Genetic Drift

by Martin Schulte

  Marcus pointed back to the Trolls, “It’s either the woods or them.” Just as they looked at where Marcus was pointing, Maynard appeared and started shooting his rifle. It was reciprocated with a blue orb that hurtled toward him, hitting him in the jaw and knocking him down. His jaw and his beard evaporated, but he got back up to his feet with one hand covering his throat where his tongue used to be. The blue orbs continued to surround him and the upper part of his head bobbed as if he were shouting. Another blue projectile hit him and he fell down again. This time he didn’t get back up and all they heard was a single shot from his rifle.

  All of them were frozen, staring at what had just happened to Maynard. Marcus was the first to turn back to the woods, “Come on, let’s go,” he hastened the others. Maddie led the way as the underbrush began to thicken and bog down her stride. Barron, shorter than Maddie, had more difficulty plodding through the thickets and branches at their feet. As they made it past the first couple of trees, the lightning storm behind them began to lessen until they could not see any more of the blue flashes.

  Maddie stopped in a small clearing after a few minutes, “Do you think we’re safe?” She looked backed and saw Barron twenty feet behind, taking deep laboring breaths, trying to catch up to her.

  “I think we need to keep going,” he said in between deep breaths as he finally reached the clearing. Mac and Marcus were soon standing in the open patch and looked behind them. All four of them scanned through the darkness trying to catch a glimpse of the terror-causing blue agents of death.

  “Where else are we supposed to go?” Barron was looking for direction. “Do we go deeper into the woods?” He was the most shaken of the group.

  Marcus looked down at him, “We should go…” a blur orb came humming past, barely missing Mac. Not knowing the source of the shot, they crouched down to scan the trees again. Barron sighted a glowing blue orb.

  He pointed in the direction of his view, “There it is,” he yelled and started to run away from it.

  “Hide, take cover!” Marcus cried out as he knew they were not going to outrun these things. Barron was now in front of Maddie and continued into the woods. Maddie stopped behind a large tree and pressed her back against it. Mac and Marcus continued to run past, finding trees of their own. There was complete silence as Maddie looked around her tree. Again, no sign of the glowing blue orbs that indicated the Trolls’ whereabouts. She turned to the other side and before she could even look around the tree, there it was.

  Not even a foot in front of her was a Troll. Her heart raced and she was so shocked that she didn’t feel herself start to fall backwards. The Troll turned its head and noticed her movement. As it turned toward her, another humming blue orb shot out in response to the sound she made and it hit the Troll. In front of her, the Troll’s forearm disappeared and its hand fell to the ground, with its gun still attached. Marcus turned around to see Maddie next to the Troll and vacated his tree.

  He ran toward her as she scrambled to pick up the Troll’s orbitizer. He pushed as hard as he could. He had to save her again. Maddie pried the Trolls’ fingers from the orbitizer and threw the disembodied hand to the side. She lifted the orbitizer and quickly aimed at the center of the Troll, placing her fingers where she thought the trigger should be. The core started to glow an island blue and the orbitizer felt ready to fire. She squeezed the pad and the emission came out of the orbitizer, hurtling toward the Troll.

  Time stopped for that moment. The Troll slowly watched the blue orb enter its abdomen. The size of the blue orb started to shrink as the Troll’s skin dissolved. Its outer layer disappeared showing its alien interior. Marcus stopped and his jaw dropped. She was the first person he had ever known to fire an orbitizer. Even the other Troll watched with a disbelieving look, stunned that she had fired the gun.

  As time sped back up, the Troll with a hollowed body slumped to the ground and Maddie took aim at the other Troll. She shot once, twice, three times, four times. She continued to shoot until the core stopped glowing. The second Troll fell to the ground in bits and pieces as Maddie looked down at the orbitizer.

  With the two Trolls out of action, Marcus continued his sprint to Maddie and nearly collided with her as he stopped on some leaves, “How’d you do that?” he asked, really wanting the answer.

  “I shot them,” she aimed her doomsday weapon toward a nearby tree, “like this.” The orbitizer core began to glow as she tapped her fingers on the soft padding. A hum came out followed by another blue orb that went directly toward the tree.

