Zera and the Green Man (29 page)

“Stop!”
Void screamed, covering his ears.

Lily shrieked.

The soldiers struggled frantically to free their legs. Theodore, Bear, and James stared, mouths agape. 

Vines traveled from the Green Man, clambering up Void’s body, nearly covering him.

Recovering from their initial shock, the men with rifles began aiming and shooting at the Green Man. As lasers penetrated and cut, the vines separated and recoiled in pain, and tendrils of smoke rose to the ceiling. An eye-vine plant untwisted and raised its thick vines high, as if they were arms ready to grab and strangle.
I’m not controlling that plant
, thought Zera,
it’s all them, now. The plants. The green energy has seized control
. As if in response, the face of the Green Woman, determined and angry, appeared in the foliage. The soldier cried out and delivered a long steady beam of wounding light from his laser gun into the vine’s thick, woody base, blasting it. The air filled with the smell of burning plants. A torrent of energy vibrated in the air as the plant fell. 

“Beeeeeeeeep!” went the medical monitor as a flat line appeared on the screen. A panicked soldier impulsively directed a laser beam at the sound. The monitor exploded.

The vines and leaves that made up the Green Man collapsed in a heap.

Zera felt it, a physically intense, but not painful, charge for one long moment, followed by calm.
This is death.
For a moment, time stood still.
The energy is not gone. The Green Man is not gone. He just . . . went elsewhere
. 

The vine’s grip on the men loosened, and the men squirmed free. Langston ran toward the door.

We must show them.
As this thought filled her, Zera sensed from Void the heart of a frightened child, much like her uncle’s in his nightmare. But that did not matter; he would
not
win. Her strength returned. She focused. A new power flowed through her.    

Fruit sailed through the air. Inflated lungs dropped and exploded around the men. Yellow-gold pollen grains flew from flowers, whizzing like bottle rockets into the hot barrels of the
men’s rifles. The flammable pollen caused mini-explosions inside the lasers’ barrels.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The men threw down the weapons, grimacing. 

Branches from the liver-trees bent down toward three men, and the livers twisted into the shapes of snapping, gumming jaws. One man screamed. The gumming jaws transfigured into giant, beautiful, dark sweet-smelling flowers that dropped from their branches onto three soldier’s heads, covering their eyes and momentarily rendering them stupefied and sightless. Fist-sized hearts sailed through the air like grenades, thumping on their targets, and then falling before
they, too, turned into fragrant flowers. A volley of melon-heads flew through the room. As they exploded in front of each soldier they turned into a shower of colorful petals, flower confetti. 

Void, creeping towards the door, hid behind a piece of medical equipment. A melon banged into the machine before it, too, turned into flower confetti.

Tiny tendrils crept into the handcuffs of the prisoners, causing them to release and clang to the ground.

Void frantically placed his hand on the scanner and began pressing buttons, to no avail. The scanner and keys were covered in sap. Sap covered the floor where the flowers had landed. The soldiers had slipped in it, fallen to the floor, and were flailing, stuck firmly in the goo and petals.

Void turned around to see Theodore coming toward him. Void pulled a stun gun and pointed it at Theodore. “Stay clear.”              

Zera’s heart leapt. Another melon knocked the gun out of his hand. More confetti rained on the floor.

“You’re not getting away,” said Theodore.

Langston threw a punch at him. Theodore blocked it, but a kick made contact with Theodore’s shin. Theodore winced in pain, bent to grab the injured limb, and Void jumped him. The two rolled on the floor. Void grabbed a piece of vine and wrapped it around Theodore’s neck. Theodore’s face reddened, his eyes bulged. 

“Don’t, Langston,” he choked out the words.

“Stop it!” screamed Lily.

“You WILL stop!” The Green Man had materialized again from the damaged vines and leaves as the others had watched the struggle. The giant grabbed Void and Void immediately released Theodore. The Green Man lifted Void in the air with one hand and vines emerged from his fingers, whipping around Void’s body, wrapping him completely in a tight cocoon. It happened so quickly and the vines were so tight that Void didn’t have the air or time to scream. The green cocoon reminded Zera of what a spider does to its prey.

Zera felt Void losing consciousness. He would die if she didn’t do something. “
No!”
she screamed at the Green Man, “
You can’t do this!”

The Green Man gave an angry sneer and the vines grew tighter.

“You’ll kill him!” Zera looked around. Without thinking, she scrambled up the melon-head trellis near the door and jumped onto the Green Man. Both her arms clenched one leafy, rippling-with-vines arm. “Let him GO!”

“You defy me?” said the Green Man.

“Yes! You can’t kill him! This is wrong!”

“There is only survival with us, Zera Green. Right and wrong is human!” The voice filled the room, thudding and reverberating.

