Love Bug

by Goodhue, H. E.

  “I’m not a Red,” he yelled. “Am I screaming? We don’t have time for this. Come on!”

  “My brother,” the girl gasped, “he’s unconscious. And my mother…my mother…” A sudden deluge of tears cut off the girl’s words.

  “Your mother is gone. I’m sorry,” Remmy said, mustering all the compassion he could give the current situation. “Slide your brother to me and I’ll carry him. Can you walk?”

  “I think so,” the girl said, as she began moving her brother towards the opening.

  Remmy grabbed the boy and pulled him out of the wreck. The girl followed close behind.

  “Thank you,” the girl choked, tears still streaming down her face.

  “You’re welcome,” Remmy grunted as he lifted the boy onto his shoulders. “We need to move, now! Run for the trees.” Remmy pointed back towards the copse of old pines.

  The Reds’ screams grew louder, but Remmy refused to look behind himself. He needed to believe that he would make it to the trees and that he had a chance. If he looked behind him, Remmy knew the Reds would get him.

  “Climb!” Remmy yelled as the girl reached the tree.

  “Climb?” she asked. “I don’t know how…I’ve never…”

  “Just grab the branches and keep going,” Remmy coached. “Get up a little and then help me pull him up.”

  The girl leapt up and began climbing. She was a quick learner. As Remmy hefted the boy into the branches, he noticed that the girl had stopped crying, a look of determination set in her face. The girl looked amazing, like the pictures, Remmy had seen in books at school. She had the confident expression of the statues Remmy had seen of Roman and Greek goddesses. This girl was strong.

  The Reds closed in on the trunk of the tree just as Remmy pulled himself into the safety of the tree. They screamed in frustration.

  “What do we do now?” the girl asked.

  “We wait,” Remmy said, knowing that the boy needed medical attention. “Hopefully, if we’re quiet, the Reds will wander off. They get distracted pretty easily.”

  “Thank you,” the girl said again.

  “You already said that,” Remmy smiled. “You don’t have to say it twice.”

  “I’m Cora,” she smiled. Another strange feeling blossomed in Cora’s chest, this one warm and pleasant. “That’s my brother, Xander. Is he going to be okay?”

  “I’m Remmy,” Remmy grinned. “I think he’ll be okay. He just looks banged up.” Even though Reds surrounded them, wanting to tear them apart, he couldn’t help but smile. This girl was beautiful, unlike any Remmy had ever seen before.

  “You’re an Emo, aren’t you?” Cora asked.

  “That going to be a problem?” Remmy smirked.

  “No,” Cora smiled, “no, it’s not.”

  -6-

  Assemblyman Eldritch stood in the small foyer that led into the main garden of the Stele house. Being the highest-ranking member of the Citizen’s Assembly, he was given the privilege of living there. His family was kept safely inside the city walls and conveniently out of the way at another house. Eldritch could vaguely remember the feelings he had once had for his wife, those intense and overwhelming emotions that drew them together, that were now dulled by his Em-Pak, allowing him to focus single-mindedly on his work. He was important, made decisions that allowed citizens to endure, allowed humanity to endure and some day, so would his children, especially Cora. She showed great potential and would hopefully carry the Eldritch family name further into the pages of history.

  With the shackles of his family removed, as well as all feelings of guilt, Eldritch had climbed to a point where he answered to no one, except of course, the ERC. All were accountable to them. But someday, with the proper handling, Cora could find herself the head of the ERC, something that Eldritch had yet to attain.

  Eldritch had always marveled at the genius nature of his father’s invention. Em-Paks were designed to control emotions, but not the urges behind them. People still strove for power, had the urge to procreate, but lacked the emotions to interpret the importance of these actions beyond continuing the human race. There was no joy in parenthood, as it was simply a means to an end. There needed to be a new generation to carry on the important work of the ERC, so there needed to be children. Parenthood was that simple.

  “Sir,” an aide said from the doorway. From the way his Em-Pak was chirping repeatedly, Eldritch knew whatever the aide was going to tell him was going to be unpleasant.

