Dissension (20 page)

“It’s not that bad.”  Mit tried to reassure him.

The bridge was narrow, no more than a foot and a half wide.  Only one person could cross it at a time.

“So who’s going first?”  Mikey finally asked the question on everyone mind.

“I’m not!”  Steve quickly blurted out.

“Alright then, rock, paper, scissors to decide.”  Mit threw up his fist.

Mikey sneered at him as Steve shook his head.  Reluctantly, they formed a circle.

“On three.”  Mit commanded.

They played over and over until only Anthony and Mit were left.  Mikey and Steve sat back, happy that they wouldn’t be first on the death mission.

“You ready?”  Anthony asked nervously.

Three pumps of the fist and Anthony smiled with his hand still held tightly in a ball.  Mit sighed heavily as Anthony banged his hand over his two scissor shaped fingers.

“Guess it’s me then.”  Mit said calmly.

He swallowed hard and gazed out over the fifty foot wide chasm.  He slowly edged closer gripping the tattered rope as the bridge swayed like a cradle.  He cautiously placed his feet on each board, stretching his legs like a tight rope walker to clear the gaps.  The wood bellowed and whined under his weight.  With a thud, his foot hit solid ground and a smile erupted across his face.

“I made it!”  Mit screamed as he jumped up and down.

Next Anthony stepped out onto the shaky bridge and gingerly walked across it.  He hummed to himself as he systematically placed each step on the rotten wooden planks.  He held onto the brittle rope rails with a death grip.  With a sense of relief, he bent down and kissed the ground as his feet touched solid earth again. 

Mikey followed right behind Anthony.  He smiled as the bridge shook, laughing the entire way.  The majority of the bridge he didn’t even hold the sides.  He stretched his hands out to the side like he was surfing as the bridge swung back and forth.

“This is gnarly bro!”  He screamed down into the black hole beneath him.

Once he made it to the other side he offered to go back and do it again.

Steve nervously stepped up to the rickety bridge.  After seeing everyone else make it he should’ve felt safe, but he was as terrified as ever.  He slowly walked out onto the bridge and a gust of wind blew it almost completely sideways.  Steve gripped the sides and cowered into a ball.

“I’m gonna go back!”  He shouted.

“Stephen Hanson!”  Mit suddenly shouted.  “You get up and you get across that bridge right now!”

Anthony and Mikey turned in unison.  They never heard Mit talk that way, but somehow it was working.  Steve slowly made it back to his feet and started to tip toe across the bridge.

Step by step he moved closer and closer.  The bridge stayed steady, Steve staring across to his friends the whole time.  He smiled as he neared the other side.

Suddenly the frayed rope made a crackling noise and started to unravel.  The bridge dropped a few feet lower and Steve clung to the side.

“Move Steve move now!”  Anthony shouted.

Steve started to shuffle across as the rope splintered and untwisted.  In desperation, Steve let go of the sides and started to run full speed.  He looked up at Anthony his face flushed with horror.

A single strand was all that was holding the bridge up.  With a snap it broke and Steve tumbled into the gorge in slow motion.

He clawed at the air as he spiraled into the darkness.  Anthony and the others were frozen in shock, but something stirred inside of him.  He couldn’t take losing anyone else, he had to do something.

Anthony sprinted forward and dove into the air leaping out over the chasm.  His wings ripped through his shirt and he soared upward into the air.  The wind howled as it swept past his face.

Tucking his wings he dove towards Steve like a hawk.  His hands wrapped around Steve’s wrists just as he disappeared into the consuming shadow of the hole.  With a swoop of his wings he quickly began to ascend from the dark void.

Steve was breathing hard, but a smile consumed his entire face.  “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”  He kept repeating over and over.

As they neared the side of the gorge one of Anthony’s wings suddenly retracted and he spun in the air.  His hands slipped and he lost his grip on Steve.

“No!”  Anthony screamed.

He fell backwards down into the gorge and smacked the side of the wall. As he tumbled head over heels he was able to latch onto a piece of the broken bridge.

