by Mel Todd
The twins jumped up and beat him to his bedroom. Jessi grabbed a bag and started packing his stuff.
“I can pack my own stuff,” he muttered.
She just shot him a look and didn’t stop packing. And he had to admit she grabbed what he would need. He took a minute to grab the spare keys for the house. It also had JD’s and Toni’s keys on it, along with the pocket knife JD had given him. Fifteen minutes later they had all of his stuff packed up in a simple backpack and Carina had buckled both of the kids into their car seats. Jessi hated it but even she had to admit she wasn’t big enough or old enough to get past the laws.
“So, what are we going to do?” Jamie asked later, his voice low, while twiddling with the pizza crust. Jessi grunted and grabbed the pizza crust from him and the other paper plates at the same time, standing up.
“What do you mean, do? We can’t do anything. We’re just kids.” Her voice had both anger and tears at the edges.
“Charley did something when we were taken by those other guys.” Jamie protested.
Jessi fell silent. Jamie was right but Charley was the only one who had done anything. He hated remembering that day.
“We can’t do anything. We just have to hope the adults can.” Charley’s voice stayed low as he muttered that last part and everybody fell silent.
Carina had put in a new movie, a comic book one, letting them watch it and stay up late. But when it ended she sent them all to bed and none of them had an issue with it. They were all tired, so no one protested.
Maybe just maybe, when we wake up everything will be back to normal before.
Charley fell asleep trying not to think, but in a mental voice so quiet that even Jessi couldn’t hear it, he kept pinging McKenna’s link. ~Kenna? Mom? Are you there?~
5
Squad Tactics
While the percentage of people who can shift has remained steady at two percent worldwide, the amount of children in that percentage is much smaller. This has raised questions about why there seems to be clusters of children in some areas and almost none in others. Parents have raised the question of if it is healthy or not for shifter children to be gravitating towards each other. Do they need the presence of other shifter children or is it just a like-attracts- like sort of thing? ~ TNN News teaser
“Everybody down! Aim at the target assigned to you. Do you hear me?” The voice bellowed in his head and ears and Charley reacted without thinking. Hitting the ground, rifle up and aimed down range like everyone else next to him.
“Sir, yes sir, we hear you sir!” The answer in a chorus from all the other people around him as he focused down the scope of his weapon at the bobbing lights racing towards them. The word didn’t sound right, that wasn’t the word he said. He couldn’t pull out what word he’d really used but the meaning matched, so he let it go even as he tried to figure out what was going on.
Part of him noticed that the hand gripping the rifle was fur covered, with long sharp claws. But the only thing that mattered right now was paying attention to the voice. Even his dream self couldn’t look around. It had to listen to the voice.
“When I say fire, I expect everybody to shoot. Do you understand me?” The person yelling moved behind him and he ached to turn and see but the body didn’t move.
Once again as a group, “Sir, yes sir!” He realized as he focused on the scope that the lights were actually tracers on figures racing towards him.
Tracers? How do I know that word? How do I know what it means? Am I supposed to shoot at those figures? Is this a game?
But the thought wasn’t important. What was important was obeying the voice and so he aimed and waited for the command. Even as he tried to figure out where he was.
This isn’t real, is it? It’s like a video game but more real.
“Fire,” the voice ordered, and his finger contracted. Between the contracting of his finger on the trigger and the explosion of the figure racing towards him there was barely a delay between the two actions as the figure crumpled out of his line of sight. On automatic he shifted, centering on the next figure in his assigned area. “Again,” yelled the voice and again he fired, and again the bobbing lights fell. Over and over, and one by one, until there were no more racing towards them. An odd hush fell, but he listened for the voice.
Internally, Charley wanted to scream, to run away. He’d just killed people. He knew this, even without seeing the body at his feet he knew that people had died.
I want to wake up now. I don’t like this. I don’t want to kill people.
The thought was frantic but he still stared out at the strange landscape with calm detachment. The colors were just wrong though he couldn’t say how. He wanted to fix them, make them the right colors. People on either side of him weren’t humans but he didn’t know what they were. He’d never played many video games. Shelia had always sold them for drugs and all the one’s JD had got for him were funny or driving games. Now he just wanted to be sick. How could anyone want to do this or pretend to do this?
“Good job. Everybody up. Form into your squads now.” Charley reacted without hesitation, leaping to his feet, his weapon snug in his shoulder. Two other people joined him. He caught black fur out of the corner of his eyes. Turning he looked and saw Jessi and Jamie stare back at him in warrior form. A sense of relief, something to hold onto grabbed him, even as he realized he’d never seen them in warrior form.
How do I know who they are? Why are they adults? Why are we adults? Why am I calling it warrior form? That is what McKenna changed into to save us.
The thought registered deep in his mind but rather than focusing on that, he sank into a squatting position. They covered each other, ready to move out on command.
“Forward. Each of you have an assigned sector. Clear it. I want every creature in this area eliminated and a clean sweep completed. Move out.” The voice held no emotion, just the order and they responded.
