I wanted to scream, but realized I wasn’t there.
I was the inside the alien’s memory.
It stood over the mutilated animal, observing an angular box with strange writing hovering over the animal. With a motion of the creature’s hand, a searing red light from the box continued to slice into the cow’s abdomen, precisely removing the skin to expose the small intestine.
When the incision was finished, a rapid series of flashing lights penetrated the wound. I desperately wanted to look away but my gaze was fixed, horribly tied to the alien’s examination of the animal’s organs—
A searing shot of white light, and Daddy helped me into the car.
“Don’t let go of my balloon,” I said.
Daddy had eased it into the backseat, making sure it and the string were safely inside before he shut the door.
I leaned back against the seat, looking at the carnival lights through the window. I was stuffed with funnel cake and French fries, and was beginning to feel drowsy. As my eyelids drooped, my eyes adjusted, and I could see my own face reflected in the window. On my rounded cheek, was a dab of ketchup from that delicious hotdog—
From the blast of light, came a face so similar to mine that there was no doubt he was my grandson.
The creature stood above William as he lay on the triangular table, a webbing of sorts covering his body. Lights pulsated behind the boy’s head.
The creature leaned him over and clicked. Once more, I shared its memory.
Each has a role, it thought as it studied William’s face. Summon the storm, bring the disease, damage the food, start the war. But not you. You are different. You are the center. You are the nerve system. You are our conduit. You will unite them all. You are the final stage—
A softer white light, but still just as jarring, showed Daddy opening the door for me. “Did you fall asleep, sweet girl?”
“Uh huh,” I muttered from the backseat.
“Come on, let’s get your pajamas on,” he said, lifting me.
I snuggled into the collar of his shirt, smelling pipe smoke, fried fair food, and aftershave. I held him tight, and he squeezed me in return. With Mama gone, he was my whole world.
It had been such a fun night. I didn’t get a stuffed animal, but I did get—
“My balloon!” I cried out.
He turned and I lifted my head, seeing the balloon, starting to already lose some of its helium, drift into the trees.
“Daddy, we have to get it,” I whined.
He paused for a moment. “No, Lynn. It’s just a balloon.”
“It’s not!” I reached for it. “Daddy, you won me that balloon.”
“No, Lynnie,” Daddy pulled back so our faces were just an inch apart. “We never, ever go into the woods.”
Never go in the woods.
I jerked my head back, breaking the creature’s hold. The hallway in the hospital came into clear view, along with a clarity that nearly brought me to my knees.
Summon the storm, bring the disease, damage the food, start the war.
The creature stood just a foot away. On seeing my dazed expression, it began to click again.
I knew what it wanted. From me, from all the returned.
It began to click faster, its head tilting. It stepped forward to where there was only a few inches between us.
All it needed was a few memories more, to determine what they’d put in me. What they sent me back to do.
What weapon I carried within me.
“No!” I cried out. “Stay away!”
I stumbled back, trying to steady myself. I awkwardly swept up William and blundered down the other side of the hallway, ignoring the screaming pain in my knee. The further I moved away, the sharper my thoughts became.
We’re their weapons. Whatever they put in us, whatever we carry in us, they activate and watch the chaos unfold.
William’s drawings flashed through my head like videos on the evening news. The unexplained rise in hurricanes, tornadoes, cancer, and even deadly allergies to food—science struggled to understand why.
It was all by design. Our world is where they test these weapons.
And whatever they planned to do in the end, it said William was the final stage.
They cannot have him. Whatever happens, I have to get him out.
The frantic, strobelike lights made me feel as if I could go crashing into a wall at any moment, but I kept running. The lights were growing brighter now, coming through wide glass windows of the room beyond.
The hallway led into a lobby. Several men in heavy camouflage coats, their rifles pulled up to their shoulders, ran past the windows outside. The light fell on the drifting snow, making it look like it was raining confetti.
William was still entranced. I carried him to the glass entrance doors and waited a moment for them to open.
The power’s out, they won’t open.
I set William down and tried to pry the doors open at the seam. “Come on,” I pleaded.
Through the glass I saw a man, standing a yard or so away. He wore a heavy coat and a sock hat and stared up at where the light originated, transfixed by whatever he saw.
“Joe!” I cried out, banging on the glass. “Joe!”
I even saw his massive truck parked nearby, its plow covered with a layer of snow. “Joe!” I said, striking the glass repeatedly.
He continued to stare, his eyes wide, the lights spilling over his face. He isn’t even blinking.
The lights in the lobby came roaring back on. I hurried to stand before the doors.
The glass didn’t part. I looked around, seeing another keypad flashing beside the door. Of course there would be a code here, they wouldn’t just let anyone in. Or out.
I heard the sound of William’s feet scuffling.
I whirled around, seeing him beginning to walk back to where we came from. At the far end of the hall, I could see several shapes emerging.
I ran and seized William, rushing back to the door. I smashed my fist on the glass, screaming for Joe. I scanned the lobby for anything I could use to try and break the glass, but the only thing I could see was a computer monitor on the front desk, and it wouldn’t have made a dent.
I could feel the numbness growing on the back of my head. I kept pounding. The memory of Daddy’s warning about the woods broke me free of the creature’s control before, but I didn’t know if I could snap out of it again.
I looked out to see the interior light come on in the cab of Joe’s truck. The door opened slightly, and someone peered out.
Despite my staggering panic, I gasped. Roxy’s face was so bruised, so swollen from the ugly gash down her forehead, that I almost didn’t recognize her at first. I cried out her name, waving my arms wildly. I saw her limp out of the truck towards Joe. She looked up in the sky, her hand covering her mouth in astonishment. She looked back at the truck, and then briefly towards the medical center.
I screamed her name, striking the glass. She did a double take, and I could see her yell out my name. She moved towards Joe, pointing in my direction. Roxy shook him, but he continued to stare upwards.
I watched her give a frightened look in the direction in which Joe stared, and then she painfully moved towards us.
“Come on!” she motioned to me.
“The door won’t open! We can’t get out!”
Roxy went back to Joe, this time hitting him in the arm. When he didn’t respond, she gave me a frantic look, made an obscene gesture at Joe and limped back towards the truck. She was practically dragging her right foot. I watched her open the driver’s side door and haul herself in.