Children of the After: The Complete Series: A Young Adult Postapocalyptic Action and Adventure series (28 page)

Tammy again was at a loss. Neither man was paying her any attention, yet others were closing in fast. Looking around she counted at least a dozen others racing towards them as Sam rounded the corner beside her.

“Stay back, we don’t want a fight!” jack was yelling.

“You are not welcome here, go away!” the other man shouted.

With her heart pounding in her chest Tammy began stepping forward to intervene. If she could put herself between Jack and the stranger, maybe both of them would calm down. Neither wanted to fight, but because they couldn’t understand one another that was exactly what they were about to do. Striding forward, confident that it was the right path, Tammy thrust her body between the men yelling in her native language to stop, but the stranger did not heed her words. Instead, he grabbed her by the shoulder and thrust her backwards, into Jack.

Stumbling backwards, Tammy tried to get her feet beneath her, but instead she somehow managed to trip over her own feet, falling to the ground upon her bottom. It didn’t hurt, and really wasn’t overly aggressive, Tammy supposed. The man had simply not wanted her in his face. Not that it mattered now. All those who had rushed towards them from hiding places unknown were upon them, and Jack showed no intentions of backing down.

Jack didn’t know what the man was saying. He didn’t even know what
he
was saying, not really. Everything was happening so quickly it was all a blur. He was scared and angry at the same time. He knew it was his job to keep them safe, but safe meant protecting them. Protecting meant defending, and this time it meant a fight. He was tired of running. Tired of being afraid. As Tammy fell at his feet, he finally snapped, losing his temper, something he couldn’t recall doing since he was little. This time, however, was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Like an ocean of adrenaline was released within him, his headache vanished only to be replaced by something similar to a brain freeze. Balling his fists as he took a step forward, even the strange sensation in his head relented and the world seemed clearer than it had ever been before.

Like time had slowed, Jack witnessed everything in perfect detail as the man’s comrades grew steadily nearer as if in slow motion. His heart pounded in his ears, a steady rhythm that seemed to make his thoughts more clear. Breathing seemed to take minutes and every breath felt like a thousand. Reaching out to protect those he loved, Jack pressed his hands to the chest of the man who had shoved Tammy and let his anger loose with a shove of his own. In that instant two things happened almost instantaneously as the man flew backwards with unbelievable force and Jack felt the world shift around him as his legs collapsed beneath him.

His vision clearing, he watched the man land some thirty feet away in a heap of flailing limbs. The man’s companions rushed both towards Jack and towards the man. In seconds they would be upon him, likely beating him to a pulp. Jack wasn’t worried though. He was confused. Things weren’t making sense.

On the likely attackers came as Jack rose to his knees, trying to get back on his feet, but his legs wouldn’t comply. With his head swimming from the effort, he collapsed again, taking his head in his hands as the headache returned with a vengeance. Closing his eyes against the pain, he was surprised that it faded to a high degree with them closed. He could hear them coming, their footfalls coming nearer. His brief display of defiance, no matter how unusual, was over.

“Don’t come any closer!” Jack heard Will shout.

Opening his eyes, he witnessed his little brother placing himself between him and the oncoming companions of the man he had shoved. Swinging his small tire iron, Will brandished the thing like a sword and much to Jack’s surprise, every single member of the opposing group came to an abrupt halt, their eyes on Will as if he were the magnificent warrior he thought himself to be.

After a moment, seemingly decided that they could better the small boy with little effort, the men began moving again.

“Don’t you come any closer,” Will shouted again as Sam rushed up to join him. “I’ll go for the knees, I swear I will.”

The men froze again, the confusion on their faces a direct reflection of Jack’s own. Though his head was pounding and the world threatened to be yanked out from beneath him, Jack knew that something here was not as it seemed. Something was wrong. His gut feeling had been right all along. He should have just driven them away. Jack’s vision went black as he collapsed to the ground on his face with a sudden exhale of air.

