by Rick Kueber
The sky began to darken overhead in a strange way, as if the ozone layer had become completely transparent. A spray of meteors showered through the upper atmosphere like a barrage of firework sparks. In an attempt to stay rational, she stood still for a moment and stared up to the blackening sky.
“Mother Earth, give me direction. Father Sun, do not abandon your children. Spirit of the wind, be at my back and guide my quest. Spirit of the water call to me so that I may follow your beckoning and find my friends and my love.” She spoke her short prayer in a quiet whisper. In Elle's heart she knew it was not the volume or the length of her prayer that mattered. What mattered was the sincerity of her heart and the innocence of her desires and needs.
When she lowered her eyes from the heavens above, Elle could see the two Titans had stopped and watched a laser light shoot from the control center of one that was as black as midnight and penetrate the center of a flood of Takers.
'The city... I have to make it to the city. That's where Tanner said he would find me.' She thought to herself as if she were answering her own prayer.
Adjusting her path toward the east to skirt around the resting Titan, she began her journey again and hastened her pace. Now just a mile from the suburban subdivisions and less than half a mile from the Titan, Elle remained calm and focused. A friendly gust of wind kicked up from behind her and blew her hair forward. Her mind smiled to the spirits from her prayers and she believed that they had not only heard her plea but were answering her in the most subtle ways. Elle kept her eyes away from the Titan as she passed it in the distance. She knew that if they were looking for any sign of life or movement, they would easily find her, but she also felt that if she remained calm and did not focus on the immediate threat, perhaps she could slip by unnoticed. That was all she could hope for and that was more than she expected.
There was no sound and no movement from the Titan and as her path took her past the gargantuan and closer to the first suburban homes, she felt as if the energy of the universe were on her side. Swiftly making her way to the nearest home, she wondered what evils her companions were facing and whether or not she would ever know their fate. A small, one story, red brick bungalow was the first house she reached. Much like the Titan, the subdivision had no movement and made no sounds. Elle made her way to the front of the house and looked up and down the quiet street. There were no signs of life, but there were also no signs of death. She felt absolutely alone.
Searching the perimeter of the home, she found an unlocked window and raised it open with ease. 'I'll stay here for the night and tomorrow I'll look for the doctor's relative's house.' She thought to herself. 'yeah... that's a good idea' . Elle answered her own thoughts.
“Geez! I'm losing my freakin' mind! At least I wasn't saying it out loud.” She spoke, just before climbing through the open window, trying to validate the conversation in her head by acknowledging that it was only a 'crazy' notion to talk to one's self aloud. She rolled her eyes and spluffed, realizing that she had done just that.
The afternoon was waning and the daylight hours were short at this time of year. Elle began searching through the house, room by room searching for refugees and survivors, but also familiarizing herself with its layout before dusk. The interior was untouched. A load of laundry was folded on the sofa and another load filled a basket and awaited the return of the residents to be folded... a return that would never happen. On the coffee table sat a bowl of hard candy and Elle's hand shot into it, grabbing up a handful of cellophane wrapped sweets. Popping a cinnamon disc into her mouth, she sat her backpack on the floor. She nearly laughed when she looked at the handful of candies she had greedily snatched up and dropped them back into the dish. A shallow grin crossed her face when she picked up the candy dish and dumped every piece into her backpack. Feeling less than confident in her new situation, she decided she needed to freshen up in whatever way she could. She slowly walked to the bathroom. Plugging the drain and turning the faucet, she watched as water flowed out briefly but soon diminished to only a slow trickle. When the pressure had died, there was a mere two inches of cold water in the bottom of the tub. Still, it was more than she expected. Elle pulled a washcloth and towel from the bathroom linen closet and placed them on the closed toilet seat. She removed the holster and her shirt, kicked off her sneakers and shimmied off her jeans. Her dusty hands ran across her round belly and she had the unmistakable feeling that the child she carried was special, unique, and had some important destiny to fulfill. It was now her quest, alone, to assure that this child had every opportunity to be born and to survive.
