Glistening Haven: A Shape Shifting Dystopian Boxset

by Jill Cooper

  Jenna jumped up from her chair and screamed, “Stop!”

  Molly’s was creamed, like a limp rag doll; she smashed into the windshield and flew over the car. Car horns wailed as the Chevy slammed on its breaks, only to be rear-ended by a red, 1958 Impala. Molly’s body landed on its hood before sliding off, onto the ground.

  The driver stepped out of the car. “She just stepped in front of me! I tried to stop!”

  Jenna ran past him and knelt down slowly beside Molly, her friend. She checked her for a pulse. What she found was weak. Molly’s eyes stared off at nothing, and a thin train of blood came from her mouth. Jenna pulled her friends’ hair away from her face and placed a palm against her cool skin.

  “Hang on. It’s going to be okay.”

  But Jenna knew it was a lie. Nothing was going to be okay.

  “I need a bus here!” She screamed over her shoulder, except there was no one there. A bus? What did that even mean?

  Off in the distance, sirens wailed.

  They were coming for her. For Molly, but it didn’t stop Jenna’s stomach from tightening. Jenna gazed up at the faces surrounding her. The glistenings stood from their cars, and those on the sidewalks, all gazed at her with loopy, stoned expressions. The front of their harnesses lit up like Christmas trees. The harnesses were bad news. They were what was driving the glistenings to suicide.

  Glistenings? Jenna touched her own harness. She was a glistening.

  “Half-glistening,” Jenna whispered to herself and her eyes widened. Her heart skipped a beat as she slowly rose to her feet.

  “Are you all right, Ma’am?” The EMT stepped from the rear of the ambulance in his white, un-assuming outfit, but he couldn’t be trusted.

  No one could be trusted.

  Jenna nodded. “My friend . . .”

  “We’ll take good care of her, Mrs. Jameson. Why don’t you go sit down for a minute and rest?”

  Jameson? Jenna stumbled up the sidewalk and then turned to watch the EMT bend down beside Molly and check her vitals. She sat in a chair and watched with hopelessness as they tried to revive her friend, but Jenna knew it wouldn’t work.

  Her friend was gone.

  What was their left to do?

  “Jenna!”

  She gazed through the crowd and saw Rick running toward her. His chin and mouth, sunken low with worry. He took her by the shoulders as he bent down to gaze her in the eye. “Are you okay, hon?”

  Hon?

  “Oh, Rick,” Jenna cried and flung her arms around him. She buried her face into his shoulder. “I think my friend is dead. Molly, she just walked right out into traffic.”

  “I’m sorry, babe.” Rick kissed her hair, nuzzling her face in tight. “So sorry.”

  Babe.

  A memory flashed of a face, but it wasn’t Rick. It was another man.

  Dirk flashed his badge at the young, blond woman at the door. “We’re New Haven Officers. We have a few questions for you.”

  Jenna stepped forward and gritted her teeth. “In other words, you have no choice but to let us in.”

  The glistening shuddered at the door and stepped close to the wall.

  Snorting, Jenna shook her head, pushing the door open wider with her boot. “Damn, glistening.”

  Dirk shook his head with a sigh. “At least you’re going for subtle,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Dirk,” Jenna whispered and her lip trembled. “New Haven Officer 652370-2.” She remembered who she was. She remembered and this time, she couldn’t let it go. This time she had to cling to the fraction of the truth she had.

  “Jen?” Rick’s voice shook as he pulled back to look at her. “Are you all right?”

  Jenna forced a smile. “Peachy keen!” But inside her blood raged. Her skin boiled. She was going to skin the son-of-a-bitch alive.

  “I’ll take you home. I took the day off, we need to make sure you get the rest you need to take care of that baby.”

  “Our baby?” Jenna asked with a shaking breath, her heart echoed in her ears.

  “Our baby.” Rick smiled and looped his arm through hers.

  But first, Jenna was going to need a plan—get her bearings and break out of whatever hell she was in.

  And then?

  She was going to cut off Rick Jameson’s balls and shove them down his throat.

  Chapter Eleven Dirk

  Hidden Naval Shipyard

  Idaho

  With the bags packed, the food rations were divvied up for the journey. It was time to do or die. Move on, or be killed while they hid. Dirk couldn’t do that. He had things to do, lives to save.

