Distinct

by Hamill, Ike

  “How?” Brad asked.

  Robby pointed at Jackson.

  CHAPTER 61: THE ORIGIN

  WHEN ROBBY POINTED HIS finger, the attention of the group was broken. Side conversations and arguments erupted all at once. Carrie put up her hands to no avail. Nobody was paying attention any longer.

  Robby moved in close to Carrie. A core group closed in around her for a private conference.

  “What am I supposed to do?” Jackson asked. “I’ll do it, you just have to tell me what.”

  “First thing we need to do is find The Origin. He has to be close, or I don’t think we would be seeing those strange animals so close to this position.”

  “Is it safe here?” Romie asked.

  “I think so,” Robby said. “I think that Jackson and these other people are the strongest tethers, so they’re our key to keeping the world safe enough to move around.”

  “Where do we look for The Origin?” Brad asked. “I left him at the farmhouse. Should we head there?”

  “I doubt it,” Robby said. “I think he’ll be close to here in a place that’s meaningful for him. He was getting ready to reunite with his family. I think that he would have gone to prepare.”

  “I don’t have any specifics,” Carrie said. “His story was pretty vague. There was a house on a hill and a school some distance away. I figured that the school had to be in Donnelly, because that’s near where the bomb went off, but this whole place is full of hills. There’s no telling which direction his house was in.”

  “I know,” Liam said.

  Corinna shushed him.

  “No, wait,” Carrie said. “You told us that he told Liam stories to keep him quiet. Maybe there is a clue in one of those stories. When he walked towards the bomb, do you know which direction he went?”

  Confronted with Carrie, Liam turned shy again. Corinna put an arm around his little shoulders and encouraged him to speak.

  “He said there were two suns—one in front and one behind.”

  “It was morning,” Robby said.

  “So the real sun was coming up in the east, which meant that the blast was west of him. That narrows it down a tiny bit.”

  “Only if we assume that he went home to wait for us to die,” Romie said.

  “That’s a good point,” Carrie said. “We can’t pin all of our hopes on one plan.”

  Robby thought for a moment.

  “If Liam’s right, then he should be a nexus for the churn as well. If we send these folks in different directions with parties of volunteers, they might be able to slow down the churn somewhat and make it safer for everyone else.”

  “If he’s right,” Brad said, regarding the kid.

  “He’s not lying,” Corinna said.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Brad said.

  “Okay,” Carrie said, “but that could be very dangerous if he’s mistaken. I’ll need volunteers to head these parties. Robby, I’m assuming that you’re taking Jackson east?”

  Robby nodded.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  “I wish Ty had come with us,” Romie said. She sat on the ground to lower herself down to the dirt below. Next to her, Jackson jumped over her arm and rolled when he hit the leaves.

  “Could you please take it easy?” Amy Lynne asked.

  “I thought we were in a hurry,” Jackson said.

  Robby and Gordie paused at the front of the line and waited for the others to catch up.

  Romie sounded frustrated with the whole experience. “She has a good point, Jackson. If something happens to you, I don’t know if it will still be safe for the rest of us.”

  Brad nodded and pulled Romie to her feet again. The six of them pushed through some low branches and then formed a line again with Robby and Gordie in the lead.

  “People have been talking about weird things out in the woods for a week. I still haven’t seen anything,” Jackson said.

  “That’s exactly the point of why you’re here,” Romie said. She looked to Robby for confirmation. “Right?”

  Robby nodded.

  The trail petered out. It was the second time. There was no established path heading east once they crossed the road. They were doing their best to head on a straight line towards a little village marked on the map. According to Liam, and the scattered memories that Robby had pulled together from people in the group, The Origin’s house had been in the woods. By heading there on foot, they hoped to save time and maybe intercept the man as he walked towards Donnelly.

  “We’re not going to need strength,” Brad said. “As far as we know. Ty is more useful back at the cliff, helping Dr. Matthew.”

  “I don’t see why it would have hurt to bring along some more muscle,” Romie said.

  “I think it’s more important to have people who aren’t quickly susceptible to his arguments,” Robby said. “Which means that I will be hanging back as soon as we spot him. Amy Lynne will stay back with me. You three will have to interact.”

  “That’s fine,” Romie said.

  “Maybe your idea about Jackson is correct,” Brad said. “I haven’t seen any of those weird animals this time.”

  Gordie froze and started to growl. The hair down the ridge of his back stood up.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  “So your parents told you about 9/11?” Cirie asked.

  Liam looked up at her and nodded. He tripped on a root. For a moment, he swung from Corinna’s grip and then landed on his feet again.

  “He says he knows,” Corinna said. “Leave him alone.”

  “I was just asking a question,” Cirie said.

  “How far do we have to go?” Mike asked.

  “We’ll go as far as we can until nightfall. When it gets too dark to see, we’ll find a place to stop,” Tim said.

  “Which should be any minute now,” Cirie said.

  “We should go back for the bus,” Mike said. “I’m sure that I can figure a way to move that other bus out of the way.”

