Genetic Drift

by Martin Schulte

  “She’s learning how to listen to it,” Maddie said.

  “Listen to Rho, I guess?” Jay asked.

  “No, Rho is inside of me. It told whatever is inside of her to protect both of them,” Maddie explained. Jay sat down next to a tree to support his weight.

  “I don’t think this is going to end as peachy as you are making it out to be,” he said. Maddie found a spot and sat next to him.

  “Maybe so, but if we do the same old crap then we can only expect the same results. They haven’t been that great as of late,” Maddie said.

  “This is cool,” Hope was back from her cloud, “it calls me The Herald and it says that we’re going to tell everyone that the new queen is Rho.” Jay smiled at Hope and turned to Maddie. His grin changed to a stoic face once his eyes met Maddie.

  “She better not get hurt,” he said.

  “It doesn’t matter where we are Jay, it is going to happen eventually. Whether we want it or not,” Maddie replied. Maddie took her metallic finger and pointed it at Jay.

  DAY 43

  JAY AND HOPE

  GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

  The initial shock of the Attack had subsided and the places that weren’t destroyed were attempting to go back to their normal routines. Jay was hanging out with his friends at a strip mall in the evening. He had brought his sister because she wanted to get something to eat but he did not want her around him. Jay and his friends went behind the restaurant out of view. A spark from a lighter flickered against the wall as they attempted to hide what they were doing from public eyes.

  Hope exited the restaurant and couldn’t find her brother. She looked down the walkway to see if he was standing in front of another store but there was no sign of him. “Where did he go?” she asked herself as she walked into the parking lot. She approached Jay’s car and he was nowhere to be found. Hope started to wander the edge of the parking lot to look for him. She skipped onto the curb and walked on it as if it were a balancing beam. Her arms were straight out as she tried to maintain her balance. She continued her path on the curb as it ran parallel with the road.

  Hope made it to an opening in the curb that drained water into a ditch. The ground was dry because it had not rained for several days. “Maybe they are over there,” she said as she jumped off of the curb and headed toward trees on the other side of the ditch. She walked up to the closest tree and placed her hands on it as she went on her tiptoes. She called out to her brother, “Jay!” Her head shifted from one side of the tree to the other as she called for him.

  She thought that she might have seen some movement deeper in the woods. “Jay, stop messing around.” She took a step into the woods. Her foot tested the ground before she put her weight into her step. She repeated her step process as she entered deeper into the woods. “Jay!” she called out again. She definitely saw movement this time and her steps became more surefooted. She approached the movement and didn’t see Jay. Something scurried on the ground and rustled through the leaves. She looked down to see what it was but she couldn’t spot anything. Hope put a scowl on her face. She wondered if Jay had, yet again, abandoned her. She called out to the woods, “I’m ready to go home now.” There was no reply, no movement, nothing to keep her going deeper into the wooded area. She turned around to go back to the parking lot.

  Jay came out from the back of the restaurant with a smile on his face. He went into the restaurant and looked for Hope. He didn’t see her in any of the booths. He went to the hostess station and knew the greeter. He asked her, “Have you seen my sister?”

  “Hope left about 30 minutes ago,” she told him. He put his hands up to his head and made a fist. He began to pull his hair.

  “How did I lose track of time?” Jay wondered as his guilt began to overflow. He dropped his hands and ran out of the door. He ran to his car and didn’t find Hope. His friends came out from behind the building. He ran up to them and begged them, “Help me find Hope, my parents are going to kill me if I don’t bring her home.” His friends laughed at him.

  “Sounds like your problem, Bro. Not having hope is a personal problem,” his friend, Paul, said. His friends, or at least the guys he thought were his friends, continued to walk to their cars. He watched them as they got in and drove out of the parking lot. As they turned onto the road, a blue orb came out of nowhere and struck the car. The car swerved off of the road and a barrage of blue orbs came out and pelted it. Jay froze and stared as the car started to disappear. The blue orbs got closer and closer. He sprinted around the building. He stopped to catch his breath and grasp what was happening. He knew the aliens had attacked other cities but he never thought it would happen in Greensboro. He looked around anxiously, “I’ve gotta find Hope.”

