by Rick Kueber
“OH DEAR GOD!” Elle shouted out to the empty apartment. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Uuuugh... Really?” For a brief second, she thought the physical abuse, the mental stress of the situation and the death of someone, who she had grown very fond of, caused her to lose control of her bladder. That would have been comforting compared to what she quickly realized was the truth. Her water had just broken.
Elle had nothing she needed and drug herself into the bathroom. She pulled two towels from the shower curtain rod where they had been hung up to dry the evening before. Struggling to get into the tub, she breathed a sigh of relief when she sat down in the large porcelain bath. Another contraction had her in shooting pain, and she threw her head back, cracking it against the immovable surface. The blood trickled down the back of her neck while she fought against the desire to pass out and worked herself out of the sweatpants and granny style panties she wore. Pulling off her over-sized t-shirt, Elle was reminded again how tender her breasts had become. Tossing her clothes on the floor, she turned the faucet on and ran a slightly warm and shallow bath. When the water was only a half a dozen inches deep, she turned off the noisy, splattering stream and laid back as the water around her began to turn pink.
More contractions came, some stronger than others, but their timing was more frequent. Between the painful interruptions, Elle relaxed and let everything go dark, but the interludes were little consolation or comfort. She was alone, aside from her dead friend on the front room couch, and even when she tried to hold back, she could not resist the urge to push when the contractions came.
Compared to what is expected with natural childbirth, Elle had a relatively normal experience, except that she was alone in a bathtub, and there was a dead man in the living room, ...and that the child she was delivering was possibly, at least to some degree, an alien offspring. I suppose there was little about her experience that was normal. Just as the head began to crown and Elle was mustering every ounce of energy she had to keep from passing out, a sound came from the front room. It was the sound of an opening door.
“What the...” The familiar voice of Jenny cried out from the front room. “Good lord, what the hell is going on here? Elle!?” She called out in fear.
“Mmmmoooooaaaa.” A pained moan was the best Elle could do to alert her of her location,
She heard the shuffling of footsteps coming down the hallway but was not prepared for the help that was coming. The door was already ajar, and Jenny pushed it open and was followed by Malcolm and a stranger Elle had never seen before. Her head laid back, and her eyes rolled up to see the strange man looking down at her with the slight glow of green in his eyes. There was a sudden realization that this was oddly reminiscent of a dream she’d had, though it was quite different, the similarities were enough to scare the hell out of her and started to frantically flail about, but it was too late. The baby was coming, and she couldn’t do anything to stop that.
Jenny knelt down at the foot of the tub and reached in to help bring this new life into the world while the two Ahsushas watched in amazement. “Quick. In the far left kitchen drawer, there’s a spool of string and a pair of scissors... You...” She motioned to Malcolm. “Go get em and bring em here now.” She turned to the stranger and spoke calmly. “In the medicine cabinet behind the mirror is a plastic bottle of rubbing alcohol. Give it to me.”
Both men obediently did as they were told and with the skill of a mid-wife, Jenny delivered the child, and after dousing the scissors and string in alcohol, tied the umbilical cord, and though the scissors weren’t the sharpest, she managed to cut the cord. Jenny wrapped the newborn child in one of the towels and stood up.
“Come on.” She commanded the two Ahsushas. “Be gentle, get Elle and follow me.” Jenny rushed the baby out of the apartment and down to room 501.
Retrieving a key from her pocket, she unlocked the door and the Ahsushas carried Elle into the apartment behind her, and Jenny instructed them to place her naked body into the bathtub. Malcolm swiftly returned to close and lock the door after checking the hallway. Meanwhile, Jenny sifted through the linen closet to find it still held a few clean towels and washcloths. She ran a stream of lukewarm water in the bath but left the drain open. She soaked a washcloth and began to wipe the infant off, rinsing the cloth under the running water occasionally to keep it as clean as she could. There was a sudden burst of a baby’s cry that brought Elle out of her state of oblivion.
“Don’t take my baby!” Elle’s voice was weak and filled with sobs.
“Well, my heavens child, nobody’s gonna take little Phoenix from you.” Jenny tried to calm her delirious distress.
“Phoenix?” Elle gurgled out the name. “You mean...?”
“Yes, honey. It’s a baby boy.” She laid the naked infant against Elle’s bare chest and their bond was instant.
“Hi, baby,” Elle whispered to her son who had instantly quieted the moment they made contact.
“We must move now,” Malcolm said, but the other Ahsusha simply stood and stared in awe.
“But we can’t just pick up and go now,” Jenny argued.
“The revolution has begun. Not exactly as planned, but nevertheless... It has begun.” Malcolm pulled the other from the tiny bathroom.
Elle looked down at the perfect child that rested on her and thought that no matter what happened after this, she would never know a happier or peaceful moment. If the revolution were beginning and failed, she would not regret a single moment of her life.
Chapter 10
ABANDONED
Jenny sensed that there was an urgency to their situation. The disappearance of the tainted food supply, Bailey vanishing, the death of bus driver Bob and the birth of Elle’s son Phoenix... All of these things pointed to the fact that the need to act was now, but Elle was in no condition to travel anywhere.