Steve wasn’t so lucky. He smashed into a rock and bounced away from the walls, twirling through the air.  The dark gorge opened its greedy mouth and swallowed him. His screams echoed across the ridge as he plummeted to an unknown fate.

Mikey gazed over the side in horror screaming down to Anthony and Steve. He couldn’t see either of them, but heard Steve’s frantic cries.  Mit quickly sprang into action.  He took the climbing rope out of his bag and looped one end around a large boulder.  He threw the other end into the hole.

Anthony clung tightly to the bridge looking down into a sea of blackness.  Pieces of the wood splintered off and fell as the rope slowly gave way to his weight.  He could hear the rope whine as it twisted and unraveled.

As Anthony looked up, he saw the rope Mit had thrown dangling overhead.  He stretched his arm, barely gripping it with his fingers.  Just as he let go of the bridge it splintered and tumbled into the hole.  He hung onto the rope for dear life.

With his last bit of strength Anthony began to pull himself out.  Hand over hand he went until he felt the sun beating down on his face again.  Mit tugged the rope onto the plateau dragging Anthony the last few feet.

“Where’s Steve?” Mikey asked as Anthony emerged from the gaping hole.

Anthony panted heavily and shook his head.  Tears streamed from his eyes, leaving streaks across his dust covered face. Mikey sunk to the ground and began to cry.  Mit looked at him confused.  He stared from Anthony to Mikey and back.

“Go!  Go and get him!”  He screamed.  “Go get him!”  He grabbed Anthony by the shoulders and shook.

“Where’s Steve?  Where’s Steve?”  Mit started to pace back and forth.

Anthony stood up and stared down into the gaping hollow.  He gasped for air as he tried to catch his breath.

“Anthony go and get him.  Please go and get him.”  Mit pleaded as he crumbled to the ground.

“I had him.  I had him in my hands.”  Anthony mumbled incoherently.

Anthony screamed his name over and over down into the gorge.  The sensation that it was all his fault seemed to overwhelm him.

“It’s okay bro.  Come on, he’s gone.”  Mikey tried to comfort him pulling him away from the ledge.

“No!  No, it’s my fault.”  Anthony yelled and shoved Mikey away.  “Mit get me some rope, I can get him.  I swear I can get him.”

Mit looked at him and shook his head.

“Mit!  Give me the damn rope!  I’ll do it myself.”  Anthony lunged for the bag and Mikey dove at him.

“Stop!  Just stop!  You’re gonna get yourself killed.  Steve’s gone and there’s nothing we can do.”  Mikey pleaded, his eyes full of tears.

Anthony fell to the ground and screamed.  They all huddled together near the edge of cliff unwilling to move.  As implausible as it was they waited for Steve to come crawling out of the hole.

They waited and waited, long into the night.  Mit’s screams carried off into the mountains as he cursed the heavens.  Anthony sat at the edge of the gorge and stared into the dark. He was overwhelmed with failure and had given up.  He felt responsible for everything and ashamed that he couldn’t save Steve.  Defeated, he lay on his side and let the night consume him.

The sun slowly rose over the mountains the next morning and Anthony rolled over, his head throbbing.  “Steve!  Wake up man it’s time to go.”  He shouted.

Mikey sat next to him, eyeing him with pity.  He sighed and shook his head.  “He’s gone bro.”  Mikey whispered.

Anthony sat up.  He thought he’d awaken from a horrible nightmare, but with the sun came the reality that his life was the actual nightmare.  No matter how much he didn’t want to believe it, he covered everything around him in a shadow of darkness.

Mit was the last to wake up.  He didn’t say a word.  He packed his tent up and put everything away into his bag.  His eyes were red and swollen, but he wasn’t crying anymore.

Mit slung his bag over his shoulder and then walked to the edge of the gorge.  He got so close his shoes kicked little pebbles into the darkness.  Mikey and Anthony jumped to their feet.

“Mit!  What are you doing?”  Anthony gasped.

