By the look in her eyes, Carter gauged that Nina would sacrifice her life to prevent such a thing. That’s exactly what he sought. The first person who found Moni would probably get mowed down as easily as the soldiers at Patrick Air Force Base. The distraction could prove invaluable.
“Why wasn’t Moni traveling with the infected girl?” Trainer asked.
Nina was about to speak but she glanced at Carter first, seeking approval. He nodded. Good girl.
“We have reason to believe Moni and the girl separated,” Nina said. “We recovered a police cruiser that was stolen from the scene where Detective Sneed and three other officers were shot dead as they tried to arrest Moni and that infected thing. The dashboard camera caught Moni carrying the injured alien girl into the water. Minutes later, only Moni emerged, naked.”
“Her ass skinny dipped in acid,” Carter said.
“That’s impossible!” Ho exclaimed. “The lagoon was so toxic that it would kill any living organism on Earth instantly.”
“But not the organisms the alien nanotechnology mutated to suit their environment,” the Lagoon Watcher said. “So that was the point where Moni joins them.”
“She murdered four officers in cold blood right before that.” Nina drew a deep breath as she tapped the Brevard County Sheriff’s seal on her uniform, the one shared by her fallen friends. “Moni turned against us a long time ago.”
“If she loves the kid so much, why ditch her in the lagoon?” Carter asked. “The video showed her wading back into the lagoon as Aaron drove away. But the girl isn’t seen again.”
“How do you know she didn’t go back for her?” Trainer asked.
“We found another video from a hotel showing Aaron meeting up with Moni about four hours later at the beach. She’s alone,” Nina said. “They got into a two-person kayak and paddled up the coast. Everyone was so focused on the lagoon we forgot about the damn ocean.”
“I couldn’t imagine Moni leaving the girl unless she was dead,” the Lagoon Watcher said. “She used her alien mental powers to confuse Aaron. Such a shallow boy would be especially susceptible.”
“Or she was being a cock tease. You know how guys get around naked women,” Carter said with a grin. Nina was the only one who chuckled with him on that one. Carter caught her checking him out, taking a moment to inhale his musky scent. He wondered whether she really had the hots for him, or she got off on fraternizing with an FBI man. Didn’t matter. He’d done worse in his day than a bulldog lady cop. Hell, he’d seen worse done.
He pulled Nina outside the trailer and stripped off the lab gear so the dorks couldn’t overhear his next move. Plus, he didn’t want that rotten animal parts smell rubbing off on him.
“Moni is wanted for murder in your county and treason by the Fed. You’re coming with me to Louisiana and we’re headed west from there, tracing their steps.” Her eyes grew wide with excitement, probably for being asked outside of her jurisdiction with a federal agency, but more likely for sharing a ride with him.
“I’d love to help my country any way I can, and if I shoot that diseased traitor, that’s gravy. But how do you know she’s not in New Orleans or the Bayou?”
“Aaron Hughes used his ATM card at a gas station in central Texas and withdrew the maximum amount of cash.”
“Why didn’t you tell the Lagoon Watcher?”
“So he’d stop worrying about his precious swamp? Better to keep him motivated.”
“Oh, right.” She chortled.
“Our hippie friend will brave the toxic lagoon looking for signs of aliens, surviving mutants and anything that might help us. We’ll search for traces of Moni and Aaron along the highways. Someone has to have seen them.”
“Did you put out an alert on Aaron as a person of interest or an accomplice?”
“Of course not,” he replied, making her flinch at his swift rejection of her idea. “That would only drive him underground. His use of the ATM card shows he doesn’t think we’re looking for him, only Moni. We’ll put out a quiet alert on him, for data monitoring systems only. Any financial transaction, use of identification or facial recognition in well-traveled areas will trigger it. Wherever he is, he can’t hide for long.”
“When I find Aaron.” Nina clenched her fist and twisted it in a way that made Carter tighten his thighs securely around his manhood. “We’ll see how much Moni really cares about protecting her friends.”