  Family.

  Sleeping bags were rolled and the kids were stowed away on the trucks. Dirk couldn’t even force a smile and went to find Jake. He was supposed to be readying the few glistenings they had left, but word on the street, was he left them all before preparations were made.

  Dirk and Jake had a talk coming, a talk that was a long time in the making, and if they didn’t have it now, they might never have it.

  He made his way to Jake’s quarters and knocked on the door. “Enter.” Jake’s voice was strong, but Dirk was afraid that might be the only thing about him that was strong. If Jake couldn’t do this . . . they were just meat on a stick, waiting to be flame-broiled by a bunch of hungry dragons circling in the day’s sky.

  Jake was sitting on the edge of the bed, but at least he had shaved. He was more like the mild-mannered kid Dirk knew, but without his beard, he was gaunt. To see him like that, well Dirk felt disheartened. He sighed. “Hey, Jake. Have a minute?”

  “Sure.” Jake’s legs shifted and he crossed his ankles. “Always do.”

  Dirk’s face twitched in a brief smile. It wasn’t exactly what he was going for, but he sat beside Jake. His hands slapped against the fabric of his jeans. “Listen, we’re ready to go. I know; this is what we’ve feared—a head to head attack and once, these guys were your friends until they decided to follow Victor. I know that, but if we’re going to survive—.”

  Jake held up his hand to stop him and Dirk was glad. He had rambled, not getting to his point. “I know what needs to be done, Dirk. We have to attack the glistenings hard, if we’re going to make our escape. It’s kill or be killed time.” Jake raised his eyebrows. “I’m even ready; I’ve accepted it. And I guess that’s the part that’s killing me.”

  He crossed his arms and paced within the room. His head was bent low and Dirk could see the conflict. “These men and women were once my brothers and sisters. And now we’re at war, and over what?”

  “Over whether or not humans deserve to live, or just be food,” Dirk said. “There’s a lot of anger and resentment. I guess we did treat you guys like crap.” He cleaned under his fingernail.

  “Our ancestors did murder and maim you,” Jake said.

  “And now we have to figure this out. You and the others, I stand with. I don’t care who did what eighty years ago. All I know is, you’re not the ones who have Jenna and plan to experimenting on our kid.” Dirk’s eyes darkened and he tried to ignore the anger ripping through his heart. “And Wendy, humans are the ones that did that.”

  Saving her had meant so much to Jenna, that they tried to raise her son away from New Haven’s scrutiny. Now to find out they had her the past few years? It made Dirk’s heart heavy with grief in a way he didn’t know it could. “I’m sorry,” was all Dirk, could muster.

  Jake swallowed and his face flickered with emotion. “All this time I thought she was . . . and instead, she was . . . if I can get her out, I need to. I owe her, but I don’t know how I’ll face her.”

  “You had no way of knowing. None of us did. If we did . . .”

  Jake nodded and the color slowly returned to his cheeks. “I just hope I can make it up to her. Introduce her to our son, if we ever find him.”

  It was a lot for one person to carry. Jake should’ve just been a kid, finding his way in the world. Dirk didn’t envy him in the least.

 
Dirk leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. “You going to be okay? I’m worried about you. You’re not eating. You’re not sleeping. Is it the lack of blood, is that why you’re wasting away?”

  “It was more important the other glistenings get blood instead of me,” Jake said, and Dirk didn’t even want to ask why, but the question must have been reflected in his eyes, because Jake answered. “I can control my hunger better than most glistenings around you. The others . . . well, we need everyone on the same team, right?”

  Dirk sat up straight. “That’s why you’ve been withdrawing from the group? Because . . . your hunger?”

  The answer was on Jake’s face even before he nodded. His fist was clenched and Dirk came to the scary realization that the kid was hungry. Damn hungry and Dirk was just a big steak dangling in front of him.

  Dirk slowly stood and made his way for the door. “Can you do it? Are you strong enough to launch the attack in the air so we can escape on land?”

