by Rick Kueber
Conservatively, we used the water and lights and even microwaved some popcorn, which was almost as heavenly as bathing and brushing our teeth in fresh water. We did indulge in something I hadn’t expected to ever do again. We turned on the television and DVD player and watched a classic 80’s film. When the ending came and we were wrapped tightly around each other, the theme song came on like a stabbing reminder. The lyrics ‘don’t you forget about me’ stung my memory and the guilt hit me like a gunshot to the chest (and I was fully aware of how that felt). There wasn’t a day, or hardly a waking hour, that passed without the memory of Elle and the constant wondering of what had happened to her and our unborn child.
Turning in for the night, I asked to sleep in separate rooms. After a short argument about safety in numbers, Mariah reluctantly agreed and we ended our night together. The next morning came late and we scavenged through the house, dressing in clean clothes and packing clothes, water and whatever non-perishable foods we could find and carry. The summer sun beat down on us as we rolled down the desolate road. The wind we created and the intermittent shade from the trees were the only breaks from the heat that we had. A few hours into the ride and I spotted something through the treetops to our left.
“Look!” I shouted, screeching to a halt. “It’s a Titan!”
“Oh shit!” Mariah almost wrecked her bike and I had yet another Elle flashback. “What do we do? How do we hide from it?”
“We think they sense heat, so on a day like today, we’re probably invisible, but at night, we’ll have to stay hidden.” When the word ‘we’ came out of my mouth I cringed, knowing who I was referring to. “I want to get a closer look.”
“Are you insane?” She said angrily.
“Probably, but I have to check it out. I have to see...” I left the statement open ended but in my mind I knew I had to see if anyone from my past was with the Titan. I had to see if Elle was there.
“I’ll stay with you for a while, but I’m not getting close to that thing. You’ll just have to come back for me after you satisfy your curiosity.” Her words were cold and firm.
“I understand.” Though I really only made assumptions. After refusing her advances the night before and keeping my distance, her reasons were mostly to make me choose her over my desire to visit the Titan. I did not.
We cycled our way down the two lane highway towards the off white metallic beast. Taking a side road to our left, the Titan was almost directly in front of us, only a few miles away. When that lane turned away, we were left with only two options: cut through the wilderness or backtrack to a narrow gravel road that we had passed a hundred yards back. We chose to backtrack. The sound of four knobby tires grinding through the dirty gravel fueled my subconscious desire to go ever faster. Before I had realized how driven I had become, I heard a voice call out from far behind me.
“Wait up!” Mariah shouted, not thinking of how dangerous that could be.
I slowed to a stop just in sight of a one lane dirt drive that jutted off ahead to my right. Catching up to me, I’m sure she would have had some choice words for me had she not been so out of breath. My extraordinary strength and stamina that had come with my change often slipped my mind. It had become who I was. It was my nature now and I was losing who I had once been.
“Let’s take that dirt road, there.” I pointed ahead.
“But it goes the other way.” She pretended to be concerned. “Not that I care, but the Titan’s over there and the road goes that way.” She noted the Titan to our left and the road going to the right.
“I thought we could get off of the main road and maybe take a break.” I offered.
“Well, yeah...” She grinned making an assumption of what I meant by ‘break’. “I wouldn’t mind changing these sweaty clothes.”
Only a few minutes up the dirt drive and there it was, a small rustic cottage, covered in vines and Spanish moss. The place looked abandoned, creepy and haunted, but the drive was clear and there were fairly fresh tire tracks, which concerned me. Maybe this place wasn’t haunted, but instead perhaps it was the home of a moonshine still or a meth lab... or the secret hideout of a serial killer with bits and pieces of people adorning the walls or shelves like trophies. I had to shake those thoughts or else I wouldn’t be able to follow through with the plan in my head.
“Let’s check this place out. Maybe you can hide out here while I go get a peek at the Titan.” I suggested as if the thought of leaving Mariah behind had just crossed my mind.
“I don’t know, it looks pretty damn nasty to me.” Her white bread life had resurfaced, even after over a year in the wilds.
“It can’t be any worse than the shack you lived in, in Honduras.” My words were cold and I hadn’t given thought to how hurtful they could have been.
“Wrong.” She spat out as she propped her bike on its kickstand and pulled off her overstuffed backpack. “I knew who I was with and where I was. There is no Honduras anymore, no United States, no Mexico. Those borders are all on paper and in people’s heads. They don’t exist anymore. They never really did. This place, I don’t know who owns it... Or owned it. Maybe they’re coming back. Maybe they’ll kill me or rape me.” She stomped onto the porch.
“We’ll check it out and if it’s not cool, we’ll find someplace else for you to hide and wait.” I said it, but that was not going to happen.
I knew she had a valid point with the fresh tire tracks, but I kept that to myself. We checked doors and windows and found the front door had already been broken into. A padlock latch had been twisted hard enough to pull the screws that held the hasp from the wooden door frame. I had some relief, thinking that the tire tracks may have been from a temporary passerby, but still... The fact that whoever it was had a vehicle concerned me. I took Mariah by the hand and pushed our way into the swamp shack. All of the stereotypical thoughts flooded my imagination, and I was not disappointed. Rustic, handmade furniture, oil lamps and candles, and taxidermy. Stuffed squirrels and deer heads adorned the walls and on one side of a potbelly stove was an angry and toothy coyote and on the other side was a four foot alligator.