11
When the boy dipped his foot in the water the scent of his flesh carried across the boggy waters to my nose. The lake water was hazy, though not so much to my eyes. My vision cut through it. I spotted his hairless calves. Somewhere deep within my unfamiliar body, hunger rumbled. I didn’t know if I still had a stomach, but there was no mistaking the desire to feed.
Fish, so delicious when I was a man, tasted rancid on my tongue. Filthy bugs, boney cats, leathery iguanas, none of them satisfied the furnace within me that demanded fuel to burn. I had left the Indian River Lagoon and traversed the canals and underwater aquifers to this lake in Central Florida. I’d fished places like this many times. They were a popular place for family outings. Just what I needed.
The deep voice of his father carried beneath the water. He warned his son not to wade in too deeply. Good advice. The unfortunate lad didn’t listen and went in up to his waist.
I slinked closer, like a snake with four tails supporting a large head as my four spine appendages kept me low against the lakebed, submerged out of sight. Oh, the aroma of that skin, it enticed me more than any barbecue in my life. Whatever made me into this, they’d designed me to do it. There’s nothing wrong with following instincts to survive.
I stretched out my front spine. My tendrils touched his boots, gently at first. Then I started enwrapping them.
“Here, let me show you how to cast off,” his father said from only feet away.
He waded into the water beside his boy. I swiftly withdrew my long spine and retreated deeper into the lake. I wasn’t sure how far down they could see, or if the man had brought a gun with him. He surely had a fishing knife, but I possessed more than one sharp tool.
He helped his son cast the line towards the middle of the lake and then backed off a few paces. Gliding over, I examined their lure. Even underwater, it didn’t look that much like a real fish. I snatched up a stick, caught his hook and gave it a solid yank.
“I got one! Watch this, dad.”
He’s got one alright. His dad will love this catch.
Digging two of my spines firmly into the lakebed, I pulled at the line, nudging the boy deeper. The water nearly reached his waist. His father offered words of caution. It was too late. I seized the line with two spines and tugged. The boy stumbled forward and took a header into the water. Whipping one spine out of the muck, I lashed it across his chest and neck. My sharp tendrils plunged into his flesh and pierced his ribs. Savoring the tender musculature of the young one, I smothered him with the many boney limbs that extended from my spine and drew him closer to my mouth.
“Tommy! Stick your hand up! Show me something!” his father shouted as he charged into the water.
A valiant effort. This must’ve been a good kid for him to risk his life like that. After what happened in the lagoon not far away, only a fool would follow someone sucked underneath these waters. He’d known the risks of coming here. He deserved it.
Balancing on one spine, I propelled myself out of the water a few feet from the man. I dangled the hopelessly bleeding out boy before his father. “Don’t worry. I’ve got him right here.” Between the sight of his impaled son and my ugly maw, his face went white as vanilla frosting. Fitting, as how he’d be my dessert. “Want him back?”
“What the fuck are you?” He drew his fish-gutting knife. Pathetic.
My two free spines launched from the water and clobbered his head from both sides. My dozens of tendrils ripped his jaw loose, snapped his nose and gouged out his eyes. The knife fell harmlessly into the lake. My knives took over, the
ones between my gums.
After scraping them clean to the bones, my body had not only been freed of hunger pains, it burst with energy. I shot from one end of the lake to the other faster than a shark. I popped onto the shore and shoved a palm tree. Half of its roots came up. Thinking of Moni’s face, I smashed it until it toppled over. Oh, she’ll love seeing what her friends turned me into.
As I swiveled back towards the water, I saw it. The sign was unmistakable. A drawing on an oak tree commanded my attention like a character at a 3D movie jumping off the screen. Painted in florescent yellow, it was a ghastly creature with a human head and a long neck that branched out into four massive limbs. They were actually spines. That monster was me. Underneath it, an arrow pointed west.
Whoever made me knew what they were doing. They left a mission for me. I had no idea what, but I was absolutely certain it would ruin everything for Moni. I retrieved the boy’s fishing lure, hung it on one of my many hooks, and followed.
