Drake and the Fliers

by Allison Maruska

  “Yeah, I’m fine. You’d find it impossible to stay awake in that blanket. You guys were rocking me to sleep.”

  He grinned. She was right. He was overreacting.

  He met her near the fire ring she’d set up, cradled her face in his hands, and kissed her, trying to squelch the nagging worry in his gut.

  Once they had a fire going, the three sat around it, munching on the food they’d packed instead of hunting in the dark. Drake’s vision as a dragon was sharper at night, but not so much that he could spot a rabbit.

  “Do you think Phoenix will come back to the ranch?” Gray asked in between bites of jerky.

  “Something drastic would have to happen first,” Drake said. Preston had seemed surer about staying with his new group than he’d been about anything since they nearly flew into each other in Denver. He had a conviction about him that Drake had never seen. “We should assume he won’t come back.”

  He cleared his throat when the reality of their situation hit him. He’d likely never see his best friend again, something was wrong with Talon, and he couldn’t do anything to remedy either problem.

  What a crappy day.

  ****

  Four days later, on a cloudy afternoon, Drake and Gray set the comforter on the snowy ground in front of the house. Instead of Talon moving from inside the blanket, as Drake expected, it remained perfectly still.

  He opened it with his claw; she was wrapped almost completely in the mummy sleeping bag, slumbering away.

  He’d kept a close eye on her, watching for the later symptoms of the virus: fever, headache, and coughing. She only remained fatigued, and each day she didn’t develop the other symptoms, he relaxed a little more.

  He left her bundled while he went to the longhouse to dress, and when he returned, he crouched and stroked her face. “Talon. We’re here.”

  She stirred but didn’t wake. He finally picked her up inside the sleeping bag and walked into the house.

  Scopes sat on the couch, reading a book. She twisted around when they entered. “Oh my God!” She tossed her book on the neighboring cushion and darted to them. “What happened to her?”

  Drake realized how they must have looked. “She’s okay. She’s been sleeping a lot.”

  “Is she sick?”

  He walked to the bedroom. “I don’t think so. But she can’t shift anymore.” He laid Talon on the bed, and she woke.

  She sat up on her elbows and squinted. “Scopes?” She scanned the room and then focused on Drake. “When did we get here?”

  “A few minutes ago.”

  “Mmmm.” She fell back onto the bed and closed her eyes.

  “How can you still be tired?” Drake could count on both hands the number of hours she’d been awake since leaving Houston.

  She sighed. ”Fine.” She unzipped the sleeping bag and climbed out, sat on the edge of the bed, and appeared to sleep sitting up.

  “Something’s wrong. Why can’t she shift?” Scopes asked.

  “I wish I knew. Has this happened to anyone else?”

  Scopes shook her head.

  He sat next to Talon, who leaned into him. “Are you hungry?”

  She groaned. “No. Food sounds horrible.” She opened her eyes and sat up. “But I need something.” She trudged to the bathroom and turned on the faucet.

  He followed and found her with her head in the sink, slurping water right from the tap, as if she hadn’t had a drink in weeks.

  Scopes pushed past him, put her hand on Talon’s back, and leaned over to meet her eyes. “Talon, what’s going on?”

  Talon emerged from the sink and took a breath. “I’m thirsty.” She stuck her mouth back into the water.

  Scopes’ eyes met Drake’s; they were filled with worry, making his heart race. He’d spent the last four days convincing himself that Talon was simply fatigued, that he had no tangible reason to worry about her.

  Maybe he was wrong.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Drake, they need you at the house.”

  Sonar’s voice pierced the silent morning. Though his group didn’t need it, Drake had gone into the forest to collect firewood. In the two weeks since they returned, he did anything to keep his mind off Preston’s continued absence and Talon’s condition, which hadn’t declined but hadn’t improved either. She spent much of the day sleeping, and when she was awake, she trudged through her activities as if she just wanted to get to her next nap. When he woke before sunrise and flew to the forest, he’d left her asleep in the bed, knowing she’d stay that way until well after he returned.