A heads-up display, HUD, popped up in front of his eyes, showing all the other soldiers and his squad’s sector. Each group had icons and colors, letting them know where their allies were. He broke into a light easy trot heading towards his sector. It showed clear in his mind though he had no idea how he knew where it was. Moving his gun from side to side, he checked each area as they went through their building. The first one in their area loomed directly in front of them. He went through the door and he could feel Jessie and Jamie behind him. Each of them turning, as if on cue, to clear the rooms. They went through them in a logical, quick manner until a noise behind one of the doors drew his attention.
Charley waved them both to stop with a hand signal. Though he had no idea how he knew the signals for stop and go forward, he used them without thinking, without even having to try and remember what they were.
Stopping in front of the door, his squad members flanking him on either side, he lifted a booted foot and kicked down the door.
My feet are huge. I’ve never seen boots like that.
The boots wrapped up to his knee, but rather than the rounded toes he was used to, they almost looked like gloves for his feet with a place for each toe. At the end of the toe the material seemed soft, flexible, and he knew if he extended the claws on his feet they would shoot out through that material.
He moved in with his gun focused on the creature in the corner of the room. It looked like something from one of the sci-fi movies JD liked to watch. Scales, large eyes, oddly pretty. It screeched or screamed at him, hands in the air, as it cowered back from him.
Charley’s hands pulled the trigger and the head disappeared.
What? Why did I do that?
Even as he flinched back in horror his body turned and moved through the house. One more of the creatures died at his hands before they exited the building.
“House clear. Moving on to next.”
“Acknowledged.”
They moved into the next house. Charley was numb as his body moved and acted, ignoring his thoughts. By the time they were complete,
a total of fifteen of those creatures, beings, aliens, had been eliminated. Even watching from outside his own actions, his brain wouldn’t allow him to call it murder.
“Sector clear,” he said, even as his squad mates fell in next to him. He could sense one was missing, squads were made up of four, but it didn’t solidify. More like a missing tooth that he poked at.
“Fall back to retrieval point. Drop ship inbound.” The voice allowed no argument, no dissent, so he and his squad moved. As they trotted across the field, a flick of light to his right pulled his attention.
“Down,” his voice cracked sharp both in his mind and physically even as he dropped and rolled. Without thought he came up aiming at the flickering movement. Jamie on his left had adopted a prone position and had his rifled aimed at where Charley saw the flicker. Jessi had rotated, landing in a crouch her body and gun covering their backs. She had to cover too much area since they were down their other squad member but she adapted just fine.
His eyes locked on the flicker of light, a figure running towards them, but the transponder didn’t match to anything in his display.
“Put it down,” his voice had no inflection or intonation, though he never planned on saying those words. Even as he spoke he targeted and pulled the trigger. The running figure went down. He scanned, no other incoming targets. “Stay, cover, will investigate.”
Assent filtered to him through the link. It felt different from what he normally felt from Jamie or Jessi but still felt like assent. He stood, stalking over to the figure crumpled on the ground. At first it looked like one of the lizard dragon alien things but as he got closer, it changed, morphed, and McKenna’s lifeless eyes stared up at him.
The feeling of his claws growing, his body shifting, pulled him up to consciousness. Panting and gasping, recognizing the warrior form he had started to shift into, he pushed it back, lying trembling in his human body. The warning McKenna and Wefor had given them, about them being too young to shift, echoed in his mind.
~What the… was that?~ Jamie asked even as Jessi fought her way awake on his other side. His mental voice tasted like ash and tears and Charley choked back a silent sob.
~I don’t know. But…~ he trailed off as knowledge and memories settled in. Suddenly he knew how to use a HUD, what the hand signals were, methods to escape capture, to track people through any terrain and how to use, tear apart, and repair the gun he had held as he so calmly killed other living creatures. ~Did you just…?~
~Yes~ came from two minds and Charley pulled them close. They curled up in his arms, one on either side, holding on to him as their protection in the storm of emotion that swamped them. Unsure if this new knowledge was neat or terrifying.
Or both.
6
Incoming
Sugared cereal, which has always been a favorite among children, has seen a reduction in overall sales. While it could be many factors, rumors from the boardrooms of Kellogg’s and General Mills are that both companies are scrambling to attract shifter children who seem to be going for more protein and complex carb based food. While Jimmy Dean is seeing sales spikes of their microwave friendly foods that are high in protein. Is this a new trend? And should parents everywhere watch what these children are eating and take their clues from them? ~TNN Trend watcher
It took them a while to fall back asleep, and part of Charley kept waiting for the next part of the dream. He sensed they hadn’t finished. It reminded him of a video game where they had reached a checkpoint but not finished the game. The problem was he didn’t know if he wanted to finish the game or not.
“Kids? It’s time to get up. I’m making breakfast. Lots of French toast.” Carina’s voice filtered through his restless sleep and he opened his eyes to see her outline in the doorway.
“Kay,” he said, his voice still thick with a restless night.
“Morning, Charley,” her voice had soft sympathy. “Get the other two up for me? You know how Jessi is in the morning.”
