“It is a form of mimicry where the predators share similar traits with something harmless in order to lure in their prey. The alligator snapping turtle uses its pink tongue to lure in fish that believe the tongue is a worm. The fish that try to eat the worm are eaten instead.” Much like when Sarah had tried to help the girl, and instead been destroyed. Goose pimples were beginning to break out on my flesh; I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the hideous thing on the counter. “But animals that exhibit aggressive mimicry don’t strongly resemble the creature they are trying to lure in, not like the coral and king snake. Not like this thing resembling us.
“This truly is a unique ability; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. What I don’t know is if they were always able to do this, or if it’s a new development. Have they started to evolve in order to find new ways to capture and kill us?”
My goose bumps were now full on shivers; I could barely breathe through the constriction in my chest. “Is it possible to do that so quickly?” I managed to croak out.
Bishop’s eyes were sharp. “Not for us, not for any creature we’ve ever known before…”
“But we don’t know these creatures.”
“No, we don’t. It’s ingenious if you think about it, mimicking one of us, especially a child.”
I hated the admiration in his tone, not when all I felt was stark terror. “And if they evolved to do this…”
“Then what else can they evolve to do.”
I was afraid I was going to be sick. No, I was definitely going to vomit. I ran to the sink, grasped hold of the edge of it, and dry heaved the empty contents of my stomach up. I was sweating, trembling violently as I rinsed my mouth with water and straightened slowly. Ashamed of my weakness, I could not meet Bishop’s gaze as I walked toward the window. It was covered with chicken wire, the reason why I couldn’t begin to fathom, but it caused the sunlight streaming through it to dance across the tile floor in a honeycomb pattern.
I didn’t know what to say, there were no words for what he had just told me. “It may not be evolution. This may have been a trait of theirs all along.”
We both knew he was lying, if they had been able to do this all along, they would have. “Who are you trying to kid here Bishop, me or you?”
He was silent for a moment before answering. “You.”
Well at least he was honest, I thought grudgingly. “Do you think the larger ones can do the same, or is it only the smaller ones?”
“I don’t know.”
I stared out at the quiet bay; there wasn’t even a ripple upon the ocean water. It was hard to believe that there were so many unknown horrors lurking out there on this tranquil, beautiful day. “Does it have any weaknesses?”
“You guys managed to kill it.”
I turned slowly toward him, trying hard not to let my panic show. “That took a whole lot of bullets Bishop. If it had been closer…” I let the thought trail off; we had both seen what that closeness had done to Sarah. “How the hell are we ever going to defeat them?” I breathed.
“You.”
I started in surprise; I could feel the confusion that rolled over my face. “What?”
“Your blood Bethany, it hasto be the answer. There has to be some key within it that will help us to awaken the remaining survivors of The Freezing. The sooner I find it, the more people we can save.”
“And the more people we have to help us fight,” I whispered, finally understanding his obsession with me, and my blood. It suddenly all made sense. “Strength in numbers.”
“But the longer it takes me to find the answer…”
“The more people the aliens will capture, drain, and destroy.”
“Yes. We could lose them all before I uncover the truth.”
I nodded slowly. I may not believe that Bishop was right about me, but he was a hell of a lot smarter than I was, and he seemed to be the only hope that mankind had. The only hope for saving so very many people, and he needed my help to do it. “Ok then, let’s get you that equipment doc.”
***
“You can’t do this Bethany.”
I glanced back at Abby as I lifted the rifle onto my back. Darnell handed me a backpack filled with whatever ammo they could spare, and two extra sig sauer pistols. Bret hefted the bag of food onto his back and slipped a revolver and pistol into his waistband. I had tried to talk him out of coming with me, but it had been useless. Private Lloyd Price was also coming with us as was, surprisingly, Jenna.
I had tried to talk her out of joining us but once she heard that we were going to try and make it to the hospital in Plymouth, she had been adamant that she come with us. There was a hospital in Wareham, which was closer, but only slightly and in the opposite direction of where Darnell wanted to start heading. I hadn’t realized he had an actual destination in mind until he informed us of that today. Apparently we had been Boston bound all along in the hopes of encountering more survivors, which he was certain the city would have. Along with more weapons.
I didn’t know why Jenna was so insistent that she join us, but she would not be dissuaded. I was actually a little grateful for another person. Jenna had also received training with a weapon and in fighting. She may not be as proficient as the rest of us, but she was good enough, and another person that could shoot would come in handy.
“The GPS is battery, and solar, chargeable,” Darnell was saying as he handed it to Lloyd. Darnell wasn’t saying this for Lloyd’s benefit, but ours. It was something we would need to know in case something happened to him. “Only use the radio once a day. We’re staying here one more day, and then we’ll be heading toward Plymouth also. I don’t know how swiftly we’ll be able to move, but I plan to proceed at a brisk pace. Radio me at eighteen hundred hours every day.”
Lloyd nodded as he clipped the radio to his belt. “Yes sir.”
“There’s enough food to last a couple of days. I wish we could spare more, but…”
Molly trailed off, her cute face pinched as she watched us worriedly. Molly had been a stranger to us before this had all happened, but her training in scuba diving had saved our lives when we were trapped on the Cape, and unable to escape by crossing either of the bridges. She was a sweet person with her curly red hair and cat green eyes. Since we had joined the larger group of survivors, Molly had helped with cooking duty, and had taken charge of the food supplies.
What Molly hadn’t said was that they couldn’t spare anymore food on us, especially when they didn’t know what our fate would be. They couldn’t afford to waste food on us if we were going to be dead in a day. “We’ll be fine,” I assured her. “There will be plenty of opportunities to find more food on the way.”
Molly managed a wan smile for me before squeezing my arm gently. “I’m sure there will be,” she replied fervently.
“We’ll be following a different route than you, sticking more toward the back roads and heavily wooded areas,” Darnell continued.
“We’ll meet up with you once we get the supplies,” Lloyd assured him.
“Bethany please,” Abby whispered.
I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her against my side. “I haveto go Abby, but Aiden will be here.”
“You don’thave to go!” she insisted. “There are others that could go!”
I sighed softly, glancing at my brother over her head. He had wanted to come too, but we could not leave Abby alone, and he was needed here more than I was. He understood science, he was a better help to the doc than I was. Bishop had taken, and stored, plenty of blood from me over the past three weeks. In the past day he had taken even more. He had protested my leaving also, but he had done so only with me. I think Bishop realized that I needed this, that I needed some sort of mission, some kind of goal if I was going to keep surviving.