Chapter
13
Vulnerability
Ronsnickered, “Glad this f*cking katana didn’t end up someone’sass…”
Iheard Ron say.
Ididn’t open my eyes but I did break a smile.
“Hathere he goes, get your ass up kid!”
Andrewgroaned. “F*ck me”—
“Noteven a fat retarded bitch would want to f*ck you, so shut up and gofetch me the med-kit.”
“Shutup!” Andrew said. “Goddamn man.”
“OkI take that other comment back, maybe the katana should have ended upyour ass.”
Footstepsshuffled away.
“Stickthat finger up there with the imaginary katana bub.” Ron said.
Iopened my eyes to see Ron over me. His face tattered and battered. Hehad a bruised right eye and a long gash across his right cheek.
“W-Whatdid I miss?” I asked.
“Ohmy f*cking god Wes is awake!” Andrew yells.
Fastpace footsteps close in on me. But I couldn’t move my neck, it feltlocked into place, tied, but I felt nothing around the area holdingit in its position.
“Here’sthe med-kit.” Andrew said.
Iheard Ron unzip something and then felt a smack on my stomach.
“Gladyou finally woke up mate. Man you had me scared.” Andrew said.
Ronappeared over me again. He flicked a small flashlight on and staredinto my eyes.
“Dilatedand bloodshot. Oh and by the way… don’t ever hit the f*ckingbrakes when you get a flat.”
“Dudethat tire blew the f*ck off.” Andrew said.
Igroaned. “Y-Yeah I saw it shoot off too.”
“Doesn’tmake a difference. Don’t hit the brakes.” Ron snapped his fingersand glanced at Andrew, “Andrew go grab him some food and a glass ofwater.”
“AmI y’all’s bitch now?”
Ronsighed, his lips pursed and eyes squinted. “What does it look likeI’m doing? Yeah exactly, shut up and go get it.”
Ronwrapped his hand around my forehead. “Checking to see if your neckis broken.”
Ifelt the pressure on my neck intensify.
“Feelany pain?”
“No.”I answered.
“Good.Nothing’s broken. I think you might have it sore,” I felt hishand move to the back of my neck and rub a tender spot that made mecringe. “Ah I see that’s the spot.” He winked at me.
“Ok-okthat’s enough.”
Ronrose and outstretched his hand towards me. “Ok, let’s get youstretched.”
Itook his hand and he lifted me up.
“Thanks.”
“Pshno need kid, we’re a team.” He nudged me in the arm with hisfist.
Ismirked. “Ha, yeah.”
“Takea look at that.”
Hepointed behind me. I turned around and saw the sky split, asrainbow-like beams of auroras bled down from the cavity in theatmosphere.
“D-didwe do that?” I faced Ron.
“I’mnot sure if it was alien or not. An extraordinary explosion nodoubt.” Ron said.
“Whereto now?” I asked.
Heshook his head. “I’m not sure. It’s definitely not Mobile Bay.”
“HeyWes catch.” Andrew said.
Iglanced and caught a bottle of water. I snapped the cap and guzzledthe lukewarm water down in three gulps.
“Sono Mobile Bay…” Andrew’s jaw dropped as he stooped his headforward and sighed. “F*ck. Now what?”
“Dothanand then Florida.” I said.
Andrewglanced at me and rolled his eyes. “Yeah sure, shit, let’s getcloser to that thing shall we?”
“Idon’t care if you stick around here, either of you, I’m going toFlorida.” I said and made my way towards the car wreckage.
Istill wondered how we all survived that crash. The car ended upupside down and lost the front axle. Fate, luck, God? I don’t knowand I don’t give a f*ck.
Ron,limping, moved ahead of me in a skipping stride towards the wreckage.
"Beforewe go anywhere, we have to find ourselves a ride." Ron said.
"Wherecould we possibly find one?" I said.
"Youknow, if I'm right, that exit right there leads to a road that headstowards Auburn, and before Auburn we can take the country road toTroy that leads directly to Dothan." Andrew said.
"YeahI know what road you're talking about... I hate that road... but nowthat there's no cops, speed limits, or red lights we can get there ina quarter of the time." I said.
"Again,we need a pair of goddamn wheels first." Ron, ripping the backpassenger door clean off the car, said.
Hetossed it to the ground and yanked a duffle bag, the katana, and hisM4 out, tossing duffle bag to the ground, slinging the katana beneathhis armpit, and slipping the M4 strap over his shoulder.