  As she turned, Hope bumped into something. The sun had set and she looked up. She didn’t know what it was and she let out a scream. The thing grabbed her and held her for a second. Her screams continued. It didn’t let go. Her scream was continuing. She frantically called to Jay. She was far enough into the woods that nobody would hear her. The figure started to move further away from the parking lot, dragging Hope behind. She tried to grab anything she could. A small branch touched her hand and she closed her fingers on it too late. She began to scream again. Her screams became shallower with every failed attempt. Her body jumped with every object it was dragged over. She couldn’t do anything but subject herself to being dragged.

  The blue orbs started to fly near the building. They were too close for Jay. He ran from the building at top speed trying to escape from anything that was blue. There was no way that Hope would be anywhere near those shots. He didn’t care about his parent’s feelings now. He ran away from the strip mall into a field. He was abandoned by his friends who were now dead and he was consumed by guilt. It was the guilt of failing Hope. The guilt of leaving her alone when there was an attack. He wished he could find her and if he did, he would never leave her again. He managed to distance himself from the blue orbs and find cover.

  It was dark outside and this thing dragged her through a door. It was light enough inside the building that she could make out what it was. She had seen some weird people but this was the ugliest human that she had ever seen. It had gone crazy with the blue body paint. She tried to scream again but this time no sound came out. Her throat felt like a fire had kindled. She looked at its hands. No, it had claws. This wasn’t a human at all. She knew that there were aliens in space but they were now here and they had her.

  She was lifted up and landed on a table with a thud. There were two of these things holding her down and placing her in straps. Her head was strapped. Another strap was placed on her shoulders and each arm. Her hips were secured and then three straps were placed on each leg. One of the blue aliens stepped away from her. Her eyes were the only things that could move and she peered wide-eyed as she shifted to watch the aliens. A tube with red fluid was lowered from a machine above her. The other alien grabbed it and went for her arm. She was panting and struggling to move. She attempted to turn her arm but the alien claw prevented it from moving.

  She felt the burn as the tube entered her arm. Unable to scream, she winced in pain as the fluid began to flow through her body. She could feel it and she couldn’t stop it. Suddenly, the burning stopped and she started to feel numb. She spoke to the alien, “I’m going to die.” She couldn’t feel anything. She commanded her body to move. Nothing happened. She lay there and the numbness continued into drowsiness. She was being drugged. Her wide eyes would not stay opened. Hope was gone.

  The morning came and the barrage of blue orbs had ceased. Jay left his hiding spot and went back to the strip mall. The façade of the building had lost all of the store signs and was peppered with craters. Holes shined through all of the glass and circular carvings filled all of the shops. There were bodies both inside the stores and in the parking lot. There was no sign of Hope anywhere. Jay went to his car and saw it was exactly like the buildings. He tried to see if it would start up. He placed the
key in the ignition and nothing happened when he turned it.

  He got out of his car and took one more scan of the parking lot just in case Hope showed up. His heart was heavy when she didn’t appear. He began his five-mile walk home. After a little over an hour, Jay walked in front of his house. He saw the same destruction that was at the strip mall. He ran to the door and burst inside. “Mom, Dad, are you here?” he called out. He looked through all of the downstairs rooms and didn’t see them. He ran upstairs, avoiding one of the steps that had disappeared from a blue orb. He searched for his parents and they weren’t there either.

  He went to the window and looked at the front yard. He ran to another window to look at the side yard. Nothing. Then the backyard, and he saw them. He ran down the stairs and out of the backdoor. Lying in a pool of their own blood, his parents were dead. Jay’s heart weighed heavy on him as he hung his head over them. His thoughts switched to Hope. She entered his mind and she was the last person he really cared about, and she was missing. “Never again Hope, I’ll find you,” Jay said, and he began his search for her.

