Winter's Fury - Volume Two of The Saga of the Twelves

by Richard M. Heredia

  “What?” he asked, though he did not know to whom. He turned around.

  Something hard smashed into his right temple and he crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll.

  Above him, standing six and a half feet tall was a Loki. He was one of the Seeker’s Chaos Knights. He stood shaking his head sedately within its’ hooded robe. Its’ hand was still balled into a fist.

  Chum-lee and Monique would never make it to the Huntington Library.

  Chum-lee would never get the chance to ask her to be his girlfriend.

  ~~~~~~~<<< ᴥ >>>~~~~~~~

  Part Three:

  Adaptation and Discovery

  “Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours.”

  ― Robert Byrne

  Weather forecast for tonight: dark.

  -George Carlin

  ~~~~~~~<<< ᴥ >>>~~~~~~~

  ~ 26 ~

  Respite

  Day Four, Sunday, 11:39 am…

  Sophie looked up from the growing pile of survival equipment her companions had gathered on one of the central aisles. They had chosen an area next to the “outdoors” section of the store. There was room enough to sort through the huge amount of stuff they were compiling from every other area of the shopping center. She saw Andrew and the new girl come up from the lower level, walking up the unmoving steps of the dead escalator. They came toward her across the “infants” section of the store where she squatted. She had been trying to organize the supplies the others were gathering, but the task was proving difficult. It was, after all, an inordinate amount of “stuff’ they had collected.

  Still, it was stuff they needed if they were to survive upon the Melded World.

  She smiled to see they had found adequate clothing for the last of their group. She took a liking to the three-quarter length sweater, the black jeans and russet-colored hiking boots the new girl had picked for herself. It was all better suited to the cold.

  To Sophie, she still managed to look stylish. The girl has a good eye.

  Out of habit, she grinned and waved, which the girl returned at once. But she was taken aback when Andrew did not respond.

  He just stared back at her. His face flushed red. Then, he peered around like he had no idea where he was.

  What the hell is wrong with him? she began to think, but her thoughts scattered without warning. Anthony approached, piled high with two arm-fulls of double-high air mattresses. He dropped them like a clod next to her with a loud thud, making her jump out of her skin.

  “Babe! Damn, you scared the shit out of me!” she complained.

  She got an apologetic shrug from him as he mouthed a silent “sorry”. He returned to where the rest of the group was currently ransacking the shelves. They were scrounging. Every single bit of useful gear was leaving with them. They needed it, specifically to endure an extended period in the hostile environment outside the mall.

  This was point was all the more real by the angry bluster pounding the stout walls of their sanctuary. The climate of this world was brutal.

  The girl and Andrew walked up to her.

  “Hi,” she said, with a smile, before either of the others had a chance.

  “Hi. I’m Marianna White Horse.”

  Sophie’s eyebrows rose before she could catch herself. The state of amazement sometimes challenged her ability to be polite. But her last name… wow, a Native American.

  “So, I’m the last one of the group?” She worded it like a question, but it came out more as a statement of fact. “At least, that’s what he said,” she went on, pointing behind her at Andrew with her thumb.

  “Yeah, I guess that’s correct. You would be the twelfth of us, the last, which is a big relief, let me tell you,” said Sophie. She stopped, remembering her manners, blinking. “Oh my god! I am so sorry. My name is Sophie Reed. Damn, with all this crap going on, I’ve just totally forgotten how to be a decent person. I swear to God I have been behaving like a farmer’s daughter ever since I got here!” She stuck out her hand with a jerk.

  Marianna reached out and shook it, smiling anew. “Don’t worry about it. I imagine we’ve all had it rough the last few days, so I’ll cut you some slack,” reasoned Marianna.

  “Hey Ant,” called Anthony to his friend as he came back only this time carrying a load of tents and a huge sack full of batteries.

  “Huh, wha- ?” was all Andrew managed. His face was still beat red.

