A Hacked-Up Holiday Massacre: Halloween Is Going to Be Jealous (11 page)

“We have to go.” Dick rose to check the window. Brody was already on his way back to the house. “Shit.”

Downstairs Agent Brody let himself inside. “Dick?”

Dick hurried down to meet him. “What’s up?”

Brody eyed him suspiciously. “There’s nothing out there.”

“Really?”

Brody waved him to the greenhouse. “Come on.”

Dick followed him, looking back at Tara through the upstairs window.

Brody waited at the entrance for Dick to open the door. He passed through the threshold and turned the lights on. “She’s right over here.” He pointed to the dish, feigning surprise. “She’s not there.”

A familiar sound pierced the air behind him, like the subtle, singular snap of a jaw closing. Brody had drawn his gun.

“Where’s the head, Dick?”

Dick slowly turned around with his hands in the air. “I buried it.”

“Bullshit. Sands said you wouldn’t go near that goddamned thing after the experiment. What happened?”

“You want to know what happened to her?” Dick asked. “Look behind you.”

Brody turned around and fired one shot into the wiry humanoid before him. She didn’t flinch. He fired again and her hands encompassed his, crushing them around the gun. As she loosened her grip Brody’s arms dropped to his side. Tara straightened her fingers and drove them through his eyes, deep into his brain. They danced on the back of his skull, eventually piercing the other side. As she held him there suspended above the ground, she drove her other hand into his entrails, spilling them onto the floor.

“Stop!” Dick shouted.

She dropped the agent’s body and started for him. “He was going to shoot you.”

“You didn’t have to kill him.”

“What would you have done?”

Dick shook his head. “They’ll send more now. I’ll never be able to go back to the university.”

“Don’t you want to stay here with me?”

His head continued to shake. “We can’t be together.”

She started towards him. “What do you mean?”

“Look at you. You’re not even human anymore. We’d have to spend the rest of our lives in hiding. You can’t be seen. They’ll kill you, or tuck you away somewhere and keep you alive to experiment on you.”

“Like you did?”

“I didn’t know it’d turn out like this.” He backed against the wall. “You were right. They should have let you die.”

“It’s not so bad, Dick. You’ll see.”

She lurched over him and drove her hands into his chest. He felt her gnarled fingers work through his heart as she drew him close. Blood pumped through the holes forged by her fingers until everything around him went black.

A DAY LATER HE woke face-down in the greenhouse. He tried to lift himself, but found he couldn’t move.

“I followed your notes as closely as I could.” Tara leaned down to address him. “Your body isn’t growing as quickly as mine is, but I think within a few days you should be as good as new.”

Dick’s jaw snapped wildly as he tried to speak.

She put her finger to his lips. “Shhh. Rest now.” She walked to the doorway and turned off the lights. “Tomorrow’s Arbor Day. We’ll celebrate.”

I *HEART* RECYCLING

by Lesley Conner

M
att slammed the door of his stepdad’s Escalade, looking around the graveled parking lot surrounded by the forest and one shadowed path. There were no other cars in the small lot, no buildings, no people. Just Matt, his mom, his stepdad, and his two half-sisters.

And a rabbit, perched just off the gravel, staring at Matt with wide, moist eyes, completely still.

I have to spend all day pissing in the woods with a bunch of bunnies just because Tucker thinks we should plant a tree for Earth Day.
Matt could hear his stepdad’s voice in his head—
It’ll be good for Brooklyn and Dallas.
In his opinion, it was the biggest waste of time. If you’re going to plant a tree, why would you do it in a forest? There are already trees there. And he was sure their town had planned some Earth Day festivities anyway, like cleaning up the park or something. Why couldn’t they’ve just gone and done that instead of wasting the entire day out here? But he’d come along without too much complaining to keep his mom happy, drawing the line when she wanted him to wear a t-shirt with a picture of Earth hugging itself. He was here; he didn’t have to look stupid, too.

Stooping, Matt picked up a chunk of gravel, skipping it across the lot towards the rabbit. The rabbit jumped high in the air as the rock came skittering towards it, twisting and bounding into the dark undergrowth. Matt shook his head as he crossed the lot, following his family into the forest.

