The Fledge Effect

by R. J. Henry

  Maddie grabbed her jacket as Emily rose from the chair. “I’m coming with.”

  Emily chuckled. “No, you are staying here. Because, if anything happens to me, I don’t want to feel responsible for something that might happen to you,” she said, reaching for the doorknob. “You got lucky at the market, let’s not push it.”

  She gave her sister a peck on the cheek. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

  She turned to her mother, who shook while holding the door open. She sensed her mother was worried. “I promise.”

  Before closing the door, Maddie said, “Bye,” as if she was never going to see her sister ever again.

  Emily’s stomach churned as she sat back into the seat. Was she doing the right thing? She felt a tight grip beneath her rib cage, reluctant to even start the car. The past is the past nothing can change that. Yet, she has decided to face its saddened memory once more. A memory she wants wiped clean, and forgotten. No one else knows, she thought. What harm would it be if I just left them? But, she decided it probably would be for the best to retrieve them. In order to never be discovered by Nick.

  Her phone began to ring. It was Nick.

  She answered it. “Hello?”

  “Hey…” Nick’s voice was thick with emotion.

  “What are you doing? Where are you at?”

  “I’m heading towards Meriden. I want to leave this state. Find someone that could help me.”

  “If you give Doctor Marcel some time, he could help you. Everyone, for that matter.”

  “I don’t have time to lose.”

  “Okay. Will you be back soon?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. Look, I just called to see if you were okay.” Emily’s engine turned on. “What are you doing?”

  “Going back to my house… I forgot something.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you go, then.”

  “Bye.” Her thumb trembled above the ‘end call’ button. Then, it hung up itself. “Okay, then.”

  She pulled out of the drive, slow, as to not hit any oncoming traffic coming her way.

  •••

  Fenced in areas surrounded the sides of the highway. At a paced speed, Nick approached a series of fencing. He couldn’t recall any news about a new prison being built. He looked closer, beyond the fence, and saw many familiar faces. A co-ed prison, he thought, that’s something new. Hard to believe it wasn’t placed on the news.

  The road continued to move back as he drove. The highway began playing tricks on his once straight gaze. His sight felt dizzy, when he kept focus on the yellow stripe. He looked up. “Okay, where am I?”

  Talking to himself seemed crazy, but it was the only way to distract himself from his basic desire; food, or in his case, blood.

  A sign, up ahead, read:

  INTERSTATE 691.

  He squinted his eyes back at the prison. On the ground, there were two guards. In each of the four stands, was a guard per stand. That’s an anomaly, for sure, he thought.

  “Well, that seems excessive,” he said, noticing how each guard held a machine gun, with at least a hundred visible rounds.

  He saw something disturbing. He shook his head not believing what his eyes were perceiving. It was a little girl, about ten or twelve. She sat her back towards the fence, holding her knees up to her chest. She rested her chin upon them. Her shoulders raised up and down; she had been sobbing for quite some time now. The thought of her being there was enough for him to burn inside.

  She’s only a child, for Christs’ sake. He had no idea of who she was, but he figured out why she was there.

  Nick stopped his car, and parked it on the side of the road. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the guards. One guard looked at him. Nick slammed his hands down on the steering wheel, pretending to fight with ignition. He flipped on his hazards, and the guard finally looked away.

  His eyes enlarged, realizing this wasn’t just any prison. Beyond the fences were icy blue eyes, much like his. Still, the one thing that made it abundantly clear were those with protruding sharp teeth that poked through their lips. He recognized the face of hunger when he saw it.

  They are encamping Fledges? For what? He could only assume the worse. They are lab rats. Staring at the guards, he half-joked to himself. “Looks like I’ll be eating after all.”

  He walked out to his trunk, and rustled around inside it. He searched briskly for his wire cutters amongst his black toolbox. He wished he had remembered to organize it better. The mess was impeccable. Soon, he found what he was searching for. Underneath the pile of tools, a rusty, yet workable, pair of wire cutters sat at the bottom.

