8 Gone is the Witch

by Dana E. Donovan

“You can’t do four zips. You only have three witches.”

  “Can we throw two at once?” asked Tony.

  “No. You can’t hold two zip balls at the same time. The energy will arc between the two and explode instantaneously.”

  Carlos laughed. “You’re telling me you never held two balls in your hands at once, Lilith?”

  “No. It’s impossible.”

  “That’s not what Tony says. He told me earlier that when you two were walking, you grabbed––”

  “Carlos!” Tony reached out and slapped him on the head. “See, this is why we shouldn’t let you ingest those brobble seeds. You can’t hold your hallucinogenic alkaloids.”

  “Wait! That’s it. Who says he can’t hold it?”

  “Lilith, I’m joking.”

  “No. I’m talking about a zip ball. I can spin one up and give it to him. That way the four of us can then throw them at the same time and bring down a uniform debris field.”

  “Man, I’ve always wanted to pitch a zip,” said Carlos. “You know I was the Little League MVP back in Cuba the year we won–”

  “Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. Listen, Pop-fly. A zip ball is not a baseball. I don’t want you throwing sliders, curves, fastballs, spitballs or whatever else you thought you were great at when you were a kid. I simply want you to lob it up into the trees when I tell you to. Okay?”

  He turned his eyes down and scowled.

  “Carlos?”

  “Okaaaaay. Geez.”

  “Good.”

  “But I could beam a batter at sixty feet.”

  “I’m sure you could. Now give me room. I think our friends here are getting restless.”

  The others looked out at the alphadytes, who had begun to figure out that we were up to something. It seemed the larger one, old monkey ass, directed the others via hand signals how to navigate the kumoru minefield. Five of them had moved in on us considerably since we took refuse in our little circle. Another ten feet closer and I’d smell their breaths.

  I whipped up a zip ball and instructed Carlos to dry the sweat from his palms. He did, wiping them on his robe so feverishly he nearly started a fire from the friction.

  “Easy, Smoky. Leave some skin, eh?”

  “Just making sure they’re dry.”

  “They’re dry. Now hold out your hand.”

  He reached for the zip ball as if intending to snatch it from my hand.

  “No! Damn it!” I pulled back. “Hold your hand out flat. It’s not a Snickers. It’s a fifty-thousand volt ball of pure energy. You don’t just grab it.”

  “Sorry. I’m nervous.”

  “Yeah, well you’re going to be armless in a minute. Listen to what I say.”

  Tony said, “It’s all right, Carlos. Take your time. Don’t be scared. I’ve handled these things myself plenty of times.”

  “I’m not scared. I’m nervous. There’s a difference.”

  “Then don’t be nervous, but be quick. Those goons are getting closer.”

  Carlos took a deep breath, let it out slowly and then leveled his hand.

  “That’s good. Now listen. The thing you need to know about zip balls is that they’re sticky. By that, I mean they want to stay with their source of contact. Even though they don’t actually rest on your hand, they still want to cling to it. You understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. The other thing you need to know is that they are, as I said, pure energy. Before I hand this one off to you, we have to couple.”

  He looked at me and grinned. “What, you mean have sex?”

  “No, you moron! To couple means that we have to connect first so that the energy can flow from me to you without jumping.”

  “Oh.”

  I looked at Tony. “You worked with this guy for thirty years?”

  He smiled thinly and left it at that.

  “Okay, Carlos. Hold out your other hand like this.” I put my hand out flat, palm down, fingertips pointing towards him. He did the same. “Good. I’m going to let our fingertips touch now. You’re going to see a spark of static electricity arc between our fingers just before they touch. It won’t hurt. Ought to feel like a carpet shock at best.”

  “I hate carpet shocks.”

  “I know. Me, too. Just suck it up. All right?”

  “Okay. Go.”

  I closed in. A small blue-white spark danced briefly as it bridged our fingers, completing the connection. When our fingers touched, I could tell that Carlos felt the flow of energy between us and liked it. His expression went from sudden surprise to welcomed relief and finally to something of spiritual enlightenment. That last part is the feeling I get every time I cast a zip ball, the thing that connects me to the universe.