Brooklyn bounced down the path. There was a sapling under one arm, twirling like a tornado in its plastic pot with each step, and Matt was certain the poor thing would be toast before his family decided to put it in the ground. They’d already killed one by forgetting to water it, and had to buy a new one on the way. He watched his sister trailing the fingers of her free hand along the vegetation growing at the side of the path, yanking handfuls of leaves out every few steps, and he couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He’d never understand kids.

His mom Jenn and Tucker were walking with Dallas a little behind Brooklyn. Jenn had a leather backpack hanging low on her back, stuffed with goodies for a picnic. Tucker swung a small spade, he liked to call a shovel, from his hand, pointing out the birds in the trees to two-year-old Dallas.

Chirp-chirp.
Digging around in his pocket, Matt pulled out his phone.

How’s Fucker?

Reading the message from his best friend Jacob, Matt couldn’t help but smirk as he slid his gaze toward Tucker.

He’s wearing loafers. Who wears loafers to go hiking?

He really is a fucker.

“Matt, you are not going to be on that phone all day. Tell Jacob you’ll talk to him later.”

Hearing his mom’s voice, Matt’s fingers flew over the keypad.

Yeah. Let you know how it goes later. Mom’s cutting me off.

He snapped the phone shut without waiting for a reply. Looking up, he saw Jenn staring at him over the top of Dallas’s head. The toddler was balanced on one hip, wiggling to get down. Setting the girl on her feet, Jenn kept her gaze on her son, silently reminding him of the conversation they’d had the day before
. Don’t mess up the day. Tucker had gone to a lot of trouble planning it; it was important to him.
Matt nodded his understanding and shoved the phone deep into his pocket. Quickening his steps, he hurried to Dallas, who was bent down, pushing in an anthill. The bugs struggled out of the collapsed earth, spinning in confused circles as Dallas poked again and again at the soft dirt.

“Come on, Dally. Walk with Bubby.”

Dallas looked up at him, one finger poised to thrust downward again, her hair pulled in two tight pigtails, a brown, “I *Heart* Recycling” t-shirt stretched over her belly. The heart was made with pink recycling arrows.

“Hi, Bubby. Look. Bugs.” A toothy grin spread across her face. Pulling Dallas to standing, Matt pushed more soil on top of the swarming ants with the toe of his sneaker. Their antennae waved angrily as they scrambled up and over the shifting dirt.

“Yep, sweetie, bugs.”

He walked a few feet behind the rest of his family, Dallas jerking on his arm with her tottering steps. His mom went over and put her arm around Tucker, leaning her head on his shoulder, and Matt could hear the cadence of their conversation, as slow and steady as breathing. Brooklyn twirled around them at a dizzying speed only young children can keep up, her higher voice interjecting among his parents’ lower tones. The sight should’ve been reassuring, a happy family, something he knew wasn’t common, but it only made Matt realize how much he didn’t fit in.

His mom had him at sixteen years old. She’d never told him much about his real dad, other than he was a huge loser who couldn’t handle having a baby. They’d lived with his grandparents the first five years of his life. Then Jenn managed to scrape enough money together between her two jobs to pay for a lousy, one bedroom apartment and a couple of night classes at the community college. It’d only been about six months after moving in when Jenn met Tucker. The relationship moved quickly, and before Matt was seven, he had a stepfather and his own bedroom in the suburbs. Brooklyn had been born when he was twelve, and Dallas when he was fifteen; his mom finally had the perfect family. Her only reminder that life had ever been unsavory was Matt.

She liked to tell him he was her surprise; something she didn’t know she wanted until she got it, but he knew he was a mistake. Christ, his mom was younger than him when he was born, and he definitely wasn’t ready for a kid of his own.

The fact was Matt knew he had it good. Tucker was a goofball, but he was fair and loved his mom. Brooklyn and Dallas were the best. It’d been lonely growing up without any siblings, so he was glad they had each other. Sometimes he just got tired of acting like he was a part of everything.
I don’t even need to be here. I could be home playing Call of Duty and no one would even notice.

Picking up Dallas, Matt jogged up to the rest of the family. Giggles burst from the toddler with each jostling step, sounding like shrieks bouncing off the dense trees. She grabbed his face, squishing his cheeks forward painfully, and he scrunched his lips together, blowing a raspberry on her arm, making her laugh even harder.

