The Change: Life

by J. C. Nichols

  Jacob picked her up by her hair and twitched the fingers of his free hand, which was covered in that robotic gauntlet he always wore, and the fingers elongated and reformed into long, sharp claws. In a blur of movement, he punched her in the chest with it, and the pain was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

  When he took his clawed hand away from her she understood why.

  He hadn't punched her.

  He had pulled out her heart.

  - ME -

  There is little more terrifying for any parent than to wake up to their kid screaming in terror. I didn't even stop to grab my shotgun, I just raced to Ivy’s room as fast as my legs would take me, bouncing off door frames and walls like a drugged-up pinball.

  "I'm dead! Dead. I'm dead... Dead. Dead!! Killed me." Was what I heard her babbling when I flew into her room, fighting to catch my breath. Jacob was holding her close, and she was balled up in the fetal position, crying and barely coherent.

  "Baby, are you OK?" I asked as I got to my knees and placed my hand on her back.

  She looked up at me and I gasped the same second that Jacob’s hand found my arm. Her eyes were coal black. "She's been like that since I got here." He said in a surprisingly firm, calm voice. How was he not freaking out over this? Then, he did see her explode someone, so I guess this wasn't that shocking.

  "Honey-sprout, can you hear me?"

  She moved her head towards me in several small, jagged motions, like she was fighting for every inch of movement. Her eyes were wide and unblinking.

  And then she screamed.

  Some unseen force propelled both me and Jacob away from her, and we bounced off the walls. My heart was beating so hard it felt as if it was trying to burst out of my chest. I was scared, yes, but it was more than that; I was terrified that the Ivy that I knew and loved was gone, was going to be forever changed even if she managed to survive this.

  Barking. Maxx. Maxx was barking at her. "Maxx! Shhh!"

  The hairs on the back on my neck stood up as I watched my daughter’s head move unnaturally to look upon her favorite thing in the world, eyes wide, nothing but black visible.

  Jacob must have read my mind. "Ivy, no, calm down, he's-"

  Maxx yelped in pain as his body began to quiver, as his legs began to shake.

  "Ivy… no..." Was all I could moan; was, in truth, all I could do. I realized then that I was completely powerless to stop her, regardless of what she wanted to do.

  I gasped as my beloved dog, Ivy’s best friend, a creature that I had known most of my life, exploded in a mist of fur and blood.

  Jacob commando crawled towards Ivy as she began to scream. He reached her just as she grabbed her head, rolling from side to side.

  I didn't know what to do. I just stood there, dumbly, feeling like more of a witness than an actual participant in the events that were unfolding before me.

  Jacob wiped the blood and fur off of her the best that he could, totally ignoring the mess that littered his body. "Ivy..."

  She slowly looked up at him. Her eyes were normal, but wide, and she was shaking violently.

  The window shattered as a metallic orb flew through it, quickly followed by three more.

  I took command of the situation. "Everyone, get up! We need to leave! If there's drones here, that means the Others aren't far behind!"

  Jacob picked his robotic arm gauntlet off the floor and put it on. "Take her. Go. I'll buy some time."

  "Jacob! No!" Ivy screeched as she grabbed his free arm, then stumbled.

  He turned and looked at her. "Ivy, go! We don't have much time!" He gave her a quick kiss which didn't alarm me for some reason, then attacked the nearest orb, shrugging Ivy off of him.

  "No!" Ivy screamed, trying to grab for him again, missing only because I grabbed her and pulled her out of the room.

  "He'll be fine. We have to get out of here. Now. Or we're all dead."

  She put up a fight, but at the end of the day, I was stronger than her – physically, at least – so I managed to pull her into my mom’s room. My mother was passed out cold, thanks to some “medication” she found.

  I let Ivy go as I went through the arduous process of waking up my mother. She stood there, obviously conflicted on whether she should go run back to Jacob or stay with me and help.

  Ultimately her daughterly bond to me won out.

