Authors: Cody Toye
Evolution (11 page)
“We can’t waste the gas, I’m hoping we can find Trevor and Granny Mae and make it to the next city by nightfall.”
After an hour of rummaging and finding some very peculiar items packed in her brothers bags, Alex was convinced they were ready. Boomer was the first to jump in the cab, eager to leave, like a kid on his way to the toy store on his birthday. He gently thumped his foot against the floor mat making his leg vibrate in a most annoying manner.
She fumbled with the seat, trying to figure out how to fold it over. She bent down and reached into the scary abyss beneath, feeling blindly for any kind of lever. Her hand slid up the carpet backing until finally, she found a tiny thumb slide. Pulling it down, she felt pride as the head rest greeted the steering wheel.
Their bags went in first to assure easy access. Then the grocery bags filled with supplies. As the put the last one securely behind her seat she couldn’t help but let her mind wonder. Inside the last bag was toothpaste, a water gun, three candles, some sort of horseshoe shaped piece of leather.
She pictured Boomer making a death ray from these materials. She laughed as she pictured an onslaught of pod creatures running for their life. As it turns out, Pod creatures have a weakness for fluoride ammunition being squirted from a u shaped water gun.
Shaking the vivid image away, she clicked the seat back in place and hit the button on the wall, opening up the world at large. Slowly the sunlight crept into the garage, one sliver at a time until the world was fully exposed and their safety net was stripped away completely. As the whirring stopped and the garage door hung above the truck, Alex swallowed hard. Her nerves were jump roping in her stomach.
She hopped in the cab and shut the door. She turned the keys in the ignition and brought the beast to a roar once more. Clueless on what to do she tried to remember the tiny things her father used to do. Like adjust the mirror.
She adjusted the mirror until she could see her reflection. Instinctively, she fixed her messy hair and looked at herself for a long moment.
You’re stalling Alex you can do this. She scolded herself and reached to the pit of her soul for a large handful of bravery. Her hand gripped the long metal gearshift and her foot stomped on the brake. She pulled it slowly, listening to the clicks until the tiny red arrow of doom pointed to the “R”.
“Here we go!”
She looked over her shoulder and slowly released her foot. The truck starting rolling backwards, gaining more speed than she thought it could. She slammed her foot on the brakes and the truck stopped instantly, thrusting her body into the seat belt hard.
Boomer flung his large arm out in panic, holding the dashboard. His left arm clung to the handle near the door, the one she remembers her father so lovingly calling the “Oh shit” handle. Boomer shot her a glance, one of anger and of fear mixed together in a paint can stare.
“Cut me some slack will you? I never did this before!”
Her hands were shaking and her leg muscles twitched from the amount of weight she applied to the brake. She took a deep breath and tried again, letting her foot off slowly, she turned the wheel and put a tiny bit of pressure on the gas pedal. After ten minutes of micro adjusting and stop and go with the pedals, one nasty grinding sound and a ten inch gash in the driver side door, Alex and Boomer made it out in the daylight.
It was odd being behind the wheel on roads with no traffic. It almost seemed easy. The red arrow no longer seemed ominous resting on the “D” and the gas pedal seemed friendly. Alex was starting to enjoy herself. She gently swerved to the left and right, avoiding the wreckage and purposely running over the road kill pod creatures. The wet smoosh and tiny bump in the road was somehow satisfying to her and although it was very unladylike, she had an urge to spout obscenities as she did so.
She could catch sight of pod-creatures hunting prey near the road, yet she felt safe in the cab of the truck. Maybe it was how high up she was, maybe it was the metal doors separating them from the rest of the world. Maybe it was just the illusion of safety. Either way, for a moment she almost forgot the world was a very dangerous place.
It was the change in the birds that reminded her. In a single day, the green birds that were simple crows, simple knock off versions of a blue bird, now lined the branches as Pod-Vultures. They seemed to have evolved.