“Well... Somehow I expected there to be dead things hanging on the walls.” She rubbed the goosebumps from her upper arms.
“Me too, but still... It’s creepy as hell.” I agreed. “We’ll find another place. Let’s go.”
“No. This is fine. Just don’t leave me here too long.” Her response surprised me. “If I have to stay here past sundown, I’m probably going to leave without you.”
“Traveling on land at night... Not a good idea, but I promise to be back as quickly as I can.” I hugged her and was profoundly proud of her courage. “If you leave before I make it back, I’ll look for you at the dock. If you’re not there, I’ll understand.”
With that, I left her behind and took off down the muddy drive and back onto the gravel road. The gravel ended and I turned back onto the pavement and tore off like I was on a mission, which I suppose I was. I watched through the trees to see the location of the Titan. When it was directly on my left I cut my way into the first open spot in the wooded wilderness. The mountain bike was helpful in getting through the rough terrain, but when the ground went soft and boggy I had to leave it behind like so many other important things in my life. Taking off on foot, I hid the bike near a large tree that had recently fallen, thinking that if I paid close attention, I could easily find it again. A million thoughts flew through my mind as I wondered what I would find when I neared the Titan.
I was less than a mile’s hike from the beast when I heard something I hadn’t really expected; voices, countless voices. There were so many talking at the same time, it sounded like the buzz of a bee hive. I crept closer until the edges of a massive gathering was in my sight. Sweat beaded and ran from my forehead, dripping from my chin. I sat with my back against the trunk of a huge tree, hiding from their potentially watchful eyes. The sound of a single set of running footsteps crunching through the undergrowth grew loude
r. A sentinel sent out to search me out... A Taker or Ahsusha... I had no idea, but I wasn’t about to give up and go quietly as the saying goes. I drew my gun from its holster and switched the safety off. I rolled on to the ground on my stomach, gun drawn and pointed towards the masses. I nearly pulled the trigger when I was surprised by a single woman scurrying through the wilderness, away from the others. She hadn’t spotted me yet and I watched as she kept a constant eye over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. Quickly, I retook my place hidden behind the tree and listened to her approach. Rushing past my hiding place, I jumped to my feet and tackled her. It was an easy task to overtake her and roll her onto her back. I straddled her chest, kneeling on her arms and with one hand over her mouth, I held the 9mm close to her head.
“Not a sound, or I swear I’ll shoot.” I lied, but it got her attention. Keeping her in my gun sights, I climbed off of her and helped her to her feet. Directing her away from the others, we slipped quietly back into the swamps. When we were far enough away, I stopped her.
“Who are you and what’s going on?” I needed answers.
“They... They took my friend. Please don’t hurt me.” The fear in her voice gave me the confidence to believe her.
“You’re human.” I noticed she had human eyes, not Taker and not hybrid.
“Yeah, I’m human.” Her voice trembled, but she looked at me with a familiar look in her eyes. “What are you?”
“Long story.” I wasn’t kidding or avoiding the question. “So, tell me about what happened to your friend.”
“We had just got back to the Titan when this huge guy came up to her and took her away. Supposedly he was taking her to meet with the leaders of this Titan, but I followed behind them, keeping a safe distance. When I thought they were about to go into the Titan, he pulled her off into the woods and took off running with her. A little ways into the woods and they shoved her into this black truck and took off. I looked around, but no one besides me seemed to be paying attention, so I back stepped away from everyone until I felt I was far enough away and then I turned around and took off to try to find her. That’s when you tackled me.” She rambled the tale off too quickly for it to be a lie and took a deep breath when she finished.
“Shit!” I put the pieces together. The woman’s friend had been taken in a truck, the tire tracks at the swamp shack. Mariah was in imminent danger. “Come on! This way! Hurry!”
“I have to find my friend!” She pleaded. “The truck went that way!”
“Yeah, but I think I know where they’re headed!” I pulled her by the arm towards the downed tree where I had left the mountain bike. “You get on the bike and go that way until you hit the road. I’ll be right behind you!”
She didn’t question my command or hesitate in the slightest. She ripped through the woods like a pro athlete and I was right on her tail. The sun was sinking and the day was dimming when we hit the paved road. “That way!” I pointed and yelled. Why she trusted me, I have no idea. Maybe it was because I was the one holding the gun, but whatever the reason, she did as I directed.
“Hold up.” I run up next to her and spoke in a low tone. “We have to go down that gravel road and it might be better if we walked. I don’t want them to hear us coming.”
“”You’re pretty positive they’re up there, aren’t you?” She rolled to a stop and dismounted the bike.
“Leave the bike here. We can get it later.” I didn’t have to drag her along. This time she came quite willingly and even led the way.
