation better suited for another time. “Let’s just say Luci isn’t like any other transmutes I’ve confronted. Luci is unique.

  If you find Ann-Marie and your child, and if you manage not to get yourself attacked in the process, then what? You think it’s going to be a happy reunion, and you’re going to bring them back to the armory and live happily ever after? Thi
nk again. She’s no longer human, James. She may have a fleeting recollection of you, but the memories of that life together are gone, and I can’t allow you to endanger the armory by bringing her back—and before you tell me I did so with Luci, let me remind you of this: There’s a reason why she remains away upstairs with me, and that’s because she is aggressive toward most humans. As for my unborn child, not even Doctor France has any clue to whether she’ll have the capacity to socialize with humans.”

  “But, J.D., I just can’t forget them. I have a child. I want my child to be a part of my life.”

  “Then are you willing to kill Ann-Marie in order for you to be with your child? Because there’s no way in hell she’s going to let you take the baby from her.”

  James was silent.

  “I didn’t think so,” J.D. confirmed, acknowledging James’ silence as a sign he would be unable to kill his wife. Even if James had it in him, J.D. would never allow it. The child needed its transmute mother if it were going to survive, not a human father rearing it.

  However, J.D. knew that James was not going to easily forget his wife or the baby he had never seen. His love for them would not allow it, and J.D. was certain James would eventually attempt to make contact, a reunion that would more than likely end in tragedy. J.D. had a resolution to the dilemma. It was a solution he hoped would give James some resolution and comfort, and that was to act as guardian over them.

  “I can only offer you this,” J.D. began to explain. “I can act as their guardian. I can watch over them, bring them food, and if I see either is ill, as a paramedic, I will treat them using the best of my medical ability. I will tell you about my visits with them, and if it is at all possible, I will teach your child English, and perhaps one day you’ll be able to talk to him or her as a father to a son or daughter.” J.D. extended his hand and said, “I give you my word and my hand on it. Do you accept?”

  James knew that everything J.D. had told him was true, and that the possibility of a family life or being a part of raising his infant was not presently viable. There was no other alternative but to accept J.D.’s offer, so he did, accepting J.D.’s hand and pledge.

  “Good then,” J.D. confirmed. “Now Lieutenant we get back to business.”

  12

  Mommy’s Little Monster

  While J.D. locked himself away for thee days after being shot, Luci spent her time patiently sitting on the floor outside of J.D.’s room waiting for his acknowledgement. Ryan had brought her a clean shirt to wear, spread out a blanket, given her an extra one to cover herself, and even a pillow. He had never been sure if Luci actually had lain down, for every time he passed by, or had brought her a meal—though she never ate anything—she had been sitting clutching her bent knees with her head tilted slightly, carefully watching him. Ryan had even gone so far as to explain how to get to the bathroom. It appeared to Ryan that Luci was pinning for J.D. He was certain there was sadness in her face, like an aching of the heart perhaps, though Doctor France insisted she was incapable of such feelings.

  J.D. knew Luci was outside his door. Ryan had told him so while helping to change his bandages. However, Ryan’s revelation to her “condition” was a bit overwhelming to J.D. It was true he had repeated unprotected sex with her after he saved her life, but it never crossed his mind that he could impregnate her, nor had Doctor France brought up that possibility during their conversation about his intercourse with her, while they were still at the GCC.

  J.D. tried to clear his mind of all that had transpired in the past 24 hours through meditation, but to his discontent he could not. He feared if he were unable to find his center and balance his chi, he would not be able to mend his soul, but moreover to purge the dark, disturbing urges he felt at the pier that continued to haunt him.

  ***

  Luci was in the shower when he finally returned, after successfully rescuing James’ group. She immediately came to the archway of the bathroom, forgetting to turn off the water. Her enlarged and rounded belly exposed, she stood peering at him sniffing the air, taking in J.D.’s scent. She screeched at him with piercing intensity. J.D. called back to her. She charged him, her wet nakedness striking him down. She tore at his clothes, ripping his shirt open, only to reveal his Dragonskin body armor. Luci pounded on his chest in frustration and discontent to the second layer he was wearing. He pushed her off, and then pinned her to the floor. Her scent was strong. Her body exuded a far more intoxicating smell than he remembered. He knelt before her spread legs, her vagina moist with anticipation. J.D. pulled off his shirt and body armor and tossed it to the floor. He frantically tried to unbuckle and unbutton his BDU pants, but his nails were getting in the way. Luci grew impatient. He stood up to de-pants himself, forgetting that he was still wearing boots. When his pants reached his ankles, he realized what he had forgotten, but it was too late. Luci had waited long enough. She stood swiftly and charged again, pushing him backward, off his feet, and down onto the bed. She was slightly irritated; he still had on his underwear. She ripped it from him.

