The Dark Specimen

By John James Derrick

-Well, a few weeks after I appeared in that sinister forest, a mark appeared on me... you know what it was. I was frightened, but not more so than when, a few days later, I noticed a device on my neck, which I quickly got rid of. I got scared and went in search of what had done that to me. It didn't take me long to come across some giant aircraft desperately looking for something in the trees. - They caught me, and while I was in their hands, I distinctly remember several people in long white robes and IDs advertising "Tothan Corporation." After that I showed up in the already formed village, with a new chip. I escaped again and spent all these years in hiding, looking for - look down and furrow your brow - I regretted so much having left Ian... but he was so ill that he could not carry out such an expedition. And he doesn't even remember anything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Lydian
• Release date: Jun 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463386941

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THE DARK SPECIMEN

Copyright 2020 John James Derrick

Published by John James Derrick at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Chapter I

Something bigger than us.

It's been five years today since our lives became a nightmare. Five years of living in the shadow of our past actions with no way back. Yet the people of the village insist on celebrating our survival every year with a big bonfire and plenty of juicy bear meat. Some people hate this day, as they would have preferred to die rather than inhabit these hostile and mysterious lands, or worse, to die rather than suffer from facial malformations, not being able to walk, and not feeling confident that their children will be born without brain tumors. I cannot include myself in that list, because the meat given out by the families of hunters and the vegetables given out by gatherers are of great benefit to those of us who do not know how to use a spear or identify edible berries or leaves. The children of those who are more fortunate because of their hunting skills call us parasites, since, according to them, we live off their parents. That statement is partly true, but these parasites were the ones who built most of their houses, who feed the elders and who protect the village when the men go hunting.

I wake up in the morning clinging to my brother, as if afraid that something would take him from my arms. He had been watching me for a long time with his gray eyes staring at my face. As soon as he notices that I open my eyes, he lays his small, delicate hand on my cheek and laughs with joy. Today is his sixth birthday, and I promised him that we would go to the brook a kilometre away from the village before the sun rises, to see the little fish that are beautiful because of the mutation, and to be able to watch together as the sun rises over the horizon.

- Is it too late? I ask him, stroking his ash-blond silk hair.

He gives me back a smile of enthusiasm and jumps out of bed. He runs to the window, which was really just a hole in the mud and straw wall, and quickly slides the makeshift curtains I had woven. I sharpen my eyes and notice that the stars are barely visible in the distance. Yes, it was late, because I was planning to get to the stream a few hours ahead of time, but we could still make it at a fast pace.

-Quickly get dressed," I commanded him, standing up.

He nods and rushes out to get his clothes. Fortunately, I had not slept in my pyjamas and I am wearing a light green skirt and a shirt that the village weavers had made. As the clothes are mostly made from sheep and horses, the wardrobe of the people here consists of long wool skirts and dresses and leather jackets and trousers. Our clothing is not the most modern, but it allows us to maintain our body temperature in winter.

After arranging my hair in two braids and erasing the traces of sleep, I take a basket and carry it with some orange berries, a small container with water and a piece of mutated goat cheese. We shoot out, hoping not to run into any red hummingbirds, which sometimes in that area, try to scratch our eyes out.

When we arrive, agitated, a small orange sphere begins to sprout at the edge of the forest. I put my little brother on my shoulders quickly so that he could see better.

- You see that, Egon? -He is beautiful, and if you raise your hands with all your strength, you can reach the sun and steal a ray of his beauty.

He raises his left hand with joy, and when the sun shines on his face, he makes a strong fist and brings it close to me. I point to a place on earth and make a little bit of a branch and there Egon puts his little fist and opens his hand. I quickly cover the tiny well with earth and moisten it with a little water from the stream. We sit and watch the fish and enjoy the berries. I noticed some pale flowers on the bank of the stream. Their glowing beauty reminded me of my mother, so I took four buds and looked at the snow-white petals and their silvery center like a coin: they were definitely victims of radiation. After an hour, we set out on the return journey.

As soon as I recognize the thirty or so houses in the village, I know something is wrong. The villagers were supposed to start moving around the area, but they all gather in one place, around the precarious house where my parents, Egon and I live. We rush to get there and as I walk through the crowd, everyone looks at us with concern. When I finally manage to see what's going on, I'm frozen. Who.... How....

