Women of the Grey- The Complete Trilogy

by Carol James Marshall

  She’d ghost her way past the cafeteria dining room, then through the garden there was a small hidden path to the outside. From there it would be a hike to her car, but nothing that she couldn’t accomplish in less than thirty minutes if she kept a steady pace. June opened the supply room door, and moved in a rapid-fire walk toward the cafeteria.

  Opening the cafeteria door just an inch, June looked from right to left and back. All was quiet. No one was there. She’d be able to quickly jet through it to the garden. Looking behind her, she checked to make sure no one was following her, then stepped into the cafeteria.

  She didn’t run across the room as she intended, but stopped instead to look at tables, counter tops. All stainless-steel, shining as if prideful. Why was everything in The Grey stainless-steel? The counter tops in bedrooms, the toilets, walls, tabletops. It reminded June of a women’s prison show she had seen on one of her missions.

  The show was reality television. It showed human women, jailed for minor offenses. Back then June sat for hours watching and re-watching episodes of this show. She studied it and it wasn’t until now that she knew why. June caught herself laughing. She had watched hours of that wretched television show because she was homesick. The Grey is nothing but a prison, just like the one she had seen on TV.

  Shaking her head, June started walking towards the kitchen at the back of the cafeteria when movement caught her eye. It was quick and sideways, nothing but a quick flash, but she had seen it. There was something lurking in the corners of the kitchen.

  Knife up, June steadied herself. What could it have been? Most of the Women of the Grey were too sedated by Red to move quickly. Plus, they wouldn’t. If a mother was in the kitchen, she’d be busy making casual off-hand remarks about June’s hair being unkempt, or maybe she’d squeeze June’s arm, begging that she bring her back something from the outside world with promise of payment when it was delivered.

  This was not a mother, it was small. Stepping forward June saw the flash again. Looking over her shoulder, June was caught. There was something to the right of her and something right behind her. To the left was a wall. She was cornered by whatever was stalking her. She could dash to the garden where she might have places to hide and observe or she could stand her ground here in the kitchen.

  June shook the hand holding the knife. It was a nervous tick, something she did when she knew she was about to use it. She’d make a run for the garden. There was the secret room there. Maybe she could make it there, then watch the garden, figure out what was creeping about and do something about it.

  Shaking her head, no, June told herself she wouldn’t do anything about it. She’d get the hell gone, that’s what she’d do. Whatever creepy crawly was on the prowl was not her problem. If she could make it to the garden and out, she’d be free.

  There was a muffled cough behind her. June stepped to the side quickly and was amazed to find a little girl. Brown hair, filthy clothes, and frighteningly thin, even by Grey standards. Coughing, the little girl looked up at June. There was something familiar about her. June wrinkled her brow. Where could she have come from?

  “Who are you?” June wouldn’t step forward. Whatever the child had could be contagious. The little girl swayed a bit. Pushing her brown hair off her face, she winced at June. The little girl looked like every daughter of the Grey except for the brown hair. She stepped forward now, leaning over just a bit to look at this little girl’s face. She was a daughter of the Grey.

  Fear trickled all over June. She wouldn’t be able to wait it out this time. This was too evident, too real. This girl was one of theirs, but she had been abused, neglected. There was something very wrong with her. There was a shift in June then. Stepping towards her, June thought she should take her. She’d take the girl out with her, raise her as her own. She had enough money. She’d figure out a way. June would save this little girl, the way she wished someone would have saved her. Take her away from this prison Superior Mother calls home.

  “It’s okay…” June smiled at the little girl. “I’ll help you get out of here.” The little girl nodded and then reached for June’s hand. It was then that June noticed there was ice on her fingernails. A frosty dew on her skin. Her small hand felt as if it had been kept in a freezer.

  June held steady, telling herself to not pull away from the child. The Grey is a devilish place. There is no telling where Superior Mother had kept this girl, this very much the same, but different, daughter of The Grey.

  Together, they started to walk through the kitchen when the small girl shrank back, making a small muffled sound, and pointed forward. When she did this June saw another girl. This one was skinny and dirty as well. She looked like a daughter of The Grey.