“I’ll stay here with them. You two should go.” Jenny said, just as the apartment door rattled loudly and then a loud knock pounded its way through the apartment, startling and frightening everyone except for Elle and Phoenix. “Maybe you should go now.”
The two Ahsushas, amid their hushed yet heavy breaths, nodded and left the room. Jenny and Elle heard the opening of the door and the voices of a muttered conversation. An unexpected rumble shook the apartment.
“Jenny, it’s me.” The male voice of a fellow conspirator called from the hallway. “We are taking the guns, but I promise we will come back for you if we can.”
“Jim...” Jenny’s voice was troubled. “Leave me something to defend myself with. You know... In case you don’t make it back, or if someone comes before you can get back here.”
“Of course, I will,” Jim said sympathetically.
“Leave enough for two of us.” Jenny hesitated on disclosing that she wasn’t alone.
“You got it,” Jim answered back. His voice was re-energized as the thought of a battle against the aliens filled his thoughts. “I’ll make sure you have more than you need.”
His volume trailed off as he and the Ahsushas entered the rear bedroom where the guns and ammunition for this floor were stored.
“Quickly, we must go now and find the others.” Elle and Jenny could hear the voice of the second Ahsusha spurring on the other two. That was not the only sounds they heard, though. On the floor above them, they could hear countless footsteps scurrying about and from the far bedroom, the metallic and daunting sound of loaded clips being snapped into semi-automatic weapons and then being packed out of the apartment by the armload. Jenny and Elle stayed as silent as church mice and little Phoenix napped motionless on Elle’s chest.
In mere minutes, the sounds within the apartment had quieted and almost invertedly, the sounds outside grew louder. The intermittent rumbling had grown louder and more frequent, but not only that, there seemed to be varying degrees of rumbles as if their origins came from different distances, some distant and some seemed to be growing threateningly close.
“The Titans are moving,” Jenny sai
d nervously.
“They are coming...” Elle whispered without opening her eyes. “...for us.”
“Now honey, they’re not coming for us, you’re just scared. You just had your first baby in the most deplorable situation, the father’s... well... missing, and there’s a revolution outside. You have every right to be scared.” Jenny’s trembling voice disagreed with her words. Her intent was to comfort Elle, but Elle was calm as if she were medically sedated... subconsciously, Jenny was trying to settle her own nerves and fears.
“Yes. They are.” Elle’s eyes opened slowly and met Jenny’s. “My ancestors always said the Earth, the sky, the water, the sun and moon and all of the stars in the heavens were kindred spirits; our father, mother... Everything happens for a reason, everything, no matter how frightening, no matter how senseless... There is a larger plan, a bigger logic than we can understand. Don’t be afraid. Be confident and always believe that what happens next, whether we or someone or something else makes it happen, is exactly what is supposed to happen.”
Jenny patted the back of Elle’s hand while she held the tiny infant. She wanted to agree or respond with her own words of comfort and wisdom, but the only thing that came to mind, the revelation that seemed like such a simple response to Elle was, “How could it be any other way?”
Though the din of chaos outside grew and faded, grew and faded, the time passed quickly to the two women. Elle was exhausted, to say the least, but with the help of Jenny, she traveled the distance from the bathroom to the closest bedroom. It was eerie the way that the apartment was filled with the memories and life of someone who did not survive the onslaught of the invasion ...the bed, the bedding, a dresser and closet full of clothes ...memories hung on the wall and cluttered the shelves.
While Elle and Phoenix rested, Jenny rushed across the hallway and grabbed what she could from the baby shower: a fold up play-pen, baby clothes, diapers, a papoose... and a diaper bag stuffed with as many necessities as she could. When Elle glanced up to see Jenny entering the bedroom, her arms were strung with bags full of baby goods and reminded Elle of someone certain they could pack an entire carload of groceries in one trip. She spilled the plastic bags and the diaper bag onto the floor and let out a sigh.
“Could you find something I could wear?” Elle asked softly. “Anything loose would be great.”
“Sure,” Jenny said slowly and faked a smile. “Let me see what I can find for ya.”
She began to rummage through the dresser drawers but found nothing really. Jenny then turned her search to the closet, again nothing. “Well, shoot. Let me check the other room. This is all boy’s clothes, but I don’t think any of them are big enough for you. Let me check in here.” She mumbled, half to herself, as she scurried out of the room.
Returning with an armload of clothes, Jenny began holding them up, one piece at a time to show Elle. “That one.” Elle stopped her when she held up a purple paisley sundress. “That’s so me.” Her voice was hoarse, but she managed a genuine smile. Jenny held the child while Elle broke open the package of diapers and pulled one out. “This may sound weird, but were there any underwear in the drawer there?”
“Sure, but they’re boys... tighty-whities. Prolly something better in the other room.” Jenny thought of chuckling, but the thunderous noises outside were growing louder again and along with the rumbling that shook the apartment like an endless string of earthquake tremors, there was the occasional roar of crumbling buildings and explosions.
“Yeah, I know. That’s what I want if they’ll fit.” Elle clarified her request. “I need something to hold this in place.” She held up the infant-sized diaper.