  “Yes?” Eldritch snapped. “What is it? We’ve got to film the final address. Is my family prepped for the cameras? I want Cora directly to my right.”

  “It’s about your family, sir,” aide said slowly. Eldritch was worried that the man might actually break his Em-Pak from the stress he was currently putting it through.

  “Yes, yes,” Eldritch grumbled, as he quickly reviewed his talking points. “Make it quick.”

  “Your family was been delayed, Mr. Eldritch,” the aide continued.

  “Delayed?” Eldritch growled. His eyes temporarily flared with anger before his Em-Pak beeped, soothing these feelings. “Was there car trouble or something of that nature?”

  The aide hesitated. “No sir, it wasn’t car trouble. It appears that their limo was ambushed by a pack of Reds.”

  “Ambushed?” It was Eldritch’s Em-Pak’s turn to work overtime. “A pack of Reds? That’s nonsense. They never travel in groups of more than two or three.”

  “Apparently, sir, they do,” the aide answered. “The feed from the limo’s cameras showed at least two large groups of Reds closing in on the limo before it crashed. We estimate somewhere between forty to fifty Reds. An ERC recovery team was prepped the second we received the distress call from the limo’s guidance system, but I fear they will arrive too late. Your wife appears to have died in the crash as well. Your children have apparently been taken. Teams will be sweeping the area for them as soon as we have your go ahead, sir.”

  “My wife is dead?” Eldritch asked. “My children have been kidnapped?”

  “Yes sir,” the aide nodded. “That is what preliminary reports seem to indicate, but there’s something else, something unexpected.”

  “Unexpected?” Eldritch scoffed. “As if an entire pack of Reds is anything but that? What else could be unexpected?”

  “Before we lost the camera feed,” the aide paused, “well, before it cut out, we saw the image of what appeared to be a young Emo male. We suspect that he was working with the Reds.”

  “Working with them?” Eldritch asked, his voice betraying a note of concern before his Em-Pak corrected his feelings.

  “Yes sir,” the aide nodded. “We can’t think of why else the Emo would be there. The Reds are just as likely to kill them as they are us, but this boy was somehow at the crash site unharmed.”

  “I see,” Eldritch said slowly. “Cancel the recovery team, but keep me informed of the situation,” he barked over his shoulder as he walked towards the large double doors that would let him into the garden.

  Some small piece of him screamed for him to feel something, anything at this news. Fear that the Emos and Reds might be working together, sadness over the death of his wife, concern for the safety of his children, but the only thing that Eldritch felt was opportunity.

  -7-

  The Reds began to wander off as the sun dropped lower into the sky. Remmy could no longer feel his legs or butt and imagined Cora was feeling about the same. Xander had woken up for a brief period and then fallen asleep again.

  Cora knew it was bad to let Xander sleep and that he could possibly have a concussion, but he hadn’t thrown up or complained and there really was nothing else for him to do. Remmy helped her tie Xander to the trunk of the tree with his belt.

  “Looks like only one is left down there,” Cora whispered. A shadowy figure grunted from near the base of the tree.

  Remmy nodded. “Okay, stay here. I’ll deal with the last Red and then we’re getting out of here.”

  “Wai
t,” Cora said reaching out to touch Remmy’s arm. A small electrical tingle danced through her fingers and ignited fiery butterflies in her stomach.

  “Yeah?” Remmy asked, glancing down at where Cora’s hand touched his arm. They had been outside all day, yet her fingers still felt warm.

  “Oh, um,” Cora mumbled as she jerked her hand back, trying to make it look natural, but failing miserably. “Do you think it’s a good idea to go and fight that Red?”

  “Good idea?” Remmy chuckled. “No, it’s a terrible one, but I’m open to other suggestions if you got any.”

  “Can’t we just wait for someone to come and get us? I’m sure my father will send someone soon,” Cora offered, but immediately realized how badly that would end for Remmy.

  “Your father will send someone?” Remmy asked. He knew this girl had to be the child of someone important, but hadn’t stopped to consider it yet. “Who are you?”