The vines loosened, revealing an unconscious but alive Langston Void. The Green Man sat Zera down before transforming into a burst of ten thousand angry leaves that whipped around the room before pelting the floor.

Lily rushed over to Theodore as he sat up, rubbing his neck. “Are you all right?”

Zera heard a whisper,
We’ll take it from here
, and her eyes met her uncle’s.

The world around Zera grew dim, then black.

* * *

“Yeah, I’m okay,” said Theodore, rubbing his neck.

“Look!” Lily pointed at the video camera, hoisted up into the vines. It was on, pointing at Void, who was waking up.

“But . . . it was broken,” Bear said.

“Where’s Zera?” Lily spun around.

“Zera’s not here,” Theodore said. 

“How can you say that?”

“It’s hard to explain. I saw her disappear . . .” his voice trailed off.

Lily frowned. “You’re not making any sense. That’s impossible.”

“More impossible than her appearing at the hide-out?
In a lightning-struck tree? More impossible than all of this?”

Lily, Bear, and James searched the room, making their way around the twelve soldiers struggling in plant glue. “But I saw her,” Lily protested.

“She’s not here,” Theodore said. “You have to trust me. I love Zera, I wouldn’t leave her. I swear to you she’s not here.”

Bear grabbed the camera, which was now lying on the floor. Although the casing was broken, when he pressed the rewind button it worked. It took him only seconds to find exactly what Theodore had witnessed. “There it is, she’s at the corner of the frame, then, she’s gone. I don’t know how, but it happened, just like he said.”

“Then we need to get to Drew,” said Lily. “If he’s . . . if they haven’t . . .”

“But what about the plants?” asked
James.

“Leave them,” said Theodore. The technology exists. People have to make their own decisions. You’ve done all you can for now.”

“But what about their damage?” asked Lily. “They were damaged by lasers. We can’t just leave them damaged like that.” She looked around. “Wait . . . what?”

While they had been looking at the camera, the room had transformed. The plants looked full and lush. Branches and vines damaged by bullets had mended. The plants were glowing with health, except for one detail: All their human fruits had dropped off and become hard, shriveled, dried-out lumps on the floor.

* * *

The door to the lab slid open on its own. They ran up the hall, through the
clean room, and out the door to the helicopter pad. Then they stopped. The area looked like a war zone. Helicopter pieces were strewn everywhere
.

Lily fell to her knees and started to sob. “Drew!
Nooooooo!”

The sound of a motorcycle made them look up. Drew rode up, yelling, “Bear, James, get the other bike. I’ve opened the gate; we’ve got to get out of here!”

The two men raced toward a second motorcycle.

Lily ran to Drew, who looked rough — torn clothes covered in grime, a big scratch on his forehead.
Blood on his shirt.

“Are you okay?” said Lily.

“I’m a little banged up, but I’ll live. Where’s the girl?”

Lily glanced at Theodore. “We don’t really know.”

“She’s okay,” said Theodore.

“There are only two bikes,” said Drew. “They can’t come with us.”

By this time, Bear and James had pulled up on the second motorcycle. Without a word to Theodore, Lily hopped on the bike with Drew. The four of them sped off through the gate and out into the desert.                                                               
.

Sunday, June 8

Zera opened her eyes to find her Uncle Theodore sitting beside her, staring out a window. His clothes were crumpled, his face dark with whisker stubble, his hair a mess. She heard the voices of Hattie and Ben — they were standing and talking near the same window. She was in a bed, in a light-filled room. It took few seconds to register . . .
I’m in a hospital.

“Uncle Theodore?”

He started, then turned toward her. Relief shone brightly on his features. “You’re awake! Oh, Zera, thank God.” He leaned over and gently folded her into his arms.

Everyone in the room rushed to her side: Hattie, Ben, Grandma Wren, and Cosmic Dan. They were beaming, but the smiles didn’t hide the fact that something terrible had happened. Zera looked into her uncle’s red-rimmed eyes, and knew. “Where’s Nonny?”

Grandma Wren shook her head. Everyone but her uncle looked away. “Zera . . .” his voice cracked. 

Zera burst into tears.

Theodore held her hand as she cried. A nurse entered the room and barked, “You should have told me she’s awake. I have to ask you all to leave.”

Theodore stood up. “I’m not going anywhere. Not until I’m
sure she’s okay.”

Zera saw that his warts were gone.

* * *

Many hours and a battery of medical tests later, Zera and Hattie were alone in Zera’s room, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am,” Hattie said. “But she was sick for a long time, sweetie.”

Zera pulled her housecoat tight around her hospital gown and pulled away from Hattie. “Yeah, I got that already, but thanks for letting me know — eventually.”

“When did you find out?”