She climbed her naked body into the cold and shallow water and painstakingly scrubbed herself clean. Only a day earlier she had been in the comforts of the cancer center, but the long walk through the blowing and dusty sands of the desert made it feel as if she had been adventuring through the wilderness for days. Elle shivered as she splashed the icy water across her bare flesh to rinse the soap from her. When she had finished, she stepped out of the tub, toweled off and then sat on the floor, alone, naked and afraid. Pulling her knees up to her chest, Elle rested her chin against the crevasse between her knees. She sulked in the depression of her solitude and wondered if, aside for the child she carried, all of her efforts had been in vain. Every single person Elle had helped and even those few she had befriended and loved were gone, dead or left behind, and she found herself utterly alone. Her companion, the father of her only and unborn child, the only true lover she had ever known... this man had put himself in the line of the Titans and sent her on towards safety. Maybe he and Daniel would arrive in Phoenix by morning, or maybe they would show up in a few days after they led the Titans on a faraway goose-chase.
Elle stood up and grabbed her dirty clothes. Carrying them to the front room, she piled them on the floor near her pack. She dug through the pack and found a clean outfit and came across her prenatal vitamins. Opening the cap, she took her daily dose and tossed the bottle back into the pack. She took her clothes to the dining room at the back of the house and began dressing in front of the open picture window. Through the window she could see the resting Titan and far off in the dusky distance, Elle watched as the bright 'search lights' of the two Titans started to wander south. The light from the northern Titan, had been closing in on the other two, but was still a distant third.
She rested on one of the dining chairs and watched out the window at their movements like she was watching some science-fiction/fantasy movie on an enormous flat-screen television. The already distant forms of the Titans shrank as they trekked south in the dim light of dusk. When they had all disappeared from sight, and the daylight had gone into hiding until morning, Elle wandered through the vacant home and settled into the first bed she found. Though she fell asleep quickly, her night was restless. Waking every hour or two, to stomach cramps and cold sweats, Elle tossed, turned and worried. When 4 am rolled around, Elle had exhausted herself and finally fell into a deep sleep and her dreams were as uncomfortable and unnerving as her worries.
The odd gray room was filled with blinding, white lights and Elle fought to raise herself from the bed. Her attempt was unavailing and she found that she was restrained with tie down straps and cuffs holding her arms and legs tight in place. She called out for help and her cries were quickly attended to, but there was no knight in shining armor, no tanned and dusty Tanner to rush to her aid. She was immediately surrounded by luminescent beings of gray, faceless and devoid of exact form. Several of the beings reached out and held her in place, as if the restraints were not enough. Where their forms touched Elle's skin, an icy, stinging sensation burned deep into her. Guttural screams involuntarily escaped her and she could feel the alien energy penetrating her body where they touched it. Her eyes rolled back as the pain became excruciating and when her eyes lowered again, a horrific realization hit her.
Her swollen belly was bared and one of the beings touched it with both of its extremities. Elle convulsed, every muscle in her body tensed,
her teeth clenched and the flesh of her abdomen burned with the searing pain of a red-hot branding iron. Like the clichéd 'train wreck', she could not look away. She saw her stomach ripped open wide by the alien being's touch and immediately cauterized. The light gray being raised the child from her womb in the most horrific and bloody Cesarian imaginable. With the touch of a second being, the umbilical cord was severed and also immediately cauterized. A multitude of high pitched and shrill squeals came from the beings as the child was raised high into the air for all to see.
Elle longed to hold her baby and looked lovingly and anxiously in hopes of at least catching a glimpse of her only child's face and perhaps its sex. She gasped and her heart wrenched when she saw there was no genitalia. The child was neither a son nor daughter.
