by Jill Cooper
Shuddering, she slipped to her knees and saw a young cook, his apron splattered with grease. His eyes were as green as the spikey hair on top of his head. In his hand was a vegetable peeler hovering in mid-air as he stared her down with wide eyes.
Marie took a deep breath and stood up, still clutching the backpack in her hand. Her limbs shook as she started toward him, but the boom of the door being banged on by the angry police jolted her forward.
She stumbled and put her hands on him to stop a forward fall. “I gotta go. Don’t tell them I was here. Please.”
He just stared into her eyes but then a slow nod overtook him. Marie didn’t know if he was spellbound or just some stupid human. She was going with the latter. No one was captivated by her, except maybe Victor. Marie was a no one. She was the daughter of the bravest glistening in four generations and the sister of a leader.
No one noticed her. But they would. They would soon.
She charged out through the restaurant only stopping for a moment to steal someone’s cheeseburger. They screamed. “Hey!”
Marie forced the front door open, slipped on her backpack and headed west down the street. She didn’t know the area. Didn’t know where she was going, but could hear the chanting. Their voices would guide her. They would be her beacon.
Hope was alive that day. Her mission could be successful.
****
“Move!” Jenna ordered and shoved her open palm into Jake’s back. Dirk grabbed his arm, forced him up, and they moved toward the rear exit. They moved down low in case there was a resurgence of gun fire and there were enough lame duck politicians cowering on the ground to make their escape easy.
Dirk used a wall for cover and Jake followed suit. Jenna approached the door leading back into the hallway, using her gun to butt open the door. She didn’t see any movement and was about to signal it was free to move toward the van when she saw a reflection in an office window. There was a man, dressed all in black, lying in wait for them.
Gently she closed the door so not to draw attention to themselves. “We’re going to have to go out the front.”
“The front?” Dirk whispered, his eyes wide. “The protestors…”
“Will have to get out of our damned way.” Jenna said. “Besides, they don’t want to come face to face with a glistening, right?” She made eye contact with Jake. She had to know he was okay. That he was going to be able to move when told.
Jake nodded. “Right.” He said listlessly.
Jenna’s heart ached for him. The color was still drained from his face. The kid put too much faith in humanity. “Let’s go then.” She grabbed Jake’s arm and they made their way out through the senate floor, running for the door that would lead them straight to the foyer and the main stairs.
Dirk talked into his collar, alerting the other officers of the position of the shooter and they needed a van ready to move out in the front of the street.
“I know the barricades are there, but we need an extraction point immediately. You know what will happen if we lose Jake? I don’t care what you have to do, just push the people back!”
Jenna loved it when he was assertive.
In the foyer, they took cover behind an old monument stone that listed the dead officers and soldiers that died to hold DC from the glistening attack over seventy years ago. On the front was a stone carving of a bleeding heart to symbolize how the blood of the fallen broke the hearts of Americans everywhere.
Using it for cover seemed cowardly, but it was the only thing that Jenna had to use to get access to the street. Hopefully the dead wouldn’t mind being used once again.
She peered up and over the marbleized stone slab. Through the windows on the doors she could see a horde of people with picket signs being held overhead. Their screams and taunts came through the latched doors. The anger in their voices traveled and made Jenna’s skin crawl. Taking Jake out there was asking for him to be beaten to death on the city streets.
“Looks safe enough.” Dirk said.
Jenna gave him a look. “Any word?”
“They’re moving a van in. Let’s make a break for it. If the shooter realizes we’re coming this way, well I say let’s take our chances with the angry mob.”
“Easy for you to say.” Jake muttered.
Jenna cast her eyes onto him. “You could defend yourself. You could fly out of here.”
“At what risk? If I hurt someone…” Jake shook his head. “We’ve made strides today toward peace. I know it’s not much and it’s still a long shot…”
“A fool’s prayer.” Jenna corrected.
“I think we should discuss politics in the van.” Dirk gave her a look of urgency, his eyes narrow. “And let’s try to not use the word shot.”
