Children of the Spear (Novella): Origin

by Gervais, Rhett

  In the meantime, while they waited and recovered, the trauma teams kept coming in every few hours with body after writhing body, a horror show of poor souls who didn’t take to the process, who died in agony on the table, the horribly mutated bodies quickly discarded for autopsy. In their brief time together they had lost count of how many they watched die, but agreed at how frightening it was.

  “Why did it work for us and not them,” asked Michael, disturbed after one subject was completely conscious throughout the process, screaming in pain no matter how much medication was pumped into them.

  “I don’t know,” said Bobby, unable to tear his eyes away from the body after the medical team had departed. “I was okay. From the minute I got out of the tank, I felt a little weak and tired, but that was about it.”

  “Me too,” said Michael. “The religious idiots out there in the world would say we were chosen by God, but in truth I think it's just genetics. We’ve got the right stuff, passed on from our ancestors, generation after generation. What I think they’re doing is lighting the match, turning us into what we would evolve into eventually.”

  Bobby crossed himself: a terrible thought wandering the corridors of his mind. “What happens once that fire consumes us, when the tank is empty and we’re burned out? Maybe that's what's wrong with the failures; they’re using up their energy too quickly.”

  Michael’s brow creased, his handsome face marred by a deep frown. “That would mean that we—”

  Before he could finish, the doors to the ward burst open, a trauma team racing in with another writhing subject on a stretcher, screeching like a wounded animal, the blood-curdling screams making Bobby break out in a cold sweat. Before the medical staff could calm the subject, the thick leather straps holding them down broke away with a metallic pop as the subject sat up, arms flailing. With a roar the subject kicked out, their foot pounding one of the technicians in the chest, sending the poor man careening through the air and crashing into one of the empty beds before landing in a heap on the floor. The subject continued to thrash wildly, tossing aside the panicked doctors and nurses with ease. When Bobby got a good look at the patient, he felt like he’d been kicked in the chest himself, unable to breathe. Elizabeth stood tall, her jet-black hair slick with the blue goop from the tubes, eyes full of rage. She lunged forward, grasping the Filipina assistant trying to sedate her by the throat, lifting the terrified woman clear above her head. Without missing a beat Elizabeth crushed her windpipe and snapped her neck in a single swift motion, casting aside the limp corpse.

  With the medical team out of her way she turned to face him, her shoulders rising and falling with hurried breaths, not a hint of recognition in her dark eyes. Instinct took over as Bobby ripped away the sensors covering his body and leapt from the bed, crouching to meet her. She came at him, arms outstretched like claws, snarling and slashing at his face and belly like a wild animal hungry for a quick kill. Finding his strength, Bobby countered by redirecting the brunt of her attacks with his forearms and shins, wanting to tire her out without hurting her, but she was relentless, driven by some strange anger he couldn’t understand. Forced to step back each time he deflected an attack, Bobby was quickly running out of room, his back nearly to the wall. He changed tactics, playing a waiting game, watching for his opening, praying he could contain her.

  Bobby predicted her next series of blinding strikes, dodging each in turn until she overextended herself. Seeing his opening, he kicked out, clipping her ankle and causing her to stumble forward. Moving to the left and slipping past her flailing arms, Bobby ducked down and positioned himself behind her, putting his arms underneath her arms and locking his fingers behind her neck in a full nelson, lifting her off the ground so she couldn’t kick with her legs. Straining to hold her, he screamed over his shoulder. “Michael! Anyone! Get help! Sedate her, for the love of God.”

  Bobby moved with her while she thrashed, hanging on for dear life for what felt like an eternity, until, abruptly, Michael was at his side gripping her legs. Someone from the medical team appeared seconds later, plunging a thick silver needle into her neck. Elizabeth railed against them for an instant more, reaching back and clawing at his face, leaving blood gashes down his jaw before she went limp, the contents of the needle doing its job.

  “Is this who you were telling me about?” asked Michael, bent in half with his hands on his knees, breathing hard from a blow she had managed to slip past his guard. “The girl?”

