The Shattered Genesis (Eternity) (69 page)

             
I had heard about Reapers. They also possessed the living in order to fool those they were hunting. As I had heard it, Brynna had been targ
eted by them. They were fallible, though; in her case, they possessed two younger guys in order to gain her trust. They didn’t know that she would never trust a man, young or old.

             
“We have a long walk ahead of us.” I told the group as we wandered through
the woods. “We need to start thinking of ways to tell if we’re still us.”

             
“What the hell are you talking about?” Elijah asked over his shoulder.

             
“The Reapers and…” I raised my voice to call ahead of me. “What did you call them, James?”

             
“What?”

             
“The
other ones. There’s Reapers and…”

             
“Shadows.” James answered vaguely, “That’s what the leader called them, anyway.”

             
“Well, the Reapers and the Shadows can appear to us as people we know. They do that so we’ll trust them. If one of us gets possessed by one
of them, we won’t know until it’s too late.”

             
“Introducing such distrust and alarm into the present situation is unwise and quite cruel.” Brynna replied as she strolled along, looking up at the blue sky that was only slightly visible through the thick can
opy of the various trees.

             
“Whatever.” I shook off her random assertion. “You know I’m right, Brynna.”

             
“Perhaps,” Brynna nodded, “But discussing this now, as we traverse the woods where those creatures dwell is a tad anxiety-provoking, is it not?”

             
“When
else are we going to discuss it?” I questioned her before deciding that the whole argument was useless. I continued, undeterred. “We have to think of questions or something.”

             
“One question.” Elijah responded.

             
“What is it?” I asked irritably.

             
“No. We nee
d to think of one question. It will be less confusing that way.”

             
“But we didn’t know each other before we came here.” Alice chimed in. “Quinn and I could answer personal questions about our lives before all this but you all couldn’t. We couldn’t answer an
ything personal about your lives, either. How are we going to settle on one question?”

             
“Who was the President of the United States when the event occurred?” James asked and I knew he was being sarcastic.

             
“Ooh!” Penny exclaimed as she jumped up and down w
ith her hand raised.

             
“Penny!” James pointed at her as though he was calling on her in class.

             
“This isn’t helping!” I interrupted and Penny frowned at me. Well, if that didn’t make me feel like a jerk, then nothing would. “Sorry, Penn. Wait just a minute.
”

             
“You are not going to suggest that we share personal details of our pre-Pangea lives, are you?” Brynna snidely asked, “This should not come as a surprise, but I will not be participating in a ridiculous emotional show-and-tell. Thank you so much.”

             
“You
have to! You’re in the group, so you have to,” I snapped at her, “Why are you always so difficult?”

             
There was a part of me that was amused by her presence. There was even a small part of me that liked her, for reasons that were not clear. But her constan
t disagreement on any suggestion posed by anyone other than James and Elijah was beginning to aggravate me. Her disdain and her condescension were becoming too much to bear under the already stressful circumstances.

             
“I am difficult because people are dist
urbingly empty-headed.”

             
“That doesn't matter!” I told her angrily. “You're still a part of this group.”

             
“Well, then, I suppose I'm exiled.” Brynna replied apathetically.

             
“Brynn, be nice.” Penny ordered her gently. She walked up and grasped her hand. Bry
nna looked down at her little sister, smiled slightly, and offered no more argument on the subject.

             
“What is my favorite color?” Elijah asked.

             
“Clear,” Violet answered, “Because you’re boring.”

             
We all laughed at that. To diffuse the tension further, we
all began to suggest ridiculous questions.

             
“How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?” Alice suggested.

             
“How many minutes does it take to save fifteen percent or more on your car insurance?” Violet added.

             
“What was my mother’s
sister’s aunt’s cousin’s uncle’s father’s, twice removed, name?” Nick replied.

             
“If an oddly out of place tree falls in a Pangean forest, does it make a sound?” I even added to the discussion even though it was poking fun at the exercise I had suggested in
the first place. Ahead of us, Brynna and Penny were singing some old Johnny Cash song softly.

             
“Besides Johnny Cash, who are two other bands or singers that Brynna deems worthy of
existence?” James suggested.

             
“Do you know that?” Elijah laughed, “I can na
me one, but that's it.”

             
“I can name several. But there are two that come to mind besides Mr. Cash.” James replied.

             
“Excuse me, sir, but my musical tastes were disclosed to you in confidence during a day of boredom.”

             
“Well, I do apologize, ma’am.” James
made a point not to touch her after he said that because Elijah was watching them in slight suspicion. James didn’t even look at her after he spoke. But I did see a small smile spread across her face.

             
“In what movie does Kate Winslet get naked?” I spat ou
t quickly to change the subject.

             
“Oh, Kate…” Elijah sighed and looked up at the sky, “Thank God for her, man…”

             
“Every movie,” Violet answered, “That was a trick question. I like it.”

