The New World: Crimson Winter

by Andy Skrzynski

  “I’ve got lasers built into each finger and my toes.”

  He warily stared at her. If she wanted to kill me, she woulda done it by now — wouldn’t she? Besides, she’s amazing — the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen.

  The spat between her and Speedy made little sense. How could he not like Andralec? Maybe she threw something at him, too?

  Pulling a scarf from his coat pocket, he wrapped it around his neck and bit his lip. “Why do you hate Speedy so much?”

  “It’s not really a matter of hate. I just don’t like it when someone does something they know will upset me.”

  He moved his hands closer to the flames. “Like shut you off?”

  “Exactly. And he always calls me Drally.”

  Skeeter pulled his knees to his chin. “I kinda know how you feel.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He curled his lower lip. “Most people don’t understand my special powers, except Hoot. They certainly don’t appreciate my need to push myself to get better — not even Pa.”

  “You did appear out of sorts before I landed that scalpel above your head. What was troubling you?”

  “I’m grounded.”

  Andralec’s eyes darted back and forth. “Grounded? As in you can’t fly anymore?”

  “You could say that, but in this case, it means I can’t do anything I like.”

  “That sounds harsh.”

  “Not exactly. I probably shouldn’t have jumped off the horse to chase that monster. I just like showing off how fast I can move.”

  “Makes sense to me. I’m always showing Speedy how intelligent I am, but it seems he could care less. He ended up dismembering me, snuffing out my conscience, and flying me in a crate to Ukkiville. Who does that?”

  Skeeter thought he had it bad but being ripped apart and shipped elsewhere? He could only pretend to imagine the terror. “Now, that sounds harsh!” No wonder she was so angry.

  Intrigued, he reached up and gently touched her hair. The style and color were similar to the pretty red-headed aunt in the last Jurassic movie he watched several weeks ago. He adored the character and wished he had an aunt with the same spunk and as beautiful as any woman he’d ever seen. The creative android would have to do for now.

  “It’s wicked how you can change the color of your hair — and your eyes — they’re green like pines trees. You’re so pretty.”

  “Thank you, young man. You’re such a gentleman, but let’s talk about something else.” Andralec grabbed two chairs and set them closer to the fire. “Sit and tell me about your special powers.” She settled into her seat and peered at him.

  “Well. I don’t want to brag.” The back of his mind warned him not to share too much with a stranger, but his attraction had grown too great. “Of course, I do!”

  His dimples sunk deeper as his smile widened. “I’ve got the greatest powers in the village; ask anyone! Some of us kids can do things with our brains that most humans can’t. It started with our parents, Storm, Mercy, and Thoruk. As they had children, we picked up those same genes.”

  “That’s very interesting. I’ve heard of research in Texas that’s focused on extending the mind’s capacity.”

  “Well, we’re able to enhance our powers by taking a dose of that horrible awgful concoction every morning.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A bitter powder from awgmira and fulmeny roots. It’s disgusting — enough to make any person gag!”

  “Sounds unappetizing, but how would I know? Elaborate more about your abilities. Give me an example.”

  Not only was his newbie clinging to his every word, she actually seemed genuinely interested. Grownups don’t even do that! “Well, just the other day when I thought the monster was gonna kill Sis, I closed my eyes. Somehow my mind took control of the drone and zapped the snatcher. It didn’t know what hit him!”

  “Zapped it?”

  “You betcha. I lasered it and saved my sister!”

  Andralec froze in place for a moment while odd noises swirled within her chest. Suddenly, she jutted her chin toward Skeeter and stared. “You really accomplished all of that?”

  “It’s true! Ask anyone.”

  “Remarkable! We’ve got a lot to discuss, young man.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Stinger Whip

  Queasy’s Cabin

  Aluki lifted the beast’s trunk while she continued to examine it. “Wow, didn’t expect this!” Her dissection of such a unique creature proved much more interesting than inspecting villagers’ throats, noses, and ears at Doc’s place.

  Queasy laid his scalpel down and strolled to her station. “Whatcha got?”

