by Matt Ryan
Poly stood next to Joey. He spotted the blade gripped in her hand. “We’ve heard your name mentioned. Are you the one that killed my dad?”
“No.” Harris sighed. “I know I’m asking for a major leap of faith, but in a minute we are going to have company. It’s too late to run now and I hope you know how to use those guns, Joey.”
Joey glanced back at the path Samantha took while keeping his gun on Harris. He wanted to trust Harris, but everything told him to run away. His parents would be there in a little bit if he could stall for a little longer. “If you really were with our parents, then how did they die?”
“We put their bodies in a bar as a cover story. I’m so sorry for your losses, but we really need to get ready.” Harris glanced at the tablet in his hand. “One’s here already.” He lowered his hand and started walking forward. “You’re going to have to make a decision right now, Joey, if you’re going to kill me.” He kept his pace toward them.
Joey tapped the trigger with his shaking finger and lowered the gun. He couldn’t kill the man. He glanced at Poly, who looked at his lowered gun. He shook his head and she lowered her knife.
An arrow hit Harris in the shoulder. He winced in pain and yanked out the arrow.
Lucas scrambled to get another arrow from his quiver.
“Lucas, no,” Joey yelled.
Blood soaked into the jacket around Harris’s wound. “Don’t do that again,” he warned.
“Sorry man, I just thought you were about to do something to us.”
Harris grimaced and took out his gun. He pointed it in Lucas’s direction.
“Hey, man—”
He fired and Lucas winced. A small silver creature skid on the dirt next to their feet. A dagger fell from its limp hand. Lucas looked at it and jumped back. “Those things are real?”
Joey pointed his gun at its dead body. “What the hell are they?”
“Arracks.” Harris fired another shot into its head. He sighed and scanned the area around them. Stepping forward, he fired into a bush. An Arrack fell forward with its dagger in hand, black blood running down its chest. It scrambled on the forest floor, clawing over dead leaves and branches while black blood slid down the hole in its chest. Harris shot it in the head.
“No, no, this can’t be happening.” Julie clutched her phone in her hands and stared at the dead Arrack body.
“I wish it wasn’t,” Harris said, glancing at his tablet. “They’re concentrating the attack at our rear and they are going to do everything in their power to get to you kids.”
“Samantha went that way,” Joey said.
“I think she made it. But if we don’t get moving to the stone, they’ll have us cornered.” Harris jogged down the path toward the stone.
Joey looked at the path leading to his house before taking the other path behind Harris. His friends kept pace as they jogged. Stopping at their destination, Joey recognized the placed logs and saw the thick hedge blocking the circle from view. He turned, pointing his gun into the dense forest. Bushes rustled and fallen branches cracked in all directions, too many for him to concentrate on.
Silver streaked past a tree and then to another one. Joey fired, sending chunks of bark flying. Another silver streak, then another, they were forming a circle around them, pushing his back to the circle.
“I won’t let you take them,” Harris called out.
A man stepped out from behind a tree, dressed in a similar black uniform the other man had on this morning, but with R7 written on his chest on one side and MM on the other.
“Well done, Harris. Thanks for rounding them up,” the man in black said. He smirked and rubbed his hands together. His face contorted with joy and his eyes twitched as he gazed at each of them. “There should be six. No matter, five will do.”
Joey clinched his jaws and trained his gun on Harris.
Harris faced the end of his gun and gave him a subtle shake of his head. “Simon, you know I won’t let you take them,” he called out.
Simon laughed and placed a hand on the gun at his hip.
Joey moved his gun from Harris to Simon. His sweaty hand slipped and he adjusted his grip. The gun fired and the bullet went directly for Simon, but hit the air a foot away from him and shimmered. A spark flew off the spot it hit. He didn’t even flinch. Was that a force field?
Simon laughed. “Got a reckless one here.” He locked eyes with Joey. “I’ll have fun watching him suck the life from you.” He raised his gun at Joey.
Harris stepped in front of him, as a human shield.