“Last night.” Zera remembered it all — Void Corporation, the Green Man and Woman, Lily, Uncle Theodore.
I was one with the plants . . . somehow.
“I wasn’t here, I was with them. Theodore and Lily.”

Hattie gave her a look. Zera thought,
I can no longer feel or hear anyone’s thoughts, but I can sure tell what she’s thinking — the girl has lost it.

“Honey,” said Hattie, “your uncle told me some things this morning, some amazing things, but I’m the one who found you. You collapsed yesterday morning in your room. You’ve been unconsciousness the whole time, asleep.”

Zera shook her head. “That’s what the doctor said. But I wasn’t.”

“We’ve been with you the whole time.”

The door opened and Grandma Wren entered. She went to Zera, kissed her on the forehead. “Thank goodness you’re okay.” She took Zera’s hand. “I was with your grandmother when she passed. She was at peace. The last thing she said was to tell her son and her granddaughter that she loves you both, more than
anything.”

Zera’s tears came again. “Just when I thought I had a family again, and felt less alone. I understand now why Nonny didn’t fight for me to come back to Ute Springs, but someone should have told me!”

Grandma Wren lightly squeezed her hand. “Everyone did what they thought was best. I am sorry, Zera, we all make mistakes. But please do not think you’re alone. We are
all
your family: your uncle, Hattie, Ben, me, Cosmic Dan, all of us. And,” her voice dropped lower, “you know your family extends much further than us. You are, have never been, and will never be, alone.”

“We’re not going to let you down again,” said Hattie.

Zera looked into Grandma Wren’s eyes. “I was there, with Uncle Theodore last night.”

“That is what he told me,” said Grandma Wren. “My walk in the spirit world foretold a death. I worried that it would be yours. It is hard that you lost your grandmother, but it was her time.”

The women’s relief that she was safe eclipsed Zera’s grief, but for only a moment. She still felt raw. Over and over she kept thinking,
Nonny’s gone. Now it’s just me and Theodore
. She took her hand from Grandma Wren’s. “Is everyone else okay? Where’s Uncle Theodore? Where’s Lily?”

“Everyone’s fine.” Hattie glanced at Grandma Wren, and Grandma Wren nodded. Hattie took a deep breath. “Now everything’s going to be all right, don’t get upset, but while the doctors were running tests, the police came. Ted’s left for Los Angeles, but said he’d be back tonight. As for Lily, well, Ted told us that you’d be asking about her. He said to tell you that they all got away last night and he doesn’t know where they are.”

“But she’s okay?”

“He said she was.”

“And Uncle Theodore . . . what if he doesn’t come back?”

“Don’t worry about your uncle. My phone’s been ringing all day with offers of help. Dan’s handling the calls.”

“Offers of help?” 

Hattie got up, strode to the
second-floor window, and gazed down upon the street.

“Ted arrived this morning at about 4 A. M. He seemed reassured that you were here and then, of course, he went straight to Nonny’s side. She was already gone, Zera. He took it hard, but Grandma Wren comforted him. Not too much later, this man named Troy Sylvan showed up.”

Zera remembered the name
from last night. “From Void Corporation?”

“Yes. He came to talk to your uncle. We heard about everything that happened last night, Zera, an incredible story. One I’m still having trouble believing.”

Zera nodded. It all seemed fantastic to her, too.

“What about Tiffany?” 

Hattie sighed. “She’s okay. She’s been on TV all day.” She walked back to the table and poured some water from a pitcher into a glass. “Your doctor said you’ll be released in the morning, but you have to stay here tonight. I’m staying with you — and Ben’s here too; he refuses to go home.”

Hattie gave the glass to Zera and
she took a sip. The knowledge that Ben was staying in the hospital, just for her, made her heart skip a beat. “Tiffany was on TV?”

“What happened last night has been all over the news, sweetie. Today has been an awakening.”

Grandma Wren, now sitting in a chair next to the window, nodded in agreement.

“Void’s spin people are trying to say the live footage from the laboratory was a hoax, but the public isn’t buying it. There’s been
an energy in the air, like nothing I’ve felt before. An enthusiasm about opening our eyes to issues that have been ignored for too long. But some people aren’t so enthusiastic. Especially Ms. Tiffany Taylor.” She picked up the remote control and pressed a button. 

“There she is again,” Grandma Wren said. “The same interview we’ve seen three times.”

Zera, taking another drink of water, looked up and almost choked. Tiffany, nearly large as life. “Could you turn it up, please?” she asked. “I want to hear what she’s saying.” 

Hattie groaned.
“If you insist.”

“Yes, I am planning to sue,” Tiffany declared to the female interviewer. She looked great; clean clothes, hair and make-up
done to perfection. She wore pink, of course. “I am in the process of preparing to sue the Void Chemical Corporation and these people called the Green Guerrillas. And also Theodore Green.” Tiffany’s hand moved up nervously towards her chin and then back down to her lap.

