Copula Chronicles: The Complete Collection: Origin, Descend, Ascend, Legacy

by Venessa Kimball

  I’m a little surprised since she is so young and he is, well, older.

  Ezra continues to probe, “Do you have any brothers or sisters, Tessa? Where is your mom?”

  I nudge Ezra, warning him that he is getting too personal too quick with her.

  She pulls her hand back from Stella, rests them in her lap, and becomes very still as she says softly, “They went to Heaven.”

  Ezra bows his head, realizing he has stepped over a line, leaving her upset.

  I don’t think I could bear to see this beautiful child cry. I sit down next to her on the ground and say gently, “I’m sorry, Tessa.”

  She fiddles with her fingers and whispers, “It’s okay. It’s a cycle.”

  She lifts her glassy eyes to meet mine and I about lose it. I reach my hand out to rest on her light, golden-brown hair, softly smoothing it down. She has to be the smartest and bravest little girl I’ve ever met.

  All of a sudden, she does something I’m not expecting. She scoots closer to me and rests her head in the crook of my arm. I tenderly place my hand on her shoulder, lean my cheek to rest on her head, and look up at Ezra as he watches us.

  The quietude between Tessa and me is broken when Shiva exerts a deep canine rumble. Her yellow eyes are sharpened on the passage opening behind us. I whip around expecting to see something, but only see darkness beyond the cavity.

  Shiva is still staring at the opening with ears folded back, teeth showing, and snarling fiercely.

  The content in my stomach, which isn’t much, rolls suddenly. The nausea and wave of heat mix within me and I almost lose the few of those contents right then and there. How the hell did a Dweller get in here?

  “Ezra, I feel a Dweller!” I call through my watering mouth.

  Like a shot, Ezra turns toward the doorway and I rise to crouch in front of Tessa protectively. Shiva stands next to Ezra ahead of me, back arched and tense, ready to attack whatever crosses the darkened threshold.

  Swallowing hard, I’m able to push down the queasiness quicker than the times before.

  All of a sudden, the heavy, oppressive sensation bearing down on me lifts. Shiva must feel it too, because she abandons her snarl, her ears perk up and she recedes back to sitting on her haunches next to Ezra. I hear the sound of crushing gravel under foot before I feel the familiar comforting aura of Nate.

  At that instant, he comes into the light of the outlet. He stops at the threshold and takes in the scene; Tessa peeking from behind me, Shiva sitting next to Ezra panting, and me crouched, ready to strike at whatever comes through that door. Bewildered, Nate’s crystalline, blue eyes find mine, and he asks, “What is going on?”

  In a flash, I’m by Nate’s side, looking beyond him into the tunnel, but I see nothing, just lanterns lining the path. I tell him, “Something was following you. Something dark and evil, a Dweller.”

  I pull Nate into the room with us.

  Tessa immediately asks, “Who is he?”

  I don’t answer. I’m too focused on the possibility that a Dweller has gotten in to the compound.

  A bit put out by my protective nature, Nate mumbles, “Nothing is following me, Jes.”

  Shiva doesn’t waste time greeting him. She walks over to him and nudges his hand with her snout.

  He is more startled than amazed, “Whoa! A dog?”

  Xander, Tom, Daniel and Briggs are standing at the entryway. Xander is no longer lethargic, rather alert and lively. “Why did you all run off?” he asks before seeing Tessa, Shiva, and Stella. He quickly changes his tune. “Oh.”

  Tom pats his thighs and calls for the dog, “Come, Shiva.”

  Shiva practically jumps into Tom’s arms, all seventy-odd pounds of her.

  Tom stumbles back into the rock wall from the force of her. “Whoa, girl!”

  Tessa stands, and walks over to Nate with Stella in her arms again. “Her name is Shiva, and this is Stella. I’m Tessa.”

  Nate crouches down and looks at all three of them with wide-eyed fascination. His voice is gentle as he says, “Hi, Tessa, I’m Nate. I’m a friend of Jesca’s.”

  Tessa looks at her dad curiously. “Who are they?”

  Shiva has moved onto greeting Xander and the others now, rubbing her snout against their hands.

