Evolution (4 page)

The gun blasts were getting louder and the baboons were screeching with such ferocity that even the deepest sleep couldn’t contain the reality any longer. Jedd's eyes shot open and he shivered as he finally understood.  He throws on his boots and slowly opens the door. Through the tiny sliver he sees vines...hundreds of them. Jedd swallows hard and pushes gently letting the scene unfold little by little.

Dead bodies littered the cavern floor like candy wrappers and wasted popcorn at a cheap cinema.  A cold shiver runs up his spine and his throat is coated with thick saliva. He lifts his gun and prepares to exit the only truly safe room in the complex. Wait...

The thought repeated itself in his mind. The only safe room in the complex. It was a moment like this that truly defines a man. Jedd allowed his fear and his moral obligation arm wrestle for his soul. Die fighting for the Morton twins, or slam the door shut on this horrific scene and survive?

His hands shaking and his courage starting to fail, he starts to push the door open once more. A loud screech stabs his ear drum. An eye, followed by a putrid green face appears before him. Slamming the door shut and locking it, Jedd clings to his chest and feels the soothing cold metal on his back. He slowly slides down the door and cradles his knees, the dam containing his sanity has a hairline crack in it and it’s threatening to spill.

The image of cute creatures in sundresses fade, replaced by the terrible sight behind the door. Baboons! Jedd shivered. How can that be? The plant life seems to have evolved overnight.

*~*~*

Chapter 5

It’s funny how some things are simply hard to admit to yourself. For me the journey out of New York was both the easiest and hardest part. This is partly because of the still intact humanity craving comfort and familiarity. So I had to break down and admit, I was scared.

More than that, I had to live in silent agony knowing I was just a boy thrust into manhood. A scared little boy experiencing things he never had a chance to experience properly. All of this while wielding a golf iron and traveling with people I barely knew. When we left the safety of the Earth Ship I had no idea what would happen. We walked for many miles on edge at the slightest sound.

We would step on glass and cringe, waiting for some unknown heinous creature to rear its ugly head and make a light snack out of our merry band of survivors. Alex tried to act tough, but a few times I saw tears threatening a downpour. She walked in silence mostly, clinging to her hatchet so tight that the whites of her knuckles became semi-permanent. Boomer mostly bopped along either completely unafraid or genuinely in good spirits. Either way, I wished at that point I could crawl in the man’s skull and know what he knows, Perceive his reality instead of my own.

We knew the only time we could truly let our guard down enough to sleep was at night, the safety of darkness where the plants ability to grow and feast diminished. Were we completely safe? Not in the “I am going to sing and make smores around a campfire” capacity. But what other choice do we have?

Alex was the first to admit defeat, stopping suddenly and sitting on the blacktop staring at the tide of broken cars and chaos. She slumped her head and starting crying. Tiny wails followed by gasps for breath.

“I can’t anymore, I-I just can’t I’m so tired” she sobbed

I was at a loss, still very much socially awkward from all the solo nights in the railcar, I was completely unsure of what to do. Was this one of those “there there Alex, it will be alright” type of moments. I mean, when you know it’s not alright is that the same as lying? Instead I just sat beside her unable to speak. As I listen to her sobs of torture, I guess I finally understood the dire situation we were truly in.

Like a warm washcloth placed upon the soaked forehead during flu season, a warm soothing feeling washed over me. I cried.

I did more than cry I wailed, I let it all out, one tear at a time, one sniffle at a time I relieved many months of anxiety and fear. I covered my red puffy eyes and threw my arm around Alex; the human contact unleashed a fresh wave of sobs.

Boomer sat. He squatted in front of us and tried to do what he could, trying to remove Alex’s hands from her face and randomly rubbing my hair. He made silly faces and tried smiling through her fingers but to no avail, nothing was going to stop our much needed breakdown.

Almost nothing. In the distance the echo of our sorrow did not go unheard. We see the vines slowly crawling towards us and the scurrying of tiny pod rats. God I hate pod rats! I stare at the crudely stitched cut and recall the terror in the subway. I recalled... Podradiles!