“I’m not going to shoot the kids, but I have no problem ending you, Harris.”
“You shoot me and that bullet will go right through me and into him.”
Joey looked at Harris’s back and took a step back.
“Don’t move if you want to live,” Harris whispered.
Simon shook his head in amusement. “I’ll tell you what. You leave the kids with me, and I’ll tell Marcus I killed you. You can go about your life in complete ambiguity.”
“I won’t let you take them.”
Gunshots sounded from deep within the forest. Simon frowned and looked in the direction of the noise. More gunfire and Joey thought he heard yelling. He took out his second gun and kept one pointed at Simon and the other at the noise moving toward them.
A silver creature flew into view, landing on the dead leaves of the forest floor. Then, Trip jumped and landed on the Arrack’s head. Sweat poured down his face as he rose to look at them. His eyes went wide.
“They’re at the stone!” Trip yelled.
Another Arrack launched at him with its dagger extended. Trip grabbed a branch off the tree next to him and swung it at the beast.
A gunshot sounded and the Arrack fell to the forest floor. Minter walked toward it with his gun drawn, smoke coming from the barrel. Samantha was with him.
“Joey,” she shouted.
“Enough!” Simon screamed. He took out a whistle from his pocket and blew into it.
The forest around them rustled with sounds of shaking bushes and crunching leaves. Arracks emerged from all directions.
Joey spun around, looking at the hundred or so Arracks standing shoulder to shoulder. Some had necklaces and yellow stripes on their shoulders. Some sniffed the air. All of them had yellow eyes trained on them.
“As you can see, it’s hopeless. I could start a blood bath here, but I don’t want to risk damaging the merchandise.” Simon pointed at them.
“Mom,” Poly called, as Opal ran up next to Minter.
Opal whispered in Minter’s ear, as Rick ran up behind, carrying a bow.
“All that matters is the kids, Harris,” Minter said. “We don’t matter. You take care of them.”
Harris nodded and Joey stood, mouth open, looking at his dad. An unspoken plan developed. His dad stared at him, an apology formed over his face, as if to tell me he was sorry for getting me into this mess, or maybe he was disappointed I came to the forest. Minter took out his second gun and nodded to Harris then to the parents. Opal clutched a deck of knives in her hands and Rick pulled out an arrow.
Simon sighed. “Guess we’re going to damage the merchandise.” He raised his gun and shot Harris.
Joey checked his body, finding no wounds.
Harris fell to his rear and raised both guns. He fired at Simon. The bullets dinged off his face. Sparks flew around, but nothing struck him.
Joey fumbled with his gun and managed to get it pointed at Simon. He fired several shots and they too bounced off the shield.
Simon backed up, blinded by the barrage of bullets striking his face; he fired wildly into the forest, striking a few Arracks. Harris kept firing into his face.
“Get to the stone,” Harris said to Joey. “Now!” he yelled.
Joey looked back at his dad and his dad nodded to him.
Simon blew two sharp whistles and Arracks ran at them.
Joey turned and felt a chill run down his neck as he saw the Arracks charging. The
sounds dulled and the Arracks froze. Joey took a step and stopped. Poly stood next to him. Her arm extended, a knife suspended in air a few inches from her hand. Lucas held an arrow back in the bowstring. Joey spun in a quick circle; everything had frozen. No, not quite frozen. He watched Poly’s knife inching away from her.
The sounds and action crushed back to him and her knife flew toward its intended target. Joey didn’t have a second to think about what happened. He pulled his gun on the Arracks and fired into them.
“Get them to the stone,” Trip yelled. He jumped on Simon with Minter. Opal stood next to the dog pile and threw knives at the Arracks as they got close.
Harris staggered to his feet and grabbed onto Joey’s shoulder. “We need to get you kids out of here.”
Joey shot two more bullets and then his gun clicked—empty. He reached into his jacket for speedloaders, jamming them in and raising his gun. The Arracks moved behind trees and scattered around. A few still ran at them though. He timed his shots and fired on them.