  Marcus was still looking at her with amazement, “Let me try!” She offered him the orbitizer and he was quick to grab it. He aimed at the same tree and squeezed the padding. No glow, no projectile, it was dormant. Marcus dropped his hands in disbelief, the orbitizer resting on his thigh while he just stood there.

  “Let me show you again,” she pulled the gun out of his hands and started to show him what she did. “Put your fingers here,” the orbitizer began to glow, dimmer than when she first started to fire it, “and then you squeeze here.” A blue mass ejected from the muzzle again. “And that’s how we do it,” she said, speaking to Marcus as if he was a schoolboy.

  Mac caught up with the two and showed the same amazement as Marcus. “Do you mind if I give it a go?” Mac wanted to see if he could shoot it. He repeated what he had seen Maddie demonstrate. Like with Marcus, the orbitizer just sat in his hands with no activity. Marcus put out his hand and moved his fingers as he wanted another try.

  “It’s not working for me,” Mac said as he offered the weapon to Marcus, who aimed the orbitizer once more at the tree. He placed his fingers in the exact same spot with no response from the orbitizer. Just to humor himself, as if it would have worked, he squeezed the padding. Nothing again. He squeezed the padding a second time, a third time, he just started clamping his hand repeatedly onto the pad.

  “Here, you take it.” He jerked the orbitizer from the aimed position and handed it to Maddie, frustrated. “If you can shoot it, then you have it… and get the other one too,” he pointed to the other Troll, “those are the most powerful weapons out here.”

  Maddie held her trophy proudly in her hand as she sprinted toward the other Troll. Footsteps came through the trees, rapidly approaching the group. Marcus raised his gun to engage, aiming directly at the noise. Barron emerged from the darkness still running. He saw the muzzle of Marcus’ gun and stopped to raise his hands. “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot, don’t shoot!” he screamed while closing his eyes and turning his head. Barron had been turned around in the woods and had run in a complete circle.

  “It’s alright, you can stop running,” Mac let Barron know that it was safe for the moment. Marcus lowered his firearm and scanned the area. As Maddie was approaching with her second orbitizer, Marcus saw blue flashes continuing in the distance.

  “How’d you kill them?” Barron asked the group, still recovering from his sprinting.

  “With these,” Maddie presented the two orbitizers.

  Barron’s eyes opened wide, “I heard that nobody can shoot those orbitizers. How’d you do it?” He had never seen one and wanted to try it out, “Wait, can I try?”

  “We have to go that way and stay away from the Trolls,” Marcus interrupted as he wanted to avoid any and all confrontations.

  They continued through the woods and could see the glow of the building lights above the tree line. They followed the lighted area as the dawn of day began to rise. The road that could be used for their exit came into sight. With the blue lights behind them and the sun coming out, they made for the road to head back to militia headquarters. They carefully left the wooded area and to their surprise, they intersected with Alan Pritchard and Zeke as they were walking in the same direction. “Mac, you made it!” Alan flashed a grin through his great beard. “And the girl is safe too!” He was surprised but also happy that he still had one of his deliverables for Supreme Command. “You did a great job soldier,” he continued to smile.


  Marcus replied as it was his job, “Thank you, sir.”

  Alan looked at the road ahead and said to the group, “I hope you were planning to go to headquarters.” He directed his voice to Zeke, “C’mon, it’s going to take all day to get there with all those trucks gone.”

  DAY 38

  JOHNSON PHARMACY

  CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

  Philip and Peggy Johnson were pillars of the community. Not only did they own their own pharmacy, but they also tried to help everyone that they could. Their only child, a son, Barron, was named after Philip’s father and was their pride and joy. As a young child, Barron would play outside the shopping center until his parents closed the store. He had just graduated from high school and was now in his first semester of college. He was going to be a pharmacist too. It was unfortunate that after the Attack, every service deemed unessential by the militia was shut down, including the college.

