The Harvest (Book 1)

by Ferretti, Anne

  Austin ground his teeth together. He had to hand it to Roth for coming up with a plan so obscure not even those involved realized they were being manipulated, for executing his attack through reliance on primal emotions. Fear, desire, and the most primal of them all, survival, the underlying driver of all human actions.

  Austin pulled out his pistol and walked over to Chase, who held his hands up over his head, moaning for mercy. Austin poked him with the end of the barrel. “I’m not going to kill you, you miserable little fuck. Not yet. Not as long as you tell me something that’s not a lie.”

  “I didn’t lie about the portals.” He pleaded. “That’s worth some consideration isn’t it?”

  “We’re not negotiating Chase. What happened on those visits with Roth?”

  “Why are you wasting time on him?” Madison joined Austin. “I’ll shoot him if you won’t.”

  Austin sneered. “I might let you do that.” His smile quickly faded when a stab of hunger wrenched his stomach. He turned his head to find Eve staring at him. Chase? Did she want Chase for herself? She inclined her head. “You can have him.” Austin said under his breath, relieved when after having said this, the hunger sensation slipped away.

  “Did you say something?” Madison asked.

  Austin shook his head. “I’m waiting Chase.”

  Chase smiled. Madison hadn’t caught the exchange between the captain and that thing, but he did. He filed away this little tidbit of information, something that might prove useful in turning the tide of favor back in his direction. The tides of favor always turned. One had to be clever, as he was, and know how to predict the timing of tides. Even better than predicting the tides was manipulating them, a talent he happened to be good at.

  “Very well then. Yes, I accompanied Roth when he went to see the Sundogs, but I was never allowed inside the temple.” Chase scowled over Roth’s treating him like a peon. “If I questioned him on the nature of his visits, he’d ignore me or say something like, ‘All in due time my son’, but under no circumstance did he ever divulge what he’d promised to the Sundogs. And that Captain Reynolds is the truth.”

  “This is getting us nowhere.” Madison said. “Roth could have promised them anything or nothing, but he’s not going to tell us being that he’s dead.” Madison nodded her head in the direction of his body. “Might have kept him alive instead of this worthless scumbag.” She kicked Chase’s leg.

  The reproach in her tone was not missed by Austin. And perhaps he’d acted in haste when he killed Roth, but he had no regrets and still believed Chase knew more than he let on.

  “What about those pictures you took? The ones of warehouses full of people?” Chase’s eyes bugged out of his head, which validated Austin’s assumptions without Chase having to open his mouth. “Tell me.” Austin said.

  “They were...they were.” He stammered. “I mean I only took them to...”

  “Is that where my wife is? My son?” Austin leaned down close to Chase. “You tell me the truth. You tell me right now or I’ll shove this rifle down your throat and squeeze the trigger until it goes click.”

  Chase whimpered and tried to back away from Austin, but Madison blocked his path. With nowhere to go and out of options Chase shriveled himself into a ball. “She was there. She was there. But that was weeks ago and I haven’t been back.”

  “Back where? Where damn it?” Austin shoved Chase over onto his back. “Where Chase?” His voice remained steady, but every muscle ached to smash the rifle butt into Chase’s mealy face, only Madison’s hand on his shoulder stopped him from doing so.

  “On Bliss.” Chase cried out. “Bliss. Bliss by god. Bliss.” He continued repeating this, moaning incoherently, finding his senses and then losing them again. “We built the warehouses you see. But not for them. Not for them at all. They were for storing goods and such. Oooh.” He rocked back and forth. “They were for our survival, but then Roth upset them.”

  “Upset them? How?” Austin demanded.

  “He couldn’t deliver. He promised and couldn’t deliver.”

  “Promised what?”

  Chase stopped moaning to look up at Austin “Bodies. He promised them live bodies, people they could harvest. For their organs and blood. Especially the children. They really fancied the young ones. They were a delicacy it seemed.”