"Youknow... we should stay clear of this, all the f*cking gasolinespilled." Ron said.
Ididn't hesitate, I grabbed the duffle bag, and hauled ass away fromthe car. Andrew and Ron followed close behind.
"Ahf*ck this is turning out to be a fun day already." Andrew said.
"Yup-ta-f*cking-do."Ron muttered.
"Wegood enough to run?" I asked.
"I'mgood to go." Ron said.
"Myass hurts a little but I should be ok." Andrew added.
"p-ssy."Ron said.
"F*ckyou!" Andrew said.
Weall laughed, because it was quite funny, and with all this tensionspiraling around us... it felt good, really good.
Notfar from the exit we spotted a Shell gas station lounge with a bunchof vehicles.
"Noshit... a sign of life!" Ron bellowed, "Skew!"
"Theforce must be with us." Andrew muttered.
Ronwiped the sweat from his brow, "I'm hot, sweaty, and I could usea hot shower."
Ithink Ron was in luck, because I made out a long RV strapped to aFord F150 in the Shell up the road.
"Catch."Ron slung the katana, hilt first, at me.
Icaught it and almost lost my balance as the weight of the katanaalmost dragged me down to the floor. I didn't feel that exhausted,but I guess I was.
Ronaimed his M4 forward and hurried towards the RV. He knocked on thehalf-opened screen door and then slung it open, leaped inside, andgave a frightening scream.
Theshout had me terrified. I stood petrified with the hair in the backof neck springing up as though a balloon had popped right in my face.
"That was some spooky shit."Andrew whispered, "Had me checking my pants for a minute!"
Ichuckled, "Cute."
"F*ck."Andrew, adjusting his pants, said.
Icontinued to laugh. It felt good, really good.
Ronkicked the door open so hard that the screen flopped right off thehinges, "Oops..."
"Ha!"Andrew said, "Good job."
"Nobody'shome. And this piece of shit trailer has a shower... woot!" Ronsaid.
"Wonderif the keys to this F150 are still in the ignition." I said,thinking out loud.
"Yeahright. If we were in a movie then that would be a probability. Butsince we're this is real life, and we're in this f*cked up real lifesituation, we aren't going to be that lucky." Andrew said.
Ishrug, "You'd be surprised."
"Proveit, go check, while you do, and get disappointed, I'm going to gotake a piss in the gas station." Andrew said.
"I'mgoing to take a shower, I suggest we all do, we need to freshen up.Might as well sleep in here tonight too. Let's get comfy," a bigsmile crosses Ron's face, "I'll cook too!"
Inod, "Sounds like a plan."
"I'lltake that thing," Ron, outstretching his hand, said.
Ihand the katana to Ron, "Going to go check if the keys are inthe truck."
"Ok,I'll be in here."
TheF150 was an extended cab. It was a sleek ocean blue with a picture ofa fish in the back windowpane. I opened the front door and the soundof the ding, ding... ding, brought this sort of happiness to washover me. The keys... YES!
Iturned over to the parking area and saw my dream car, gunmetalcolored Dodge Challenger. I drooled for a minute.
Ihurried over to it and stared inside, leather finish, navigationsystem, Road and Track version... indeed my dream car, perhaps I'm ina dream. I try to open it but the door didn't unlock... nope not in adream, great.
TheNextDay...
Weleft the RV, but took the F150 and piled a bunch of stuff in bed...
~
ThreeDaysLater
“Ingenious…”
Chrissays.
“Psh,bull shit.” I shake my head. “Idiotic.”
Imove my Bishop and kill his Rook.
“Boom!”
Mindysmacks me in the arm. “Hey now, don’t talk down at an Oracle.”
“Mindy,throw that Oracle bull sh-crap out the window, it’s Chris, comeon!”
Chriswinks. “No, you better take Mindy’s advice serious.”
Mindysighs. “You’re not helping.”
Iglance into Mindy’s eyes as she smirks and squints her eyes.“You’re turning him to the dark side.”
“Mindywe’re days closer to departing on this long voyage, I want to relaxand enjoy my time here. You should do the same.” Chris says.
“Iam, I am”—
“Wellfor now, throw all those rules out the window. Have fun!”
Mindyrubs the back of my neck. “Has it gotten any better?”
