CHAPTER 9

I huff a warm breath into my hands and rub them together, trying to thaw out my icicle fingers. We’d stopped to take shelter a lot sooner tonight than anticipated, due to an unexpected freakin’ snow squall. The damn snow had started falling late afternoon, stripping away any advantage of at least another three hours of daylight. One moment the watery sun was trying to break through the clouds, the next the sky opened up and the wet snow shot straight down like old man winter had a serious case of the squirts.

Glancing over my shoulder I wish, not for the first time, that I was with the rest of them huddled around the fire underneath the bridge. Our shelter for the night. It wasn’t the best of accommodations, but the tree break covering one end of the bridge provides a barrier to the cold northern wind cutting through my jacket like a dozen tiny blades. In there around the fire and sharing the few thermal survival blankets, they could stay warm at least. My turn will come. Just another thirty minutes of watch to get through.

I lean back on my concrete block seat and stare up as the full moon climbs the night sky. The snow stopped earlier, but the moon-drenched sky gives the white-tipped trees an eerie glow. A waft of cigarette smoke floats on the air, and the smell reminds me so much of Liv my heart constricts in my chest. Sitting back up, I glance to my left where I know Mike stands watch. All I see is his silhouette and the tiny glow of his smoke.

“Where’d you get that?” I ask quietly, not wanting to wake anyone who’s managed to fall asleep already. “Haven’t seen those since we left the Grand.”

Mike’s soft chuckle gets carried away by the breeze.

“Found it in the bottom of my backpack. A whole squashed pack of ‘em. Payday. You want one?”

I shake my head, but I know he can’t see me. “Nah, I hate the taste of them. God only knows what Jonesy has stuffed into those to make them smokable. Although, Liv did swear by their calming properties. Probably enough chemicals in those to fry your brain.”

He laughs again as he makes his way over and sits beside me on the freezing concrete. “Considering the other options we have to die in this world? I’ll take my chances with these, thanks.”

I grin at him in the dark. “Fair enough.”

A rustling in the trees to our right catches our attention. Leaping to my feet, I bring my rifle up to my shoulder. A familiar voice floats at us through the gloom. “Holy shit, guys, you’re never gonna believe what just happened.”

Gordo, the third man on watch, comes stumbling out of the trees at a run. He was gone for so long I forgot he wandered off earlier to take care of some personal business.

“Jesus, you’ve been gone forever.” Mike echoes my sentiments. “You shit out a log or something?”

I snort at the question, but Gordo’s not as amused by his brother.

“Glad to see you were worried enough to come look for me,” he growls. “Considering I ran into a damn leech out there.”

I swivel my head and peer at him. “You saw a leech? It didn’t see you?”

“Yeah, that’s the weird thing. I thought it saw me? I mean, we practically fell over each other. But then it didn’t try to attack at all. It just wandered off. I guess it was my lucky day.” He looks past me to his brother. “But it’s nice to know you got my back, bro.”

“Meh, it probably looked at you and thought you were too damn skinny to bother,” Mike counters. “Besides if you were really in trouble, you’d warn us with that girly-girl scream of yours.”

“Wha…? I don’t have a girly-girl scream.”

“Yeah, you do. Always did. I remember when we were kids, and I’d do something to piss you off; you’d always go screaming to mom with that high-pitched squeal, ‘Moooooom, Mike was mean to me.’ Such a princess.”

Mike’s squeaky little voice almost has me in stitches, but I hold the laughter in for Gordo’s sake, as much as for the ones trying to sleep. Slinging the rifle back over my shoulder, I sit back down on my concrete sofa. Mike settles beside me, staring up at his kid brother as he glares at us, hands on hips.

“Total bullshit.”

“Is what it is, bro. You scream like a girl.”

“I do not. Bix, do I scream like a girl?”

I hold my hands up in front of my chest.

“Don’t get me involved in this. I just happened to be the unlucky one to draw the short straw and have to take watch with you two bozos.”

“Hmph, whatever dude.” Gordo sneers as he settles his butt on the other side of me. “At least I wasn’t the one who wet the bed until I was seven years old. Least I think it was seven. Maybe you still fucking do for all I know. Owwww!”