That thought slammed deep into my brain like a brick dropped through the windshield of a new Porsche from a two story balcony. It shattered all feelings of sorrow and kick started our survival instincts. I clung to my golf club with a sense of purpose. Alex stood frozen in terror like an unsuspecting deer in a trance from the beams of an oncoming car. Boomer ran.

That sight didn’t register at first. Boomer, the biggest of us all ran? Then I saw what startled him so. Baboons. Large green nasty Baboons with sharp fangs coming fast in large groups. I felt sick. I grabbed Alex’s hand and took off running, more dragging her than leading her across the highway. Boomer was nowhere to be seen. I screamed his name over and over but the sound of my own voice would not be carried in the winds of chaos.

The sound of my own heartbeat thumped in my ears and the screeching sounds buzz sawed through my head. I felt like my lungs were going to explode. I could see the white blur of her sneakers and the pavement that seemed to stretch for an eternity before us. The long slender vines started to snake out from beneath the wreckage dropping more and more pod rats in our path. Mother Nature’s attempt to trap us no doubt. A sick attempt to lead us to our own demise and it may have normally worked if it wasn’t for a single moment of clarity.

It was at this moment that I realized fear itself has a comparison syndrome. It is fluid, changing its face into many different masks. The pod rats now seemed utterly harmless compared to the vicious baboons rapidly gaining on us. I kicked them; I felt their tiny bodies smash into little green rodent apple sauce under my boots. We ran. We ran and for some unknown reason, even if was just a tiny victory, I smiled.

Alex seemed to snap out of her trance and started screaming for Boomer. Her voice was brutal. The fear it carried was like a sharp dagger sinking into the fleshy bits of my heart. Panic in its truest form. I had to be brave for her; I had to lead her out of this nightmare and into the Zen of life.

I remembered the brave man that fell to his death just this morning, his screams of pain and the badge of honor. I was him, for a gleaning moment, I was the fearless hero fighting for our survival. My thought was cut short by a sharp pain in my side. It was so sudden and so fierce that it about dropped me to my knees. I knew I couldn’t run much longer, I was done. I screamed at Alex to run, keep going!! She looked at me blankly and stood very still, more afraid of being alone than of death.

We watched in horror as the baboons closed in on us. The rats already taking advantage of our delay were surrounding us ready for us to fall; ready for the feast the foul beasts lived for. A large meaty hand gripped my shirt and lifted me, almost angry with me I felt a shake so hard that my body jarred and my teeth clattered. I heard Alex shouting in delight and heard the smash of bodies under his boot. The entire moment was surreal, the scene unveiling in bits, showing me life in slow motion.

The loud screech from our enemy rose into the air, filling it like a thick fog just before dawn. That sound will haunt my dreams for all of eternity. Snapping out of my daze I sprinted with all my might, following them, zigzagging this way and that, clueless.

That was the word, clueless. Yet I didn’t question, I just followed the two through the jungle of abandoned vehicles and carnage. That is when I spotted it, the cherry red Buick with the doors still open, surrounded by vines. Boomer more threw than pushed Alex into the passenger seat and slammed the door on her. I watched the car drop lower to the ground as he sat in the backseat. The slam of his door indicated something else that scared me. I had to drive.

Our very survival at this moment depended on me doing the one thing I never learned how to do. I jumped in and slammed the door. Out of instinct I rolled up the window and locked the door, knowing all too well it wouldn’t help much, just slow down our death. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. Turning the key I felt the car strangle itself, choking on many days of idleness.

I stomped on the pedal and tried again, this time it choked twice and died. I made the mistake of looking in the rearview mirror, All I seen were fangs, green nasty pointy fangs with a sadistic desire to sink themselves into my warm flesh. In a panic I tried a third time, understanding how close they were I closed my eyes and prayed for a break, a small break, just one tiny little spark of salvation.