  “No,” Cirie said. “We’re not going back. If I’m understanding this situation correctly, every step we take away from that cliff is helping stabilize this place.”

  She looked over at Mike and waited to make sure that he was in agreement. Ever since they had left Carrie, each decision had felt like a tenuous compact, ready to fall apart at any second. The only thing keeping them together was the notion that there was possibly safety associated with being near Liam.

  “Well, we haven’t seen anything strange yet. I suppose that’s one good thing,” Mike said.

  Ahead of them, Tim paused, watching Cedric carefully. The dog gave his tail a half-wag and continued on. Tim glanced back and nodded at the others. For the moment, it seemed that it was all clear.

  Their little group spread out a bit when Corinna stopped to tie her shoe. Liam stayed with her. The others spread out and advanced slowly. When she caught up with them again, Tim was in the middle of a debate with Cirie.

  “This looks like planted rows of pine trees that are all overgrown and competing with each other. Trust me, it will be a nightmare to try to push through. We should try to circle around them,” Tim said.

  Cirie shook her head and motioned with her hands. “We’re supposed to be radiating out, like spokes from a wheel. Our group is moving west. The only thing that should deviate us from this path is when we reach the bank of the lake and we would have to veer or swim.”

  “I understand,” Tim said, “but surely speed is important too.”

  He gestured to the line of trees ahead of them. Cedric could move under the low branches easy enough. To get by the thick growth, the rest of them would have to crawl.

  Mike didn’t wait to see who would win the argument. He crouched low and began to push through the growth, following Cedric. Tim put his hands on his hips and frowned.

  After a minute of waiting, Tim finally spoke. “You see? They’re too…”

  “Hey guys,” Mike shouted. “Come on through. It doesn’t last long.”

&nbs
p; Liam dropped to all fours and started to crawl under the branches. Corinna and the others followed.

  When Tim pushed through the other side, he stood up and tried to shake the pine needles from the back of his shirt. Mike was wading through heavy bushes and whispering something to Cirie. Tim was the last through to the lawn. The grass was tufty and overgrown in the sunny spots. The lawn swept up to a cabin.

  Corinna started forward. Liam ran to catch up and grabbed her hand again.

  “We haven’t seen anywhere else. It’s probably close enough to dark that we should consider stopping here,” Mike said. “Maybe there’s a car around the other side that I can get going.”

  Liam stopped and Corinna’s hand was dragged back.

  “I don’t want to go in there,” Liam said.

  “It’s layers, Liam. We can get a roof over our heads. You love that.”

  “There’s someone in there,” Liam said.

  “I’m sure that there’s nobody inside,” Corinna said, jerking him forward. Liam fought the tug of her hand.

  “He’s right,” Cirie said. She pointed at Cedric. He had stopped too. The dog was staring at the house. They all watched as a figure moved by the window.

  “This is all wrong,” Tim said. “That’s him. We have to go find Jackson’s group. They’re the ones who are supposed to find him.”

  “Hold on,” Cirie said. “Don’t panic. The point is to bring him back to the center, right? Robby postulated that we need to push him back through the hole.”

  “He also said that Jackson was crucial to the plan, since he’s the only true native,” Tim said.

  Cirie pointed at Liam. “Jackson, or him.”

  The others drifted back to join the conversation. Both Mike and Corinna kept a close eye on the cabin.

  “We don’t know that,” Tim said. “He’s too young for us to know for sure.”

  “You have to admit, we haven’t been attacked by any strange creatures. The churn is real, I’ve seen it, but we haven’t seen anything odd since we’ve been around Liam,” Cirie said.

  “So you just want to charge in there? That man is too dangerous to confront,” Tim said.

  “We’ve been inoculated, right?” Mike asked. “That man is responsible for Terry’s death, as well as others. I say we break in there and drag him back.”

  Tim shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “We should vote,” Corinna said. “All for running back to find the other group?”

  She and Tim raised their hands.

  “All for taking that walking corpse down right now?” Mike asked.

  He and Cirie put their hands up.

  “That’s a tie,” Tim said. “Tie means that we take the safest option.”

  Cirie shook her head. She pointed down. Liam had his hand up.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  The wind shifted and Gordie stopped growling in order to sniff the air. They pulled into a tight circle. Robby whispered.

  “Something is around here. I don’t know if it’s an animal or maybe a person.”

  They all turned at the sound of feet moving through the carpet of leaves.

  He was walking with a cane, and looked older than the last time Brad had seen him.

  There was shock on Robby’s face. Brad realized that Robby was meeting the man for the first time.

  “You’re The Origin,” Robby said.

  “And you must be Robby,” the man replied. He stabbed his cane into the soft soil and leaned hard on it. His slow eyes moved over each person in the group. “I guess I failed to persuade you, Brad.”

  “Come with us,” Romie said. “We want to show you something.”

  She didn’t wait for his answer. Romie strode forward and kicked his cane. Before he could fall, she caught him under the armpit and jacked him up to march him forward.