When the being lowered the child again, like the flash of a camera, the scene changed. Naked and afraid, Elle walked the city streets of Phoenix, surrounded by emaciated Takers, wandering like mindless, alien zombies. Her abdomen still split open, the charred edges of her flesh oozed, her intestines and organs exposed, and her child, wrapped in a white, blood stained linen, lay quietly in her arms. The Takers took notice of her and began to point and move in her direction. If this was going to be her end, she would have one desire, one wish and that was to look upon her child's face. She folded back the tarnished linen and exposed the face of her baby. Its eyes opened, with pupils that glowed brightly and whites that were as crisp as a newly fallen snow. The eyes were not unfamiliar, but no other features adorned the child's face and head... no hair, no ears, no nose, no mouth... nothing but the eerily glowing alien eyes. Elle screamed in horror as the child was ripped from her arms by the Takers and her flesh was overcome by the touch of dozens of Takers' hands, taking her under like a flood of stormy seas.
Elle awoke in a cold sweat and shot up in the bed, wrapping her shaking arms around her still swollen belly.
“Oh, baby... don't leave me. You're all I have left.” She whispered to herself in the darkness of the predawn hours. “It's you and me against the world now. As long as we have each other, we'll never be alone.”
Elle stood up and nausea hit like an uncomfortable wave. Though her stomach was all but empty, her muscles clenched and she vomited all over the pristine white bed-spread. Rushing to the bathroom, Elle knelt down in front of the toilet and waited for the next wave of nausea. She slumped down onto the cold tile floor and ran her hand across the edge of the tub to find the washcloth she had left draped over it. Clumsily, she lifted the lid from the tank of the toilet and dipped the washcloth in the stale water. The sopping wet cloth felt cold and refreshing when her shaky hand wiped it across her face and mouth. Elle stayed close to the cold floor until she began to collect herself. When she felt she could move without dying, she dropped the toilet seat and climbed on it, sitting backwards, facing the tank. Removing the lid completely, she cupped water in her hand and put it to her mouth. Swishing the water around in her mouth and spitting it into the sink next to her, she relieved herself of the putrid 'puke breath' taste.
The queasiness did not let up, so she rarely moved and when she did it was only to the bathroom window to look for signs of the dawn or the lights of the Titans. It was nearly an hour from her nauseating awakening until the sun peeked over the horizon. The day had begun rough and early, and Elle held her ground in the bathroom until the sun began to lighten the sheer curtains. At that very moment, the swimmy-headed feeling vanished. Elle knew she not only needed to venture from the confines of the bathroom, but also from the house she had taken shelter in for the night. When her feet hit the hallway floor, she was dumbfounded. Something unexpectedly normal shook the very foundations of what she believed to be true and Elle couldn’t help but wonder if this was all still a part of her nightmare, for what she saw when she entered the hallway did not seem possible. Hovering overhead, fastened to the ceiling was a glass globe hiding an incandescent bulb inside. That bulb was lit and burning brightly.
Going weak in the knees, Elle stumbled against the wall, unable to take her eyes from the glowing warmth of electrical magic. In her peripheral vision, she saw the switch on the wall just a few feet away. Still unable to turn her eyes from the globe, she reached her hand out to feeling along the antique white, painted drywall until her fingers found the switch. In a moment filled with a fear of the unknown, she flipped the switch off and the magic of light vanished. Lifting the plastic lever again, the light came on and Elle was once again befuddled. She must have stood there in awe, flipping the switch over and over, for several minutes. When it finally sank in that it was not a dream and it was not a trick of her mind, she ran quickly to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. As soon as she touched the handle, she knew it was running and heard the symphonic hum of the compressor. Elle flung the door open and the light inside came on revealing that there were no moldy leftovers or badly curdled milk, though she did not risk eating or drinking any of its contents.
Closing the refrigerator door, she left the kitchen and scurried back to the room she had slept in. Opening the door, the rancid smell of vomit hung heavy in the air. Elle put the unpleasantness of it to the back of her mind and focused intently on the red, digital, flashing “12:09” on the radio alarm clock. Fumbling with the small, bedside clock, she found the switch and turned on the radio. Static blared from the speaker and she began to quickly scan the digital dial. Two-thirds of the way through the F.M. Range, at 97.7 an amazing thing happened... “The Long and Winding Road...” played loudly and Elle, though confused and in shock, took the melodic tune as an omen.
