The Gift of Volkeye

by Marque Strickland

  “We don’t have time to explain much…” Sing began.

  “…But we know what happened here today. We’re aware that none of you have power in your homes and that Vlajdimir is forcing you to join Phyllamon’s army…and, yes, we saw those two boys killed,” Bahzee said.

  “It was horrible,” said the woman, who’d stopped her daughter from helping the boys.

  “We know…if it’s not too much to ask, we’ll need your help in persuading them to leave. All of you must get out of here tonight! Terrible things are afoot,” Sing said, looking over her shoulder into the distance. “Those of you who are brave souls with friends in the neighbouring towns need to be messengers and spread the word to Mheep, Dohrm, and Mashyuvah.”

  Unease spread throughout the crowd at Sing’s words, and Woone spoke up.

  “Well if our lives are at risk then that means you think you’ve brought Phyllamon with you. I can tell by the way you keep looking over your shoulder, young lady,” Woone observed. “I’ll go to Mashyuvah…I have a friend there. But I need Arhyz to power my hovercar. It’s been sitting out in back of my house, dead, for months!”

  “Oh, which reminds me…all of you step on board in a single file line. We have enough money to last you a long time. But we have to move quickly, because they’re coming, I’m certain!” Sing warned.

  They formed a line, but it moved sloppily as the people kept knocking into one another, panicking and in a hurry. Though worried, there was a slight sense of wonder and excitement upon each of their faces as they exited the ship with a heavy bag of Arhyz. The girls could tell that none of them had ever seen this much money in their lives. Woone was the last and the only one to take his sack with great poise.

  “Thank you,” he said. “If you don’t mind, I’m sorry…what was it?”

  “Sing Tzi Yi…Sing, for short.”

  “If you don’t mind, Sing, I’d like to know where we’re going.”

  At this, Sing smacked her forehead, chastising herself.

  “I’m sorry…I’m so flustered, I just forgot,” she said, digging in her pockets for a small notepad.

  The people listened intently.

  “Everyone, you’re going to a place called the Igloo. We’ve written down its location on sheets of paper for those of you who are responsible and won’t lose them.”

  Sing tore the sheets from the pad and handed them out to several people that came forward, and the last one she gave to Woone. He nodded with gratitude.

  “Now, everyone, get packed. Obviously, you’ll want to bring your heaviest clothing. If you don’t, you’ll be sorry…I almost died on my way there, it was so cold,” she finished, looking to Woone. “Good luck.”

  “The same to you…I hope to see you all soon.”

  They shook hands, and then Woone was off. As she watched him run off into the distance with his friend Chryssina at his side, Sing addressed the villagers. (They were busy scurrying about, throwing armfuls of clothing and extra heavy winter garments in their power-restored ships.)

  “Any of you who wish to warn others in the nearby towns, and would like transportation, may use the hoverpods on board the ship. There are several. Don’t waste time returning them—my sisters and I don’t need them anyway. Just get gone as soon as you can!”

  Soon five hoverpods buzzed from the back of the ship, speeding away into the distance. Meanwhile, Bahzee had run back aboard and taken one of the canvas sacks and stuffed it with the food and sweets from the discarded refrigerator.

  “We need to wake those boys…does anyone know where they are?” Sing asked upon exiting the ship.

  “They’re in the stable behind Vlajdimir’s house,” a young girl said.

  “A stable? You mean like…animals?” Bahzee asked in horror.

  The girl nodded. “I tried to help earlier, but Mommy wouldn’t let me,” she said. “I’ll take you.”

  “Thank you…what’s your name?”

  “Annie,” she answered, holding her mother’s hand, who was accompanying them.

  “I’m Sam,” her mother said.

  “Bahzee.”

  “Lyn Sha.”

  “Sing.”

  They all shook hands, hurrying along. As they came to Vlajdimir’s house, they found the two dead boys still there. They were being eaten by vultures. Bahzee, taken with fury, grabbed both birds and squeezed, snapping their necks instantly. She threw them off to the side and looked with sadness down at the boys.

  Annie started crying again, and Lyn quickly shushed her with a kiss on the cheek and an arm around her shoulder. Bahzee and Sing could tell, Lyn had matured further in just a few hours…perhaps because of the rape she’d witnessed. Here she was playing big sister to a girl who was her age!

