The Preston Six Collection: (Book 1, 2 and 3)

by Ryan, Matt

  Her heart pace increased as she held hands with two people dancing next to her. Why couldn’t they just have been some cult? At least Paul would get to see her mutation—a person lacking any rhythm or dancing capabilities.

  Others joined in and held hands with Paul and Edith, until they formed a circle around the fire. The music got louder, the drum pounded and the knocks on the wood resonated through her body, she felt the beat. The whole scene seemed ridiculous.

  They pushed her to the left and then to the right, spun around once and clapped twice. She hid her face in her hands. Paul grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards him. He guided her movements to the side and then back. He took Poly’s arm and spun her around once. Poly clapped twice, hoping to appease them. Paul grinned and took position next to her.

  Maybe she could do one more silly dance. She smiled and tried to match the steps they were making, she took two steps to the left and then two to the right, spun around and clapped twice. Some cheered at her effort and she covered her mouth and laughed. That was the kind of dancing she could handle.

  “You got it.” Paul kept dancing.

  The girl that was chasing the boy on the beach earlier, walked close to the fire and blew into it. The flames ignited into a bright ball and Poly covered her face from the heat. Everyone cheered and kept dancing. The girl glanced at Poly, before darting off.

  A large man with huge arms and legs carried a small tree toward the fire. He held the bottom of the tree and dipped the top of the tree’s leaves into the flames, lighting it on fire like a candle. He waved it around like a torch, sparks rained down over the dancing crowd and they cheered again. Another man leaped twenty feet over the fire and then danced with a woman he landed next to.

  “They’re showing off for ya,” Paul said.

  Some faces still glanced in her direction, but the overwhelming feeling of the group was fun and caring. As if they were a giant family and everyone knew everyone, there were no secrets. It reminded her of the Preston Six and how, when they were all together, it felt right. The music changed to a faster drum beat and they cheered.

  “This gets a little faster now, stay with me,” Paul said.

  He faced her and took both of her hands in his. He hopped sideways and she followed. Soon, he had her moving in a tight circle with him. He picked up the pace and she tightened her grip on his hands as gravity wanted them to pull apart. He sped up again, she laughed as they spun around, keeping each other from falling down. When he let go of one of her hands, she almost fell, but he gripped her other hand tight as they stopped and faced the fire. He kicked sand into the fire and yelled. All the others did the same thing.

  She kicked the sand at the fire and gave a small yell. She laughed and covered her mouth.

  “You can do better than that,” Paul said. “We yell at all our problems and enemies, kicking them into the fire. Unless . . . you have no problems?”

  She frowned at him and thought of the horrible things she’d seen—things she wanted to get rid of, but couldn’t. Could she really kick her problems into a fire? Poly kicked the sand hard and yelled loud. Cheers erupted again and they spun around holding hands.

  Paul took both her hands again and spun faster. “Try to hang on.”

  The pairs around her spun in tight circles and she got the idea of what they were going to do. Poly smiled and laughed as they went even faster yet. She felt his hands slipping, and started to get dizzy. When they stopped, she fell to ground with Paul falling next to her. She laughed and looked at the sparks from the fire floating up into the night sky like fireflies, not able to focus on any of it with her head still spinning.

  She felt Paul’s hand hold hers while he lay next to her and she thought of the night she spent with Joey, under the oak tree with the fireflies. Jumping to her feet, Poly yanked her hand away from Paul. She stomped toward her hut when a hand grabbed her arm. She formed quick words in her head to tell Paul, but when she turned it was Hatch.

  “Tribe rules, Poly, you have to display your mutation for all to see on the first day, then you are part of the tribe for life,” Hatch said.

  “I’m not a mutant,” she said.

  “Perhaps, but you must have some skill you can show us.”

  The music got quieter, slowing to a single beating drum. It matched her heartbeat somehow. She surveyed the people around the fire and their awaiting faces. What could she possibly show them? Looking for an idea, she spotted plates on the ground. If they wanted a show, she’d give them one.

