The Dark Above

by Jeremy Finley

  William had just nodded and reminded him that the longer they delayed, the more people would die.

  Steven.

  He’d spent much of the flight thinking about his biological grandfather. What he’d endured in his life, the sacrifice, the scrutiny. How all he wanted in the end was to tell his grandmother the truth about her family. And to help William. Without Dr. Steven Richards, he wouldn’t even be alive at this moment.

  I’m sorry, Steven. I’m sorry I didn’t get to thank you.

  They’d flown at a relentless pace, stopping only to refuel. The general had traveled with him and Lily, constantly questioning them. William had been completely forthcoming about everything, explaining that all he knew to do was to try and find Lily’s twin, Ava, in the national park. As had happened with the immigrant, whose name he now knew to be Juan, he hoped he could sense Lily’s sister when he got close enough to her.

  A chill ran through him, thinking of Lily alone in the darkness of these ravines, wandering beneath the mesas and buttes. He considered entering the dream to try and find Lily’s sister, but after the last disastrous attempt, in which Jane had barely rescued him, he feared he would not escape its grasp again. Whatever it was, there within the stone.

  He looked out the window again as they began to land, the true size and vastness of the sprawling rock formations coming into a clearer view. Out there, somewhere, was another little girl identical to Lily.

  It had never been Lily’s eyes he’d seen in the stone. It was her twin who continued to emit the diseases when Lily came in search of him. Only when Lily at last found him did he inadvertently wake the weapon inside her in order to protect himself.

  Lily had sobbed in explaining the guilt she felt that she had somehow gotten free of the mountain and could not rescue her sister. That by finding William, she hoped he could help her free her sister.

  He remembered her words at the fountain. We have to go there! It’s my fault what happened to her …

  As the Black Hawk came to a landing along with the others upon the stone he could feel them all: Jane, Ryan, Juan. Nanna, too.

  The door was thrust open, and William scooted to the edge of his seat, prompting Lily to do the same. The soldiers reacted by raising their firearms.

  “Tell them,” William yelled to the general above the sound the blades of the helicopter outside. “Tell them we go where we please.”

  General Wolve clenched his jaw. “I need ten minutes, Mr. Chance, to be debriefed—”

  “You’ve been in constant communication this entire flight. You have two minutes.”

  The general tore out the door, and William remained on the edge of the seat. He closed his eyes.

  Jane.

  There was a brief pause.

  I’m here, William.

  Are you alright?

  As any of us can be. Your grandmother was with me. They placed her in my helicopter, but they wouldn’t even let us talk. They’ve already ushered her out, but I’ve been told to stay put. She kept telling them that she needed to speak with you.

  I’ll find her. I promise I will not allow any of you to be harmed—

  Don’t do that. Don’t say that, William. No one knows what could happen next. You’ve successfully convinced them to fear us, which I suppose buys us a bit of time. If you’re going to promise … just say that you’ll be careful. If what we saw in that dream is out there … whatever it is …

  I know. Watch over the others.

  There was another pause.

  Just come back.

  William looked out the door. Two minutes were up.

  He took Lily’s hand, the soldiers scrambling. They formed a perimeter around them as he and the girl stepped out on the rocky earth.

  They’d landed behind the military blockade he’d seen from above. The activity around them—the rushing soldiers, the men and women in suits huddled around laptops—came to an abrupt standstill.

  The general stood under a tent among a crowd of camouflage and black. At seeing William emerge, he strode over.

  “Let’s go over the ground rules—”

  “All due respect, General, you aren’t making any rules. I have to find the girl. That’s all. And I must see my grandmother. Now.”

  “I know you think you have us by the balls—”

  “I don’t, sir. We all have the same end game.”

  The man leaned in. “Do we? Because my understanding is that you’re the one triggering all of this. And you’ve successfully gathered all of them in the United States to you. How are we to know for sure that you fully control of your own actions? Or is something else pulling your strings? And I’m just pouring a can of gasoline on a burning house.”

  William mimicked the gesture, stopping just an inch from his face. “Because it’s my family–-all the people I love—who have suffered for generations to get to this point. You could put your whole damn army in front of me and I’d find a way through.”

  The general stared at him for a moment more, and then motioned for him to follow. He reached into his pocket to bring out a phone, quickly dialing and barking orders to bring Lynn Roseworth to the perimeter. Once he hung up, his turned to William. “We need to formulate a plan here. How do you intend to stop the girl out there?”

  “I have to find her first. And make physical contact. Like I did with the others, I should be able to contain her abilities.”

  As they walked, the crowds parted. They passed through several tents, all with the same reaction.

  Moving beyond the last tent, William stopped, surprised at what he saw on a solitary table.

  In a cage on the table, multiple rats scurried on a wheel or amidst pieces of shredded newspaper. Lily recoiled at the sight.

  “What is that?” William asked.

  “We’ll explain in a moment. Let’s keep going. But it reminds me, how did she—how did both those girls survive out there all this time? And how did she escape?”