  “Are you telling me Roth was delivering children to the Sundogs in order for them to harvest their organs, to eat?”

  “Not just children, but yes to address your question. The pickle he’d gotten himself into was he couldn’t deliver enough. He couldn’t find them quick enough. He had to be careful, you know, so as not to get caught.”

  “I thought you didn’t know what he’d promised them.” Madison said.” Your story keeps changing slime and I’m getting sick of your lies.”

  Chase rolled his eyes her way. “Even a half breed such as your self should be capable of getting down to the brass tacks of truth versus lies. A cinch and clinch, right detective?”

  “Half breed?” Madison choked. “Not since the second grade when I beat the crap outta Tommy Finnegan have I been called a half breed. That’s a good one Chase. But you’re not getting me off your back with childish insults.”

  “Chase, I’m ten seconds from ridding the world of your filth. Roth promised them bodies? Or he promised them something else? Which is it?”

  “Both Captain Reynolds. Both.” He whimpered when Austin poked him hard in the chest. “Barbaric measures are not necessary.”

  “You haven’t seen my barbarian side yet. Now get to it.”

  “Fine. Ok. It’s true about the bodies and it’s true about the other, of which I was not privy, and it is the latter of the two that is precisely where the blame for the downfall of the human race should be placed.” He informed them with an air of indignation, wanting all to know he was not responsible. “Weeks before the end Roth made several trips without me, or my knowledge. It was on his final trip that, unbeknownst to the general, I followed him to Bliss. There he met with the Sundogs as usual. And he left as usual. I was planning my return to Earth to take place fifteen minutes after his, knowing he would be clear of the landing zone by then and never suspect I’d followed. But something went horribly wrong. And, well you know the rest.”

  Austin took all of this in, processing the facts, piecing together that which made sense and tossing the rest. After several minutes of silent reasoning he came to the sound conclusion that a piece was missing. He met Madison’s gaze. Her raised brow told him she’d reached the same conclusion. Knowing Chase for the lying scum he was, Austin also had to conclude that the man himself was somehow, directly or not, involved in or the cause of the Sundog’s displeasure which ultimately brought their wrath down upon Earth.

  35 FLIPPING TIME

  Standing over where the boy’s robe lay crumpled on the floor, Eve was aware the room had grown quiet, that they’d ceased talking to observe her actions. Their scrutiny and curious stares didn’t agitate her nor make her feel self conscious. Humans were skittish creatures, almost as if they sensed their existence was a precarious one. Her presence served as an amplifier, intensifying their insecurities.

  Not knowing why it was disturbing, she understood her lack of clothing bothered them almost as much as her diet. Kneeling next to the robe, she picked up the garment and brought it to her face. The boy, Jeremy, had a pleasant odor, not sweet like her sniveler, which was good. She slipped the robe on, tying the sash as she stood.

  The length was perfect, falling right above her feet, but the material was heavy and already she felt warm. She turned to face them. It was time to leave the mountain. Austin could ask his questions later. This wasn’t the time to share the sniveler’s dirty little secrets. Soon enough he would divulge all he kept hidden in his fetid brain, she would ensure he did so before dying, but for now they must be on their way. Although, had she been able to look further into Chase’s secrets she might have felt inclined to encourage him to share right then and the
re. There was no way she could have known that trapped beneath his fetid thoughts were some of the answers she’d longed to know.

  Walking towards the door, she beckoned Austin to follow. She did not care if the others came or stayed behind. It was only Austin who mattered to her. He was why she was under the mountain. Why she’d allowed the soldiers to capture her, and Roth to keep her in a glass box for over a year. But no matter now, for her days in captivity were a blip in her life compared to centuries of waiting, waiting for this moment.

  The ever present force inside her mind, guiding her through the millenniums, had been responsible for her finding Austin Reynolds. This she was sure of and as certain of this she also knew, without doubt, he was there for the sole purpose of finding the answer to her only question. Who was she?