  Sonar had flown to the woods to find him; he stood among the trees in his bat form. Whatever reason they needed him at the house was serious enough they couldn’t wait for him to come back on his own. Drake tried to sound calm as panic rushed through him. “What for?”

  Sonar sighed, as if he didn’t want to give a reason. “It’s Talon. She’s getting worse. She asked for you.”

  Drake clutched the logs he held a little tighter. “Worse? What do you mean?” He wished he hadn’t chosen today to spend time alone in the woods.

  “You should just go.” Sonar took off.

  He dropped the wood, stripped, shifted, and flew back to the house in record time. He shifted near the front door and dressed before storming inside. Scopes stood in the living room with her arms crossed.

  She put her hands on his shoulders when he tried to rush past her. “You need to get some water into her. She’s been throwing up for hours, and she’s refusing anything from us. She’ll listen to you. Where have you been?”

  He walked to the bedroom without answering her question, praying he’d be able to help.

  Talon lay on her side, on top of the quilt, with her legs curled up.

  He sat on the edge of the bed and put his hand on her arm.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  He withdrew his hand and swallowed. “Why not?”

  “I just… I don’t want you to touch me.” She squeezed her eyes closed.

  “Do you want me to get you some water?”

  She rapidly shook her head. “Everything makes me puke.” She opened her eyes and met his. “I know why I can’t shift.”

  “Really? Why?” He leaned towards her and resisted the urge to touch her again.

  She nodded. “I need you to do something for me before I can say for sure.”

  “Yeah. What?”

  She stared at him, apparently unwilling to say. Why did people keep doing that to him today?

  “I need you to fly into town and get a pregnancy test.”

  It took a few seconds to remember how to speak. “What?” Adrenaline raced through him as he comprehended her words. She’d told him this wasn’t a possibility.

  She focused on the bedside table.

  He crouched next to the bed and dared to stroke her cheek. She blinked, allowing tears to soak into the pillow. “I’m sorry,” she muttered without looking at him.

  She must have thought he’d be mad. He shook his head. “No. Don’t.” He choked on his emotions, willing himself to be strong for her. He kissed her forehead, hoping it wouldn’t irritate her seemingly fragile system. “I’ll go right now, okay? Don’t worry about anything. I love you.”

  She put her hand over his, then bolted from the bed and into the bathroom. The sound of her retching followed a moment later.

  He ran out of the house and shifted, flying straight for the town.

  The first store he tried was in such disarray he didn’t look for tests. In the second store, items covered the floor, but some were still on shelves. After scouring what used to be a pharmacy, he found them. Having no idea what Talon would want, he picked five different ones.

  He’d forgotten to grab a backpack from the ranch to carry the tests back. After some more searching, he found a small, canvas toiletry bag and stuffed the tests into it.

  He tried to keep his panic at bay as he flew back to her.

  What if she really was pregnant?

&
nbsp; If he did the math right, the baby would be born two months before he turned eighteen. Talon would be eighteen by then, so at least she would be a legal adult. If that meant anything anymore.

  Being a dad hadn’t entered his mind before today – it was something that had awaited him in the distant future. Before the virus, he planned to graduate high school and join the Air Force. He’d wanted to be a pilot.

  He looked at the ground rushing beneath him and laughed at the irony.

  Scopes had said he and the others were spared to rebuild humanity. Obviously, that meant having kids. He simply didn’t think they’d be doing that so soon. What if the virus was still in the environment? Would the baby survive? Would Talon? Every doctor had died, like all the other adults. If she had a problem, he wouldn’t know what to do.

  He increased his speed. He had to know if it was even a concern.

  Half an hour later, he waited on the couch, and Talon emerged from the bathroom, holding a white test stick with a purple cap on the end. She was crying.

