by Pepper Pace
“Carmella,” Maggie called. “Come down around the side. I’m picking tomatoes. There’s a patch of poison ivy so leave it be. Leaves of three, leave it be.”
Carmella followed the voice and saw the woman tending to a small garden. Maggie had a basket filled with fresh lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and Carmella’s stomach groaned in hunger.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.” Maggie smiled.
“Good morning. Um, where can I …”
“Pee? Anywhere you want. You gotta poop, there’s toilet tissue in the spare room upstairs.”
“Anywhere?” Carmella looked around.
“God don’t care and neither do I.”
Later they ate a salad dressed in vinegar and oil.
“Have you seen any people come through here?” Carmella asked as they sat on the porch.
Maggie speared a slice of tomato and plunged it into her mouth. “No.” She chewed. “Not since the Blobs carried the people away on the trucks. I’d hear the trucks morning noon and night for months. And then it just stopped.” Maggie stopped chewing and stared off into the distance. “I hid. They come through here looking. But they couldn’t find me. I guess they thought the place was abandoned. They ain’t been back. Didn’t have the manpower to check a place twice. Man power.” She laughed. “Why didn’t you go with them?”
How could she even ask that? She stared at the old woman. “Because I’m a human and this is my home. And no fucking alien is going to come down and force me away from it!” She placed her hand on her belly and thought about Micah and Jody. They were buried here on earth, and here is where she would stay.
Micah …
Her breath hitched in her chest. They’d killed her baby, and the rest of them could believe their lies but she wouldn’t. She knew their purpose had been to take the humans. It had been their plan all along. The Blobs. That name was a kindness they didn’t deserve. They were a scourge that brought the ultimate genocide against the entire human race. And after the mass death and suicides, what was left was carried away to Earth 2.
But there was no Earth 2. There was only Earth! The other was only an alien world, and she would kill anyone or anything that tried to take her from her world!
She stayed with Maggie while she healed and was expected to stay on. It was unsaid. Humans who had found each other would naturally gravitate to each other. Maggie, however, could not tolerate having her things touched. She had allowed Carmella to stay but hadn’t given her a space. When she had tried to move some things into the hallway and out of a spare bedroom, Maggie had gone into a tirade.
“Where is my cat? I can’t find my cat!” Maggie searched hours for Kitty, the cat that Carmella had inadvertently allowed to escape the week before. Carmella carried her gun and went out searching for the cat, not wanting to admit to what she’d done. And despite being deathly afraid of wolves, she searched for hours, never finding Kitty.
When she had gone back to the farmhouse, all of the items that Carmella had moved out of the spare bedroom had been returned—and more.
“I can’t find anything when you move shit around!” Maggie screamed. “Just leave it all alone! Don’t touch my things!”
Carmella had said nothing, and the next day Maggie had calmed although still distraught about the missing cat. She left a can of tuna sitting out on the front porch and wrung her hands.
“Kitty will be all right, Maggie,” Carmella said. “Animals adapt to the wild, even when they’re domesticated.”
Maggie picked at the lice in her hair sullenly.
“Maggie,” Carmella said, broaching a subject she knew had to be discussed. “When was the last time you bathed? Honey, your hair needs a good scrubbing. You have things living in it.”
“Fuck you,” Maggie said, turning cold eyes on her. “You let my cat out, didn’t you? Admit it! You let her out!”
“She—I didn’t know you had a cat and—”
Maggie flew at her with her hands clawed, going for her face. If Carmella hadn’t fallen the woman would have gouged out her eyes.
“Bitch!” Maggie screamed. “Bitch! You let my baby get away!”
Maggie was stronger than she looked, and it took all that she had to keep Maggie’s gnarled hands from her face. Carmella had to knee Maggie in the stomach to end the attack.
“You’re crazy!” Carmella screamed. “I didn’t mean it! It was an accident!”
She ran into the house and grabbed her satchel. She didn’t want the clothes because they were probably infested with lice, but she needed her satchel and her guns. She hurried down the stairs where Maggie was waiting for her with a knife.