  DAY 284

  FIGHT OR FLIGHT

  OUTSIDE CAMP PHOENIX

  “We have to get moving,” Ben rushed Ethen. The water had receded to the point that it could be traversed by foot. Ethen had gathered a small amount of armaments from around the camp. There were 32 survivors and each one of them was given the opportunity to leave. Having no place to go, not one person wanted to leave. Marcus made sure that everyone knew how to use their guns. Everyone was grouped at the doorway and ready to leave the camp. “Charles, you know this area the best, you lead,” Ben directed his orders. Charles nodded and went through the door. Giving the area a quick scan, Charles deemed it was safe and told the others to follow him.

  Marcus and Ethen were the next two out of the door, followed by everyone else. Charles led everyone directly to the hill. Marcus made it to the hill and turned around to see many of the people were not able to keep up the pace, “C’mon, move. You’re in the open.” Some of them picked up the pace while the less fit individuals halfheartedly lifted their legs. When the group had made it to the hill, Charles started running to the top.

  “You’ve gotta be kiddin’,” Kenny said. He was the last to reach the hill. He was a large man, tipping the scale at 300 pounds, and was already drenched in sweat.

  The steeper incline caused slower movements and more separation between the fighters. Charles made it to the apex and stood there as he looked down the other side. Marcus caught up with him shortly and began to look at the same area. Charles was already amazed and Marcus found out why. In the short time since they had left this spot, it had been covered with a purple-type of moss over the foliage and ground.

  “What the hell?” Charles asked in disbelief.

  “That huge bunker must have done this,” Marcus said. He pointed to the newly landed bunker that was at least ten times the size of the bunker where he had found Maddie.

  It was difficult to see clearly through the trees, but Marcus put his binoculars to his face to examine the huge bunker that had landed a day earlier. Charles mimicked Marcus’ actions. “That isn’t a bunker, that’s a fortress,” Marcus said. Near the top of the fortress were openings that were the origination point of the flowing purple moss. Lines of purple streamed down the sides. Marcus could not see where it met the ground from his vantage point. The dense leaves hanging from the trees obstructed his view.

  “I think we should get a closer view,” Charles said.

  “We should go down there and see what’s actually happening,” Marcus agreed.

  Ben and the others joined Marcus and Charles while Kenny had not yet made it halfway up the hill. “We need to go down and see what we’re up against,” Marcus told Ben.

  “You shouldn’t go by yourself. You don’t know what else is down there,” Ben said.

  “Some of these folk will slow us down. It would be best if me and Charles went by ourselves,” Marcus replied. Charles nodded but Ben thought differently.

  “The radio operators and the non-combats will stay here. The soldiers and I will go with you. That way, we will get plenty of eyes down there and see what’s actually going on,” Ben said. Marcus didn’t argue. Ben was the General and he was the one giving the orders.

  After separating the soldiers from the others, Charles led the way down the hill toward the fortress. Marcus, Ben, Ethen, and four others followed his lead. The rest waited for their return. Charles continued down the hill and a sweet aroma began to fill the air. “Do you smell that? Is that vanilla?” He looked behind him to make sure he wasn’t imagining it. The others approached.

  “Smells nice,” Marcus said. They looked around to see where the smell was coming from. One of the soldiers spotted something.

  “Look over there,” he said. He pointed to a line of purple moss on the ground. They slowly walked over to the purple line and stopped at the edge. Marcus picked up a stick and poked the moss. The moss did not react. He poked it again.

  “It’s spongy,” Marcus said. He withdrew the stick and the moss stayed in place. Marcus examined the end of the stick to check for residue or any remnants of moss. “I think it’ll be safe to walk on.”