  She ran around the room, gathering our base necessities in backpacks as we had hundreds of times before throughout the years. Every time a loud sound was heard from the battle at the other end of the house she winced, and her determination grew even more icy and focused. I stopped briefly to watch her; she was definitely her mother’s daughter.

  And she was being forced to grow up way too fast.

  We both jumped as a loud crashing sound came from Jacob’s area.

  Me and Ivy looked at each other at the same time. The Others. They were here.

  We redoubled our efforts and moments later were sneaking out to my truck. I didn't even have a chance to figure out what to do about Jacob, because our – my father’s – truck was being used as a chair by the biggest Other I had ever seen, wrapped in some sort of strange robotic armor that immediately reminded me of Jacob’s arm weapon. His right hand was missing its armor piece.

  I knew immediately that this was the creature Jacob stole his gauntlet from, that had attacked them a while back.

  Ivy froze. "It's him."

  My mother squinted and tried to steady herself, not fully lucid yet. "What the hell is that?!"

  I sat her down on the ground gently and grabbed my shotgun from Ivy’s hand. "Well, bud, you made a tactical error here. There's only one of you, and two of us."

  Ivy looked terrified, but she pulled her machete from her belt loop.

  Suddenly Ivy’s eyes grew huge and she looked around frantically. "Maxx! Mom, where's Maxx?! Maxx! Come here boy!"

  My heart broke. She didn't know. She couldn't remember. "Later." Was all I could manage to get out.

  The armored Other laughed, and the sound was mechanical and loud. And condescending. "You. Killed. Your. Dog. With. Your. Power."

  Ivy's eyes widened. Did he read my mind?!? I glared at the large armored figure. Other or not, I was about to fuck this thing up.

  "Wait. I'm here." I turned briefly to see Jacob, clothes torn and bleeding from multiple places, lumbering confidently towards us, his arm weapon wet and covered in blood. I swear I fell in love with him a little bit right then.

  Ivy looked immediately relieved and began to run for him. "Jacob!"

  He shook his head. "Not now. We have to deal with that thing first."

  "Ja. Cob." The creature said in an obviously amused voice.

  "Yeah, nice to see you again too. Let's do this." Jacob retorted, flicking the mechanical hand to the side, instantly making the fingers become bladed and long. The large armored figure pushed off the truck, standing erect.

  And then turned and grabbed the truck, lifting it into the air, and tossing it towards Jacob like it weighed little more than a basketball.

  Jacob yelled and fell to the ground just in time for it to go sailing over his flattened body and into the house, completely destroying the side of it. He then growled and got to his feet running, straight towards the armored figure. I snapped myself out of my immobility and snatched Ivy's machete out of her hand, dropping my shotgun and running towards him also.

  "Ivy? Ivy, what's happening?" I heard my mother ask behind me. I ignored her. I had to stay focused.

  Me and Jacob reached the figure at the same time, and we fought like a well-oiled machine. I slashed, Jacob stabbed, when one of us was being attacked the other exploited the open spot. We managed to dodge most of this creature’s blows, but I got the impression that it was merely playing with us, testing us, seeing what we were capable of. We didn't seem to be damaging it much, but we were definitely making our presence known. Jacob’s robotic arm seemed to do the most damag
e, cutting into its body wherever it struck.

  "Ivy, a little help, Sprout! Can you do that mind-thingy you do by any chance?" I grunted out to my daughter.

  "Mom, I can't! I don't know how to trigger it! It just happens!"

  A scream. My mother. As much as I've been through, as much as Ivy's been through, my mother had never actually seen or been a part of combat. I always kept her sheltered from that part of the world.

  "Mom! Calm d-"

  I suddenly couldn't speak.

  The armored figures hand was in my stomach.

  Colors flashed in front of my eyes, like a strobe light exploding right in front of my face. I dropped Ivy's machete and fell to my knees.

  "MOM!!!" Ivy screamed behind me. Jacob full-body tackled the armored figure, forcing it to withdraw its hand from my abdomen. I could barely make out what was happening in front of me. My vision was rapidly blurring. Jacob – this young man who was most likely in love with my daughter – was sacrificing his life to try and give me a chance to live.