  Stopping at the door she waited for Austin to follow, but he shook his head at her. She didn’t know what this meant. No, he wouldn’t go with her. No, they weren’t leaving yet. She watched him approach, noticing how he averted his eyes from looking directly into hers. This puzzled her. Did she frighten him? Did he find her repulsive? Neither of these seemed plausible so she stopped wondering. His motives were not important to her.

  “We can’t leave it’s after dark.” Austin showed his watch to her. “The Sundogs come out at night. Do you understand?” His tone was similar to that used on a child.

  How very amusing, she thought. He believed her to be daft. This so amused her, she didn’t realize she smiled like the idiot she appeared to be. His puzzled expression made her want to laugh out loud as she’d heard human’s do often. The sound of her own laughter would have been foreign to her ears, having never done so before.

  “We’ll leave in the morning.” Austin added. “Do you understand?”

  She shook her head. It was not night, it was morning. His watch was wrong.

  “No, you don’t understand?” He asked.

  She shook her head again. Of course she understood. She understood everything being said to her, about her and around her, regardless of the language used. She knew languages that had been dead for centuries and could still speak them all fluently. Despite never having met anyone who spoke the same, she preferred her own language over all others, in particular and especially the English language as it stood today.

  Seeing that her silence was agitating him she pointed to his watch and shook her head. It is morning, not night. She pointed to the door.

  Austin shook his head at her and pointed to his watch. “It’s night and we can’t go up until daybreak.” He insisted.

  Pointing to his watch, she pretended to break something in half. She repeated this over and over.

  “My watch is broke? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  She nodded.

  “Madison. What time is it?”

  “Five oh two P.M.”

  “Luke?”

  “Same.”

  “See. We all have the same time. Five oh two P.M. Is Madison’s watch broke too? And Luke’s?”

  Again she mimicked breaking something and nodded.

  “So what time is it?” Austin wasn’t sure what to make of her claim and wished she would talk rather than go through this tedium of communicating by charades.

  She mimicked someone waking up.

  “Morning. It’s morning not night?”

  She nodded.

  “You’re wrong.” He argued.

  She pointed to the door, indicating for him to come with her. Austin could only stare, frustrated over her inability or unwillingness to speak. As he stood there trying to decide which it might be, a conversation he had with Zack about the video of the sunrises and sunsets steered his train of thought down another path. Zack had commented about how the time stamp on the surveillance was wrong, or backwards. And how he felt they were living under a dome.

  Austin hadn’t given it much if any more attention, but something clicked right then. Pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Zack’s comments, Eve insisting his watch was broken or wrong, saying it was morning not night. Could it be possible the Sundogs had manipulated time? Or somehow made night appear as day? But why would they do this? To what gain?

  If they weren’t nocturnal and preferred daylight what did they gain by flipping time? Austin racked his brain trying to make sense of this. By flipping time they made us think day was night and fearing detection, we stayed inside out of sight. If we didn’t come out during the day, they were free to move about undetected. Why does anyone want to go undetected? Because they don’t want anyone to know what they’re doing. Which was...what? He had no answer to this last question. However, he did know where he might find one.

  “You might be right about my watch.” He admitted to Eve. “But we still can’t leave the mountain right now.” She shook her head at him. “If you could tell me where you want me to take you.” He sighed at her blank expression, not knowing how to make her understand that he was going to Bliss in the morning and Chase was going to show him the way.

  Her brow creased as he finished this thought. She crossed her arms and lowered her body into a squatting position. Again he wondered if she could read his mind and a shiver ran down his spine.

  Turning to Madison, Austin instructed her to help the girls gather their things. At the very least they would leave this prison behind. He then gave orders for Luke and Jeremy to haul all the bodies into this room. What was once a prison would now become a tomb.

  The girls did as Madison directed, moving about in an insentient state. The realization that they were truly free was beginning to sink in and although scared, the excitement grew over the prospect of leaving behind their nightmare. They quickly packed the few belongings Roth allowed them to have and followed Madison out the door. None looked back, but they all glanced over as they passed by Eve who crouched next to the doorway. It was the closest they’d ever been to her. They did not stare for long.