“Ah...” Jenny understood as she located the sock and underwear drawer again and tossed a pair to Elle.
Elle slipped on the underwear up to her thighs and then opened the diaper and put it in place and held it there with the hand that had the pained shoulder and with her good hand she pulled up the undies one side at a time working them all the way up and then adjusting them and readjusting them. “No way I could wear these every day.” Elle groaned as she slid the sundress over her head. She fought a second diaper out of its plastic package prison. “Lay him here on the bed.”
“Oh, sure.” Jenny carefully placed his naked body on the comforter.
Elle fumbled with the diaper and the squirming new born. Jenny just watched. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to offer her help. It was that it just dawned on her that this baby hadn’t opened his eyes yet. Jenny knew from experience that babies open their eyes almost immediately after birth, but it had been hours, and he had only cried once and hadn’t opened his eyes at all. She didn’t want to alarm Elle, but she had a fear that something was wrong.
“Finally.” Elle had grown up as a bit of a tom-boy, never babysat and didn’t have any younger siblings but even though she struggled with her first diaper, being a mother felt very natural to her. “Can you open the window?”
Jenny nodded to Elle and said nothing of her assumptions. Pulling the curtain back she noticed the sky was darkening. Unlatching the window locks, she raised the window and let the warm spring air in. But she also let in the roaring hum of the Titans, the relentless popping of gunfire and the nearby and distant sound of inhuman screams.
“You sure you want this...” Jenny stopped without finishing.
Whether it was the fresh, warm air, the sounds of war, or just time, something awoke little Phoenix, but he did not cry or fuss. He simply opened his big, round eyes and, intentional or not, for a brief moment, he smiled. There was a depth to his eyes that froze Jenny mid-sentence, a depth that only comes from many decades of wisdom, but more than that, the deep, dark-red color of his pupils. The swift batting of his eyelids, straining against the bright overhead light of the room, set the infants pupils ablaze with dancing color, like golden metal flakes, swirling in a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. The new born soon closed his fiery eyes just as another explosion, this one almost too close for comfort, lit up the now darkened sky. Jenny flinched and ducked away from the window in an instinctive reaction to the concussion.
Jenny slid the play-pen from its denim colored, nylon tote and was impressed by the ease of setting it up. Digging through the plastic bags, she found a tiny blue teddy bear and a yellow knit baby blanket with a silky edge and placed them in the play-pen.
“This can double as a crib for now,” Jenny explained.
Elle smiled lucidly and laid little Phoenix on the blanket and then folded one side over top of him. He nuzzled the blanket for a moment and then dozed again. Elle watched him, and it was as if the sight of him caused the death and destruction happening all around them to vanish.
“Turn off the light and come ‘ere,” Jenny whispered under the roar of the maelstrom. Elle cocked her head to the side and crinkled her eyebrows curiously. Jenny waved her over to the window frantically. “Look...”
“What the hell are they doing?” Elle asked as she watched the lights of a small herd of Titans in a slow stampede. A dozen or more Titans mean fifty or so appendages hammering the earth, destroying everything in their paths and sending constant tremors sending a buzz down deep into her bones.
“Whadaya mean? You’re supposed to know ...aren’t you?” Jenny’s eyes were filled with the fright that the three of them might be left alone in this empty city of the dead. “I thought you said they were coming for us? Do you think we won?”
“I didn’t think they would just leave. I was certain they would come for us. I can still feel it in my heart. Maybe they aren’t really leaving.” Elle’s emotions were a mess. She felt that all of her faith and the things she believed in her heart might be wrong. Maybe Phoenix wasn’t the key to anything and even worse ...maybe she would never see Tanner again ...maybe Tanner really was dead. The weight of the possibilities began to stream down her face, and she slumped to the floor and shook her head. “I’m such a fool.” She whispered to herself, but Jenny heard her words and joined her on the floor, wrapping her in
the blanket of a warm hug.
“You’re no fool.” She squeezed the hopeless, new mother. “There’s no way of knowing what’s gonna happen until it happens. We’ll just stay here together.” Jenny rubbed her hand across Elle’s back. “It’s gonna be alright.”
“How could it be any other way, right? Well, look at you...” Elle sniffled up her runny nose and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the heel of her palm. “You sounded a lot like me, just then.”
“I guess I did kinda steal your line, didn’t I.” Jenny rested her head against the wall under the window, and the warm breeze blew the curtains against her neck, tickling it. A smell of oily smoke and death drifted in on the night air. “Let’s close this window before it gets all smoky in here.” She motioned towards little Phoenix, who was beginning to squirm a bit.
While Jenny closed the window and drew the drapes closed, Elle removed her shirt and picked up her little man. She sat up in bed with him, and he nursed until he had filled his tiny tummy. Every few hours, he fussed quietly to let her know he was hungry again.
***
With the Titans gone, the solar energy generated was a constant comfort, but the radio station that Elle had become accustomed to was nothing but static now. Days that passed with new adventures in postpartum revelations turned into weeks of scavenger hunting the apartment building for the things people don’t give at baby showers; feminine pads, ice packs, and cotton underwear ...lots and lots of cotton undies.
