G-157

by K. M. Malloy

  Population: 403

  The afternoon light pierced a little too harsh through the gaps in the blinds at eye level in the south end of the library, and it was a far walk from all the really useful books. The small table behind the language section was chipped and wobbled with every touch, and the chairs squeaked and threatened to collapse with every move, but with the end of the semester fast approaching the library had come to life as students took any vacant seat available. The heat wave that couldn’t make up its mind on whether or not it wanted to stay over the last three weeks had finally stuck, and with the promise of summer just around the corner, every student at the high school was determined to pass their classes for fear they’d have to take summer school and miss out on the first baseball games and swimming races of the season.

  A copy of a third edition chemistry book sat in front of Melissa. Aire had been watching her for quarter of an hour from her peripheral vision, and the girl’s eyes hadn’t moved to read a single word.

  “Are you okay?” Aire finally asked.

  “Oh,” she said, brushing a strand of blond hair out of her face. “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

  “Thinking of what?” Aire said as she pretended to concentrate on the diagram of an atom.

  “It’s nothing.”

  “It must be something.”

  Melissa sighed and took a deep breath. “It’s Gary. He’s been acting strange since the accident.”

  “Well you would too if you had a crash like he did.”

  “No, I mean really weird. He’ll just forget what he’s talking about and gets this funny look on his face. Then all of a sudden he’ll do this weird twitching thing and pick up right where he left off.”

  “Hmm, that is strange.”Aire’s eyes did not move from the diagram of her book as she tried to think of something comforting to say. “Well, maybe it’s just his brain fixing itself. I’m sure he’ll be fine in a week or so.”

  “Yeah, maybe it’s just his brain.”

  His brain…his brain… Finally an idea clicked in her head and she had an inkling of what the strange rice grain could be. All she would have to do was make it through tonight and school tomorrow, then she could investigate her lead.

  Troy joined them just after three, and scooted his chair close enough to bump elbows with Aire. The afternoon moseyed on, the sunlight slowly dragging its way across the rows of books and heads bowed in concentration. Every once in a while other students they knew would pass by and smirk at Aire as Troy leaned in a little too close to be considered proper.

  Five o’clock was nearly upon them when Troy closed his book, sending the battered table swaying on its hinges. “I think that’s good enough for today. What do you think?”

  “I agree,” Melissa said as she slammed her book shut. “I’ve had enough of periodic tables and molecular diagrams.”

  “Me too.”

  “Do you want to get a burger?” Troy asked Aire.

  “Sure. Um,” she hesitated, glancing towards Melissa.

  “I’d like it if you’d come, too. My treat.”

  “No, it’s okay. I think I’m going to go check on Gary. He’s been sleeping a lot this week so I’m sure he’d love some help with his homework. Have fun.”

  “Alright, see ya,” Aire said as Melissa grabbed her bag.

  They packed their books and left the library, each acting on their instinct and starting down Bourbon Street towards Maggie’s.

  “I feel really bad about Gary.”

  Aire glanced up at him. “Why? He landed on you, remember?”

  “Yeah, I know. But he’s a good friend and I still feel bad that he’s hurt. I’ve been going to his house after school to help him out around the house a bit for the last couple days and he just looks awful. I’m glad his dad and brother are around for him though.”

  “Yeah, that’s sad his mom was recruited last fall.”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “But the Army is a good thing and we should be happy to make those sacrifices.”

  “So true,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Have you noticed anything strange about Gary’s behavior?”

  Troy shook his head. Several moments of silence went between them. Aire had been feigning interest at the Bourbon shop specials when he spoke again. “Well, maybe a little weird.”

  “Like how?”

  “Well,” he said. “He’s been kind of quiet and twitchy. It’s like he’s a wind-up toy that ran out of juice, then jerks back to life like an invisible hand had twisted his key.”

  “Huh,” she grunted. “Anything else?”

  “Not really. Yesterday he raised his voice at me a little when I didn’t get him the pen he wanted. It’s nothing big, but he’s just never done that before.”

  “Weird. Anything else you can think of? Has he been saying strange things?”

  Troy stopped walking and glared at her. “Why are you so interested in Gary?”

  “I’m not. I mean, I am, but I’m not.” She looked into his eyes. They were hard and shining, as if all the kindness had gone out of them. He looks like a lion ready to pounce, she thought as a little shiver ran down her spine. “I’m not interested in Gary as a boyfriend. I’m just concerned because Melissa said she was worried about him too.”

  Troy remained silent.

  “Look,” she said, lowering her chin as her eyes locked with his. “His girlfriend is my best friend. If anything really bad happened to him it would make her sad, which would make me sad. That’s all, okay? Gary is just a friend.”

  “Okay,” he finally nodded. They returned to their stroll and Aire burst into laughter after several steps. “What’s so funny?”

  “You thinking I liked Gary,” she said, and clasped his hand. “That’s funny.”

