by Matt Ryan
Harris had thought about this many times. He wished it would be as simple as cutting the head off the snake but Marcus always left something behind, a back up plan. Then it would be only a matter of time until an apprentice of his would pick up the flag and run with it. If they had any chance of ending it once and for all, they had to take everything from him.
“This is the end, Travis. This is where we win or lose everything.”
“OOH, A BABY! CAN I hold her?” The woman’s face contorted with a mixture of excitement and desire. Both emotions Gladius was familiar with, but didn’t have the time to tolerate.
“No, you can’t,” she replied.
Hank gave her one of his looks and Gladius sighed, turning back to the lady. “She’s sleeping, otherwise I’d be glad to.” She delivered the message with a toothy smile.
This seemed to be reason enough for the woman to go on her merry way. Gladius shivered at the thought of letting that hag with filthy clothes touch her child, even if it was fake. She could have lice or who knows what else this backwoods town might have.
Hank raised an orange and inspected it before placing it in a plastic bag. Good, let him pick the fruit in this place. The quicker the better. She fanned herself with her free hand. How can a supermarket not have air conditioning? Of all the things to lose . . . the AC had to be the worst.
Traveling only to cities who had limited net and power was the plan, but she couldn’t wait to get back into a clean bed with cold air blowing on her face. Hell, even sex with Hank felt like a sweat shower.
A few other people meandered around the sparsely-filled produce aisle. Some did double takes at her baby, but most kept to themselves.
“I think we have enough for our stay.” Hank lifted a bag filled with miscellaneous fruits. “Let’s go down the packaged food aisle next.”
“Finally.”
After giving up many of the luxuries to which she was accustomed, Snackie Cakes was Gladius’s hard limit, and something she wasn’t willing to give up. Even during her brief stint on Earth, she’d kept a supply of Snackie Cakes. But now, she’d heard vicious rumors on the net about how the family shut down the factory and whatever was out there was the last of it. Goosebumps prickled the hairs on her arm.
Keeping Jen, the fake baby, close to her chest, she made her way to the dry food aisle. The last thing she needed was someone stopping them to gab about how long it’d been since they’d seen a baby. Everyone wanted to touch her, or take a picture with her, or even worse, to have her follow them on the nets to up their social points.
“Your cakes should be down here,” Hank said. “Look, there’s one left.”
An older lady walked toward the last box of Snackie Cakes sitting on the shelves. Gladius and the woman made eye contact. “Claim,” Gladius called out, but the other woman just picked up her pace.
This was not going to happen. Those Snackie Cakes were hers. Opening up into a full sprint, she hurdled toward her destination. The other woman’s eyes went wide as she picked up her speed and reached for the box first, holding it against her chest in the same manner as Gladius held Jen.
“I claimed that.”
“I never heard anything. Besides, whoever touches it first, gets it.”
“Bullshit! Those Snackie Cakes are coming home with me.”
Hank stood next to her. Good, his size could be intimidating. Gladius shoved their fake baby into his chest. She felt lighter, quicker with both hands accessible. She kept a few knives on her at all times for moments just like these. If she had to cut those damned cakes from the stupid woman’s imitation wool sports jacket, then so be it.
“You—you have problems,” the woman said clutching the box. “I need these for my son. He’s taken the net outages real bad, and the only thing that brings him out of his hole are these Snackie Cakes.”
Gladius’s mouth hung open and she gave the slightest shake of her head. She really couldn’t believe the woman tried to pull on her heart strings. “I don’t care if your son is a freaking diabetic and these are the last bits of sugar on Vanar, those cakes are going home with me.”
This is where she lost Hank. She heard his heavy sighing. She didn’t want to act this way around him—he had made her such a better woman—but this Snackie Cake battle required her old self.
The woman’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t let you have these cakes if you were Alice herself, here to turn the world back on. In fact, I’m going to go home and feed one to my dog . . . thinking of you the entire time.”