  As Sam came forward, taking Annie in her arms, she marked Lyn with gratitude. She didn’t look upon her as a girl, but a woman, who, inside, had already finished growing up, now only needing her biological age to catch up with her maturity.

  “Thank you,” Sam said to Lyn Sha, who nodded in return.

  “Annie, is it through here?” Lyn asked.

  Annie nodded, and the others noticed a strange hint of fury upon her face as she looked down at the mutilated boys. The expression was almost motherly, as if she knew them personally.

  Their stomachs lurched with strong foreboding as they ventured through a narrow, cobblestone alleyway, littered with thousands of insects, swarming around a flickering light trap. They made it to the gate, and as Bahzee swung open the raggedy, wooden door, their uneasiness was replaced by grimaces of disgust, offended by the odourous environment.

  Now Bahzee was even angrier. “Yes, I see. They really are nothing but animals to him, are they?”

  Their boots sunk into the soggy earth as they advanced into the darkness. They waved their hands about in the air before them, hoping to find a foundation from which to guide themselves.

  “Bahzee, you’re in front, right?” Annie asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “If you go forward just a bit more, there should be a rusted light fixture hanging from the ceiling,” Annie said.

  “How do you know that, baby?” Samantha, her mother, asked.

  “Cuz’ I sneak out here to feed them sometimes…among other things,” Annie confessed.

  “Oh my goodness, that’s so dangerous!” Sam remarked with surprise, wondering what else this night would reveal about her daughter.

  They all flinched as the bright white light came on, temporarily blinding them. As their sight adjusted, they found their boots and the bottoms of their pant legs splattered with mud and feces. All about them were the abused young men, rousing from their sleep. One with pale white skin, an exceptionally wide face, black greasy hair, and a missing front tooth, grabbed his shotgun, which lay to the side in his bed of hay.

  “Nobodee gonna git’ my shotgun…it’s my walking stick!” He shouted.

  “That is not a walking stick, Joshua, I’ve told you! It’s dangerous, so you put that thing down, right now!”

  He obeyed instantly. “Yes, Miss Annie…I didn’t know ‘twas you.”

  The others, especially her mother, looked at Annie with great curiosity. “Exactly how well do you know them, Ann?” Sam asked.

  Annie smirked at her mom then looked to Bahzee. “Can I have the food? They trust me.”

  “Be my guest,” Bahzee said, handing her the sack.

  “Okay, everybody, rise and shine,” Annie said walking about, handing out small blocks of cake, meat, and cheese. “It’s time for us to go. We’re leaving this town and that wretched Vlajdimir behind! You all deserve better…you just had nowhere else to go.”

  One came forward to hug her.

  “Oh, thank you, Earnest. Here, have some cheese!”

  Annie then felt a gust of odourous breath and a kiss land on her left cheek.

  “We fixin’ ta’ leave Miss Annie?”

  “That’s right, Miles, it’s time to go. Just like I told you, remember?” she said, now look
ing to them all. “I promised I would get you all away from here one day, and that time has come much sooner than I expected,” Annie explained, handing several chunks of licorice to a small black boy, who she’d just woken. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and immediately began gorging himself on the licorice.

  “You see these nice people with me? They’re going to help us get out of here…and you all can leave the guns behind, you won’t need them anymore.”

  Annie gazed about their faces a moment, making sure they clearly understood that they’d never be handling guns again if she could help it. She was worried that they wouldn’t be able to give them up, as they’d been the boys’ only source of entertainment, and (like Joshua) she suspected they’d grown attached to them. However, this wasn’t a problem with any of them, for they’d become so close to her that she was nearly like a mother. Whatever Annie spoke was the law in their eyes.

  “Now I need all of you to stand up and get in a single file line and keep quiet.”

  They did this with no trouble. The girls, as well as her mother, were amazed with Annie. The boys’ level of obedience was astounding, for not even Vlajdimir had such control over them. Samantha was aghast at the amount of time that her daughter must’ve secretly spent in this stable. It was all the more amazing due to the fact that most of the boys were so big and strong, any of them could’ve killed Annie instantly, yet they’d never lift a finger at her. Samantha smiled with pride at her daughter.

