Invasion of Her Heart (2 page)

Venus slowly moved down the street with the two creatures following. “What should I call you guys? What do you think about the Lone Ranger, big guy?” She ran her hand over the male’s body. The smaller one which probably was female loped along on Venus’s other side, and Tonto walked in front of them. “We can call you Bella.”

The female snorted, and Venus smiled.

Venus’s sixth sense had been on overdrive for the past three weeks. “I get the feeling we’re going to have visitors soon, Tonto. The only thing is I don’t know if they’re going to be good or bad. Maybe if these two,” she patted both animals, “have anything to do with them, then they’ll be friendly, too.” Regardless, anxiety ate at Venus’s gut. How that crate had been delivered without her noticing bothered her. Her intuition was telling her that this wasn’t all she should expect and it had been a long time since she’d encountered anyone, either animal or human. Maybe the arrival of the strange beasts was a good sign. Tonto had missed four legged company.

“I just hope tonight is quiet, Tonto. I don’t want to have to kill any more Bone Eaters. If the stupid government would have left them alone, instead of using them as lab rats, they could’ve died in peace like most everyone else did. But no, the damn government had to experiment, and now those people walk around eating anything that moves.”

Venus glanced up at the town clock she’d repaired and converted to solar power. She had three more hours before the sun started to set, and she’d have to lock down in her home. A shiver ran up her spine at the thought of being tracked by the Bone Eaters.

Venus knew the human lab rats—or Bone Eaters as they’d been named by her parents’ science department—were getting smarter, but the one good thing was they only liked to move at night. The sun wouldn’t kill them; it just made them extremely lethargic. She hoped it would stay that way. It was too bad they couldn’t be used as game, but their toxic blood and venom aside, the thought of eating what was once human.... She shuddered.

Her father had tried to work on a cure for them before one of them ended up taking her parent’s lives. Never would Venus forget how she’d waited in their secured home for her mom and dad, but they had never come. Only her father’s assistant, Randle had arrived with the news of their death. She shuddered, remembering him.

“One day, Randle, I’ll find you and make you pay for what you did to me.” Venus patted the M-16 rifle bumping against her hip. Two years later, Randle had shown his true colors and attacked Venus, trying to rape her, but he’d failed. She smiled in satisfaction. She’d made sure of that with her trusty knife. Too bad Randle had gotten away that day.

She stepped up to the electrically wired door, punched in the code and unlocked it. Venus opened the steel door to the old bank that was now her home. Tonto ran inside, with her new family members following. She secured the entrance and turned on the extra generator to power the interior lights. No one was going to surprise her ever again.

“I hope these things are trained not to shit all over the place.” Venus paused. “What the hell do I feed them?” She secured the doors behind her and turned to go upstairs. “I’ll worry about that later.”

The bank had six floors and was massive, but it also had a flat roof where she could keep watch and raise a garden. The building’s copper pipes ran deeper into the ground than any other building in the city. This had been one of the main reasons she’d set up her base in the bank. It had taken her a good six months to get fresh, uncontaminated water from the old underground well she’d found using the ultra ray scanner. She’d nearly exhausted her resources for bottled water before she’d accomplished her task. She was thankful that this part of the city was old enough to have had wells at one time. The one under the bank was very deep. It was a blessing her father and mother had taught her how to test the water. It seemed only the surface water had been affected. The soil’s deeper levels were free from toxins.

Once she’d moved a few things from her parents’ lab to the bank, she had a few ‘toys’ she used for various purposes, such as a force field machine. Although it wasn’t strong enough to protect the entire building, it did prevent anything from accessing the top floor and the roof, which came in handy when the Bone Eaters decided to hunt.

Her parents had tried to warn the local government that the water had been contaminated, but no one would listen to them since they’d been labeled troublemakers. The sickness or, The Killing Fever, as it was called by many, spread like wildfire around their city, killing half the population of Elyria.

Scientists converged upon the city, along with the C.D.C. The U.S. military, and the National Guard were employed to keep the peace. A blockade was set up around the whole county to stop further contamination. Still, no one could find the cause.

