by Tara Brown
The crowd cheers, it’s bigger again today. More live bots have come. The siren call is bringing them here. It’s working and we are building faster than ever.
Liam lifts my hand, then reaches over and grabs Lee’s, raising our hands into the air. We smile as Liam gives a speech.
“A year ago the world was on track to die. We were locusts, killing the planet. Heating it up faster than ever recorded. We overpopulated this planet to the point that the majority were starving. Disease and deformity were getting out of control. Wars and homelessness and pollution plagued us. We were obsessed with the internet and social media. Our lives were spiraling downward, and we didn’t even notice. Drowning in debt, negativity, and sickness. There was no world to live for. No life to offer our kids. No future.”
He pauses, leaving that darkness there for us to think on.
“And then something terrible happened. That world we knew ended. We were scared and alone and being hunted down by something we didn’t understand. I will never forget watching the first attacks in Florida. It was a horror movie I will remember for the rest of my life.”
His words bring back memories of my own.
They flicker something inside me, feelings I don’t want. Regrets. Pain. Liam gazes back at me, his smile pushes them away. He might remember for the rest of his life, but I have no desire to do that. In fact, thanks to the bots, I’ve almost forgotten everything from before.
“But we were wrong to be afraid. Because the rebirth that came to me the moment I was bitten was beautiful. I was freed of a sickness that plagued me my entire life. Healed and saved. I was shown what love was for the first time, ever. It was a miracle. And you were all saved too. Together we will move forward and heal this planet. We will grow into the kind of future our kids won’t have to fear. And generations to come will have the miracle that is inside us all, protecting us from ever going back. Because we know better now. We are smarter than we were before. Mankind is stronger than it has ever been!”
The crowd erupts, cheering him and his inspiring words.
He squeezes my hand and lets the mob shower him in the adoration he deserves.
He waves and turns, going back through the doors to the hall where there’s a feast being set out. Lee nudges me. I grin at her. We’re beaming. Glowing with health and happiness.
I can’t recall a moment I was more blissful than this one.
When I catch up to Liam, he takes my hand again and walks to the side of the room, pulling me with him. When he finds a quiet spot in one of the alcoves, he spins me so my back is against it and pins me there. He lowers his face and kisses so softly and perfectly.
“How was my speech?” he asks as he places more soft kisses on my cheek.
“Amazing. And accurate.” I lift my head so he can kiss my neck, tracing warmth and breath along my skin, creating shivers up my spine.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispers. “Have I said that yet today?”
“You have.” I smile and close my eyes. “It was around mid-morning. We were in the garden, overseeing the fertilizer being spread so the soil is ready for spring planting.”
“It was rhetorical.” He chuckles and kisses me once more. “I wish we could go upstairs.” He trails a finger along my jaw. “But I have to make sure this is going to be a smooth evening.”
“Don’t be long.” I stand on my tiptoes and kiss him once more.
He walks away and my eyes are stuck on him. Even his back is sexy. The scent of him lingers in the air, making my stomach dance with anticipation of his return.
“Did you figure out the information sharing for the soldiers yet?” Lee asks as she strolls over with a glass of water.
“No,” I answer as my brain switches into a different mode. “I am working on it though.”
“I don’t understand how you became so awesome at fighting. Like where was that downloaded from?” She sighs and leans against the wall.
“I don’t know. It was a moment of growth and evolution. Life or death triggered it I believe. My bots made it a priority for me,” I lie. I haven’t told anyone but Liam that I absorbed bots. A feat I haven’t been able to reproduce in anyone else. It’s strange. I don’t understand why me. Me and no one else?
“It’s so weird. My bots haven’t given me mad skills. Just some help along the way. But nothing like you. You don’t even sound the same anymore. You’re so different I wouldn’t recognize you.”
“I don’t know.” I pout. “I think I’m the same.” It’s another lie and the mope I offer is a manipulation to make her feel bad for saying it. I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I can’t have her prying into my peculiar bot situation. Liam and I agreed no one else should know that I have done this, not until I ensure everyone else has that ability. Being able to kill and absorb bots wouldn’t garner me any love from the masses.
Not even if I manage to connect everyone, making the bots communicate like the internet. I haven’t found the information in Dr. Jacquard’s memories yet. The siren call is all we have, and even that is basic.
“No, you’re different. You don’t talk the same or walk the same. You never mention Joey or Gus anymore.”
The words fuzz in my ears and when I try to recall where I know them from, it’s not ringing bells. It’s part of my past, my life before the castle and Liam, but the exact correlation is confusing.
“Anyway, I’ll get you a drink too.” She leaves and instantly my breath is easy again; my chest can expand the way it’s supposed to. I wonder what made it tighten.
The hall begins to fill as the live bots, the people who didn’t become zombies, are welcomed in. The zombies, the drones, are kept out in a new part of the grounds we built for them to live, stables just for them. They’ve finished the main courtyard and the building of the castle. It’s remarkable what they can create.
I find myself wandering, admiring the new tapestries and carved furniture. Liam has accomplished so much. We both have. We are the best team possible. Of course the bots knew we would be.
