Distinct

by Hamill, Ike

  “I’m going to go ahead,” Robby said. “Make sure there are no surprises. C’mon, Gordie.”

  Brad picked up his own pace as Robby ran ahead of the rest. Jackson looked disappointed to be left behind. He and Romie were dragging The Origin as fast as they could.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  “Why does he keep doing that?” Cirie asked Tim.

  “Doing what?” he asked. Tim was looking towards The Origin, whose head was slumped and flopping side to side while he was dragged forward.

  Cirie pointed towards Cedric, who was growling towards a dark patch of woods.

  Tim snapped his fingers and Cedric turned and ran to catch up. They both heard the growl—this time it wasn’t Cedric. The new growl was much lower and it rumbled, shaking the air.

  “That thing is big,” Cirie said. Since Corinna was dragging The Origin, Cirie had custody of Liam’s hand. She pulled him a little closer to herself.

  Tim jogged up to Corinna.

  “You need a break?”

  “I got this,” she said. “Why don’t you go ahead and scout the route? It’s getting dark.”

  “Yeah,” Tim said. “Good idea.”

  He snapped for Cedric again and the two of them ran ahead. There was one spot in particular that Tim wanted to avoid. When they had headed west, their path had veered a little close to the lake. Just slogging through the marsh on their own had been difficult. Trying to drag someone barely conscious would be impossible. When he and Cedric found the spot, Tim called to the others and directed them to veer around the mud.

  Soon after, he spotted the path that led up the hill.

  Tim got the others on course and then ran ahead again.

  Before he saw them, he heard the assembly up there. Carrie had sent groups every direction based on Robby’s recommendation. Groups of six had left in order to cover some territory and stabilize the churn. Only the injured and frightened had stayed behind with Carrie at the center. Based on the conversation that Tim heard, a lot of those people must have returned. That meant that there must be bad news.

  Cedric barked and ran ahead up the dark trail. Tim sprinted to catch up.

  Compared to the woods, the clearing at the top of the cliff was well lit. Tim could see someone else running into the clearing from the other side. In the center, he saw a mob of people around Carrie. Tim saw Ty’s giant shape at the periphery. He caught up with Cedric as the dog made his reunion with Murphy.

  “What’s happening?” Tim asked. His question was mirrored by one of the people surrounding Carrie. Lots of people had the same question on their lips.

  “The Origins are converging,” Ty said.

  “Plural?” Tim asked.

  Ty nodded and pointed.

  Tim saw what Ty had already spotted. Surrounding the clearing, he saw trios of people coming in from the woods. The shapes had a pattern. Strong people on either side supported a slumped figure in the center. One of the trios consisted of Corinna and Mike dragging The Origin. Apparently, he wasn’t the only Origin that people had found.

  Tim recognized Jackson and Romie carrying another version of the same man.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  Across the way, Robby saw an older version of himself following an older version of Gordie into the clearing. He slowed and realized that he was looking at Tim and Cedric. They weren’t the only ones in the clearing. Lots of people who had been sent off in small parties had already returned. They were clustered around Carrie, all demanding answers.

  Nobody knew what was happening and they all were claiming the same thing—their party had encountered The Origin and they were dragging him back to the center of the churn, as instructed.

  Before Robby could turn and send Romie and Jackson away, they came through the bushes and stumbled into the clearing with The Origin still propped up between them. They all arrived at the same time. Robby made a slow turn and saw people propping up the limp form between them. Every man was different, but they were the same. One looked as gaunt as a skeleton. Another had dark spots of blood leaking through his clothes. The one between Romie and Jackson was healthy in comparison, but he seemed older than the rest.

  “Wait!” Robby yelled.

  The world just outside the ring of the clearing was swirling. The leaves of the trees blended together in the moonlight, like they were being swirled in a tornado that was centered on Carrie. Nobody heeded Robby’s yell. The circle of people collapsed as they dragged their captives towards the center.

  Robby saw confusion and then fear on Jackson’s face. Still, he trudged forward as if Carrie had a gravity that was impossible to resist.

  “Stop!” Robby screamed. His warning had no effect.

  He couldn’t stop them from coming for Carrie, so he did the only other thing he could think of. He pushed through the crowd that had gathered around Carrie, meaning to pull her from the center. He didn’t know why, but it seemed imperative that The Origins should not collapse on her.

  Robby reached her as she doubled over, wrapping her hand protectively around her own belly.

  “Carrie, you can’t be here,” he said.

  She looked up at him. The whites of her eyes caught the moonlight and stabbed panic into Robby’s chest.

  “I can’t. The baby is coming.”

  Robby began to object. Earlier, she had barely appeared to be pregnant at all. In fact, if forced to guess, he would have said that there was a good chance that it was all in her head. He saw how wrong he had been. The hands that protected herself were covering an enormous belly. Her shirt rode up over stretched skin. She looked like she could burst at any second.

  Robby blushed as he remembered the question he had asked earlier. In his defense, they had all asked it while they were under the influence of The Origin’s strange hypnosis.

  “Who is the father?” Robby whispered.

  He was certain that Carrie couldn’t have heard him above the din of voices. She looked into his eyes as if she had.

