Memoirs From the End of the World: Entry #30

Even with the A-Z Challenge underway, I made the time to write this next installment.  I hope you enjoy it.

To read the entire story from the beginning, or to simply catch up on missed chapters, go to this PAGE.

Memoirs From the End of the World

Entry #30

RC’s captor tossed her a worn blanket to wrap around herself and drug her to a car waiting outside.  Even with the blanket, a lack of footwear and pants made the short journey many times more miserable than it needed to be.  The driver waved impatiently at them to hurry.  “They want us back as soon as possible,” he called.  “There’s some kind of scuffle back at the breeding house.  It seems like some of the so-called revolutionaries are getting pretty brave.”

                               

The woman laughed.  “Terrorists, you mean?  They won’t be brave for very long.  I’ll see to that.”

Revolutionaries?  Do they stand a chance? RC wondered.  Then another thought followed.  Are these friends of Tim and Jill?  Do they have enough people to make any kind of difference?

The woman shoved RC into the backseat and sat beside her.  “You’ll be much happier sleeping in a real bed again.  You may be tempted to resent me for taking you away, but in the long run, I’m doing you a favor.  You’ll have regular meals, medical care.  I honestly can’t understand why anyone would want to elude the breeding programs.”

RC couldn’t stand to look at the woman.  Her mind was occupied by far more pressing concerns.  Alyx was gone, and she didn’t even want to imagine what might happen to him.  She didn’t want to imagine what Leo had done to her while she was unconscious, though her imagination provided plenty of unwanted speculative images.  And had they actually made Alyx watch it all?  Gas Can certainly had no reason to lie about that.  A monster he may be, but that monstrous nature tended to at least be an honest one.  He didn’t care who knew about his monstrosity.

This line of thought only led her back to Alyx as she wondered how badly it hurt him to see all that.  The thought of him spitting in Leo’s face did ignite a warm feeling inside her, but she couldn’t get past the reason he did it.  Alyx, I know you can’t hear me, but I promise I’ll find out what happened to you.  I’ll do whatever it takes to rescue you if I can.  Even as she made this silent promise, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how she would deliver on it.

She simmered with her thoughts for several long minutes, wishing above all else she could break free of this woman’s clutches.  If she could get away, she might be able to get him back.  Then they could rejoin the others and pretend this nightmare never happened.

Then the world exploded. 

The sound reverberated down to the bone, the flash so bright she had to screw her eyes shut.  The vehicle seemed to turn multiple times, and bursts of pain accompanied each revolution.

It took a few moments for RC to make sense of anything.  Her eyes were open, but her vision was blurred at first.  Everything seemed to be at an angle.  Her head throbbed.  Her knee felt too warm.  When she looked down, she saw that the skin had been torn loose, allowing the blood to run freely down her leg.  Her palms were punctured by shards of glass.  The car now lay on its top, having dumped RC onto the broken sunroof.

A glance to her side showed that the despicable woman who’d taken her now lay unconscious in a pool of blood.  RC could have checked to see if she was even alive, but she couldn’t afford to waste an opportunity.  She scrambled to make it out of the window, which had also shattered in the wreck.

Yes, RC knew this might not be safe.  She couldn’t be sure that whatever caused the car to crash wouldn’t also take her out, but in the absence of more appealing options, she had to take the chance.

Her legs were shaking when she straightened up in the street.  The snow beneath her bare feet sent a powerful chill up her entire body.  Smoke filled the area, leaving RC with a limited view of her surroundings.

When a powerful arm grabbed her from behind, she screamed.  A hand immediately moved to cover her mouth.  She considered biting through the exposed fingers, but then she heard a familiar voice.  “Hey, it’s me.  Ollie.”

She stopped struggling, and he immediately let her go.  It didn’t even occur to her to be horrified by her lack of clothes, or her bloodied appearance.  All she knew was that she was overjoyed to see him.  “How’d you . . .” she started, but she didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

“Jill and I met up with her friends,” Ollie replied.  “They agreed to help free you.”

“Alyx?  Do you know what happened to Alyx?” she asked, urgency filling her words.

“Not for sure, no,” Ollie replied reluctantly.  “We intend to find him though.  In the meantime, we need to get out of here.”

RC gladly followed him away from the mangled wreck.  Though her legs still wobbled, she was fueled by a new sense of purpose.  She might be able to keep her promise to Alyx after all.

In the meantime, she had one more question to ask.  “That stunt you pulled back there.  You realize that could have killed me, right?”

Ollie shrugged.  “We knew there was a possibility of that, but I figured you’d rather that than be stuck with them in the breeder.”