  In his spare time, Barron volunteered as an EMT for the local Rescue Squad. It had been five days since the Attack and the militia was consolidating all vehicles under their domain. All of the Rescue Squad had become the medics in the Avalon Militia due to the conscription policy. Barron, too, was now under militia authority. There hadn’t been a need for any emergency medical services for the past few days and he wondered if he was ever going to get any experience.

  He sat and waited. That was until the evening of the first local attack. The alarm sounded and everyone was bustling to go to the location announced. “My parents are probably there,” Barron told his fellow EMT in the back of the vehicle. Peggy and Philip had been working extra late since the Attack, providing additional support for the hospital. Since Barron had been an EMT, every call they received was either an accident or an individual hurt. The calls only caused moments of stress.

  The response vehicle arrived on the scene. It was like nothing that Barron had ever seen before and his mind shifted to his parents. “I need to find my Mom and Dad,” Barron yelled as he jumped out of the vehicle. He ran to the pharmacy, disregarding the carnage that surrounded him. He jumped over and weaved around bodies missing parts and flowing blood. He didn’t see anything but obstacles as he continued to look for his parents. The door to the pharmacy was open. He burst through it and spotted his parents on the floor behind the counter.

  As he ran, he fell to his knees and slid to where his father was holding his mother in his arms. Peggy was dead. A hole had been burrowed through the side of her abdomen. Protruding the semicircle of emptiness were the organs that were left untouched.

  Barron looked at his father, “Dad,” was all that he could get out. He jumped to hug his father and when he connected, his father screamed in agonizing pain. Philip crumbled, his missing leg providing counterbalance for the hug. Barron gasped as he saw his father reach for where his leg used to be. “Hold on Dad,” he said as he made his way for the door.

  “Help, help,” Barron screamed as he looked for somebody to help him. There were too many hurt people and not enough EMT’s. The one stretcher was within his sight. His fellow EMT was running it to another victim of the attack. Barron was quick to commandeer the platform and told him, “Follow me, I need your help.”

  Barron and the medic loaded his father and his mother on the stretcher and wheeled them to the vehicle for hospital transport. They shut the doors and the driver started to drive. Barron glanced out of the back window to see hundreds of people lying lifeless on the ground, too much for the EMTs to handle. He looked back at his father and grabbed his hand, “Hang in there, Dad. We’re getting you to the hospital.”

  The hospital was filled with people. Barron barely got the stretcher in the door and was stopped by dead bodies in his way. He looked around the corner and there was more death than life. He screamed with urgency, “Help, my father needs help!” But the scurry of nurses and doctors in the emergency area paid him no mind.

  He went back to the stretcher and pushed it over a body that was impeding his path. He swerved around the other bodies and made it to triage.

  “Please help him,” he pulled a nurse from her course and pointed to his father. She pulled away from his grasp and went over to his father. The nurse took out her stethoscope and applied it to Philip’s chest. She lifted his wrist to check his pulse. She listened and felt.

  Then she dropped his wrist and put her stethoscope back around her neck, “I’m sorry, but there is nothing I can do,” she said as she sped off.

  “No, no, no, no, this can’t be.” Barron went to his father’s side while his mother lay on the other side, still. “I wasn’t fast enough Dad.” He cupped his father’s hand within his hands and held it tight.

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” a hand was gently placed on Barron’s shoulder. He looked up and saw a man. “Philip was an old friend of mine. We went to school together.”

  Barron spoke with a solemn voice to this stranger, “He was my Dad and she was my Mom.” He pointed to his mother and father intertwined on the stretcher.

  The stranger spoke in the same tone, “I know Barron. You probably don’t remember me but I’m Doctor McCluskey. You can call me Mac.”

  DAY 277

  THE FALL OF CHARLOTTESVILLE

  CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA

  The tension from the onslaught had died down and the survivors of the night were walking to Charlottesville. The morning sun was illuminating their path, giving them the confidence to stay on the road. Trolls didn’t attack during the day. “So… how exactly did you guys get away from those things?” Alan thought it was time to share stories, especially since Maddie was carrying two orbitizers with active cores. He was very curious how they had come across those orbitizers and he knew they would be a welcomed prize at Supreme Command.