“Sinceyou touched it, it feels a hell of a lot better now.” I glance overat Chris as he moves his Knight and kills my Queen.
“Toldyou, ingenious.”
Igroan and smack my forehead.
“Check.”
Ishrug. “S-she’s distracting me!”?Chrisgives Mindy a thumbs up. “Good job Mindy. Again, check.”
Imove my Pawn forward.
Hemoves his Rook and kills my Pawn.
“Checkmate!”
Igroan. “Congratulations.”
Chrissips on a glass of water. “So what happened to your neck again?”
“Hehad another one of those dreams.” Mindy answers.
Inod. “Yeah freaked the heck out of me and I leapt off the bed.”
“Butwhat happened?” Chris asks.
Isnicker. “Well in the dream I hurt my neck after I crashed… thena big explosion pretty much woke me up.”
“Youprobably strained an old wound.” Chris adds.
“Yeahthat’s what I told him.”
“Ican’t argue with that.” I close my eyes and run my fingersthrough my hair. “Do either of you know anything about the MobileBay, Alabama incident?”
Chrisstraightens and crosses his arms. “An EMP-A Neonuke. Our firststrike.”
“EMP?”
“ElectroMagnetic Pulse.” Mindy answers.
“However,the wreckage that it caused wasn’t our fault. A counter missilesent by the North American Nation, the United States, destabilized itand pretty much caused the massive explosion you saw in your dream.”Chris flicks the King piece off the table and sends it spiraling offthe board. “It was a dull move... thousands upon thousands killedinstantaneously... unbelievable. ”
“W-whathappened after that?”
“Erasedeach and every Nation from the globe.”
Iglance over at Mindy. My disbelief has my jaw-lowered in awe. In sucha short period of time? How much power can harness such an assault?
“Withoutguidance, w-without a Government… your humans, the populated massescouldn’t hold sanity for long.” Mindy says.
“Butwhat about those transports to Alaska, who gave that order?”
Chrisshakes his head. “The Heir Council wasn’t sure… our EMP was setin order to delay those operations, but, they were abandonedentirely, or we assume so, after Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexicowas hit by that… incident.”
“Thishappened three months ago right?”
“Giveand take a couple days, yes.” Chris says.
“Andin those three months you now choose to begin an investigation inAlaska?”
“Iguess, I’m not in the Heir Council or in Emilio’s head, andsurely not mind-reading our President, so I’m just out of the loopto most of their overall choices. We’re currently in the SevenYears of Restoration,” Chris snickers. “Well that’s what theHeir Council is calling it. Around the globe they’re allowing ourEden to prosper with its own natural riches… they’re also erasingmassive amounts of surface infractions caused over the centuries.”
“It’sall so baffling you know… like,” I hesitate and shake my head.“I-I don’t know, sorry just my body shakes and my heart isbeating so fast.”
Ifeel a trickle of sweat streak down my brow.
“You’reovereating. Relax.” Chris says. "You'll probably end up beingthe one and only human survivor to witness the new world in motion.Give it time and you'll feel right at home... you'll see that we'reno different than your race."
“Wes,if you’d like, we can go to the doctor and get your neck checked.”Mindy mutters.
Wayto change the subject.
“Ijust want my memory back, I want my life back,” I rise, “Is thattoo much to ask? I want to remember and understand what’s this I’mdoing, what’s happened, my past, my memories… how in f*ck’sname I can play this shitty board game… how?” I smack my head.“I-I’m sorry.”
Chrisrises and clutches my shoulder. “Wesley, it’ll be fine.”
“Yourassurance doesn’t satisfy my body.” I grab his hand and press itagainst my chest. “My soul doesn’t believe you.” I shove hishand off and make my way towards the door. “Going to call it earlytoday.”
Chrisnods. "We'll send food to your quarters. And Wesley, pleaseunderstand that you're alive and that's all that matters..."
SureI'm alive, but what about my family and friends, Ron and Andrew, whatof them? Should I really be grateful that I'malive while they'reout there probably struggling to stay alive? Hell, if they're evenalive. I feel awful, emotionally awful, and it sucks.
“Ok.”Mindy says.
Iexit and head towards my quarters, pretty much two doors to the rightafter exiting Chris’s. I go in my room and shut the door. My handmotions over the knob where lock springs to mind. There isn’t one.