  Marcus took a tentative step onto the moss. He watched as he expected some tentacles to come out and grab his legs. Nothing happened other than his foot creating an indentation into the moss. He took a second step and his full weight was on the moss. Marcus walked in place and the moss did not react. He planted his feet and looked down, “It’s definitely safe.” The others took a timid initial step onto the moss with the same result. With their confidence regained, they continued to the fortress.

  As they walked, the ground changed from alternating patches of moss and earth to being completely covered by moss. They were walking in a lake of purple. “What in the hell are they doing?” Ben asked as he looked up. The moss was hanging from the tree branches. What used to be the green and brown of the woods had transformed into an area of purple. Purple ground, purple trees, and purple moss hung everywhere. Marcus took moss off of a tree. He made sure that he kept it as connected as he could. He took the sheet and draped it over his head and shoulders. He looked at Ben.

  “Camouflage,” Marcus said. The others saw what he was doing and grabbed their own camouflage.

  They appeared to be moving outlines of purple as they crept to the clearing that was made by the landing of the fortress. Charles raised his hand to tell everyone to stop. It wasn’t just purple moss that was coming out of the fortress. There were Trolls too. And other blue creatures. But they weren’t Trolls. The Trolls were escorting what appeared to be animals of some sorts, definitely not of this world, from the fortress. They watched as Trolls and animals came out one-by-one. Each Troll would touch its animal and then the animal would run into a different part of the woods. One after the other would follow the same process.

  The next animal came out of the fortress and was led by a Troll. Ethen watched in shock as the behemoth stepped onto the moss laden ground. The animal was blue like everything else coming out of the fortress but this one looked vicious. It was taller than the Troll and about seven feet in length. Its face was long with a horn protruding from the tip. Two long teeth came from the sides of its mouth. It had long quills extending from the sides and bottom of its neck. A mane of spikes jutted out from its neck. Its body looked armored but leathery. It had been named a “Crossbearer” on its former planet. The others were watching the same animal. Instead of feet, it had blades that sunk into the ground with each step.

  The Troll touched it and it began to sniff the air. With a sudden jerk, it sprinted toward the small group of soldiers. They all took cover. Most of them sheltered behind a tree and their camouflage hid them. One soldier wasn’t close enough to a tree and went straight to the ground to blend in with the moss. The animal came barreling through their small clearing. Each one of the knives coming from its legs sliced into the earth without a sound. It stopped f
or a moment to sniff the air. It stood still as it looked around. Its feet silently came out of the ground as it moved in a circle. Something caught its attention and it focused on Ben’s tree. It stared at it for a moment. Ben’s heart was racing watching the animal bore its eyes in his direction. The animal stopped, stood motionless, and waited. Ben stood still, knowing his life depended on it. Marcus also stood as still as possible so as not to draw attention to him.

  The animal stopped its stare at Ben’s tree and turned to face deeper into the woods. The animal started running, leaving the soldiers behind. As soon as it left the area, they relaxed from their hiding and regrouped, except for the soldier on the ground. His body wasn’t moving. Marcus walked to him and saw two foot-long slits on his neck and back. The animal did not notice the man but he was in a poor position. As the animal turned, its knifed-feet pierced the soldier’s body like it was part of the ground. Ben saw the soldier was dead, “Is everyone else okay?” Ben looked around and did a head count. Everyone else was accounted for. Charles maintained his watch over the fortress and saw some people running toward it.

  “Hey, hey, look at that,” he said, and got the others’ attention. Ben and Marcus looked toward the fortress. The door had closed. There were people running into their view. Two guys and two girls.

  “That’s Maddie. And Quill,” Marcus said to Ben. Ben maintained his stare.

  “I know, let’s watch them and see what they do,” Ben said.

  The group left at the top of the hill was becoming impatient. “When are they going to come back here?” one of them asked as she paced back and forth. The sound of wheezing was approaching and getting louder. One of the men raised his gun and pointed it in the direction of the sound. Kenny eclipsed the border of the earth and the man dropped his aim.

  “Geez Kenny, do you know I almost shot you?” the man asked. Kenny was still wheezing from his running.