The dusk air is cool when I step out on the terrace overlooking the lake with the moon sparkling its reflection on the dark water.
I take deep breaths of the dry, crisp air. It’s familiar but I can’t place where I’ve breathed it before.
Before doesn’t matter.
Liam and I agree on that.
Before is nothing.
Now is everything.
I turn and stare into the massive hall where he and Lester have created a beautiful night. Candles are lit, made from wax from our own hives, and linens are placed, created by some of the clean drones. The chairs were carved in five days by two hundred bots. They found the wood at a mill nearby in an abandoned town. It was piled so high the drones at the top of the pile looked like ants.
It’s shabby chic with the old farmhouse wooden furniture and the crisp white linens. Chandeliers with candles in them hang above, creating an opulence we might not have without them.
Drones assemble with instruments, something I’ve taught them to do, make music. They begin to lightly play, filling the night air with a soft bit of Bach. They play it exactly as it ought to be played.
It’s impressive.
Liam speaks with Lester, pointing at something. His eyes narrow and he makes that tense face, the one I don’t like. Lester recoils just slightly and I find myself drawn that way. Liam’s tone is harsh until my fingers touch down on his arm. He softens and takes a deep breath, pausing. “Sorry, Lester. I meant to explain that differently,” he says, then glances back at me. He tilts his face and kisses my cheek.
“Of course, my king.” Lester bows. “I believe I understand what you mean and will take care of it immediately.” He turns on his heel and hurries away.
“You all right?” I ask Liam. He’s tense.
“I am. I just want everything to be perfect.” He spins and smiles at me. The lights of the chandeliers burn in his gaze.
“It’s perfect already. Everything else is e
xtra.”
“No.” He pulls back, half joking. “Only perfection is perfection.” He offers me his arm and walks me back to the cool air of the open doors and the terrace. “This weather is perfect.”
“We’ve been monitoring the weather and comparing it to the old records that Dr. Jacquard had downloaded from the military base. It does seem to be showing signs of a decline in the warming patterns. If we can continue on this trend, we won’t actually go up a degree, and we certainly won’t reach the two degrees they had predicted globally. Our information is limited to this region, but Canada was warming faster than anywhere else on the planet. And particularly this region, so if we are seeing those numbers here, it’s a good sign for the rest of the country, possibly the rest of the planet. And I’ve been analyzing the bots coming in from the East. All the nuclear plants were shut down and cooled properly. We haven’t had a single reactor meltdown.”
“Excellent.” He nods once. The way he stands and the confidence he exudes is incredibly noble. I wonder if he does it on purpose or if this is how he always was. Made for this moment. Since the bots don’t make mistakes, I would have to assume he was made for this. And like he always says, his entire life has brought him to this place.
To me.
And me to him.
He slides his arm behind my back and pulls me to him, fitting me perfectly into the embrace. “It’s weird, isn’t it? We planned for this for so long and now it’s real.”
“Yeah,” I say with a happy sigh.
“I can’t even remember planning it. It’s just there, in my mind. I know I did, but the details are fuzzy. Is it the same for you?” he asks, peering down at me.
“I guess so. I think we’ve just worked so hard to get this ready for winter, so our people are protected, that we’re getting confused on the minor details.”
“The minor details are slipping from me more and more lately. Do you remember how we met?” The words trigger something, a flash.
“California.” I vaguely recall it. “Lee and Lester were there.”
“Yeah, someone else.”
“Harold!” I say quickly. His face pops into my mind and something happens. Something clicks and I get confused. My mind is working slowly, redirecting me to a different thought.
“Right! Harold! Has he come back yet from his trip?”
“I don’t think so. Did we schedule the tests on the breeding live bots yet?”
“No. We agreed to wait, test the samples out of the body first.” He scowls.
“Of course. Petri babies first.” It makes sense.
“What were we talking about?” He cracks a grin.
“That we’re run-down and needing a break from the responsibilities of this,” I remind him as that part of the conversation slips back into my memory.
“Yes, I do feel that way. It’s odd, we shouldn’t. The bots are there, refreshing us and healing us and repairing us. We should be able to maintain this level of stress at all times with no negative effects, and yet, I’m feeling a bit burned out.” He squeezes me and kisses the side of my head.
“I am too. We should plan to start taking one day off every week. Everyone. That way we can rest.”
“Maybe a day off is important to the parts of us that are still human. I’ll get Lee to come up with a rotating schedule to ensure people get that.” He’s content, I hear it in his voice. Tired, but content. “I can’t believe we have a real harvest. And we’ll make it through the winter comfortably.”
“All because of you.” I squeeze him back.
“Let’s celebrate,” he mutters and pulls me back into the hall for the feast.
Our first harvest feast.
Chapter 23
The clean drones are clearing away dishes and what’s left of the meal, putting out dessert and cider. Everything has been a massive success.
Grabbing a glass for me and Lee, I stroll to the far side of the room where she is laughing with a man I don’t know. She sees me and waves. He spins and my chest feels like it’s been stabbed by something.
His face causes a glitch in my mind, force-feeding me images I don’t recognize. I gag, stopping dead in my tracks.