Istagger towards the bed and fall face flat. I close my eyes…
~
Ronhurtled over the reception desk and grabbed a key box…
“Villasounds excellent.” He said as he dumped the box over and spilled acluster of keycards.
“F*ckyeah! And there’s still power in here too!” Andrew said.
Ididn’t care what kind of room we we’re going to lounge in, I justwanted a hot bath and some f*cking R&R.
Ronshuffled through a bunch of cards until he found a golden one andflashed it towards me. “Oh f*ck yeah, time to crash in style!”
“Awesome.After you.” I said.
Andrewsmacked my back. “Come on dude, perk up!”
“Andrew.Shut up.”
Andrewbroke in laughter.
“YeahAndrew, shut the f*ck up.” Ron said.
“Goddamn, y`all both need to shut up. Give me that card.” Andrewsnatched the card from Ron and broke towards the elevator.
Rongroaned. “Kid, he’s lucky my ass and both of my legs hurt, or I’dtackle him down.” Ron said.
Isnickered. “I’m with you there.”
Ron,his hand clutching his back, staggered towards me. “Ah shit, nexttime remind me not to jump over a counter after surviving a caraccident ok?”
Inod. “Gotcha.”
“Heyuh Andrew, why are you even thinking about taking a goddamn elevator?If you get stuck… I won’t be coming to save you.” Ron said ashe pointed to the staircase. “Taking the stairs.”
Andrewsighed. “I feel like shit too, damn it.”
Ishook my head and made my way towards the stairs. “Hurry up, orI’ll pass out on this floor.”
~
“HeyWes.”
Mindymutters.
Iopen my eyes and see her sitting on the bed staring at me.
“Whattime is it?” I take a breath and stretch my arms.
“Abouttwo in the morning.”
“Andwhy are you here at two in the morning?”
“Idon’t know… I-I couldn’t sleep.” She says and then liesbesides me.
Isnicker. “Make yourself at home.”
Herwarm hand grazes my face. She kisses my cheek and wraps her handaround my waist.
“Night.”
~
“Hurry,hurry, RUN!”
Iscreamed.
Ihuffed it through the wilderness. I tripped on a vine, landed with abreath-depleting thump, and then spiraled down a decline until mybody landed in a stream of ice-cold water.
Avibration shook the ground and less than second later aftershocksstripped through forest floor. As I rose and tried to crawl to theriverbed, the shock catapulted me face first into the shallow edge ofthe stream.
Irose my head up from the water and saw streaks of blood streamingwith the water.
Ishivered and crawled back on the bed of leaves where I collapsed andset my head down to rest.
***
Chapter14
Encapsulate
Toecho, to reach, and only to realize…
Iam the stone amidst the wake of the storm.
Iopened my eyes and saw the parading leaves of the grand oaks dancingwith the tug of wind brushing through the forest.
Ipassed my fingers across my face and felt the scratches and driedblood. The pain stung more than anything I’ve ever felt before,more than the very impact that caused it. The good news was… mynose wasn’t broken. Thank f*cking goodness.
Evenwith my sore muscles, I managed to leverage myself from the ground. I made my way towards the stream and dipped my head in the water. Theicy water soothed some of the pain, but as it washed into the cutsthe sensation was too sharp to fathom.
Islipped my shirt off and wiped away what I could from the scratchesand blots plastered on my face. I sucked it up and just pressed downas hard as I could. I screamed at the top of my lungs only to hear myecho comfort my loneliness.
Istared at my white shirt… the smear of blood coated it like crimsonpaint.
Ithrew my shirt on the ground and rose. Now to get the hell out ofthis wilderness. And to hope this doesn’t turn out to be somestrenuously endless stroll.
Wherethe hell are Andrew and Ron?
Iexamined my perimeter. Nothing but mossy ground, endless series oftrees, that small shallow stream, and the steep incline I rolled downfrom. Maybe going back up might be my best bet.
Ihurled over the stream and ran up the incline. I leaped up, securedmy grip on a branch, and jumped over to the ground above. Again, thesame picture, trees, trees everywhere, f*ck. I didn’t even see anyfootsteps, not even my footsteps… they must have been covered bythe leaves or something. I shook my head and sighed. My aggravationgnawed.
Myheart sunk at the sound of helicopter propellers. I stared ahead ofme and saw leaves falling not even thirty yards away. The windintensified and howled.