  “Barely. I’ll make it. And then,” Jake sighed and stared off at the wall, “then we’ll crush our friends and I’ll feed my hunger.” His shoulders rounded and the stark look of defeat was in his eyes. “I don’t have any other choice, Dirk.”

  His voice was repentant. Desperate. And it wanted forgiveness.

  It might not have been Dirk’s to give, but he did anyway. “I know that. Everyone will know that.” Dirk clasped his hand on Jake’s shoulder, but the look Jake gave, made him remove it.

  “Just don’t let them see. Take the kids and the others as far away as you can. They’ll never trust us again if they’re forced to see.”

  Dirk nodded. “You have my word.”

  Jake studied him with an intense glower in his eye. “And you still trust me? Even knowing what I plan to do?”

  “With my life. What we want is the same.” Dirk offered him his hand.

  Jake took it and gave it a hearty shake. “With what comes next, this might be the easy part.”

  That part scared Dirk the most. It was time to buckle in and be prepared for the battle of their life.

  ****

  Ginny did her part not to scare the kids as she packed them up in the back of the Humvee. Each of them had a blanket, even if it was tattered, or a lovey of some sort. She tried to focus on that and not the raging fear beating inside her heart. She was terrified of leaving, but knew it had to happen.

  They couldn’t stay here forever.

  “We’ll be leaving soon.” Ginny swallowed a mouthful of bile and latched the last seatbelt around a small girl named, Kate. There weren’t enough seatbelts for the number of kids they had crammed in there. It was a hard choice on who got the extra protection and who didn’t. Ginny didn’t know if it was protection or if it was just a death trap.

  Two girls hugged each other close and their scared, brown eyes bore through Ginny. She forced a smile as she closed the van door. Hanging the key around her neck, she went to the front.

  Hood propped up, Ginny only saw Chase’s lean backside, as he leaned over. She slid her hands into her back pockets. “The kids are settled. How’s it going?”

  The sound of his socket wrench echoed, zip-zip-zip. He leaned his head to cast a wry grin. “It’s going. Not the best condition, but it’ll make it.”

  She didn’t know how he could smile when she felt like throwing up. Ginny glanced over her shoulder at the three other green Humvees they readied. They were lucky the trucks were still in the submarine base when they arrived and in working order. Chase and a few others, along with a spitfire redhead named Sally, were able to get everything in tiptop shape.

  Ginny, felt useless around them. What could she do other than hold the flashlight while they worked?

  Chase slammed the hood closed and she jumped. “Sorry,” she mumbled an embarrassed apology.

  “We’ll be fine, Gin.” He stroked her arms. “You’ll see. Jake and the others, they’re not going to let anything happen to us.”

  She gazed up into his eyes and felt better. When he was around, she was relaxed, content. When they first met, he had scared her with all his tattoos and the gauges stretching his earlobes, but the longer Ginny spent time with him, the more comfortable she felt.

  “I know you’re just saying that to make me feel better.” Ginny laughed a quick huff of air.

  “Is it working?”

  “Yes.” Ginny shrugged. “It always does when you say it.”

  His hand stroked underneath her braid, his fingers gliding across her hair. When he did it, Ginny shivered in a good way. “Well, good. That’s what we need. Everyone has to stay levelheaded, even the kids.”

  “I did my best to keep them calm, but I think they could see me shaking. I know we have to leave. What if—what if we don’t make it?” Ginny twisted on her heels and bit her lip.

  “Can’t think like that. Thinking like that will only lead to trouble. In my fighting days,” Chase rolled his eyes at himself, “seems stupid now, but a few months ago, it was everything. Everything. And if doubt entered my mind, I’d lose.” Chase touched her chin. “I don’t want you to lose.”

  Ginny sucked on her bottom lip. She felt like they were reaching a moment. A real one, even if it was only in her mind. She was only nineteen and sure, maybe Chase was only twenty-four, but if her parents were still alive, they wouldn’t be happy.

  But the conventions of the old world, the old way of life, were gone. It was only six months ago, but it might as well have been twenty years. That’s how it felt, and how fast things changed, scared her.

  “We’ll make it.” Ginny took a deep breath and nodded her head. “I know it. We’ll make it.”

  Chase grinned. “Good.”

  “How can you do that? Smile so easily? After everything, how can you smile?”