  “Dr. Matthew!” Robby yelled. “She’s in labor.”

  Several people began to push forward. Robby was jostled to the side.

  “Who has a light?” a woman yelled.

  Several flashlights appeared from pockets and bags.

  Robby turned away from Carrie as she grunted and then yelled in pain. He tried to see beyond the circle of light to the approaching people. When he spotted Romie and Jackson, he ran for them. The force pulling them inward was working against Robby as well. Each step towards Romie was harder than the last. He leaned towards it as the churn pushed him back.

  “Stop, Romie!” Robby yelled. “Don’t bring him closer!”

  Romie was working too hard to reply. She was resisting with all her effort. In her hands, The Origin’s arm was pulled backwards at a terrible angle. The limb looked barely connected to his torso. Jackson’s face showed the strain of his effort.

  Despite the wrestling match over his body, The Origin was smiling. He stared at Robby as they came together. Robby lowered his shoulder and pushed against The Origin’s chest. He felt the man’s brittle old bones creak and then break under the strain. Robby’s legs were no match for the force that was pulling The Origin into the center of the circle.

  “It’s inevitable,” the old man whispered in Robby’s ear.

  The churn was more than just a swirling force at the outside of the clearing. It was a ripping wind, sweeping their world into a cyclone. Robby had seen too many tornadoes already. He knew the terrible destruction left behind them. This one wasn’t quiet the same. It still sent a chill through Robby as he fought the compressive force.

  He realized that he was losing ground when he felt Ty’s hands on his back. Ty hadn’t come to Robby—he was stationary and Robby had been pushed across the rock into him. Every time Robby lifted a foot and tried to push The Origin away, he was actually sliding backwards against the force.

  Even Ty’s massive size was no match for the force. Everyone in the group was being pushed together i
n the center. One person tried to escape by squeezing between two trios of people. They met the same invisible wall.

  Behind him, Robby heard the doctor and a couple other people urging Carrie to push.

  “He is coming, as promised,” Cirie said.

  Robby wasn’t sure who she was referring to.

  For just a moment, the world seemed to go completely quiet. Nobody spoke and the wind died down. All the sound came back in a rush following the scream of the newborn.

  Robby turned to see.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  Dr. Matthew held the baby upside down in a cone of flashlight beams. The baby coughed and spat as he cleared its mouth with a finger and then wrapped the baby in a shirt that was handed to him. Carrie’s arms reached up for him.

  “My boy,” The Origin said. His voice seemed to come from several directions. Robby looked for the source and didn’t see the man until he squeezed between Brad and Cirie to get closer to the center of the circle. The wind surrounding the group continued to whip and shriek. The force pressing them together held steady. Robby could feel it at his back even though it no longer seemed to be pushing him.

  “Stay away!” Carrie yelled.

  Hands moved to hold back The Origin, but he slipped right through them. Nobody found a good grip on his flesh as he approached.

  Carrie struggled to stand. Her energy had been sapped by the incredibly rapid birth. People tried to help her up.

  “Don’t you come any closer to me,” she yelled at him.

  The Origin only smiled in response. His terrible form seemed to encompass all the injuries of each version. The thing in front of her looked like it was hovering within moments of death.

  “Our child is beautiful,” The Origin said.

  “He has nothing to do with you,” Carrie said. “Get away from me, you monster.”

  “Everything I’ve done is for him alone,” The Origin said. “You’ll see it one day. I know you will. I have lived in the world where you understand. You grew to love me there, and you’ll love me again someday.”

  “You’re not making any sense. There’s no reality where I would be with you,” Carrie said.

  Jackson finally managed to get ahold of The Origin. He pulled at the frail man’s shoulder where Romie had dislocated it. For the first time, The Origin seemed to experience pain.

  “You’ll see,” The Origin told her. He cried out when Jackson pulled at his shoulder again.

  Leaning forward, The Origin managed to swipe a hand towards Carrie before she could pull away from him. His fingers landed on her arm.

  CHAPTER 62: CARRIE

  CARRIE FELT DISORIENTED FOR a moment. Her memories eroded. They were sand dunes being buffeted by the waves and dropping away under her feet. There was bedrock down there though. It was a deeper set of memories that existed in a place where she had never been.

  Carrie’s chest was heavy with the weight of the change. She felt that if she exhaled, the atmosphere would crush her until she was nothing. So she held her breath and waited for the feeling to lift.

  “Carrie?” the old man asked.

  She turned and remembered what she had been doing. Her hands returned to the task automatically. She scrubbed at the black crust at the bottom of the pan. Streaks of silver were beginning to show through the biggest spot. It wouldn’t be long until the stainless steel was clean enough to call done.

  “I’m almost done,” she said, trying to smile.

  “Hurry up,” he said. “Tracy wants to get out of here while she’s still young.”

  “Okay,” Carrie said. She scrubbed harder.

  Her fingers were raw by the time she put her apron back on and picked up her notepad. Tracy gave her a quick rundown on the tables while she changed her shoes and put on her jacket. Tracy was through the door before Carrie even finished sorting through the bills.