  “You all right?”

  He nodded. “I’m good.”

  “Okay. We’ll do the handoff.”

  “Wait. What if I drop it?”

  “Don’t.”

  “But what if? Will it explode?”

  “No. Well, yes, a little.”

  “What, is that like being a little pregnant?”

  “Look, if you drop it, we’re likely to notice a slight disturbance from the dissolution process. We’ll see a scattering of photons, a few sparks maybe, the dissipating energy might dig a small hole in the ground... nothing more. We’ll dust our moccasins off and do it again. No big deal.”

  “Why won’t it blow us to smithereens?”

  “Because you have to launch it first.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It has to leave your hand suddenly. Once you set it into motion that way, physics dictate the rest. The zip ball accelerates to nearly the speed of light. The instant it encounters solid matter, it triggers a spontaneous fractal-reckoning attempt between the impeding variables of dynamic abstractions and the constancy of perpetual adduction. The resulting consequence is the paradox initiative.”

  “The what?”

  “It goes boom.”

  “Oh. So then it’s safe, right?”

  “Yes. Just don’t drop it on your foot. That would hurt.”

  “Lilith.”

  “Come on. Let’s do this.”

  I bumped the side of my palm to his at the pinkies. Then I rolled my hand up, allowing the zip ball to slide from my hand onto his. Once the transfer was complete, it was time to de-couple.

  “You got it now?”

  He was smiling like a fool. “Got it.”

  I dropped my right hand and broke off the connection with the left. Carlos, perhaps the last person in the world I would trust with a zip ball, was now in control of fifty-thousand volts of malodyte whoopass.

  “You’re doing great,” I said. “Now just hold it steady until we get ours charged up.”

  I think at that point, the alphadyte leader figured out what we were up to. He had seen the zip balls we used to light up the sky when we first spotted them. The beast turned and motioned towards a denser stand of trees along the perimeter.

  “They’re getting ready to run,” I said. “It’s now or never. You guys ready?”

  Tony and Ursula had spun up a couple of meaty fat boys, genuine blockbusters as zip balls go. Mine was no slouch either. I directed the three of them to pick a compass point along the circle and let`em rip.

  “Fire!”

  The beauty of zip balls is that you don’t have to have much of an arm to throw one. Whether you pitch it overhand, as Tony and Carlos elected to do, or underhand, which Ursula and I prefer, they pretty much all behave the same way.

  We fired them off into the canopy and immediately fell into a squat, tucking our knees to our chins and protecting our heads with our arms.

  The first explosion was the biggest. Actually, it was four overlapping explosions created by the zip balls, but they exploded so close together it might as well have been one.

  I felt the concussion drive a part through my hair. A hot, oppressive wind pushed on our bodies in a tsunami-like wave that nearly knocked us over.

  A half-second l
ater, the debris field came down, triggering a barrage of kumoru explosions that shook the ground with the hardened rumble of an oncoming freight train. Carlos later compared the series of explosions to a string of firecrackers going off at a Chinese New Year celebration. “I didn’t think it would ever stop,” he said. I agreed.

  At the height of the blasting, bits of tree bark, sand, pebbles and even alphadytes, peppered our backs, sides and arms.

  When the explosions stopped and the dust settled, we stood. The entire landscape had changed. The bigger trees were still standing, though stripped of their lush canopies. Smaller trees, including all the Snitch trees, were flattened.

  I saw bits of alphadytes, arms and legs mostly, strewed about the grounds. It seemed the more muscular parts held up better to the shredding forces of the explosions than did their heads and torsos.

  Tony stepped outside the circle to have a broader look around. I almost scolded him for not letting me close it first. Then I remembered it wasn’t a consecrated witch’s circle, just a Jerome circle. A damn good one at that.

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked.

  “I’m good,” Carlos answered.

  “Ursula?”

  “Fine, thanks be to thee and thy magick.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short, girl. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  I looked down at Jerome. He still had his fingers in his ears. “You can take them out now.” I plugged mine with my fingers and withdrawing them to demonstrate. “See. No more boom.”

