by J. Thorn
Samuel drew a deep breath and nodded. Major shoved his hand underneath his coat and removed another curved blade. He squeezed the blunt edge between his thumb and forefinger and spun the handle toward Samuel in one motion.
“Ever use one of these?” he asked.
“Maybe,” replied Samuel. “I can’t quite remember.”
“The early Arabs called it a scimitar.”
“Sounds like you have some history in your background as well,” said Samuel.
Major ignored the comment and continued. “They’re designed to be light and used to slash in a diagonal direction, not a stabbing motion. If you strike across the muzzles of the wolves, you’ll make it impossible for them to clamp their jaws on your throat.”
That visual made Samuel shudder.
“And the blade is extremely sharp. Remember that on your follow through.”
Samuel nodded in agreement. “What happened to your shotgun?”
“This,” replied Major, holding two empty shell cases in the palm of his hand. “No sporting-goods stores around here.”
“What’s our strategy against the pack?” Samuel asked. “What’s the best way to take them out?”
“I have no idea,” replied Major. “I’ve never fought a wolf before.”
Before Samuel could respond or find a way to deal with his fear, the alpha male appeared from the edge of the tree line. The creature strutted up the slope with several hunters following him. His feral, yellow eyes never left Samuel. They seemed to float through the thick blanket of perpetual dusk that draped this locality.
***
The men stood shoulder to shoulder with their weapons drawn. A bead of sweat rolled down Samuel’s nose and dropped to his upper lip as they watched the wolves trot toward the cabin. The wolves knew that their prey would not run or lock themselves in the structure this time.
The young one is mine.
The other hunters whined and gathered to the left of the alpha male. They spread out until they formed an arc that faced the old one, and the alpha male fanned out to the right until his trajectory aligned with the young one. They stopped twenty yards from the cabin. Several of the wolves snarled and began throwing their heads toward the sky. The alpha male felt the lunar itch. He searched the heavens for the celestial body, but could not locate it. Millions of years of evolution, interrupted by the Reversion, left him feeling out of sync, distraught. He shook his head and picked up the pace toward his prey.
***
“I’m ready.”
“You’d better be,” replied Major. “The alpha male wants you all for himself.”
Before Samuel could say another word, he saw the rest of the pack spring into a run toward Major. Through the corner of his eye, he saw a blaze of fur, teeth, and those yellow eyes. Major bent his knees and raised his arms, ready to slash at the first beasts to reach him.
Samuel glanced back and noticed that the alpha male had closed the gap and was within an arm’s reach of him. He dropped to his knees and raised the scimitar as the alpha male lunged over his head. He felt the movement of air caused by the beast and rolled over. Samuel jumped and spun in the opposite direction as the wolf came back at him. The creature paused and bared its teeth, and Samuel felt a stabbing pain in the middle of his head. Pressing a palm to his forehead, he could feel the existence of another inside, like a cancerous intruder.
I must devour you. I must honor His command or I will die with this world.
Samuel felt the words enter his mind rather than his ears. He blinked and looked at the alpha male.
“Why?” he asked.
You are my reflection.
Samuel shook his head and raised the knife to a defensive position. The alpha male took three long strides forward and stopped. He bared his teeth at Samuel before darting off in the other direction, toward the rest of the pack surrounding Major.
The other hunters pushed Major back against the rear wall of the cabin. He stood with a knife in each hand and a wicked smile on his face. The wolves, ears up, pinned him there until the alpha male came up from behind.
“I’m waiting,” Major said to the wolves.
Take him.
The hunters lunged forward. One locked its jaw around Major’s ankle while another reeled back from the slash that opened its throat. The wolf died before it hit the ground. Another wolf bit into Major’s left arm while two more flanked the alpha male. Major brought the blade in his right hand across his body until it slashed the muzzle of the wolf on his arm. He heard a whine and felt the pressure release on his wrist, followed by the warming pain of torn flesh. He used the heel of one boot and brought it down on top of the head of the wolf latching to his ankle. The animal let his leg loose and stumbled into the wall of the cabin.
The alpha male howled, and his two sentries ran at Major. One leapt at his throat while the other bit at the injured ankle. Major cried out as the wolf’s teeth snapped at his chin. He turned in toward the cabin wall in a desperate attempt to knock the animals loose. When Major dropped to his knees, the alpha male came forward. He opened his mouth, and his eyes flared yellow in the disappearing light. The wolf reared back on its hind legs, ready to lunge.
Samuel came around the corner as the alpha male leapt at Major. He felt his breath catch as he realized that when the wolf finished with Major, he would be next. Major caught the wolf on his chest, with the weight of the beast spinning him to one side and knocking him backward over a downed tree limb. The mixture of man and beast rolled to a stop. Samuel had his hands around the wolf’s neck, his fingers gripping fur while the alpha male snapped at his face. With his upper body pointing down the slope, Samuel brought both legs up and in front of the alpha male until the back of his calves rested on the wolf’s head. In one motion, he brought his legs back, heels first, driving the beast to the ground. Samuel heard the yelp and the cracking of bone on the hard earth, and he stood and kicked the alpha male in the ribs. He felt a surge of adrenaline at the beast’s cry and realized there was hope. The wolf jumped up and ran toward the tree line with one rear leg dangling in painful limbo.
