Trapped in Your Storm

by Darien Cox

  “My point is years later they found another mass grave, only it wasn’t as old. In this one, they found handmade spears alongside the Neanderthals. And guess what? No spinal injuries. Because they’d discovered tools, they no longer had to jump on the backs of their prey to take them down. Tool making isn’t just a noble profession. It’s the key to civilization.”

  Nolan shook his head. “All I got out of that is you comparing me to a cave man.”

  Elliot laughed and kicked Nolan’s leg. “I was trying to give you a compliment.”

  Nolan smiled warmly, eyes twinkling with the reflection of the flames. “Thank you. I admire you as well. The way you handle people. The way you always keep it together under pressure when everyone else is freaking out. You’re reliable.”

  “Reliable.” Elliot shrugged. “I guess there are worse compliments.”

  “Are you leaving the team?”

  Elliot looked up quickly. “What?”

  “I heard grumbling about you possibly getting out. Is it true?”

  Elliot had spoken to JT about his misgivings, but no one else. And thusly he vowed to throttle JT when they got back. “I’ve thought about it,” he said honestly. “Haven’t you?”

  Nolan shook his head. “No.”

  “Never?”

  “Elliot, look where we are. Think about what we’re doing. As far as exploring the boundaries of human existence goes, we’re at the top of the food chain with our jobs. What could be more satisfying?”

  “I agree, but, I don’t know. The secrecy. It’s my whole life. Secrets. Doesn’t it get to you?”

  “Not really,” Nolan said. “Everyone I really care about already knows my secrets.”

  Elliot held Nolan’s gaze. “You still talk to Michelle?”

  “No. Breaking contact with me was one of Brock’s conditions for them getting back together. Go figure.”

  Elliot laughed. “Yeah. Imagine that.”

  “Do you talk to her?”

  “Sometimes.” Elliot studied Nolan’s face, but his expression didn’t change. “She calls. We talk. It’s kind of weird now though. Since we can’t discuss work anymore. It’s pretty much me asking about the kids and her asking about you guys.”

  Nolan nodded.

  “Must be tough for you,” Elliot said, and Nolan shrugged. “She’s one of those people that knows all your secrets. Now you can’t talk to her.”

  “When I said everyone I care about knows my secrets, I wasn’t thinking of Michelle.”

  Nolan’s gaze was penetrating, hard and direct. Elliot’s heart beat faster. “But you must miss her.”

  “Not at the moment.”

  Elliot shifted in his seat, pretending to be interested in the dark woods around them. “Well,” he said, “you had to know from the start it was a bad idea. Sleeping with someone on the team. Gotta separate the work life and personal life, and with Michelle you couldn’t.”

  Nolan went quiet for a long time. Softly, he said, “Can work if you want it bad enough.”

  Elliot looked at Nolan, who was staring at the ground. “I guess. I wouldn’t know. Relationships aren’t exactly my thing.”

  Nolan took a deep breath and let it out in a visible puff. “Elliot.” He looked up, brown eyes hard and serious again. “We need to talk about it.”

  Elliot’s pulse quickened, and despite the cold, his back felt sweaty. “Talk about what?”

  “You know what.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t.”

  “Are you really gonna leave? Quit the team?”

  “Nolan, come on, I said I was just thinking about it. Considering my options. Nothing’s set in stone. That’s what you wanted to talk about?”

  “No. That’s not what I wanted to talk about.” Nolan leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. “But you obviously don’t want to talk about what I’m really talking about. You’re deflecting. So I’ll drop it.”

  Elliot shook his head. “I have no idea what you mean, but okay.”

  “Yes you do,” Nolan said. “You know exactly what I mean. We know each other too well, remember?”

  Elliot stared into Nolan’s eyes. While his heart still hammered in his chest, he let out a long sigh, defeated. Though he lied for a living, he couldn’t lie to Nolan, and Nolan knew it.

  “Elliot?”

  “Okay. I think I know what you’re talking about. But I can’t do this right now.”

  “Why? You have somewhere else to be?”

  “Look Nolan, whatever this…thing is, it’ll pass. Don’t you think?”