  Tom introduces her to Briggs, Daniel and Xander.

  “Where is everyone else?” I ask, noticing only the three of them.

  Tom says, “We left them at their quarters for the night. That is when we noticed you two missing.”

  Xander walks toward us from the open doorway. His eyes move first from Tessa, to me, then back to Tessa uneasily. His tired eyes brighten a bit as he speaks to Tessa. “How old are you, sweetheart?” he asks softly.

  Tessa answers, “Six.”

  Xander’s blue-green eyes widen and light up comically. “Wow, you are an old lady!”

  She giggles quietly, and it makes me smile. Xander studies Tessa as she cuddles the tiny canine, laying small kisses on the top of its small head.

  I hear Ezra asking Tom from behind me, “How have the animals survived?”

  I’m listening intently for an explanation since it should be impossible for them to have survived since we cannot.

  Tom calls to his daughter, “Tessa, baby, why don’t you take Stella to Samantha. She needs to feed her.”

  Tessa nods and cuddles the grunting pup to her chest. “Okay, Daddy.” She looks back at me before she leaves the room. “Bye, Jesca.”

  I wave back. “Bye, Tessa. See you soon.”

  Tom waits until Tessa is out of earshot then turns back to us and addresses me. “She has taken to you,” he says.

  I can’t read him to decipher if that is a good or bad thing.

  Tom smiles and adds, “Since her mom and older sister passed, she pretty much stays to herself.” Tom leans against the stone wall of the hollow and regards Ezra, saying, “Shiva and Bear were our first indicators that something was changing. We would let them outside and they would immediately claw to come back in. When we caught word of a climate shift, I got in touch with Daniel.”

  He nods at Daniel with gratitude and honor for a moment before continuing. “My wife, Susan, and daughter, Tiffany, fell ill day’s later, respiratory problems. Couldn’t walk more than three feet without feeling like passing out. I’m not sure why it hit them and not Tessa or me. I didn’t know what to do. The government was telling us that their resources for the implantations were running low. We were put on a waiting list. A week later, they were no better, but no worse. That same week, the attacks began by the beings—the Dwellers. Another week passed and the main guy heading the implantation program, Griffin, off’ed himself and the entire program collapsed. The government was running just as scared as us. I’d been out of the military for years now, but I still had my connections. I called Briggs. He told me about a group that he and his family received implants from. Suzy and Tiff had taken a turn for the worse and were immobile. I was able to get my hands on an oxygen tank and breathing apparatus supplies, which was like gold to us. Briggs told us not to worry. He said he would call on this man, Daniel, who would come to us.” Tom pauses, closes his eyes and smiles weakly. “They stayed together in our bed, laying side by side holding hands. Suzy told me that holding Tiff’s hand would remind both of them to hold on just a bit longer.”

  Tom opens his eyes and wipes away any evidence of emotion before they can fall. He continues, “The next day, I went into my bedroom to check them and they had passed.”

  I look over at Daniel, just as he lowers his head and runs his hand over his forehead, sharing Tom’s grief through his remembrance.

  Tom clears his throat then begins again, “I know they would have been too close to death, too weak, to make it through the implantation surgery. I knew that the moment Briggs told me that he could send help.”

  Daniel
’s voice quivers, “So sorry, Tom.”

  Tom answers, “We all have our stories. Mine is just one of many. A few days passed and I’d already buried my Suzy and Tiff, when Bear and Shiva started acting more territorial than normal. I carried Tessa from room to room with me. The dogs, they wouldn’t leave my side at all. If they heard the sound of a creaking board, they would bark and growl protectively. I thought it might have been their instinct to protect us seeing that two of their pack, Suzy and Tiff, had fallen. Now, I realize that they were already sensing the Dwellers’ attack.”

  Tom rubs the back of his neck, angling his head to the side as he says, “Daniel made it to us. He had a small staff and the supplies needed to perform the implantations on Tessa and me immediately. I was so scared for Tessa to undergo something so intense on her small body, but I knew we didn’t have another choice. She had started wheezing the day before and I was counting the minutes before Daniel walked through our door.”