RC couldn’t find fault with his reasoning.



Go to Entry #31.

FSF: Lingering Words

If you're here for my A-Z entry for the letter D, you can find it HERE.

It's time once again for Five Sentence Fiction!  This week's prompt is WORDS. As a writer, I love this prompt!

Unchained
Chapter 26: Lingering Words

Ylana couldn’t get Myrandia’s words from her mind, even after they finally left her behind two days later.  She couldn’t deny that on some level, even while this woman’s actions repulsed her, she longed for the simplicity of her actions, longed for the ease with which she’d taken control of the world around her.

Image from KireArtFish/
DevaintArt

Nara invited Ylana to once again spend the night in her room, hoping this would help dispel the unease that Myrandia left behind in her wake.  They spent the night sitting on the floor, talking about all the things that had been hanging over their heads, and about other things that might help lighten the mood. 

During a lull in the conversation, when Nara saw the weight of Myrandia’s proclamation settling on her shoulders again, she slid an arm around her and said softly, “Admiring certain aspects of her personality doesn’t make you a monster like her, and if anything, the fact that you worry about being like her proves that you’re not.”


Go to For the Lack of a Better Plan.

D: Dynasty of Dreadful Behavior

This is part of a continuous story, so start HERE at A.  If you'd like to read all the installments in one convenient place, you can find them on this PAGE.

Dynasty of Dreadful Behavior

Adam followed Ditz.  What other option did he have?

She pulled a sleek phaser from a holster hidden beneath her light pink shirt and held it out in front of her as she walked.  Moving in a crouch, she looked like an animal about to pounce on its prey.

“Ditz, what’s going on?”

“My name isn’t Ditz,” she replied.  “That was just my cover, and it seems they caught on to it sooner than I hoped.  My real name is Layla Garrison, and I’m here to help you.  If you want me to do that, shut up and do what I say.”

“So you have a plan?”  The embers of hope resurrected in his chest.

“Didn’t I say you needed to shut up?”  Though her words sounded entirely serious, her eyes glittered with amusement.

Adam resisted the urge to speak.  He didn’t want to give her the excuse to yell at him anymore.

She whipped her head around, surveying every intersecting hallway for any sign of trouble.  “Hurry up, bonehead,” she urged.  “They’ll be sending reinforcements any second.”

“I’m behind you,” Adam protested.

She gave him a dirty look.  “I wasn’t talking to you!”

He was about to ask who in the world she could have been talking to, but he was distracted when a warm sensation flooded his veins.  The world faded as his molecular structure lost cohesion and swirled about in a beam of golden light.

Adam’s rematerialized eyes first spotted a control panel with flashing multi-color lights.  A man in a jumpsuit sat there, and a moment later, Layla was walking over to greet that man with pink hair in hand.  Her real hair, a long chocolate brown that was slicked back into a ponytail, was much easier on the eyes.

“Where are we?” Adam asked as soon as he found his voice.

“A spaceship that’s about to break orbit,” she replied.

Adam laughed.  “I guess deus ex machina works as a method of escape.”

Layla laughed too.  “If you want to call it that, fine.  I call it ‘George and the big red button.’  He just had to break through the building’s security to get us out.  It all went according to plan.”

Adam sighed.  She didn’t seem to like him at all, which would make this trip decidedly unpleasant.  “Why did saving me become part of your plan at all?”

“Simple.”  Sitting beside George, she started tapping buttons.  “There’s a lot of dreadful behavior going on within the Federation.  Bibble is overstepping his bounds.  After he exiled you, he announced that he’s considering exiling the entire Sarcasian race.”

“But Bibble is Sarcasian!”

“True, but that only highlights how unstable he is,” Layla said.  Then she looked at George.  “The course is plotted.  Let’s go!”

“Go where?” Adam asked.

Layla stood again and approached Adam.  Her smile was almost seductive.  “Our secret base.  We’re collecting people to start a revolution, and you’re going to help us.”


Proceed to entry E.

  

Insecure Writer's Support Group: April 2013

Readers looking for the day's A-Z Challenge entry, you'll find that below this post.

The Insecure Writer's Support Group, which was founded by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, is a place where writers can gather to vent their frustrations or share their hopes, dreams, and fears.  This is a safe and supportive place for writers, so feel free to join in if this sounds like the place for you!

The co-hosts this month are Annalisa Crawford, Julie Luek, and Elsie.  Good luck with your c0-hosting duties!

With the A-Z Challenge underway, I feel optimistic about the comments I've been getting.  As a writer, you love to hear people say positive things about your work.  I'm grateful to everyone who takes the time to read my words.  I may write for myself, but I also want to make an impact on other people.