  Sophie frowned again. What’s this dude been up to? Her eyes narrowed.

  Anthony looked at his friend and then at Sophie, and then back to Marianna, putting down his load and pointing at Andrew. “What’s up with him?”

  Sophie just put her hands out in surrender. She had no clue.

  “Dude, will you please go the Men’s department and get yourself a real jacket or something, ok? You look like Juan Valdez on crack! You've walking around with your head stuck through the middle of fourteen thousand blankets for days on end!” Anthony's commented was a full-fledged challenge. He raised his eyebrows, expecting some sort of outrageous comeback from his friend. When none came, he duplicated Sophie’s frown as the other boy just stood there, bemused. “Jeez, bro, take care of it already.”

  A few more seconds passed.

  Andrew did not move.

  Anthony mumbled, “Whatever.” He stepped closer to Marianna, introducing himself.

  She did likewise.

  He glanced at the dumbstruck Andrew again, discomfort turning to disdain. “Would you mind helping my friend find a coat or a jacket, or something?”

  Sophie could tell Anthony had concluded that Andrew was all together on some other planet. Thus, he was completely useless.

  “Sure,” said Marianna, tugging at Andrew’s arm.

  He followed her like an Idiot Savant, letting the minute-sized girl pull him along like a marionette.

  Sophie watched, perplexed. She would have remained at a loss if she had not seen Marianna look up at Andrew only to see the other girl’s face burst into a brilliant smile. Then, Sophie knew. It had only taken the tiny, petite girl a half hour to flip Andrew completely head over heels! Oh my God, she’s already got him hooked like a junkie on Mr. White’s blue meth!

  “What was that all about?” asked Anthony, staring after them as was Sophie.

  “That’s called talent,” was Sophie’s succinct reply.

  “What?”

  “It’s a girl thing, honey,” she offered, not explaining in any sort of detail.

  He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

  Sophie ignored him as he walked off. Her attention shifted as Garfield came up to her from the front of the store. “Have you seen Kodiak, Snow Girl?” he asked. His face was solemn and expressionless.

  Sophie jerked her head back at her new moniker. “Snow Girl? Why would you call me that?”

  Garfield looked at her with only one eye, tilting his head so he could see more of her with that single orb.

  Sophie grimaced, not sure if she wanted to know the reason why after all.

  “Your hair is white like the snow. It is beautiful like the snow. Your skin is as pale as milk.” His lip stretched.

  Is he smirking at me?

  “With so much white about you, how could I call you anything else?” His voice trailed off as he looked away, sniffing at the air, emotionless, indifferent.

  “Oh,” faltered Sophie caught unawares of the compliment, immediately embarrassed. She put a hand to her chest as if to steady her breathing, swallowing though her mouth was dry. “I think Kodiak is with the other… um, the others of the Fist. They are all resting on this level near the mall entrance to the store. It is between the music section and the registers. That's where they keep the shopping carts,” she spluttered, fighting off feeling bashful. She felt her face flush. She pointed in the general direction she had indicated, her finger shook, unsteady.

  “Ah, yes. I can sense them now,” sensed Garfield as if he had not noticed Sophie’s discomfort. He snaked his sinuous body toward the mall entr
ance. Then he looked back at her. “Thank you, Snow Girl.”

  Sophie stared after him as he padded off.

  He was smirking!

  She stood there wrapped in her thoughts for a second or two before she was finally able to shake off the thought. Unsure of what had transpired between her and the seven hundred pound feline, she shrugged. She began unpacking a slew of battery operated lanterns the others had scavenged. With systematic calm, she began turning them on and placing them well apart to light the entire back corner of the store. This way they could see without the aid of their flashlights.

  “Hey, very nice! I see the light,” Jason commented as he walked up to her with an armload of huge eight-man tents. He put them down. He peered over at Sophie. “Do you want me to help you with clearing a space so we can pump up the air mattresses?”