  He rushed to her and looked at the test.

  Positive.

  ****

  “Why would the pregnancy keep her from shifting?” Sonar flew alongside Drake as they headed to town.

  “Maybe it’s hormones or something. I guess it makes sense that her body can’t shift when there’s another person growing in there.” Drake hadn’t allowed the gravity of Talon’s news to sink in yet, so he performed objective tasks, such as holding conversations about the topic and going to the library to collect books they’d find useful.

  “So you guys didn’t use anything?”

  He scowled at the bat. “We didn’t think she’d get pregnant. It’s not like you have to worry about such things.” He instantly wished he could pull the words back into his mouth; it had only been in the last couple days that Sonar showed even a mild interest in talking to anyone, and no one dared mention Preston.

  Sonar beat his wings, pulling in front of Drake.

  Drake caught up to him. “Hey, sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “I know.” He stared ahead. “I can’t believe he’s staying away. Like, for real. He’s giving up on us, on everyone here.” He banked to the right, towards the city. “What if he’s right?”

  “Right? About being animals all the time?”

  Sonar nodded.

  “If we were supposed to stay this way, we wouldn’t have the option of shifting to human form.” He considered his current situation. “Plus, how could we continue?”

  “Continue?”

  “Yeah, like future generations. I don’t think we can reproduce as animals. At least not crossbreed.” He shook his head. “This is the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had.”

  Sonar laughed. “You sound like there’s a greater purpose. What if there isn’t?”

  “Like we’re supposed to survive until we’re all gone? Do you believe that?”

  Sonar shrugged. “I guess the baby will answer a lot of questions.”

  A wave of nausea struck Drake, and he grimaced. As much as he hated to admit it, Sonar was right. If the virus got to the baby, the question of whether they could keep humanity going would be answered. But what if the baby lived?

  “Do you think the baby will be able to shift?” Drake asked.

  “Maybe. I wonder if it would shift to a dragon-owl combination. Like a dragon with feathers. Or an owl that can breathe fire.” He smiled. “That would be cool.”

  Or maybe the baby will be another dragon.

  ****

  A few days later, Talon leaned into Drake as he sat against the headboard, reading a book about pregnancy. He wrapped his arm around her while she munched on crackers he’d found in the city after learning they would help with the morning sickness.

  “I didn’t expect you to want to learn so much.” She looked away from the book she was reading and up to him.

  He bent down and kissed her forehead. “I just want to take care of you.”

  She reached up and freed his hair from its ponytail.

  It seemed her playfulness had returned. Maybe that meant she felt better.

  She combed his hair with her fingers. “Have you had a haircut? Since before the virus?”

  Drake shook his head. “My dad always made me keep it short. I kind of like it long.”

  Her expression changed, as if she suddenly felt sick. “I need to lie down.” She rested her head on his lap.

  “Come on, the long hair’s not that bad.”

  She forced a chuckle, then moaned.

  “The crackers aren’t helping?”

  “They help a little.”

  “This says ginger or mint might work. Wanna try it? I’ll go find some.”

  “I’ll try anything. Seriously, how do women do this over and over?” She scrunched her face and pulled her legs to her chest, keeping her head on his lap.

  “I’ll need my legs if I’m gonna leave.”

  “Hmmm.” She was falling asleep. He decided to stay put.

  He watched her for a few minutes before she surprised him by speaking. “I’m scared, Drake.”

  His pulse quickened. He was scared too, but he didn’t want to put that on her. Stroking her hair, he tried to figure out the right thing to say.

  “What if something goes wrong? There aren’t doctors anymore,” she said.

  “That’s why I’m reading about it. We might as well use what the adults left behind.”

  She sighed, opened her eyes, and put her hand on her abdomen. “Our baby will be the first one after the virus. She’ll be important.”

  “She? You think it’s a girl?”

  She smiled. “I’m just guessing.” She closed her eyes.