All over the U.S. and other countries, cities began dying, and no one knew how to stop it. People panicked, governments allowed inhuman experiments to be conducted on the sick, and an elite group of survivors started hoarding all the food sources, killing anyone in their way.

Some said that Mother Earth had taken its revenge on the human race for all its atrocities against her. The government started experimenting and sharing its information with other countries, but they lost control. The number of Bone Eaters got out of hand. Only one-quarter of the human population lived without effect, while the rest had turned into voracious creatures that ate other humans, right down to the bones of their victims. Their skin toughened to leather, hideous sores appeared on their heads, which eventually turned into hard calcium spikes. Teeth were replaced by fangs, and they walked hunched over. At first, the Bone Eaters were slow and stupid, but soon they learned how to band together and hunt in packs.

Over the past six years, Venus had studied the Bone Eaters. Their numbers increased when they started to mate. Even their children were deadly. It also seemed as though Mother Nature had given them a natural weapon—venom in their fangs that paralyzed their victims so they could eat them.

Venus turned and walked through the lobby, checking the bars on the first floor windows. After surviving for so many years, she refused to become a victim. Satisfied everything was as it should be, Venus turned her attention to the interior lights and a CD player as she stepped into the storage area where she kept supplies. Drained by the day’s heat, she slowly dug items they’d found that afternoon out of her backpack. Where money had once stood stacked against the steel walls, her supplies now filled the room. Lone Ranger came into the vault and sniffed around. He stopped in front of the canned meat she’d found and sank his fang into one of the cans. Finally, he dropped it to the floor, unable to get it open.

She laughed and slowly approached him. “I can open that if you’re hungry.” He raised his head and stepped back from the can. Venus frowned. “I swear it’s like you understand me.” She reached out, grasped the pull-tab, and opened the can.

Long Ranger used his long, thick tongue to scoop out the meat.

“Maybe I should give one to your friend, too.” Venus turned to find the other animal behind her, waiting patiently. “Damn, you guys are smart.” She laughed, opening the other container, and set it in front of her. “I know it’s not much, but it’s all we have right now. We’ll go hunting tomorrow, so maybe I’ll get lucky and bag some fresh meat.”

After she put her new supplies away, Venus grabbed a bottle of water and made her way up the staircase to the roof, all three animals close on her heels. Her baskets were already up there. All she needed to do was fill them with the vegetables. Tonight she would can everything she picked. Soon the summer heat would be upon the city, and then nothing planted or growing outside would survive the heat and scorching sunlight. During that time, Venus hibernated in the coolness of her home. Over the next four months, only an emergency or the need for fresh meat would force her to venture outside.

She pulled a key from cord around her neck and unlocked the door leading out to the roof. Venus twisted the metal knob and grabbed her hat from a hook by the rooftop sign. Once more the intense heat caressed her body, like she’d walked into a sauna. She strode around the edges of the garden plot and across, to one of fourteen support poles with a crank. There, she grasped the handle and began turning it. The gears screeched as the pulleys they controlled stretched a huge awning out across the rooftop. The thing had been a bitch to set up and secure, and it had taken her two weeks doing it alone but it had been well worth it. The awning covered half the roof, shielding her crops and flowers from the blistering midday sun during the really hot days. The cover also provided relief when she needed to work in the garden or she simply wanted some fresh air.

Once the sturdy vinyl awning was stretched out, Venus fastened the crank, and then pushed the plastic containers across the rooftop to her garden. Over in the shade of the small topper building where the door stood, the two creatures and Tonto lay panting.

Venus knelt at the first row of radishes and started picking. “These vegetables aren’t going to hop into the baskets, so I better get busy.”

Halfway through the plot, Venus frowned as a noise became more prominent.

She glanced around her. “Where is that swooshing noise coming from?”

The sound grew louder, and something large blocked the sun. As it passed and allowed the sunshine to bathe the rooftop again, the object drew closer, then shot across the sky, leaving a stream of clouds or mist behind it. The long ribbon of white reminded Venus of the contrails airliners once left across the stratosphere when the world was normal.

The machine crossed the city skyline, growing larger as it approached and roared by, several hundred feet above Venus. It was entirely different from anything she’d ever seen or even read about, something not of Earth. And, Venus realized, it possessed the aura she’d been sensing for weeks.