His green eyes widen and his brow knits.
I know his face but from where is a mystery.
Something about him makes me uncomfortable beyond what I can cope with here. I need to get out of here.
Putting the drinks down, I turn and walk from the hall, heading for the servants’ stairs at the back. I rush up, overwhelmed and completely lost.
The guy’s face runs through my head, trying to bring up other faces but there’s a mist. A fogginess in my memories. Holes, actually. Large ones. And he lives in those holes in my mind. And I don’t know why.
When I reach my room, I hurry in and close the door, leaning against it.
I take several deep breaths as something begins to flit in, making sense. He’s someone I knew from before, a person I hated. Of course. That’s obvious. The sight of him made me panic.
A knock at the door sends a jolt of fear up my spine.
“Lou?” Lee speaks through the crack. “You all right?”
“I’m not feeling well actually. I’ll come down in a minute. Just freshening up.”
“Okay?” she says, questioning my excuse. “Can I come in?”
I want to say no but decide she might remember him and the details better. She can clear this up for me. “Yeah.” I open the door, jumping back when I see him there. “You can’t be up here!”
Lee’s eyes are wide and weird. She’s panicking. She’s afraid too. “Lou, we have a problem.” She comes closer.
The guy with the green eyes follows her in, closing the door. I back away from them both, my mind is spinning and I’m about to launch my attack, defending myself, when something happens.
His name pops into my mind and it’s not hate I feel when I say it, “Kyle.” His name leaves my lips like a dirty secret.
But he’s not alone in there, in my head behind the wall that’s been built. A wall I didn’t see constructed. Didn’t know existed.
“Joey?” I whisper, terrified of that name too. “Kyle?”
He loses the pained expression on his face and narrows his gaze. “You do know me?”
“I don’t understand.” I turn to Lee who nods her head to the right where the window is.
“Fresh air, Lou.” She slips an arm in mine and directs me to the double doors leading out to the bricked terrace. “You’re going to need it.” She’s using a tone I haven’t heard from her before. Or have I? Is it behind the wall too? What else is there and how did it come to be?
“I want answers, Lee. Why do I know him?”
“Jesus.” The man I’m positive is named Kyle cringes. “What happened?”
“Do it,” Lee says.
Kyle lifts a gun. I’m about to scream when he pulls the trigger, and I’m about to jump out of the way of the bullet, but two prongs leap at me. Something attaches to me and jolts me. A scream leaves my lips as the searing pain takes me to my knees. I fall over completely unable to fight it.
My whole body is on fire. My flesh is being ripped from me and then it just stops.
Like a switch.
I twitch and tremble and struggle to comprehend what is happening.
Kyle drops to his knees next to me, touching me lightly. “Stay calm, we don’t want Liam to know I’m here.” He takes a deep breath. “Joey and the Littles are fine. I swear. They’re fine. Gus too. Leah and Mr. Milson and everyone is totally fine.”
“Oh thank God.” I gasp as answers force their way into the forefront of my mind. I’m escaping a prison created in my head. “Why didn’t I remember you?” I want to cry. I know it’s been over a month since I’ve seen him. And Joey. Or Gus. My family. I abandoned them and I don’t know why I would do that.
“Your bots.” Lee nods at me as she takes a knee on the floor next to Kyle. “They’re against you. Kyle had to zap me too. He did it in the garden before
Liam’s speech. Convinced me to go for a drink under the stars.” She rolls her eyes and I start sobbing.
Everything is catching up and it’s overwhelming.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Kyle inches over and lies facing me. He smiles and wipes my tears. “We told the Littles you were on a secret mission to bring down the bad guys.” He smiles and my heart lifts in a way it hasn’t in a month. But it’s not the same as before. He and I are not the same.
I don’t know how to tell him. My mouth moves but no sound comes out.
“I don’t care. Whatever you’re about to say, I don’t care. I know it wasn’t you.” He wipes more tears that are streaming onto the rug. But he’s wrong. It was me.
“Kyle, I’m so sorry.” What else is there?
“Me too.” He nods. “Because you don’t get to leave yet.”
“What?” I sit up, wiping my face. “I need to see my sister and the girls. And Gus. He must miss me.”
“We all do, but we need you to do something else first,” his voice cracks and he glances back at the door. Lee stands and opens it, letting someone come in.
My heart stops for a second time.
My jaw drops.
I’m shaking my head slowly, certain I’m hallucinating.
Her lips tremble and her eyes well as she walks to me slowly. “Lou,” she whispers my name.
“Tan?”
She rushes me and I hold her, wrapping myself around her. Her fingers dig in and the smell of her is so familiar, I find memories I didn’t know existed.
Starry nights spent on the trampoline, sleeping in the fort we made.
Filming ourselves dancing and making videos of us lip-syncing.
Her brother playing video games with me in a blanket igloo while Tanya read.
Her dog, Buster the beagle, Gus’s best friend, barking and chasing us in the snow.
“How?” I ask all of them but my eyes are locked on hers.
“It’s a long story.” She sniffles and wipes her eyes. “And we have a short amount of time.”