Almost Human

by Rashad Freeman

  “Just over there,” Jacob pointed. “It won’t be hard to find.”

  “This will help,” Devin said and pulled out a flashlight. “Took a bit fumbling around but we finally got it to work.” He clicked it on and a beam of light shot out across the field. “Let’s go build us a spaceship.”

  Jacob grinned then opened the rickety gate and stepped inside. “Be careful,” he said as he turned toward Scout. “Lot of broken shit out here.”

  Devin swept his flashlight back and forth across the field but it wasn’t much help. The light seemed to bounce off the fog, giving an eerie glow but not much illumination. With a frustrated sigh, he turned it off and tucked it back into his bag.

  “How long do you think this stuff has been out here?” Cayden asked as he leaned his head into what was left of an airplane cockpit.

  “Before the dawn, that’s for sure,” Devin replied.

  Scout laughed. “I don’t know about that.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, they were still using electricity after the dawn. They were still making things. Then at some point it all stopped.”

  Jacob made and odd rumbling sound. “Where’d you read that, in one of your books?”

  “Yeah, Jacob, a book. That’s where they hide all the information from stupid people.”

  “Well, doesn’t matter. It’s all here now.”

  Scout shrugged then walked further into the field. He stopped near a wooden crate and bent down. “Damn, Jacob. Most of these are busted.” He picked up a shattered tile and tossed it onto the ground.

  “What did you expect? Just shuffle through them, you’re bound to find some good ones.”

  “Do we need anything else?” Cayden asked as he lumbered around the lot.

  “I don’t know. Once we get the electronics online, we can find out.”

  Devin shook his head and took a deep breath. “Doesn’t seem real does it?”

  “What?”

  “I mean, it sounded like a stupid idea when we found that barn. Yeah, let’s fly this rocket,” he said sarcastically. “And now…this is really happening. We get those solar cells to work and we can actually turn it on. This is getting a little too real.”

  Scout smiled. “You’re not bailing out, are you?”

  “Hell no! Come on, let’s get some of those tiles in the wagon.”

  After digging through several crates they were able to scrounge together eleven complete solar tiles and two regulators. They looked around a little longer grabbing a few circuit boards from the aircraft there and part of the navigational system from the helicopter.

  “What are we gonna do with that?” Cayden asked as he helped Scout load it into the wagon.

  “I don’t know. Better to have it and not need it, right?”

  Cayden shrugged. Jacob pushed past them and sat the last tile into the back of the wagon then turned to face Scout. “You know you’re gonna need a sodering iron for all of this.”

  “Yep, already got one.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, that day you claimed you were sick…me and the twins went out. Found a broken soddering iron and an iPod.”

  “You never told me that.”

  “Well, I was gonna show it off after I got it working but my dad smashed it on the floor. Scared that the trackers were gonna get him.”

  “Trackers,” Devin echoed. “Like they don’t have better things to do.”

  “That’s all they do,” Cayden replied. “Arrest people for any kind of tech.”

  Scout nodded in agreement then looked around like someone was watching him. “I know my dad was pretty pissed about it. Oh yeah, he also thinks I have a thing with Wendy.”

  “Wendy?”

  “Marshall’s daughter.”

  Jacob and Cayden started to laugh. Devin eyed them then shrugged. “Why’s that funny?”

  “It’s Wendy Marshall,” Jacob replied.

  “Yeah, she’s kind hot.”

  “Whatever. Why does he think you and Wendy are hooking up?”

  “She told her dad she was with me last night.”

  “What?”

  Before Scout could reply and audible boom, cracked the sky. They looked up in unison as a flaming object streaked through the clouds like a falling star.

  Scout jumped in surprise and his heart tremored. As he stared at the mysterious object tearing through the atmosphere and smile spread across his face. “Wow,” he mumbled under his breath.

  With a solid thud, that shook the ground the object crash landed just on the other side of the woods. Scout pulled his eyes away and looked to the others with curious wonder drenching his face. The terror that stared back at him was unexpected. Jacob took a quivering breath as he reached out for the wagon and stuttered, “F…f…fl…fly, flyers!”

  CHAPTER 5

  RETURN OF THE FLYERS

  “Come on,” Scout yelled, his voice drenched with excitement.

  “Are you crazy?” Jacob replied. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Don’t you want to see what it is?”

  With a blank face, Jacob stared at the trail of smoke that tore through the sky, like a finger pointing them to a target. He wanted to run but his feet wouldn’t move and his heart was hammering through his rib cage.

  He already knew what it was. They all knew what it was. They’d heard the stories since they were little and the fear had stuck with them throughout the years.

  The flyers, descendants of the people that’d escaped the dawn and built a colony on Mars. The ones that ran and left the world behind to die. The stories about them had become more mythology than anything. And through the years people believed less and less. But here they were.

  Jacob took a few steps backwards then turned toward the wagon. “We need to get out of here.”

  “What! We need to follow that,” Scout argued. “It came from up there.” He pointed at the sky.

  “Only one thing can come from up there,” Jacob replied with fear in his voice.

  Devin shook his head. “No. You don’t really think it’s flyers, do you?”