Mit didn’t say a word.  He reached into the back of his bag and pulled out something and covered it with both hands.  Anthony watched him skeptically.

“I was saving this for you.  I’m sorry.”  Mit said as he stared into the bottomless pit.

He opened his hands and unraveled the plastic wrapper from around a Twinkie.  He held his arm out over the hole and dropped the Twinkie into it.  Taking a deep breath he turned around and without looking at Anthony or Mikey he walked off.

“Let’s go.”

JOURNEY’S END

As they cleared the top of the rocky incline there it was.  Rustic and tattered, his Uncles cabin was truly off the grid.  Anthony wasn’t sure how far they’d traveled or how long, but he was happy to see any sign of civilization.

Smoke billowed from the chimney, snaking into the air before vanishing.  They slowly approached the red oak door and stopped.

“Do you think this is the right place?”  Mit asked.

He rocked back and forth, barely able to stay on his feet.  Mikey was in pretty much the same condition.  Anthony suddenly lunged forward and pounded his fists against the heavy oak, he didn’t care anymore he wanted it to all be over.

A pudgy man with a greying beard wrenched the door open.  Anthony gazed at the man, recognizing him as his uncle Frank and then collapsed to the ground.

Finally he was safe.  He felt if he had to go another foot he wouldn’t have made it.  Mikey knelt beside him with tears in his eyes.  The journey they started together was finally over and they’d gone through more than either of them ever imagined.

“I thought there were five of you,” his uncle said with concern in his face.

Anthony looked up at him then glanced over at Mit.  “Steve and Sticks they, they didn’t,” he slowly spoke.  His uncle suddenly understood and shook his head and sighed.

“Come inside,” he demanded.  “Hurry before somebody sees you.”

With the last bit of energy, Anthony scampered into the cabin and his uncle closed the door behind them.

“I can only imagine what you went through to get here.  Your mother called five weeks ago hysterical.  They’ve been searching for you non-stop.”  His uncle eyed them with a sense of empathy.

“Five weeks, it took us five weeks to get here?”  Mikey asked in confusion.

He knew they lost track of time, but he was certain they hadn’t been traveling for more than two weeks.

Frank laughed, then with a serious face he spoke.  “You’ve been missing for over two months.  I figured you must be on the run when Anthony’s parents started getting visits from unnamed government agencies.”

“So you know?” Anthony looked him in his face, tears still pouring from his eyes. 

“Of course I know, but not now.  You guys need your rest, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

Frank ushered them down the hall and showed them to a giant room that had several cots lined against the wall.  The windows were blacked out with a heavy tarp and the faint light from a small lamp revealed generators and bottled water stacked to the ceiling.

“I’m always expecting fallout,” Frank smiled at them as he noticed their eyes lingering on his supplies.  “Bathrooms are down the hall, if you need anything holler.”  He winked then headed off.

Mikey found the closest bed and dropped into it.  Without a word the others found their own cot and quickly gave in to their exhaustion.

Anthony’s dreams were sporadic and bizarre.  One second he was flying over the coast in utter bliss, the next second trapped in an examining room as men prodded at him.  He dreamt of Steve and Sticks and his mom and Nickie.  He dreamt of playing catch with his dad and of windowless prison cells.

It had been so long since he had a good night’s rest.  And although his mind raced the entire night, it was the best sleep he could remember.

The sun blazed over the mountain peak, shooting rays of light onto the cabin.  The blacked out windows kept the room dark and Anthony continued sleeping long into the day.  He snored and rolled over several times, but refused to get up.

Mikey was the first to wake up.  Groaning, he slid off of the cot and rolled onto the floor.  He stared around the room trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness.

“Psst.”  He whispered.

Mikey waited in silence, but no one responded.  He slowly stood letting out a long yawn as he stretched up onto his tippy toes.  Anthony peeked out of one eye and looked over to him, then sat up.

“Felt good to sleep for more than an hour.” Mikey squinted.

“Yeah I know what you mean.”  Anthony said in a raspy voice.