  William felt Lily’s grip tighten as they walked. “She doesn’t remember anything.”

  “This feels bad, Mr. Chance. Really bad. I don’t trust this at all—”

  “And given what your agency and government have done to my family, the feeling is completely mutual.”

  “Let’s just hope you meant what you said, that we all want the same conclusion.”

  Among the parked vehicles were two ATVs positioned at an angle, almost touching, preventing anyone from walking beyond. Standing before them were four women, encircled by soldiers.

  “Well played, General,” William said softly.

  “Just a reminder of what’s at stake should you decide to make a move that we don’t agree with.”

  He passed by his aunts, prevented from touching them by the surrounding soldiers. He saw Kate put her arm around Stella as he passed.

  “Screw this,” he heard a familiar voice say. “Let me see that boy.”

  William attempted to take Roxy’s outstretched hand, but the soldiers gently pushed her back.

  “No contact, that’s non-negotiable,” the general said from just a footstep behind him. “And that goes for everyone.”

  Only one person did not turn to him at his approach, as her gaze was fixed on the broken landscape.

  “Nanna,” William said.

  “William, come stand with me.”

  “Mrs. Roseworth, you know that is not going to happen,” the general said.

  At that, she did look over her shoulder. “You will give me a moment with my grandson. And then you can have all the time you want to bark.”

  William heard Roxy grunt in satisfaction.

  “We’re here for one reason only, and that is for you both to reveal what you know so I can formulate a strategy—”

  “Then stand between us if you wish, General. But you are only wasting time,” Lynn said.

  William flashed his raised eyebrows at the general, motioning at the space beside his grandmother. The soldiers around her parted for the general as he huffed over,
putting his hands on his hips to further the divide between grandmother and grandson.

  “Understand this first,” the general said. “No one can go any further than the points of these vehicles. Do you see there?”

  Not far across the mesa on which they stood was another cage. There appeared to be movement inside it.

  “More rats?” William asked.

  “Indeed. The cages mark the perimeter of the area in which people have died. When the waves of sickness come, there is no warning. In the last week, when the diseases intensified, we set them set up at different locations and intervals to warn us. If the bastards keel over, we run and don’t look back. So far, it hasn’t reached this far.

  “But it also means we cannot go in search of the source. We even attempted by helicopter. The last radio communication was from the pilot saying he couldn’t breathe. It crashed less than a minute later.”

  Lynn raised her hand to her neck. The general continued. “Drones show us nothing but dead animals and birds out there. No one has walked out of this area alive. That is, except for that little girl. She was quite the discovery. We certainly didn’t intend on letting her leave—”

  “What do you mean, let her leave?” William said, Lily peering around his leg.

  “Please, Mr. Chance. A nameless little girl wanders out of a hot zone that is under complete surveillance by the military and you think we weren’t alerted? We were about to seize her, take her to the DC headquarters or quarantine her, even if she wasn’t emitting the diseases. But then she saw you on that parks investigator’s phone. When she indicated that she had to find you—you, of all people—we knew for certain that it was happening again. And that we had to find you. Who do you think arranged for them to fly to Arkansas? We were with them the entire time, watching, observing. She led us right to you. We, of course, misjudged what she was, in fact, capable of. And you, for that matter.”

  William could barely contain his budding anger. “So many people didn’t have to die.”

  “Understand that we’re in the same place today that we were eight days ago, when that girl was discovered. We cannot venture in to determine what is causing the diseases. We’d hoped that girl would find you and explain to you what was occurring, so we could take you both safely into custody to determine what could be done to stop it. But reckless fanatics changed our course.”

  “Fanatics,” Lynn said softly. “You refer, of course, to the people who have wanted to expose the truth that you so badly wished to contain.”

  The general jutted out his jaw. “All that matters now is stopping it. And you and that girl are going to show us how.”

  William reached down and lifted Lily, leaning in to her. “I know your sister’s out there. I can feel her. But I don’t know exactly where. Does any of it out there … look familiar?”

  Lily shook her head. “It was so dark.”

  He held her tighter. “The bottom line is we don’t know. There’s simply no way of finding her unless I can get closer—”

  “You’re wrong, my boy,” Lynn said. “There is a way.”

  “What is it?” the general demanded.

  Lynn’s sad eyes turned to William. “I should have told you. When I first suspected it. But I couldn’t. The truth was too difficult for even me to share.”

  “I don’t understand,” William said.

  “There’s nothing that can be taken out of us, William, to erase the danger we pose. There’s nothing implanted inside you, or me, or that sweet girl in your arms. We are the weapons. They changed us, William. Down to our very DNA.”

  “How could you possibly know that?” the general said.

  Her eyes flickered to him. “Because I am a Researcher, General. While you and your agents and soldiers were either trying to contain or use us as weapons—I was trying to understand how to make us safe again. And it was there, in the very skies above my woods.”

  “Nanna.” William stepped towards her, but the general held up his hand and the soldiers moved in. “Nanna, what do you mean?”