As he watched the alpha male run, Samuel began to pursue the beast before he heard another scream from Major. He winced as the white underside of the alpha male’s tail disappeared beyond his sight.
We are not finished.
Samuel felt threatened by the thought, but he had to put it aside for now. He spun and ran around the cabin until he saw two wolves wrestling with Major’s arms. He grabbed one by the mane and realized his knife had fallen during the skirmish with the alpha male. The glimmering blade rested near one of the steps, and Samuel lunged for it and spun with the sharp edge out, slicing an ear off the attacking wolf. The animal cried out and scratched at the stump with one paw. Samuel knelt and sliced horizontally through the air, his blade cutting through the mangy fur and major arteries of the wolf. It flopped to the ground while blood poured from its neck. By this time, Major had maneuvered on top of the last remaining hunter and had his knife raised high, ready for the plunge.
Samuel took a step closer, staring at the carnage left by the battle with the pack. When he bent down to examine the tail of one wolf, another memory filled his head.
“He’s gone now, honey,” came the smooth, reassuring voice of his mother.
“Where?” asked Samuel, a boy of five in the memory.
“Up to heaven, with God.”
Samuel squeezed his wolfie doll tight. He inhaled the scent of stuffed animal and the smell of his bedsheets.
“Maybe Grandpa wants wolfie doll with him.”
Samuel’s mother smiled. She dabbed the corner of each eye with a balled tissue.
“He’d want you to keep wolfie, hon. Grandpa won’t need him in heaven. God will give him everything he needs.”
Samuel nodded. He looked down again at the corpse of his grandfather lying in the casket. The white, satin lining made it appear as though the man was floating within a cloud. Samuel noticed the wedding ring and yellow,
tobacco-stained fingertips of the man who had always given him spare nickels pulled from his pockets. Samuel thought about the way the coins felt warm in his palm.
“Will he get his smokes in heaven?” Samuel asked.
“He will,” replied his mother.
Several other goliaths towered over Samuel as they approached the casket to pay their final respects. Two men wore dark-green uniforms slathered in medals of various sizes and shapes. They left the folded, triangular, American flag next to the casket.
“Your gramps fought like hell for his country in World War Two,” said the one man. The other simply stood with a face of stone.
Samuel’s mother patted her son on the head and bowed slightly to the uniformed man that spoke.
More adults came forward, each one speaking to Samuel’s mother through him and his limited vocabulary.
That little boy closed his eyes, and when he opened them, Major sat on the ground, wrapping his wounds and staring at the tree line where the alpha male had disappeared.
***
“Are you hurt?” Samuel asked.
Major shrugged. “They bit me.”
“I hurt the alpha male, but he ran away,” said Samuel.
“I know. It’s okay. You and him ain’t done yet. At least that’s what I’ve heard.”
“From who?”
Major just shrugged his shoulders and continued wrapping a strip of cloth around his left wrist.
“We need to get going and find the others,” said Samuel.
“I think we bought ourselves some time.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Samuel nodded as the last of his adrenaline subsided. He felt gnawing aches and pains coming from everywhere. His eyes felt heavy, and his legs became pillars of stone.
“We’re staying one more night,” he said.
“Seems like we both need it, for whatever goes as a night from now on,” replied Major.
Samuel opened the door and walked back into the cabin. He dropped his body to the bare board on the bunk and fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 7
Samuel awoke to his own snores, the sound pulling him from an undisturbed rest, and he blinked and stretched his arms. Dull pains came to life as a reminder of the combat with the alpha male and his pack. He looked around the room. The chair sat empty, pushed back under the ancient desk, and the few personal items that Major had left on the floor were no longer there. Samuel stood and eased the door of the cabin open. The trees, the skyline, and the forest all sat in perfect silence. Not a single motion caught his attention. Samuel took a deep breath and could not smell the pines. He stood over the corpses of the wolves, inhaled, and again smelled nothing.
“Major!”
No reply.
He stared in the direction the alpha male had left and then opposite it, in the direction he assumed they had to travel. Again, not a single item in the locality moved. Samuel tried to remember what Major had said about a reverting or a rewinding, but he could not place it. Whatever it was had accelerated, and Samuel wondered how long it would take before everything, including himself, would be forever frozen in the solitary landscape. Before he could ponder that question, an item on the ground near the cabin caught his eye: one that had not been there the night before. He bent down and picked up a piece of paper, weathered and folded in half. Samuel glanced to the horizon and noticed a slight puff of charcoal that faded into deep obsidian. He felt the looming, endless night and shivered.
He unfolded the piece of paper to reveal a strong, but flowery, handwritten script. He recognized “Major” scribbled at the bottom, and he sat on the step of the cabin to read it aloud.