12
Aaron awoke steaming in sweat underneath his jacket. He tossed it onto the backseat and peeled his sticky shirt away from his chest as his vision came into focus. The driver’s seat was empty. He gazed out the sand-blasted window at the expanse of desert before him. Turning around, he looked through the bullet-shattered back window and couldn’t see the highway to the north. Emerging from the heat box of a car into the morning sun that scorched the dirt, Aaron couldn’t locate Moni.
He screamed her name. The only thing he got in return was a pounding head from shouting so loud. Aaron didn’t try it again because the three gang members might hear him too. Besides, Moni could detect his voice whether out loud or inside his head.
He came all this way for her, risking infection, risking his life. He’d stuck with her when her police force and the whole country turned against her. What else would it take to show her how he felt?
Examining the ground around the Prius, Aaron saw footprints. Moni’s tracks led south toward the bare-faced mountains far in the distance, what appeared an impossible trip on foot through brutal terrain. Grabbing the map, Aaron learned that those were the Potrillo Mountains, a long dead volcanic field. They were one of the most isolated places in North America. Without water, food, or shelter from the blazing sun, it wasn’t the ideal location for a stroll.
Aaron could think of only one way Moni’s journey in that direction would end. If Moni wanted to die, if she wanted to remove the alien threat from humanity, why not let her go? He could hear his father’s voice calling him stubborn and naïve for thinking that he could save her and avoid getting infected while in her presence all day. He’d be better off finding another woman, but he couldn’t imagine loving anyone else like Moni. She shouldn’t carry the burden of humanity’s survival alone.
Aaron remembered what his mother taught him about loyalty and love.
Her sister, his Aunt Farah, had a drug problem and would go off the map for weeks on end. When he was 16 his mom flew all the way to Tijuana because his aunt had disappeared there. She wouldn’t tell him how she found her, but Farah came back frail and skittish as a mouse. Aaron never asked what happened. He assumed it wasn’t easy for a housewife who didn’t know a lick of Spanish to hunt down a lost woman in Mexico. All she said was it never occurred to her not to go. When you love someone, you do crazy things.
Aaron couldn’t imagine never seeing Moni’s face again. How could he turn the car around and drive back to Florida without knowing whether she’s alive or a dried-out corpse on a blackened mountaintop?
Aaron got behind the wheel and followed her tracks for 25 minutes until he spotted her walking. She had a backpack on and the gas container in hand. Again he shouted. She didn’t turn around. The car quickly caught up to her. He lowered the window while rolling beside her.
“Stretching your legs for a morning jaunt? You might have gone a little off trail.” He smirked. Her eyes were fixated straight ahead on the mountains. “Seriously Moni, hold on a minute and let’s talk about this. You can’t just walk away from the world.”
That’s exactly what she kept doing. With her every step, a boot imprinted on Aaron’s heart. Shaking his head, he pumped the gas, sped ahead of her, and parked the car directly in her path. He got out, standing between her and the car, and showed her the map. “Do you have any idea what’s out there? It’s called Nowheresville.”
Without making eye contact, Moni briskly approach the car. She leapt and cleared its roof effortlessly. This isn’t an ordinary woman, Aaron reminded himself. He’d seen his mother forcibly keep his aunt from downing another drink. His arms yearned to grab her and not let her walk away. He couldn’t force Moni to do anything. That wasn’t his style anyway.
Aaron hustled around the car and approached her. With sweat pouring down his forehead and pooling in his undeodorized underarms, he could barely keep up. She appeared caught in a trance. Despite her brisk movement, Moni hardly exerted herself. He couldn’t spot a drop of sweat on her.
“I promised I’d help you. I won’t break it. I swear I’ll follow you until I collapse from heat stroke.”
“If you want to help me, let me go.”