  “Me?” Cora asked, realizing that her comment had given more away than she had intended. Her heart hammered in her chest. “I’m no one. I was just saying that I thought all vehicles had an emergency call if they crashed. I thought maybe my father would have known by now and sent help.”

  “No offense,” Remmy smirked, “but don’t you think they’d be here already if they were coming? Besides, I’m not waiting around for the ERC to show up. I’d rather take my chances with the Red. Stay here, okay?”

  Cora shook her head yes, but the idea of Remmy leaving her filled with a strange swirling sensation somewhat like the time she had ridden a roller coaster at the amusement park in the Stele, but even that had felt more controlled than this. Her mind and body were in revolt and Cora had no idea why. She was in awe of Remmy’s bravery and selflessness and also terrified by the prospect of him never coming back.

  “Be careful,” Cora whispered as Remmy began quietly moving lower.

  Remmy paused to look up and smile. Why was this girl making him smile so much and at such inappropriate times? He needed to focus.

  The Red paced around the base of the tree, a crude blade in its left hand. Remmy had no idea how he was going to handle this one. The first Red had been unarmed and distracted.

  A large pinecone brushed Remmy’s cheek as he hovered on the branch above the Red. At first, he irately slapped it away, but then thought better and grabbed it. A pinecone was a poor weapon against a Red, but maybe he could still find some use for it.

  Remmy pitched the pinecone around the other side of the tree. It made a faint rustling were it landed in some tangled underbrush and leaves. The Red’s head snapped towards the sound and it dropped lower to the ground, flattening itself like the jungle cats Remmy had seen in his schoolbooks. This was what he was hoping for.

  As the Red moved towards the sound, Remmy aimed his feet and leapt off the branch. His boots landed squarely in the middle of the Red’s back. A sickening crunch sounded from the Red’s back, followed by its angry screams. It flailed the knife, but its legs refused to move.

  Seeing that Remmy had incapacitated the Red, Cora unstrapped Xander and began moving out of the tree. She dropped to the ground just behind Remmy.

  “Come on,” Cora hissed. “Let’s get out of here before anymore Reds show up.”

  “We can’t leave yet,” Remmy said, a sad look in his eyes. “We can’t leave her like this.”

  “Her?” Cora almost cried. “Remmy it’s a Red, a monster. It would have killed us if it got the chance, maybe worse.”

  “She’s not a monster,” Remmy said softly. “She’s just sick. It’s not her fault.” Remmy searched the ground for a rock, but found none. “Cora, go wait for me over by those trees, please.”

  “Remmy,” Cora began to argue, but saw that he had already made up his mind. “Okay.”

  Cora watched as Remmy stepped down on the Red’s arm and pulled the knife free. It was growing dark, but she could still make out his silhouette as he knelt down on the Red’s shoulders, pinning it to the ground. It screamed ferociously as Remmy leaned forward and made a quick motion with his arm. The Red fell silent.

  “Let’s go,” Remmy said, tears in his eyes.

  Cora could feel her heart breaking for Remmy, could feel the jagged shards of it travel through her body tearing her apart. She felt sick, but it was nothing like the colds or illnesses she had suffered before. This was worse.

  “I’m sorry you had to do that, Remmy,” she offered, hoping it might help.

  “Yeah,” Remmy muttered, “me too, but it couldn’t be helped. Let’s go, I’m sure everyone back at my camp is worried.”

  “You’re taking us there?” Cora gasped. “Is that safe?”

  “For who?” Remmy laughed, “You or us?”

  Cora felt waves of heat on her face, could feel the prickle on the back of her neck. Had she just insulted Remmy?

  “I just meant that, well, I mean,” Cora struggled for the words.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Remmy grinned. “We need to get your brother checked out and my camp is the closest place, so that’s where we’re going.”

  Cora nodded. As Remmy moved to pick up Xander, his bare arm brushed against Cora’s. Millions of tiny bolts danced through her skin, goose bumps involuntarily rising on her arms.

  “You okay?” Remmy asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” Cora nodded, “I’m fine.” But the truth was that she wasn’t. Cora knew something was wrong with her. Something had happened.