“Samuel. I am sure you find my sudden appearances and disappearances troubling. I’ll bet you’re confused about this locality, this existence, this whole damn place. The current Reversion is accelerating, much like the others I’ve experienced. I know you’ve felt that. I am probably three to four days from rejoining you at the Barren. The Barren is the remnants of a village. It could be a collection of reflections. I’m not sure. Whatever it is, there are structures there like the cabin. To get to the Barren, you’ll need to follow the path from the cabin to the summit. Looking down into the valley, you’ll see a winding pass that will take you through a wide marsh that eventually ends at the foot of another mountain. You’ll see the peak from the summit of the hill above the cabin. Stay on the path that will cut east around the base and take you to the opposite side. The Barren sits there on a high plain surrounded by unattended wheat fields. The cabins look like deer nestled in the grass from above. Wait there for me. I’ve left you a scimitar in the desk drawer. If you stay on the path, you won’t need it. Stay on the damn path. Until then, Major.”
Samuel shook his hand and reread the note.
“What about the alpha male?” he asked the dead air.
He stood and went inside the cabin. Samuel reached into the desk and retrieved the scimitar left for him by Major. The blade sparkled as if it had been sharpened, polished, and oiled. The leather binding wrapped around the handle and provided a solid grip. Samuel could not remember if he had seen Major using this knife in the fight with the wolves. He tied the sheath to his right thigh, and the top of it looped through his belt. Samuel tossed his few personal belongings into the rucksack and wished he had a flashlight.
The framed photograph hung on the wall in the same place it had for decades. The undisturbed dust covering it spread out even and smooth. Samuel stepped forward and brushed the dust from the surface as he had the first time he noticed it hanging in the cabin. This time, however, there was no picture underneath the glass. Held by the frame was nothing more than a black square. Samuel moved closer to the surface of the glass, imagining his hand might push through it and the wall, appearing on the outside of the cabin. Instead, his hand stopped. The picture was gone like Major said it would be.
The reflections aren’t as strong as the original, they don’t last long.
That’s what Samuel remembered. He frowned and stepped back, deciding he did not care much for the reflections. He cared even less for this locality.
***
He decided to keep moving. When he looked down from the summit, he could no longer locate the cabin. He struggled to find the path stretching out to the horizon and weaving inside the trees. At a certain distance, the horizon melted the sky and the earth together into a hazy cloud. The cloud was not moving as fast as a summer thunderstorm, but it was clearly coming up from behind and swallowing the land beneath it. Samuel told himself to visually mark its progress. As long as the Reversion did not leap ahead, he could manage to stay ahead of it on the way to the Barren. He laughed and shook his head, wondering if the Barren would provide a safe haven or simply be the final destination to succumb to the end of this place.
Samuel put the summit behind him. He crept down the mountainside, switching back and forth on the path in a constant descent. He lost sight of the horizon and the perspective of direction, and hoped to remain focused on reaching the Barren, and Major, and whatever stood beyond that. By the time Samuel reached the valley floor, his muscles ached. He felt the sweat clinging to his clothes and robbing his body of heat as the exertion slowed him down. He tipped his forehead underneath his left arm and sniffed. His nose could not detect the faintest scent.
Samuel had walked a few hundred yards on the path stretching into the valley floor when the landscape began to change. As he came down the mountain, the trees reappeared in greater number and proximity. The trail narrowed until it was barely wide enough for him to pass. The massive, deciduous trees gave way to low-hanging weeping willows and their long trails of thin leaves. He identified Spanish moss on the trunks of several, which confirmed that he had in fact reached the marsh that Major had mentioned. Samuel drew a deep breath and caught the slightest hint of brackish water and rotting vegetation. He drew another to confirm it was real.
The Reversion must unwind from one direction of th
e locality to the other, he thought.
With the hope that he was outpacing the ominous cloud approaching the summit, Samuel decided to rest. He could no longer regulate day and night, as the light source in this world had burnt out like an old incandescent bulb in a lonely room, spilling the last feeble rays into eternal darkness. He laid the rucksack at his feet and looked over a shoulder at a pile of loose branches near a rock. He gathered them up and ran a hand over the surface, detecting a hint of moisture, but not enough to keep it from burning. He was not sure if he was going to need the light or the heat, but creating a fire for his camp felt like the right thing to do. Samuel arranged the twigs in an A-frame design and removed the lighter from his pocket. He had bent down low and rocked his thumb back on the flint when a voice broke the heavy silence.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
***
Samuel spun around, expecting to see Major. He saw nothing but the faint outline of the willows standing guard over the marsh. He shook his head and pulled his thumb back again, this time sure he could ignore the phantom voice in his head.
“Don’t do that.”
Samuel turned his head toward the voice. He watched as the outline of a human appeared to rise from the marsh. Water dripped from the ends of patchy strings of hair as the form walked toward Samuel. Strips of clothing that had once covered a body with style dangled from pointed elbows and knees. It was not until the person stood before Samuel that he was able to gaze upon the face.
The man stood with the dying light reflecting off of his exposed bone. Clumps of white covered his face where skin had once stretched over his skull. He had two black holes for eyes, and his mouth was parted in a demonic grin.
“It speeds up the Reversion. I don’t know why, but it does,” said the man standing before Samuel.
