Sky of Dust: The Last Weapon (4 page)

When Mary returned and sat on the loveseat facing us
,
I thought she was someone completely different
. Without her wig, glasses, the cake
of
makeup, and
now in
normal clothes
,
she looked like she was
in her twenties
. He
r
hair was silky brown
,
and her
pale
white skin looked full and healthy.

Great
, I thought to myself,
I hit two pretty women in one
day
.

Mary stared at us in silence for a few seconds.

“
Right,
”
she said.
“
Don, can you bring our guests some tea please?
”

I heard movement at the entrance of the sitting area
,
like someone was trying to eavesdrop. I soon hear
d
water running and the sound of a pot being set on a grate.

Mary took a deep breath and held it for second.

“
What I am about to tell you, you must not speak of to anyone
,
you understand?
”
Mary said sternly.

Casey and I exchanged looks and nodded.

“
Uhh
,
”
Peter whined.
“
What happened? Where are we? My head hurts. Why are you sitting on me?
”

“
Sorry about that
,
”
Casey said.
“
I meant about the head, and the mud, and sitting on you.
”

Casey tried to scoot over while Peter
started to pick
mud and grass from his mouth.

“
Ahh, good
. Y
ou
'
re awake
,
so I do
n'
t have to repeat myself!
”
Mary said.

“
Miss Curtiss,
”
Peter said
,
dreamily and confused.
“
You’
re pretty…You had a gun!
”

He tried to stand up
,
but Casey grabbed his arm and held him down.

“
Shh, Peter
,
it’s al
l
right
;
just calm down
,
”
Casey urged as he put his hand over Peter
’
s mouth.

Peter nodded
,
and Casey removed his hands.

Peter looked around.

“
Wh-
w
hat
happened?
”
h
e managed
to stutter
.

“
You were shot
,
”
Mary said.

“
By Dalyn
,
”
Abigail added.

I was starting to
dislike
this girl.

Peter looked at me in shock.

“
But you weren’t hurt!
”
Casey chimed in.
“
You’
re special, right Mary?
”

Mary nodded.

A young
,
dark skinned guy with an almost shaven head walked in and set some glasses and a teapot on the table between us.

“
Don? Donald?
”
I asked.

He looked shocked.

“
You are the one who killed Coach Roach’s dog last year! I remember you
,
”
I exclaimed.
“
Everyone thought you were dead or something.
”

“
I ran. I found this place. I did not think anyone would come looking for me past the signs in the road
,
s
o I hid in the garage. Then…
”
Donald’s voice trailed off.

“
Then there was a landslide
,
”
Mary continued.
“
He was trapped under the rocks. There was no way I could leave him
,
but
I could not get him out. I went and got Abigail. She was able to move the rocks. Unfortunately
,
one of his legs was beyond repair. Skin and tissue I can heal, but bones are beyond my skill set.
”

“
You did what you could
,
”
Donald said.
“
Besides it does not hurt. I just have bit of a limp. Better than not having a leg.
”

He walked in a circle to demonstrate. He lifted his pants up
,
and his left leg had a slight curve inwards towards is right leg.

I turned to Mary.

“
So wait, you mean you are a doctor?
”
I asked.
“
And what do you mean she
‘
picked up the rocks
’
?
”

Donald sat down next to Mary.

“
Let me start from the beginning. I know it may be hard to understand or believe, but what I am about to tell you is the truth
,
”
Mary said.

I leaned forward
and grabbed a cup of hot tea that I would not even drink.

“
According to
Renatus
history
,
the people rebelled against the government seventy-seven years ago. This is
partly
true. What they failed to tell you was that it was fueled by arms dealers, people who sell weapons for profit. With the US at peace, these arms dealers began to lose money. They formed an organization called
The Lost Sons
.
It not only had members from the US, but from all around the world.

“
The Lost Sons began sponsoring presidents and infiltrating government agencies. They began weaving lies and manipulating recourses to make the people uneasy. Then,
when the country was
at its weakest, they led the people against the government they created.