The bitch had some nerve, but Gladius closed her eyes and knew she had to take it to the next level—plan B. She lifted off her wig and dropped it on Hank, then she took off her stupidly large glasses and handed them to Hank as well. Hank didn’t grab them from her hand and they dropped to the floor. “If I have to take one more thing off, it’s going to get real ugly up in here. This is my last warning. Give me those Snackie Cakes, right now!”
The woman took a step back, looking around. Her fingers gripped the edges of the box. Then she stopped and squinted, leaning forward. “Wait. Aren’t you the president’s daughter?”
“Gladius Denail.” She bowed.
The lady smiled and wagged a finger. “Oh yes, Gladius. Don’t you hold the all-time social score for banging celebrities?”
Gladius pinched her lips together and touched the knife stuffed near her back pocket.
The woman looked back at Hank. “You look familiar as well. How many points does she get for banging an oaf like you?” She laughed. “What are you even doing in this shit hole? Is there a socialite whore competition in town?”
Gladius skipped plan C and D and jumped right to killing her. She pulled the knife and picked her wrinkled neck to strike. She reached back and felt a large grip on her hand.
“Get out of here,” Hank yelled at the woman as he held Gladius’s hand back.
The lady glanced from Hank, to the knife in Gladius’s hand, and made a run for it.
“Bitch!” Gladius yelled, keeping her eyes on her as she rounded the corner and headed toward the front door.
“Just let her go.”
Gladius yanked her arm free and paced in the aisle. She wanted to chase the woman all the way to her simple shack and make her vomit up each Snackie Cake.
“Put away the knife,” Hank said.
Rage filled her and she spent a good minute trying to keep her hand from shaking long enough to stick the knife back into its sheath. “You should have let me kill her.”
“I don’t think that would be a good representation of the president’s daughter.” Hank smiled.
“We haven’t seen a Snackie Cake in two cities now and we just let that cow up and take off with them. I mean, I claimed it.”
“I know, I know, baby. Just calm down. We won’t be here long and I bet the next town will have some.”
“If they don’t, I am going to hold you personally responsible. And yes, that means no sex until I get my hands on a Snackie Cake.”
Hank looked around for the woman and sighed. “Come on, let’s go buy those fruit things.” He snatched the bag up in one hand and handed Jen back to Gladius. She took it and wrapped the blanket around its plastic head, covering it all up.
After Hank paid the cashier, she joined him at the front door and left the supermarket. The air outside blew against her damp skin and she sighed in relief until the smell of sewer hit her nose.
“You know, we could try printing those cakes out again.”
“Are you joking? Those tasted like crap, Hank. Just like you can’t stand printed fruit.”
“I’m going to hunt down that woman and her little dog too,” Hank said in a raspy, strange voice.
“I don’t get you sometimes. You know, you can’t joke about my Snackie Cakes. Some shit is for real.” Hank laughed at this and Gladius couldn’t help but join in. He had the most infectious laugh of any person she’d ever met and instantly she felt better. Let the old hag and her dog stuff their faces. She hope
d they died choking on them. “You think we left enough of a footprint on this town?” she asked.
“I think you left a lasting impression on that woman. But yes, the whole town will soon know that Gladius Denail, daughter of the president, and top sex scorer, is in town.”
She stared at Hank and blinked. She’d had every intention of telling Hank about her previous lifestyle, but he was so innocent, it was hard to find the right time. “Don’t listen to that woman,” Gladius said. “She’s just some hateful, crazy person.” Today was not the day for that conversation.
Hank frowned. “You shouldn’t set your fuse so short. We have a baby to think about.” He patted the back of the baby’s head and made baby noises to it.
A scraggly man paced behind Hank and Gladius leaned to the left to get a better look at him. Ragged clothes and just from looking at him, she bet he smelled horrible. Then she spotted the knife in his hand. He stopped pacing and made eye contact with her. Gladius gave him a scowl that should have stopped most men, but he walked closer to Hank.