  Slumping onto his back on the cold floor, they fell together in a heap, Elizabeth on top of him. Bobby shuddered as waves of relief washed over him, dumbfounded at what had just happened. “Yeah, that’s her,” said Bobby.

  Michael cocked his head, his face serious. “Well, she seems really nice. I get what you see in her,” he said with a smirk. They stared at each other for a moment, Bobby’s eyes narrowing before Michael showed him the whites of his teeth, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Bobby broke down finally, their laughter echoing throughout the ward like they had gone mad. Elizabeth wasn’t herself, not by a long shot, but she wasn’t a broken husk being prepared for euthanization. It would be okay, or at least that’s what he kept telling himself. It was a good lie, one that would keep him going through the nightmare his life had become.

  Chapter 18: Lightning on the Green

  2063

  Thin tendrils of red and black smoke burst from Bobby’s outstretched hand, shooting across the green field, the swarming dark energy promising pain and death to whomever it touched. At the last instant Andrew turned to face him, a look of shock on his face. Without hesitation he stepped in front of Elizabeth, pushing her aside.

  Bobby smiled with glee, relishing at the pain wracking Andrew’s face as his attacks buried themselves in his shoulder, stomach and legs, draining him like hungry leeches. He was able to draw on him for a moment, the withering nature of his power staining Andrew’s blond hair to gray, wrinkling his pink skin to a dull ash. Before he could finish him, Elizabeth struck back, projecting blue and white arcs of electrical energy after him, so bright it turned the night to day, forcing Bobby to break off his attack, throwing himself to the ground to avoid being cooked, only half succeeding.

  Elizabeth’s strike clipped him, his muscles spasming with pain, jaw clenching as thousands of volts of electricity coursed through him. Bobby’s thoughts were a jumble as he blinked away the aftershocks. He leapt to his feet as she raised her hands to strike again, moving purely on instinct, he dodged bolt after bolt while retreating back into the now dead tree line, Elizabeth casually hurling bolts of power from her fingertips like Zeus from atop Olympus. Bobby stopped to catch his breath while taking cover behind an old oak. He peeked out to find Andrew and Elizabeth stalking in opposite directions to flank him, closing quickly. Not wanting to be trapped between the two of them he ducked low and ran, dodging and weaving as the trees exploded in a storm of shrapnel, the air all around him crackling with energy and stinking of ozone. Taking a quick glance over his shoulder, the image of Elizabeth shimmering like a mirage on a hot day, rising on a column of heated air pushed him to move faster.

  “You can’t outrun me, Bobby!” she shouted, flying high above him, currents of blue and white surging around her slight frame, her dark hair like a crown of electricity. “I am the storm!” High above the darkened sky flashed with blinding light, echoes of thunder roaring through the night. He cringed in wonder and awe as lightning fell like rain on the green, hundreds of jagged bolts beyond counting. Bobby wailed as he was struck again and again, hurled through the air like a rag doll, before landing in a twisted heap on a stone bridge that stretched over a small pond, smoke rising from his cracked and blistered skin.

  He rolled onto his back to find the storm had grown, the clouds above swirling in a torrent, Elizabeth floating at its heart. Bobby winced in pain trying to sit up, blood staining his lips as he coughed. Before he could get his bearings a golden streak appeared above him, and a smirking Andrew materializing before his ey
es a moment later, gray and scarred from his previous attack, yet still strong.

  “Don’t bother trying to get up,” said Andrew glancing around. “You're a lucky man. You've got a gift. You keep choosing these nice places to die. You just gotta follow through with it all the way.”

  “I’m glad you like it,” rasped Bobby through gritted teeth, his blood boiling with rage. “I’m gonna make sure it's the last thing you see,” he said, raising a hand to attack, streaks of black and red projecting from his open palm, only to have Andrew shift again, bathing him in a pale glow, his attacks passing harmlessly through him.