  “What else flies? When was the last time anything flew?”

  Scout started walking in the direction of the crash. “I’m going,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “This is all we ever talk about…going up there. That thing could’ve come from up there.”

  “Don’t do it,” Devin replied. “Let’s just go home.”

  Scout gave them all a long, disappointed look then turned and headed into the forest without another word. It was much darker between the thick trees. Their branches stretched out like arms, fanning together, blocking the little light from the moon. It didn’t matter to Scout, he was high off excitement and he hurried through the thicket as fast as he could.

  Once he cleared the last line of trees, he could see a plume of smoke just on the other side of a small hill. He rushed across the empty field and ran up the slope, stopping at the top. A few small trees were speckled along the hill and if it wasn’t for the billowing gray vapor, the area would be completely hidden beneath the standing fog.

  Scout took a deep breath as he stared down into the valley. His skin crawled with ice and his legs trembled with fear or excitement, he didn’t know. Clenching his jaw, he slid down the grassy mound to get a little closer.

  Below him was a small silver object, no bigger than the wagon he’d rode in. It was tear drop shaped and reflected the moon as the fog around it thinned. The nose of the vessel was buried into the dirt and a dull whirring noise droned from the back. Two small wings jutted out from the sides but beyond that the entire surface was smooth. “It’s a ship,” Scout mumbled to himself in a scared but excited voice.

  Steam rose from the dirt where the spacecraft was embedded as well as the trail that the ship had carved through the ground that was nearly a football field long. A row of splintered trees toppled over and fell into the mangled foliage, the sound echoing in the darkness. If the middle ground wasn’t such a desolate a
rea, the site would’ve been crawling with trackers already.

  Scout stood back and crossed his arms as the voice in his head screamed to run. Curiosity was pulling at him like a magnet but now that he was there, he was wishing he’d stayed back with the wagon.

  Tightening his quivering hands, he moved down the hill and stopped a few feet away from the mysterious craft. The whirring noise wasn’t as loud and as he stood there it stopped all together with a labored grind. “Hello?” he said in a low voice, not expecting an answer. “Hello, is anyone in there?”

  He took another step closer and reached out his hand. His fingers rested on the smooth surface and he yanked them away but to his surprise the metal was cool to the touch. He reached out again and placed his palm against the side. “Wow,” he exhaled.

  He could feel a gentle pulse vibrating beneath his fingers. He slowly moved around the front of the ship, running his fingers along the surface as he did. There were no creases, no windows or doors. As far as he could see the ship wasn’t a ship at all but a solid piece of metal like a bullet with tiny fins. “What are you?” he whispered.

  Suddenly the ship rattled and an ear-splitting, whistle shrieked. Scout covered his ears as he fell back. He scrambled up the side of the hill and fell into the dirt as the sound grew louder and louder. Crawling, he staggered to his feet then took off running.

  Scout could hear the ship behind him as it rattled and screeched but he didn’t look back. He sprinted as fast as his legs would take him, crashing through branches and anything else that was in his way.

  Back at the wagon Devin and Cayden were growing restless. Jacob was pacing back and forth through the fog, jumping at every little sound. The blare from the ship rippled through the air and Jacob froze. “You guys hear that, right?”

  Devin looked back toward the trees then turned to face Cayden. “Scout needs to hurry up and get back.” He sat up and grabbed the reigns.

  “We can’t leave him,” Jacob warned.

  “I’m not. But we need to be ready to go as soon as he gets back.”

  “Scout!” Jacob yelled. “Scout!”

  “Dude, shut up!” Cayden snapped. “I don’t want whatever was out there coming to find us.”

  Jacob grumbled then jumped as he heard something rustling in the bushes. He walked backward toward the wagon, his eyes glued to the dark spaces just inside of the tree line. Something rustled again and he suppressed a scream then breathed a sigh of relief. “What the hell was that?” he asked as Scout came running out of the forest.

  “Let’s go!”

  CHAPTER 6

  FIRST CONTACT

  Scout awoke the next morning with a filthy sock smooshed into the side of his face. Blinking, he took a shallow breath then jumped up, swiping Jacob’s foot to the side. “Take a bath!” he growled.

  Groaning, Jacob opened his eyes and yawned. “Is everybody here?”

  “What?”

  “I thought…nothing. It was a dream.” He swung his legs off the side of the bed and stood up. Cayden was sleeping at the foot of the bed and Devin had fallen asleep on the floor next to the window. Jacob walked over to him and nudged him with his foot. “Wake up!”

  Devin moaned and slowly sat up. He glanced around the room and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

  “You were at the window all night?” Scout asked.

  “Yeah. Guess I fell asleep.”

  “Don’t know why you’re worried,” Cayden said as he rolled over. “No one wants you.”

  “Shut up!”

  “You, shut up!”

  “Guys,” Scout snapped. “We got bigger issues. Don’t you think?”

  “If no one came last night, no one’s coming,” Jacob replied.

  “You didn’t see it up close, it was a ship.”

  Jacob laughed. “You said it didn’t have any doors or windows. What kind of ship is that?”