He shrieks in my ear as Mike reaches around me and slaps him upside the head.

“You little dipshit, watch your language,” Mike growls, but I hear the laughter in his voice.

“You’re a dipshit,” Gordo whines as he rubs his head.

“You’re both dipshits,” I mutter at them. “Now, keep the noise down. You don’t want to wake the others. Especially Cookie.”

“Too late.” The voice echoes at our back. Sam walks into view, stretching his arms over his head as he takes a deep breath of cold air.

“Sorry if we woke you, man.” Gordo shuffles closer to me as Sam joins us on our concrete sofa.

“Nah, you guys didn’t wake me. I couldn’t sleep. Figured I may as well take over watch and let one of you guys off the hook early.”

“How’s Amy?” I ask, ignoring the offer. As much as I’d like to be inside, I’m sure I won’t sleep either.

“Asleep. Settled in nicely between Cookie and Jess. Cook’s really stepped up with Amy. Didn’t realize she had such a soft side.”

I grunt. “Yeah, don’t let her attitude with Amy fool you. She’s reserving her censure and letting it grow twofold for the rest of us when we least expect it. Don’t you worry.”

A couple of laughs follow my remark, but no one denies it. We let the silence fall over us again, calming us with its tranquility.

“So is Amy infected, too?”

Gordon’s question comes out of the blue, and I stiffen in shock waiting for Sam’s reaction.

“Jesus, Gordo.” Mike slaps his palm against his brother’s head again. “Don’t you have any sort of filter, boy?”

“What?” Gordon leans out of Mike’s reach. “I’m wanna know. I’m only asking what we’re all thinking. If she is, it affects all of us.”

As awkward as this is, it’s true. We are all thinking the same. The boy’s not wrong. All eyes focus on Sam at the end of the block. He stands and takes a couple of steps away from us, staring into the night. We wait on pins and needles for his answer. He sighs and turns around to face us, rubbing his chin wearily.

“Fair enough. I’ll tell you guys what I know. No, Amy isn’t infected. I don’t think. I can’t understand how she could be. She’s had no contact with the parasites whatsoever, except for her time in the subway. Same as the others, and they don’t seem to be affected in any way. I talked to Jess about it tonight, after Ames fell asleep. She doesn’t understand Amy’s… condition either. She suggested it may have to do with Amy’s Down syndrome or her chromosome twenty-one. Because of it, her cognitive development is different from ours. Maybe that’s it? Maybe that’s how she can pick up on their messages and thoughts when they’re near? Who the fuck knows? Not like we have any data in past alien infections to draw from. Any answers I give you is all a guessing game right now.”

“Well, what about you then?” Gordo asks, glancing sideways at his brother like he expects another slap. “Why are you connected? Did they assimilate you like the Borg?”

“Fuck, Gordo, I don’t know what’s worse. That horrible comparison or the fact that I know what you’re talking about.”

The laughter at my comment seems to break some of the tension, and Sam’s shoulders sag in relief.

“Honestly, guys, I don’t know what my connection is. I really don’t. I don’t know why they’re in my head, or why I hear them when they’re near. I don’t know what happened to me while I was in that damn pod. What I do know is that I can’t lie about it anymore. I need to be up front with you on everything. You need to know all the facts, starting with the most important. Neither I nor Amy are a threat to any of you. I feel that deep in my gut and I can say that with all honesty. You lot are my people. My family. No matter what hold you guys think they have on me, it’s nothing compared to my connection to you. If I ever have to choose between us and them again? It’ll be us every time. Taking those two out in the subway proved that.”

We all nod at him in agreement. I owed him my life, no doubt about it. He sighs again and shoves his hands deep in his jacket pockets, and I know there’s more.

“But we are connected. Sometimes more than others. These past few nights, ever since I killed those two leeches and it nearly fried my brain, something’s changed.”

“Changed? How?” I question softly, not sure if I even want to hear the answer.

Sam hesitates. He looks up at the night sky with its twinkling stars and wispy clouds. He doesn’t speak for so long I think he’s changed his mind on whatever he was about to say. Then he drops his head and stares intently at me. I lift my chin, trying to give him the courage to go on.