  Tom shifts on his feet. “Daniel and his staff stayed with us for a week just to make sure our bodies adapted to the changes. I wasn’t worried about my healing. I was more concerned with Tessa, but her wheezing was gone within hours of the implantation.”

  Daniel interjects, “The young are very resilient.”

  Tom bows his head. “Yes, and animals too, apparently.”

  Daniel snickers audibly, drawing all of our attention to him. Tom does the same and my eyes bounce between them curiously.

  I ask, “What happened? Did you implant the dogs?”

  Daniel, “No, but if Tessa had it her way, they would have been.”

  Tom shakes his head and grins slightly. “After the implantation, Daniel and I both told Tessa what had happened to her, that she had a device put inside of her to help her survive. She didn’t cry a reaction that I’d expected. Instead, she asked when Bear and Shiva would be implanted.”

  Daniel replies, “I tried to explain as simply as I could that we had not tested an animal implantation and we didn’t want to put her dogs at risk. I even examined the dogs, their heart rate, their oxygen levels and found them to be completely healthy, which astounded me. Still, she insisted.”

  Daniel looks at Tom as he recalls her reaction. “She put up a fight, didn’t she?”

  Tom chuckles softly to himself and says, “Yes, she did.”

  Daniel’s smile fades as he speaks again. “The dogs, they were healthy. I did not lie to her when I told her that.”

  Sebastian probes, “A genetic anomaly?”

  Daniel shakes his head, “That is the only logical answer. Something within their genetic makeup was able to alter them quickly enough to adapt with the elemental shift.”

  Tom continues, “Daniel told me about the Dwellers. He asked if I’d be willing to take Tessa and the dogs to a compound below ground close by. I was thrown for a loop that there was an underground compound in my town, only a couple of miles from us in the foothills of the mountains. I needed time to absorb that. One afternoon I was out getting supplies in town. Daniel stayed back with Tessa and the dogs. I saw a Dweller take a hold of a woman, climb inside of her through her gaping mouth and consume her. Her eyes blackened and her ashen face—that was all it took for me to agree to the compound. We packed up our things and headed below ground.”

  The image of the Dweller-occupied woman we saw when we first landed in the U.S. resurfaces in my mind. How the dark being oozed, and whipped from her mouth when her body was no longer of any use.

  Tom went on, “Now, a year later, and our colony has grown exponentially. All of the colonists are survivors, fighters and hard workers. The nitrogen spikes in our environment and the longer days have laid blessings on our harvests. Even though we have a small plot of land that is easily accessible from the compound, it has produced so much. We are on our second harvest and it is producing more than we expected for the first year. We strictly manage what we consume, not knowing how long we will be able to dodge the Dwellers. The rain has become frequent recently, another blessing in this evolution. We collect rain water, filter it and bottle it in whatever we have to hold it.”

  Second harvest in one year. It is still overwhelming that we had been gone for an entire year, but Tom reminds me of all the changes the world has undergone in that time and how the human race has not crumbled under the transformation; we are resilient, just as Daniel said. I look around at the cavernous facility that has become their world—They haven’t overcome the changes though. Like all the other humans in our world, they have been forced to live underground.

  Tom continues, “The canned goods, non-perishables we have scavenged from the vacant homes in town is great, but it won’t last forever. The crops on the single plot of land might not last through another climate change. We don’t know how long our reserve will hold us if that happens. The fuel we have conserved won’t last forever either.”

  His words hit me like a ton of bricks, reminding me that eventually all the goods that have been collected, all the supplies, all the shelter won’t be enough forever. The colonies can’t sustain themselves without being able to live in the world above. All of this has to end.

  Tom reaches down and strokes Shiva’s head, changing the subject. “Bear, he lost his life to a Dweller outside of the compound about two months ago. A couple of colonists, Bear, and I were patrolling the perimeter of the compound walls for any natives. It came at us like a slithering snake, whipping through the brush. Both Shiva and Bear lunged at it, but they didn’t stand a chance against it as it attacked Shiva first, wrapping itself around her body. Bear—” Tom looks down at Shiva, “—he bit down on the Dweller and drew it away from her and me.” Tom pinches his eyes closed and shakes his head from side to side like he is trying to rid himself of the image of his dog’s sacrifice. “That thing wrapped around Bear’s body and forced itself into his open mouth.”