Anthony lay back on his cot and stared at the ceiling.  He took a deep breath and sighed.  He was finally safe, but he wondered what else was lurking around the corner.  As he plotted his next steps suddenly his Uncle’s words reverberated in his head.  “I thought there were five of you.”

Anthony turned over and faced Mikey.  “Hey, did you catch what Frank said yesterday?  I thought there were five of you.”

Mikey thought about it for a minute.  He bit his bottom lip and squinted his eyes.  “I guess…I mean why?”

“Cause nobody even knew we were all together.”

“Come on dude, he said your parents called.  It wouldn’t take a genius to figure that out.”  Mikey waved him off.

“Yeah…yeah I guess you’re right.”  Anthony smiled.

Mit grumbled and rolled off of the cot onto the floor with a thud.  Mikey turned around and snickered as Anthony glanced over.

“Let’s find something to eat.”  Mit declared.

“You’re starting to sound like…”  Mikey stopped himself and looked away.

There was a long silence in the room.  Like no one knew exactly what to say or do.  Mit let out a sigh and then headed towards the door.

“Yeah, let’s get to it.”

Following behind Mikey, they crept out of the room into the dim hallway.  His uncle’s cabin looked like some kind of medieval death museum.  The walls were lined with heads of animals and hunting rifles.  The wooden floors were covered with sprawling bear skin rugs.  Anthony looked down at one of them and immediately thought of Sticks.  He felt a sudden dropping sensation, like when you go over a hill too fast.  He swallowed and took a deep breath.

As they rounded the corner into the kitchen Anthony could hear his uncle’s voice.  It sounded like he was having an intense conversation with someone.

“Who is he talking to?”  Mikey whispered.

“I don’t know, but he doesn’t have a phone.”  Anthony said with a puzzled look on his face.

“Uncle Frank?” Anthony uttered as he stepped into the kitchen.  His uncle whipped his head around the corner.  “You boys are up.  That’s good.”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Oh that.”  His uncle laughed.  “Ah, just talking to myself.  Living alone will do that to you.”

Anthony shrugged and smiled at him.

“Why don’t you boys come get something to eat you must be starving.”

He started grabbing eggs and bacon from the refrigerator.  There was a small plate on the counter with slices of ham that he offered them.  Anthony followed him to the kitchen table and took a seat.

“I raise them all myself you know, the hens.”  His uncle said proudly.  “Even the pigs, I keep them in a pen out back.”

Anthony smiled as he bit into a piece of ham.  His uncle quickly whipped up scrambled eggs and fried the bacon.  He brought it all to the table with a long wooden serving tray.

It was like they’d never seen food.  Anthony couldn’t believe how hungry he was.  They sat in silence shoveling plates of eggs and bacon into their hungry faces until they were too stuffed to move.

Anthony yawned and then turned to his uncle.  “What’s going on Uncle Frank?  I mean how do you know about me?”

“Well…I don’t know the specifics, but I gather you’re going through some changes.  Changes that aren’t, exactly normal.”

Anthony forced a grin.  He still wasn’t sure how much his uncle knew and just how much he could trust him.

“So what happened so far?  “You grow a tail or something?”  His uncle continued. 

Anthony looked at him for a moment considering if he should tell him or not.  He looked back to Mit and Mikey and raised his eyebrows.

“Bro, why else did we come here?”  Mikey smirked.

“Wings.”  Anthony mumbled.

“What’s that?”  His uncle asked.

“Wings…I grew wings.” 

“Anthony, that’s amazing.  Wings…wings!  We’ve never seen that before.”  His uncle gleamed.

“What do you mean?  Are there more people like me?”  Anthony sat up.

“Er…Well I’ve never seen wings on anyone is all.”  His uncle smiled. 

“I don’t get it Uncle Frank what’s going on?”

His uncle took a deep breath.  “Well, I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re…you’re not human.”

A few months ago Anthony would’ve found this hilarious, but too much had occurred now.  His world had been turned upside down and at this point anything was possible.  He looked at his uncle confused.

“What do you mean I’m not human?”