  “Ah, those are good boys, you are! You’re a great lot of sweetie pies, and I love you all so much,” she said, watching the contagious smiles spread around. “Now we’re going to wait just a second for my friends to do something for me, but when we get out here, not one of you is to make a sound. Do we understand each other?”

  “Miss Annie says ‘no noise,’ ” they recited.

  “I’m so proud of you all…let’s see if we can keep this up.”

  Annie now waved Bahzee over.

  “I guess you’re pretty strong, eh? You killed those birds without breaking a sweat, and they were huge!” she whispered. “You think you could quickly move those bodies out of sight? …I think they might startle the boys into a commotion that might get us killed.”

  “You’re right,” Bahzee nodded, impressed.

  Bahzee found an empty trash container some feet away from the entrance to the stable. So rusted and dirty that it blended in with the surrounding walls, Bahzee hadn’t noticed it on the way inside the barn. After tucking the bodies and the dead birds away, she heard a faint whisper from indoors.

  “We all set, Bahzee?” Annie asked.

  “Let’s go,” she replied.

  Then Bahzee saw something strange up against the brick wall. It was webbed and partially covered in debris. She reached out and detached it with ease, noticing that it had been there so long that its soggy imprint was left on the wall. This mildewed patch of bricks, littered with insects and cobwebs, gave off the offensive stench of decades passed.

  What Bahzee held was an enormous hammer of some sort with a handle just over four feet long, reaching all the way up to her breasts. The head, a massive piece of steel was as big as two large watermelons. No human being could’ve lifted it, yet Bahzee swung it about with ease. She heard the others exit the stable.

  Annie came out first, followed by her mother, Sing, and then a neat and organized line of the boys. They were slow but quiet, just as Annie had asked. Lyn Sha came up in the rear with her arm transformed. It was clear that now that they’d gathered the boys, she was anxious to get out of here.

  “Okay, you all, we’re going to be quiet, but I must ask that you walk briskly—we’re in a hurry! Now let’s…” Annie’s thought was interrupted as she gazed at Bahzee. “Oh my goodness, how are you lifting that?!”

  “Zynathian…we told you he was real,” Bahzee said, grinning.

  “There used to be another tower at the center of town, where we’ve built our bonfire. There was a bell at the top, and what you’re holding made the chime,” Samantha said, in as much awe as her daughter. However, they were nearly floored when they looked at Lyn Sha.

  “And you, my God…your arm!” Annie exclaimed.

  “It’s a long story, Annie, I promise we’ll explain when we next meet. Daddy should bring us down to the Igloo as soon as Teshunua’s better,” Lyn said.

  “Daddy? …Oh, Zynathian, you mean! So who’s Teshunua? Is he sick?”

  Lyn grinned but didn’t answer, grasping Annie’s hand, moving the herd along.

  **

  They made it back to the center of town and went to Samantha’s house. Sing watched the boys in the living room, whilst Bahzee helped Sam gather her things, and Lyn accompanied Annie. Being so poor, Annie had only two changes of clothes to pack. She didn’t seem bothered by this, however. In fact, to Lyn Sha’s great delight, the only thing Annie absolutely had to have was her Wrinklegus PoisonTongue stories! Her suitcase was chockfull of them, old beat-up volumes that she’d read dozens of times. Lyn and Annie had spent the last half hour discussing their favourite characters and by the time they caught up with the rest of their party, outside, everyone was ready.

  The citizens paced about nervously.

  “I can see why they’re afraid to get moving. It’s the dead of night, and we’re sending them into uncharted territory where they could likely freeze to death if not careful. I wouldn’t leave unless I had all my friends at my side either,” Sing said.

  There was a deep growling sound, and then from behind a large, shabby-looking cottage, came a hovering bus. It was so caked with dirt and grime, the girls could tell it hadn’t been piloted for some time. They couldn’t even make out the natural colour of the vehicle.

  “Oh great, I was wondering where we’d put all of you,” Annie said, looking at the boys, who’d now begun pacing with excitement. “Ah, ah, ah, you stay put, Miles!” She said, grabbing his arm to prevent him from wandering too far.

  The bus pulled up right beside them, covering them in a cloud of dust as it crashed awkwardly to the ground. It was clear that its driver was out of practice. The shield slid sideways revealing the entrance. A deep, raspy voice that seemed as if it came from a throat filled with phlegm, spoke from within.