It can't be happening.... all my belongings, my memories of my life before the end, everything.... everything is ashes. Someone, thinking only with a selfish and broken heart had started a fire, which no one could stop, and had destroyed my home of which only rubble remained. And I am more than sure it was one of the hunters' children, but at this moment I cannot leave any room in my mind for anger, because all I feel is pain. However, a worse thought crosses my mind: my parents. This morning when I left, they were both sleeping together... unprotected... not knowing what was coming to them. Are they alive? Are they hurt? And Egon? What will I do with him?

- Where are my parents? - I ask the crowd, facing them.

Quiet. They look at me in sorrow. No... They're not... are they? Egon, who I carry in my arms, cannot understand the situation, but he knows something is wrong and he hugs me with all his strength.

- Where are my parents?! - I exclaim without being able to stop my voice from sounding drowned out. Tears suddenly flow.

An old woman approaches me. She takes my hand gently and whispers:

-Come with me.

- Don't touch me!" I yell at her, unhinged, and pull her aside - I want to know where my parents are!

The old woman hesitates and then, turning her back on the crowd, she answers me.

-They are alive, but seriously injured.

I feel a little relieved, but I'm still uneasy. However, I let the old woman lead me away from the crowd. Egon doesn't stop hugging me, it will surely be his worst birthday. Out of the corner of my eye I look at the woman next to me. She is short, with a greasy mane the colour of the flowers I hold in my hand. Her hands have been transformed into wrinkled stumps and I suppose that her feet are similar because of the way she walks. The old woman makes me pass six houses until I finally turn into a narrow path of reddish stones. She stops in front of a small house with a straw and adobe roof and tells me to go inside. I pass through the bundle curtain and look at the people lying on the ground, badly injured, and I realize that the old woman is a healer, which is strange to me because I know almost everyone in the village, and although I swear I have seen her before, I never knew that there was a third healer in the village besides Eizan and Lorik.

I record the faces of each of the patients and conclude that my parents were not among them, just as the woman points to a small room next to the kitchen. I walk by her and with Egon still clinging to my arms.

- Why are they separated from the rest? - I ask her, hoping not to find a couple of bodies behind the door.

-They're serious. - she answers with concern. I feel a lump in my throat and I don't dare go past Egon, so I ask the old woman to stay with him. As soon as I get her out of my arms, I get up the courage to go through the door. When I see them, I find it unbearable. Their bodies lying on the floor are covered with yellowish leaves that cover their second-degree burns. I am moved that they still have their hands shaken, just as they did this morning while sleeping. My mother coughs weakly, waking up my father.

-Evangeline... -whispers my mother's dry voice.

I can't refuse her, so I gather my strength, slowly approach her and kneel down beside them both. I look at his gaunt face and then turn my head to the left to see my father's disfigured face.

-If something happened and we couldn't..." she whispers to me, but I refuse to listen to what I already know. I will have to take care of Egon if she dies, because father will have to become a hunter at any cost, since his work as a bricklayer will not be very useful. Before, the four of us could manage with Dad's constructions and Mom's sewing jobs, but without her everything would go to ruin, not only because of her contribution to the economy, but also because she was the one who kept order and harmony in the home, and if one day we lacked food, she always, in one way or another, got our plates full for dinner.

-I brought you flowers, I interrupt, Egon and I went to the stream as I told you...

She frowned, she did not like to be interrupted, but when she saw the flowers her face lit up, which I noticed even though I could hardly distinguish her eyes among so many wounds.

- Listen, Evangeline. - says my father harshly. I look away from my mother and I look at him with my eyes flooded. I know what he's going to say - you know how things are here. For a week or two while your mother and I are recovering, you must take care of Egon, make sure there's no food missing from his plate, make sure he sleeps well. But above all, you must protect him. And you must protect yourself, because the village was never as unsafe as it is now - Dad obviously keeps his voice down as if it were an extremely confidential matter. It was something much bigger and more powerful than them and all of us put together. Your mother, Egon, you and I are different... we...

-No. -We are the same as anyone else or even inferior, I tell you with a scowl.

- Oh yeah? How come the radiation hasn't affected us like the rest? Sometimes you can predict an action two seconds before it happens, can't you? - No- And do your wounds heal five times faster than before? -We're not like the rest. -What are you talking about? They want to experiment on us, see how far we can go. -Who? How? Why? - Whatever it is, Eve, you must do what they want, they will provoke you to exploit your abilities, and they will do it with Egon too.

- Who? - I ask, knowing that Dad is serious.

-That's not what matters. Eizan will take care of you. Protect Egon and yourself.

At that moment he closes his eyes and when he looks at mom, I notice that she