“Here. Walk with Mommy for a minute.” He handed her over to Jenn, who unwrapped herself from Tucker’s side. Dallas immediately reached for him.

“I want Bubby. I go you.” “I’ll be right back.” He hated seeing the tears welling in her eyes, but he had to walk away for a minute, take a deep breath.

“Where are you going?” Jenn’s eyebrows knit together.

“Gotta take a piss.” Matt turned to step off the path and head a few feet into the forest. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Just don’t get lost. I think we’re going to find someplace to eat lunch in a couple of minutes, then we’re going to plant our tree. I don’t want to walk too far with the girls.” Jenn looked down at Brooklyn, who held the sapling up. A grin cut her face in two, revealing pink gums with white stabbing through where her big teeth were coming in. The tree leaned to one side, lacking the energy to stand up straight anymore.

Matt rolled his eyes.

“I’m taking a piss. I’m not hiking into the wilderness. Be right back.”

“I need to piss, too,” Brooklyn said. “Where’s the potty?”

Jenn sighed loudly, putting Dallas on her feet and reaching for Brooklyn’s hand. Even though her back was to him, Matt could tell she was irritated by the set of her shoulders. Tucker looked at him, his lips pulled in a tight line, freezing the smile that had started to spread across Matt’s face.

“You could have chosen your words more carefully. Your sisters look up to you.”

“Sorry.”

Matt ducked into the woods before Tucker had a chance to say anything more. Green leaves formed a wall between him and his family, giving him a curtain of privacy. Closing his eyes, he rolled his head around on his neck, trying to release some of the annoyance building from being on Tucker’s stupid outing. He shook his head. Tucker tried to do what was best, but sometimes Matt wondered if he had any idea how ridiculous it all seemed.

Brooklyn and Dallas are having fun.
The thought popped into his head, seemingly from nowhere, and he knew it was true.

“Fuck.” Matt kicked at a tree trunk, knocking bark to the ground. He stomped a few more feet into the forest. Looking back towards the path, he couldn’t see or hear his family, so he figured they hadn’t heard him drop the F-bomb. Tucker would
love
that. Pulling a cigarette from his pocket, he leaned against a tree, sliding down until he sat on the ground, and smoked. His dad had been non-existent, nowhere to be found. That didn’t mean Tucker was an ass.

He jabbed a knuckle into his stinging eye, rubbing at it viciously. There was no way in hell he was going to cry over a deadbeat fucker.

Shit.

He should be happy for Brooklyn and Dallas. They had a dad who loved them, who cared. Fact was Tucker cared about him, too, even though blood didn’t bind them. It was just hard knowing somewhere out there was someone who didn’t give a shit. Someone who could just walk away.

“Ow!” A searing pain ripped through Matt’s leg from his ankle to his knee, burning through his muscles, causing them to spasm. He smacked at it, jerking up his pant leg to reveal a twisted ant seizing in death and an angry welt running up his calf. Brushing the bug off, he looked at the ground, searching for an anthill or a marching army coming to swarm him. He didn’t see anything.

He stood, flicking his half smoked cigarette to the ground and then snuffing it out with his foot. Turning back towards the path, he kept his gaze downward, wondering where the ant had come from. He searched the trunk of the tree he’d been leaning against as he passed it.
Do ants make nests in trees?

Whumpf!

Matt crashed to the ground, his ankle twisting like the ant’s body. Blood poured from his nose and his chest tightened. He tried sucking in a deep breath, but earth clogged his mouth and he choked, coughing up soil slimy with saliva.

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.” It hurt to breath, to move, but he kept muttering under his breath. Slowly, he sat up. His ankle had already swollen to the size of a grapefruit and didn’t look like it was slowing. The skin was pulled tight and purple. Next to it was a perfect loop of tree root shooting straight out of the ground that he’d snagged his foot on. The soil was loosened all around and under it. How had he missed that? Using the tree trunk for leverage, Matt pulled himself up. Gently, he tested his ankle. It hurt like a bitch, but he didn’t think it was broken. Wiping his bloody nose on his sleeve, he limped towards the path.

Ten minutes later he found his family sitting in a half circle at the base of a tree. Tucker looked up as he hobbled towards them. His sharp intake of breath made Jenn look up from the yogurt she was feeding Dallas.