A tremble in the boy’s body suggested Jorgie felt frightened.
Ashley took backseat to Trevor on all things, except her child. When she had awoke from the strange green goo that had transported her through time along with thousands of other people to ‘ride the ark’ like life boats escaping the initial storm of the invasion, Ashley had come to know that very little in the world belonged to her, including the man she once loved.
But JB did belong to her. She did not care what the doctors said. She did not understand the significance of JB’s body containing a massive amount of neurotransmitters-many of an unidentifiable configuration-nor did she care. She understood him to be special the way all mothers thought their child special.
The voice of the dangerous stranger who had invaded their home six years ago replayed in Ashley’s mind: “You and Trevor here. You started this. You caused Armageddon.”
That cause, according to the man eventually revealed as Trevor’s half-brother, had been the conception of their son.
Regardless, the boy belonged to her. She had earned that ownership during years of care and comfort while JB’s father raced off fighting the war and even traveling to another dimension.
She would not sit idly by. She answered Jorgie before Trevor could say a word, “What are you doing up so early? Are you feeling okay?”
“I am afraid, Mommy.”
To his credit, JB found his mother’s eyes first. Something had happened last summer. Certainly the boy still admired his father’s leadership. He still re-enacted battles with toy soldiers. But JB had come to realize that his father did not truly love his mother. That ‘mommy’ lived all alone.
What a terrible revelation that must have been for the boy.
“What are you afraid of, sweetie?” Ashley glided to JB and knelt in front of him.
“I don’t know. Bad dreams. I think-I think I am afraid of Father. Of what he’s planning.”
Ashley whipped about and glared at Trevor who cocked his head to one side in an expression of curiosity like a dog hearing a new sound.
“What is it I’m planning, buddy?”
The boy struggled with something. His lips opened and closed, but he did not have an answer. “I don’t know.”
Trevor took a step closer to his son.
“I have to talk to you, Jorgie. There’s something I need to know.”
Ashley felt herself become a non-factor in the conversation, a position to which she had grown accustomed over the years. This was her life; a bit player on Trevor’s grand stage. She needed to deliver her lines to the public or press with aplomb, then stand aside and let the star work his show.
“Last year-when the bad guys had me-they brought you to that island, too.”
Jorgie closed his eyes and nodded.
“They tried to put you in the same machine I was in. But something happened.”
“Don’t Trevor. Don’t scare him. He doesn’t need to re-live that.”
He ignored her and pushed, “You did something. I’ve only heard about it second-hand, I never asked you directly. Not really. Not like I am now.”
“I don’t want to think about that,” Jorgie opened his eyes and insisted, but it did not sound as if he might be afraid. It sounded more like he felt it inappropriate to discuss.
“You have to, Jorgie. I must know. It’s important.”
Something did surface in the boy’s memories. He turned to his mother and said, “They were bad men, Mommy. The Missionary man said he went looking for you back when I was in your belly. Back when the war first started.”
This confused Ashley. She answered, “I don’t-I don’t remember anything like that.”
“You were gone,” Trevor reminded. “He must have went looking for you right away. Something saved you. Something took you away on the ark. When I got to your house there was nothing. But-but at my parent’s house,” Ashley saw Trevor’s mind return to the early days of the invasion. After a pause he continued, “There were a couple of Deadheads waiting for me. They killed my parents. If it hadn’t been for the dogs, I would’ve been killed. Deadheads come from Voggoth’s realm. That son of a bitch tried to take us out right off the bat. I’m guessing that was pretty much against the rules.”
“What do you mean- rules?”
Trevor brushed her aside and spoke to JB, “But what happened then? What happened when they plugged you into the machine?”
His eyes gazed at something far away; perhaps the memories of that horrible day last summer.
He told his parents in an angry growl, “They weren’t supposed to do that. I don’t think Voggoth knew. I think he was angry with them for doing it.”
Ashley glanced at Trevor as if demanding an explanation. He offered none. She returned her attention to Jorgie and asked, “What do you mean by that? What happened while you were there, Jorgie?”
“They’re all dead,” JB said with a stiff lip.
“You killed them all?”
The son corrected his father, “I suppose so. But Father, they were dead before I got there. They are all empty. Everything about them is empty.”
“And when they put you in the machine..?” Trevor led.
“I filled it,” JB said and Ashley saw a hint of anger; of revenge in the boy’s face. Her child had found satisfaction in whatever he had done to The Order.
“You filled it?” She asked. “What does that mean?”
Trevor answered in another riddle, “Life over death. Or-life conquered the emptiness.”
“Yes-yes that is it, Father. When I touched the machine of Voggoth I felt as if there was much more to me. I felt-I felt something powerful inside. I do not understand. But I found it easy to control his machine. It as was as lifeless as-as…” Jorgie held his stuffed animal aloft. “As lifeless as Bunny.” He quickly added, “But I love Bunny.”
Ashley felt a knot of in her stomach. It spun and turn and grew larger and larger with each passing second.
She told Trevor, “I don’t know what this has to do with anything. Jorgie is a special boy. We’ve known that for years. He’s been through enough already. Let him be.”
Trevor stood alongside his son and placed an arm on his shoulder.
“You are special, JB. And I love you.”
“I love you, too, Father.”
Something in the way Trevor stared at Jorgie made Ashley uneasy. She felt urged to speak. To defend.
“No, Trevor. Leave my son out of all this.”
“I can’t,” Trevor’s answer came fast and Ashley felt the entire house spin.
“You leave him alone!”
JB retreated into the darkness of the hallway.
“He may be the answer, Ashley. If he is why all this started, then maybe he is the key.”
Ashley stood nose to nose with Trevor and glared but despite the mask of defiance she felt a sense of inevitability creep into the fear. From the day Dr. Maple had told them about JB’s unique chemistry she feared this end. Perhaps that is why she had forbid any further tests.
“He is our son, Trevor. You will not put him in the middle of all this.”
Trevor took hold of Ashley’s shoulders.
“Ashley-he is the middle of all this.”
General Jon Brewer removed his cap and ran the sleeve of his uniform across his sweaty forehead.
I’m going to ring the neck of the guy who decided to make these uniforms black.
Admittedly the sweat dripping from his crew cut came as much from the task at hand as the warm May afternoon. Of course the overheated, cracked blacktop that comprised the Poplar Street Bridge reflected much of the mid-day sun giving the long deck girder span a frying pan feel.
The engineering company working the bridge coped by rolling up sleeves or simply removing their shirts. A few managed to sneak quick dips into the waters of the Mississippi.
Jon did not begrudge any of it. The men carried out a difficult task under a hot sun preparing last-ditch defenses while knowing Voggoth’s coming onslaught would probably be the end of the line for many of them.