  “I’m happy to come along,” The Origin said. “There’s no need to manhandle me.”

  Romie barked out a laugh. Jackson moved to the other side to take half of the man’s weight. They were carrying him back down the path that the group had just forged. Brad moved alongside Robby and Gordie, who were watching.

  “The sun will go down soon. Is this a good idea?” Brad asked.

  Robby nodded. “It’s the only one I have.”

  “What about collapsing the tethers again? Aren’t you concerned that the churn will ramp up again?”

  Robby nodded. “Nothing we can do about it though. Hopefully the other group stays out there long enough to hold everything steady.”

  “It has been too quiet out here,” Brad said. “It’s unnerving.”

  “Yeah,” Robby said.

  Brad hung back with Robby as Jackson and Romie carried The Origin back down the path. Amy Lynne followed close behind. Gordie orbited between the two groups.

  Brad leaned in close to whisper. “Why did you look so surprised when we found him?”

  “I didn’t expect to recognize him,” Robby said.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  “You don’t have to come in,” Mike said.

  They had voted on what to do, but still couldn’t agree on the best way to execute it.

  “I’m not saying that,” Tim said. “I just think it would be prudent to not put all our eggs in one basket.”

  Corinna cut through the air with her hand, terminating the debate. She pointed to Cirie and Tim. “You two stay out here and watch Liam. If something happens, go get help. We’ll be out in a second.”

  She grabbed Mike’s shirt and pulled him forward. Mike went gladly. He had ramped himself up into a fury and was ready to tear the man’s head off. Tim watched closely from the lawn as Corinna and Mike climbed the stairs to the back deck. Corinna motioned for Mike to circle around the side as she approached the door. Before she could put her hand on the knob, it swung inward.

  The Origin stood in the doorway and Corinna didn’t waste any time. She dragged him out into the waning light and threw him down on one of the wooden chairs. Mike came running back. Corinna already had The Origin under control.

  Together, they practically carried him down the stairs.

  Tim had seen the man in various states—irradiated, head smashed, burned, and stabbed. At that moment, he looked worse than Tim had seen him.

  The Origin’s cheeks were sunken and his eyelids drooped over his eyes. His thin hair revealed bald patches, just like before. One of his ears hung out at a lazy angle.

  “Take it easy,” Tim said. “I think we need him alive.” Tim realized the absurdity of his statement as soon as it left his mouth. He had already seen the man die a few times. It didn’t appear to slow him down any.

  The Origin smiled, revealing bloody holes in his gums where his teeth should have been.

  “He’s fine,” Mike said.

  The Origin’s shoulder popped when Mike pulled him forward. The man didn’t scream or shout, but his frame hung from his limp arm. Mike was supporting the limb, but the shoulder was no longer transferring any of the weight. The Origin’s bones showed through his shirt.

  “He can’t die,” Cirie said.

  Tim knew she was right.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  “I thought you never met him,” Brad said.

  “I didn’t,” Robby said. “I saw him on television when I was a kid.”

  Brad slowed down as he processed that and then sped back up to catch Robby.

  “On TV? What are you talking about?”

  “It was quick,” Robby said. “He was trying to hold a jacket over his head as they walked him into the courthouse. The mugshot they had of him was from when he was much younger. It barely looked like him at all. But that shot of them walking him into the courthouse—that was definitely him.”

  “He was a criminal?”

  “He killed his family,” Robby said. “At least that’s what he was accused of. He died before he could be convicted.”

  “Are you sure? I’ve seen him look completely different on several occasions. Sometimes
he looks completely healthy, and sometimes he looks like … that.”

  “I’m sure,” Robby said. “In my version of the world, that guy was a serial killer. If I had seen him before, I never would have trusted what Jim told me. They said that he was a gifted liar—able to convince anyone of anything.”

  “That sounds about right,” Brad said.

  “That’s not the only reason I was surprised though,” Robby said. “I was also a little shocked that he didn’t try to run or get away from us. I know that he has so far predicted everything pretty well, but I figured he would have to be jolted by the fact that we weren’t all dead. Why would he go to all this trouble if the future that it led to wasn’t the one he was after?”

  Brad thought about Robby’s question as Romie jerked The Origin’s shoulder up. The joint made a snapping and popping sound. The Origin sagged as Romie lifted his arm higher. He was dangling on skin and tendons. Brad couldn’t imagine the pain the man must have been feeling. Having his shoulder dislocated and then wrenched around like that should have been excruciating. The Origin never showed any sign of it.

  “I guess I assumed that we totally screwed up his plan by waking up,” Brad said. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe that’s what he wanted all along.”

  Robby nodded.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of too.”

  “So, should we stop taking him back to the center of the churn?”

  “No,” Robby said. “I think it’s still our only course.”

  Brad paused for a second to rest against a tree. Trudging through the woods was hell on his knee. They didn’t have far to go now. It was getting dark and they were climbing up the hill towards the cliffs.

  From deep in the woods, he heard howls and then the chatter of a pack of predators. The churn was still out there, outside their protective bubble.