  “Don’t waste your time,” he said, shifting back. “You can’t do shit to me, so lie back like a bitch and take it without a struggle.” Exhausted, Bobby lay back, his head resting on the cool stone of the bridge. Andrew’s smile widened, his hands shifting to a glowing white hot, raised to strike. Just before the killing blow fell a shadow passed over them. The air was sucked out of Bobby’s lungs from a low-pitched boom and an implosion. Andrew’s head twisted to an odd angle, and he fell forward landing on top of him, his face frozen in shock, the back of his skull caved in. Seeing his chance, Bobby wasted no time, draining every ounce of life from the dying man. Bobby’s burned and blackened skin stitched together, returning to a normal pink, his scarred lungs healing to the point he could take deep breaths once again. Full of life once more he threw off Andrew’s husk, and reaching up he took Carter’s extended hand as he landed beside him. “Took you long enough,” he said, glancing up at the eye of the storm.

  “Really? I had to dodge a sky full of lightning while saving your ass! Maybe you should just say thank you!”

  “Thank you,” said Bobby with a smile. “Now we have—”

  “Move!” said Carter with a start, pushing Bobby over the bridge onto the ice below, rapidly following him and scrambling beneath the stone arch for cover. Above them lightning was crashing down shattering stone, thunder booming like a cannon. “Well this wasn’t part of the plan,” said Carter, ducking his head, pale eyes full of worry. “She looks pissed!”

  Retreating deeper under the bridge as lightning rained down upon them, Bobby shared his friend's feelings, having no clue how they could get out of this with their skin intact.

  Chapter 19: The Price of Power

  2061

  “I tried so hard to stop, but I couldn’t,” said Elizabeth, her eyes downcast. They sat facing one another on Bobby’s narrow bed, their knees almost touching, her head bowed while she spoke between sobs, her long black hair hiding her face. “I killed all those people, that poor nurse…I broke—”

  “Stop it,” said Bobby in a quiet whisper. “You weren't yourself; the reverend told you so. No one could have known.” She had awoken few hours after her mad rampage, and to everyone's relief with her faculties intact. Bobby had stayed by her side the entire time, shifting between railing against God for what he had done to her, and praying for her to recover.

  “I could have killed you,” she said, looking up, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I’ve never hurt anyone in my life. What could've made me do those things?”

  Bobby pressed his lips together, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I’m just glad you made it. Most of the subjects they'd brought in died in the first few minutes. Michael and I thought we’d be the only ones. It's been a nightmare.” At the sound of his name, Michael looked up from the book he was reading, giving them a thumbs-up from the other side of the room, having kindly offered to move in order to give them some privacy.

  “I’m sorry, I’m being selfish,” she said sniffling and giving him a half smile. “Do you feel stronger than a locomotive? Planning on jumping over some tall buildings and all that?”

  “Not so much. Today was the first day I got out of bed, and I was almost killed, but it was worth it because you’re alive,” he said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder before pulling back. “What about you? You hit like a truck when we were fighting. It took everything I had to even slow you down.”

  Elizabeth reached out, taking her hand in his. “I don’t know. I feel like me, but I need to know what happens now. I can’t hurt anyone else. I—”

  “I think we’re about to find out,” said Bobby, glancing over his shoulder.

  The dark-skinned reverend Bobby had met on the first day entered the ward, his arms locked tightly behind his back, Lieutenant Young hurrying after him, his face red and splotchy from the effort of keeping up with the long strides of the other man. The pair stopped at the foot of Bobby’s bed, waving Michael over to join them. Bobby noticed the lieutenant’s son hovering around the entrance watching the goings-on. He gave the boy a small smile which was quickly returned. Bobby Cringed when the boy returned a sad look, knowing the horror show of what happened in the wards, that this was no place for a kid.

  “Congratulations to all of you,” the reverend began, snapping Bobby’s attention back to the men in front of him. “You are now part of something greater than yourselves. You will be America’s sword and shield against any who would threaten us.”

  “I didn’t sign up for that,” whispered Elizabeth raising her chin. “This is still a free country. We have rights. You can’t just—”

  “You have no rights!” said the reverend in a soft voice. “Rights are a nice little story people are told so they feel like they have some measure of control of their lives. I offered you all one thing. The only thing that matters—power.”