  He did the same. “No boom?”

  I shook my head. “No boom.”

  We were safe, and in no small part thanks to Jerome. I made a mental note to myself. Find out what the kid eats and get him some. He deserved it.

  While the rest of us finished dusting off and brushing bits of twigs from our hair, Tony continued his rounds, surveying the grounds and assessing the enemy’s causalities. I could tell something was up when he didn’t come right back to us after completing a full assessment.

  “Tony?” He had wandered nearly fifty feet away by then.

  He turned to me and nearly fell after shifting too much weight on his bad ankle. “Yeah?”

  “What are you looking for?”

  “I’m counting parts.”

  “That’s a bit sick,” said Carlos. “Why’s he doing that?”

  “He’s taking inventory.” I felt a sudden lurch in the pit of my stomach that caused me to take better notice of my surroundings. “Carlos.” I pointed to a break in the trees behind us. “Take Ursula and Jerome and start out that way. We’ll catch up to you.”

  He laughed nervously. “What’s going on?”

  I picked up my sack and handed it to him. “Don’t ask questions. Just get Ursula and Jerome out of here. Now.”

  “You’re starting to scare me, Lilith” He looked back at Tony. “Hey Tony, is everything all right?”

  “I count five!” he called out.

  Carlos shook his head, not fully understanding the implications. “What?”

  I said, “He only counts five. Now go. Quickly!”

  “But I don’t––”

  “Now! Damn it! Don’t you see? He only counts five bodies. There’s one missing.”

  “Missing? That doesn’t make sense. That would mean there’s still one––”

  “LOOK OUT!” yelled Ursula.

  We looked back at Tony. He was running towards us with a lone alphadyte closing in on him fast. I could see that a gaping wound in the animal’s leg was slowing it down. Good news for Tony, if he wasn’t partially crippled himself.

  “Shit! It’s old monkey ass,” I said. “Looks like he’s injured.”

  “Lilith!” Carlos hit me on the shoulder. “That wasn’t nice. It’s just his ankle.”

  “Not Tony, you moron. The alphadyte!”

  “Oh.”

  “Tony! Hurry!”

  Tony waved his arms to push us back. “Go! Run! I’ll catch up.”

  Carlos pulled his bolo and stood his ground. I grabbed his sleeve and tried pulling him back. “You heard him, run. Get Ursula and Jerome out of here. I’ll help Tony. I’ll hit him with a zip ball.”

  “Why would you hit Tony with a zip ball?”

  “Gees, Carlos! Did you take a stupid pill today?”

  “No.”

  “That’s it. No more brobble fruit for you.”

  “Fine, but step aside. This one-eyed, hairy ass lump of muscle, teeth and claws is going down.”

  I backed away and told Ursula and Jerome to get themselves out of sight. I then spun up a zip ball and came around Carlos in hopes of heading off the alphadyte as soon as Tony passed. “Stand down old man. I got this.”

  Of course, Carlos wouldn’t have it. He pushed me aside and came back around me. “Get out of here, Lilith! You’re going to get hurt.”

  I dropped my shoulder and plowed back into him, forcing him into a staggered sidestep. “No, I got this.”

  He reclaimed his footing and body checked me to the ground. I landed flat on my ass, and my zip ball ended up somewhere in a pile of alphadyte guts where it continued to sizzle and short-circuit before popping like a balloon with a dull thud.

  “Carlos fucking Rodriquez! I can’t believe you just knocked me to the ground!”

  “Damn it! Run!” yelled Tony. He was practically on us, and I was beginning to think he had a good idea, seeing that the alphadyte seemed a smite bit larger up close than it did from further back.

  Carlos must have thought so, too. He helped me to my feet and began easing me back with him.

  I realized the moment Tony passed us and kept on going that he indeed had the best idea. Because it seemed easier to outrun a wounded alphadyte than it did to confront it, Carlos and I quickly made tracks and followed Tony’s retreat.