  Troy smiled. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

  They’d reached Maggie’s and ordered their usual, fried zucchini for her, cheese fries for him, the tension between them now absent, as though it had never existed. The aroma of fries and grilling burgers gave an added touch of easiness to the fresh air that carried the first scents of new grass clippings. The evenings were beginning to warm, making twilight strolls more alluring than ever. She’d tuned out most of his conversation on their way home, her mind lost in daydreams of him walking her down this road many more times when the summer hit full force. Wicked little thoughts of perhaps not going home, but instead straying hand in hand into the woods made her flesh warm in the cool evening. Perhaps the summer would hold all new discoveries for them that neither could ever imagine.

  The crooked mailbox with the faded yellow flower in the middle of Roanoke Street marked the end of their journey. Troy turned to face her at the end of the drive, one hand shoved deep in his pockets. His faced looked flushed, and a smile danced in his eyes.

  “Thanks for the zucchinis,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “My pleasure. Thanks for inviting me to your study group. I really needed the extra help from that fantastic brain of yours.”

  “My pleasure,” she laughed. Troy looked to the ground, kicking a rock onto the street. She cleared her throat and squeezed her arms tighter around her torso. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow at school?”

  “Yeah, yeah tomorrow,” he said.

  “Well, goodnight then,” she said, turning to walk up the driveway.

  “Night,” he said, and turned towards his street. Aire slowed her pace to keep in step with his uncharacteristically short, slow footsteps. She heard the gravel drag as he spun on his heel. “Hey, Aire?”

  “Yes?” she said, snapping around to face him.

  “Would you maybe want to eat something besides junk food this weekend? Maybe go to The Restaurant for like some duck or something? All that greasy food is starting to give me an ulcer.”

  “Sure, that would be fun. When?”

  “Maybe around three on Sunday?”

  “Sounds great. See ya then.”

  “Cool. See ya then.”

  Aire ducked her head down so her
hair could conceal her face from Troy. Act cool, act cool, she told herself as she went into the house. When the front door closed behind her, she let out a whoop and sprinted upstairs, causing her father to jump in surprise and spill his evening tea over his lap.

  Chapter Seventeen

  John’s Town

  In the beginning…

  On the day they thought they had become the masters of the human mind, Jenkins was sipping coffee and flipping through the paper on the terrace of Maggie’s. It was a Saturday morning, and the business district was alive and bustling as the people of John’s Town went about their lives and ran their weekend errands. There were women pulling children along with one hand and cradling grocery bags in the other. Teenagers strolled down the streets to meet up with friends for basketball games or to study for their upcoming fall midterms. Men carried bags full of nails and hardware and new garbage disposals to bring home and play handyman around their properties. An old couple sat on the bench near the City Hall lawn with binoculars pressed to their eyes, pointing at the birds they spotted through the pastel orange and red leaves clinging to the oak trees.

  Jenkins smiled as he sipped his coffee and checked his watch; seven minutes after nine, and his town was a bucolic as ever.

  “Mayor Jenkins?”

  “Hmm?” Jenkins looked up to Maggie Sandoval as she stared down at him in her blue apron, ordering pad in hand. “I’m sorry, Maggie. I got lost in the beautiful morning. What did you say?”

  Crows feet appeared on her lips as she smiled, and new fine lines decorated the delicate skin around her gentle eyes. She was a few years older than him, but the time didn’t matter. To Jenkins she was everything beautiful and soft and warm. Once their hands had brushed when he went to reach for the check as she handed it to him. Desire was forbidden, something to be bred out of their existence here, but her eyes had locked with his, and in that moment there was an unspoken understanding between them. She had not moved her hand away as he clasped his calloused fingers over hers, and in her silent stare he heard her whisper to come to her, to be with her in that one moment when the pinnacle of difference between men and women forged them into a single entity. He’d never forgotten that brush of her hand.

  “It is gorgeous out, isn’t it?” she said, her eyes peaceful and loving as she smiled at the scene. “I love autumn. I know it’s a bit morbid and cruel to say because everything is beginning to die, but everything looks so beautiful this time of year. Funny, isn’t it? How something can look so beautiful just before it dies?”

  “I never thought about it that way,” Jenkins said.

  “I try not to since it makes me sad to think that all the trees are going to be so ugly for the next few months until the snow melts again. I just hope it’s not going to be too cold this year. Last year was miserable.”

  “I don’t think it will be too bad. It’s still pretty warm for this time of year.”

  “I hope you’re right. Anyway,” she said as she clicked her pen and pressed it to the ordering pad. “Did you decide what you want for breakfast?”

  “I think I’ll just have a couple poached eggs and some toast. Maybe add on some bacon, too.”

  “You got it,” she smiled. “Should be ready in less than ten minutes.”

  “Thank you, Maggie.”

  She nodded, and his eyes followed her until she disappeared behind the swinging door into the diner.

  Jenkins smiled and went back to his paper. The coffee tasted warm and delicious on his lips in the chilling air. He turned through another page, brushing through the upcoming building projects to expand the library and begin construction on new houses off Buffalo Trail for the slow growing population. A shout of a woman pulled his eyes away from the news and into the streets.

  A woman in a red hat had taken a tumble into the street. Her two young children pulled at her coat, trying to help her stand. Jenkins smiled at the two small boys as they tugged at her arms, trying to help her up. The smile dissipated when her hands flew to her face.

