Animalis (20 page)

It was still dark. Jax pulled the covers back and felt his leg. It stung under his touch. There was something different about it. He unwrapped the bandage and brushed his hand over the tip. The ragged skin flaked off easily, and the rough edge of the bone had been covered in something. He’d check it again in the light of the morning; he couldn’t tell what it was in the dark.

He slid off the bed and started prepping his weak body for a workout.

After a warm up set of push-ups and sit-ups that made his skin break into a cold sweat and his stomach ache with nausea, he started to work his good leg.
One-legged squats
. There was a loud creak from the wooden floor when Jax lost balance at the bottom of the squat and fell.
Maybe balance first
. He waited, sitting on the floor in the dark, listening to see if he had woken anyone. Nothing. He got back up on his foot to continue.

The weight of his body had thrown off the muscle memory that had always kept him upright. His right side was lighter now. The muscles in his hips and buttocks would have to increase in strength to hold the dangling leg in good posture.

Jax stood staring at the frame of a picture that hung on a wall. The skin over his ribs expanded and contracted. His heartbeat shook his body.
Ba-bum.
The frame of the picture bounced in his vision from the movement.

He didn’t want to keep struggling to stand. He didn’t want to lay down and give up. He didn’t want to keep fighting in this confusing conflict with the Animalis. He didn’t want to be sent home to live a life that didn’t make a difference.

More push-ups. Sit-ups. More than anything, he didn’t want to be powerless. Keep the body occupied until the thoughts go away. Let them drift away like the particles of dust in the air.

The floor creaked outside his room. A light came in through the slit at the bottom. There was a light tap, and the door squeaked open.

“Jax?” Grimshaw asked. She stepped in quietly and held a small hand lamp to light her path. Her eyes were wide awake, her hair was done, and she was ready for the day. “You’re up? Did you fall out of bed?”

Jax had stopped at the top of a sit-up. He dropped his hands away from his head and started to get up.

“No. I’m fine. You’re up early,” he said and turned around to straighten the blanket on his bed.

The light of her hand lamp pulled his shadow down onto the bed. Her hand touched lightly on his back. His muscles tensed.

“I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now, Jax. The arena is one of the things I despise most in this world. The Animalis, turning themselves into demons, forcing everything around them to sink down with them.” She reached down and helped pull the bottom corner of the blanket straight.

“Hurley,” Jax said. With a quick turn, he caught her wrist and held it while he whispered to her. “What are they planning to rescue? Imprisoned militants?”

Her eyes went wide. “No, Jax, never.”

When she didn’t try to pull away from him, he let go of her arm. “How could you help them, Hurley? They’re killing people.”

“It’s so much different here,” she said.

She sat down on the side of the bed and held the light on her lap. Jax finally raised his head to look at her. Eyes twinkled with the lamp glow. Her pleasant smile looking back at him.

He had to turn away. He reached for the Bible in the nightstand.

“I saw a message in here about rescuing something, and needing weapons. Are you killing people to save Animalis?” Jax set the Bible back down and saw that his hand was shaking. His breath felt constricted from anxiety.

“That’s something that we have to constantly watch out for,” she said. She leaned forward and placed her hand over Jax’s, which was gripping the blanket for balance. “These people here wouldn’t be helping anyone if they resorted to killing. You should come with me to the meeting, just to see what they have to go through. Jax, they’ve been hurt and taken advantage of, and it’s not easy for them to keep letting it happen. Sometimes they want to fight and kill, like the militants. But it would only make it worse.”

Jax nodded. “Why do they need weapons, then?”

Grimshaw let his hand go while he eased himself back onto the bed.

“It’s going to be exciting,” she said and her green eyes twinkled. She stood and helped him swing his legs onto the bed. Then she gasped. “Oh my gosh, Jax! Your leg.”

Grimshaw set the lamp on the bed and crouched down to get a better look.

“What is this, skin?” she asked.

Jax turned his knee so that he could see the end of his stub. There was a film of semi-translucent skin that had spread over the ragged bone and tissue.