  “Just one Arhyz pebble in the engine did ‘er good! Hah, hah, this bitch is dirty as all hell, but she works fine! Anybody need a lift to ‘the Icebox?’ ” Bobo, the bus driver, asked with a wide toothless grin.

  “The Igloo!” Sing smirked. “And no, not us…just them.”

  “You guys better get going,” Lyn said to Annie and Sam.

  Annie wrapped her arms around Lyn’s neck as if she’d never see her again. “Thank you so much,” she said. “I’ve dreamt about getting them and mommy out of here for so long.”

  “You would’ve done it anyway, eventually, I’m certain,” Lyn replied. “Hey, I’ll contact you from home in a few days, okay? When I call, you’ll receive a page, announced from the ceiling speakers in the complex, and they’ll ask you to go to the control room of the Igloo. Once you arrive, we can talk to each other through screens. Deal?”

  “That’ll be wonderful. I can’t wait to hear from you! Be safe…all of you,” Annie said.

  With that, Lyn and Annie kissed each other on the cheek and parted. It was evident to everyone that these two were going to be close, if not friends for life. Samantha was touched at her daughter’s quick bond with Lyn Sha. As she climbed aboard the bus to discuss the Igloo’s location with Bobo, she smiled, watching Ann hug everyone goodbye.

  Sing and Bahzee handed two laser pistols to Samantha and Bobo, quickly showing them how to turn off the “safety” and fire. After bidding farewell to Annie, they began rounding up those remaining, ensuring that their vehicles were hovering and at the ready.

  “Come on, you lot,” Annie said, motioning the boys forward. She waited for them to climb aboard, and as the last of them, Miles, stepped on, Annie followed and gave a final wave to her new friend. While Lyn listened to Sin
g yelling over the vehicle engines in the distance, encouraging everyone to stay in a tightly knit group while traveling, she shifted her arm from weapon to waving hand several times, just for Annie’s amusement. Annie watched Lyn with wonder, as did her mother from the side.

  Though it was a rough start, the bus was now hovering properly in the air, and as it propelled itself forward to join the other ships, Lyn noticed Miles looking through the windshield pointing at something in the distance. The other boys joined him in the amusement, unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Lyn took no notice, for she’d quickly become accustomed to the fact that it didn’t take much to make these boys happy. However, it wasn’t until Annie appeared at the window with tears in her eyes, beating upon the dirty glass that Lyn Sha understood the situation.

  “Sing, Bahzee, heads up!” she warned, motioning for Bobo to put the acceleration peddle to the floor. He punched it.

  Sing and Bahzee couldn’t hear Lyn over the roar of the engines surrounding them, so it wasn’t until they saw Lyn strafe right, firing madly into the distance that they knew what was going on. Sing, who’d drawn her laser pistol and began firing in plain view of the citizens, swatted the trunk of the leading hovercar, making him speed off on instinct. He was followed closely by the others.

  As Sing caught up to Bahzee, the bus raced by them with Samantha leaning out of the window, firing wildly at the approaching army of ravenous beasts. The creatures raced forward with thick globs of drool flinging from the corners of their mouths.

  “Damn it—Karnovs!” Sing said, observing the dog-faced, lion-like creatures. They were but seconds away.

  There were several dozen of them left, minus ten or fifteen dead ones with missing limbs, sprawled about the frozen earth (compliments of Lyn Sha). She’d run out to meet them head on, making it a point to first get the ones being ridden by soldiers. There were just a few of the soldiers left now, as the others had died at the same time as the Karnovs they were riding.

  Lyn swore in pain, having been shot in the right arm by one of the last three of Phyllamon’s riding minions. He’d taken a small chunk out of her shoulder. Bleeding within her combat suit, she leapt in the air with all her might when she felt rank dog breath envelope her. She twirled about in a free fall, firing at the many Karnovs below who’d surrounded her. Two were killed before she’d even shot them, for they’d bitten into each other’s heads, intending upon hers. The others, however, whimpered as the blasts burned through their backs and the tops of their skulls, at a loss for who was attacking them! Lyn had disappeared far too quickly for them to notice where she’d gone.