“Watch your back,” Gladius said with a nod to the approaching man.
Hank turned around.
“Give me those fruits, man,” he said pointing his knife at the bag.
Hank held his hand out and the bag crinkled as the fruit repositioned. “You want these?”
“Yeah, hand ‘em over.”
Gladius stepped forward with her free hand at her face and played her best damsel-in-distress look she could manage. “No please, sir, this is all we have to feed our baby.”
The man moved his attention back and forth from Hank and Gladius. “Stay back,” he said as the knife shook in his hands. “I mean it, or I’ll cut you both, and that baby too. I just want those fruits, man.”
“Oh no, you are going to hurt my baby? Hank, please, don’t let him hurt me and my baby.”
“Dude, you better run,” Hank said.
“Just toss them over.”
“Please, no,” Gladius said with her hand near her neck, fake fear filling her face. “Don’t hurt us. We are just simple people, traveling with a new child.” She deserved an award.
“You’re stupid if you don’t run right now,” Hank said.
The knife in his hand shook and his fingers moved over the duct tape wrapping around the makeshift handle. His eye twitched and he licked his lips, staring at the bag of fruit and not taking a single step in any direction. Gladius was glad he didn’t leave. She still felt the interaction with the woman from the supermarket eating away at her; the bitch was probably sucking down Snackie Cakes at that very moment.
Gladius tossed the baby to the man. He jerked to catch it and didn’t see the large smile on her face. She gave her best kick straight to his manhood and thought she felt him lift off the ground with it. The man fell to his knees, reaching for his crotch. Gladius kneed him in the face, crushing his nose and eye socket.
He fell back onto the street, knocked out.
“Oh no, my baby,” Gladius covered her face and stood on the man’s balls while she picked up Jen. A few onlookers slowed down to take in the spectacle. She wrapped the baby back up in its blanket and clutched it to her chest. “She’s okay, don’t worry,” she said and got closer to Hank. “You think we’ll be noticed now?”
“I think we have done more than enough to have a lasting memory on this town. Maybe this fruit should be to-go.” He raised an eyebrow.
“Fine, I didn’t like this town anyway.” Gladius walked with Hank back to the car parked far enough away from the supermarket as to not arouse suspicion. A person with a car like that, drew in a crowd, thinking the rich people from Capital came to their town.
She felt good after assaulting that man and skipped down the concrete sidewalk next to Hank, watching his big grin. She liked to make him smile and his eyes fixated on her bouncing chest. She glanced down at her low top and saw her boobs doing their thing. Good, let him get all excited, because she was dead serious about the no sex deal. She’d bet he’d find a way to get her Snackie Cakes in the next town.
A few people loitered around their black car. Hank approached, pushing his chest out and looking much larger. The people around the car scattered as they approached. Gladius giggled, if only those people knew how much more dangerous she was.
Hank rushed to the car first and opened the passenger door.
“Why thank you, good sir.”
The black leather interior had lost its new smell over the past six months, but it felt soft enough to want to strip down naked and let it touch you. Hank hopped in the driver’s side and closed the door.
“Where to?” he asked.
Gladius took out her Panavice and scanned the maps. “Since we are in phase two, I say we jump past these last couple cities and head straight to New Hampton. He shouldn’t be too far behind.”
Just the thought of finally being in a real city, with net, power, running water, and high thread count linen drove her to the edge of release. The thought of being with Hank on proper sheets . . .
Hank plugged the information into the car and took control of the wheel. She thought it very amusing how he insisted on driving the car himself.
“New Hampton . . .” Hank said, glancing at the map and then back to the road, “is that the last city before we go back to Earth?”
“Yes, and maybe we can finally be over with this,” Gladius said and stretched out, getting ready for the long drive.