  “There’s a bony structure with a serrated edge hidden inside the trunk. See?” She peeled back a layer of the long tubular snout’s tissue, sliced lengthwise.

  Teli perked up. “Ah, that makes sense. Bartuk mentioned the monster used its trunk to cut into the chest and other cavities of the cows.”

  Her husband scratched his scalp. “Yeah? It does seem rigid enough to slice through flesh and bones.”

  Looking up from her notes, Hoot snickered. “Wicked! Snatcher’s got a Jack the Ripper trunk?”

  The scientist frowned. “Don’t say that around Bartuk. He won’t be amused.”

  Queasy stared at the creature’s stiff blade. “How can it curl that thing inside the trunk and put it in the pouch? Doesn’t seem possible.”

  The more Aluki dug, the weirder things looked. Nothing she had ever found in any biology or anatomy book could prepare her for this. It was as if she had unveiled some beast from Greek mythology. “This is very peculiar. Look at the end.”

  While her husband stared at the hollow of the long appendage, she pointed. “There’s a proboscis that runs through the center of that channel and up the trunk. It leads to this collection bag I discovered yesterday when I first cut open the nasal area.”

  Hoot interrupted. “Whoa, slow down a little. How do you spell proboscis?”

  Teli scribbled it on a piece of paper, then whispered. “It’s like the needle-nose of a mosquito.”

  “Okay, got it.”

  An idea crashed Aluki’s thoughts. “Blazes, remember the puncture at the base of each cow’s neck? I think we’ve got our answer.”

  The middle-aged scientist’s eye twitched. “What do you mean?”

  “Overnight, I ran a test of the liquid from the bag.” She turned toward the screen. “Hey Tiger, thank Salty for sending us that analyzer last year. It’s a godsend.”

  Queasy huffed. “Never mind that. What did you find?”

  Her husband’s dismissal pricked her hard, especially during something so important. “It’s spinal fluid, you grumpy poop. That’s why the cow we examined and this Skalag had very little left in their bodies.”

  “Spinal fluid?” He peeled his gloves from his hands. “This does confirm our suspicions, but why on Earth would the monster be collecting spinal fluid and organs?”

  That particular question hadn’t crossed her mind, but it did seem peculiar. “Your guess is as good as mine. What about you, Tiger? Ever hear of such a thing?”

  The Texan shook her head. “Just the reports of the mutilations on the East Coast, but I honestly can’t fathom why they’re hoarding that stuff. I’ll talk with my professor and some of the researchers around here.”

  “Thanks. Hopefully, they’ll have some clues.” Up to that point, it was as clear as the big nose on her husband’s face; for every question answered, two more emerged to muddy the picture further.

  Minutes Later

  The Patio

  A calm settled over Skeeter as he became more acquainted with his new toy. She’s a lot more interesting than listening to Queasy’s scratchy voice the past couple of days.

  Maybe for once, he’d found a friend that would listen to him. Andralec strolled closer to the chiminea and placed her hand on it.

  Skeeter yelled. “Watch out! You’ll burn yourself.”

 
“Don’t worry. I’ve been designed to withstand extreme heat. Fire can’t hurt me.”

  The robot draped an arm around Skeeter’s shoulder, and warmth instantly spread across his back.

  He slowly wiggled. “Mmm, how’d you do that?”

  “You like it, huh? I can heat any part of my body to any temperature I desire, up to 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit.”

  “Wow, and I thought a hundred degrees in the summer was hot!”

  He touched the long sleeve of her forest-green jumpsuit and then the back of her hand. Both felt soft, but exactly the same. “Your clothes are different than ours.”

  “That’s right. While you wear clothing on the outside of your skin, my attire is part of my pseudo-skin. I can change the color and style to my desires and make my clothes appear to have more depth via shading. Of course, no respectable lady would want to be seen in fashions that don’t compliment her hair and eyes, so I’m capable of mixing and matching colors of all my features to my feelings of a given day.”