  He hadn’t thought of the baby as a boy or a girl. In fact, he hadn’t thought of the baby as his. She’d said “our baby.” Their baby. His baby.

  He was going to be a dad.

  “Oh my God.”

  “What?” She looked up at him.

  “I’ll go get those other things, okay?” He slid out from under her head and put a pillow where his legs had been. He took the hair tie from her hand and re-did his ponytail, tightening it as he walked out the door.

  What would his parents say if they were still alive? He doubted they’d anticipated he’d get a girl pregnant at seventeen. He hadn’t even had a girlfriend before the virus hit.

  Had she really thought she wouldn’t get pregnant? He didn’t think she wanted that . . . no, she cried when she found out. Maybe she’d miscalculated her cycle – something he knew little about until he got the books from the library.

  He didn’t want to blame her. He’d had the condoms in the longhouse, and they’d decided not to use them. And now, she was having a baby. It didn’t matter what she’d thought before they went to the lake or what his parents might have said if they were still alive. His job now was to take care of his girlfriend, who was scared and sick and probably felt helpless.

  He scavenged a few stores until he found some processed sources of mint and ginger and headed back to the ranch. The scene at the house puzzled him.

  His peers took to the sky, one by one, flying south. He looked in the direction they flew but didn’t see anything unusual. Screech stood in the front yard, watching them and crying.

  She ran up to him and pointed at the other fliers as soon as he landed. “Drake, go! Follow them! They took Talon!”

  His heart dropped to his stomach. “Who took Talon? What are you talking about?”

  “Phoenix and some black bird guy. They broke the window, grabbed her, put her in a cage thing and took off with her.”

  “She didn’t fight them?”

  “She was wrapped up in the quilt. I don’t think she could move.”

  He took off, flying faster than he ever had. His scales were as red as Preston’s feathers.

  He caught up to Scopes. “What the hell happened?”

  “I think they were watching us. They knew exactly where she’d be, and I think they knew you we
ren’t with her.”

  “Why didn’t anyone stop them?” He glared at her.

  “They broke the bedroom window and pulled her out. They were already in the air before anyone realized what happened. I’m telling you, it was less than ten seconds.”

  Drake accelerated, flying past Sonar and a few others, but Scopes caught up to him. “Why did they take her?”

  “Because she can’t shift. The crow guy is her brother. They probably think they can get her to shift again if she’s with them.”

  “Do they know she’s pregnant?”

  “How could they?” He faced the ground and roared a fireball. It seemed to build faster with the urgency of getting to Talon.

  In a few minutes, he came within shouting distance of the two carrying a loveseat-sized cage between them. Talon was inside, wrapped in the quilt from the bed. She’d been wearing only leggings and a hoodie when he left her, and he doubted the quilt was enough to keep her warm.

  “Preston!”

  “There’s no one here by that name.”

  “Fine. Phoenix. Whatever. What the hell are you doing?”

  “Taking her back with us,” Ezekiel said. “She’ll figure out how to shift again when she’s with her own kind.”

  “She can’t shift because she’s pregnant!”

  Preston said something to Ezekiel. They stopped their forward momentum, turned around, and hovered over the ground, each holding a handle to the cage in a claw. Talon spun herself around to face Drake, her eyes begging him to do something.

  Preston cocked his head. “Pregnant? Come on, Drake. Didn’t anyone teach you about the birds and the bees?”

  “You got my sister pregnant?” Ezekiel scowled, then looked down at Talon. “You’ve heard of condoms, right?”

  She glared at him.

  Drake interrupted the uncomfortable conversation. “Anyway, you can’t make her start shifting again. Bring her back to the ranch. She’s been getting sick, and I need to take care of her.”

  Preston shook his head. “No. She’ll stay with us. This is good. We can teach the kid the right way, from the beginning. She’ll have to stay if she wants to keep the baby with her.” He chuckled and gestured to Ezekiel with a head tilt to turn around again.