  “This thing, huh?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I think I do. If you mean the thing where I couldn’t concentrate on what Ogden was saying today because I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

  “Nolan, Jesus!” Elliot buried his face in his hands.

  “Elliot, look at me.”

  “Nope.”

  Nolan laughed. “You can’t even look at me?”

  “No. I’m praying right now that you’ll be spontaneously abducted by aliens.”

  “If we don’t talk about it it’ll only get more awkward.” Nolan’s hand rested on Elliot’s thigh. “Elliot. Look at me.”

  Elliot finally looked up. Nolan’s hand still rested on his thigh, his eyes close, searching Elliot’s face. “What, Nolan? I don’t know what to say. My brain hasn’t even caught up with it yet.”

  Nolan’s thumb gently stroked Elliot’s thigh. “Don’t say anything. Just listen, okay?”

  Elliot couldn’t seem to speak, so he nodded.

  “The thing is—”

  They both jumped when the proximity alarm on Nolan’s tablet went off. They stood together, searching the darkness. “Here.” Nolan picked up two flashlights and handed one to Elliot.

  Back to back, they turned in a circle, searching.

  “It came from the left,” Nolan whispered. “Back by the trail.”

  “Maybe it’s a bear,” Elliot said.

  A twig snapped and both beams shone in the same direction as they turned toward it. Nolan gasped and Elliot said, “The fuck is that?”

  A small figure stood in the darkness just outside the firelight. Still as a statue, three feet tall, long white hair, enormous eyes. It stared at them, mouth open over its long jaw. “It’s that baby White,” Nolan whispered.

  “Fuck me,” Elliot breathed. “Never been this close to a full White before. Not when it was standing still, anyway.”

  “It’s kind of cute,” Nolan said.

  “No it’s not. It’s kind of creepy. Just standing there watching us. What should we do?”

  “Just don’t move.” Nolan reached over and grasped Elliot’s arm. “Lower your flashlight.”

  “Um, fuck no.”

  “We know where it is. We can still watch it. I don’t want to scare it away.”

  “I do!”

  “Elliot, come on!”

  They both lowered their flashlights. The small White was still visible, a moonlight-colored figure just outside the circle of firelight. Elliot flinched when it took a step forward. “Easy,” Nolan said. “Come on, sit back down.”

  Reluctantly, Elliot followed Nolan back to the chairs. They both sat, shifting so they could keep an eye on the thing. It had stopped moving again, still as death, those huge eyes on Elliot and Nolan. “Should we try talking to it?” Nolan said. “Maybe it’s here to give us a message.”

  “It’s just a kid,” Elliot said. “And the Whites suck at our language.”

  “We don’t know for sure that it’s a child,” Nolan said. “That’s just speculation.”

  “The Whites are tall, remember? And considering the way they treat their hybrids, I doubt they have much tolerance for genetic misfires, if that’s what it is.”

  Elliot gripped Nolan’s arm when the thing shuffled a few feet closer. They both watched, breathing heavily. “I’m going to say hello,” Nolan whispered. “You okay with that?”

  Elliot nodded. “
Sure. Why the hell not? Maybe it will go away.”

  “Hello!” Nolan called out, waving. “You want to come closer?”

  The thing’s large head tilted, white hair lifting in a gust of wind.

  “It’s okay.” Nolan held his hands up. “We won’t hurt you.”

  The little figure took off in a blur of white, and suddenly, was gone.

  “Well shit,” Nolan said. “That didn’t go as planned.”

  “For you, maybe. I’m here to talk to Baz, not some freaky little White.”

  Suddenly, it was back, standing next to one of the fires.

  “Jesus!” Elliot tipped back in his chair and nearly fell over until Nolan caught him. “What the hell is it doing?” he whispered.

  The small creature stared at the flames. It lifted its hands and waved them back and forth, seeming to warm itself. Then it made a sound—a deep gurgle, then “Ah ah!”

  “It’s talking,” Nolan whispered.

  “I think it’s laughing, actually,” Elliot said.

  “Yeah. That kind of sounded like Baz’s laugh, didn’t it?”

  “Shit. I wish Baz would show his face right now.” Elliot gazed upward. “If you’re watching, Baz, now would be a good time to get your narrow ass down here!”

