In the After

by Demitria Lunetta

  The pain hits me like a lightning bolt and my entire body seizes. Every nerve, every synapse is on fire. I am burning from the inside out. I bite down on the piece of leather in my mouth, wishing that I were dead, that the excruciating agony would stop. Anything to make it stop. When I lose consciousness, I welcome it. The darkness will end the torture. The blackness is a relief.

  • • •

  “Keep your focus,” Marcus yelled at me.

  “Watch your back!” Gareth shouted.

  “Where is your head today?” Kay spit.

  They were watching me fight three of the Elite Eight, who had been instructed to behave like Floraes. That meant they would run at me at top speed and try to slice me with their knives. Not the rubber-tipped knives I trained with at first, but real ones with sharp, shiny metal blades.

  I felt someone stab at my back, and it could only be Jenny, because I had the two boys in my sights.

  I thought wearing the synth-suit’s hood would hurt my hearing and obstruct my vision. The hood is attached to the back of the suit, but you can pull it down over your face where it fastens seamlessly to the neck material with a strong, Velcro-like fastener. It’s as strong as the rest of the suit, but so thin, it didn’t hinder my senses at all. It amazed me that the concept for this started in our class. Vivian was a genius.

  I heard Jenny approach again at a run from behind and I crouched down low at the last second. Kay taught me that trick. Jenny tripped over me and fell on her side. I pushed her on her back and traced my knife across her neck. According to the rules, she was dead. We learned that if you were going to fight a Florae with a knife, your best bet was to slit its throat, sever its spinal cord. Stabbing it anywhere else would just piss it off.

  I backed away from Jenny, who played dead on the ground. Nick and Rob didn’t waste any time rushing me, taking me down. They stabbed at my face and torso. Now I was dead. They backed away and Jenny got to her feet. She pulled up her hood.

  “Not bad.” She smiled.

  I pulled up my hood, feeling a little disappointed in myself but also frustrated with the setup. “You know, this is completely unrealistic,” I told them.

  “Don’t be a sore loser,” Nick said. He hadn’t taken off his hood, so I couldn’t see his expression.

  “No. If you all were Floraes,” I explained, “I’d have been dead in five seconds. But if I had managed to kill the Jenny Florae, you two would have been on her instantly, and I could have made my escape . . . or killed you both while you were feeding. I mean, you capture the Floraes, right? Don’t you study them? Learn how they behave?”

  There was silence as Kay and Marcus exchanged an uncomfortable look.

  “Amy, can I speak with you?” Kay said quietly.

  I walked over to them with my head held high, though I really wanted to hunch over and stare at the floor.

  “How do you know that we capture the Floraes?” Marcus asked.

  “I saw you, before I came here.” I lowered my voice. “One was about to kill me, actually, before it was captured.” I didn’t tell them about being in a restricted area and seeing the Floraes being tortured.

  Both of them were quiet. Finally Marcus gave me an intense stare. “Listen, Amy, we keep the Floraes in a secure facility on the base. Most citizens of New Hope would not be comfortable to know they’re here.”

  “But you do study them?” I asked, wondering how much they would tell me.

  “Yes. We study them for a number of reasons. They’re crucial for perfecting our training techniques. We watch the way they move, how they react to prey. . . .”

  “You mean people.”

  “I mean any mammal.” He glowered at me. “What, do you think we feed bad children to the Floraes?”

  “No, of course not. I just wonder why you don’t know how they act in groups. . . .” I stopped, remembering that the Floraes I saw were kept alone, one to a room. “They’re too dangerous in groups,” I whispered.

  “We can only study one at a time,” Kay confirmed. “Otherwise we couldn’t contain them.”

  “But you go out, into the . . .” I was about to say “the After,” but I realized they wouldn’t know what I meant.

  “We go and collect supplies and the odd survivor. We have our hover-copters, our guns. We avoid places that are teeming with Floraes, unless our purpose is to capture one. Then we’re in and out.”

  “Then why all this training?” I asked.

  “In the Marines,” Marcus told me, “they push you to your limits and expose you to every imaginable horror. They gas you. They half drown you. You’re afraid, but it’s only training. The next time you’re not so afraid. You know what to expect.”