  Mac started explaining their journey, “We ran into the woods when the shooting began and Booby was shot.” Mac continued telling Alan about how they had encountered and killed two Trolls but left out using the orbitizers. He continued with the story of their experience until they met up with Alan and Zeke. As he finished, he asked Alan, “What about you and Zeke? How did you guys get out of there?”

  Zeke chimed in, “Ain’t nobody knows these woods better than me, they couldn’t keep up.”

  Alan, on the other hand, used a different tactic. “I wasn’t going to get away from those Trolls. There was a pile of leaves and I hid until they were well gone.”

  As big as Alan was, Mac found his story unbelievable. “You just hid… in leaves?” Mac was cynical and suggested there was more to the story.

  “Yep,” Alan replied, “a big pile of leaves was all I needed.” Alan was still staring at the orbitizers. He would have loved to get his hands on one that worked.

  “Hey girl, can I see your orbitizer?” Alan asked Maddie.

  She walked next to him and handed him one of her prizes, “My name is Maddie,” she said, wanting to make sure that he knew her name.

  “Alright Maddie,” he took the orbitizer with a grin. He held it in his hands, looking at it like he knew how it worked.

  He noticed that the core wasn’t dark and empty like all the others he had found. “I’ve never seen one with a core that looks like this, does it still work?” Alan put his hands on it as if he was going to shoot. He squeezed the pad. Just like with everyone else, the orbitizer was useless. Instead of handing it back to Maddie, he put the weapon to his face and acted as if he was sighting his rifle.

  Maddie swung the orbitizer she picked up from the second Troll to the ready, “Yeah, check it out,” she was excited to show off her skills again. The core began to glow and the humming blue orb left the orbitizer headed into the field they were walking past.

  Alan observed her every movement and mimicked her process. His second attempt resulted the same as the first. “Ahhh, it must be broken.” Before he could ask Maddie, she had given him her orbitizer and taken the defunct one out of his hands.

  “Let’s see,” she aimed and fired again. This time the core stayed dar
k. It was like all of the defunct orbitizers they had seen.

  “Try to shoot it again,” Alan asked her. She put her fingers on the padding and the blue glow was missing. She looked at the orbitizer as if she had done something wrong.

  Marcus walked up to Maddie and looked at the core, “This is the way we find them all of the time. It must mean the core is expended and it won’t shoot anymore.” Maddie was upset that the orbitizer was beyond its use.

  She turned to Alan, “I’ll take that back.”

  Alan turned his big body and moved the gun away from her reach, “I’ll hold on to it for the time being since you have been carrying it all this time.” If she could actually use the things, there was no way that Alan was going to let her have one freely while he was around. He survived the ordeal too and had no reason to trust her with it.

  “Do I look weak? I want it back,” she demanded the orbitizer with an outstretched hand.

  There was no way she was getting it back from Alan now. Alan told her, “It’s a nice gesture but the correct response is to say ‘Thank you’ and we will continue on.”

  Maddie curled her lips in frustration but saw his point of view, “Fine,” she huffed and walked back along Mac and Barron’s side.

  They reached the town line. It was mid-afternoon and the sun had difficulty breaking through the clouds. Marcus was concerned because there should have been someone looking about as a guard. He scanned the high vantage points for any glimpse of life. He didn’t have to worry about walking around because it was daylight and the “shoot on sight” rule was only active from dusk until dawn. “Where the hell is everybody?” he wondered. Alan wasn’t bothered by the absence of somebody on guard. That was too low level for him to worry about. He continued to walk through, looking straight into the city.

  The city was lifeless as they continued to make their way to headquarters. They walked past the medical center and it was the first time that Maddie had seen what had happened in the daylight. The buildings were rundown and would have been condemned if it were before the Attack. Every building had remnants of the Trolls’ orbitizers unleashed on them. Every wall displayed some sort of pitting and periodically, she would be able to see through a hole that had breached a wall. The pattern of destruction was plastered all over the shopping center. As they walked past the hospital, she noticed that all of the benches in the park created their own pile of rubble. Everywhere she looked was filled with reminders that the Trolls had attacked the town.