Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) (6 page)

  
I
didn’t
want to
remember what I had been like before the accident, the person I had been
, but I thought she may have been different. That
I
may have been different
. And I refused to think of those couple of years when I had been
real
young,
when my father had still been alive,
and Cade had
always been
with Aiden and I. Those years when
Cade
had been my friend and near constant companion
, w
hen I had loved him without knowing what love was. It had been such a sweet simple love
between us
, freely given and returned
. Then
Cade’s
parents had been killed and he had drifted away into a world of hurt and solitude. Retreated from me
,
and left me
,
without ever explaining why
.
I’d been hurt by his actions, but as time moved on and I aged and grew, I had forgotten all about our bond. Until The Freezing had occurred, and we had been thrust back together, and that love had surged to the forefront once more.

   “Oh
,
I will.”

  
I had forgotten all about Bishop until he spoke again.
I
managed a wan smile
as I focused my attention back on
the doctor.
I wanted to believe with him,
wanted
to believe
in
him, but I didn’t
really
believe in anything anymore. “I hope so doc.”

   His eyes narrowed on me. “Are you ok Bethany?”

   “I’m fine,” I assured him halfheartedly.
My gaze turned slowly toward the dead alien on the counter. “Do you know how it made itself look like that little girl yet?”

  
Bishop’s
attention was diverted from
me
and once again returned to his new favorite toy.
“No, n
ot yet, but there are plenty of examples of mimicry in the world. The king snake looks like the coral snake; therefore predators will avoid the king snake for fear that it is poisonous
.
Tha
t’s
what is
known as
batesian
mimicry. These creatures appear to be displaying
both
batesian
and
aggressive mimicry though.”

   Bishop had moved closer to the creature. For the first time
, beneath the awe and wonder,
I saw true fear
on his features. I swallowed heavily, discomfited by the look in his eyes. “What’s
aggressive mimicry
?” I asked quietly.

  
“It is a form of mimicry where the predators share similar traits with something harmless in order to lure in their prey. The alligator snapping turtle uses its pink tongue to lure in fish that believe the tongue is a worm. The fish that try to eat the worm are eaten
instead
.”
Much like when Sarah had tried to help the girl, and instead been destroyed.
Goose pimples were beginning to break out on my flesh
;
I couldn
’
t tear my gaze away from the
hideous
thing on the
counter. “But animals that exhibit aggressive mimicry don’t strongly resemble the creature they are trying to lure in, not like the coral and king snake. Not like this thing
resembling
us.

   “This truly is a unique
ability; it’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
What I don’t know is if they were always able to do this, or
if it
’
s a new de
velopment.
Have they started to
evolv
e
in order to find new ways to capture and kill us?”

   My goose bumps were now full
on
shivers
;
I could barely breathe through the constriction in my chest. “Is
i
t possible
to do that so quickly
?” I managed to croak out.

   Bishop’s eyes were sharp. “Not for us, not for any creature we’ve ever known before…”

   “But we don’t know these creatures.”

   “No, we don’t. It’s ingenious if you think about it, mimicking one of us, especially a child.”

   I hated the admiration in his tone, not when all I felt was
stark
terror. “And
if they evolved to do this
…
”

   “Then what else can they evolve to do.”

   I was
afraid
I was going to
be sick
. No, I was definitely going to vomit. I ran to the sink, grasped hold of the edge of it, and dry heaved the empty contents of my stomach up. I was sweating, trembling violently as I rinsed my mouth with water and straightened slowly. Ashamed of my weakness, I could not meet Bishop’s gaze as I walked toward the window. It was covered with chicken
wire, the reason why I couldn’t begin to fathom, but
it caused the
sun
light stream
ing
through it
to dance across the tile floor
in
a honeycomb pattern.

   I didn’t know what to say, there were no words for what he had just told me.
“It may not be evolution.
This may have been a trait of theirs all along.
”

   We both knew he was lying, if they had been able to do this all along, they would have. “Who are you trying to kid here Bishop, me or you?”

   He was silent for a moment before answering. “You.”

   Well at least he was honest, I thought grudgingly.
“Do you think the larger ones can do the same, or is it only the smaller ones?”

   “I don’t know.”

   I stared out at the quiet bay; there wasn’t even a ripple upon the ocean water. It was hard to believe that there were so many unknown horrors lurking out there
on this tranquil, beautiful day
. “Does it have any weaknesses?”

   “
You guys managed to kill it
.”

   I turned slowly toward him, trying hard not to let my panic show. “
That took a whole lot of bullets Bishop. If it had been closer…” I let the thought trail off; we had both seen what that closeness had done to Sarah. “
How the hell are we ever going to defeat them?” I breathed.

  
“You.”

   I started in surprise; I could feel the confusion that rolled over my face. “What?”
   “
Your blood Bethany, i
t
has
to be the answer. There has to be some key within it that will help us to awaken the remaining survivors of
T
he
F
reezing. The sooner I find it, the more people we can save.”

   “And the more people we have to help us fight,” I whispered, finally understanding his obsession with me, and my blood. It suddenly all made sense. “Strength in numbers.”
   “But the longer it takes me to find the answer…”
   “The more people the aliens will capture, drain, and destroy.”

   “Yes.
We could lose them all before I
uncover the truth
.
”

  
I nodded slowly. I may not believe that Bishop was right
about me
, but he was a hell of a lot smarter than
I was
, and
he
seemed to be the only hope that mankind had.
The only hope for saving so very many people
,
and
he needed my
help
to
do it
.
“Ok then, let’s get you that equipment doc.”

***

   “You can’t do this Bethany.”

   I glanced back at Abby as I lifted the rifle onto my back. Darnell handed me a
backpack
filled with whatever ammo they could spare,
and
two
extra sig
sauer
pistols. Bret hefted the bag of food onto his back and slipped a revolver and pistol into his waistband. I had tried to talk him out of coming with me, but it
had
be
en
useless. Private Lloyd Price was also coming with us as was
,
surprisingly, Jenna.

   I had
tried to talk her out of joining us
but once she heard that we were
going to try and make it to the hospital in Plymouth
, she had been adamant t
hat she come with
us
. There was
a hospital
in Wareham, which was closer, but only slightly and in the opposite direction of where Darnell wanted to start
heading.
I hadn’t realized he
had
an actual destination in mind until he informed us of that
today
. Apparently we had been Boston bound
all along
in the hopes of encountering more survivors, which he was certain the city would have. Along with more weapons.

  
I didn’t know why Jenna was so insistent that she join us, but she would not be dissuaded. I was actually a little grateful for another person.
Jenna had also received training with a weapon
and in fighting
. She may not be as proficient as the rest of us, but she was good enough, and another person that could shoot would come in handy.

   “The GPS is battery
,
and solar
,
chargeable
,” Darnell was saying as he handed it to
Lloyd
.
Darnell wasn’t saying this for Lloyd’s
benefit
,
but our
s. It was something we would need to know in case
something happen
ed
to him. “Only use the radio once a day. We’re staying here one more day,
and
then we’ll be heading toward Plymouth also. I don’t know
how swiftly we’ll be able to move, but I plan to
proceed
at a brisk pace.
Radio
me at
eighteen hundred hours every day.”