  “Can you hold these plates?” Poly handed them to Hatch. “Okay, I’m going to stand over there and when I say go, throw them into the air.”

  “Poly’s going to show us hers,” Hatch yelled. “Here, Paul, help me throw these up.”

  Poly walked across the town center about fifty feet away. People crowded around on each side of her, the music beat picked up its tempo, matching her increased heart rate. She reached into the slot at her side that held her thin, metal throwing knives. She ran her thumb over the smooth metal and got into a stance she would keep her balance in. Getting herself into the focused state, she thought of the floating targets Compry had her throw hundreds of knives at, but she didn’t have an audience then. She didn’t have Paul smiling at her with a white saucer in his hand. She ignored the eyes on her. All her attention was focused on the plates.

  “Go,” she said.

  Hatch and Paul threw the plates into the sky. Her eyes followed their paths. She launched a knife at each spinning plate in quick succession. The plates shattered, raining down pieces of ceramic.

  Breathing hard, Poly glanced at the people around her. Was that good enough? Would it appease their mutation rule? They stared at first, then an eruption of cheers took over and they surrounded her, patting her on the shoulder and telling her how amazing that was.

  “Poly, blade girl, you are now a member of Mutant Isle,” Hatch said.

  The people cheered and the music kicked back on, in full force. The crowd roared again and people hugged her and patted her on the shoulder as they dispersed. Poly smiled and tried to take in the immense love everyone seemed to have. It made her miss her friends even more.

  Paul glided over to her, holding her knives.

  “You could have warned me,” Paul said. “This thing almost hit me.”

  She took the knives from Paul. “You going to be okay?” She said sarcastically.

  “Well, I didn’t want to complain, but one of the plates scratched my arm.”

  “Oh, poor baby, let me take a look.” Taking his arm in her hand she rotated it to see the paper-cut-sized mark on the top of his forearm. Her eye’s moved from his tan arm to his face and his gazing eyes. She locked in on those eyes for a second. She could call Paul a friend by then and the idea of it hit her hard. Where were her friends? She pushed his arm back.

  “I’m going to bed,” Poly said.

  “The night is young and this party is for you,” he said.

  Guilt hit her gut, as she walked away. How could she be having a party when her friends were stranded, dead in the ocean, or being used as a science experiment? She kept her head down and her pace quickened, walking past the mutants. They cheered as she went by and some would pat her on the shoulder. She got to the steps of her hut, opened the door, slammed it behind her and ran to the ocean view window.

  The dark night ocean splashed small waves onto the white sand. The low setting moon left a translucent trail over the calm waters. Her friends were out there, somewhere. She had to find them.

  “Where are you guys?”

  LUCAS SLID HIS FINGER OVER the burn blister on his arm and winced from the pain. A bit of guilt washed over him for complaining about a superficial wound, while Harris lay on the floor of the craft. The fool of a man sacrificed his body to protect him. But what would his body look like if he hadn’t? The burn on his arm would have been a fond feeling compared to what would’ve happened.

  Lucas never saw the missile coming, but Harris m
ust have. He tackled Lucas off the back of the plane, a few seconds before it hit its target. Harris kept his back to the explosion and took the debris and heat of the blast. Harris passed out and Lucas clutched him tight as his chute deployed and held him all the way until they crashed into the ocean. When they hit the water, a craft inflated and he got him into the craft. Harris hadn’t awakened yet.

  It’d been a day since the storm and he still hadn’t found one of his friends. He stood up and adjusted his balance, the small craft moving under his weight. He searched the horizon for the hundredth time. Moving in a circle, Lucas made sure to not step on Harris. He stopped and leaned forward, squinting. Something bobbed in the distance.

  He fell to his knees and turned the boat, sending them sailing towards the craft. Hope filled his heart. He didn’t have to be alone with Harris’s still body any longer.

  As he got closer he saw it was two crafts tied together.

  “Harris.” He shook the unmoving man. “We found them.”