  “Yeah, that would be awesome. Thanks,” she answered with a nod of her head.

  Together, they began to dismantle the entire toddlers section of the store. In no time, they had cleared a space that was at least forty feet by forty feet. It was carpeted and clean. Next, they opened six of the queen-sized, double-high air mattresses. With the help of battery-powered air pumps, they inflated them quick enough. After a few failed configurations and errant head-scratching, they ended up placing them together in a huge rectangular formation. It was so large it would swallow the sleeping forms of all twelve of them with ease. Excited, they walked back to the pile of supplies. They grabbed as many of the rolled sleeping bags they could carry, tossing them on top of their new sleeping area for the time being. They would open them later.

  Elena, Louis and Mikalah came from around the corner. They had a bunch of toys in their arms - each of them exuberant. They were almost shouting over one another. It was obvious they had raided the toy section of the store.

  Sophie saw them and smiled. She told them they could relax on the air-filled beds and play with their toys until they figured out what they were going to eat for lunch.

  The three kids bounced on their tiptoes the entire way and flopped down on the mattresses to enjoy their newfound items.

  Sophie turned from the littlest members of their group, smiling. The thought of them finally feeling secure enough to simply be children again was gratifying. They could play without having to worry about being anyone's prisoner. They did not have to worry over serious injury by some mysterious plant straight out of Hell or anything of that nature. The poor dears had not been able to let down their guard since they had left the cave early that morning.

  She was more than a little grateful for the respite. Simple relaxation could sometimes cure just about anything.

  Kimberly came from one of the smaller aisles. Her arms piled high with an incredible amount of portable-sized propane canisters.

  Seeing this, Sophie ran over to the other girl to assist her. “Wow, girl, that’s a lot of propane, who piled you up like camel?” she kidded, taking six or seven of the twin packs of propane from her and placed them with the other equipment.

  “That would be your boyfriend,” replied Kimberly with exaggerated sarcasm. “I think he’s still trying to punish me for acting like an ass earlier.”

  Sophie looked back at the girl with a quizzical look on her face, a little wary. But it took only a moment to realize, Kimberly was making fun of herself. After that uncertain pause, the remark made Sophie chuckle. “Ah, I see,” she said with mock understanding. “He’s just being a task master, because wants to get this part of the prep-work out of the way so we can all rest for a while. It has been a pretty crazy morning.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right. I’m just messing around anyway. And, I completely agree with you. I could do without any more mornings like the one we just had,” assented Kimberly. Then her eyes caught a hold of something. Her vision angled over Sophie’s shoulder, toward the mall entrance of the store.

  Sophie turned, half-expecting to see Garfield with all his talk of snow and white, but realized it was only Hyun and Derek. They were each pushing a Target shopping cart full of food and drinks. They were plates and utensils, paper towels and blankets as well as a few collapsible nylon camping chairs.

  “Oh good you brought some food from the market section,” remarked Sophie, enthusiastic. “Thanks you guys, I’m starved!”

  Derek and Hyun exchanged a knowing glance.

  “Naw, girl. They didn’t get that stuff from here,” countered Kimberly at her side. “They went down to the Fish Market. That was where we’d been hanging out before we decided to leave this morning. They just brought up some of the stuff we had stashed down there.”

  Some of the cheer had gone out of Kimberly. It left Sophie to wonder what was truly going on between the three of them.

  “You see there?” Kimberly pointed. “That was the comforter set I’ve been using for the past few days.”

  Sophie’s eyes locked onto where the other girl was pointing. She saw the black and white, zebra striped comforter set. It was one of those bed-in-a-bag deals where everything matched. “That’s right, I forgot the three of you had already been here, stuck at the mall for four days.” Sophie lightened her tone, trying to break the sudden pall that had befallen them.

  “Yeah,” added Kimberly, her tone anything but light.

  “It was… an adventure to say the least,” interposed Hyun. She hunched over the handlebar of the shopping cart, giving her back some much-needed rest.