The teasing normality helped. Jessi hated mornings. If she had her preference she’d stay up all night. Jamie on the other hand already had stretched and started rolling out of bed at Carina’s voice. He headed to the bathroom already perky and ready to face the day.
Jessi whined and pulled the covers over her head and snuggled down deeper. It seemed so normal and it hurt because it wasn’t, nothing about this was normal.
“Jess, get up. Up. You know the adults will be over soon to talk to us. Maybe,” his voice caught, “maybe they’ve learned something?”
Her eyes shot open, and he could see reality slam back into her as tears welled in her eyes. She blinked rapidly and pushed her way out of the bed and covers. “Yeah.” She made to head for the bathroom but paused at his words.
“Jamie is in there now.”
“Oh.” She stood there for a moment wavering, then headed to her room, not looking back at him.
Charley wanted to be home with a fierceness that made his chest hurt. How could it be home already? But he knew McKenna’s was more of a home than anything else he’d ever had and he wanted it back.
By the time all three kids had brushed their teeth and found clothes, Carina had a tall pile of French toast waiting for them.
“Go on and take a seat at the table. I’ll bring it over, and I have sausage links in the oven.” Charley liked Carina. She never snapped like other baby sitters he’d had. She talked and played with them and their animal forms didn’t make her blink. Right now, she was the only adult he even had a little bit of faith in.
Sitting at the table she gave them each a glass of milk and juice, sausage links and French toast with lots of syrup and peanut butter. His favorite. They were silent as they ate, not the normal silence but something heavy and uncomfortable.
“So, Sergeant Holich will be over in a bit.” Carina’s voice broke the silence and Charley felt like his head had been yanked up by a string he looked at her so fast.
“Do they know anything, have they found them?” Though only his voice spoke, he could feel the twin’s backing of his words.
“No. I don’t know anything, I’m sorry.” Carina chewed on her lip then smiled at them, but he knew it wasn’t a real smile. “I know you’re worried, because I am too. But think about it. They took McKenna and JD. Do you really think those two will not do everything to get back here? And your mom?” She directed to Jessi and Jamie who had frozen mid-motion. “I know she’ll move the Earth to get back to you, so we just need to have faith they’ll get home.”
If they didn’t get killed.
The thought and image of the other lady cop, blood spreading across her back, flashed through his mind and he wasn’t hungry anymore. He put his fork down and pushed the food away.
Jessi and Jamie looked at him in horror and he flinched, realizing he’d shared that thought and image. He pushed it away, swallowing down the bitter liquid that rose in his throat.
“Okay.” He said and sat there. Playing held no interest and he didn't want to read. He just wanted McKenna back.
Carina smiled again, that same smile that hurt and made him feel a little bit better at the same time. “Come on. Help me with the dishes and I’ll rent a movie for you?” She seemed to understand none of them wanted to go outside.
Charley and the twins helped but his eyes kept getting drawn to McKenna’s phone laying on the counter. He hadn’t realized they’d brought it with them but now he couldn’t take his eyes off it. He knew it was hers, she had that special case with her credit cards and ID in it. She’d call it if she got free.
Carina held up her part of the bargain and as soon as the dishwasher started she rented a new Lego movie for them, one none of them had seen. They found their favorite seats, Charley and Jessi on the couch and Jamie sprawled out on the floor, a coloring book before him. Movies didn’t capture him as much as Jessi and Charley. He said his mind made better movies than what they watched but he never argued, just had something else to do.
They were about a q
uarter of the way in when the doorbell rang. The three of them flinched. McKenna and JD never came over without letting them know they were here via mind speak, so the doorbell startled them. Charley hit pause and they turned to look, bodies tight and waiting.
Sergeant Holich walked in, and they all sagged but they still got up and headed over to her.
“Hey kids.” She nodded at them, then paused awkwardly looking at Carina.
“You might as well tell them at the same time you tell me. They have excellent hearing and keeping information from them will just drive them up the wall.”
Charley could have hugged Carina right then and Jamie did. Carina wrapped her arm around him, while Jessi hung back, watching the Sergeant with narrowed eyes.
“If you’re sure?” Carina nodded so the cop continued. “We verified they were taken in a couple black vans. They were tracked to a small airport but the flight plan for the only planes that left that day were all fake. There were three that left about the same time yesterday. We are trying to track the planes but at this point we need to get the FBI involved to even get access to the information. Bottom line - we don’t know where they are. We don’t even know if they are in this country.”
Charley felt like someone had punched him in the stomach. He knew what it felt like. Gerry had hit him like that once, making him want to throw up and cry at the same time. He felt like that now.
“Crap. That isn’t good. What about Charley? He can stay here, it isn’t a big deal. I can get an emergency wavier for my summer classes but I might need a bit of help.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll -” the Sergeant broke off as McKenna’s phone rang and everyone froze looking at it.
Carina reached it first, hitting the speaker button. “Yes?”
“Ms. Largo? This is Roy Wallace, I wanted to come by for a wellness check on Charley. I am planning on being there in about an hour.”