             
We continued on until we broke free of the trees. We found ourselves
at the bank of a wide, deep river. Rapids rippled ominously against the large, sharp rocks.

             
“Look, Brynn! Look!” Penny exclaimed as James picked her up. “Look, James! Over there!”

             
James and Brynna were looking where she was pointing. On the bank of the r
iver was a toad the size of a boulder. It’s massive throat shot out with each deafening croak.

             
“Holy sh…” Elijah muttered before we all burst out laughing again.

             
“I saw a lion earlier today.” Brynna was telling Penny, “Guess how big it was.”

             
Penny beame
d brightly as she continued to stare at the frog.

             
“Was it as big as Mr. Brock's pitbull?” She asked after looking back at Brynna.

             
“Bigger,” Brynna answered, “It was as big as Eli's car. Maybe even bigger than that, too.”

             
“No, it wasn't!” Elijah proteste
d with another laugh, “You're making that up! And besides, a lion wouldn't be in a forest, Brynn. Come on, use your abnormally huge brain!”

             
“Excuse you, I have no reason to lie to her about something as trivial as a creature in the woods. And who says tha
t lions can't live in the woods? The planet is called Pangea for a reason, Elijah. The land is joined together. Any animal can live anywhere it wants. Are you unaware of the original theory on Pangea? Earth was joined together once, too. Goodness, don't yo
u read?” Brynna snapped at him.

             
“No.” Elijah answered simply. He and I laughed raucously and she scowled in response.

             
“So do you think we'll see a penguin?!” Penny asked excitedly.

             
“I'll bet we could.” Brynna replied, and she was smiling again.

             
“Did th
e lion try to attack you?” Alice asked her.

             
“No. We looked at one another for a long while and then she allowed me to pet her. It was definitely surreal, though. As is that impossibly enormous frog.”

             
“Now, we shouldn’t go near it, guys.” Penny warned us,
“It’s tongue is probably so big and sticky, it will grab us and eat us in one bite!”

             
Brynna beamed again and looked at her. “You are right, wise Penelope. Come, let us retrace our steps back through the woods to avoid this treacherous river and all its t
errible beasts entirely.”

             
“Why would we go back into the woods? Why don’t we just swim across? Look.” Violet pointed up to the top of a cliff that rose eerily out of the trees. There at the top, we could just see one of the military tents from the ship.
It was our campsite.

             
Brynna cleared her throat and pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she turned to Violet.

             
“First of all…”

             
“Here we go…” James muttered and he ran his hand over his head. “Brynna, come on. There's no time...”

             
“No, she is
going to hear this in its entirety, James Maxwell! Do not try to stop me!” Brynna shot at him in a fury that the situation did not merit at all. “First of all, Violet, at this point in time, you are the only one out of this merry band of survivors to make
a disgustingly foolish decision that almost ended your life. Secondly, that monstrous amphibian seated so serenely on that rock is more than likely just
one
beast that lives in this water. Third, you pointed upwards to the top of a sprawling, gargantuan
cl
iff. Therefore, you must be aware, given that you were the one that pointed
up
, that it is quite high and more than likely, impossible to climb without proper rappelling equipment. Have I gotten my point across yet or must I continue?”

             
Violet sighed heavi
ly and ran her fingers through her hair.

             
“I am so done fighting with you,” She muttered irritably in response to Brynna's points. “Sure. You win.”

             
“Not necessary, Brynna.” James snapped as he pointed his finger at her.

             
“Absolutely necessary, James.” Bry
nna pointed at him, her eyes blazing.

             
“Just out of curiosity, is everything that I say going to met with your typical bullshit?”

             
“Oh, stop the presses, more profanity!” Brynna laughed as she held her hands up to the sky. “That really dissuades me from cr
iticizing you further. Penny, do not let me hear that word escape your mouth. Understood?”

             
“I don’t say potty words.” Penny replied as she defiantly narrowed her eyes at Violet. “That’s not nice, Vi! It’s
rude
!” She pointed an accusing finger at her and J
ames turned his head away, trying to suppress a chuckle.

             
“Do you hear that, Violet? It’s rude. She’s absolutely right.” I told her jokingly, and she smiled.

             
Wow. She was really beautiful. I don’t know how, being a guy, I hadn’t noticed it before. But now
, with the afternoon sun at her back, casting an otherworldly, almost holy glow over her light brown hair, illuminating her skin, casting a shadow perfectly to accentuate her body…

             
Oh, boy. I looked away immediately upon feeling Alice’s eyes on me. But th
en, why did I care what she thought? Violet hadn’t killed anyone, at least as far as I knew. Alice had. I looked back at Violet but she had turned away to look up at the top of the cliff. Then, she looked down to one side of the river and up to the other e
nd. I did the same, seeing that the trees continued along its banks for as far as the eye could see.