“I’ve been having these dreams. No, not even dreams, really. Images and flashes of a place, over and over. Every time I close my eyes, I’m in this huge building. A stadium, maybe? I really can’t tell because it’s so dark. But its cavernous. There’s only a little light from the moon shining through a hole in the roof, but it’s enough for me to see the rows upon rows of pods. So many.” His voice tapers off, and I know he’s lost in his mind. He’s no longer with us, even though he’s standing right in front of us.

“They’ve been there a long time. I don’t know how I know; I just do. Ever since the invasion, I think. The worker leeches feed them. They bring back blood, regurgitating it.”

Chills pass over me at the look of disgust etched on his face. It’s bad enough hearing about the feeding process, let alone seeing it. Did he live it, too? I mean, he had to have been kept alive somehow the whole time he was in the pod. I push the thought out of my head. I don’t want to ask.

“Everything the leeches do… everything they’ve done so far originates from here. It’s as if, I don’t know, it’s as if this building is the command center.”

“It’s the hive,” I whisper, and Sam turns to point at me.

“Yes. Exactly. It’s the hive. The super mind, the supreme ruler, the queen bee, whatever the fuck you want to call it, I think that’s where it is. That’s where it waits, metamorphosing into its final transformation. It sees all. It gives the commands.”

“So it is like the Borg,” Gordon whispers.

“Shut the fuck up, Gordo,” Mike mutters, and I couldn’t agree more.

“No, Gordon’s right. It’s exactly like the Borg in some weird way. It’s connected to every leech it’s spawned. It sees everything they see. It feels everything they feel. It feels their hunger, their pain, their hatred.” He starts pacing, and I catch my lip between my teeth. Not good. Never a good sign when Sam paces. It means he’s about to say something bad. Something we don’t want to hear. He stops and stands directly in front of me. “There’s more.”

“I don’t know if I can handle more,” Gordo moans, and I agree with the kid.

“Then tell us.” The hard voice floats over my shoulder, startling me. Luke is awake. Good. He needs to hear this and it’s not something I want to repeat. He catches my eye as he walks by and says, “I heard everything,” in answer to my questioning look. He turns his ire toward Sam. “What else is there to know?”

Sam actually looks relieved to be getting everything off his chest. “You remember what Amy said when we asked her about the queen leeches? She said they don’t like you guys. It’s true. The hive mind is very aware of all of you, and what you’ve done to its kind.”

My earlier chill escalates into a full body tremor. “What do you mean it’s aware of us? How the fuck does it even know of us?”

“And why would it show you this?” Luke steps closer, trying not to let the people under the bridge overhear. “By blowing away those two in the subway, you’ve proven to be an enemy as much as us. Why would it still try to connect to you?”

Sam shrugs. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s angry. Ever since my seizure, for lack of a better word, I don’t feel the same control in my head. Its presence is still there, but it’s pissed it can’t use me. So instead, it wants me to know it’s angry. It wants to tell me it’s looking for you. I know,” he says, holding up a hand. “It doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it’s the only way I can explain it.”

Luke crosses his arms over his chest and studies Sam for a moment. “So if this thing is in control and we take it out, will we take out the rest of the colony as well?”

Sam stands with his hands on his hips and stares back, chin held high. “I don’t know. I really can’t tell you. I’m just telling you what I’m experiencing. What I know. Ever since I blacked out, I can sense this thing more and more, and it seems to be getting worse the more we venture out of the city. I can sense its anger. Its need for vengeance. It wants to retaliate for those we’ve killed. I sense the same thing from it every time I connect with it.” He glances around at all of us, and the ice running through my veins has nothing to do with the frigid wind biting at my neck. “It wants us dead.”

“Shit,” I mutter, glancing up at Luke in panic. “Gordo saw a leech in the woods earlier. He thought it saw him too, but it didn’t attack. It left him alone.”

Luke pins the kid with his stare. “Are you positive it saw you?”

Gordo’s eyes open wide. “I’m not a hundred percent, but…yeah, I’m pretty sure it did.”

“Christ.” Luke runs a hand over the back of his neck. “If what Sam believes is true; if this thing has its minions looking for us then we’re possibly being followed. And we’re fucking sitting ducks.”