  Scout shrugged.

  “It was probably more junk for the middle ground.”

  “Flying junk? That thing came from space, junk doesn’t come from space. Flyers do.”

  Jacob held his hands up and grumbled. “I don’t know. I gotta get home through.”

  “Me too. Meet later tonight at the barn?”

  Devin gave him a curious look. “You really think we should do that right now?”

  “Yeah,” Cayden agreed. “Maybe we should lay low for a bit”

  Scout looked away from them and dismissively flicked his hand. He started to head for the door when Jacob grabbed his shoulder.

  “Hold on, Scout. Promise me you won’t go back out there by yourself. We got what we needed already.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Scout shrugged. “I won’t go back out there.” With that, he left the room and headed outside. He climbed down the steps then stopped and stared up into the sky. There were no clouds and the soft blue of the atmosphere opened up into forever.

  “Flyers,” Scout whispered to himself before running off to his house.

  “Rough night?” his mom asked as he tried to creep past the kitchen and make for the stairs.”

  “What?”

  “Did you even take a bath?”

  Scout paused and took a once over of his appearance. He sniffed his shirt and frowned. “I’m gonna go take one now.” Before his mom could reply, he ran up the stairs and vanished into his room.

  Closing the door, Scout collapsed onto his bed and let out a long, exhausted sigh. His body ached and his mind was a cyclone of crazy thoughts. But he knew no matter what Jacob said, he had to go back to the crash.

  Scout turned to the side and glanced out of the window. He’d looked out to the sky nearly every day before, with wonder and hope but suddenly that was replaced with fear. He knew someone else had to have seen the crash. The trackers didn’t miss much and it wouldn’t take them long to locate the ship. That would only lead to more questions and the answers to those questions would lead to him.

  “Scout!” his Mom’s voice blared out of nowhere.

  Scout turned around. His mom was standing at his door with her hand leaning against the frame. “You didn’t hear me?” she asked.

  “Sorry…was day dreaming.”

  She glared at him and wrinkled her nose. “I told you to take a bath.”

  “I will, right now.”

  “It’ll have to wait. You’ve got company downstairs.”

  Before Scout could ask who, his mom turned around and vanished. Grumbling, Scout scrambled off the bed and followed after his her. He groggily shuffled down the steps then froze. “Wendy? What are you doing here?”

  Wendy Marshall, the farmer’s daughter stood just inside the door twirling her knotted brown hair around her finger. Scout wrinkled his face with displeasure. It wasn’t that she looked bad but they’d grown up together, taken baths together, and beyond all that, she was the farmer’s daughter.

  “I wanted to talk to you. We need to talk,” she said with a certain tone in her voice that alluded to other things.

  Blushing, Scout rushed past his mom and took Wendy by the arm. “We’re going outside,” he said and then escorted her toward the porch. Once the door had closed behind him and he was out of earshot he turned to her with an exasperated look on his face. “What the hell are you playing at, Wendy?”

  She laughed then licked her lips. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean. You following me to the barn, you telling my dad we’re dating. You showing up right now.”

  Wendy smiled and walked a few steps past Scout then paused and turned around. “You go out last night?” she said.

  “What?”

  “Last night, did you go out…to the middle ground?”

  “Shut up!” Scout snapped and threw his hand over her mouth.

  “Get off me,” she growled and shoved him away.

  “What is wrong with you? You can’t just come over here talking like that.”

  “So, it’s true.”

  “Did you follow me?”

&
nbsp; “Maybe I did. Maybe, I know all about you and your little band of misfits running around trying to bring back –”

  “Wendy, go home,” Scout cut her off before she could finish. She wrinkled her face and started to say something else but Scout waved his hand. “Just go home, and mind your own business.”

  Scout turned around and headed back inside. Wendy watched him with an angry stare then mumbled something under her breath and walked off.

  “What was that about?” Scout’s mom asked as he walked through the door.

  “Nothing, I’m going to take a bath.”

  Scout loathed the tiresome task of filling buckets with water and hauling them to the tub. He also lacked the patience to heat the water in the kettle so most of his baths were freezing. But his situation was better than most. His home had water tanks situated on the roof which allowed the house to have access to some type of running water. It wasn’t the indoor plumbing of old but it was better than nothing. Bathing however required trips to the well to avoid draining the tanks too often.

  Scout filled the soaking tub then climbed inside, cursing under his breath. After a quick once over he jumped out, shook off the water like dog and tossed on some clothes. Now, he was good for another week.

  Barefoot, Scout walked outside and took a seat on the porch. He sighed, trying to collect his thoughts and make since of the last twenty-four hours. Wendy’s visit had thrown him for a loop and with everything else going on, the last thing he needed was someone talking.

  He sat there for a long time, just staring out past the field and into the trees. He was fighting the urge to give into his curiosity and the longer he sat there the harder it became. His fear of the trackers should have been enough but he had to find out what it was he’d seen last night.

  “What are you doing out here?” his dad asked, startling Scout.

  Scout sat up and shrugged. “Thinking about life.”

  His dad laughed. “Tomorrow there’s another vote at First Rock.”