  “Elliot,” Nolan said. “I think you scared it. It’s looking at you.”

  Elliot looked over, and the little White was staring right at him.

  “I’m sorry I shouted,” he said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  It pointed a spindly white finger at the flames.

  “That’s fire,” Nolan said. “Don’t get too close.”

  The tiny creature’s mouth stretched into a smile, and it did a little spin, then held its hands up to the flames again.

  “Yep,” Nolan said. “I think that’s a baby. Doesn’t seem familiar with fire.”

  “But why is it out here? Where the hell are its parents? Where is anyone? We’ve been sitting here for hours.”

  “I know. This has all got me pretty nervous. We should call Ogden.”

  “Dial him up. Shorty over there seems content for the time being.”

  “Hmm.”

  They both watched for a moment as the White sat down, then immediately stood again. It did a little dance, then went back to warming its hands near the flames.

  Nolan got Ogden on speakerphone and detailed the situation to him.

  “Are you sure it isn’t there to communicate?” Ogden asked. “This could be our message. Maybe Baz couldn’t make it so they sent someone else. It’s possible it’s not a child after all.”

  Elliot and Nolan stared at the small figure, which was now sitting on the ground examining its own foot. “I’m pretty sure it’s a kid,” Nolan said. “But we’ll try.”

  “Keep me posted. And if that thing does anything threatening, I want you both back in the chopper. And you’re authorized to use force if necessary.”

  “Copy that.” Nolan set the phone down and looked at Elliot. “You wanna try to talk to a baby White?”

  “We don’t know if it’s a baby, remember?”

  “Whatever it is, it has really bad timing.” He trapped Elliot in that hard gaze again. “Interrupted our talk.”

  Elliot’s face heated. “Or good timing, depending how you look at it. Saved by the baby White.”

  “You’re a dick,” Nolan said, but he smiled.

  Elliot chuckled and cast his eyes down. He was slightly ashamed of the way he’d handled Nolan’s declaration that he couldn’t take his eyes off him. He just wasn’t ready for it. Because he hadn’t had time to sort through what it, and his own confusion about Nolan meant. And now? Now there was a tiny white alien lying on the grass a few yards away, playing with its feet. Whatever Nolan had wanted to say to Elliot, it would have to wait. Or maybe it would all just go away, and they wouldn’t talk about it again. Elliot hoped.

  Or do you? Do you really want to stop this? He couldn’t deny the excitement he’d felt at Nolan’s blunt words, the hand on his thigh…it was new and weird and Elliot still thought it was the worst idea ever. But something inside him disagreed, and it scared him more than that strange pixie-looking thing by the fire. The only semi-serious relationship Nolan had engaged in in a decade was with another team member. Elliot couldn’t help thinking he was merely convenient for Nolan. Or that this was all just a fluke. Never should have agreed to sit on his lap. One stupid mistake and everything’s different now.

  His greatest fear was that this would ruin their friendship. And Elliot needed this friendship. Nolan kept him grounded. He didn’t want things to change if it meant he’d lose him.

  “Hey,” Nolan said. Elliot looked up to see Nolan beckoning the creature with his hand. “Hey, come on over here.”

  It sat up and those huge, multi-colored eyes focused on Nolan.

  “Come on,” Nolan said, waving it toward him. “It’s okay.”

  The creature stood and took a step closer to them. “Oh shit,” Elliot whispered. “It’s coming over here.”

  “That’s the idea. Just stay calm.”

  Another step. A head tilt. Long white lashes blinking. Another step. Two feet away now.

  “It’s all right,” Nolan said softly. “What are you doing out here all by yourself, huh?”

  Suddenly the creature leapt onto Nolan’s lap.

  Elliot tensed and reached for him, but Nolan held a trembling hand up. “It’s okay,” he said.

  The little being shifted and stared up at Nolan with enormous eyes. “Aka ah ah.”

  Nolan smiled. “You don’t say.”

  It touched his face with a long, thin finger. Reached up and touched his eye. “Yeah,” Nolan said. “My eyes are different than yours.”

  Elliot snorted. “Just a little.”