  The realization that she had spent the entire day in a tree with a strange and exciting boy, surrounded by Reds and not once heard her Em-Pak’s telltale beep dawned on Cora.

  “Let’s go,” Remmy smiled and started into the woods. Cora followed close behind. Something was definitely wrong, something terrible and life altering. With trembling fingers, Cora gingerly touched the back of her neck. The Em-Pak was still there, still felt like it always had, but it had spent the entire day silent. Something was very wrong and Cora was beginning to think that she might enjoy it.

  -8-

  “Despite our best efforts and the tireless work of the ERC, the Red threat has reemerged even more dangerous. It is with great concern that I report the kidnapping of my children. It is with an even deeper sadness that I report the passing of my wife, as well as an ERC officer who fought valiantly to protect my family.”

  Assemblyman Eldritch paused and let his speech sink in. It was strange to say “an even deeper sadness” about the death of his wife because the truth was he felt nothing, least of all sadness. But the expression was something that citizens had clung to from the old times. It was also an expression that Eldritch hoped would soon be forgotten. So many words wasted on sentimentality and ceremony.

  Citizens had expected the annual speech commemorating the work of the elder Samuel Eldritch and his invention of the Em-Pak. Assemblyman Eldritch’s words shocked them. He could almost hear Em-Paks citywide chirping loudly, doing their best to correct the fear that he was doing his best to foster.

  The citizens had become complacent, had come to believe that the worst of times had passed and that belief was dangerous. They needed to be reminded why they needed the Assembly and the ERC. Too much safety, too much freedom, those were the building blocks of independent thought. Eldritch was currently doing his best to scatter those blocks, to make citizens remember why they needed him.

  “And now good citizens, I must ask you to put aside your concerns for my family. Please rest assured that the ERC is doing everything in its power to rescue my children and punish those responsible for the death of my beloved wife. I ask you to put those concerns aside, because an even greater threat darkens our doorways, an even more malignant cancer has taken root outside the walls of our cities.”

  The crowd began to shift uncomfortable at what Eldritch was preparing to unveil. There would undoubtedly be some feathers ruffled at the ERC, but with his family planted at the center of this debacle, Eldritch could easily smooth things over. The ERC would need him, would need his family as a rallying cal
l to the citizenry. Once this was over, Eldritch could practically vote himself in as the head of the ERC – something he had previously felt slipping through his fingers.

  A few beeps from Em-Paks attached to those citizens in the front row shook Eldritch from his thoughts. He smiled as he listened to the faint chirps of the Em-Paks. His own quickly answered the call, correcting his own feelings. A few more Em-Paks sounded in the crowd. They were scared. That was good. It was time for Eldritch to drop a bomb and solidify his place.

  “We have survived much, sacrificed much to secure our place in this world. We have faced the virus, conquered it with my father’s invention of the Em-Pak. We have significantly cut down on the numbers of those monstrous, mindless Reds that threatened our children, our way of life. But even this has not been enough. No, good citizens, it is our fellow man who currently poses the greatest danger to us. Those misguided few that choose to live without Em-Paks. I speak of Emos of course. They were once thought to be little more than the seeds of future Reds, but now they have proven themselves to be something far worse, something far more dangerous. The Emos have joined forces with the Reds to destroy all of our hard work. My family’s blood was the first drawn in this new war and I intend to ensure that it will be the last! My family will not have suffered in vain! We must punish these terrorists! It is our duty and will be my honor to wipe the Emos and Reds from the face of this earth!”

  The citizens began to cheer and clap, though their eyes were blank and glassy. They were well trained. Eldritch had them exactly where he wanted them.

  “Following this speech, I will be going directly to the ERC Council to petition for increased patrols, increased funding and increased protection! I will ensure that no family suffers as mine has. I will ensure that you are safe! That is the legacy of the Eldritch name! It is my birthright, a torch passed on to me by my father and my honor to carry! With your support, good citizens, I will lead us through these dark times and into the future that we have all dreamed of, the future that is rightfully ours!”