  “I don’t want your goddamn power,” said Elizabeth. “I want this to be over. I want my life back.”

  Lieutenant Young pushed forward, placing a pudgy hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder and looking her in the eye. “Sorry, sweetheart, but that ain’t happenin', but you gotta look at this a little different. You’ve got a gift; all of you have the chance to help a heck of a lot of people,” he said, looking around at the three of them. The reverend stared hard at him for a moment before giving him a nod.

  “Why don’t I believe you?” said Elizabeth under her breath for only Bobby to hear. She raised an eyebrow, giving him a questioning look.

  Before Bobby could answer Michael cleared his throat. “It doesn’t matter why they want Liz. At the end of the day, we’re gonna be the ones with the power,” he began, locking eyes with the reverend. “We get to choose our own path; I promise you,” he finished, drawing up to his full height, towering over everyone.

  The reverend’s eyes glittered with amusement, a half smile on his lips. “You’ll do as you're told, boy. All of you—”

  “Or you’ll do what—hurt us? Maybe kill us!” said Michael, leaning forward. “I don’t think so. Not to offend my friends here, but I didn’t grow up on the streets. I know the score. There were hundreds of us out there a few days ago. Now it's just us. You can’t afford to kill us; we’re too valuable,” he said, locking eyes with the reverend. The two men stared at each other in silence, neither willing to give ground.

  “I think that’s enough for now,” said Lieutenant Young, squeezing his oversized body between the them, trying to diffuse the situation. “The most important thing is y’all are scheduled to start trainin' tomorrow, so get some rest, and we’ll see how much juice ya got.”

  The three of them watched the two men leave, not saying a word. When the doors to the ward swung shut Michael crossed his arms, his jaw clenching and unclenching. “I know men like them. They’re going to try and divide us; control us. We need to stick together,” he said in a low voice.

  Elizabeth nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. “So, what do we do now? I’m not gonna be some lab experiment. I just wanna go home.”

  “I think it's a little late for that. They’ve succeeded in changing us into something other than human,” said Bobby. “I can feel it in my bones. I say we play along till we get a chance to make a break for it.”

  Michael sat on the side of the bed leaning in close to them. “We can’t just run. They’ve tattooed and tagged us with a nano explosive of some sort, which mea
ns they can track us, and with the press of a button blow off our heads if they want to. They’ll find us no matter where we go.”

  “So what, then?” asked Bobby.

  Michael gave them a warm smile, showing his teeth. “My father taught me that in politics you make your enemies think they’re your friends, and when they get comfortable, you make your move. The only way we’re gonna have our lives back is if we get rid of them, take over, be the ones with the power, and not a pawn in their game.”

  Bobby rubbed the back of his neck where they had drilled into his skull with the laser. The memory still fresh of Lieutenant Young showing him what kind of pain they could inflict if they didn’t do what they were told.

  “I won’t kill for them,” said Elizabeth breaking the silence. “I won’t hurt anyone ever again. No matter what.”

  The tall man shook his head. “You won’t have to hurt anyone, I promise. The cruelest thing you can do to your enemies is let them live with the understanding that you beat them.”

  She gave Michael a warm smile, and for the first time since she came out of the tube, she looked happy.

  “Anyway, let's all get some rest. If what the lieutenant says is true, we’ve got a big day ahead of us.” said Michael

  With that he returned to his bed. Watching him walk away, Bobby was torn between the idea that he was either a genius or insane. Worst still, he might have been both.

  Chapter 20: Maelstrom

  2063

  “If we stay here, were dead!” screamed Carter over the howling wind, retreating deeper under the stone bridge for cover. Glancing up at the darkened sky, Bobby nodded in agreement, knowing they had only a minute or so to stop Elizabeth before she destroyed them along with the rest of Central Park, Manhattan as well. Each time one of them had tried to move from cover, dozens of lightning strikes hammered home, threatening to annihilate them. Already he could feel the old withered stone spanning over the frozen stream beginning to crack, the wind and lightning wearing it all away.