  Nolan’s nose wrinkled, then he reached down and touched the little being’s thighs, tiny thin limbs wrapped in a white jumpsuit. “Oh Christ,” Nolan said. “It’s fucking soaked, Elliot. Urine.”

  “Are you serious?”

  Nolan nodded. “God dammit. Who left this poor thing out here all alone?”

  “What should we do?”

  Nolan stood, still holding the creature. “First things first, get it warm and dry. Stay here.”

  Elliot stood. “What, you’re just gonna take it into the chopper and change its nappy? It’s still a White, Nolan. They have abilities, don’t forget. Fucking thing could accidentally paralyze you.”

  The little creature clung to Nolan, staring at his face, but it seemed docile enough. “I’ll be careful. But alien or not, I am not letting a child roam around the mountain at night soaked in its own urine. I’m gonna change it out of these clothes and put it in something warm.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  “No, stay out here and monitor the perimeter.” He smiled at Elliot. “I promise, I’ll be quick.” He touched the child’s hand. “This kid feels really hot. Do you think it has a fever?”

  “Christian said Baz is really hot to the touch, so it’s probably just the normal body temperature.”

  Nolan’s brown eyes looked down into the White’s huge speckled ones. “How bout we get you changed. That sound good?”

  There was no response, but it appeared to snuggle into Nolan’s chest. “I’ll be right back,” Nolan said, and carried the child over to the chopper.

  Elliot let a breath out and sat back down, picking up his flashlight. Baby Whites that wet their pants. Nolan shocking the shit out of him by confessing his attraction. And no visit from Baz.

  It was safe to say this night was not going as planned.

  Chapter Five

  Elliot looked up when Nolan returned from the chopper, carrying the little white being. It was now engulfed in one of Nolan’s thick sweaters. Nolan had put socks on its feet, and they were so big they covered the small limbs like leggings. Elliot couldn’t help the laughter that pealed out of him at the sight. “Think that sweater’s a little big for it.”

  The White smil
ed at Elliot, its strange pale face stretching at the mouth. Elliot noticed it held a half-eaten granola bar in its delicate little hand.

  “What are you doing giving it that?” Elliot said as Nolan sat down with the child. “That could kill it for all we know!”

  Nolan hiked the child up, letting it rest against his chest. “She was hungry. Kept pointing at my leftover sandwich. I didn’t want to give her mayonnaise that had been sitting out for three hours. Granola bars are mostly nuts, and we at least know Baz eats nuts.”

  Elliot raised his eyebrows. “Her?”

  Nolan shrugged.

  “It has a vagina?”

  “I wasn’t exactly trying to look at that,” Nolan said.

  “But you called it her. So something must have made you think it was female.”

  “I had to take its wet clothes off, Elliot. It’s not like I had a choice.”

  “So it has a vagina.”

  “Yes, Elliot! It has something closely resembling a vagina.”

  Elliot chuckled and leaned in to Nolan. “Is it a white vagina?”

  Nolan scowled at him. “Can we stop talking about the baby’s alien vagina?”

  Elliot watched the baby’s eyes droop, blinking long white lashes as it gnawed on the granola bar. “Her eyes are so huge. She looks like a cartoon character.”

  Nolan gazed over at the tree line. “Still no sign of anyone else. This is fucked up. We better call Ogden back.”

  “He said to give it twenty-four hours.”

  “Elliot.” Nolan looked at him. “I’m holding a baby alien.”

  Elliot nodded. “Yeah. That’s kind of amazing.”

  Nolan chuckled. “I was thinking fucked up but…” He glanced down at the baby. “I guess it is kind of amazing.”

  Elliot took a sip of water. The baby’s long lashes blinked open, and she reached out to Elliot. “I think she’s thirsty,” Elliot said.

  “You want to hold her while you give her some water?”

  Elliot’s eyes widened. “Me? Hold her?”

  “Here.” Nolan stood. “She weighs practically nothing.”

  Before Elliot could protest, Nolan gently placed the baby on his lap. Elliot froze as the child looked up at him with those enormous green-blue double irises.

  “Elliot,” Nolan said. “Give her some water.”