* * * * *

Sam was about two seconds away from a panic attack. Her head was pounding, Jack had passed out, her seven year old brother was defending them with a tire iron, and Tammy was shouting in gibberish. Not only that, but the men who had charged towards them to defend the man Jack fought, all froze in their tracks like they were afraid of Will. It wasn’t until then that she saw their feet. None of them wore shoes, and like Tammy, their big toe was jointed more like a thumb than a toe. Now things were making more sense as Tammy continued to speak hurriedly in whatever language it was that she spoke to the amassing group of would-be attackers. Looking around, trying to get a feel for the situation, Sam watched as the man Jack had shoved was helped to his feet and assisted to return to the fray. Crouching momentarily, she noted Jack actually snoring slightly. He was fine.

Feeling helpless, Sam did the only thing she could do. She waited and watched things play out. For many minutes Tammy shouted seemingly at everyone until one of the men spoke up, pointing first at Jack and then Will. It appeared they argued amongst themselves then for several minutes until the injured alien man returned and began adding his own gibberish to the conversation. Things appeared to get heated, and Sam watched on nervously. Then the man who had done the pointing turned his silvery eyes on Sam and pointed at her as well, shrugging his shoulders, before turning back to Tammy.

One second it was seemingly pandemonium and the next was crazier yet. Like someone had skipped ahead a track on a DVD, and a vital part of the story was missed, more than half of the would be attackers sank to their knees, pressing their heads to the ground as if in prayer, except all of them faced towards her. And Jack. And Will. Samantha felt sick to her stomach. She needed answers.

“Tammy?”

“Yes?”

“What the bloody heck is going on here?”

“A… mistake.”

“What kind of mistake?” Sam asked.

“A religious one?”

“Yeah, I can see that. Why?”

“It is a… misunderstanding.”

“I’m assuming we have a moment. Care to explain?”

Tammy’s answers were just as bad as the situation. Sure, she had just barely learned how to talk, but it was no excuse for being vague.

“They think you aw… Are the Starrr Children.”

“The huh?” Sam asked.

There was a delay in their conversation as the men Tammy had been arguing with seemed to have questions of their own, but after Tammy responded to them, she again turned back to Sam.

“It’s a storrry of our religion. A prophecy. It tells of thrrree children with abilities who come from the starrrs to save our race from extinction.”

“I see. Have you told them they are crazy?”

“I tried.”

Sam couldn’t believe her ears. They were like a crazy cult of aliens. Religious prophesies? Really? Could they be serious? Looking about, she already knew the answer. Most of those gathered still held their heads to the ground as if they had become permanently affixed. Others, obviously skeptical and apparently more intelligent, stood by, wary looks on their faces. Though she figured she would regret it, Sam simply couldn’t help herself.

“Why do they think we are Star Children?”

“The man Jack shoved said Jack’s hands never touched him. He was cast into the air as if by angels. The other men say that when Will speaks, they cannot move, as if held in place by angels.”

Yup. She regretted it. Lunatics, the whole lot of them. Sam shook her head. There was no stopping now. She might as well indulge Will, who was smiling like a wolf standing in a flock of sheep.

“Go ahead, Tammy. Lay it on me.”

Sam waited a moment as Tammy apparently organized her thoughts, or sought the right words. She knew it was all bogus. They obviously couldn’t be star people, they were the ones who lived here. If anything, the crazies surrounding them were the star people. In any case, Sam would indulge the whole lot of them if it meant they might be able to leave unharmed. Not like she had any other real options.

“The prophecy tells of three star children from far away who come to save our people. They have abilities unlike our people, and use them to save us from a dark future. One is telekinetic,” she said, pointing towards Jack’s still form. “The second is telepathic,” she added, motioning towards Will. “The third can teleport,” she finished, nodding towards Sam.

“Telekinetic means that you can move stuff with your mind, right? And telepathic means to read minds?” Sam asked.

“In this case, telepathic means control minds.”

“And teleport means like move from one place to another?”

“Instantaneously. Yes.”

“And that doesn’t sound crazy to you?” Sam asked.

“Yes and no,” Tammy replied

Sam had the distinct feeling she hadn’t heard all that was to be said, though judging by the look on Will’s face, he was buying into the whole thing, hook, line, and sinker.