  Underwear was strange to her. Clothes were strange to her. Luci didn’t need clothes. Her grey hide-like skin protected her for the most part, but there was an area remaining that still was her human skin, and though the skin’s pigmentation had changed slightly to a light grey, it was still soft and supple. That portion of her body began directly underneath the larynx running down the front of her shoulders, around her full breasts, down the edge of the rib cage, into the pubic area and partially into the crease of her inner thighs, essentially covering her chest, abdomen and groin.

  The sight of her voluptuous breasts with their enlarged nipples, and her swollen belly made him tremble with an urgency to penetrate her. He had been erect the moment she had pushed him to the floor, and Luci had waited too long to feel him inside. She mounted him and violently drove herself up and down on his engorged cock. He tried to sit up in order to push her off. He wanted to be the dominant one. He wanted to mount her. Except she refused his advances, and pushed him back down. When he tried again she forced him back, this time digging her talons into the front of his shoulders, letting him know that she was not going to have any of his male domination. It had been his own fault; she had learned quickly from him. It had been J.D. who had reacquainted her with sexual pleasure and the female orgasm.

  The return of his Luci had helped to relieve his anguish and satisfy the physical side of his sexual needs. With Luci, though, it was not love. Nonetheless, the sex between them was still vigorous and rough, interspersed with moments of true tenderness, an intimacy that the doctor insisted Luci was incapable of due to neurological changes in both size and function of the overall frontal and temporal lobes of all transmute brains. However, France was not as intimately acquainted as J.D. was with Luci’s sexual proclivities and emotions.

  The sex was frequent. The sex was intensely gratifying. Then Caitlin was born, and the sex ended.

  ***

  The birth of his daughter brought happiness and joy back into his life. She was physically less like a transmute than her mother but still retained a transmute appearance. She was also very much like her mother in human characteristics. She was born with eyes as blue as a gas flame, and as beautiful and brilliant as a benitoite gemstone. Her hair color, too, was like Luci’s, though more lustrous. She was her mother’s daughter, with little, if any, resemblance to her father. Nonetheless, there was no doubt the child was his.

  Ryan had helped with the birth, since Luci would not allow the doctor near her. It was for the best as she had every reason to want to kill the doctor. France had been the one to oversee the experiments on her. He was the one who had changed her from human to transmute, though that had not been the intention, but rather a phenomenon. Ryan became the child’s godfather and secondary protector, and she would eventually call Ryan ‘Elty Ryan’, her own personal acronym for Lieutenant Ryan Duncan.

  Luci had given birth quickly a
nd effortlessly. Though she had carried her child for nearly seven months, their daughter had been born full-term. She was born early in the morning of October 31st. This to him this was a sign of fortune for she had been born on the ancient Celtic festival day known as Samhain, or what most called Halloween, which is sometimes regarded as the Celtic New Year. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundary between the living and the deceased dissolves, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaging crops. In a way, she was a child of dissolved boundaries. She was neither transmute nor human, and yet she was more human than her mother and more transmute than her father. To J.D. she was the perfect mixture of both.

  She was not weak like a human child. Caitlin weighed nearly nine pounds at birth, and had grown at an exceptional rate in just a few short weeks due to her inherited Spotted Owl DNA. France had told him that birds of prey were the fastest growing vertebrates and if her growth rate was anything like an owl, it was possible that in 8-9 weeks she could be walking. Although France had given him the why to the rapid growth he could not tell him how it would affect her life span. It deeply concerned him, but much like his own condition, there was nothing that could be done.

  Caitlin was also born muscular. A lean, hard frame much like her father’s. Her facial features were less pronounced than Luci’s. Her teeth were less jagged. She had ears, unlike her mother who had just nubs, though Caitlin’s had not fully formed. Caitlin also had human flesh, pink and supple in the same area where Luci’s was light grey, and light bluish grey where Luci’s skin was hide-like and darker. Her fingers were like her father’s, not elongated, and eventually, when her talons would grow out, they would be slightly shorter in length, but still as lethal as J.D.’s. Like her mother and father, she had the ability to rotate her head 180 degrees, though she did inherit her mother’s mildly elongated neck. She would grow equal in strength to both her parents, though her stealth and agility would be attributed to Luci, her cunning and intellect would be derived from her father. She also had the ability to quickly heal from injuries. As for the sexual aspect of her female gender, time would only tell if she was as sexually driven as her parents were. However, this was far from J.D.’s mind as he gently held his newborn in his arms, ogling over the perfect child he and Luci had conceived. Well, almost.