Theme-Thology: Invasion

by Inc. HDWP

  When I stopt to think on it, I felt kinda free myself.

  So, anyway, we got to the Mall an it was like one big bad dream. Full a skeltons, all grey an hollow, everwere. The doors were unlockt, a course, on accounta the Mall musta bin open when all those people got ate. It musta happend fast, too. Like, way lessen a week. Like mebbe a hour.

  We did our bes to ignore the bones an jus went inta Dick’s where I knew there was gotta be a lotta campin gear. It was there, when we were pickin out a buncha stuff, that’s I heard the cryin.

  I shusht th’other wimen an crept back behine the tent display. Inside one a the tents set up for display, there was a big pile a clothes. While I watcht, that pile shiverd a bit an I heard the cryin comin from under that pile.

  “Hey?” I said, I was shakin myself an I din't dare go any closer. Th’other wimen crowded roun me an stared.

  “Hey, who’s there?” whispert Natasha. She had holt a my arm so tight, I coud feel her fingernails through my shirt an rain parka.

  The pile shiverd an shakt, an finally a pair a eyes peerd up over from behine. They’re blue eyes but also red from cryin, an young eyes. They belongd to a girl who finally came up from under the clothes an stared back at us. I figgerd she’s about thirteen.

  “Come on out,” I said to her. “We woan bite.”

  She tiptoed outta the tent an stood straight up -- she was almos as tall as me -- an said, “I’m hungry.”

  “Hey, me too.” Jus then, I realized I was. “Less see what they got left over at the food court. You gonna come with us, right?”

  An jus like a smart-ass teenager, she said, all sulky, “Where else am I gonna go?”

  We loaded that girl -- she said her name was Ashley -- up with stuff, too, an set off toward the middle. On the way, we saw things gettin ate up: buildins an cars all over the place, jus crumblin an fallin down. An lotsa skeltons.

  Everthin was warm an damp but sometimes the sun came through an we took that time dryin our stuff an ourselfs out. There was no problem gettin food. It seem like all that warm an damp was makin everthin grow real nice. We past by what usta be lotsa wineries an apple orchards an we stufft ourselfs on grapes an apples an blackcaps. I got priddy good at shootin rabbits an geese with the shotgun. Pickin out the shot, though, that was a chore.

  Even so, rabbit stew with apples an blackcaps is some good eatin.

  On the way, we pickt up more wimen, all headin to the middle for some reason. More wimen meant more company an, you woud think, more squabblin. But we all seemd to have a purpose in mind, so we jus got along real good an helpt each other out with what needed to be done.

  I dunno how long it took to get to the middle, I din't keep track a time. But, by the time we got there, we had about forty wimen with us -- some was about my age, some was a liddle older, some was young like Ashley, but all wimen. Wich I thawt was kinda weird.

  Almos everone had the same story: ther husbin or mom an dad or uncles or granparents or whatever got ate up by somethin. One woman said she knew it was the bugs an worms from the compostin. She said she was a sine-tist, so I guess she was prolly right.

  So, it seemd like all that compostin got outta hand real fast. Turns out, bugs an worms can crawl up stairs. Not on ther own, but they can hitch a ride, for sure. An, turns out, there’s more worms an bugs than anyone could handle an they set about eatin everthin: people, buildins, cars, everthin. They did make a lotta earth, though. A lotta nice, black, crumply earth.

  After a time, we came up over a hill, sloggin along, us forty or so wimens, an what a sight to behold.

  We were lookin down inta the valley, an saw there musta bin at lease two hunnert people, all millin about doin stuff. Some was buildin cabins, some was doin gardenin, some was washin clothes. There were horses an cows in pens, chickens an ducks peckin an dabblin aroun a big dug-out pond. There were even dogs runnin aroun gettin in the way an pesterin everone. There were cats, too. It lookt like somethin outta my history book from when I was in school, from when the Pilgrims landed an built ther villages.

  I member watchin some future movie with Rufus, seemd like forever ago, where the nucular war busted everthin up, the govement fell apart an what people was left hadda fend for themselfs aginst bike gangs an outlaws an such. A buncha law abidin folks gatherd together an built a compoun surrounded by a wall so the gangs coudn’t get at em. Anytime someone woud come upon the compoun, all a men woud get up at arms an everone’d start shootin at each other.