“
According to the
Renatus government, the rebels won, only to be invaded by foreign powers and forced into the
E
ast. This is false.
It was too late when people began to realize their mistakes
—that they had been
fooled. Many of the people who were used by The Lost Sons began to regret their decisions and tried to correct them. They were able to organize what was left of the US government and fled to the West. This strategy was the only way the war could be stopped.

“
If the US was able distance themselves from the rebels and show that they were united
i
n the West, and not attack the East, then the people of the Eas
t would not want to retaliate. This worked, but b
oth sides
still
have nukes aimed at each other as we speak.
The Lost Sons
formed the
Renatus
government and fabricated what really happened
so
they would have control of their people and their own private army. In a way, they gained much more than they had originally hoped to gain. They wanted money
;
n
ow they have their own country.
”

Mary took a sip of tea before she continued.

“
Now things start getting dirtier. Both the remaining US and
Renatus governments were weakened
,
and their populations were dwindling. That’s when Renatus impleme
n
ted their five child rule.
They claimed it was to boost their population, which was true, but they also did it to make their own private army. They would train your so called
“
Honor Guards
”
and ship them to places all over the world for anyone who
could
afford it. The Guards are simply told that they are fighting against their enemies
,
and they obey. It is ingenious when you think about how
,
after all these years
,
they still can put fear of war in your faces and claim they are keeping peace.

“
When no one is looking for soldiers
to buy
, then
Renatus will force the Guards to fight each other. They don'
t know they are fighting their own people of course. They take fresh young recruits and place them on one side and tell them they are the last line of defense against the enemy. Then they send a group of the weak and injured against them, telling them they are attacking an enemy base. As you may realize
,
the battles
are
pretty one sided.

“
The US government looks down at this
,
but lacks the man power to do anything about it. Instead of focusing on population, they have focus on technology
,
you see.

"
Speaking of population, the Renatus government has built
‘
population factories
.’
You can probably imagine what goes on there
.
I will not go into any details, but
,
once a child is two or three
,
they are placed with a parent. That is why they have become less strict with their law. It is to boost morale and to show false signs that things are getting better.
”

Mary took a breath and looked around
the room to make sure everyone was absorbing
what she was saying.

I could not speak. I had so many emotions racing through my mind I was getting dizzy. Anger, c
onfusion, disappointment, and denial
were just
a few.

If this was all true
,
then what of my dad? Was he one of the injured or weak that they sent to slaughter?

I looked to my right to see how the other two were taking it. Casey was sitting wide eyed and appeared to be studying Mary to see if she was playing
a
joke on him. Peter had his forehead resting in the palm of his hands
,
staring at the floor. It must be hard for him to hear about the Honor Guard part.
His
older brother and sister
had both volunteered to be in the Guard.

Abigail was leaning back in her chair with a look of pity on her face. When our eyes made contact
,
she glanced away and pretended to be looking at a dusty picture above the couch.

Donald was looking at the floor, fidgeting with a tear in his pants.  He had probably heard this story before, but it must not be easy hearing it again.

Mary started up again.

“
Back in the Uprising, the US
loyal
had exhausted their arsenal. They believed that both sides could unite
and didn’
t want to risk further collateral damage.

“
The only defense they had to rely on that would not cause mass casualties was an experimental nerve gas
, CC1586
—
an odorless and colorless gas
,
which
would place people into a temporary
false
coma almost immediately. It was almost perfect. During the tests
,
it just took one breath before the test subjects would pass out.
It was their last weapon.

"
Caravan after caravan raced to the
W
est where they hoped they would be safe. The rebels sent their best to slaughter the defenseless refugees.
The US
loyal
anticipated the move and deployed what was left of their Air Force and rockets to unleash the CC1586 gas on incoming troops and enemy strongholds. The rebel forces were in panic. Imagine people just collapsing all around you with no signs of foul play.
But not everyone who came in contact with the CC1586 gas
had fallen
victim. A small percentage, about 5%
,
were immune to the gas’s effects.

