Brad jumped back down to the pavement and scanned around the parking lot. They’d grabbed the body of the clerk and the one shopper they’d found in the convenience store, and the few cars around them were tapped out.
“Plus,” she continued, “who knows what kind of climate changes we can expect going forward. Are we even going to have seasons anymore? If all the plants die, will we have oxygen?”
“Romie?” Brad asked.
“You know, Robby is relying on that thing not even being aware of us. What did he say? When a bird makes a nest in a tree, do you think it’s aware of the bacteria living on the branches?” she asked.
“Romie?” he asked again.
“What?” she asked.
“Do you have any ideas of where we could hunt for more bodies? Or should we just start going door-to-door?” Brad asked.
“Yeah—Chinese place over near the mall,” she said.
“You sure? Everyone died on Thanksgiving. Do people go for Chinese food on Thanksgiving?” Brad asked.
“Any holiday,” she replied. “I bet there’s thirty of them over there. Let’s go.”
Brad rolled down the cargo door and climbed back into the cab. Romie was already strapping herself in.
“So what do you think of his theories?” she asked Brad as he started the engine.
“Who? Robby?” Brad asked. He knew what she was talking about but the question just fell out of his mouth. He was shocked she actually asked him a question that she expected an answer to.
“Yes, Robby,” she said. “Who else?”
“He certainly presented a compelling case,” Brad said. “There’s no real way to verify some of what he said. A lot of it was based on the interpretation of those runes he found in a basement. When I looked at those things there was definitely something interesting going on. It made me feel fuzzy just to look at the symbols.”
“Hmmm, yeah, well…” Romie started, but Brad cut her off for once.
“And the fourth dimension stuff seems a little outlandish. I’m an engineer and a software architect. Spatial reasoning and higher math are not foreign to me at all, but I’ve always been taught that time is the fourth dimension. He said these things can move through three-dimensional space without continuity because they exist in four or more dimensions,” Brad said as he slowed for a stop sign. He knew he shouldn’t bother to heed the sign, but it was hard to break the habit.
“I remember,” agreed Romie.
“So it would be like if you or I were interacting with creatures that lived on a sheet of paper. We could pick up and move to a different spot and they’d be oblivious to how it happened. Robby says that’s how these creatures manage space travel. For them, all the points in the universe are essentially connected through the higher dimensions,” Brad said. He glanced over at Romie, who was looking straight ahead. He continued—“I guess I can visualize that, but it seems like if that’s the case, we would have had contact with them before.”
Now Romie spoke up—“Exactly. He said we have had contact before. We just didn’t recognize it, or it was too long ago. Their idea of an hour or a year might not be the same as ours. What if they don’t live from one moment to the next?”
“I suppose,” Brad said.
“But you didn’t answer my question—what do you think of his theories? Like about how to drive this thing off?” she asked.
“Well, I guess to me it’s the same question,” Brad said. “If he’s right about the extra-dimensional beings and the planet-wide organism, then he may very well be right about the immune response of dumping a thousand bodies into the embryo. No way to tell except giving it a try, you know?”
“That’s exactly how I feel,” Romie said. “I believe him. I just wish we didn’t have to go a hundred miles north to test it out.”
“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Brad said.
“What? Not all the way to Augusta?" Romie asked.
“No, no, it’s just that you said you believe him,” Brad said.
“And I do,” Romie said. “He’s a trustworthy kid.”
“Yes he’s trustworthy,” Brad said, “but I’m thinking that if he’s right about the planet-wide organism, then dumping bodies into it might be the appropriate thing to do.”
“But you’re not convinced?" Romie asked.
“Not entirely, no,” Brad said.
“Take a right up here. It’s faster,” Romie said.
They bounced along in silence for a little while. Every so often, usually during a turn, they could hear the bodies shift around in the back of the truck. Romie guided Brad to pull up next to a giant restaurant. He backed the rear of the truck up near the doors and they climbed out.
Romie opened the front door of the restaurant and held it open until Brad dragged a sign with a metal base over to prop it open. They repeated the process with the interior door. This time Brad used a chair. Romie strapped on a headlamp and started off to the right, but Brad just stood there at the door. He didn’t like the way the light from the doors seemed to die out so quickly.
The restaurant was huge and almost industrial-looking to Brad. The red and purple swirls of the carpet were probably designed to hide stains, but they also confused Brad’s eyes. The panels of the high drop-ceiling looked dusty and old, even from a distance.
“Come on,” Romie said from her little pool of light, “there are two over here.”
Brad put on his own headlamp and joined his partner.
“Let’s get this fat one first,” Romie said. “I swear my back’s never going to make it to the end of the day.”
Romie flipped up the tablecloth and grabbed the man’s ankles while Brad worked his hands into the man’s armpits. They lifted at the same time and started a slow shuffle towards the door. The guy looked fat, but he wasn’t too heavy. Brad and Romie had no trouble getting him to the lift-gate. With him loaded, they went back for the woman at the table.
“I used to come at least once a month,” Romie said as they slung the woman up into the bed of the truck. “It’s a pretty good value if you stay long enough.”
“Why?” Brad asked. The lady-corpse had long hair, and Brad had already stepped on it twice. He dragged her to the front of the truck by her feet so it fanned out behind her.
“Value? Because they only bring out the good stuff once every couple of hours. Crab legs? Forget it. You have to be here for a while before you’re going to see any of those. It’s like they know I’m coming and they only bring out the good stuff just before I show up. It’s all gone by the time I get my seat,” Romie said.
They followed their headlamps back inside, past the table where they’d found the first couple. Romie walked between two long buffet stations and then stopped. Brad almost ran into her back.
“Something’s been here,” she said. Her voice was low—nearly a whisper.
“Like what? An animal?” Brad asked.
“You tell me,” Romie said. She turned to the side so Brad could see. In front of her, on the floor, sat a rough pile of chicken wings. Next to those, Brad saw several egg rolls littered on the carpet. Romie scanned the big room with her headlamp, but the meager light couldn’t reveal much of the room. Romie dug around in her pocket and pulled out a little flashlight. That was better, but Brad didn’t see much more than round tables to the left and square ones to the right.
He looked back to where the door stood out as a bright white rectangle of light. Suddenly those dozen paces seemed far away.
“Let’s hurry up so we can get out of here,” Romie said.
Brad slipped between two of the buffet units and crossed the walkway to the tables. Before rounding the first table, he tripped and landed on his hands and knees. Looking back, he saw black pants and a white jacket—he’d tripped over a fallen waiter. The waiter’s outstretched arm offered a pitcher of spilled water.