  There was none a that here.

  As soon as one a them notice we were comin, they hollerd an everone dropt what they were doin an came runnin tword us, smilin an wavin. I watcht em comin an it hit me all a sudden: they were all wimen. Ever single one a them. Wimen an girls.

  “Get the Book!” they seemt to be yellin. “Bring the Book! Hurry an get the Book!” They wan’t yellin that at us, though. They were yellin it at each other. I wonderd what they ment by it until they come all a way up to us, smilin an huggin us an sayin “We’re gettin the Book! Doan go way! She’s comin!”

  Where’m I gonna go? I wonderd to myself, but smiled an said out loud, “Awight. We ain goin anywheres.”

  SoZ it turns out, this Book they were goin on about is what they calld what musta bin the only old woman left in the world. They hadda carry this old woman out to us on a wheelchair on accounta her feet were ate up an she coudn’t walk. But, it was like the bugs got up to her ankles an decided to leave er alone after all. She saw us starin at em an, insted a bein embarrasst, she smiled.

  “I am blessed,” she said. “The Entity has spared my life so that I may teach you all The Way. There is a New Day coming,” she said, her eyes rollin back in er head an she held her hands up to the sky like she was gonna catch this New Day thing. “You are all here now. Soon, The Entity will provide mates for you and we shall begin again.”

  “Nn-kay. So, are you talkin bout God?” I asst this Book lady. “This Entity guy? Is he God?”

  “If you wish,” she anserd. “It is not a he, either. It is what It is.”

  “Nn-kay,” I said agin. “Whatever. Anyways, can we stay here? We’re tired a walkin an ready to settle down agin.”

  “Of course!” she said, like I was a idiot. “This is your new home. This is where we shall begin again.”

  So, the deal was, we hadda build our own cabins. I never built anythin bigger then a birdhouse, so it was a challenge for me. I hadda lotta help, though. All those wimen seemd to wanna do was help out, an no-one seemd too innerested in what happend to everbody an everthin. Except that sine-tist lady.

  “Here’s my theory,” she said one day while we were workin on one a the cabins. “I suspect it all has to do with the microorganisms in the compost. Somehow, they mutated and started attacking humans and, apparently, metal and plastic.”

  “An rubber,” I put in. “That’s why we coudn’t drive here.”

  “Yes. It seems as if the microorganisms destroyed everything except women of a certain age group. Looking around at our little community, I’d say women between the ages of twelve and mid-thirties were spared.” She raised up one a her eyebrows at me then. “To repopulate the Earth, perhaps?”

  I scoft at that. “An we gonna do that how? There’s no men, an you sorta need ‘em for part a the repopulatin stuff.”

  “That Book woman said we’ll get men,” said Franny. “I hope they’re good lookin ones.”

  We laught at that an kept workin.

  One day, though, the men came. They seem to be confused about where they come from, but not why they were here an what they were sposed to do. We set about gettin to know one another.

  I met a man calld Jonah. He lookt jus like my Rufus, mebbe that’s why I wanned him. He din't act like Rufus, though. Rufus was allwuz tellin me what to do an how to do it. In fact, Jonah was allwuz askin me what he could do for me. He let me take care a things, only helpin me lift an haul the big heavy stuff. He even asst first before he woud try an make love to me.

 
Now, I’m not sayin Rufus was a bad man, but he was kinda selfish about the love makin thing. He jus kinda figgerd I woud allwuz wanna do it. Jonah, though, he made sure I did. An that was real nice.

  * * *

  The years went by like they do. I got pregnat an hadda boy we callt Eden after where we seem to be livin now. In fact, a lotta the wimen got pregnat an had babies, some boys, some girls.

  The men’s job was to help build cabins, work in the gardens an with the animals, lift heavy stuff an help make babies. The wimen’s job was to do all that stuff -- excep for the liftin heavy stuff thing -- an, in addish’n, keep things in order.