Jenna snorted. They moved toward the doorway and flanked either side for cover. She opened the door wide enough to see outside. Cue the angry mob, Jenna thought at the sight of hundreds of humans behind the barricades. There were police in riot gear, trying to keep them back and create a path for them.
The van was across the street and under normal circumstances would be a short stroll, but with the hordes of people primed up for violence, Jenna didn’t like it. Not at all. She said as much.
“C”mon,” Jake gave her a scared smile, “you live for this sort of thing.”
“Normally. Maybe.” Jenna signaled for two New Haven officers. If they had any hope of getting out of this thing alive, they were going to need all the protection they could get. “Lead us out.” She told the officers when they approached. “We need to get to that van and get Mr. Monroe somewhere he won’t be hurt. Immediately.”
Jenna turned to Jake and unzipped her bullet proof vest. Dirk grabbed her arm. “Jenn, what the hell are you doing?”
“I’m not the target, he is. Now if you want to retire anytime soon, you’ll let me do what is necessary.”
“He can have mine then. Damn it Jen, the baby…”
Jenna narrowed her eyes and gripped Dirk’s arm tightly. Too tightly. “I’m closer to his frame. You’re too bulky. Oh, no offense, Jake.”
“None taken. Look, if you’re pregnant…”
Fume may as well come out of her ears for Dirk letting that slip. She tore the vest from her body and held it out to Jake. “None of that matters right now, do you understand? Put this damn thing on before I shoot you myself. I have shot people for less.”
Clearly he believed her because he put it on and then Jenna zipped it up for him. “Now do what we tell you and just stay close.”
Jenna turned to the HI officers and ignored the burning sensation in the back of her head thanks to Dirk’s glowering.
It was show time.
The officers stood in front of them and acted as a barrier as they made their way through the barricades. Hands out stretched to grab them, some tried to climb over top, spewing words of hatred.
“You will be forced to pay! Damn you, glistening, damn you!” A hand gripped Dirk’s shoulder as a picket sign slammed into head. He shoved the person back into the crowd.
“Stand back, or you will all be arrested!” Jenna screamed as they made their way across the street.
Almost free from the crowd, the barricade was broken and swarms of people broke free. Police were trampled and Jenna screamed. “Run!” Jake tripped, but Jenna and Dirk grabbed him, making their way to the van.
A woman screamed. “She has a bomb!”
What now? Jenna pivoted on her feet and saw a girl gripping a backpack to her chest. But it was no longer zipped up and in the center, Jenna saw a canister. She had no words but instead raised her gun and aimed it at the girl’s head.
Only Jake spoke. “Marie?” His voice frosted over and it became shrill. “Marie!”
“Freeze!” Jenna screamed.
The crowd was dispersing and running from Marie. The young girl’s chin was quivering. “For glistenings everywhere. They’re never going to accept us. There’s only one answer, Jake.”
“No, Marie! Not you. Not this!” Jake
lunged for her. Dirk hooked onto his shirt and yanked him back. Throwing the boy back, Dirk used his body as a shield and screamed.
“Jenna, cover!”
She didn’t have time. As Marie squeezed her hand around the trigger, depressing the top red button, Jenna aimed her gun and fired a single bullet into her head. Marie’s head rocked back and her finger released.
Jenna pivoted, but wasn’t quick enough to save herself.
The bomb exploded and rocked the square. Crowds of people were thrown back from the blast and chaos swirled like a tornado. Shreds from Marie’s clothing rocketed out in all directions. Blood splayed from the victims’ wounds and limbs boomeranged through the crowd. Jenna was locked inside a kaleidoscope of violence. Where no matter where you were and what you wore, everything turned to bright red blood.
Jenna was thrown backwards, her body being tossed onto the van and then she back flipped over it, collapsing onto her chest.