“You’re insane.” Carmella raised her hands to show that she wasn’t holding a weapon. “I’m leaving, okay? Don’t worry. I’ll be out of your hair.”
“You’re not leaving me, too! You’re staying!”
Carmella’s heart began to pound in her chest. “I’m not a pet, Maggie. You can’t keep me locked in the house like I’m some damned animal!”
Maggie looked confused, dropped the knife, and shook her head. “I’m—no no no. You can stay. I won’t …”
Carmella relaxed. “I can’t live like this. I’m sorry.” She rushed past the woman, who grabbed for her with strong hands, but Carmella easily shook her loose. She ran for her bike, tossing her satchel over her shoulder. She had to kick-start it with her injured leg, and it would hurt but she soon forgot about that when she saw Maggie come rushing out of the house holding the knife and yelling like a wild woman.
Carmella cursed and kick-started the bike. She gunned it into life, almost flipping it when she added too much gas.
Maggie shrieked and brought back her arm, stabbing down as Carmella took off in a cloud of dust.
Chapter 2
~Wolf~
Carmella sat in her kitchen eating her dinner. Her time with Maggie had caused her to garner certain habits. She washed daily and kept her dreadlocks neat and tidy. She kept her farmhouse in immaculate condition, sweeping, dusting, and mopping on a regular basis, maybe even to excess. She never allowed her trash to accumulate, and once a week she carried the unusable portion to the pit.
But not on Sundays.
On Sundays she had her bath, cooked Sunday dinner, read some, and sat out on the porch hoping that Wolf would come by to visit. She always saved the chicken butt for him, and if he didn’t show up, she placed it in the icebox until he did come. Then she’d warm it up on her cook stove and put it in his special bowl for him and the pups.
She smiled to herself. She’d finished the paperback book by the time it had grown dark, and with a sigh she ambled inside and lit the kerosene lantern. Maybe Wolf would come tomorrow. She thought about Maggie and she thought about Kitty, whom she had carelessly released. The cat had probably never returned to the woman, unlike Wolf. He always returned home. That was another difference between the two women. Carmella hadn’t kept Wolf a prisoner.
It had taken her several months after leaving Maggie’s farm to find her new home. By then she was on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. The farm had evidently served as a horse farm though the horses had long since left by the time she had arrived. The barn was the deciding factor. She had an unreasonable fear of wolves. and the barn was large enough to house the animals she wanted to keep locked away at night. The house itself was simple from the outside, but inside the prior inhabitants had spent a great deal of money making it a nice home. There was a chicken coop, a pen for pigs, and a large garden that was sadly overgrown.
And Carmella loved it.
Many of the chickens were still present, and a horse once showed up and took off, but Carmella had to find the cows—which attracted the bull, a goat, and some wild turkeys. It was a lot of hard work. The wolves kept picking off the chickens and killed the goat in the middle of the day. Although scared, she got her rifle and guns and went out hunting. It was early spring but still cold, snow covering the ground. It was her first winter there, and she assumed the bitter cold
was what made the wolves desperate enough to approach the farm during the day.
It wasn’t hard to follow their tracks so she was thankful for the cold weather. The trail of blood helped as well. After a few hours she came to a cave. Damn! Even a fool knew better than to go into a cave with wolves. But she didn’t have to worry. Two scrawny wolves came out, baring teeth and growling aggressively. Carmella didn’t think, shooting and killing them both. She didn’t need their pelts. She could easily go to Macy’s or Walmart or any number of department stores up in Cincinnati for all the clothes her heart desired. But it was a shame to waste the fresh meat. As she prepared to butcher one of the animals, she heard a sound that made her heart slow.
It was the sound of a wolf puppy crying.