Her pleasant mood became soured. Her illusion of safety was shattered. She started to pay attention to what was hunting. Not just the green blurs that dotted the sidelines of her fun filled rollercoaster ride in her new found love for driving.
Less Baboons. That was what scared her. Fewer baboons and hardly any rats at all. Mountain lions, Pod-Bears, large tigers that were once very rare seemed to be everywhere. The creatures have evolved into unmanageable proportions.
Her foot felt heavy as she watched the needle on the dashboard dance.
Forty. Fifty five. It was screaming in panic as the red needle touched seventy.
Boomer was tugging her shirt, trying to get her attention, wanting to show her an atrocity that she could live without. She was too busy gawking in terror at her sunny day ink blotted into a nightmare. She felt a pinch. A hard pinch on her arm. The pain gave way to anger and she turned to yell at him. The look on his face stopped her dead in her tracks and her eyes followed his finger to the trees shaking in the distant.
There were four of them. Only four. She pretended like that mattered for a second. She watched the trees shake once more and saw their large green feet sink deep in the grass as they stampeded into the unknown.
Not the unknown. After food. After Trevor!
She jerked the wheel instinctively, almost losing control. She felt the wheels leave the smooth surface, and feel the harsh slam of her body bouncing as the truck jumped over the ditch. She did not care. It was a race. A race against time, a race against Mother Nature, and most importantly, a race for survival.
She did not know what was beyond the ditch.
Four Pod-Elephants had come into existence and they were stampeding towards Trevor. She had to follow them. Beat them. Or die trying.
*~*~*
Is there such a thing as uncivilized behavior in a world without a civilization? The things you do are neither right nor wrong, simply done for the pleasure of doing it. This was one of the few things Jedd could truly enjoy about the futile existence he was thrust into.
He savored few things as much as he savored this very moment. He rubbed his eyes and felt his weary legs threaten mutiny, but this had to be done. He seen the “Welcome to Illinois” sign sing in the daylight and knew what was directly across the deserted highway. He walked over to it and stared at it with a devilish smirk. Jedd waited for thirty minutes, using willpower alone to conjure up mystical golden juices straight from his dehydrated bladder, but it was so worth it to him.
Uncivilized? Hell no! I make the rules now and as King Jedd, I proclaim this to be the official pissing spot for the entire United States. He stared at the “Now entering Missouri” sign and watched the dry wooden post become damp as his urine decorated it proudly. Upon finishing he lifted his head to the heavens and screamed a savage scream of pleasure. Almost intent on showing the madness that plagues him daily.
“You see Momma? You see I made it! I am the King now. I know the secret and now one else does!”
Jedd lowers his weary body to the concrete and smashes an ant to mashed taters with his makeshift human flesh sword. His eyes dart back and forth, looking for signs of intruders, signs of life, signs of thieves out to steal his meal.
“IT’S MINE! I’M KING!” He screams at no one in particular
Licking his finger, he smashes his index into the mush and sucks the dirt and the meat off slowly. Jedd holds the arm and sniffs it. The rotting flesh emanates an odor foul enough to churn even his cast iron intestines.
With a mighty effort, he casts his meat sword into the wild, a treat for the pods. Panic rises deep within Jedd. He feels naked now. For days he has wielded that meat sword, for days it has been a part of him. What if he can’t find another one?
He drops to his knees, and slowly writes a language only a King could possible understand. A reminder and a threat to all that shall pass through his current kingdom. His finger first slowly draws a three. Counting the amount of Oak trees he sees he looks to the dirt. NO! Not dirt. Tablet.
He looks to his holy tablet, and moves his slender finger over an inch and concentrates hard. He draws a circle with a thumb print and finally simply spits next to it. Stepping back he smiles and admires his own brilliance.