  Jenkins stood up and craned his neck over the railing. The woman kept her hands over her eyes and slowly curled into the fetal position in the gutter.

  “Momma, what’s wrong?” one of the boys asked as he leaned in close to his mother’s face.

  “I can’t see!” she screamed. “I can’t see! I can’t see!”

  Jenkins leapt over the railing and sprinted towards the woman.

  She was rolling around in the gutter when he reached her, screaming that she couldn’t see. Her boys began to cry as her body started to shake.

  “What is it?” Jenkins kneeled down and grabbed the woman’s hands. “What is it?”

  “I can’t see!”

  He ripped her hands away from her face. Her eyes were rolled so far back into her head he couldn’t see even the lower rim of her irises.

  “What happened?”

  “I can’t see!”

  “Did you take any medications today?”

  The woman’s head gave a jerky shake. “No. I just can’t see! I can’t-“

  A gurgling of vomit burst through her lips, the beige fluid sending up a rancid stink. Her hands curled into fists as her body convulsed, twisting and crumpling in on itself. Great seizures racked her body, and even with all his strength he couldn’t still her.

  “Did your mother do anything unusual today?” he asked as he struggled to pin the bucking woman and looked to the boys.

  “What do you mean?” the older boy cried.

  “I mean did she-“

  Another scream ripped through the city.

  And another.

  And another.

  He felt his gut sink as he looked at the writhing bodies littered across the business district. The world began to spin as he stood up and watched almost a hundred people spasm on the streets, gurgling up foam that spewed through their mouths as they clutched at their rolling eyes. Children began to scream and run from their parents as they dropped to the ground, screaming that they couldn’t see just before their bodies began to twist. Others stood helpless on their own and began to cry. Some of the older ones were crouched over their parents, shaking them and trying to straighten their convulsing bodies. In his ear he heard the voice screaming.

  “Malfunction! Malfunction! Make the call, Jenkins!”

  The screams of the city began to fade, the surreal scene slowly waning into a far away thing that was not in his realm. The sound of his breathing swelled in his ears.

  “Make the call, Jenkins!”

  He started on stiff legs back towards the diner, his heart beginning to pound. The sound of blood gushing through his temples drummed in his ears. Shaking hands reached out and tried to hold him steady as he climbed over the railing, but they weren’t strong enough, and he lost his balance and toppled to the ground.

  “Make the call!”

  Rubber legs propped him back up. He felt bile rise in his throat as his hands pushed open the swinging doors. Suddenly his skin felt hot, too hot, as though he were about to combust in the middle of the restaurant. The coldness of the steel door leading to the kitchen helped ease the burning, but they couldn’t ease the sick feeling in his gut as he smelled his breakfast burning on the stove.

  She was in a crumple on the greasy floor, her hair matted with foamy vomit. Deep spasms tore at her body, sending her in back in forth motions across the floor where her head struck against the steel metal leg of the counter. He dropped to his knees and crawled towards her.

  “Make the fucking call, Jenkins!”

  Tears stung at his eyes as he cradled Maggie in his arms. Her pure white eyes were all that looked back to him as she trembled in his arms, the seizures threatening to crack her in two. Her tiny hand was clenched into a tight ball at her side. He took it into his, and kissed the soft skin that smelled of sugar and cinnamon.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  That was the second time the Army came in the daylight.

  ***

  Jenkins wasn’t r
eprimanded for the mind sweep failure. How could they charge him with making the call to wipe out more than half the population when they hadn’t understood it themselves?

  It took several years before they understood how simple their mistake had been. The voltage they’d used to wipe out the people’s memories had been just a fraction too high. The voltage they’d used was just a smidge too strong, and it caused the synapses in their brains to cease firing correctly; some were too rapid, some too slow, some operated not at all. If they could have just eased it a little more, they could have been successful, and in the future they were, once their mistakes had been made.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Wednesday April 7, 2010

  Population: 396

  She was crouched in the darkness, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim light clawing its way through the trees. The mucky stench of rotting pine filled her nostrils, mixing with the faint scent of water to create a grotesque, yet sweet smell in the air. The breeze nipped through her jacket, its icy teeth sending pinpricks across her skin. Her ears began to adjust to the quiet of the woods, and soon she could hear the faint trickle of running water nearby and an owl hooting in the distance. She heard twigs being snapped and branches rustling close to her as someone trekked through the trees. She followed the sound, listening intently as it moved towards an orange glow filtering between the thick black tree trunks.

  A low, rumbling hum emanated from the clearing. When she could make out the dancing tips of a fire’s flame, she got on her knees and crawled closer to its warmth. An old log was placed at a serendipitous angle at just the right distance to hide her, yet allowed her to see the fire and the source of the hum in the clearing.

  Her eyes grew wide when she recognized Gary. He stood staring into the flame, a dangle of drool hanging out of his open mouth as he gazed down at the fire, stupidly humming to himself a long, monotonous sound with no end or beginning. Her calves began to cramp as she watched him. The woods went silent.