  It might have been a good plan if poor Tony, exhausted, in considerable pain and completely out of breath, hadn’t fallen to the ground just a few steps further. Carlos and I helped him up. We each took an arm, draped it over our shoulders and dragged him off to... Well, I would have said safety, but who am I kidding?

  Up ahead, Ursula waved us on. She and Jerome had taken cover behind two large conifers. Both took turns stepping out and retreating again behind the trees. They had something planned. I only hoped it was good.

  “Come on,” I said to Carlos. “They’ve got something up their sleeves. Hurry!”

  Tony regained enough strength to carry most of his own weight, but his bad ankle continued to trip him up. Without Carlos and me holding him, he wouldn’t have made it. As it was, he almost didn’t.

  I could hear the crush of dried leaves and snapping twigs erupting behind us as we reached the two trees. The alphadyte was within reach. Why he didn’t snatch Carlos, Tony or me when he had the chance, I’ll never know.

  Just as we slipped between the two trees, Ursula emerged with a marvelous little zip ball. It was smaller than her last, but it danced in her hand with the nervous excitement that is the hallmark of great ones.

  “Now!” she yelled.

  I knew Carlos hadn’t figured out what was about to happen, so I took matters into my own hands... or feet, as the case may be. I reached out and kicked Carlos from behind, entangling my foot between his legs. The three of us went down just as Ursula launched her zip ball.

  The damn thing whistled over our heads, missing old monkey ass by mere inches. It hit a tree and exploded on contact, shredding bark like confetti and blinding the alphadyte enough to push him back several steps.

  The animal regrouped, shook the peppered bits from its face and started towards us again.

  While Ursula reloaded, Jerome swooped in low and grabbed Tony’s bayonet. He then hopped on the alphadyte’s shoulder and began stabbing it in the neck and head.

  The beast reeled back, swelled its chest and roared. Its mouth was huge, its teeth fearsome. Long. Sharp. Serrated. It tried to hook Jerome with its massive claws, but its powerful arms were too bulky, and the severed tendo
ns in its shoulder made a desperate reach of the bayonet impossible.

  Ursula, meanwhile, spun up another zip ball, but fear of launching it at the creature with Jerome still on its back made that option too dangerous.

  The creature let out an agonizing roar. Jerome’s blade had struck a major artery. Blood squirted from its neck, back, arms, chest and head. Still, the obstinate beast refused to die. It twisted and bucked its repulsive frame like a bronco attempting to throw its rider.

  “Jerome!” I shouted. “Jump!” I turned to Ursula. “Fire at its balls.”

  It’s funny that she couldn’t hit the creature when aiming at its four-foot wide chest, but give her a target the size of two grapefruits between its legs and she’s all over it.

  I think I saw Carlos and Tony wince when the zip ball tore through monkey ass’ scrotum and blew his nuts clean off. I sure didn’t wince when it brought him down, though. Seriously, that boy was hurt`n.

  We all gathered around the mortally wounded creature and awed at its sheer size, amazed that we were able to bring it down at all. Such a formidable goliath could have easily shredded us limb-by-limb had he gotten a hold on us.

  Even lying on the ground, dying as he was, I still didn’t feel comfortable in its presence. I felt that with every labored breath the animal took, he still had the capacity to spring back to life and sink its teeth into any one of us.

  In truth, however, its last breaths were numbered.

  I didn’t know if satisfaction, sympathy or respect motivated Carlos to do what he did next, but I have to think it was a little of all three when he did it.

  While the hapless creature lay on the ground, moaning, bleeding and just generally sounding pathetic, Carlos unsheathed his bolo, stepped up to the beast, hacked open its chest and unceremoniously cut out its heart. It was a real Lord of the Flies moment; I give you that, but somehow it seemed appropriate.

  When asked why he did it, he answered, “It’s a message for Doctor Lowell. Show him that he can’t fuck with us.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?”

  “You think monkey ass and Doctor Lowell are connected somehow?”

  “Of course. You saw them. These creatures were like guard dogs, his first line of defense. You noticed how they all wore leather collars?”