  Ever few days, the Book lady had us all come inta the Big Buildin that fit all a us an have a meetin. She woud lead us in prayin to The Entity an then we woud have a community meal. Then the men woud go out an get workin whilst the wimen were told to stay. She woud wait an make sure all a men were outta earshot, an then she woud say “It’s time for your Knowledge.”

  She hadda giant book on a table wich she woud open an start readin to us about what it was like before everone else got ate. She woud go on an on about the wars an starvin children an how men ruind the earth, then tried to make up for it by compostin. But the compost turnd aginst em an now we hadda chance to start over agin an we best get it right this time.

  We were determine to get it right this time, too. Most a us were, anyway.

  That sine-tist woman started it. She got bored with her man. In fact, she was bored with all a the men. She was usta arguin with em, I guess, an was missin that.

  “My Arthur,” she said to me one day, “is a sweet guy and I really do like him. But, Christ. He practically has to ask me for permission before he can go use the latrine, even. It’s dull, I tell you. Simply dull!”

  She wan’t the only one, neither. Some a the other wimen were startin to belly-ache about how dopey ther men were, how they were missin the challenge of outwittin em or some such nonsense.

  Mebbe I should a payd attensh’n to that more than I did because, nex thing I knew, a bunch a the wimen were dressin ther men up like wimen an sneakin em inta the Knowledge meetin. Soon, they were all learnin all about how bad it was before everythin got ate up. But I think they were mostly lissenin to how men usta be in charge.

  They started arguin with the wimen that wanned it, an they started arguin with the wimen that din’t want it. An they started to get some kinda light in ther eyes, an they went aroun tellin th’other men about how men usta be in charge. Then all a the men got to thinkin about that an wonderin why they weren’t in charge anymore.

  Priddy soon, we were in a big mess: the wimen that wanned the dopey men aginst the wimen that wanned the fightin men. Me an Jonah tried to stay outta the whole thing.

  “Who’d want it anyways?” he said to me one night. “The ones that make the decisions are the ones that get hollered at.”

  Well, that sine-tist woman was hollered at for startin the whole thing an told to get outta town with her feisty man. But she din’t. Instead, she got all a the fightin men on her side an told us she was gonna be the new Book lady. The old Book lady was “retired,” she told us.

  “She’s very old and it’s time she was allowed to rest,” she said. We never did see that old Book lady agin.

  One day after that, an we all thawt things’d settled back down, I happen to be walkin by the Big Buildin an saw how a whole gang a those fightin men were meetin. They din’t see me so I croucht down behine a wall an lissen in.

  “Lookit here in the Book,” said Arthur. “Says here we had most a the money an power back then. Think about it,” he said to th’other men, “we gotta get more babies made an get things goin agin. If we let the wimen use up all a ther time an energy on makin decisions an bein in charge, they won’t be strong enuff to make the babies.”

  All the men mutterd “yeah, that’s right,” an stuff like that.

  Then Arthur said, “So here’s what we do. We talk to em real nice, tell em that they need to let us take on the aw-some burden a makin the decisions an takin care a stuff.” He lowerd his voice then, an all the men crowded up to him. I coudn’t hear anythin more, except his voice hissin an wisperin an soundin jus like a snake.

  I felt kinda sick to my stomack an slunk away to worry over it. An I worried over it for a long time. I kep thinkin bout how everthin sept the wimen got eaten an how nice an quiet it was for the men showd up agin. I thawt about how much I likt my Jonah an my Eden an how I’d miss em. Well, I din’t know em as long as I knew my Rufus an I got over him bein ate up.

  I wisht there was some way a gettin rid a the nasty ones an keepin the good ones, but it din’t seem like that’d happen. The more I thawt on it, the more my insides hurt. But I din’t wanna go back to how it was, all hot an wet all a time. It seemd like the earth itself was beggin me, too. Finally, I decided: I hadda do what I hadda do.

  I wen out to a quiet, secrit place behine the Big Buildin an I got a compost bin started...

  Chrono-Virus:

  Fall of the Horizon

  Aaron Crocco

  Her name is Sophia Gibbons.

