Variance - Book 2: The Others, Issue #9

United Center

Chicago, IL

Four months after The Rise

   And all the stars in the universe collided in a brash explosion of kismet as Russell Hughes—the man ordered to shoot down the C-17 Globemaster carrying Lara, Captain Blake, and Enrique—stood in a room with Hannah and Harry Phillips, the ones who had neglected to go back and save the dying passengers.  The same Hannah and Harry who would eventually meet and save Dave Cash and Max Horwitz from an incensed Stevie Kohler; a Steve Kohler that had no idea that, as he shot Bill Phillips, a man named Martin Knight had already jumped into the fiery waters of Castle Rock Lake, where he would save twelve people—three of whom were still alive, and two of whom would stumble upon a woman named Annie Walker who had been buried in the earth for nearly four months.  And while they stood in that makeshift laboratory perched high above the United Center arena none of them had a clue what any of the others had been through: whom they had neglected, whom they had killed, or who was a Variant.

   Martin had sutured Enrique as best he could, but he had still lost a great deal of blood.  As the group stood around the bloody operating table they analyzed his shallow breathing with sorrowful eyes.  Enrique’s chest rose and fell with tremendous difficulty, and, at times, when his chest would contract, it seemed as if he would stop breathing altogether.  But suddenly he would choke in a breath and life would continue on (for the time being, at least).

   The two separate groups stood in two separate tribunals, Enrique’s body acting as a silent moderator, the luxury box no longer exuding the glam and style it was once revered for.

   “Why don’t you tell us what you know,” Martin started.

   “Fuck that!” snapped Hannah.  “You tell us what you know!”

   “Fuck you, bitch!” Lara snapped back.

   “Pipe down!” Captain Blake barked.  His pipe was neatly tucked between lips, white smoke wafting up into his white beard.

   “Forgive us, doctor, but you’re the ones who stumbled into our house, so perhaps you’d be gracious enough to share was you know first,” Russell said with a calming presence.

   “With all do respect, Lieutenant, you’re the ones who shot that boy from four hundred yards away, and you’re the reason he’s in the state he’s in” Martin said.  “So forgive me for not feeling obligated to tell you a goddamn thing.”  Martin’s eyes flashed with rage, an expression Annie was startled to see.  She had normally known Martin as the cool and collected type, and to witness him in such a state was terribly unsettling.  

   Russell’s eyes remained stern and unmoving, but he let out a long sigh and said, “Very well, doctor.  I was stationed at an Air Force Base during The Rise.  Before I wound up here, I learned two very important things.  One: the cause of The Rise wasn’t because of an outbreak or disease, it was simply evolutionary.”

   “That’s impossible,” said Martin.  “Nothing evolutionary happens at a rate like this.”

   “I’m afraid it does,” Max chimed in.  He was sitting behind Russell like a mousy liaison.  “We found the CDC’s air quality reports; they did disease tests that ranged from the common cold to Ebola, there wasn’t a trace of irregularity anywhere in the country.”

   “But that doesn’t prove it wasn’t an outbreak of some new virus.”

   “Actually, that’s exactly what it means.”

   Martin folded his arms across his chest and rocked back on his heels.

   “I’m sorry you don’t believe me, doctor, but I read the reports myself, and I’m happy to show them to you if you’d like.  This was not an act of terrorism, this wasn’t a new strain of the flu, this was simply a shift in the evolutionary makings of man.”

   “I don’t understand,” Annie said.

   “Of course you don’t,” Hannah muttered.

   Max went on without acknowledging the quip.  “Let me explain it like this: when ape evolved into man there were certain genetic variations that occurred: mutation, genetic recombination, gene flow.  With these Variants, they simply evolved far beyond the genetic makeup of man.  Unseen or unheard of during any periods of evolution.  The Variants…they’re…”

   “Superhuman,” finished Lara.

   “Exactly.  And what’s happening out there is natural selection at its finest.  The Variants are simply doing their evolutionary duty and eradicating those who no longer belong: the lowly humans.  Just like humans eradicated the Silverback Gorilla, Variants are eradicating us.  This is a song that has played over and over for centuries, it’s just our turn to face the music.”

   “But how did it happen so fast?” Annie asked.

   “It seems it didn’t.  The genetic shifts had been happening over the past several years.  The point at which a Variant realizes his genetic makeup varies from that of a human, so do their reactions.  It’s as if a switch flips in their brain programming them to vanquish any and all human beings.  Such as it is, some Variants shot their spouses, others drowned their children, it didn’t really matter.  All that mattered—and still matters—to a Variant is those who no longer belong.”

   “And us holding up in here is just delaying the inevitable,” Dave Cash grumbled.  Dave was leaning against the entrance door, arms folded across his chest.  Up until this point he had looked disinterested, even annoyed.  Now he just looked impatient.

   “So why don’t you just go out there and get it over with?” Lara suggested.

   “Maybe one day I will.  But until then, there’s one thing that’s keeping me around.”

   “What’s that?”

   “The fact that I love killing Variants.”

   “Finally somebody I can get along with,” Lara said, letting slip a smile for the first time in weeks.

   “What the second thing?” Martin asked.

   “I’m sorry?”

   “You said there were two things that you knew, the first being this whole thing is evolutionary.  What’s the second?”

   Russell smiled at him, his front teeth reflecting in the light like a pair of Chicklets.  “Well, for that, Doc, you’re gonna have to follow me.”

   “Where to?” Lara asked. 

   “No,” Russell said.  “Only the good doctor.  Afraid it’s not safe for the rest of ya.”

   Martin’s eyes wandered over the group.  He didn’t speak for a long time and Lara was sure he would protest.  But then he said, “All right.  But it’s only you, me, and your doctor.  No one else.

   “Wouldn’t have it any other way.  Besides, doubt the rest of ‘em would want to come anyway, afraid it ain’t exactly family friendly.”

   The looks on the others’ faces only confirmed what he had said.  They had turned sullen and morose, and looked as if they’d all just eaten something rotten.

   Martin, on the other hand, was stern, even fierce.  He noticed the troubled look on Annie’s face, but tipped his head toward her, hoping it would give her comfort, and told Russell, “Lead the way.”

   “It’s your funeral,” Dave Cash said as they passed by him.  “It was nice knowin’ ya, Doc.”  The words echoed in the room until they were gone, then the others were left in a sea of silence.