The two women, sitting in upholstered chairs, looked like they were chatting in a cozy living room. Before them on a glass coffee table was an enormous floral arrangement. Zera noticed that most of the flowers in the arrangement were lilies.
Now that’s ironic
.

“Mr. Green is your boyfriend?”

“
Ex
-boyfriend.”

The reporter looked into the camera. “That would be Theodore Green, president of the Biotechnology Division at Void Corporation. He and Troy Sylvan, head of VCC’s Research and Development, were picked up in Colorado and taken to L.A. this morning for questioning. Police are still looking for Lily Gibbons, leader of the Green Guerrillas, an environmental activism group, and other members of that group.” The interviewer locked eyes with Tiffany. “I believe Theodore Green is being accused of being part of the Green Guerrillas. Did you have any knowledge of that?”

“There is no doubt in my mind that Theodore was involved in this all along.”

“Why do you say that, Ms. Taylor?”

“He’s known that woman, Lily, since high school. He had photos of her in his home.”

“I see.” The reporter leaned forward. “You claim you were kidnapped by the Green Guerrillas, is that right? And you escaped yesterday?”

“I was kidnapped and . . . 
tortured
.” Tiffany’s eyes glazed with tears, her voice in a whimper. “And then . . . I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but when I escaped, they had plants there that, who, attacked me.”

“Plants?” the reporter’s eyes widened.

“Yes,” Tiffany said, shifting in her chair, not so comfortable any longer. “When I got out of that horrible farmhouse, vines wrapped around my ankles before I could get to the road. They pulled me down. They held me down until after dark!”

“Then they released you?”

“Yes.”

The reporter, eyebrows raised, nodded. “There have been similar reports from men who worked for VCC. They claim that they were attacked by plants at the Research and Development facility. But the satellite transmission showed nothing like that. What it did show was footage of some horrendous secret human organ experimentation.
Footage that VCC claims to be fake. The live streaming showed Void’s employees holding the Green Guerrillas at gunpoint. Then the footage stops. We’re not even sure how the Green Guerrillas escaped.”

“I don’t care how they escaped.” Tiffany sniffed. “As long as they find them and arrest them. And I’m telling you. It did happen. The plants are in on it!” She peered nervously into the floral arrangement. “That’s not real, is it? Wait . . .
are those
lilies
?”

The camera zoomed in on the interviewer. “So there we have it. Conflicting reports on what happened last night. Void Chemical Corporation claims it’s a hoax, but is filing breaking and entering charges against the Green Guerrillas. And now we have Tiffany Taylor saying it was not a hoax, at least not what she experienced.

“To recap: Last night a satellite transmission went out all over the world, showing some horrific animal-plant, human-plant experimentation going on at Void Chemical Corporation. The transmissions are now being examined for authenticity. Members of an environmental group called the Green Guerrillas have claimed responsibility, and police are looking for them. Members include Lily Gibbons, Cornelius Curtis, Drew Bly, and James Dubson. Two prominent members of Void Chemical Corporation are also allegedly involved, Troy Sylvan, head of VCC Research and Development, and Theodore Green, who had just signed on as president of VCC’s Biotechnology Division. Green was an employee of Biotech Multinational, the company that recently opened the highly successful Burger Depot franchises, and he is also the youngest son of Guinevere Green, former owner of the once world-renowned Green Seed Company.

“Other authorities, including the Food and Drug
Administration, the Department of Agriculture, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, have announced investigations as well.

“The whole world is watching this story. As we speak, protests are being held at VCC Headquarters in Los Angeles and at all their offices around the world. You can be sure Channel 10 will be watching this story closely and reporting developments as they come to light. Thank you, Ms. Taylor.”

The camera cut to Tiffany, who was still staring at the flower arrangement with a frightened intensity, as if it might attack. She had lost her tigery spirit; she now seemed more like a frightened pussycat ready to scat at a moment’s notice.

A male reporter’s face appeared. “That was footage from this morning’s interview. On breaking news, we have learned that Guinevere Green died today. Ms. Green was Theodore Green’s mother. She passed away early this morning at Peak County Hospital near Ute Springs, Colorado. Hospital sources say she had been ill with a heart condition for some time.”

Zera hadn’t noticed that Cosmic Dan and Ben had walked in. Hattie turned off the set.

“I’m sorry,” Dan said to Zera, bending down to hug her.

“So am I, Zera,” said Ben and put a hand on Zera’s shoulder.

“Thanks.” The air around her seemed dense with a suffocating sadness. She needed air. Zera turned to Hattie. “Is there any way I can get out of this room for a little while?”