She froze, slowly following its arc across the silver-hazed sky. “They’re here.”

The ship suddenly stopped in midair just like she’d seen in so many UFO videos. It spun around and lowered between some of the surrounding buildings.

Quiet followed.

Fear sliced through Venus. She snatched a basket up under each arm and hurried to the rooftop door. Running back to the plot, she picked up two more baskets and did the same until she had them all sitting on the landing just inside the doorway.

“Come on, Tonto!”

The dog trotted inside, followed by the other two animals.

She shut and locked the door, leaned against it, and stood panting for a moment. Her heart knocked against her breastbone, and she fought to calm her inner turmoil.

Venus navigated the stairs to the next lower floor, and upon entering the hall, she set the last basket down and jogged down the corridor and into what had been a large office with a huge window. She’d chosen this as her private quarters. Tonto and his comrades trotted into the chamber behind her. Opening a narrow closet, Venus stooped and pushed a series of buttons on a square metal box that looked a lot like a toaster oven. The machine started humming, the noise growing more shrill, until the sound disappeared altogether.

Tonto whined as if asking if she were all right.

“It’s okay, boy.” She patted his head. “I activated the force field just in case someone tries to surprise us by coming up the staircases. Now we wait.”

Chapter Two

The glowing information plates, lights, and halo-screens illuminated the ship’s interior in an array of rainbow colors. Jaxxon set several halo-screens to auto scan and then gathered their survival packs. He handed one to his brother. “Here.” He activated the Trans Shifter rod. “Let’s go, but don’t let your guard down. The computer scan detected hostile life forms in these ruins. The readings reveal human DNA, but there’s a predominance of strange minerals and other genetic makeup that has me convinced we’re dealing with a new strain of life on Earth— one that’s deadly.”

Nodding, Volund strapped the pack to his hips. “Our pets’ tags indicate they’re in the area. It shouldn’t take long to find their cargo box. However, on another note, one thing bothers me.”

“What?” asked Jaxxon.

“I’m picking up signs of only a few survivors.” Volund held a clear, rectangular plate in front of him. He kept his gaze on it, assessing the bright blue symbols that passed across it. “Over half are male.”

“Schizma!” cursed Jaxxon. “If the males outnumber the females, then they’re probably already sharing the women. We might have to report back that mates are unobtainable in this area and move elsewhere—that is, after we find Ino and Ka.” He took the Trans Shifter rod from his brother and placed it against the right side of his neck. “If we can’t find enough females on this wasted planet, we’ll have to start time-traveling sooner than expected.” He sighed in resignation. “I was really hoping for a woman with large breasts and a round ass.”

Laughter rumbled out of Volund. “One matter at a time, brother. We’ll recover our pets first, and then hunt for mates after we find a place to set up camp.”

“I hope Ino and Ka are all right.” Jaxxon pressed the small sensor on the rod.

Immediately, the burn of the Trans Shifter mist flowed into his neck and along his bloodstream. He winced.

“Their location tags indicate their vital signs are good, healthy.”

“That’s comforting.” Jaxxon handed his brother the Trans Shifter. “Is your Slicer activated?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Keep your hand on your weapon should you need it.” “Who’s the elder brother here?” Volund smirked.

Ignoring his taunt, Jaxxon motioned at the Trans Shifter. “Take the shot, so we can go and find our pets.”

Volund nodded and pressed the rod to his neck. He frowned, slipped the slim rod into a slot in his pack, and then closed his eyes. Within seconds, he vanished.

Also closing his eyes, Jaxxon allowed the mist to flow through his body and imagined being outside the ship. Immediately, a light, airy sensation passed through him. A couple seconds of free-floating assailed him, followed by a tingling in the bottom of his stomach. Suddenly, Jaxxon felt hardness under his boots and intense heat on his entire body. He opened his eyes and glanced around at a large open space of black, hard ground. On the far side of the rough, ebony square stood half a dozen scraggly trees, but these wore green leaves instead of the deep purple of Azutu trees. Beyond them, a building of red brick boasted a huge picture of a scantily clad woman hanging onto a golden pole. She smiled down on the parking lot, her eyes cloaked in a come-hither look.