by Jill Cooper
All of which was true, but Jenna just wanted to keep her head down for once and just get the job done. She was doing her best to keep her eye on the prize.
The officer cleared his throat and then Jenna hopped out of the driver’s seat and led him over to the back of the rig. She unlocked it and with a flip of her wrist the latch came free. The rear door went sailing up and boomed as it hit the roof.
“Satisfied?” Jenna snarled.
The guard stood beside her with a smile, but Jenna felt something pushing into the back of her vest. The douchebag was holding her at gunpoint. “Completely.”
“What’s going on here, officer?”
“Oh, now you show me a little respect.” He laughed. “I don’t think so, Morgan. Some of us might be grateful for what you did, but some of us liked what Alistar was doing. Glistenings are monsters and you’d turn on us for them?” He shoved her toward the cargo. “Get your ass in there and let’s see what they do to you once I take off their restraints.”
“My first impression was right about you.” Jenna said dryly. “You are an asshole.”
The guard hit her over the head with the butt of her gun. She groaned, crashed forward and put her hands out on the truck bed to catch herself. He swiped her leg right behind the knee cap and her leg gave out, her chin colliding with the metal.
Teeth grinding together, a blinding headache immediately followed and her vision was filled with blinding light. Something in her changed, something in her was awakening in the worst possible way.
Her body was changing and there was no way to stop it. Jenna took several deep breaths and heard the guard’s feet shuffle backward. “What the hell? You’re one of them?” He made a break for it, running from the back of the truck like she was going to turn on him. Like she might eat him.
If she did that sort of thing, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Jenna just groaned, pushing herself up. She needed to get to him, stop him. Silence him if necessary. She hadn’t been keeping her secret guarded for so long just to have some scumbag blab about it to the entire force.
Stumbling from the truck she saw nervous drivers all around. Thank the stars most of them were still in their cars, white gripping their steering wheels. But some of them were out and staring at her with wide eyes.
Just what had they seen?
Jenna stormed after the officer and saw that Dirk had already stopped him. His jaw drawn tight, but his fist was drawn even closer. One right hook punch was all it took for the guard to go down.
When Dirk saw her, his eyes lit up. “Jenna! You all right?”
She rubbed her temples as she approached. “Pride is wounded, but it’ll heal. How’d you know I needed you?”
“Other than you guys were gone way too long? You left your comm on.”
Jenna snorted and ran her hand through her hair. “I really am out of it today”
“How much longer are we going to be stuck here?” Someone asked her and Jenna jumped. She forgot they were being watched, that there were dozens of eyes upon them, all baking in the sun.
“Not much longer. Please, get back into your vehicles and we’ll get going.” Jenna shoved the officer on the ground with her foot. “Better secure this one and radio in that the NH needs to send out a new guard. You hear any chatter about Mexico?”
Dirk shook his head. “Just what everyone else has heard. They’re making a move for the upper north west.”
Like the US was going to just give that up without a fight.
His face was suddenly covered in shadow like they moved under a giant tree, or an airplane flew up ahead.
But there were few planes left and those that were, rarely flew over the mid-west.
Jenna gazed at the sky and saw several glistening flying overhead. She had never seen them look so large, so majestic. And just when she thought she saw the last of them, there was another coming just over the horizon.
And then another.
Dirk glanced up and instantly gripped Jenna’s arms. “Get to your rig. We have to move!”
“We’ll never out run them.” Jenna said and her eyes fell to the line of cars behind her, now stretching by city blocks.
Dirk followed her gaze. “My God,” his voice was low and grave, “the people…”
“Run!” Jenna screamed, banging the roofs of the cars in her reach. “Run for the hills. Get in the ditches now!”
Her voice was cut off by a giant fireball ripping through the terrain. Glistenings were flying low, like air bombers and they were playing to win. People running for cover were caught in flames while the unlucky ones never even made it that far. But some by the grace of God made it. Screaming and crying, they cowered in the ditches.
To those people she issued an order. “Stay down!”
Dirk grabbed her by the arm and they dove for cover behind her truck. Jenna touched her ear and radioed the other drivers. “Johnson, Mac?” She waited but was met by radio silence. Trying to peer out behind the giant tires, Jenna couldn’t see anything but billows of smoke and raging fires on the ground.
She called again. “Johnson, Mac, over!”
This time there were screams and calls for freedom. But Jenna feared those calls weren’t from the New Haven officers, but from the glistenings about to be rescued. They were about to be severely outnumbered.
And if they weren’t careful; lunch. Not just them but all the innocent people. She had to protect them. She had to stop what was happening, but to do that…Jenna was going to have to break an oath she made to Jake on their last meeting. An oath she had no right making, but at the time it felt like the best thing to do.
“Is this Jake?” Dirk asked.
Jenna didn’t think so. This wasn’t his style. “If it is, I can’t feel him. All I can feel coming from them is…anger, revenge.” Jenna swallowed hard. “Blood lust.”
“How are we going to stop them? If Johnson and Mac aren’t answering…”
“Then it’s just us against them.” Jenna said and squatted down low as another glistening flew overhead, taking another pass like some sort of attack plane. A fireball was unleashed, scorching the sedans and mini vans with molten fire hot enough to twist metal.