“Joey!” Harris grabbed his shoulder. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“I’m not leaving my dad.”
Harris raised his gun and shot two Arracks as they ran toward them. One of their daggers skipped across the ground and stopped at Joey’s feet.
“Get to the circle and we have a chance of saving them.”
Opal howled.
“Mom.” Poly ran toward her.
Opal gripped her arm in pain. She spotted her daughter moving toward her. “No, Poly.” She held out her hand and Poly stopped. “Harris, get them to the circle.”
Trip, Minter, and Rick pinned down Simon on the ground. Simon laughed and pushed Trip off him. Then he stood and punched Minter. Rick grabbed Simon’s neck and pulled him to the ground. Trip, Opal and Minter piled on him.
“Just kill him!” Poly yelled.
“They can’t, he’s shielded,” Harris said. “If we can get to the circle, we can save everyone.” He fired at the advancing Arracks, pushing his way through the hedge.
Joey glanced at Poly. “If this can save them.”
She nodded and followed him through the hedge. Julie, Hank, and Lucas ran through as well.
Harris grabbed his stomach and fell the ground. Blood covered his hands.
Joey ran to his side. “What do we do? How do I save them?”
“Pull me to the stone,” Harris instructed, before raising his gun and shooting an Arrack trying to jump into the circle.
“Hank, pull Harris to the stone over there.” Joey turned as Hank grabbed Harris. The hedges rustled with Arracks pushing through. He fired into each set of yellow eyes.
“Samantha,” Joey yelled. He searched for her through the hedge.
Harris’s hand touched the stone and it started to hum.
“Samantha!”
An explosion from Simon blasted past Joey. The shock wave knocked him back, sending leaves flying into his face. Through the hedge, he saw Samantha tumbling over the forest floor.
Joey ran for Samantha.
Simon ran at the hedge screaming, “No!”
BLACKNESS.
Joey’s face hit something hard and fell to the ground. He couldn’t see anything. Holding out his hands, he felt the steel wall he ran into. He slapped the wall, wanting to get to Samantha. Have I gone blind? Then he heard shuffling footsteps and turned from the wall.
“I can’t see anything,” Lucas said.
“Everyone okay?” Hank called out in the darkness.
“I’m here,” Poly said.
“What happened?” Julie asked.
“Joey?” Hank called out.
“I’m here, man,” Joey said, but his thoughts raced with his last image of Samantha. He wanted to run and find her, but everything was black. Holding his hands out like a mummy, he searched for the trees and bushes in front of him. The forest floor no longer crunched with leaves under his feet. There was only soft dirt under his shoes. The sweet forest air was gone—replaced with the smell of musty, dry dirt.
Where are we?
A moan came from someone on the ground. Joey turned to the sound to find a glow emanating from Harris’s hand. He held a tablet out in front of him. It lit up the room in a soft white light.
Joey stumbled away from the metal dome surrounding them. The enclosure looked small. He avoided taking deep breaths of the stale air. How much air could be in here? He bounded to the spot he last saw Samantha, clenched his fist and hit the steel curved wall.
“Samantha!” Joey yelled. She had to be right there, just past the metal enclosure.
“Joey, what’s going on?” Poly asked as she walked in a circle, taking in the metal dome.
“I have no idea—”
“We’ve got to get out of here. Did you feel that blast? They need our help,” Hank said.
Joey was about to ask the same question and stared at the one man in the dome who might have a clue of what was actually going on.
“We can’t help them,” Harris said, struggling to get to his feet. “We’re not even on Earth anymore. We can’t get back.”
“You’re kidding, right? This is just some protective dome. Dad, we’re in here!” Lucas yelled the last bit with his face as close to the metal as he could get.
Harris touched the wet spot on his jacket with his free hand and inspected a few pockets on the inside. He pulled out a small white jar, bit the lid with his mouth, and untwisted the cap. He spit the lid away and lifted his shirt.