She groaned and her vision split. The voices and screams sounded far off as the ringing in her ears intensified, blocking everything else out. Someone called her name, but it sounded like he was speaking through a barrel. His hands grabbed her torso, but Jenna barely noticed as he hefted her up and cradled her back to the van.
Then it all slammed into her at once, like a star exploding on itself. The terror, the screaming, the pain went full blast like an amplifier cranked up. Her eyes widened and she groaned. The pain was so bad in her head she could barely see.
“Dirk?” She moaned as he slid her into the rear of the van. Her eyes didn’t work, she couldn’t see him, but she knew it was him. In all the chaos, only he would worry about her first when there was a host of other, better people to worry about.
His warm palm laid against her cheek. “I’m going to get you help, Jenn. All of us. You just sit tight.”
Jenna nodded, her eye lids snapping shut. She could hear her own breathing labored and tight. Off in the distance she heard panicked crying.
And the weirdest thing, she could feel something flapping behind her.
****
Dirk prayed to God no one else saw what he saw.
He had only just managed to get Jake into the back of the van when the explosion threw him, knocking his head into the side of the metal door. It stunned him, but not for long as he turned and saw the chaos. The death. Marie killed herself and took dozens with her. Maybe more. And the injured…laying on the ground either unconscious or crying out…Dirk felt like he was in the middle of a battleground. He hadn’t seen war, always been thankful he hadn’t, but what he saw made him want to scrub his eyes clean.
All those poor people.
And then he saw her, Jenna, collapsed on the floor. His first thought she was dead; her body so still and blood covering her head, hands. and chest. But when he inched closer, he realized Jenna was changing. Her skin was sparkling and her body was morphing right in front of his eyes.
First terrified, and then mystified by the process, Dirk rushed her. He knew, if anyone saw…but he had to keep up hope that with all the cameras, computers, and security somehow they went undetected. Somehow no one saw what happened to her, and the van would be able to leave the area, untraced by authorities.
And maybe no one would ever bother them again.
But with a half human bounty hunter named Jenna Morgan unconscious in the back seat, Dirk knew he was clinging to a fool’s hope.
Good thing he had always been a fool.
Chapter Sixteen Liz
Nuefeld Farm
Rural Saskatchewan Territory of the Canadian State
Liz sat curled up on the rug in the family room and watched the Congress proceedings but she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. There was no doubt that the guy on the screen, the one proclaiming to be the leader of the glistenings, was Nick. He looked like him, gestured like him, but Liz refused to believe it. He said his name was Jake, but she knew him as Nick. But they couldn’t be the same person. Nick couldn’t be a glistening.
But there was no denying they were the same person.
Angry, disbelieving tears stung her eyes. Nick or Jake, whatever his name was, had been kind to her and the Nuefeld family the moment he landed in Saskatchewan so how could he be a glistening? They were supposed to be monsters, but Nick wasn’t. He was sweet, kind and when he kissed her…God he kissed her. She kissed a glistening and was in fact, falling in love with him.
If anyone found out…Liz was terrified what would happen. What everyone would think of her.
Liz jumped at a loud bang. She bounced to her feet and followed the sound to the kitchen. Peering around the corner she saw her dad, Mark, slamming his hand down repeatedly down on the counter. “Damn it, damn it! A glistening? Here…how dare he lie to us like that!”
“Mark,” Jackie warned, pacing behind him. “I’m sure he meant us no harm. You’ve seen him. He’s been nothing but good to us. He helped us when everyone else was too busy to give a damn. They worried about their own fields, but not Nick.”
Mark snorted and Liz hid behind the door when he turned to get something. “ We helped him secure that farm. We gave our word he was good people, Liz. We put our reputations on the line. We had him at our damn dinner table and Liz…” He made a fist and spun like he was going to smash it into the wall. “If he put his hands on her, God help me.”
Liz stepped timidly from the shadows, folding the hem of her skirt in her hand. “He didn’t. He’s been a gentleman. If anything I’m the one who pushed him.”