Running around together, moving from hotel to hotel was fun at first, but visiting depressing cities, one after another, pulled her spirits down. She took notes in each location and would address the biggest issues with her dad; seeing that the towns received the help they needed. Witnessing her once rich world brought down to a place where a man threatened your life for a bag of fruit and bitches in supermarkets took Snackie Cakes that you claimed, wasn’t a place she wanted to be in. She longed to get back to her room at the ocean house in Sanct.
Hank slowed down and then stopped.
Gladius leaned forward from her slouch and spotted the man standing in the middle of the road, with his arms crossed near his waist. He wore all black, with a scarf wrapped around his face and head, leaving only his eyes exposed.
“Is that—” Hank started.
“I don’t know, just freaking get around him. It’s too soon for this.”
The car lunged forward and Gladius stared at the man. He didn’t flinch as the car approached. Hank turned the wheel, avoiding the man in black. Gladius kept her eyes on him as they passed.
He reached behind his back and pulled out two guns.
“Go!” Gladius urged, pushing the button on the dash. Four small containers sprouted from behind the car and exploded. The man in black flew in the air, landing hard on the ground, skidding to a stop.
The car accelerated down the road and Gladius looked out the back window. The man in black got up and trotted after them with a severe limp.
“You think that was him?” Hank asked.
“Yes.”
“How did he get to us so quick?”
“I don’t know, but we better get to New Hampton in a hurry.” Gladius turned and slumped down in the seat. Thread count would have to wait until she dealt with this shit.
POLY LISTENED TO THE CREAKING noise the guard made outside their hut as he adjusted his stance once again. She took an extra look at Julie and Lucas, who lay close together near the window, before going back to watching her Evelyn sleeping on the wooden plank near Joey. The morning twilight had finally crept into the room, casting enough light for her to make out all the features on her daughter’s perfect little face. She wanted to hold her, but she enjoyed watching her sleep more.
Asleep, she looked like any other baby, cuter of course, but nothing out of the ordinary—not extraordinary and certainly not the next step in human evolution. Nope, while she slept, she was just Evelyn.
The guard creaked and bumped the wall a smidgen, maybe leaning against it with his foot. Poly winced at the
noise and turned back to see Evelyn with her eyes wide open. She took a deep breath and smiled at her lovely child staring at her with eyes that seemed far too intelligent for a seven-month-old.
Julie had contemplated earlier that the only reason she couldn’t fully speak was the muscles in her throat hadn’t developed enough, but Poly knew her daughter understood most of what people said.
“Mama,” Evelyn said.
“That’s right, it’s your mama here.” Poly sniffled and looked away.
Every day she got smarter and every day that was a reminder of how valuable she was. Having a child someone wanted to take from you was unbearable. She knew now what all of the Preston Six’s parents went through. Poly’s chin trembled and she felt a small hand touching her stomach. She reached down and placed a finger in Evelyn’s hand. Evelyn squeezed and smiled.
Harris had run a few tests on her right after she was born and her DNA had many anomalies, not much unlike what Joey had but on a grander scale. It was a matter of time before she’d surpass all of them, and Marcus knew about this better than anyone. The longer he didn’t have her, the smaller chance he’d be able to control her. It wouldn’t be long before her mental abilities would match her physical abilities and Harris thought once that happened, it wouldn’t matter what Marcus did, he’d never be able to take her without consent. Not that he would ever get the chance. To hell with phase four. She planned on ending it all before then.
She sucked in a quick breath and thought of Samantha. Losing her felt like losing a sister, a close sister. Seeing what Marcus did to her was a constant reminder of what and who they were up against.
“You awake?” Joey asked.
“Unless I started sleep walking.”
Joey sat on the edge of the cot and rubbed his eyes. He got up and walked next to Poly, placing his hand over her shoulder, kissing the side of her face.
It still gave her chills when he did that. She watched him smile and touch Evelyn. Evelyn giggled, reaching for him, and then sat up.