  Spotting her, the young girl made a noise that almost knocked June to her knees. It was high pitched and caused pain in her ears. The girl ran towards them, hands held out. This girl’s hand had claws on them, just like the Originals.

  Instantly, June knew this girl’s intent was to kill both of them. Running forward, June met the girl dead on, but at the last second stepped to the right and stuck the girl in the side with her knife. She thrashed, clenching her side, and jumped forward again, right onto June, biting down on her neck. Thankfully, she did not have the razor-sharp teeth of the Originals. Only the claws.

  June yanked the girl off her, slammed her on the kitchen floor and kicked her. She kicked her over and over again, watching herself from the outside. Watching as she kicked a child. Shaking, June looked down at the girl who was still now. This wasn’t a child, but it also was a child, a daughter of The Grey. Like everything else in here, it wasn’t what it seemed.

  June felt beaten to pieces. She would never be the same. With the body of the girl now limp, June squatted down next to it. She was dead. This was a daughter of The Grey, same as the other, but this one had claws. The other one, who was sobbing uncontrollably in a corner, had brown hair.

  Sitting on the kitchen floor, June needed just a moment to compose herself. She didn’t have long. She needed to calm the brown-haired girl down. Her commotion would wake up a mother somewhere and June was sure that these two were never meant to wander through The Grey.

  They must have escaped from wherever Superior Mother and the Originals kept them. Jumping up, June wrapped her arms around the brown-haired daughter of The Grey. She held the girl as if she was her own.

  This girl could have been her own. June had handed in her baby. Without thought, she had bred for The Grey and handed her daughter over, as was expected. June’s breath began to quicken. What if, what if they did this to her daughter?

  Her baby could have been different as well. If so what did they do to her? The little girl pulled away from June, placing her hands-on June’s face, wiping away her tears. June stared at her. It was like watching her little girl self, just as confused and lost as this one. Shaking herself, June reached for the girl’s hand and they both stepped over the corpse. Almost eagerly, with hurry in their steps, they headed in the direction of the garden.

  Vomit rose in June’s throat. Now no matter what, she had a daughter. She’d do right by this child. It wouldn’t make up for her own daughter, who may or may not be alive, suffering, in pain or… June stopped herself. “Not now.” She’d think of her daughter some other day. When there was time to ponder in regret. Now, she had to move forward.

  June put her ear up against the garden door. There was a rustling; someone was out there. Bending down, June motioned for the small girl to do the same. They both got down on their hands and knees, then June opened the garden door just enough for them to squeeze through.

  They crawled towards a shed where equipment was kept. How did this equipment get here? Why had June never wondered that? There were diggers, fertilizer, rakes, trimmers… squinting, June felt the malicious need to punch Superior Mother in the jaw. How did they get this stuff in here?

  There was laughter from the trees. Someone was standing among the trees, laughing. June opened the shed d
oor, then pointed, gently pushing the girl in.

  “Seriously, Miss Bad Ass, I can see you and whatever that human thing is with you.” June closed the shed door. That was Cara’s voice.

  Sunny

  Kia watched Sunny slowly change. The large eyes disappeared, her teeth seemed to shrink back and lose their points. Sunny’s face was withdrawn, flat, and the sparkle on her skin was gone. Sunny was also watching Kia, her friend. Her only friend.

  While morphed, Sunny could easily see the door that leads out of the cave. Sunny waited, knowing that sooner or later a mother would come, and she did. The door eventually opened after what felt like years, and bowls of food were slid forward with a large stick.

  Using this moment to her advantage, Sunny sprang forward, yanking the door open and pouncing on the mother. There was only one. It was too easy. She didn’t fight back. The mother only held her hands up in disbelief, eyes opening extra wide at the sight of Sunny.

  She didn’t have eyes for long, Sunny’s claws took care of that. When she was dead, Sunny dragged her body to the doorway, using it as a doorstop. She then stepped on her, not over her. This mother, all mothers of The Grey, did not deserve care. They did not deserve a gentle touch.