  Moments before shutting his trunk lid, a voice broke through the whistling wind. “Can I help you, sir?”

  Nick jumped, and lowered the lid. A guard stood before him.

  “No, I’m good.” Nick smiled. He placed the wire cutters inside his pants pocket. He slammed the trunk down. The guard remained in his wide stance.

  “Are you broke down?”

  “I have a phone.”

  “Then, please, make your call and move along,” the guard said. His voice was adenoidal. The sound of it made Nick’s fists clench with shaking irritation.

  Nick raised his brows, but the guard continued to stand there. “Okay,” he breathed. “I’ll stay until your accommodations are made.” The guard relaxed against Nick’s headlight, lighting up a cigarette.

  He stepped away. The guard leered at him as he pulled his phone from his coat pocket. He paused for a moment. What he held in his hand was not his phone. This one was purple. He rolled his eyes, and switched it with his phone.

  He held it up to his ear, pretending to make a phone call.

  The guard, winced, interrupted Nick’s chatter. “Someone coming?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Nick breathed. He fixed his hat. The little girl continued to sit, rolled up into a ball. “So, uh, what is this place exactly?”

  The guard straightened his spine, widening his stance. His voice bellowed, with a deepened sense of confidentiality. “Sir. I ask you to not acknowledge the area over there. It does not exist. I demand you vacate this premises as soon as possible.”

  “I’m on the highway! You can’t tell me to leave a public space.”

  He allowed silence to fill the void between them. He shifted then frowned at the mouthy pedestrian. “Leave, now.”

  “Whatever.” Nick reached for his door. The shadow of the guard blocked the sun from Nick’s remaining exposed skin. The scent of sunblock still lingered upon his face.

  He propped his elbow on top of his door. “Can I ask you something?” He cocked his head to the side. His eyes squinted, but were not visible behind his darkened shades. The guard stared heavily at them.

  Nick leaned towards the guards’ ear. His scent intoxicated Nick with an insatiable need to delve right in. With a half-grin, he whispered, “You know what traveling does to a man? It makes him… Hungry.”

  The guard gulped. Sweat beaded down his temple. His knuckles turned white as he gripped his gun closer to his body. “Huh?”

  Nick yanked the gun from his hands, wrapping his entire mouth around the neck of the guard. The guard yelped in pain, as his skin became a sanctuary of food source.

  He released the guard, dropping him to his knees. The guard began twitching his arms to his chest. His torso planted on the asphalt. He trembled as he reached for his gun. But, the faint light of life left his eyes, leaving his hand to twitch once more before falling flat.

  He looked up at the girl, she stared at him. Her eyes were wide, but not fearful. Instead, Nick got the feeling that she felt almost relieved to see him. As if he were what she had prayed for. He ran towards her, and knelt into the damp grass. “I’m here to help you.” He felt this was wrong, but right at the same time. Never before, had he had to help someone else other than himself.

  The wire cutters began clipping away at the fence. She watched as he sawed his way through. The other guards were dismissing this area. She introduced her
self.

  He paused, noting her name. “Hello, Katie. I’m Nick.”

  “Do you know my dad?”

  Nick shook his head. “Probably not.”

  “Then, why are you helping me? Are you working with Agent Brinks and her partner Agent Myers?”

  He sighed. “Not with them.”

  “Then, who?”

  “Listen, let me help you. I can explain later. Just not here,” he said. He heard the harshness in his own voice, but hoped she wouldn’t take it the wrong way. He really did want to help her. But how could he if she didn’t trust him?

  She carried her gaze down, leading back to his. “Okay,” her voice trembled.

  “We will find him, okay?”

  “You promise?”

  “I don’t make promises unless I know they can be kept.”

  She understood. Her father once said the same thing to her when she asked if her cancer would go away. Even though, at the time, she knew that nothing would make it just go away, she gave up hope. Then, it happened. It did go away. Despite being transformed into something ravenous. Maybe, I could have hope this time, she thought.

  Guards rushed down from their towers.

  “Hurry,” she said, shaken.