My insecurities this month have to do with juggling various projects.  I originally planned to have my A-Z story finished before the challenge actually started.  That didn't happen.  Family life put me behind schedule.  Still, I have plenty done, and I don't doubt I'll be able to finish the challenge.  I know where I want the story to go, and I'm very much enjoying writing it.

Still, with all of that to finish by a certain time, I wonder what other projects can I squeeze in?  If I feel inspired to write something else, should I follow that inspiration or put it on the back burner so I can finish the things I need to complete?  It's going to be all about prioritizing this month.  Then again, writers do that all the time?  What if you have two story ideas?  How do you choose which one to write first?  Or how do you proceed when you have a good idea that simply doesn't seem to be going anywhere?  How do you decide whether to retool the idea or trash it altogether?

In the spirit of making choices, I will leave this post at that and choose to go work on some more of my A-Z story!

C: Chemical Castration

This is part of a continuous story, so start HERE at A.

I also set up a page where each part of this story will be posted in chronological order.  If you need to read the previous installments, this may be the easiest way for you to do that!  To check out the page, click HERE.

Chemical Castration

“Chemical castration,” Ditz replied casually.  “Exile means you can’t do anything that might tie you to civilization.  Since producing children would do that, celibacy is important.  While it’s illegal for anyone to even speak to you, let alone sleep with you, that doesn’t guarantee it won’t happen.  Castration will.  The doctor will simply inject you with drugs that render you permanently impotent.”  She giggled.  “It’s no big deal, really.”

“You’d think it was a big deal if it were being done to you!” Adam yelled.  Of all the things they could do to him, this was the worst.  He’d be all alone for the remainder of his life, and this would guarantee he couldn’t even partake in his favorite solo activity.  “Death would have been more merciful than this!”

Ditz grinned.  “There’s no need to be so grumpy.  Try to make the best of it!”

Adam shuffled into the hallway behind his guide, and the fact that she skipped like a bubbly child only rubbed manure in the wound.  He briefly considered kicking her, but he felt defeated.  Trying to fight his way out would only make things worse.

Then he thought about it.  How could things be any worse? he asked himself.  If you try to fight, a guard may catch and kill you.  And compared to the fate you’re facing, that sounds like a lucky break.

It still didn’t seem right to tackle this innocent young girl.  Ditz was exactly the type of trusting, gullible type the Federation bureaucrats would use to do their bidding.  She didn’t have a clue how wrong this all was.  All she cared about was doing the job she’d been hired to do.

Yet even with that and all those years of being told not to hit girls, he couldn’t let her get him to the medical facility.  Poised just behind her, he balled his hands into fists.  It would probably only take one good hit to knock her down.

A split second before he struck, three armed guards rounded the corner ahead of them.  That would give him what he wanted, right?  They’d shoot him if he made his move.  A quick reaction to put him out of his misery . . .

Even with these thoughts in mind, Adam hesitated.  He’d never actually tried to die before.  Living came so naturally to him.  He lowered his hands, once again defeated, only this time by himself.

When the guards raised their weapons at the two of them, he panicked.  They know what you were going to do.  They know.

“Hand him over, Ms. Garrison,” one of the guards growled.

Ditz’s persona dissolved in a moment.  “No chance,” she growled back.  With a single movement, she produced a small, round object and flung it at the guards.

The resulting flash left the guards in a heap on the floor and Adam at a loss for words.

When Ditz turned to him, she wore a mischievous smirk.  “Come with me if you want to live.”


Proceed to entry D.

B: Breakfast Baloney

This is part of a continuous story, so start HERE at A.

Breakfast Baloney

Adam Evans, former member of the human race and the Federation, ate his last meal the following morning in a room the size of a walk-in closet.  He’d finally been given a dingy pair of gray coveralls to wear, but only after several workers filed indecency claims against him.

Though he’d already technically been expelled from existence, he had to wait for his guide.  The guide would take him out to an uninhabited sector of the galaxy, explain the rules, and leave him to die a lonely, miserable death.

The meal was merely a courtesy to keep him quiet.  Unfortunately, it was composed of flabby, cheap bologna and hard, dry biscuits.  No good food would be wasted on someone in his situation.

He thought it could get no worse.

So, when a young human woman with hot pink hair that looked far too much like cotton candy bounced into the room with a radiant smile, he smashed his head into the plastic table.  

“Good morning!”  Everything about her oozed cheerfulness as she plopped into a chair across the table from him.  “How are you?”