  She came aboard the Horizon six months before I did, though not in nearly as dramatic of a fashion. We were crew mates, friends, and for a time, lovers. Sophia stood just two inches shorter than me and yet always towered over me in personality and likability. No one on the Horizon has ever said a disparaging word about Sophia. The hardest thing to figure out is how to refer to her in the past tense.

  Her name was Sophia Gibbons. For just under an hour, she has been dead.

  The where, when, how, and other details of deaths on board could be the fodder of conspiracies for years to come because... well because there's no explanation. Unfortunately we'll be lucky if anyone even hears about it. I cannot begin to grasp what happened to this young girl so filled with life and who learned only last week she was earning a promotion to lieutenant. Worse yet, she is not the first to die in this unknown way and I fear she won't be the last. Perhaps I'll pray that I am next, that way, in a world of uncertainty, I will have the most certain thing I could ever rely on.

  "Hold still," an automated voice rang out from above.

  Sam Martell clicked off the personal log recorder built into his comm unit and blinked open his eyes. He was laying in antiseptic white room, a cold stainless steel table supporting his weight. An octopus-like robot that was suspended from the ceiling rotated and extended three appendages downward. Each yellow arm bent at the center and near the end, just like a human arm. These were more frightening by a factor of a hundred. The auto doc flipped a small flat panel out and rested it on Sam's bare chest. Instantly all his vitals appeared on the wall next to a live sound-rendered image of his body. The second arm flipped a syringe and brought it down to Sam's thigh.

  "This will sting, but only for a moment." The computerized voice had excellent bedside manner, though the force of the injection didn't match up. Sam winced as he was pumped full of muscle stimulants and repair nanites. He'd never broken a bone before, but his leg was no match for the heavy bulkhead that had come crashing down.

  "I am about to take a scan. You will need to hold still once more. Closing your eyes may help."

  He did as told and focused on the warm, chestnut hue of Sophia's face.

  This is the only way to keep her alive.

  Ghostly whispers of Sophia's memory brushed against his mind, piercing the darkness with a shard of her soul. It was enough to nearly suffocate him. For her memory, he could ignore the chaos outside the medical bay. For her memory, he could almost push out those of his sister and parents who had been gone for years.

  The Horizon was an Albany class ship running cargo routinely through the Galeen system. The deep vastness of space normally held a smooth sailing of the large rectangular-shaped ship, but 36-hours ago had changed everything. Jarred out of a deep sleep, Sam barely made it out of his cramped quarters as the Horizon violently rumbled under him. It was rare for a ship to exhibit any movement while und
erway and the instant Sam stepped out he knew instantly the situation was dire. The surreal events played out like their drills, down to Sam knowing when the next phase of alerts would kick in. Toxic gas was spilling onto the two decks below and only half of the emergency lighting worked. Apparently the engineering crew never tested the automatic switches during all those runs.

  Sam mind was floating and he could feel the last bastions of consciousness slipping away when his body jerked awake as if he'd slammed into the pavement from an imaginary fall. The auto doc had placed an icy sensor on his leg for a second before pulling it away.

  All the robotic arms retracted and the center unit raised until it had docked against the ceiling.

  "Lieutenant Sam Martell, you are cleared for duty. Please note you have a broken leg undergoing repair. Please do not strain it for the next ten minutes until the break has been fully repaired."

  The machine let out a loud beep as the med bay dimmed. In the twenty minutes since McDowell had ordered him down here, Sam feared a stream of people would be in need of the med bay, yet it was desolate. The healthy had abandoned ship while the unfortunate ones were dead. He was the sole in-between crew member. He sat up and felt a chill across his cheeks as pooled tears dropped down his face carrying Sophia's memory. Sleep pulled at him like a child begging for a toy at the store, but his defiance was final. Sam got to his feet as a yawn escaped the tight grip of his jaw.

  He stepped out of the med bay and a deadly calm greeted him. Sam moved past piles of debris blocking his path to the stairs. Panels lay all over the deck mixed in with bunches of wire and the nose-flaring smell of singed circuit boards. The scent knocked him back to the reality that very soon he may be joining Sophia if they couldn't get the ship under control. He pushed his friend to the back of his mind and started for the bridge. McDowell wouldn't like that he was gone for so long.