“
After a few days, most of the people infected by the gas
had
awakened. The Lost Sons, outraged by their failure
,
ordered all able troops to prepare to invade the
W
est. They rallied at the
Naval Air Station Meridian in Ohio. They would never have the chance to invade though. As if on cue, everyone who was infected by the CC1586 began to have headaches then turn violent. Accounts from soldiers not infected said it happened so quickly that they thought it was some sort of
ambush.

“
The infected started attacking each other and seemed to lose all sense of reason. Then
,
just as fast as it started, they collapsed dead. The medics on duty claimed that their brains had
expanded
in their
skulls
, causing them to be forced through their noses.
Again, there were a small percent that did not have a reaction.

“
Considering the bodies tainted, they ordered them to be bu
ried and burned
—a
mass grave for
thousands of soldiers.

“
The Lost Sons
realized that
,
with this blow
,
they would not be able to invade the
W
est. They also realized that if the US
loyal
had all fled to the
W
est,
they could claim the
E
ast as their own.

“
Both sides were at a stalemate. Neither side wanted to force each other’s hand. The
W
est began to rebuild and to focus on development of weapons and ways to effectively
be
self-reliant
. The
E
ast focused on rebuilding their population. At first
,
it was to ensure that they had the bodies to defend their section of the country, but it later proved immensely profitable to sell soldiers.

“
Those who were present when the CC1586 was released and those who were infected and did not suffer the mental breakdown slipped back into the population. They had kids…many kids.

“
Somehow, the
infected
parents passed on a part of the gas mutation to their children. It is kind of like how a roach becomes immune to a poison if it is able to live through it and passes the immunity on to the next generation. Instead of poison
,
it was a way that the children could control more of their mind. Instead of coma
,
their brains were able to work beyond normal capacity.

“
The children were identifiable by their lack of focus and frequent head pains.
Many of the children die
d early on. It was simply too much for them to handle. A majority
who lived into their teens ended up going mad. But it was not these defects that caught The Lost Sons
’
attention. It was the fact that each child had a special trait.

“
They received reports of kids pushing down walls, running unmistakably fast, falling down a mountain or stabbed yet there
were
no scratches
to be seen
, and
injuries fading in minutes
. These children were rounded up along with anyone else that fit the description of potentially having some sort of special ability.

“
They fabricated the story of some sort of disease so the normal people would keep an
eye
out and turn them in.

“
The Lost Sons
raised and studied the children. They realized that
,
if they could somehow control the skills of the children, it would be extremely profitable. They began to
breed
them and sell them for premiums. They never lived long though.

“
The more a
person who is
infected tries to use their skill, the more c
hance that the CC1586 virus would
self
-
destruct
. The children of those who never had a reaction to the CC1586 gas have more control
over
their power and have a
less limits on
what they can do.

“
This mutation is passed from generation to generation. Naturally
,
your government wants to make sure none of these infected people are out in the population. Many slip by unnoticed or by some fluke chance that the mutation is just dormant so they exhibit no signs of being infected.

“
People who showed traits of being infect
ed
got scared. No one who was taken by the government has ever come back. They started to flee to the
W
est
,
hoping for a better life and a cure.

“
Once in the
W
est, the US government began to study them individually. They found a way to suppress the mutation
,
as well as control their abilities. While they proceed to use their abilities, they are in less pain and able to sustain themselves for longer.
”

Mary pointed at
Abigail’s
wrist.

“
That watch has
a breakdown of the CC1586 virus that acts as the control. One side contains only key parts that were identified relaxing the brain.  The other side contains the stimulation part. The relaxing agent is released
in
microscopic amounts at the base and is absorbed through her skin. If she triggers the stimulant part, both sides work together to balance out her mind to co
-
op with the use of her abilities.
”