  Smoke began rolling off his skin.

  Guards headed their way. In a grunted instant, Nick folded back the fence. “Okay, be careful. Come on.”

  She nodded. Guards appeared closer, maybe three feet away from her. She slid out of the fence. But, her shoelace was caught between the rivets of spiked wires. The guards neared closer. Nick, thinking fast, slid her foot free from the shoe. She screamed, “No, my shoe.”

  Nick pulled her to the road, opening the back door of his car. “My shoe! My dad got me these shoes! They’re my only pair!”

  He eyed her wobbling lip.

  He huffed, contemplating his next decision. He knew what he would be risking. But, the sadness in her eyes were much like Emily’s the day their divorce finalized.

  He raced back to obtain her shoe. Before a guard was able to swipe his wrist with their gun, the shoe broke free from the wiring of the fence.

  He hoped into the driver seat, and tossed back her shoe. “Here.”

  “Thank you,” she said, gripping the shoe close to her stomach.

  He turned back to her. “Did they hurt you?”

  She squeezed her eyes tight. “I-I’m not sure… Maybe. Can we just go, before—.” Her words were cut short by a vehicle slamming into the side of Nick’s car. The force caused her to whack her head on the window of the door.

  Nick, however, was able to hold his grip on the steering wheel. As he felt his body sway to the side, he gripped the wheel with both hands, keeping his head close towards the stomach of the wheel. He thanked God that his bag did not deploy. Yet, he grimaced at the fact it had not.

  He did not dwell on the faulty equipment. Instead, he focused his gaze upon the black jeep that had just pummeled into him. I could have been killed! Creases of frustration swept across his face. He looked closer into the jeep. In the driver seat, sat Brinks.

  “Of freaking course,” he screamed through his teeth. He recognized the bright, orange, glow of her hair. The excitement in her eyes grew as she kept her gaze on him.

  She smiled, pulling her vehicle in reverse.

  Nick tried to start his car, but he turned the key and nothing revved. He tried once more, only to find the key had broken in the ignition. He looked at Katie she lacked responsiveness. He yelled, “Katie, wake up. Katie.”

  She rubbed her fingers across her forehead. “Yeah, what happened?”

  Nick didn’t have time to respond. The sound of her engine grew louder. Brinks spun her tires, heeding towards them. He flung his arms in front of his face, forcing his eyes shut. “No, no, no!”

  Behind him, he heard the shrill of Katie’s shriek.

  Brinks inched closer towards them. He kept his eyes shut. A blast of two crashing vehicles rang in his ears. Shaking, he peeled his eyes open, and realized he remained in place. He seen an identical jeep. It smashed into her rear end, rolling her into a ditch.

  The mysterious jeep parked next to them. A darker man protruded out of the vehicle. He flung Nick’s door open. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

  “Wait who are you?”

  “George. Where is Emily?”

  “Not here,” Nick said, looking back at Katie.

  George looked off to the side. “Okay,

  come on.”

  “Why do you need Emily?”

  “To warn her who is behind this.”

  Even though he became confused, Nick did not neglect the need to get himself, and Katie, somewhere safe. He sensed a goodness from this man. He nodded. “I know where she is.”

  Brinks stepped out of her vehicle. Her black heels clicked on the pavement. She raised her gun, pointed at George. “Stop! I will shoot!”

  He didn’t listen.

  “I’m warning you!” Her hands gripped firmly on the handle, placing slight pressure on the trigger.

  George still did not listen.

  She fired once. All she needed to incur the change. Smoke blazed from the barrel, as it released a bullet she had designed; a CBH bullet. It pierced into his arm.

  He dropped to the ground, wincing in pain. His arm burned, soon burning into his chest. His pulse pounded hard against his eardrums, and his vision blurred with each beat. He blinked, and then she was gone.

  Tires screeched by them. She rolled down her window, staring at them with her steely gaze. She propped her shades above the brim of her nose. She smiled, almost cackling, as she sped out.

  Nick jumped to his side. “George!” The blood trickling down his bicep made Nick’s mouth feel incredibly dry.