Imade out two ropes and I knew, I knew it was them, those-those humanlookalikes… they’re looking for me, for us, Ron and Andrew.
Ireached in the back of my belt buckle but my gun wasn’t there.Shit.
Iturned around, slid down the decline, and leapt into the stream. Fromthere I picked up my shirt and broke into a sprint towards the mazeof trees.
Thepropeller sounds seemed to be following me. I peered back and saw thefalling leaves trailing me. They’ve spotted me.
Ihastened my pace. The leaves crumbled and rustled beneath my feet andthe low shrubs smacked against my skin like whips. I couldn’t stop,I had to keep going, no matter what, no matter the pain, and nomatter the agonizing reality that I’ve lost my dearest friends inthe mess of this chaos… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.
Theburn of my memories brought the tears. And the regret plowed moreholes in my vacant heart.
Abreak in the wilderness finally appeared…
Onemoment I was cluster f*cked in a forest, and a second later I’mrunning across a long and flat field… a football field. I made myway towards the stadium benches. I hit the pavement, slowed down, andran behind the benches to rest. I slid down the wall until I fellflat on my rear.
Idried my face full of tears and sweat.
Icould imagine Ron’s response to this: Quit being a f*cking p-ssykid, suck it up.
Isnickered at the thought and then sobbed in return.
“Iam being p-ssy aren’t I?” I muttered to myself.
Andnow I’m talking to myself, f*cking great. I’m losing it—no, noI’ve lost it.
Thepropeller sounds hummed in the distance, something that relieved aportion of my ache. But then footsteps aroused every hair in my bodyI rose and pressed my back against the wall.
Multiplefootsteps shuffled over the grass. Ron and Andrew?
Iedged and peered around the corner. Nothing but empty fields.
Ascratchy sound brought my attention behind me. I did a one-eighty andfroze stiff. It’s them, the lookalikes. The black suited figure,face veiled in that same black visor, stood upright with the glossygreat katana drawn forward.
“Relax,we’re not here to hurt you.” It said.
Thehelicopter propeller sounds intensified until it’s shadow castedover me. I glanced at the sky and saw it circling us.
Ifelt a hand clutch my shoulder. I shoved the hand away, turnedaround, pushed whoever it was behind me away.
“Relax.”The muffled voice said.
“H-Howdo you know my language?” I asked.
Theone I shoved away straightened and took a step towards me.
“Aconcern that’s irrelevant to the situation at hand. Why run?”
Ishrugged. “I-I don’t know.”
“Whatdo you fear?” Asked the one behind me.
It’sright… what do I fear? Them?
Ishook my head. “I’m not sure.”
“Thenwhy run?”
“Whatdo you want?” I asked.
“Soyou counter our question with another question. So in regards to thislittle entanglement, what you’re saying is that you don’t knowwhy you’re running and you don’t know why you fear us.”
Theone in front of me took another step towards me and outstretched hishand. “We’re not here to harm you or anything for that matter.They call me Ellie.”
Islapped Ellie’s hand away. “B-Bull shit. Haven’t you seen thedestruction and chaos y-you’ve created?”
Ellielet its hand fall to the side. “The chaos you see running rampantisn’t our doing, it’s the basic protocol of an incompetent humanrace. They cause their own chaos, they dig their own graves.”
“Thereason you run and fear us is the very reason turmoil has erectedbloodshed.”
“Enough,Enough.”
Arandom voice blurted out.
Fromthe corner another lookalike walked in. It’s body embraced by atranquil white gown, head covered by the hood, and face hidden behinda silver mask. On his hand, a peculiar cane with a white orb on thehilt that glowed and sparked.
It’semerald eyes were a different taint, a more vivid shade than anyother eyes I’ve seen. No pupil, just solid color.
“You’reaccompanying us.”
Istared at him with an angry face, “And who are you?”
Theone from behind grabbed a hold of my scruff and shoved me to myknees. “Show respect human, he’s an Oracle.”
Itpulled my hands to my back and fastened me with some kind of metalclamp.
Ididn’t have the urge to wrestle… my exhaustion was beyond me.
“He’ssustained heavy injury. Take him to get medicated before we inducehim to the Cleansing.” The Oracle said.
“Thiswon’t hurt one bit.” It whispered.
Andless then a second before my mind deciphered its words, everythingwent black, and numbness slipped throughout my whole… and Iwelcomed it.
***