Something about her seemed very familiar. She was easy on the eyes, but I didn’t think of her that way. I was even beginning to regret my intimacy with Mariah. I looked at this young woman as a human being, a good person, who was genuinely concerned for her friend’s well-being and was willing to risk her own safety to help. Without being prompted she stopped short of the muddy dirt road.
“Why’d you stop?” My first moment of distrusting her gave me a nervous twinge in my gut. I wondered if she was actually bait and leading me back into the trap.
“Tire tracks.” She whispered and pointed to the muddy path. “There.”
We crept up to the edge of the drive and hiding behind the lush swampy growth of the forest and stole a glance toward the shack. “There it is.” She whispered in my ear, noting the black four wheel drive truck parked in front of the grungy little cabin. The shack was so small that most of it was hidden behind the large, black, quad-cab truck, however I could see a dim light coming through the window of the cabin and the window of the truck.
“Come on.” I motioned her to follow me. Hunkering down, we snuck up behind the truck, and then crept across the ground like soldiers of fortune until we were hidden alongside the exterior wall. I knew the front door lock was broken, but getting up on the porch undetected would take stealthy movements. “I want you to stay here until I secure the place. I’ll call for you when it’s safe. If I’m unsuccessful, you can still escape.”
“Why should I wait here?” She whispered unhappily. “I want to help rescue my friend.”
“Then be ready. I may need you to help disarm them. Hard to say what will happen, but if things go bad, like really bad, there’s no sense in both of us being dead.” I swallowed hard and she nodded nervously.
I made my way onto the porch as silently as I could. There were several voices coming from inside, some male, some female. I spotted an old iron horseshoe hanging next to the door on a hook and it gave me an idea. With my back flat against the wall next to the door, I lifted the horseshoe and tossed it into the bed of the truck. The loud metallic clanging made the room go silent and in seconds, the door burst open and a massive man in mirrored glasses stepped out onto the dark porch. With one fell swoop, I cold-cocked him on the back of the head so hard his bald scalp split open and he fell to his knees and then face first on to the planked porch. I jumped over his lifeless body and into the fire-lit room ready to fill any resistor with hot, 9mm, lead.
“MOVE AND YOU’LL DIE!” I shouted so loud my voice cracked.
Chapter 12
Escaping the
Fringe
With my body and mind set on survival, I burst into the room with my gun drawn, ready to shoot who, or whatever I needed to, but I was not prepared for what awaited me. The room was filled with women and one man. Three guns were pointing back at me. The man to my left, the woman to my right and one directly in front of me... Mariah sat next to the woman who held the third pistol. The moment of realization was awkward to say the least.
“Tanner!” Elle cried out, jumping to her feet and racing across the room to greet me.
“Elle...” Her name barely escaped my weather chapped lips and my legs went weak.
Her arms wrapped tight around me and with her chin over my shoulder she whispered into my ear. “You’re alive.” My body was numb and tingled all over like when your foot falls asleep and the blood begins to rush back into it. My arms slowly raised and I hugged her back. Looking past her tangled mess of raven black hair, my eyes met Mariah’s. She quickly looked away and said nothing. I didn’t want to hide the truth from Elle, but right now, right here in this moment of confusion and elation was not the time to tell her everything.
“I can’t believe you’re alive. I’ve missed you so much!” I whispered back as the feeling began to return. “The baby?” I blurted out the question without thinking and the fear of what she would tell me almost made me nauseous.
“He’s fine. He’s here sleeping.” She pulled back, looked me in the eyes and smiled.
“He?” My eyes may have had an alien glow, but the tears that filled them were very human. “I have a son?”
“Phoenix... ‘Nix.” She grinned even wider.
I looked around at the strangers in the room. ”I have a son.” I remembered the woman who was waiting outside and the man I had knocked out. “I’ll be right back. Just a sec.” Elle and Mariah gave me an odd and unhappy look. I turned to retrieve the woman hiding beside the sha
ck and two steps later, ‘crack!’ A fist as large and hard as a clothing iron connected with my chin and I saw stars.
“Son of a bitch!” The man cussed. “Everyone alright in here?” His question was answered with yes’s and nods.
“Guess I had that coming.” I rubbed my jaw and looked him in his dark glasses. “We square?”
His mouth dropped open in disbelief that I had taken the punch without buckling. He slowly reached up and removed his dark glasses exposing his glowing green eyes... Just like mine. “I thought I was the only one.”
“There are others, I’m sure.” I was comforted that I was not alone. “Hybrids too, like Mariah. Elle and I can explain... Later.”
I stepped out onto the porch and called for the stranger to come inside. She joined me and then we walked in together. Elle rushed into her arms with almost as much enthusiasm as she had mine, but when the woman kissed Elle on the lips, I was taken aback. It wasn’t some passionate, lover’s kiss, but any kiss on the lips was a sign of a bit more than a friendship.
“Maya! How did you find me?” Elle was astonished. “How did you find him?”
“I didn’t.” She answered bashfully. “He found me in the woods, and then he brought me here.” She looked around the room to see the man who had taken Elle, the woman Victoria, or Tory as everyone called her and a man and woman she did not know. “What the hell is going on here Elle?”