  “They swarmed when you first disappeared. The ladybugs. I thought it was some bizarre reaction to the abductions. But in the last year, they started acting strangely again. I’ve seen it documented, in photographs or video, all over the world, in all the sites of abductions and where they are returned to earth. It only happens for a moment, and you have to know what to look for. Sometimes you see it in swarms of flies, in locusts, in ladybugs, or even in snow or rain. Whatever is indigenous to the area or its weather patterns. Look closely above and you will see it. The shapes of DNA strands.”

  “Impossible,” the general fumed. “The very best minds in the world scoured those sites for anything like that.”

  “None of those people live at an abduction site. Or know that a year ago, when I felt the first tremor, the first inkling of control over me, I saw it for the first time, before my very eyes. I saw it again in Maryland just a week ago—in the form of swarming cicadas—where I suspect the boy, Ryan, was taken. I can tell by your expression that I am correct. The cicadas took the form of the strand.”

  The general stammered. “What does it mean?”

  “I believe … it’s how they mark what they’ve done to us. What each person taken or returned is afflicted with. It’s how they’ve engineered us. Ultimately, where to position us.”

  William looked out. “So you think … out there … wherever Lily and her sister were returned to earth, there will be some indication? In the skies—”

  A high-pitched sound tore the air, echoed in several locations throughout the camp. A harsh light began to pulsate not far away, positioned next to the cage where the movement of the rodents had now come to an abrupt stop.

  “Go! Go!” General Wolve yelled. “It’s coming! Get back now!”

  William sidestepped the general, taking his grandmother by the arm while holding tight to Lily. In the chaos, one of the soldiers broke loose, jumping into one of the ATVs on the perimeter, calling for the general to follow. He fired it up, clearly hoping for a faster escape.

  “Major, no!” the general cried out.

  The man looked over and then reached up to his throat. A second later, he began to convulse, his skin changing to a yellow pall.

  As they ran, William caught a glimpse of Lily’s face as she craned her neck to look back towards the mesas. He’d seen the girl look so frightened for so long, it was startling to see her calmness, her expression void of fear. For a moment, she looked at him, her eyes conveying a simple message.

  William thrust Lily towards his grandmother. “Nanna! Take her!”

  He practically dumped her into his grandmother’s arms, turning and bolting back towards the perimeter.

  “No!” the general yelled.

  “William!” he heard his grandmother cry out.

  He choked back the bile rising to his throat, seeing the soldier’s body now slumped against the window.

  It took only moments to reach the ATV. He stopped, bracing himself, his eyes clenched shut.

  Nothing. He felt nothing. No pain, no convulsions. The waves of sickness that killed the soldier had no effect on him.

  It’s how they’ve engineered us, Nanna had said.

  Lily’s look explained it all. She hadn’t been afraid because she knew she was immune. A carrier of the disease couldn’t be killed by it.

  As the conduit of it all, neither could he.

  Swallowing his revulsion, he slid the body of the soldier, devastated by disease, out of the ATV. Its engine vibrated, stuck in neutral.

  The fleeing crowds had stopped, all now positioned behind the first cage they’d passed. Even without being able to see inside, he knew the rats inside were alive. The wave hadn’t reached that far.

  Of all of them, Lily would be the only one to survive the journey ahead, but he had no intention of taking her where he had to go.

  He climbed in, positioning the gear to reverse.

  * * *

  No less than two minute
s later, the phone inside the ATV began to ring.

  “Send in your drones, General,” William said.

  “You’re going to turn around and get your ass back here—”

  “Send them throughout the area looking for a swarm. I’m driving blind here. I’ll need directions how to navigate the canyon as well.”

  He could almost feel the spittle of the general’s words through the phone. “You get back here now. There is real belief that you used that little girl in your arms to send out that blast so you could get away. And if you think I’m joking, then know right now she has about fifteen high-powered rifles pointed at her.”

  William winced at the image. “You know I wouldn’t have risked my family—”

  “I don’t know a damn thing but that I have another dead soldier and a furious leader of the free world. You turn around right now or things are going to get worse. If you don’t believe me, then perhaps this will convince you.”

  The phone was jostled, and another voice came onto the line.

  “William, it’s Aunt Kate.”

  “Is Nanna OK? Are you and Stella all right? Roxy?”

  “We are. William … we don’t have much time. I’ve talked to the president. They’re considering drone strikes, to just wipe out the entire area. I am trying to convince them to let you try and stop this. But they very much believe you’re not acting of your own accord.”

  William paused. “Convince them otherwise. You know I’m the only one that can control them all. If they wipe me out, then there’s no stopping what’s happening all over the world.”

  “They know you can’t do anything unless you make physical contact with them. William, there’s no way you can do that in time. You can’t get to all of them.”

  “But I can protect the US. Tell them that. Tell them that we could be the last ones standing. Because I’m sure they’re listening in to this call right now.”

  “I’ll do my best, William—”