  There was an old guy in a booth who had been nursing coffee for an hour—he would probably tip less than a dollar. There were three teenagers who needed to be watched carefully. Tracy had written their names on the top of the bill—above the tear-line—in case they tried to dash. Henry would know their parents. Whether or not they paid for their meal, they would never tip.

  Finally, she had an older couple out on a date. They would leave a good tip, and if she could get them to order coffee or desert, she would be able to take the bulk of the tip instead of leaving it in Tracy’s envelope.

  “Get out there,” Henry said, bumping her backside. “Didn’t you hear the bell?”

  She honestly hadn’t.

  Carrie rushed through the swinging door to find out who was coming in so late.

  He was young—maybe just a little older than her—and almost handsome. Maybe if he did something with his hair and shaved that terrible mustache, he would be presentable. He dressed well.

  Carrie smiled and automatically checked his finger for a ring as she approached. He wasn’t married. Tracy said that if they were married and alone, you poured it on. For couples, you acted like you could be their daughter. For single men, you had to give them the cold shoulder if you wanted them to drop some cash. They would try to impress you.

  Carrie dropped the smile and made her voice all business.

  The man folded the menu closed as she approached. Some people wanted to jump right into the action.

  “What can I getcha?”

  Her pencil was poised over the pad.

  The man had slow eyes. When he blinked, the lids took their own sweet time to descend, and then even longer to come back up. It was like there was a movie showing on the backs of his lids, and he was trying to enjoy every moment of it before he returned to the real world. When he smiled, just one corner of his mouth went up. It wasn’t a sneer. It was crooked enough to be cute. Carrie thought she might have underestimated him.

  “What do you recommend?” he asked.

  There was something uncomfortable about the question. He was playing a game and inviting her to join in.

  Tracy’s advice played in her head. She kept to her businesslike approach.

  “Everyone loves the burger, but I would go for the mac and cheese. Henry uses his mother’s recipe.”

  The man picked up the menu and put it back in the loop between the salt and pepper. His face was serious for a second.

  “By all means, the mac and cheese,” he said.

  His crooked smile returned.

  “Drink?”

  “Water.”

  She frowned and wrote it down. Water meant no tip.

  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

  While Carrie loaded the plastic tray with the dishes, she thought about that crooked smile. There was a silent battle going on in her head. Why had she dumped Leonard? Because he was too nice. Why had she dumped Dennis? Because he was too boring. Maybe she needed to meet a guy who had a devious smile. Maybe she needed…

  “Carrie!” Henry barked. At least he didn’t call her “girl” anymore. It had taken a week, but she had finally broken him of that habit.

  “Yeah?”

  “You have tables.”

  “I’m almost done,” she said. He got angry if she ran a cart through before it was full. He got angry if she didn’t keep the sink clear. Now, he was angry because she was spending too much time doing cleanup and neglecting the customers? She couldn’t win.

  “Tables first, dishes second,” he said.

  The order had been reversed the night before. The only time Henry was nice was ten minutes before their shift ended, when Mr. Rollins would come in to take over for breakfast.

  She pushed through the door to the dining room and saw that Henry was wrong. She didn’t have tables, she had a table, singular, that needed attention. It was the man with the slow eyes and the crooked smile. He had his wallet out and no check in front of him.

  “Sorry,” she said, folding the pad back to his bill. She tore it off.

  “No rush,” he said.

  She dropped the check and turned to go back to his dishes. Pe
ople liked a little privacy when they filtered through their wallet, trying to decide how little to tip.

  “Hey,” he called.

  Carrie turned.

  His smile came and went. She saw the effort he took to erase it. He was coming to a realization that she could read on his face like someone was narrating it. This man wanted to get to know her, and he had already sensed that he wasn’t the kind of person she would be interested in. Actually, that wasn’t precisely true. She was interested in him, but in the way that she might press her face close to the glass at a snake exhibit. He was fascinating, dangerous, and handsome in his own way. She would move close enough to get a good look, but would never consider him to be boyfriend material. So he was interesting, but that didn’t mean that she was interested in him.

  She knew that, and he was quickly figuring it out. He was smart and intuitive. He wanted to be the kind of man that she would be interested in.

  When he tried on a new smile, she smiled back. This one was earnest and honest. This smile didn’t come easy to him and they both knew it.

  “My name is Charlie,” he said. “Is there any…” He coughed and cleared his throat. “Could I… Would you like to…”

  She cut him off and bailed him out.

  “I work the midnight shift again on Tuesday. Come back then. We’ll talk.”

  He blushed and nodded.

  She returned to the kitchen and finished loading the tray. That morning, as she crawled into bed and wiggled her toes to un-cramp her feet, she thought about him again. She could see the future clearly. He would come again and she would be able to tell how much he was willing to sacrifice for her.

  That was a new thing for her.

  In the relationships that Carrie had witnessed up close, the woman bent to the man. She could find a good one or a bad one, but it was up to the woman to bridge the gap between them. The thought of a man deconstructing his own facade and then rebuilding himself to please her—that was revolutionary. The idea made her feel warm and special. She wasn’t a new territory to conquer, she was an independent regime to be negotiated with. The power belonged to her.