“But we know what they’re after. We lay low, let them get what they want, and then…”
“And then?” Dirk asked.
“We push the little red button.”
Dirk shook his head. “Kill them all? New Haven is going to have our head. And maybe our pension. Not to mention…”
Not to mention Jake. “It’s us or them.” Jenna gazed toward the ditches even though she couldn’t see past the smoke. “If this keeps up, all those people are going to die. Maybe eaten in the process. Then, it might not just be them. It might be all of us. Every city…”
Dirk sighed, his eyes closed. “Damnit.”
“If I could think of a way to save them and the glistenings in the trucks, I’d do it.” Jena swallowed. The words were hard to say even if they were true. “On the plus side, we’ll be retired. And maybe they will stop asking me to come back.”
He shook his head and laughed, his eyes read that she was incoercible as ever, but also amazing. It made Jenna’s heart skip a beat. “So what do we do?” Dirk asked.
Jenna pointed back to the metal wall. “Make a run for the ditch. Check on those people and help anyone that might make it out alive. Then let them free the glistenings. When they are all clustered together, the explosion should kill all of them.”
“You’re sure about this?” Dirk asked.
She clenched her jaw. “We have no other choice.”
Chapter Five Jake
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
The Canadian Territories
Not even ten in the morning and the sun was shining brightly on the packed farmer’s market on Central Avenue, the city’s main strip. Old and new businesses were housed in the brick buildings that were a few hundred years old. Legacy restaurants that had been there since the inception of the town
were still there, just with different menu option. Meat was rare and expensive. Vegetarian options cooked with beans were plentiful. Coffee, always a staple.
The farmer’s market stretched up and down for blocks. Jake and Meghan were set up near the old Home Hardware shop that now sold bolts, gears, and bullets—home defense was no longer really necessary since the last of the glistenings were captured, but it was a hard thing to give up and since gun ownership was encouraged in the territories as the NH force was non-existent; did a brisk business.
Across from the Urban Cup coffee shop it was a prime spot to attract the casual foot traffic. It kept Jake busy and kept his mind off things. He smiled, sold corn, vegetables, and bags of fruit to almost everyone he spoke to.
“Thank you for coming. We really appreciate your business.” Jake said as he was handed American bills.
The old man’s teeth were long gone, he had a gummy smile with loose flapping lips like a newborn. “Thank you, son. Sometimes the grocery store runs out of fresh fruit and even when it doesn’t, I can barely afford it.” He nodded his head and shuffled off. “Damn Americans and their taxes.”
It made Jake feel good to make a difference, to make people happy, to give them a better quality of life. That was what it should be all about and that’s what he wanted for his life. He just didn’t know how to get there. How to get the glistenings to help rebuild what they helped destroy.
“You have such a way with people.” Meghan said, turning to Jake once her customer left. “I guess your mom always told me how you charmed your teachers and coaches, but well, she was your mom. What else was she going to say?”
She took a deep labored breath. “But now to see it. To feel it. Well, it’s true, Jake. I know there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot to think about. But for whatever reason, people listen to you. Whatever you decide, I’ll follow you.” She patted his cheek and moved back to her crates to restock some apples and berries on her table.
Jake wanted to thank her. Wanted to say something, but couldn’t get the words out. Across the street he saw a man casually dressed in jeans and an old plaid shirt, but on his forearm he wore a black band. And on it, was the familiar symbol of the NH. There to collect their taxes whenever they could.
He stiffened when someone tapped him on the shoulder, Jake jumped, spinning around.
Liz, beautiful Liz with her joyful smile, was there. She was in a loose pair of jeans and a cute button down shirt, her long auburn hair in a braid. Her eyes sparkled with so much life, it made Jake’s heart ache. Her skin was so perfect, so smooth. Whenever he saw her unexpectedly, he had to stop himself from brushing his fingers up against her.
“Hi,” Liz gushed out, breathless. “I was hoping you’d be here.”
“Just here to help out.” Jake said and shoved his hands in his pockets. “It’s good to see you though.”
Liz grinned. “You, too. Hey, the theater is opening in like half an hour. They’re playing some old movie about dinosaurs in captivity. In 3D.”
“3D? Wow. Classic. I didn’t realize they were bringing it back.”
Liz shrugged, running her fingers along the tabletop. “You know everything is retro these days. They’d bring back zombie movies, too, if it wouldn’t freak people out.”
Jake laughed, tugging on his finger. “Yeah, I guess one apocalypse is enough.”
She laughed and it wasn’t forced or fake. It was beautiful, her head tilted back in the sunlight. God, Jake wished he could kiss her. Just fall into her, drown against her skin and forget every decision he had to make.
“I thought maybe you’d come with me. My brothers totally bailed on me.”
“Oh.” Jake cleared his throat and glanced over at Meghan who was doing her finest not to glance back. “Well, I wish I could, but you know, I have to sell these…vegetables.”
Liz’s face fell and Jake’s heart ached. He didn’t want to be a jerk but--, “Nick,” Meghan said, “I can handle this section on my own. You should go. Have fun.”