Adam looked up, his forehead now marred by a red welt.  “Just wonderful.”

She looked intently at him for a long moment.  “Something tells me you may be fibbing a little.”

He glared at her, then raised his hands to toward the unfashionable stucco ceiling.  “Please kill me,” he implored to the universe.

“Don’t be silly,” the young woman said as she smoothed her powder blue mini skirt.  “Magistrate Bibble has already done that.”

Adam covered his face with his hands.  He felt an awful headache coming on.  “Please don’t tell me you’re my guide.”

“Don’t be silly!”

He heaved a sigh of relief.  “Thank goodness for that.”

“Of course I’m not going to tell you something that isn’t true!  That would be ridiculous,” the girl continued.  “I may be your guide, but you don’t need to use any formal titles with me.  You can just call me Ditz.”

Adam would have laughed if the whole of the universe weren’t currently punching him in the gut.  “That’s an appropriate name.”

“Thank you!  That’s what my mother used to say.”

Wow, Adam thought.  Where did they find someone this dense?  She makes solitude seem appealing.

“Anyway, you’re lucky,” Ditz said conversationally.  “The Magistrate could have decided to kill you.  He had several people launched into the sun last week.  The Federation hates to make decisions like this, but if we didn’t have order, we’d have nothing.  That’s why it’s important you follow the rules I give you.”

Okay.  A side dish of baloney to go with my bologna, Adam thought bitterly.

Ditz stood up.  “We’ll go over the rules on the ship.  First, I need to take you to medical to get your chemical castration done.”

Adam nearly fell out of his chair.  “What?”  His voice came out two octaves too high.


Proceed to entry C.

A: Adam's Apple and the Infinite Regress

It's the first day of the A-Z Challenge!  Woohoo!  Since A is the first letter of the alphabet, I'd like to thank Arlee Bird for dreaming up this amazing blogging event!  You rock!

Adam’s Apple and the Infinite Regress

The scent of thousands of decaying pages of legal proceedings, long forgotten in bureaucratic purgatory, mingled with fresh ink as new pages flew out of the printers.  The Federation’s Department of Universal Litigation and Lawyers, also known as DULL, had facilities on every member planet.  The office on Dyntaxi Prime dealt with only the most grievous of crimes.

When Adam Evans, a human male in his mid-twenties, was pulled from a relaxing bubble bath and handcuffed for the second time in his life (the first involving a horrific misunderstanding between him and a former girlfriend), he was shocked enough. 

However, when he arrived on Dyntaxi Prime and learned why he was there, his stomach nearly turned inside out.  It took everything he had not to barf on the Magistrate’s desk.

“You understand the severity of the charges,” Magistrate Bibble said.  His eyestalks twirled wildly each time he spoke.  In fact, most people who came before him in his capacity as Federation Magistrate collapsed with vertigo.

The still-naked Adam shrugged as best he could.  He couldn’t gesticulate all that well with his hands cuffed behind the metal chair.  “Yes.  Murder is quite serious.  Unfortunately, only you would be crazy enough to charge me with murder under these circumstances!”

Bibble leveled all three of his red eyestalks at Adam.  “It won’t do well to insult the individual in charge of your fate.”

He dipped his head.  Though many in his situation might play nice, incredulity wouldn’t allow that.  “She stole my apple.  It isn’t my fault she took a bite and choked on it.  You can’t blame her death on me!” 

“The instrument that led to her death came from you.  Your inability to prevent it from harming others makes you liable due to negligence,” Bibble said stoutly.  “If it makes you feel better, Mr. Evans, we intend to file charges against Ms. Newt as well.”  

 “But . . . she’s dead!”

“Death does not prevent one from being incarcerated, Mr. Evans.”  Bibble smiled.  “In fact, a dead inmate is preferable to a living one.  The food costs are greatly reduced.”

Adam wanted to scream, but he fell back instead on sarcasm.  “Well, if you insist on applying the law that way, there’s an Earth creation myth that traces all of human sin to the theft of a single apple.”

Bibble’s eyestalks went haywire.  “Thanks for that information, Mr. Evans.  I’ll be sure to look into that.  Maybe I can file some charges in that incident.  Condemning an entire race warrants the most severe of penalties.”

All hope dissipated.  Adam knew he didn’t stand a chance.  “What’s my punishment?”

“Mr. Adam Evans, you are hereby expelled from existence.  You may keep your living body, but you have no name, no identification, and no sentient being is allowed to have contact with you under penalty of death.”  Bibble aimed all of his eyestalks at Adam, and for the first time, he actually seemed threatening.  “Have a nice day.”


Proceed to entry B.