“What the hell is going on?” Elle spoke out loud to herself as she sat the electric music-box back on the nightstand. She listened to song after song, each one an uplifting ballad with no DJ, no commercials... only music.
A sudden thought hit Elle and she jumped from the edge of the bed and ran to the front door. Throwing it open, she rushed out into the front yard. Elle looked left and right and then left again. She spun around slowly, looking in every direction. Her expectation was that she would run out to find everyday folks walking their dogs, or jogging while cars zipped down the street, but she was met with the disappointing reality of a silent and empty street, lined with vacant houses and abandoned cars. The only sound was the relentless, high-pitched song of a group of White-throated Swifts, hidden in the sorrowed branches of the Acacia trees.
Head down, she turned toward the house to return to the mysterious music and magical electricity. Just as her hand reached out for the doorknob, the Acacia silenced and a dull background hum caught Elle’s attention. She listened intently and though her gut instinct told her that the sound came from within the city, she could not be certain. She questioned whether or not she should go inside the house and gather her belongings, but instinct told her no... the time was now. Elle decided to pursue the strange humming sound before it too faded and was lost. Her steps quickened as the suburban blocks passed beneath her feet. Still weak from her morning of nausea, and lack of sleep and food, she pushed on in pursuit of a sound that she hoped would lead her to survivors.
Streets filled with houses dwindled and became blocks with sporadic businesses and gas stations. Still, there was no sign of any other people, dead or alive, but the quiet hum grew into an obvious noise and Elle knew she was on the right track. Large industrial buildings came into view as she trotted along and she had an intuitive feeling that she was on the verge of finding its source when she caught the familiar smell of freshly baked bread. Was this some olfactory hallucination? Was this all just a dream?
A massive, faded blue building of metal siding and rows of glass window-lights that lined the upper third of the structure drew her to it. The humming noise seemed to be coming from inside and Elle could discern that the sound was mechanical in nature. Her heart raced, unsure of what she might find, if she could find access through the tall, chain link, security fence and into the blue monstrosity beyond. Elle was searching the fence for an opening and had just spotte
d a large motorized gate when a loudspeaker blared out a single squelch. The chain driven motor engaged and the metallic rattle of the moving gate startled Elle and she darted between a few spindly shrubs that lined the security fence.
A drab, olive green bus turned the corner and pulled up just as the gate opened and then inched its way through and into the industrial site property. Elle couldn’t make out who was driving, but without a thought her instincts kicked into high gear and she stealthily slipped in behind the bus and as it slowed to a stop, keeping low to the ground, she made a dash for a nearby dumpster.
The smell of burnt plastic and rotten garbage escaped the bin and wafted down around her hiding place. Peering out from behind the rusted, blue dumpster, she watched as the door of the bus opened and a tall, thin, elderly man stepped out and meandered over to a man-door on the side of the faded, blue building, not far from Elle’s odiferous refuge. He was dressed in black slacks and shoes and wore a neatly pressed dark green, button-down shirt and a plain black ball cap. He snatched the cap from his head and ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair. His build was not particularly muscular but he had a chiseled jawline and dark brown eyes that she found strangely attractive. Elle could clearly see his face from her hideout. It was careworn and clean shaven and there was a humanity in his eyes that she found comforting. She resisted the urge to jump out and call to him. Biting her lip, she watched him replace his cap and with a troublesome sigh he opened the door and entered the noisy factory.
Elle relaxed a bit and sat on her butt, resting her back against the metal building that the big blue bin was wedged up against. She placed her ear against the siding and listened to the bustling calamity of sounds that came from inside. Imagining what could be going on in the improbable factory, she remained hidden, deep in thought for nearly an hour, trying to decide what her next move should be. ‘Tanner, please come find me.’ her voice and memories echoed in her mind.