I got what I asked for. I felt the rumble as the engine finally woke from its slumber. I stared blankly ahead for a second in disbelief.  Now what? I thought. Boomers large hand rose seemingly from nowhere slamming the shifter into reverse. My foot still on the gas I pressed down hard and felt the collision of bodies against the bumper.

I felt the car bounce as many of the remaining foes danced on our roof and clawed at the glass. Desperate for a mistake Mother Nature knew humans would make. Boomer slammed the shifter into drive and kicked my seat, grunting in excitement. I did not fight it, I had no clue how to drive or where we were going, but at this particular moment, even if the car sped off a very deep cliff it would be better than where we were.

I felt the tires spin and dig deep spinning the back end momentarily as we propelled forward. I clung to the wheel and turned it sharp, narrowly avoiding the vehicle graveyard. One by one, I watched the nasty critters slide off the car and slam into the pavement behind us.

My chest still pounding I never slowed, I drove for many miles before the word safe even threatened to enter my emotional vocabulary. I turned to smile at Alex, but noticed she was as white as a ghost. Her hand gripped the door handle tightly and she looked straight ahead. Not one word escaped her lips the rest of the night.

Somewhere between New York and Pennsylvania we stopped to siphon gas. Nightfall was upon us and the cars seemed to be less and less abundant. We knew it was only a matter of time before we were on foot again. For now though, we can sleep in comfort.

*~*~*

Chapter 6

The sun beat through the sealed glass magnifying its intensity. Alex awoke from her dream drenched in sweat. Her throat was drier than the Sahara desert. She slowly opened the plastic bottle of water and took a large swig, feeling it slide down she took a moment to enjoy it. Conservation! That was what they were down too.

She matched threads on the bottle and replaced the cap. Cramming it back in her pack, Alex peered out the window for a brief second, taking in the visual wonders of a newfound place. She seen a bizarre mix of red, blue and green dot the oak trees. With the seemingly harmless threat of flying pod creatures aside, she could truly appreciate the rather normal scenery she was lucky enough to witness.

Life, life in its truest form. Through all the horrible atrocities that took place, innocent creatures managed to not only survive, but went on with their existence like nothing at all happened. Alex watched the blue bird dive for food that lay between the wreckage and wondered if they were even aware of the changing structure taking place in the food chain. Oh to be that blissfully ignorant. She thought to herself.

“Wake up!” She pushed my sweaty body and watched it wiggle before resting in its original position once more.

“Wake up I said!” Pushing me harder this time, my head pinged off the glass and a muffled distorted grunt escaped my lips. I rubbed my eyes and felt my soaked shirt.

“Wha? Alex what’s going on?”

“You are trying to kill us that’s what’s going on!” I watched a cute scowl cross her face and smiled.

“What are you smiling at you dork? Roll down the windows I’m dying”

“No”

I dangled the keys in front of her face and smiled once more.

“I do believe Boomer put me in charge of driving, and technically holding the keys that unroll the windows would be my responsibility. What if I enjoy being sweaty? What if I adore the feel of a wet shirt clinging to me for dear life?”

Alex frowned deep

“Don’t be gross Trevor, just roll down the windows okay?”

She rolled her eyes; turning her back to me I could hear the “harrumph” she tried to hide. Snickering to myself I started the engine and hit the power window bottom. A quiet hum made audible by sliding glass freed us from our stagnant smelling enclosure. A soft breeze came wafting through, almost immediately soothing our discomfort. A loud snore followed by a tiny cough came from Boomer as Alex shook him. Boomer opened his eyes and made a shooing motion with his hands.

“Oh no you don’t you big lug! Get up”

Boomer tried to roll over in the back seat, curling his legs to his chest and clenching his eyes shut tight.

“God I don’t know which one of you is more stubborn.” Alex declared.

Reaching her slender arm in front of me, she slammed her palm against the horn, not only startling me, but nearly giving Boomer heart failure. I felt the vehicle bounce as the large man shot straight up, whacking his head on the metal roof. I heard the skull thump the metal and couldn’t help but cringe at the sound.