  His life...

  We were going to lose this fight.

  I could hear my mother yelling my name, could hear Ivy screaming Jacob’s, could feel the air around me twist and twirl.

  My vision worsened as I tried to watch the fight between Jacob and the Other, but all I could make out was what looked like the creature lifting Jacob above his head.

  Then rapidly slamming him to the ground.

  And then stillness.

  It was then that I lost my senses. All of them.

  It was then that I died.

  - IVY -

  "I did it, didn't I?" Ivy asked Jacob without looking at him as he held her from behind and listened to the rhythmic sound of the rain falling down on the ceiling of their shelter. They were both sitting on the floor of a small run-down barn, looking at the still form of her mother’s body only a handful of feet away. They had appeared there suddenly, though Ivy knew it was something inside her that had whisked them all away to safety. Well, almost all of them. Her grandmother, for some reason, didn't come with.

  Or Maxx.

  Ivy absent mindedly took a small pebble from the ground and tossed it towards her mother’s head. It bounced off her forehead and rolled to the ground.

  "You're doing it again," Jacob grumbled.

  She put a little more pressure against him, enough to lay her head on his shoulder and look up at the barns dilapidated ceiling. "Doing what?"

  He waited several moments before he answered. "Asking me questions you already know the answers to."

  Ivy took a deep breath and exhaled, picking up another pebble and taking aim. "You know, you can really be an a-hole sometimes."

  Jacob didn't respond, just tightened his arms around her waist as she tossed the next pebble, which bounced off her mother’s cheek.

  "You know, I've known Maxx literally my entire life," She continued.

  Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I know. But you didn't mean to. That means something, Ivy."

  Thunder punctuated his sentence, causing Ivy to jump, and the rain immediately picked up its intensity…

  *

  They sat there for a long time, neither of them saying a word, both lost in their thoughts.

  "I think I love you," Jacob said randomly. “And that really sucks.”

  Ivy straightened and spun to face him. "Say what? Where did that come from? And why does it suck?!"

  Jacob met her eyes for several long moments, then looked away. "Yeah, I don't know. It was a stupid thing to say, I guess."

  Ivy didn't know what to say. In the midst of everything that was happening, everything she had done... everything that she was... that someone could fall in love with her... it was just unimaginable.

  "You're not a monster, you know," he said, still not meeting her eyes.

  "If I find out that you can read my mind, Jacob, I'm kicking your ass."

  Jacob chuckled. "Nah. I'm not Mi-... It was just a guess. I've known you for a few minutes now, and I think I understand the way your mind works pretty good. You're a lot more like me than you know. You're just more... vocal than I am. I think you get that from your mom."

  Ivy considered this. "Yeah, probably." She turned back around and leaned against him again, grabbing his arms and placing them around her like they were before. He seemed to relax.

  “Now why does it suck?”

  Jacob chuckled. “Because you're younger than me. It's just weird.”

  Ivy shook her head. “Yeah, because age really matters this day and age. Be careful – the Other police might throw you in jail.”

  Jacob squeezed her waist. “I'm not the only one who can be an a-hole sometimes, you know.”

  Ivy nodded. “It's a talent.”

  Silence enveloped them again. No matter how hard Ivy tried, she couldn't resist looking over at the prone body of her mother.

  "She's fine, Ivy. I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the last of her."

  By she, Ivy knew that he didn't mean her mother, but her grandmother, whom she had just started thinking about before Jacob said that. "I'm killing that thing, Jacob. I'll find a way. I promise. I don't care if I have to die in the process. He's going down."

  "Quit talking like that. You really do sound exactly like your mom sometimes, you know that?"

  Ivy nodded. "Yeah, I guess that can't be helped. She's got a strong personality. She's the strongest woman I know."

  "Me too," Jacob agreed.

  Silence.