“Is that not normal?” Jax asked, instantly realizing how stupid he sounded. Of course it wasn’t normal, but he didn’t want it to be getting worse. He tried to rub his hand over it gently, but the sensitivity was too intense.

“No, I don’t think so. Not this fast,” she said. Then she turned her head to the door and muttered, “Hodge, what’s wrong with you?” She turned back to Jax. “Maybe we
should
have taken you to a hospital. It looks like there’s new skin growing over the bone, but if there’s any bacteria, or infection starting, that could be serious.”

“But what about these Animalis here?” Jax said. “Running around with weapons isn’t ‘exciting,’ Hurley, it’s illegal.”

It took a moment for Grimshaw to stop gaping at the leg, but when she did, she let out a long breath. “You’re right. It is illegal, but I don’t know what else they can do.” After another moment of silence, she looked into his eyes. “Come to the meeting. They could use your input.
I
need your input.”

Jax was relieved she had changed the subject. He didn’t want to think about the leg.
It’s just skin—that’s a good thing.
He forced the thought to take over his dread that the agony of losing his leg wasn’t over, and that it could be something much worse.

“I could try,” he said.

After a moment, she put her hand on Jax’s knee and held it. “No one else could have made it out of the arena. I don’t know how it would be possible not to give up.” She picked the lamp up and started walking to the door. “I still want to get another scan of your leg, though. Would you mind?”

“Let’s give it another day. I’m already starting to feel almost normal,” he lied.

“Alright. The meeting is in ten minutes. I’ll come back and take you to it.”

Grimshaw watched him for a moment before closing the door behind her. Her clothes were a vibrant blue, even in the dim light. Two multicolored strips of fabric started on her chest and flowed up over her shoulders and came together in a billowy arch just above the small of her back.

Then she left. The light in the room was gone. He sat, staring into the darkness.

Chapter 16

Meeting

Jax held onto Grimshaw’s shoulder, standing against the wall in the secret meeting room in the basement of the compound. The light came only from the ceiling, radiating from three long panels. The room lacked windows or wall screens, and the only furniture was six long benches.

Jax was wearing the clothes the priest had given him. Thick, tan canvas pants that tied in the back, and a gray wool shirt that was very warm—and very itchy. Seated around on the benches were a dozen Animalis, who all took turns glancing nervously back at him.

“These homes are built into the mountainside. They’re part of the rocks, very genius, very clever for their day,” a hairy dog Animalis was saying. “They have fresh water that comes in from the melting snow and heat is directed from surrounding rocks to grow gardens—very clever.”

Another Animalis in the crowd stamped its foot.

“Yes, well. Not all of it still works,” the dog said, shifting away from the noise. It began pacing in front of the room. “The three families that have stayed there will freeze when this storm hits at the end of the week.” It stopped in front of a ram Animalis. “Gaspard knows the mountainside there, and will be leading the team down to the transports.”

The dog continued down to a goat Animalis. Jax strained to look past a tall horse Animalis to see what the goat was holding. The goat stood and held up its prizes for the group to see. They were sleek gray rods with two thick rings of blue plastic at their tips.

Jax squeezed Grimshaw’s shoulder and gave her a questioning look.

“Sonic inhibiters,” Grimshaw whispered. “Farmers use them to herd animals. They send out hypersonic frequencies that can physically stop and hold small animals, like a sheep, from getting away inside of a powerful grid of standing waves, or repel bigger animals with a kind of outwardly radiating field of standing waves. Or they can just make anything in their range nauseated. They’re not lethal, but you’re right, they are illegal for Animalis to have.”

“How did they get them?” Jax asked.

The goat at the front of the room was saying something about marauders in a canyon.

“There is a growing community of sympathetic humans,” Grimshaw said, “that see how the Animalis are treated and want to help in small ways. Those two inhibitors are a few years old and were being sold very cheap, so someone in our network picked them up.” She turned and looked at him and asked, “Would you speak to them? Tell them why they shouldn’t bring the inhibitors?”