  His boat moved along the water, edging closer to the other boats. He wanted to get out and paddle, anything to make it go faster. He felt light, he knew bad things couldn’t continue to happen. Something always ended up correcting the wrongs.

  “Hey, guys,” he called out as his boat got closer. “It’s Lucas!”

  No response.

  He steered his boat, until it bumped against the other two. He grabbed a line dangling from the boats and tied it to his. Jumping from his craft, he landed on one.

  “Hello.” He slapped the sides of the teepees.

  Rushing to the side of the boat, he flung up the zipper, expecting to see one of his friends inside, but nothing, it was empty. He dashed to the next boat. The doors flapped open in the soft breeze, but there was nothing on the inside.

  Both boats were empty.

  Who did these boats belong to? Hank and Poly? Where were they?

  He searched the sky. Maybe MM grabbed them. He didn’t want to think about the other possibilities. They had to be out there. He couldn’t accept any other truth.

  After a while, he detached his boat from theirs and reset course for Mutant Isle.

  TWO DAYS PASSED SINCE HE found the two empty boats. The cloudy feeling in his head had diminished, but the ringing in his ears was still there, and he still had to concentrate longer on things.

  Harris had regained consciousness a few times, but most of the time he lay on the floor of the boat, motionless. Lucas stared at Harris’s charred jacket, bits of red skin shone through the blood soaked material. The first day, Lucas watched Harris moan in his stupor. He didn’t think it could get any worse until the coughing started; guttural coughs, ending with blood trickling from his mouth.

  Lucas turned away from Harris and focused on the zipped up door. The over-weighted boat dragged on the ocean surface; the weight of two people slowing it down, as the humming motor whined under the strain. He gave up in believing anything about this island.

  Harris’s hands, maybe from instinct, moved to his chest as he started coughing. It had been a few hours since his last fit and Lucas kneeled next to him and rubbed his shoulder, it was all the doctor training he had—sympathy. Blood dribbled from Harris’s mouth as the coughing fit subsided. He figured Harris had internal injuries, but what could he do?

  Lucas took a deep breath and sat down with his back against the fabric wall. He stared at Harris and thought about sleeping. Hell, it was something to do. It made the time pass, and gave a break from his constant thirst. He had given up on finding his friends by this point, the storm must have sent them in different directions. Turning his head in the direction the boat headed, Lucas hoped perhaps they were waiting for him at the island, drinking frosty lemonades out of coconuts, laughing about the time Joey toilet papered his house.

  A humming brought him out of his thoughts. He unzipped the door and looked out. Nothing, but black ocean splashed around. The sound grew louder and he looked up into the clouds. A crescent moon lit a small section of sky. He squinted and then he saw it, a black aircraft passing in front of the clouds. It flew over him, high in the sky, in the same direction his boat traveled.

  He had the camouflage mode set on the boat and he didn’t think there was any chance they could have seen them, but his heart rate picked up and he ducked back into the boat. Maybe they had thermal person detectors.

  The aircraft’s sound faded and disappeared. He peeked his head out and searched for the black bird, but it was gone. The ocean breeze sprayed a mist in his face. He turned back into the boat to find Harris sitting upright and staring at him.

  Lucas yelped and looked at Harris’s glazed over eyes. Had the noise of the craft jerked him awake? Lucas waved his hand in front of Harris’s face. “Harris?”

  Harris blinked and lay back on the floor. He didn’t respond.

  Lucas sat down on the inflated edge of the craft and rubbed the sides of his head. The word helpless floated around in his mind. Harris would know what to do. Julie would know. So would Poly and Joey. Hank would have eaten one of them by now. But what could he do? Sit in the craft and watch a man die. Sit in a craft and watch a freaking plane fly over. Sit in the craft as it took him to who knows where.

  He closed his eyes and hit his fist against the inflated edge of the boat. A weary feeling came over him, maybe from the activities, but most likely because he hadn’t drunk anything. Feeling dizzy, he lay down next to Harris and drifted to sleep, thinking of all the water he would drink and the different types of foods he’d eat. A burrito first . . . Could there be a more perfect food? A tortilla wrapped around everything good in the world.