His head reverberated in shock, not only from her finally responding, but from the swift rejection. It sucked the wind from his lungs, making him breathe heavily as he strode beside her. “I can’t let you do that. No one can survive out here. I promise I won’t let you face this alone.”
“You talk about promises? I can promise how it’ll end if you stay with me. You’re going to get hurt. When I’m around people, they die. Or worse. You don’t need that in your life.”
“But I need you in my life!”
He reached for her arm, seeking to establish a two-way psychic connection. She jerked it away, giving him a momentary brush of the fingertips. Even that created a spark that caught in his heart, burning his chest with the beam of a laser cutter severing their inseparable bond. As she stared into his eyes, no longer able to ignore him, he saw the desire within her as well. She raised her hand, her fingers reaching for his neck. Hesitantly, she drew them back.
“Until I know how to control what’s inside me, it’s best that I stay as far away from people as possible. That includes you. It’s too dangerous for both of us.”
He couldn’t argue with a woman who could recognize the truth he tried masking with his denials. Keeping her among people so he could enjoy her presence was selfish and reckless.
“How are you going to survive out here by yourself?”
“It’s not about my survival. It’s about preserving every other living thing by keeping them bottled up.”
“Yeah, but if you’re dead you can’t contain them very well. How long do you think that gas will last you? How will you survive the heat?” He wiped the moisture from his stinging eyes. “I don’t want to come looking for you and find you…”
“My body is more resilient than you think. But you’re right. I don’t know its limits.”
“Shit, I already reached mine.” He squeezed his shirt and enough sweat to fill a bathtub squirted out. “How about we meet up in four days? I’ll get some supplies for you and maybe even shower so you don’t pass out when you get a whiff of me.”
“Don’t look too hot, or when I see you next we might cause a worldwide pandemic.” Her smile briefly returned. “In four days, park behind a billboard along the interstate 20 miles outside of town around 10 in the morning. Think of me, but not dirty thoughts because I’ll be listening for them.”
“Sounds tough, but I’ll try. I’ll save the dirty thoughts for the hotel tonight by myself. Until then, I’ll look for a job.”
“You sure that’s a good idea? What about your graduate program at the marine institute back home?”
“There’s not much marine habitat left to study after your…” He was about to say “friends” but he broke it off short as not to offend her. She winced. Aaron wished he could censor his thoughts. “After what the aliens did I can’t exactly go boating or scuba di
ving in the lagoon again.”
“And New Mexico is a better place to wear a wetsuit and flippers?”
“I have other ideas.” He deliberately kept his train of thought blank. She gave him a quizzical look. Aaron felt he should walk back to the car before she probed deeper, or he really did stagger under heat stroke. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her goodbye.
Moni rested her hand on his shoulder. It wasn’t skin on skin contact, but the warmth and texture of her hand permeated the fabric. Her hand was no longer soft. She was hard, strong. Aaron hoped she’d toughened up inside as well for what she’d face alone in these badlands.
“Don’t worry about me. You’ll see me again.”
“You’ll come back? It’s not over between us?”
“You’re all the reason I need in the world.”
She began her march toward the Potrillo Mountains, only glancing back toward him once. He stood there until not a trace of her could be seen.
13
Harry “Lagoon Watcher” Trainer told them he’d rather hike through mosquito-ville to the double murder scene than plow through the woodlands in a military jeep. The sensitive wilderness surrounding Osceola County’s dozens of lakes was home to a treasure trove of endangered species, from the Florida Panther to all types of butterflies. Those massive tires would run roughshod over their habitat.
The driver, a no-nonsense soldier with a shaved head pointed toward the jeep. “You work with the military now. My orders are to take you to the incident area as soon as possible, sir.”
“And you’re taking orders from the same military geniuses that let the aliens steal their bombs from their base and use them against us? The lagoon was ruined because of them.”
“I’m not here to argue with you, sir.” Lines of anger creased around the soldier’s mouth. “I’m here to transport you to the crime scene. You can either sit in the jeep or I’ll strap you up top like a deer.”
Silence the Living Page 7