“Anthony, your parents aren’t your parents.  You were adopted.”

Anthony jumped to his feet knocking over the chair.  “No, no that’s not true!”

“Calm down, I’ll explain.” 

“There’s nothing to explain.  Uncle Frank this is crazy.”

“Stop calling me Uncle Frank.  It’s just Frank.”  He said with an agitated voice.  “Look, have you ever heard of the Human Genome Project?”

“I don’t understand.”  Anthony still looked bewildered. 

“It’s not about human DNA mapping.  It was our way of tracking you, tracking your kind.  We isolated several DNA strands that identify non-human life forms and although your DNA is only slightly different, it’s enough.  The older you get the more your DNA will change.”

Anthony stared hard at his Uncle slowly shaking his head in disbelief.  “What do you mean?  Your way of tracking me, why would you be tracking me?”

“Anthony, I’m sorry but when my sister first adopted you I had no clue.  You showed up on our grid years later and I’ve been monitoring you ever since.  You don’t understand how important this research is.  If the other agencies had gotten to you first…I needed you, we needed you.”

Mikey suddenly started connecting the dots and jumped to his feet.  “What the hell did you do?  Why did you bring us here?”  He shouted in anger.

“Sit down and shut up!”  Frank demanded. 

Mit stood up, and looked at Frank in disgust. “We’ve gotta go.”  He said as he gazed around with a worried face.  “Anthony we need to go now!”

Anthony looked to him and finally understood the urgency, but it was too late.  The roar of helicopter blades erupted in the air as the door was blown of the hinges.

“I’m sorry,” Anthony’s uncle shouted back as he slipped out of the kitchen. 

Out of nowhere men dressed in all black swarmed the cabin.  They came through the door, through the windows.  It was like they were waiting there all along.

Mikey charged forward swinging his hands wildly at them.

“Anthony Run!”  He screamed.

Mit hurled a chair towards the door and flipped the kitchen table.  Anthony spun around, glaring at the men like a wild animal.  His wings burst from his back and with one flap he spiraled towards them, colliding with three of the agents at the door, knocking them unconscious. 

Mikey wrestled with another one on the floor trying to take his gun away.  Anthony ran to help him and grabbed the man by the arm flinging him backwards like a rag doll.  He hit the ceiling of the cabin and then plummeted to the floor.

More men rushed inside as Anthony fought them off.  He suddenly felt as strong as ten men.  He grabbed one of them by the throat and lifted him off his feet.  A rush of anger fueled Anthony like he’d never sensed before.  His life was all lies.  His uncle, his parents…even his existence as a human was fake.

He squeezed the agent’s throat harder, causing the blood vessels to burst in his eyes.  His ability to have compassion had evaporated.  He didn’t care any longer about anything; the only feeling he felt now was rage.

The hairs on his arms hardened and grew longer.  Anthony’s eyes darkened and his pupils thinned into cat-like slits.  He skin stretched as his muscle fibers tightened and grew. 

He flung the helpless man into the wall and turned, roaring loudly as more men stormed through the door.  Several of them were thrown back by an invisible force and the cabin began to shake violently.

Mikey stumbled backwards in awe as he watched Anthony dismantle the group of men.  He swung wildly crushing bones and tossing the agents around the room.  He moved so fast he was nothing more than a blur.

“Stay back!”  He screamed to Mikey and Mit. 

Spreading his enormous wings Anthony swiped at the men, knocking them to the ground.  But more and more men continued pouring into the house.  They were coming from every direction firing tranquilizer darts in waves.

Anthony yelled, swinging blindly at the countless bodies that rushed towards him.  Several of the darts found their mark and Anthony ripped them out.  He tossed them onto the floor and grumbled deeply.

A surreal sensation rushed over him.  It was like he wasn’t himself, but rather watching someone else.  The more they attacked him the stronger he felt.

A group of twenty agents surrounded Anthony, as he stood in between them and his friends.  Mit and Mikey huddled together in fear.  The boy they once knew as Anthony Dimair was barely recognizable anymore.