There was an angry glower in Mark’s narrowed eyes. “Up to your room. Your mother and I have things to discuss. How we’re going to handle this.”
“Mark…” Jackie warned.
“No,” Liz said softly. “No, I’m part of this family too. You aren’t the only one who liked Nick. I liked him too.” She fell quiet. Her mind drifted back to the movies, how concerned Nick always seemed, but when they were together, he seemed happy. And Liz was too. She had been happy too.
Mark sighed. “Both of you are acting like he’s a stray dog, but he’s a glistening. A glistening! A blood sucking monster who, by all accounts, has been a fugitive. You have any idea what people are going to say? Going to think? We’ll be lucky if we can show our faces in town ever again.”
His eyes widened like an idea struck him. “He took you home the other night. You were in town together?”
Liz nodded. “Yes, sir. We were…together.” She stopped short of calling it a date. She didn’t know if her Dad could handle hearing that right now.
“Did anyone see you? Who?” Mark pushed when Liz nodded. He grabbed her arms. “Who saw you?”
“Mark, you’re scaring her.” Jackie edged him off. “We’re not mad, Liz. But did anyone see you together?”
Liz thought about their time at the café. “Well, sure. We weren’t hiding. The farm hand.” She took a shaky breath. “The one that’s been giving me trouble, Nick got him to leave me alone when he was harassing me. But it was fine, they didn’t get into a fight or anything.”
Mark nodded, wiping at his mouth and turned his back from his family. Over by the sink, he leaned over, his shoulders hunched. Liz never saw him so upset, even the years they barely had anything to eat. Her heart pounded in her ears, so afraid she just wanted to make it right. Liz’s eyes searched Jackie’s, looking for some sign everything would be fine.
Nothing would change.
Everything would go back to just the way it was.
She had to hope. Had to pray.
Jackie opened her arms. “Come here, baby.”
Liz rushed into them and Jackie crushed her in a hug, stroking her hair back. “It’ll be okay. We’ll find a way to get through this like we always have. We’re Nuefelds. Strong. We can do anything.”
Mark huffed. “You know how many Nick has living on his farm? Dozens? Hundreds? Just like him. He’s been hiding monsters among us and didn’t care about our well-being. Didn’t care who was hurt. Didn’t even warn us when he went off
to DC to make his plea.”
“He said good-bye.” Liz pulled away from the warm embrace of her mother. “That’s why, don’t you think? He knew what we’d think of him and he didn’t…didn’t want us to, Daddy. He was trying to tell us he’s a good person.”
Mark gritted his teeth. “He’s not a person, damn it Elizabeth. He is one of them. One that destroyed this country and now what’s left? Being our friend is going to cast suspicion on us. And I let you pal around him because I thought…I thought you needed it.” Mark shook his head.
He grabbed his coat from the back of a chair and whipped it on.
“Where are you going?” Jackie asked.
“Damage control.” Mark muttered. “Don’t answer the phone. Don’t do anything until I come back.” He left through the back door and slammed it shut, the blinds banging against the glass before they waved back and forth in a shudder.
Liz peered up at Jackie. It couldn’t have been as bad as he thought it was.
It couldn’t.
*****
Locked up in private study, Victor snuffed out the last of his cigarette. Smoking, one of the simple pleasures life on the outside afforded him. The room was dark, with the drapes closed, and on the television was a special report from outside Congress. There were swarms of people, police cars, and in the center was a simple girl.
“For glistenings everywhere!”
Victor leaned forward and paused the television as the explosion started. Aww, sweet Marie really came through in the end. He had his doubts she really could do it, but he placed his faith in her from the moment he met her on the outside. Sweet Marie so unassuming and such a natural, yes she was going to force the human’s hand to a war that no one wanted, but was necessary.
It was time for glistenings to rise up. But could they take on the human armies? Victor thought yes, yes they could. The United States was founded on the concept, wasn’t it? Angry uprising and militias. Now the government was too big for its own britches and Victor would see that exploited; used.