There was hope of a smile on Liz’s face. “Really?”
Jake turned to Meghan. “You don’t need to do that.”
She patted his hands. “For your mother. It’s what she would have wanted, hmm?” Meghan touched his chin, tears shining in her eyes. “She’d want you happy.”
Jake nodded with a sigh. “All right. I guess…” He turned to Liz’s expectant face. “I guess I do have time for a movie.”
Her smile lit up her face like a sunbeam. Liz hooked her arm through his and they walked up the street toward the old Twin Cinema movie theater. “You always seem so busy. So stressed out. You need to relax too, you know?”
“That’s true. I do need to unwind, but with winter coming…”
“You have a lot of people on your farm. I’m sure they can help out. You shouldn’t have to do everything yourself.” Liz said.
On the way to the theater they came to what was once an old alley way. But now inside was decorated with giant plaques on marble tables. There were hand crafted benches in a circle surrounding the statue of a woman wearing a cowboy hat. She was shown saluting the Canadian flag.
Jake stopped and studied it. Liz followed his gaze. “That’s Margret Swansen. The first sheriff after the glistening war.”
He knew who she was, knew this place was here, but had avoided going in for so long. Now with Victor and his sister pushing him to strike back at the humans, Jake was compelled to go in. Compelled to honor the humans that had already died in the conflict.
Moving inside the old alley constructed into a memorial garden, he felt Liz’s resistance to walk inside. “The movie is going to start soon.” She said, but Jake stood like stone himself in front of a wall of names so small, he could barely make them out.
His fingers swept against the engraving, feeling the names with his fingers. It was real, they were people. And then they were just nothing.
Above the names read, “And the glistening swarm took to the sky, covering the planet in darkness as they moved east, feasting on anything organic in their path.”
Anything organic. Human. Cattle. It didn’t matter.
“Like dive bombers they dove and when fed, were able to fly over eighty miles an hour. Coursing through the sky, no humans were able to outrun the full sized glistenings who were only desperate for the next meal.”
Jake squeezed his eyes shut. It was a matter of record. History on what happened, but to him it felt fresh. In New Haven he never learned how dangerous glistenings once were. It was hidden from him until he was in the real world. When he heard about the swarms and the nuclear bombs that were dropped to stop them, Jake didn’t know what to feel.
The US and Canada had sacrificed their own people, towns and communities in an effort to contain the glistenings. Half the terrain was now a barren waste land. Alberta, British Columbia were gone. California might as well have fallen into the ocean. Nothing could live there anymore.
That was because of people just like him. It was in his blood. Glistenings were treated like monsters because they were monsters. Once the blood lust started, it lasted for decades.
“Jake?” Liz whispered and clung to his arm. “Are you all right? You look so pale.”
Pale. If he was pale, there was a danger of him turning. Jake swallowed. “Just, I haven’t been in here. I’ve been avoiding it. So many people…”
Liz nodded. “I know. Used to come here all the time as a kid on field trips with school. But it was boring. It didn’t sink in what it meant until I was much older. Still, it’s hard to understand. Even after I saw the old reels of the explosions, the skeletons piled in the streets…it was like a bad movie.”
She bundled her arms around her body like she grew cold. “I’m sorry.” Jake said and shook his head. “You want to have a good time and instead…”
“It’s okay.” Liz smiled. “Long as we’re together. Want to forget this for now and go to a movie?”
“I’ve never seen the reels.” Jake’s voice drew fu
rther into himself, small and haunted. “If I wanted to see them, would you sit with me?”
She stared at him with wide-eyes. “I thought everyone had seen them. It’s really important to you, I can tell.”
He nodded, sucking on his bottom lip. “If it scares you, if you rather not, you can say no.”
Liz squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll sit with you, Jake.”
They headed over to the theater and instead of paying for a movie, they instead make a donation to the NH relief fund and were let into a small theater. There were only a few people inside and most seemed busy doing other things.
“Why is this important to you?” Liz asked.
The truth? Jake couldn’t launch a freedom campaign of any kind until he understood, really understood and saw what the glistenings had done to the world. Those people didn’t ask to be changed into monsters any more than Jake didn’t ask to be born a glistening, but the facts were the same. He was a monster. Just like all those people had died, been eaten.
How could he broker peace if he didn’t understand? How could Victor want to launch an attack against a people who already had lost so much? If glistening had won, there wouldn’t be any humans left. They would have eaten everyone in sight. And then what?
“You can tell me.” Liz cooed. Her hand rested on his fist and Jake knew he should have moved away. He should have left, said it was a mistake; he needed to go feed his dog, just about anything to get out of there. But it was hard when he needed someone. He wanted to connect.
“Liz,” Jake sighed and put his other hand on top of hers, running his fingertips along her fingers in long strokes. “There was a girl,” he scowled, “there was a girl once. And she…died.”
Her eyebrow twitched and her face fell into a frown. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Was it….a glistening?”
Wasn’t that the truth? Jake nodded, but couldn’t find his voice.
“You really are a good man, Nick.” Liz whispered and stroked his hair back. “She was a lucky girl. I’m sorry that you lost her. Probably means nothing when you hear that, but I do mean it.”