  “Brutish!” Staring into the flames, Skeeter pondered with amazement how truly unique his new-found friend seemed. The whole protector thing wasn’t so bad after all. I love Hoot to the blue moon and back, but it’s wicked having Andralec around.

  After tossing another log on the fire, the robot sat in front of the chiminea with her elbows resting on her thighs. “I want to learn more about your special powers. Let’s experiment.”

  He couldn’t believe his ears. “Sounds great!”

  She turned his chair to face her. “I want you to concentrate, like you did when that monster was about to kill your sister. Try to make me do something but don’t tell me what it is. I want to see if I can figure it out.”

  “Alright.” Skeeter shut his eyes tight.

  After several seconds, Andralec tapped his shoulder. “Hmmm. It’s not working. Let’s try again. This time focus a little harder, and I’ll probe your mind. We’ve been experimenting with this kind of thing in Speedy’s lab.”

  Probe my mind? Is she serious? He squeezed his eyes tighter and grimaced. After a moment, he pushed back and yelled. “Brutish! What’d you do? That felt horrible! Everything turned red.”

  “I felt something too. We were very close. I’ll dial it way back to a tenth of the intensity. I won’t hurt you.”

  He’d try just about anything, but worry flooded his mind. “You promise?”

  “Promise, with all my Halo Pack.”

  Disarmed for the moment, Skeeter laughed. “That’s silly.”

  “Well, instead of a heart, the Halo Pack is my source of energy.”

  She peered at him. “You ready for another go.”

  Her smile softened his worries. “Yes, but you better not hurt me.”

  Late Afternoon

  The Lab

  Queasy pondered the many things he’d learned the past few days. Like his wife, he was intrigued to find things getting stranger the more they uncovered.

  With his hands behind him, he strolled to his apprentice’s table. “What can you add to this bizarre day?”

  Teli tugged on one of the crusty ears of the beast. “Its extra-long auricles collect sound and funnel the waves through these follicles in the ear canal. After probing deeper, I was shocked. Not only does it have highly sensitive hearing of larger mammals like deer, it also has structures similar to bats.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “Not at all.” His pupil pulled the canal open along a cut and revealed the internals.

  “See these? There’s two distinct types of cochlea, one like a deer’s, and this one from an echolocation system that can detect high-pitched sounds.”

  He gently touched a small tubular part. “This is what helps it locate victims via reflection sound waves, like how a bat hunts insects.”

  As if it wasn’t enough that the snatcher possessed two hearts, an invisible hide, and a trunk to tear its prey to pieces — no. It’s also got to have an advanced hearing system to hear them a mile away.

  “Blazes! That means they can hear and maneuver just as effectively — day or night.”

  Tiger joined the conversation. “Maybe that’s why we’ve gotten reports of weird clicking and chirping sounds, especially in the dark. A lot of the attacks against the Florids and Yorkers took place after dusk.”

  Hoot raised her pencil. “Hey, when you’re done with those ears, can I use them for Halloween? I’ve got a great ide….”

  The Texan erupted. “No way! We have to analyze what’s left of the cadaver, here at our location. Our more sophisticated equipment will identify the molecular composition of this thing more accurately.”

  Queasy looked at Teli. “What else have you got?”

  As his assistant lifted the long, sleek tail of the beast, Hoot blurted. “He’s been working on the snatcher’s stinger whip.”

  The young man scowled. “Hey, let me tell him. I’m the one doing the exams.”

  He spread a lengthwise slit near the tapered end. “If you recall, Bartuk mentioned the monster struck one of the Jersey’s with its tail and seemed to paralyze the cow’s hind section.”

  Pulling the sliced tissue apart, Teli touched a soft, translucent sac filled with a creamy liquid in the meatier part of the tail. “There’s a thin tract that leads from here to this nasty, little weapon.”

  He pointed at a long, needle-like structure tucked inside the end of its tail. “One sting from this may be all it took. If it can take down something the size of a cow that fast, it might be lethal to a smaller mammal, like us. It’s kinda like a stingray’s tail but much more potent. Can’t wait to analyze what’s in that sac.”