  He shrugged. “Makes things better. Hell of a lot better than going around scowling all the time.”

  Ginny gazed down as her cheeks flooded with color. “That just leads to wrinkles.”

  “Ready to go. We’re all loaded up,” a voice came from behind them.

  Ginny strained her neck to glance behind her and saw Sally. The twenty-two year old wore a green bandana, a pair of low riding jeans, tight around her hips, and a pair of well-worn construction boots. With the hoop earring in her nose and the steel bar through her lip, she was everything Ginny wasn’t.

  A bad ass. Ginny was just a little girl compared to her. She wanted to slink away, but was so inferior to Sally, she didn’t even move. Just stood there, with her face down, her hands shoved in her pockets.

  If Chase noticed how she felt, Ginny would be mortified.

  He nodded. “Thanks. Take one of the convoys and be ready to move out once Dirk gives the order. Ginny, here, rides with me.”

  Sally’s eyes widened with surprise and Ginny’s heart skipped a beat. She glanced at him with surprise.

  “What? Cat got either of your tongues?” Chase shrugged and opened the door to the Humvee. “Well, c’mon. Move. The two of you.”

  Sally pivoted on her heels and did a soft jog over to one of the empty Humvees. Ginny put her hand on the open driver side door. “You didn’t need to do that.”

  “Nah, I got you. Besides, we’ve had each other’s backs for a long time.”

  Ever since New York and that horrible man, Pitt. Ginny shivered just thinking back to it.

  Chase turned over the ignition and when the engine didn’t roar to life, he sighed. “Dammit.”

  “It’ll work.” Ginny’s voice held soft passion.

  Chase tried again, his leg moving as he pumped the gas. The engine purred like a baby kitten nestled up against its mother. He broke into a wide grin and chortled. “Told ya, believe in something and you’re golden.”

  “I believe.” Ginny’s cheeks blushed when she said it and her eyes fell away to the ground.

  Chase’s eyes tracked the eyes of someone moving. “Get in. I think we’re ready to get started.”

  Ginny turned and saw it was Dirk, carr
ying enough P90’s to arm everyone. Ginny took one as it was handed to her and swallowed hard. She thought she might faint.

  Chase took his with a hard grunt. “Ready and waiting. Time to lock and load.”

  “This isn’t a video game.” Dirk’s eyes narrowed harshly and shook his head. “Sorry. Anxious.”

  “Yeah. Sure.” Chase’s jaw tensed and the intense glower in his eyes wasn’t one that Ginny liked. “Listen, about Melissa—.”

  Dirk held his breath and his eyes flickered with anger. “It’s best we not talk about that yet. What’s done is done. If you knew, I’m sure you wouldn’t have sent her.”

  “More like couldn’t have stopped her,” Chase muttered. “But yeah, if I could’ve talked her out of it, and that’s a big if—I just know you wanted to protect her. So, sorry.”

  “I wanted to protect a lot of things,” Dirk’s voice faded. “Get everyone ready to move. It’s time. Good luck.”

  Ginny watched Dirk head to a lone jeep in the back of the caravan. “It sounded so final.”

  “It is. He has places to go. Maybe even to end this mess.”

  So, they might never see him again? But he was their leader. He kept the group together. Ginny’s stomach tightened with fear. She didn’t like how any of this was going.

  Let’s go!” Chase gave the sign to the other drivers. And one by one, the Humvees roared to life, the sound of monsters awaiting battle.

  They awaited battle, all right.

  It was now or never. Ginny wished for never, but wishes these days, they never came true.

  ****

  Settled in his jeep, Dirk’s M4A1 rested on his lap as he attached his seatbelt. His ‘passenger’ glowered at him. The handcuffs that attached Rebecca to the roll bar clanked as she tested her restraints.

  “If I die, you’ll never get your precious Jenna out.”

  “If you die,” Dirk repeated, staring ahead. He didn’t bother to look at her. Couldn’t look at her, not without throttling her, “then I’m dead too. Glistenings aren’t choosy about lunch. And if their fire hits us,” Dirk shrugged, “game over, man.”

  Rebecca’s eyes narrowed. “You might need my hands free. You’re doing us both a disservice by shackling me like this!”