  Derek cackled with derisive mirth, but stayed otherwise silent.

  This shit has got to stop, though Sophie, before someone does something stupid and we all get killed. Aloud though, she kept her voice as cheerful as she could without sounding fake. “Come on! Let’s see if we can make some sort in indoor camp. After, we’ll see about grabbing something to eat. Sound good?”

  “Yeah, sure does,” piped up Derek. He came around his cart eager.

  “Cool,” mumbled Kimberly, “stranded at the mall… again.”

  Hyun's chortled was sarcastic out of the corner of her mouth, but did have a degree of merit.

  For Kimberly, Derek and herself it had been a day spent going in circles.

  In more aspect than one...

  ~~~~~~~<<< ᴥ >>>~~~~~~~

  ~ 27 ~

  Explanations and Preparations

  Day Four, Sunday, 1:16 pm…

  Marianna leaned back against the air mattress, so full it felt like her stomach was about to burst. It had been difficult to eat at first, having not consumed anything of real substance in almost four days. After a short time, she had managed to put down an amazing amount of food.

  She put a hand on her distended belly. She could not believe she had consumed so much of the fresh garden salad and fruit Derek and Hyun had brought up from the Fish Market. After eating granola bars and drinking nothing heavier than water, the natural sugars and carbohydrates tasted like heaven. The cold cuts and cheeses, the crackers and breads, the pretzel sticks and potato chips, and the soft drinks and juices had been wonderful. Even the beef jerky had been ambrosia sliding down her throat, and she had never been a fan of dried and salted beef in the past. It hadn’t mattered she had been full by the time it got passed around. She could only manage a few bites and had given it back to Andrew to finish. She had savored it all the same. She had watched the teenage boy devour it like a lion through the flesh of a gazelle and smiled.

  The others had gorged themselves with equal abandon. They were ravenous after the stress and arduousness of their journey to the mall. This despite the fact it had been a short trip.

  Now they were lounging about their new-made common area. They either lay upon the large conglomeration of bedding or sat in a rough circle before her and Andrew. Those on the floor rested upon a variety of cushions they had pilfered from the outdoor furniture department.

  The remaining members of the group who had not introduced themselves to her, did so as they ate. The animals too had come up to her, not wanting to frighten her. In a slow procession they welcomed her to thei
r party, wishing her warm thoughts, making her feel much more safe than she had before.

  Throughout it all, as she shared the banquet-like meal with Andrew, her companions began to fill her in on what had happened to them. One at a time, they told her their part in the whole picture. And, they began to explain how it all fit together. Trickle by trickle, she began to understand the true meaning behind what had occurred on that fateful night before Thanksgiving. Some of it was almost too incredible to believe and seemed borderline insane. But, when tiny Elena had sat before her and conjured a bright phosphorous light and then another and then another, it made sense. The little girl's ability juggle them in mid-air right before her eyes, compelled Marianna to believe. What they were telling her was the truth.

  Once she had opened her mind to the possibility of it all, the more it became firmer than probability. With repetition and time, it had become fact. The same sense of impending doom she had been trying so hard not to think about for the past four days, made more sense. It became easier to understand, to qualify in her mind. Even the recent events in her life, and in the lives of her family, began to take proper shape in this newfound reality.

  It is the Melded World, she had to remind herself for the fourth or fifth time. She still found it hard believe she no longer walked upon the Earth. This was a whole new place onto itself, an infant in its’ own right, growing and changing with each passing day. There was no Los Angeles, no Phoenix, no California and no Arizona. This was someplace else, and she was here on purpose, for a very specific reason. They had stolen her from the clutches of her parents, because of what she was inside, because of what she had been born with. It was a Gift or a curse, depending on one’s disposition. That was why she was here. That was why they all were here. With that thought in her “war-chest of understanding” the last pieces of the puzzle fell into place.