Jax turned back to the room and watched the Animalis talking back and forth while he thought. He watched their arms, giving recognizable gestures. He watched their faces. They were all so familiar: dog, goat, cat, raccoon … He had seen these faces his entire life, but was only just coming to understand the thoughts and emotions going on behind the faces.

After a moment, he nodded.

Grimshaw reached up and squeezed his wrist. She turned back to the group and stepped forward.

“Excuse me,” she said loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “Jax has something important to say.”

Jax stayed leaning against the wall, afraid he’d tumble to the ground without the support. He felt all the eyes turn to him. Most of them had never seen him before.
What could he have important to say?
they were probably wondering.

“I joined the military to stop Animalis that threatened humanity,” he said. “There are groups that have bombed, shot, and mauled humans. Led by monsters like Narasimha.”

Some in the group nodded at this. But he also heard the name “Narasimha” echoed by someone in a reverent whisper.

“If you go out there to help, but break the law, or look like a threat in any way,” Jax said, “you are doing more harm than good. If you save three families by force, you’re only going to bring more trouble to the Animalis.” Jax took a deep breath to pace himself.

While he was exhaling, one of the Animalis spoke up. “We could be killed by these marauders! These humans are willing to attack other humans. No one will care if we protect ourselves from thugs.”

“Quiet, please,” Grimshaw said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jax said. “They could be the worst humans, but as soon as you use force against them … Any attack from Animalis is an attack on humanity.”

The goat at the front of the room lowered the inhibitors and began murmuring. Jax could hear bits of conversation like, “Protect ourselves” and “Why die for new families?” coming from among the crowd.

Grimshaw took the lead: “We have to help these families. It’ll be dangerous; it always is. How many of you would be here if someone else wasn’t willing to risk helping? I’m going out there today to bring back these families. If our group gets attacked by the marauders, it will still be worth it. I can’t bear to see the innocent die. No human can.” She turned to Jax. “No human can.”

And no human can bare to be the cause of innocent death,
Jax thought. “You’re going?” he asked.

She nodded.

The thought of a dangerous gang in the mountains jumped to the front of Jax’s mind. Marauders wouldn’t just kill Grimshaw. Men willing to kill were usually willing to do much worse. Jax looked around the room again. It was what all of these conspirators would be facing. And he was telling them that they couldn’t defend themselves.

Grimshaw was strong. She had been trained in the military. But Jax didn’t want her to go. He wanted to be there to protect her.

“I can’t come with you, Hurley,” Jax said. “I’m no good, I can’t even walk.”

She looked at him with a surprised, skeptical look. “Well, maybe you can come on the next one.”

Jax closed his mouth, realizing what he had been suggesting. He wasn’t ready to volunteer his life for the Animalis just yet.

The meeting continued. Animalis discussed plans, and Grimshaw continually forced them to come up with backup plans. If all went well, it would be a fast operation. The group would leave before breakfast and be back for lunch.

When it was over, Grimshaw helped Jax get back to his room.

“While I’m gone,” she said, letting him steady himself on her shoulder as they entered his room, “try not to tell Hodge what I’m doing. He’d want to come, and he’ll worry to death if he knows it’s dangerous.”

“Alright,” Jax said.

Before he knew it, she had wrapped her arms around him. “Thanks for coming back in one piece.”

Jax didn’t know what to do. The coals in his chest heated up. It felt so good to be in her arms again.

She started to laugh. “Oh no.” She stopped hugging and held his shoulders, giving a sympathetic frown. “Mostly one piece.”

Jax smiled.

Grimshaw’s laughter came back. “I’m sorry,” she said between fits of laughter. “It’s not funny.”

Jax wanted to laugh with her, but the humor was lost to him.

A tear leaked down her cheek. She covered her mouth, trying to hold back another burst of laughter, but it came out anyway.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. It’s not funny. I don’t think it’s funny.” She wiped the tear off of her cheek. She seemed to gain control of herself when she got to the door. “They’ll have breakfast ready soon, if you want to join me and Hodge.”

“Alright,” he said. As she left, closing the door behind her, Jax could hear the laughter escape with a restrained snort.