  The rain picked up its intensity again, and Ivy wondered how long they were going to be able to stay there unmolested. It seemed like no matter where the location or what the conditions were, they could never stay in one place for too long. She was tired of constantly moving. What it must be like to live in one place for years, like her mother said she did when she was younger, before the Change. Before the world went to hell.

  "So tell me about your girlfriend.”

  Jacob jumped. “How-what?”

  Ivy sighed. “When we first met, I asked you if you had a girlfriend, and you responded not anymore. Tell me about her. What was she like? How did she die?”

  “How the hell did you remember that?” Jacob said, his voice thick with wonder.

  Ivy laughed lightly. “Yeah, you don't know girls very well at all, do you buster? Quit changing the subject.”

  Jacob was silent for a very long time.

  "Jacob?"

  "Her name was Mia.”

  Ivy felt a strange emotion go through her that she had never felt before. It was a bad emotion, and it kind of stung, and made her feel squeamish and uncomfortable. Almost as if saying her name made her somehow more real, a threat. She didn't understand the flood of emotions coursing through her at all. What made it even worse was that it was a really pretty name. She liked it.

  "Was she pretty?"

  Jacob sighed. "Why are we having this conversation? It doesn't matter. We weren’t even officially a couple. We were just kind of together.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Jacob shrugged. “I think she saw me as more of a wounded bird at first, something to protect. She met me at a very bad point in my life. And things evolved. Quickly. Maybe it was because we were basically the only decent people we knew, because both of us had been alone for so long that we clung to each other like life rafts, like we were all we had. In all reality, at that time, it was the truth. She was the first girl I met besides Aileen, Lyn's wife, and the only person I've ever known who truly accepted – even liked – me for who I was.”

  Ivy sat there, still, quiet, absorbing his words.

  Jacob stood up – an action that Ivy tried to stop by pressing against him harder, but he was stronger than her.

  So she stood up and turned to face him.

  He took her hand into his. "Come with me."

  Ivy blinked. "Come with – where? It's raining outside."

  Jacob smiled a strange, attractive lopsided s
mile that Ivy had never seen before. "Are you afraid you'll melt?"

  Ivy’s mouth playfully dropped open, then playfully smacked his shoulder. "You know better than that! It's just... fine. Where are you taking me?"

  "Outside. Come on."

  They went to the door of the barn, hand in hand, and forced the door open – then stepped out into the rain.

  She stared sideways at him as he led her even further out into the rain. "Is there a reason we're out here drowning?" She yelled, trying hard to be heard above the sound of the rain.

  He shook his head. "Nope. None at all," he yelled back.

  Ivy stopped moving and gave him the look, but Jacob pulled her hand and she acquiesced. They were 30 feet away from the barn before he stopped. "What do you see?"

  Ivy looked at him skeptically. "I can't see anything. It's raining too hard. And it's all dark and cloudy. What do you see?"

  Jacob shook his head. "That's the whole point, Iv. We can't see anything. There is so much out there, but we have no idea what it might be. This is a big planet, but we can see so little of it. We have no idea what's going on around us. Even when it's not raining. So all we can do is deal with what we can see... that is our reality. Nothing else really matters."

  Ivy thought about his words as she looked out in the rain. "But shouldn't it, though? If we live our lives like that, nothing will ever really change."

  Jacob shook his head. "You're not understanding. Everything can change, as long as we change our reality. If everyone changes their reality, the world changes too. I mean, that’s all the world really is: a collection of realities. Kind of like a patchwork quilt."

  Ivy gave Jacob another look, reevaluating him. "How did you get so smart? And if you're so smart, why the heck do you love me?"

  Jacob smiled, something Ivy could barely make out in the rain. "Books. Lots and lots of books. And Lyn was, well, he wasn't always evil. He was actually really smart. He made me think. He was good to talk to when he wasn't in one of his irrational rages. So was-"

  "Mia. Right. Got it."

  Jacob looked at her in a way that made Ivy uncomfortable. "You know, you have no reason to be jealous. I've known you a lot longer than I'd known her. And I think me and you are a lot closer than me and her ever were."