  Stunned, Queasy froze for a moment. This thing’s way scarier than what Bartuk described. A couple of Zo’s mutants from the past had been terrifying enough in their own accord, but this creature was like every nightmare of Ukkiville wrapped into a single horrific predator.

  He peered at Teli. “Go tell your father what we’ve found but don’t take too long. We’ve got lots more to do.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Angered Throng

  Near Dusk

  Erik the Red Mountains

  Gno rode alongside his older brother as their horses climbed the slick rocky trail. Snow still blanketed shaded patches along the way.

  Confused and angry at the slaughter of one of his fellow warriors, he turned toward Zo. “I still can’t believe my eyes. Those clickers at the camp — are you sure the Ukes can create such monsters? How would they know how to make denamods?”

  Deep furrows along the brow bore witness to the Skalag leader’s frustration as he shook his head. “Don’t know. Makes no sense.”

  Sweat beaded on his bald scalp. “But I’m done talking about it.” Each time he clenched his hands in anger, his muscular biceps bulged.

  It wasn’t the first time he’d seen his big brother filled with hate, but this seemed different. Maybe a twinge of fear gripped his leader?

  Zo peered at him. “Back at the camp, those warriors were gawking at Vra.”

  “You just noticed? They’re not the only ones. Men have been looking at her for years.” He grinned. “But don’t worry, she knows how to take care of herself. If anything ever goes too far, she knows I’ll take care of it.”

  The crease in the shadow markings across the Skalag leader’s forehead eased. “You’re a good man. Vra’s lucky to have a brother like you — so am I.”

  Slowing her horse, his sister settled next to Zo. “I heard my name. What you up to?”

  “Nothing. You know how lucky we are to have Gno as our brother?”

  “Sometimes, but there are moments when I could just as well kill him.” She chuckled.

  She always came sniffing around whenever Gno found a moment with his brother. He smirked. “The feeling’s mutual.”

  After checking her backpack, she looked at Zo. “Can’t believe what happened. Why did we leave Badger back there?” Gno vigorously shook his head but too late.

  The Skal
ag leader snapped. “Like I said yesterday, he was dead, and I didn’t want to lose anybody else.”

  He scowled. “Don’t bring it up again!” Separating himself from the pack, Zo mumbled to himself while continuing up the trail.

  Perturbed, Gno closed his eyes for a moment. Can’t Vra leave things be? He pulled closer to his sister. “Bad timing. He’s angrier than I can remember.”

  “I didn’t mean anythi…”

  A couple of pebbles ricocheted across the path. Neighing, her skittish horse stepped back and reared.

  Gno snatched the reins. “Whoa, girl.”

  Vra settled the mare. “Where’d those come from?”

  His eyes followed the cliff, and when they reached the top, he sucked a quick breath. Three freakish creatures, like the beasts encountered at camp, glared at them from the crest. The middle one was twice the size of any seen before.

  Gno’s pulse quickened. “Look up!” He pointed. “There’s more of those purple-eyed monsters!”

  Staring down from the ridge, the ugly beings emanated irritating clicks for a few seconds, then turned and disappeared.

  Galloping hooves sounded from up the trail, and a warrior appeared. “Zo, hurry! There’s trouble at the caves!”

  Ten Minutes Later

  Zo’s mind swirled as he tried to imagine what possible emergency awaited. Shouts and screams grew louder as his stallion neared the cavern. Why is everybody so worked up?

  Poised for action, several warriors pointed their spears at a boisterous crowd. Skirmishes and yelling proceeded, while Jrok stood behind her protectors at the cave’s entrance.

  Gno looked at Zo. “What’s happening?”

  He shrugged. “Got me, but I’m about to find out.”

  His stymied anger flared once more as he murmured. “What’s wrong with these people?”

  Some of the Skalags argued face to face, others brawled. Many simply watched while holding torches on the frosty night.

  Jrok motioned with her arm, and five warriors ran to the fore of Zo and his team. A throng of infuriated voices filled the air. “They’re killing us! We can’t stand the noise any longer! Whatcha going to do about it?”