  Sunny then walked straight to Kia, who was now propped up, peering blindly in the direction of the light. When the light hit Sunny just right and Kia could see the large eyes that wrapped around, the razor teeth, the cloud of frosty air that bounced with her every step, Kia shrieked just a bit but then succumbed, allowing Sunny to pick her up and carry her out.

  Now, several hallways later, both girls lay on a floor in a bedroom they had snuck into. After helping Kia lay down Sunny closed the bedroom door and collapsed on the floor herself.

  “Why can’t I do what you do?” Kia was jealous of Sunny. What she saw of Sunny was terrifying, but also strong. Kia wanted to be strong. She didn’t want to be rescued. She wanted to rescue.

  “I don’t know how we are going to get out.” Sunny’s words were sleepy. Kia wondered if changing made her tired. Did it wear her out? Touching Sunny’s cheek Kia pulled back her hand. Her friend was so cold to the touch, even after she changed back to normal. She was so cold. Why wasn’t Kia cold? Why didn’t she change like that? There was a flutter in Kia’s chest. She was tired too. She needed a big sleep.

  “Hey.” Someone was shaking Sunny. “You, wake up, what are you doing in my room?” Opening her eyes, Sunny could see that a mother was staring down at her, but wasn’t seeing her. This mother was on Red. Sunny could tell by the flatness in every word she said.

  “I come into my room… I need to rest and you are here.” The mother rolled her eyes, then gave Kia a swift shove off the bed Kia’s body hit the floor with a hard thud, sighing “and this one’s dead…” She then gave Sunny a disgusted look. “Whatever, you little brats should go back to whatever cage they put you in…”

  Sunny felt her mouth fill with saliva. The heat of hate spread all over her. Years in that cage, questioning why she did nothing but think, think, think of killing. Day and night, Sunny fought this intent that was stuck in her brain to kill whatever crossed her path.

  For years, she’d accepted that she was the wicked one. The one with the lustful urge to slit throats. Now, it would be different. She was going to take that want to kill and embrace it. Sunny’s vision shifted; she now could see every speck of dust in the room.

  Running her hands over her head, she felt the smoothness. She took a fingertip to her teeth — they were razors. Looking at her hands, her nails had turned long, sharp, and ready to slice. Sunny was going to give in to this change.

  She was going to kill them all, like she’s wanted to for so long. Sunny stood up, climbed the walls and crossed the ceiling till she hung right over the sleeping mother. She had a perfect view of Kia’s dead body from there. Kia her sister, her only friend, now dead because of them.

  These mothers. These fiends in khaki pants. A noise came out of Sunny, high-pitched, ear splitting. The mother dozing on the bed flinched, looked around the room, then caught sight of Sunny hanging over her.

  “HOLY SHIT…it’s one of you. I’ve heard of you….” The mother pushed herself into the mattress, trying her best to disappear from Sunny’s gaze. She was already marked. That shove had done her no grace in Sunny’s eyes.

  The rage. The want to kill. The need to kill was now all Sunny had since they took her Kia away. Sunny let go, landing on top of the mother, who screamed. She screamed without pride. She screamed with cowardice. She screamed in pure terror and Sunny lapped it up.

  Her terror was a balm to Sunny’s soul. It was delicious. The mother’s scream fed Sunny and gave her everything she had been missing since she ripped her mother open. That infant, wicked, deadly, was exactly who she really was.

  Hand raised, Sunny split the mothers face with her nails. She then stood on the bed and watched the mother sob while holding her hands to her face. Sunny fell to her knees, pushing her face against the mother’s.

  She felt the throb of pain the mother was feeling. The pain jumped from her to Sunny, sprinkling her skin. Sunny pulled away. then drove her teeth into the mother’s side, moving her jaw from side to side, making sure that this mother’s death was extremely painful.

  Sunny wanted her to suffer. Suffer for the days she spent all alone. The pain and frustration that Sunny had kept inside her year after year purged from her with every bite she took of the mother. Bite after bite, Sunny made sure to shift her jaw so the teeth gnawed. The mothers body went limp. It was a rag doll now. She was done with this one.