Carmella cursed as she looked at the gaunt animal carcasses. Damn, a family of wolves. They had been trying to feed their babies. It was stupid, she knew, but she crawled carefully into the cave and saw a ball of fur whining in the corner. Just one. Carmella reached out, and the pup sniffed her hand, crawling to her without hesitation. Something in Carmella’s chest seemed to open up and flare to life. She picked up the little pup and held it by the scruff of its neck while she examined it critically. Shit, he was a little boy who pissed and whined, but he was too adorable. Carmella placed it into her coat and followed her tracks back home. She didn’t have the heart to eat his parents.
She named the pup Wolf. She didn’t want to give the little one a real name because she hoped not to become too attached. But Wolf became a welcome distraction from her tedious life. He was so cute, and his antics caused her to laugh often. She bathed him and brushed his fur, and to keep Wolf from crying all night, she let him cuddle against her in bed. She carried him up and down the stairs until he learned to do it on his own. He once jumped at a mouse and cowered in the corner, whining for her to rescue him. He hid under the bed whenever he left a mess on the floor. And if she couldn’t find him, she knew to search for his mess. She took him with her while she hunted and taught him how to corral the animals without killing a chicken.
As he grew to full size, Wolf continued to be as gentle as ever and still tried to climb into her lap for a nap or into her bed to fall asleep against her warm body. She knew that she was every bit Wolf’s mother as the one she had slaughtered, and he had become her child. Not that she missed Micah any less. But having Wolf allowed her to stop thinking about her own lost child, and for a while her hatred receded.
One day when they had gone out to corral the animals, Wolf became distracted and sniffed the area. He threw his head back and howled, the sound making her skin crawl. Carmella had never heard him make such a sound. It took her a long time to get him to come back home, and that night he was restless. Carmella wouldn’t let him out, and he whined at the door all night long. As soon as she went out the next morning to milk the cows, Wolf dashed out and went running at full speed into the field.
“Wolf!” She ran after him with only a pistol in the waistband of her jeans, but it didn’t take long for Wolf to disappear from her sight. All she could do was scream out his name. “Wolf!” When she thought about Kitty and what she’d done to Maggie all those years ago, she began to cry hysterically as she apologized over and over.
Wolf didn’t come home. She sat out food in his special bowl. She had even slaughtered a chicken and stewed it up especially for him. But even when the sun set, Wolf had not returned. This was the first time that he’d spent a night without her in the four years that she’d had him. What did he know about the wilderness? He was just a baby …
Each evening she stood on the porch and stared out into the distance waiting for Wolf to come back. Six months went by, and one evening she heard familiar scratching on the door. Carmella sat up straight in bed and turned up the lantern. She listened and heard scratching and a soft whining. Carmella jumped out of bed and dashed to the door. She flung it open without thought, and there was her baby!
“Wolf!” She grabbed him and hugged him around his furry throat as his tail thumped back and forth.
He licked her face, even though he knew he wasn’t supposed to do that and for once she didn’t chastise him. She began asking him where he had been. He was thin and she stood and led him into the house but he wouldn’t come.
“What’s wrong, boy?”
Wolf looked behind him, whined, and walked in a circle. He let out a sharp bark, and another wolf came out of the darkness. Carmella peered out into the night. The second wolf stared at her with strange eyes, watching her as if she was some curious abomination. After a few long moments, the second wolf came forward and crept up the stairs, warily keeping Carmella in its sights.
“Wolf? Is that your … wife? Did you go get married, boy?” She chuckled to herself. “Now you’re bringing her home to meet your mama?”
Carmella went to the kitchen, trusting that Wolf would keep his woman in her place. She pulled out all the chicken butts she had been saving and placed them in a skillet on the cook stove to warm up. She filled his water bowl and set it out on the front porch. They both drank from it, and when she brought out the chicken butts, she placed them in one bowl and set it in front of her boy. Wolf sucked them down in appreciation while the female bared her teeth at Carmella’s proximity before she joined him.
“Bitch,” Carmella muttered. It was exactly what a bitch would do—come to your house, eat your food, and then roll her eyes at you.