  LUCAS’S EYES OPENED TO THE bright canopy above. How long had he been out? The sun shining on the dark blue craft lit up the fabric, showing a bright blue on the inside.

  Harris.

  He rolled to his knees and inspected the man. Putting his ear near his mouth, he listened to his weak breath. Harris was alive. He fell back against the edge of the craft.

  He felt better in the morning, the stomach seemed to forget it was hungry for a few minutes. The thirst never went away.

  “I smell smoke,” Harris whispered.

  Lucas jumped at the words and grabbed at his chest. “Scared the crap out of me, man.”

  Harris didn’t open his eyes, but the corners of his mouth slightly turned up. “How long?”

  “A few days.” Lucas stared at Harris, thrilled for signs of life coming from the body he had nearly given up on.

  “Look outside, I smell smoke.”

  Lucas didn’t smell anything and wondered if Harris was talking about his charred back. He unzipped the door and adjusted to the light as he squinted at what he saw. He didn’t believe it, it had to be one of those mirages.

  In the distance . . . land. Lucas slapped the side of the boat. He wasn’t going to die. He wanted to dance, but resigned to just moving his arms in circles and bobbing his shoulders. He stopped his celebration when he saw the black aircraft, hovering next to the shore line. Beyond the craft, appeared to be some kind of village with dark clouds bellowing from it.

  Is that smoke?

  “IT’S TAKING TOO LONG, SOMETHING’S wrong.” Poly peered through the small window in her hut.

  “They send out sensors first, to make sure we don’t have weapons,” Paul said.

  She fidgeted with her dagger.

  “I don’t think they are worried about that type of weapon.”

  Poly raised an eyebrow. “They should be.”

  It’d been an hour since the black aircraft with a large MM logo parked on the shore line. A few small drone type helicopters flew out of it and back in but other than that, it seemed unoccupied. She gripped her knife again and paced in the small room. Could it be such a huge coincidence they landed right after her arrival? Had she brought them to these people?

  “The door’s opening,” Paul said.

  Poly jumped to the window and pushed for a space. MM soldiers, dressed in black gear, stepped from the ai
rcraft and down the ramp.

  “Listen, you have to stay in here and don’t make a sound. I’m going to go outside to deal with them. They’re probably on one of their inspection trips.” Paul stepped toward the door.

  “Wait,” Poly said. She had to tell him. “They could be looking for me.”

  “We know, don’t worry. We protect our kind.” The door shut behind him.

  Our kind? Would a village really protect her when they’d only known her for one night? She didn’t need anyone to protect her. The worst thing would be if they did and got hurt as a result of her mere presence.

  The soldiers in black marched across the beach, one moved ahead of the other two. Hatch walked across the sand to greet him. He extended a hand and smiled, but the soldier kept his hands at his sides. Too far to hear, she waited for expressions. After a few words, Hatch shook his head and waved his arms in an argument. The soldier crossed his arms and the two men next to him, put their hands on their guns.

  Poly felt for one of her knives and breathed rapidly. Hatch crossed his arms and shook his head. He was saying no to something. Were they asking for her? She would turn herself over to them. Before she moved from the window, the soldier nearest to Hatch raised his gun and shot him.

  Hatch fell to the ground, lifeless.

  It happened in an instant, with no emotion on the soldiers faces, like they just shot a paper target.

  Poly yelled and heard similar screams around the town. She ran to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked from the outside. She shook it hard, but it wouldn’t open. If they wanted her, they could have her. No one needed to die. She wasn’t even one of them.

  Why would they protect me like this?

  She desperately looked around the room. She couldn’t fit through the small window.

  If she couldn’t open the door, she’d go through it.

  She reached for the dagger on her side and stabbed at the wooden wall. It sliced off a piece of wood. She hacked at it until a ray of light shined through the hole. She peered through to see the center of the village bustling with people running from the direction the soldiers came. Screams echoed from everywhere.