  “We can’t have Guardians freezing up the first time they encounter a Florae face-to-face,” Kay clarified. “We depend on each other, so everyone has to function. There’s no alternative.”

  “I get it,” I told them.

  “Shall we continue practice?” Kay yelled, loud enough for the others to hear.

  “Can I be a Florae this time?” I asked hopefully.

  “Not until you’re a real Guardian, sunshine.” Kay smiled wickedly. I pulled my hood back on and made a face she couldn’t see before walking back to the practice mat. Then I took extra pleasure in pretend-killing Nick and for-real elbowing Rob in the face. It didn’t even matter that in the end I was, once again, the loser. You just couldn’t win against the Floraes.

  After several hours, I stepped out of the Rumble Room, exhausted from my training session. That’s why I didn’t see him until he called my name.

  “Amy?”

  I turned to find Dr. Reynolds watching me, a strange smile on his lips. “I wasn’t aware you had clearance to be inside a restricted area.”

  “I . . .” I froze, lost for words. Thankfully Gareth was next out the door. He took in Dr. Reynolds and me with my mouth hanging open like an idiot.

  “Thanks again, Amy,” he said quickly. He was wearing civilian clothes, jeans and a T-shirt. He looked so different from when he was in his synth-suit—much less intimidating, and even with his almost completely gray hair, much younger.

  “Yeah . . . no problem,” I responded slowly, still frozen in place.

  “Dr. Reynolds.” Gareth nodded at him pleasantly. “What brings you out our way?”

  “I just wanted to observe the Guardians in training, but I suppose I’m too late,” he said, the same eerie smile surfacing again. “Your psyche-evals are coming up soon.”

  “Again? It’s been six months already?” Gareth asked. “Seems like my head was just shrunk last week.”

  Dr. Reynolds chuckled. “Well, let’s just hope you’ve solved some of your relationship issues.”

  Gareth grimaced. He’d mentioned to me he’d recently broken up with his boyfriend, but didn’t go into details. It must have ended badly. I could tell Dr. Reynolds’s comment cut him deeply.

  Dr. Reynolds turned his gaze back to me. “Amy . . .”

  “Amy was invited here by Kay,” Gareth said irritably, no longer pretending to be friendly. “She was telling us more about her experiences with the Floraes in the field. She’s an invaluable resource.”

  “I’m sure she is.” He studied my face. “In fact, I hear you’ve been talking quite a lot about the Floraes.” My blood turned to ice.

  “Yes.” My voice cracked and I swallowed before trying to speak again. “I was trying to prepare for my presentation to the Guardians,” I bluffed, trying to follow Gareth’s lead. “I didn’t want to leave anything out.”

  “Of course not.”

  “Well, I have to get to class.” I turned to go.

  “Amy, I . . . ,” Dr. Reynolds began.

  “I’ll walk with you, Amy,” Gareth said, cutting him off. He nudged me so my legs would start working. I tried not to look back, but when I did, Dr. Reynolds had already disappeared into the Rumble Room. I exhaled with relief.

  “That man is creepy,” I whispered to Gareth.

  �
�You don’t know the half of it,” Gareth told me. “He must know you’re training with us.”

  “How?”

  “My guess is Marcus. . . . Kay has thought he’s a spy for Dr. Reynolds for a while.”

  “Why would he need to spy on the Guardians?” I couldn’t help but look behind me again, making sure we weren’t being followed.

  “When the Guardians started, Marcus was supposed to be the leader, no questions asked. Dr. Reynolds is smart, though. He saw that the citizens wouldn’t be happy with anything like a military dictatorship; no one wants to live under a police state.”

  “So Kay is in charge and Marcus reports back to Dr. Reynolds everything that isn’t quite right with the program,” I filled in.

  “Yeah, that’s what we think. We’re extra careful around Marcus and the Elite Eight, not that we do anything wrong to begin with,” Gareth said, shooting me a sideways glance. “Except for training you. Kay must have a grand plan to put herself at risk like that.”

  “Maybe Dr. Reynolds won’t care,” I offered.