  Sunny crawled off the bed, satisfied, but hungry for more. Opening the door to the room, Sunny crawled along the wall like a spider. Down the hallway, she reached forward, opening another Mother’s door. She dropped down and entered the bedroom.

  The screams of this mother could be heard down many hallways of The Grey, but the Women of the Grey didn’t move. Red held them captive. They’d save no one.

  Lisa

  Standing in the desert sand, Lisa felt a sense of “been there, done that.” A feeling of deja-vu hung in the air. The feeling wanted to tell Lisa something, but she wasn’t in the mood to listen. Fingering the orange scarf that Maria had put around her neck, Lisa resisted the urge to rip it off.

  “This is so everyone knows you aren’t one of them.” Maria smiled at Lisa then, nodding and tying the orange scarf as if Lisa was a child. The nod was Maria trying to convince Lisa that her statement was fact, not a passive fancy.

  The trouble was that Lisa was one of them. The Women of the Grey. The mortal enemy of mankind. That’s what these people believed, that these alien clones, these hybrid humans, are treacherous. They’d take over and slowly dispose of the human race.

  How much of that was true, Lisa didn’t know. Misinformation, no information, lies, non-truths, delusions, and manufactured beliefs was what The Grey was made of. Maybe somewhere in The Grey there was truth. She didn’t know.

  Looking behind her, Lisa saw nothing but headlights and bodies. There were many of them, a hundred maybe. All stood their ground, ready to enter what they believed was hell. Lisa thought they were right. The Grey was hell. A polished, shiny, well-mannered hell where everything was said with sugar sweet lips and knives in backs.

  Headlights started to pop off. Soon a deep darkness would fall all around. Lisa was ready. She could feel the feet tromping towards her. She’d be the one, after all, that opened that secret gate. The secret front door to the Grey.

  The front door was down the path that was right in front of Lisa. All she had to do was move a special rock and the gate would open before her. No guards, no one really caring. “What a stupid secret hideout.” Lisa frowned and murmured to herself.

  Lisa started to walk down the path, a menacing parade following her like a trail of baby ducks. She knew Israel was right behind her, but it wasn’t because of her. This was his parade. His show. Lisa was not the leading actress in his eyes and never would be. She w
as nothing more than a tool.

  Stopping at the correct rock, Lisa patiently waited for all to catch up and Israel to stand beside her. Lisa hoped Superior Mother was locked up in there, watching her from some grimy video feed.

  She wasn’t going to kill anyone tonight. She was the biggest killer of them all. Lisa would have the most notches on her belt. Besides, she had a plan.

  Leaning forward, Lisa moved the rock just a bit. Instantly, a glow appeared and the mountain opened. The crowd behind her let out small controlled gasps. Lisa half smiled to herself. How long have they been looking for this opening? It was right here in the open.

  Lisa turned, standing right in front of Israel, almost nose to nose. She knew he didn’t like her this close and she didn’t care. Now was the time to say her peace. After all, she had a plan. Looking at Israel, Lisa said, “I love you.” Israel looked startled and started to speak, but Lisa held up her hand. “To you I’m nothing but a monster.” Lisa swallowed and continued “That’s kind of true, but you forgot something very important.” Lisa leaned over giving Israel a soft kiss on his cheek, then whispered, “I’m only half monster.”

  Lisa then yelled, “Come on” to the crowd and ran into The Grey with a mass of people behind her. This was going to be a massacre of humans or Women of the Grey Lisa wasn’t sure which.

  In the first corridor of The Grey, two dazed mothers looked at the humans with guns swarming inside. One mother stood up defiantly, but Lisa noticed she was slow. No quick movement. No jumping over tables, no attacking humans with deadly inhalers. One mother reached for the phone. Lisa heard pops and she fell over. The other mother raised her hands in the air. Staring at Lisa.

  “It’s you… you’re Lisa.” The mother exclaimed. Her voice trembled. Lisa shrugged and smiled at her. Then she pointed a finger at the mother and pretended to shoot her. There was a quick blast and the mother fell over, her face slamming into the desk and then tumbling to the floor.