  He looks upward to keep from losing himself and shedding tears. “I shot him before it could take him.”

  Tom clears his throat and pushes his body away from the wall. “Jesca, I know letting you stay here is a risk. Briggs made that completely clear.”

  I’m about to tell him I’m sorry when he holds his hand up to me, stopping me from mouthing the words, and continues, “I know who you are and what Daniel says you are capable of. I’m willing to take the risk of keeping you and your guardians’ safe tonight if that could mean the end of these Dwellers and the survival of our race beyond these underground compounds.”

  My voice is hoarse when I speak, “Thank you, Tom.”

  Tom nods. “Let’s get you all settled into your quarters.”

  He pats his leg once and Shiva heels instantly. He walks through the opening into the darkened tunnel with Shiva by his side. As we all file out after him, I bring up the rear. The walk back is long as I think sleep will be hard to come by tonight.

  CHAPTER 19: REVELATION

  Xander

  I’m walking down an alley, the road slick from fresh rain. It is dark, night. I try to stop myself from moving, so I can look around me and get my bearings. I can’t; my legs keep moving me forward down this narrow alley. My body turns into a side alley and I’m faced with a metal door. My hand reaches for the handle, pulls it, and I move inside. I want to crawl out of my skin, turn and run, wake myself up, but I’m a captive in my own body. In a distant room somewhere above me, I hear screams and yells mixed with gunfire. My stride doesn’t slow as I approach an open doorway to my right. The screams are intensifying, getting closer; something is chasing them. It has to be Dwellers. I want to stop walking, crouch, and avoid what I know is approaching, but my form continues to move smoothly through the doorway into an open area lined with wooden cargo boxes. It looks like some kind of storage area. I hear the sound of pounding feet running. I turn in the direction it is coming from, another passage leading out of the room. The padding becomes louder and louder, closer and closer. I beg myse
lf to move, hide, but it remains at a standstill. Suddenly, a running form shows itself in the hallway as it charges toward me. It is a man, but I can’t get a good look at him as he runs past me.

  He is moving fast, turning in a circle, searching the room for something. He doesn’t see me though, completely overlooking me like I’m invisible. His eyes dart back to the hallway he just came from just as I hear a multitude of thumping feet heading this way. The man, his eyes increase in size two fold and he dodges behind a tall wooden box. The onslaught is released as at least a dozen more Dweller-occupied humans enter the room. The sight of them will always be spine chilling; the charcoal-filled eyes lid to lid, the bulging red veins surrounding them, the fast-motion writhing that is both unnatural and forceful. The unsettling feeling it stirs throughout my body is indescribable. One woman Dweller walks right up to me, nose to nose. She sways from side to side, eyes shifting from left to right, scanning the room. I’m completely unseen. That is when I realize that this isn’t an astral projection. It’s a vision.

  The occupied woman continues to sway, twitching every so often aggressively. What am I meant to see?

  More Dweller humans have already entered the doorway through the hall and have been set free into our world. This one, she was not interested in leaving yet. With the entire wave of the Dwellers gone now, she backs away from me spasmodically toward the passage she entered from. She stops at the doorway and crouches wickedly, perched and waiting. From where I’m standing, I can see both the man hiding behind the large box and her. She stares blankly with her onyx eyes and waits. She is waiting for the kill. She knows he is here, but she wants to make it a true hunt.

  I want to close my eyes, but I’ve no dominion over my body or the direction of this vision.

  The man begins to rise behind the box ever so slowly and I wish I could tell him to stay down. He looks around the side of the wooden box at the doorway all of the Dwellers had escaped to, except the one perversely waiting to make her move. He can’t see her from the angle he holds and unknowingly he moves away from the box. Instead of looking in the direction of this beast of prey, he looks at something beyond me. The ruler of this vision pulls me away from the scene so that I see both the man and the Dweller behind him. The man is standing in front of a wooden door with a rusty knob, hissing, “I know you are in there, Michael.”