  Gareth shook his head. “He sets the rules; he’ll definitely care about them being broken. But he may weigh the benefits.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Training you isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things. If he puts a stop to it, he’ll expose his spy and lose an almost-trained Guardian.”

  We reached school and I turned to Gareth to say good-bye, glad to know he was someone I could trust. “Thanks for helping me out back there.”

  “Sure, just . . . take care of yourself, honey,” he said with a wink, back to his normal, teasing self.

  “I will.” I grinned, but my amusement faded as he walked away.

  After scanning the grounds, I spotted Baby and ran to her side, engulfing her in a giant hug. I kissed the top of her head and walked her to class, though I really wanted to take her in my arms and run away. But away to where?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  I wake up screaming. There are hands on my shoulders, holding me down, and another pair on my forehead, trying to calm me.

  “Amy . . . drink this,” Dr. Thorpe commands. She is at my side with a cup of water.

  “They’re here. The Floraes—” I yell as tears stream down my face.

  Dr. Thorpe flashes a light in my eyes, examining me. “You’ve just had a bad dream,” she assures me. “You’re safe here.”

  “We’re not safe!” I yell. “Where’s Baby? I have to save Baby from the Floraes.”

  “You’re having an adverse reaction to your treatments.”

  “Do you want to die?” I cry. “They’ll kill us.” She doesn’t understand the danger we’re in.

  “Amy, calm down.”

  “Let me go!” I yell at the top of my lungs, pushing Dr. Thorpe out of the way. I fall out of bed and crawl toward the door.

  An orderly stops me before I make it more than a few feet. He picks me up and drags me back to my bed. I scream and try to fight, but my blows are wild and powerless.

  He holds me down while Dr. Thorpe straps me to the bed, securing my wrists and ankles. She steps away, watching me as I struggle.

  “You paged me?” Dr. Reynolds enters the room, eyeing me.

  “Ms. Harris isn’t reacting well to her treatments,” she says loudly, upset. “The electroshock therapy has obviously worsened her condition.”

  “Please,” I beg. “Let me go.”

  “The trial treatments were a mistake,” she tells him, frowning.

  “How were we supposed to know that?” Dr. Reynolds asks calmly. “She seemed like a promising candidate.”

  “Perhaps we should continue with her original medication,” Dr. Thorpe suggests.

  “It was ineffective against her psychosis.” Dr. Reynolds glances at me. “Maybe if we up the dosage?” Dr. Reynolds scribbles on my chart before he hands it to Dr. Thorpe.

  She reads it and stops. “But that’s nearly twice the dosage!”

  Dr. Reynolds looks at her. “Do you disagree with my prescription?” he asks coldly.

  Dr. Thorpe flinches slightly. “No . . . I agree completely.”

  Dr. Reynolds leaves, but Dr. Thorpe stays and stares at me for a moment. She takes a deep breath before stepping outside my room, returning a few moments later to give me a shot. The sedative takes effect almost immediately. I begin to lose myself.

  She stands over me as I try to keep my eyes open.

  “Please . . . ,” I whisper. “If you tie me up, I can’t escape from Them. Please . . .”

  Dr. Thorpe’s figure blurs as the medicine takes hold. “There is nothing to worry about,” she tells me as I lose consciousness. “Everything is just fine.”

  • • •

  The past few weeks were hell. Kay was riding my ass even harder than usual. On top of that, my mother was almost never around. If it wasn’t for Vivian, I would have been lost. I’d drafted her to help me babysit and sometimes she slept over. We talked about everything we missed from Before. Baby loved our sleepovers and tried to stay up with us but always conked out long before we did.

  That evening, though, I was alone on the couch in my pajamas, reading. My muscles ached and I was tired from training. All I wanted to do was relax.

  Amy. Suddenly Baby was standing over me, back from the bedroom. The noise has stopped. Baby looked half relieved, half frightened.

  What do you mean? I asked.

  The noise is gone. Baby explained. The humming.

  What hum—? I sucked in a breath as I realized what she was trying to say. The sonic emitters. If it was quiet, it meant . . .

  My thoughts were interrupted by a scream that sliced through the silence. I jumped off the couch, flipping off lights as I went. Baby, stay there, I told her as I ran to our bedroom. I looked out the window into the courtyard below.