“They can’t hear us. We are gone. I’m sure they think they know where you are.” Harris looked at the ceiling. “Even if I don’t.” He dipped his fingers into the white goo and spread it over the hole in his stomach. Wincing, he closed his eyes. Grabbing another blob, he reached into his shirt and rubbed it on his shoulder.
“This is impossible.” Julie moved close to the curved steel wall and felt it.
Joey rapidly breathed in and out. “No! We need to get back.”
“Your parents should be fine—”
“We left Samantha back there!” Joey pointed in the direction he saw her last.
Harris grimaced. “I’m sorry. This is a one-way stone.” He held his side tight and shined his light around the room. “Opal and the rest of your parents are tough kids. Well, not so much kids now, but they are tough people.”
“I don’t know who you are or where you’ve taken us, but we need to get back to them, now,” Joey demanded.
“Yeah, some freaking psycho was all over them back there.” Poly pointed to the wall.
“I wish Samantha had come with us, but we can’t change what happened,” Harris said.
Joey paced around the stone. It had a few marks on it and looked similar to the one in Preston. He needed to learn how to use this stone and get back to Samantha.
“Your mom’s Opal, right?” Harris asked.
“Yes, I’m Poly.”
“And the rest of you?”
“That’s Joey, Minter’s son. Hank, Trip’s son. Lucas, Rick’s son, and Julie, Beth’s daughter,” Poly said, then looked around the room.
Joey knew she was looking for Samantha. It didn’t feel right not to have her here. Everything in his body was screaming to get back to her. He had to find a way.
“If we’re not on ‘Earth’. . . .” Lucas used air quotes and rolled his eyes. “Then where are we?”
Harris tapped the screen on his device, shook it and then shined the light on the stone. He let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure. I got bumped when putting in the code and we missed the intended destination.”
“Great, so you don’t even know where we are.” Lucas put his hands on his head.
“My Panavice isn’t getting a signal,” Harris tapped his fingers on his tablet and lowered it down in frustration.
Joey shook his head. “It’s a real bummer your Panavice isn’t getting a signal, but we need to get out of here.”
Julie stared at Harris’s Panavice lighting the room and let out a huff. She pulled out
her cellphone and pushed a button. Light emanated from her phone and she raised an eyebrow. She studied the ceiling and walls with her own light as she made her way around the room. Lucas stood near her with his mouth open, looking at the ceiling.
Harris got to his feet and took a step. He clutched his side, wincing.
“You okay?” Poly asked.
“Yeah, this old body can take a lot.”
Joey didn’t think he was much older than his thirties, which is old, but not old enough to say “this old body.”
“We’re underground, I think.” Julie tapped the walls and they thudded. “It sounds solid behind this steel.” She took small steps around the dome, tapping the wall until her tap resonated through the room. She felt the wall in front of her. “There’s a door over here.”
Hank moved over to the steel door with an iron hand crank. He grabbed the crank and unlocked the door. The steel moaned as he struggled to open it. Joey rushed to the door, still hoping to see the woods on the other side. Dust stirred in the opening. As everything settled, a stone staircase, came into view—no forest.
Damn it.
Hank and Julie stepped through the doorway.
“There are stairs here,” Julie said, lighting upward with her cellphone.
“Okay, let’s get out of this hole,” Harris said. He walked toward the door and stumbled a bit. Poly grabbed his arm to help steady him.
In the dim light, Joey glanced back at the stone in the middle of the room. He couldn’t go back. Joey sighed and strode up the staircase.
Everyone crowded the stairs.
“Joey, take a look at this.” Hank pointed at a stone wall. Julie moved aside and gave him as much room as she could in the confined space. He studied the wall and grasped a metal handle protruding from it.
“It’s a door.” Hank pushed against it and it slid back an inch. “Help me with this?” He leaned his shoulder against the stone door.
Joey pushed with Hank and it slid back farther. A ray of light shone through the top and they pushed again until the opening was large enough to get through. He wanted out of the cave-coffin, but he waited for each of his friends to pass through. “Right behind you, Harris,” he said, motioning his hand forward.