  George stood up, wobbling in stance. “I’m fine… Let’s go.”

  “Your arm… Are you a—?” Nick said.

  George peered down. In his amazement, the hole began sealing itself. “I don’t think it was meant to kill me…”

  “What did she do?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, realizing the sound of his own pulse became incoherent, ceasing its rhythmic beat. “But I think I’m about to find out.”

  Chapter 16

  It was a quarter past nine. Emily froze at the frame of her bedroom door. Her fingers couldn’t resist the touch of the hand carved, glossed, wood one more time. Her heart weighed heavy inside her chest. The golden box, that held a cherished memory just as precious as the color she chose for its containment, taunted her.

  Her hand trembled over the metallic, glossed, lid. Putting it back in her purse was easier said than done, she realized.

  Casting a lazy stare at her window, a brush of darkness swooped by. Her steps were quiet, and met the crème colored curtain against the back of her hand. She grabbed a handful of the drape, breathing steadily while the dark shape returned. The outline was that of a tall man.

  She reached towards her hip, patting herself on both sides. The car, she thought, realizing where she had left her gun.

  The figure remained. She jerked back the curtain, dropping the railing onto the carpeted floor. She took a deep breath, grabbed the silver bar, and opened her eyes before shifting her body in front of the window.

  Her heart jumped. It was only a raven perched outside on her windowsill. Still, uncertain of staying much longer, she swiped up her memory box, placed it inside her purse, and left out the front door.

  She didn’t look back. Instead, a tight squeeze in her stomach urged her to leave right away. The silence eased her mind to focus. But then again, the silence turned her gaze upwards. Everybody is gone, she noted. No cars were visible. And the usual line of cars to head to the market, are nonexistent.

  She swung her arms around, alerted by their disappearances. The only remaining vehicle belonged to Jeremiah Daly. “Hmmm,” she said. The windows did not reveal any inhabitants inside, until the city councilman stepped out. He said his goodbye’s to Mayor Daly, before passing his
sight unto her.

  She took long strides to cross over to his yard. Before she could knock, it swung open with force. Mayor Daly shifted his shoulders, as he rubbed his throat, and then stifled a cough.

  She’s never noticed before, nor has she ever intended on being so close to him, but a single-image was tattooed on his pale, white, wrist: A Celtic sun. The sight, alone, stunted the words about to come out of her mouth. Ugh, a tattoo on an elected official? At least it isn’t a tramp stamp, she thought.

  “Emily… What are you doing here?” “T-the houses… Where is everybody? They were just here… Wait, why are you still here?”

  “Emily, calm down,” he grinned, “I’m sure they are just out of town, or doing shopping. Don’t worry. Maybe you should just go home and rest.”

  “All of them are just out?” she scoffed at his lack of ability to realize his own town is abandoned.

  “Yes. Maybe.”

  “Tell me what is really going on here.”

  He furrowed his brow, shaping his lips in a tight ‘O’. “What do you think is going on here?” His voice was tight, and severe. She expected to hear the response, “Nothing. There is just a huge sale going on in the next town over.” But, it’s not as if she would believe it anyhow.

  Instead, she took a few steps back, shaken by his reluctance to shed some light on to what is truly going on here.

  His eyes buried deep into hers. She swallowed hard, backing away. “I-I don’t know. Goodbye.” She knew lying could kill him. “Maybe you should go… out… as well.”

  “I will be.” His sinister voice, deep with cold hatred, sent chills down her spine. She couldn’t shake the feeling until he slammed the door shut between her and his tight gaze.

  A man stood by her car. His cheeks creased with a smile placed upon his face. His shoulder pressed up against her door. “Hey.”

  “Hey?” she said, hesitantly approaching him. Her knees trembled, stumbling her typically poised walk. His face calmed her nerves, as a lightness swept over her shoulders.

  “Everybody is gone,” he said, snuffing out his cigarette beneath his boot. “Are you Emily? I’m Mike.”

  “Depends…”

  “On what?”