  A chill settled over me and I began to tremble. A pack of Them was in the Quad, feasting. I crouched down, my head in my hands, rocking back and forth. I couldn’t let myself completely break down. Baby watched me from the doorway.

  Baby, it’s Them. They’re here now.

  Baby shook her head, not wanting to believe me.

  I froze and tried to think. We couldn’t run, I knew that much. We couldn’t wait either. Wooden doors didn’t offer much protection. They would be busy for a few minutes with the people outside, but They’d managed to spread across the world in a matter of days. It wouldn’t take Them long to wipe out the population of New Hope.

  My mother would be prepared for something like this. I took a deep breath to calm down. Then I remembered Adam, in his room. Baby, check on Adam. If he’s awake, make sure he’s quiet. She nodded, her instinctive survival skills resurfacing.

  I ran down the hall and surveyed my mother’s room. She would have a gun somewhere, but she’d want to keep it away from Adam. My eye caught a metal box on the highest shelf in the closet. I pulled over her desk chair to retrieve it. Please don’t be locked. Shaking, I fiddled with the catch.

  The box swung open and I half laughed, half cried out. There was a gun and a full clip of bullets. It was a Guardian gun, completely silent. The kind I’d been practicing with for months. I quickly loaded the clip and ran to check on Baby.

  She was standing over Adam’s crib, silently watching him. She turned when I entered the room, though I hadn’t made a sound.

  The noise is back now, she told me. The emitters were on again, but that wouldn’t help with the Floraes already inside New Hope. It would only agitate Them.

  I have to go. I have to find Them. The ones that got inside. The people of New Hope were loud and ignorant. They didn’t know how to deal with the Floraes in anything but theory.

  Should I come? Baby asked. I can help you hear Them.

  No, stay with Adam. He needs you now. Make sure he’s quiet. If one of Them gets in, hide.

  What if he cries? Her face was desperate. She loved him too.

  Make him understand. If you have to, leave him. As soon as I signed the words
, I regretted them, but I didn’t have time to rethink my decision. I couldn’t allow Baby to die. It was better one of them survived than neither. I shook the dark thought from my head as I hurried downstairs.

  I silently slipped through the door and quickly scanned the area. They were everywhere in the Quad: at least ten had already found victims, several more crouched, ready to run down anything They heard. One loped toward me and I reacted automatically, aiming for its head, just like in target practice. I squeezed the trigger.

  It fell, twitching, and two more pounced on it, tearing into its yellow-green flesh. There were quite a few feeding, but I left them for now. They wouldn’t be done for a while and I was more concerned with the creatures still looking for food. After, I could go back and pick off the feeding Floraes one by one.

  I heard one behind me and spun around to fire.

  “Cool it, it’s just me.”

  Kay’s voice came from the hood of a synth-suit. She blended in with the night and I had to squint to make out her form.

  Her voice carried across the Quad, and several Floraes looked up at us, torn between their fresh kills and the promise of more meat. I sprinted quickly to her side and placed my head next to her ear.

  “What is happening?!” I whispered desperately.

  Kay shook her head. “I wish I knew.”

  “Do you have an extra synth-suit?”

  “At the Rumble Room . . . I can’t spare a Guardian to go with you, but I could give you my keycard . . .”

  “That would take too long. Forget it. I’ll be fine without one. I’m used to this.”

  “Good luck,” Kay whispered, and disappeared into the night. Hopefully the Guardians were prepared. This wasn’t search and rescue, this was war. The Guardians were accustomed to meeting the Floraes with other Guardians as backup. We had to protect the people of New Hope now. They were absolutely defenseless.

  I felt dangerously exposed with the moonlight reflecting off my pale skin and white pajamas. But at least I had a gun. I snapped into focus.

  There was a Florae to my left. I knew it had spotted me because of its frenzied snarl and its sudden galloping strides. I turned and shot it in the shoulder, which barely slowed it down. I re-aimed and managed to get its neck. Its momentum threw it forward and it fell at my feet, its head flopping to the side. Black-green blood spurted and I jumped back. I didn’t want the scent of blood on me.