After the chicken butt appetizer, she filled his bowl with a mixture of hard and canned dog food. They scarfed that down as well. Poor baby, he was so hungry. She made to move outside, but the bitch growled at her, stopping her in her tracks. Wolf snapped at his wife, who quickly retreated as Carmella came out on the porch and sat in her chair. Wolf sniffed the porch for a few minutes before curling at her feet. She reached down and stroked his fur while his wife stood in the yard watching and looking agitated.
Carmella thought about shooing her away but didn’t. She was Wolf’s wife, after all, and since wolves mated for life, she and Wolf’s wife would have to get used to each other.
They stayed that way throughout the night. She thought Wolf was asleep, but he was content to lie at her feet. As the sun rose, Wolf sat up, sniffed the porch, he looked at his Mama, and darted down the stairs and into the woods, his wife trailing closely behind.
It was so difficult after that. It was as if Wolf had visited to tell her goodbye. Carmella cried for two days after that.
Wolf returned several months later.
This time he had his wife and three little furry pups. Carmella picked up each puppy in her arms and carried them into the house. This time Wolf followed and so did his wife. She still gave Carmella the stink eye, but it didn’t matter. Carmella was holding Wolf’s pups, and there was nothing that could have made her happier.
Carmella prepared a feast for the family and played with the babies for the rest of the day instead of tending to her chores. Wolf sat in contentment nearby, looking out at the horizon in a way she had never seen before, his ears perking if he heard an errant sound. She realized that he was watching, protecting them all in a way he had never done before. What had he experienced in the year that he’d gone out and made a family? She thought she understood why he sniffed the porch so carefully. Wolf was making sure that nothing had been at the house in his absence.
Wolf was torn between his mama and his family. He kept coming back to keep watch over Carmella. Over time, the children grew bigger, and it sometimes looked as if a pack of wolves had come for her, but she recognized each of them. Each wolf took to her except the wife. That bitch never liked her and had once snapped at her when she reached out to pat her in a show of friendship. But Wolf didn’t play that shit, and he nipped her back, causing her to whine and go outside. Wolf kept his children under control when they were in the house. Sometimes Carmella would cackle at their antics, even when they knocked over and broke things and went hiding in shame. She loved them intensely.
Wolf had more pups, and t
he older ones stopped coming around. But every few months Wolf would return home. He never stayed longer than a day, but she knew each time he left that he’d soon return.
Chapter 3
~The Blob~
Carmella had milked the cow and was returning to her house with the frothy pail humming some made-up tune when she saw it.
Partially concealed by a large oak tree several yards away, the Blob stood very still looking every bit like an octopus. Carmella had never been this close to one before. When they had first come, Jody had wanted to go to one of the fairs to see them. He’d taken Micah …
Carmella shuddered. What was it doing here? After all this time, what was it doing here? They couldn’t still be collecting humans after ten years!
Carmella was seventeen the year the mother ship had appeared in the sky. Days before there were frantic news reports of a strange mass approaching earth. NASA did extensive studies using satellites and the Hubble, but there was no official word of the findings. The leaders of the world held extensive meetings. The mother ship appeared in the sky over the Atlantic Ocean amid mass suicide and killings as people thought it was the sign of the end of the world or the fulfillment of some prophecy.
The greatest scientific minds of the world tried to find ways to communicate with the mother ship, but if it ever happened, no one was the wiser. There were conspiracy theories running wild, made worse by the fact that the mother ship hovered unmoving in the sky for months.
Half of the world thought it should be shot from the sky, but since it was the size of a small country, that had been overruled, especially since there was no idea of the repercussions of such an act. She and Jody also had different opinions. She was among those who thought the ship should be destroyed, but Jody thought that they should study and befriend the aliens.
By this time Jody and Carmella were friends but too shy to admit that they liked each other a bit more than only friends. They found reasons to be together even if it was only to study … or pretend to study. Jody was a nerdy white kid who played trumpet in the school band, and Carmella was a nerdy black girl who was more mean than nice. It should have been a death sentence for their friendship, but soon their opposing attitudes and styles seemed a magnet that attracted them to each other.