  Once the living had cleared out, Luke and Jeremy filled the room with the dead. It took them near two hours to haul the deceased from various places in the section where they had died. In the end the body count came to forty four.

  As they were dropping the bodies, Luke didn’t think about the task at hand, he just acted. Numbing his mind had become an automatic response ever since Lamar. After seeing those kids he knew he would never be the same, never think the same, never feel the same. A part of him had died on that road. He functioned on auto pilot more often than not.

  Madison had noticed the change in his behavior. He knew by the way she looked at him, worried over him. Even though the lies came easier these days, he knew she wasn’t buying what he was selling. Not that it mattered. The world was a pile of shit. There was no point in anything they did now or going forward. Even if the Sundogs left the planet, the damage was complete and could never be undone. Not in a hundred lifetimes.

  But Luke would never say this out loud and not ever in front of Austin. He had too much respect for the captain to question his motives, but he often wondered what the captain would do if he found his wife and kid. What if the Sundogs had them? The captain was a great soldier, but not even he could go up against the aliens.

  Feeling indifferent, Luke looked over the pile of bodies they’d stacked in the far corner of the room. He glanced at the cables swinging in the air and the pile of glass underneath. Austin had mentioned something about a glass prison, but that was all. Luke suspected the odd girl, or being, had been kept inside that glass prison. His gaze drifted over to her.

  She was still in a crouched position, arms wrapped around her legs, staring outward at nothing. He’d never seen eyes like hers. Solid black like they were. And the way she moved reminded him of a video he’d seen once about lions. Not the warm and fuzzy scenes of the lioness watching over her cubs, playing with them, but the killing scenes where the lions stalked and killed their prey. It was savage, yet beautiful at the same time.

  That’s how he would describe the girl, a creature to be admired from a far distance. He knew not
hing about her to form this opinion, only doing so based on his limited perception. He’d be alarmed to know how right he was in his assessment. Worse yet, if he could hear her thoughts at that particular moment, those concerning his blood, he would most likely keep a healthy distance from, and a watchful eye on her.

  If forced to, Luke would confess to being a little frightened by her, but not kid afraid of the boogey man frightened. In any case it was unfounded fear. Austin wasn’t afraid of her in the least, which gave him some comfort, but of course the captain wasn’t afraid of anything. Luke watched Austin walk over and crouch down next to the girl creature. How did she fit into the grand scheme of things? Maybe she was who the Sundogs were looking for. Maybe she...maybe she was.

  “Luke.” Jeremy tapped him on the shoulder, making him jump. “Sorry man.”

  “Yeah. No problem.” Luke continued turning over the possibility.

  “That was the last body.”

  “Good. Let’s get outta here.”

  They walked towards the door. Luke, lost in his thoughts, didn’t notice Eve’s eyes following him. Jeremy told Austin they were through and asked if they could do anything else.

  “See if Madison needs help. She said something about finding food for dinner.”

  “Yes sir.” Jeremy replied, the idea of dinner wasn’t all that appealing, but he hadn’t eaten since morning and needed to replenish if nothing else.

  “Luke, you good?” Austin asked, but Luke didn’t hear him. Louder. “Luke.”

  “Huh?” Luke muttered. “Can we talk later?”

  “Sure. After dinner?”

  Luke nodded. He took a quick peek at the girl creature and almost walked into the wall when he saw she was looking up at him. He made a hasty exit before Austin could ask questions. He ran down the hall catching up to Jeremy, glad to have his company, glad to take his mind off the girl.

  Luke and Jeremy found Madison in the dining room. She and the girls had made efficient use of their time. The table was laid out and tantalizing scents drifted in from the kitchen. Chase sat handcuffed to a chair scowling at the girls as they walked by ignoring him. If not for knowing what a despicable man he was, Luke would have felt a measure of pity for Chase.