“You truly are a wise king Jedd. All hail the wisdom of our king! Thank you, One and all, as your king I have marked the exact location of Excalibur for all to see! Upon a war any who shall wield it properly will be granted the power of a King! But be warned only those wise enough to read these words shall know its location.” His voice echoes into the nothingness as he speaks
His eyes proudly lower from the invisible crowd of peasants and he examines the landscape for accuracy. Looking upon his glorious tablet he reads in a loud commanding voice, letting it boom for all to hear his words.
“ Three! Circle thumb! And finally…Spit!” he says proudly
His stomach growls like a wolf at its prey. The sudden kick to the stomach as hunger makes itself apparent startles him.
“How dare you attack a king! Come back here villain!”
Jedd feels a sudden urge to run. Not run, rather chase the villain lovingly named hunger. His long strides create plumbs of dirt, filling the atmosphere with a foggy layer of brown murk. He darts between Illinois and back into Missouri. He tries his best to decide if the meat would taste better in a new state or if he should stick to what he knows and only eat Missouri meat. He feels the hunger soccer kick him in the gut once more, falling to his knees this time he stays kneeled.
“What have you villain? You got a king to bow before you, name your price! Oh you’re a tricky one, you deviant asshole! You want my sacred meat? Can you read Jeddology script? That’s right you can’t kill me because you don’t know where it’s located. But…if you are game to a truce, I will hand over the holy meat and we you can feast with a king! What do you say?”
He stays kneeled and pulls a lighter from his pocket. The holy fire granted to only kings of this land. Cupping his hands over the small metal tip he pauses and looks up.
“You do NOT have permission to gaze upon the holy flame. Do you understand?”
Smiling, he lights a small fire and laughs raucously as the leaves and twigs burn bright.
“You know what villain? You are okay. No really, you are! I tell you what, I shall make you king as well. We will stay right here and you will rule the great land of Missouri and I shall proclaim myself King of Illinois. Together we shall rule supreme! Now to only teach you Jeddology script. Three. Circle Thumb. Spit!”
Jedd watches the flies dance around the rotting meat and screams at them.
“MINE!”
With little effort he drags the arm back to the fire and thrusts it into the holy flame, cooking the feast for the two kings. The dirt sizzles and the smell penetrates the ozone, but a promise is a promise and King Jedd WILL feast with King Hunger on this day!
*~*~*
My emotions were spread evenly at the horrific sight. They were like mayo spread across a soft piece of bread. Fear, confusion, and helplessness shocked my delicate system, almost to the point of breaking. The trees shook and the ground seemed to vibrate as they stampeded towards me.
The loud sound of trumpeting exploded into the day and drowns out the baboons screeches. In a dazed moment of incomprehensible events, the onslaught of nails and teeth and frantic exhausting recoil seemed to cease. As the foul creatures turned and ran, leaving me paralyzed with fear, a temporary sense of relief washed over me.
The elephants were coming closer; their loud hooves beat against the ground, sending tiny tremors across the land, showing their superior size. I was numb.
Never before have I faced my own mortality with such willingness. My muscles wouldn’t respond to the instructions from my brain. To compensate, my brain simply went into a bizarre mix of deep thought and random facts.
I remembered various body structures, like the tiny bumpy prominence located on the back of the skull.
“External Occipital Protuberance.” came my whisper
Hearing my own voice aided in the confusion. Why was I thinking about anatomy? I could feel my throat go dry and my chest clench in fear as the footsteps came closer and the tremors seemed to lift my feet from the ground. A pseudo jump. Involuntary.
“Involuntary”
I tried to concentrate, but to no avail. My legs seemed frozen in time, heavy, bogged down like a small car with bare tires caught unsuspectedly in a blizzard.
I could actually smell the beasts. Not completely unpleasant, like the day after a rainstorm mixed with a hot cup of chamomile tea and a hint of mold.
“If they crush me and my skeleton is found in their toes, will I be considered toe jam? Or will they not get such a morbid joke and shake their head at it all? I really hope they at least crack a smile. Wait? Am I giving up?”