* * * * *

Will couldn’t believe it! A super power? Seriously? And mind control at that? He was like the leader of the mutants in his comics. All the possibilities were endless, but he knew he couldn’t be selfish. Not yet at least. With Jack out of commission, it was up to him to keep Sam and Tammy safe. Raising his hands he put his fingers to his temples and focused as hard as he could, silently commanding the men to clear a path for them to escape. Nothing happened. They still knelt on the ground with their faces in the dirt.

Trying another approach, Will pointed at one of them men and tried to tell him telepathically to sit up. Straining so hard his belly and head began to hurt, he gave up when the man failed to comply. Something wasn’t working. Maybe Sam was right. But then it struck him.

The night before, he had yelled at Tom and Cole to stop and they had, not because of the headlights, but because of him. Then, again, when all these guys came rushing at them, Will had yelled at them to stay back and they had. He needed to say it, not just think it. Duh. He should have seen it before.

“Get up,” Will ordered in his best regal tone.

Again nothing happened.

“I said get up,” he repeated more directly.

Still nothing, except that Tammy and Sam both looked at him all weird like. He knew he could do it, he had to, but maybe it was all just a joke and Tammy and Sam were somehow picking on him.

“Get up,” he said again, the frustration beginning to get the better of him but still nothing happened.

“Get up now!” he yelled, finally angry that he had believed in something that couldn’t be real.

The men, to a one, turned their faces up towards him and pressed themselves up from the ground, each turning and nodding towards Tammy and the men she had spoken to. Will wondered if they were nodding, did that mean they had done it because he had said to? How could he know?

“You see,” Tammy said. “He doesn’t have good control of it yet, but with practice he will be able to push ideas into other people’s heads.”

“That isn’t really proof,” Sam replied doubtfully.

“Then explain how he managed to teach me your language in a single morning. Yes I knew your words, but even that doesn’t explain how quickly I was able to learn. I didn’t realize it then, but he must have pushed the thoughts into my brain. That’s why I learned so fast.”

Will waited for his sister’s argument but it didn’t come. Instead, Tammy turned back to the man beside her and began making the choking chicken sounds again while nodding and gesturing this way and that like a marionette with clipped strings. It was weird seeing her with her own people. It kind of made her seem less… human. Even so, Will liked her and was curious just what else he could do with his superpower. More importantly though, he needed a costume.

* * * * *

Tammy was having a hard time believing it herself. She remembered the prophecy just as well as anyone could. Her father had been deeply religious and had been certain that she memorize it at a young age. Even now she could recite it.

Out of the darkest time our people have ever seen, three children of the stars will appear. Coming from a world far away they will be gifted with powers beyond that of mortal men. One shall move the barriers, another will move the people, and the last will move between time and space. Together with a fallen guide they will conquer the blight and save the people from the darkness that envelopes them, leading them into prosperity once more.

It made sense. They were three children from a world far away from her own. They did appear to be gifted with abilities. She’d seen enough to believe at least a little. Jack had seemed to throw the man an incredible distance and Will had taught her a language in several hours. It was a stretch, but seemed possible. Unfortunately, not all of her people gathered here were convinced. Though most believed, there were those that wanted to test Jack, Will, and Sam. Tammy had been
tested
once and found it less than appealing. She couldn’t let her friends wind up in a cage just as she had been destined less than two days ago. Outnumbered, she was limited with things to bargain with. Except of course with her intelligence.

“You seem to be the leader here, am I wrong?” Tammy asked in her native tongue.

“Yes, I am called Phostus,” the man replied.

“You say you want to test them, but how do you intend to do that?”

“I’m not certain, I was thinking perhaps put one of them in peril and see if the girl truly can teleport and save them.”

“You would risk angering those who are destined to save our race?” Tammy accused. “Are you a fool?”

“I did not intend to…”

“Ah ah ah,” Tammy cut him off, wagging a finger at him. “You would do well to befriend them as I have. What would the high prophet think of your plans to test that which he has put in motion? Do you think yourself higher than he?” she asked.

“No. Of course not. It’s just that this place has so many dangers, we have to do what we can to keep ourselves safe.”

“Dangers. You mean that this could be the darkest time our people have ever seen?” she asked, quoting the scripture.