Her Left Heart Foot

Her heart was beyond heavy. It was crushing. It was a stone heart; impeding the negative expansive pressure of her lungs. With each inhale it bared down a little harder. It was tearing her asunder. Ripping through ribs, intestines and arteries it wanted to fall out of her. It wanted to leave her. Instead it settled in her left foot. Unable to leave her fully, her statue of a heart resided as far away as possible. It made her walk with a limp, almost dragging her left foot behind her.

Three months had passed since she lost everything, everything you could imagine. Her parents, sister, brother, dog, goldfish, car, bicycle, clothes all burned in front of her eyes. It was a spark and then nothing. Her parents didn’t have a will or money or life insurance.

“What’s up with the limp?” asked her one friend.  A 18-year-old semi-goth, emo, confused boy named Hunter.

“It just happened,” Georgia said.

“Can you walk on it?” He asked.

“No.”

She really couldn’t it felt like it wasn’t a part of her anymore like it belonged to her stone heart and she was not privy to use it anymore. She imagined the heart was still red. Maybe it wasn’t stone maybe it was a ruby, maybe it was still something precious as opposed to something you kick when you’re bored and walking or you curse at when it hits your windshield on the highway.

Georgia sighed deeply and looked at her left leg and contemplated the usefulness of rock. Besides the biblical use to kill people it was a powerful, yet ever changing anomaly. Water over time could etch it a face. It formed mountains and canyons. It could destroy everything in its path. It was solid, reliable and strong but only for so long. It was intriguing to Georgia, who still worked her job at Dairy Queen because she still felt tied to the town her parents made their home. She worked at the Dairy Queen since she was 16 and 5 years later she viewed it the same. It was a job that afforded her very little but she never had grand dreams, in fact, she had no dreams. She never has. Not even whimsical dreams that made no sense. When she slept, she slept. When she was awake, she was awake. Her days were solid and reliable.  

Since the fire, mornings had started to become different. She’d wake startled, she’d wake exhausted. She still wasn’t dreaming but her left leg started to become stiffer. She decided to go to the doctor. Months passed and the doctors could find no reason why her leg wouldn’t work. They said it was mental, passed her along to a shrink. Out of sight out of mind. Georgia knew it was her heart. It was infecting her leg. She’d let her heart run wild and it wasn’t for love, it was for loss. At nights, before bed, after she’d brushed her teeth, she would grieve for her family. Hoping her grief would release her heart back to her. Hoping emotions could turn stone to flesh.

Waves crashing on rocks have been known to create. The ocean, daily, pushing back can change the course of rock formations. A year had passed and Georgia could use her leg again. She went to a community college to start on becoming a nurse. She got a job at a hospice. She was a bright light in some people’s dark, dark seas. She smiled a lot more and even had a dream or two. Deep within her though she felt bits of rock still floated around her heart, waiting in her pericardium. She followed a slow path, became an EMT instead of a Nurse and from there became a fire fighter. She was even a engine driver. She took a lot of slack from the men but she gave it back. She proved herself and over time she even met a man. It was the only man who had been there for her when her house burned down. It was Hunter. It was a new Hunter. Gone was the long, dyed black hair and metal tees with long sleeve fishnets. Gone were the leather spiked wrist cuffs and giant boots. When she ran into him at the grocery store, she didn’t recognize him. He went off to college. He came home in a suit and tie. She had no idea he was a blonde with eyes as green as emeralds.

They caught up over coffee and then dinner and then in the bedroom. He went back to his job in the city. He was an advertising guy. Pitching and creating. It was a good fit for him. They chatted on the phone every day. He wanted her to move to the city. She could fight fires there. It didn’t feel right to Georgia. They visited each other often but the relationship became frayed. Georgia found a loose thread and pulled it until there was nothing left. They loved each other deeply but distance became mountains and there was not enough of an ocean in Georgia to move it.

Her heart was heavy, crushingly so. She felt it changing back to stone as though her life was borrowed, on reprieve, out on bail and it was time to return, to pay her dues to not avoid the inevitable. Her belly swelled and she wondered if a good person would tell Hunter. Her stone heart rested in place. Her belly kept it still, for now. It labored her to feel its weight and each breath shocked her. She told Hunter. He rushed to see her. They argued. He demanded she move. She demanded he stay. He accused her of trapping him. She accused him of lying to her during heated moments. He blushed. She sighed. He left. She thought it was for the best.

When the baby came everything shifted. Her face had changed, her heart remained stone, but she felt stronger. Hunter came to the hospital. They named him Forest. Georgia hurt. There were complications and she had to stay in the hospital two weeks. When she got out Hunter and Georgia had their final battle.

“You take him,” she said.

“What?”

“You live in the city, you have a better job. I work long shifts and even worse schedules. I’m risking my life. He’s better with you,” her heart wasn’t in these words. It had settled in her left foot. It was rock, not even red this time. She felt there was no bringing it back.

“Come with us,” he pleaded. His eyes were begging, desperately but Georgia’s eyes were inconclusive.

“No.”

Georgia left. With her stitches, her broken body, her stone façade she ran with gusto. She ran until she bled, until she screamed, until everything caught up with her. When she fell, when she stumbled, when she no longer had the strength, she looked up at a full moon, at familiar trees, at the remains of a house. She ran home. How could she not have realized everywhere she lived was within 2 miles of home. They never did tear it down it just served as a warning to the other houses, to the neighborhood. She was in her backyard. Children had done horrible things, weird rock formations graffiti, bible quotes. Something that resembled voodoo. Georgia used the last of her strength to stand up and reach towards her home but her legs went stiff her heart went cold.

“Don’t be a chicken Billy.”

“I’m not a chicken I just don’t know why we’re doing this!”

“Bock bock bock bock bock.”

“Sammie, c’mon this is dumb. We’ve already been through the creepy burnt down Miller house.”

“Yeah and you cried and covered your eyes the whole time, Billy, like a little baby.”

“So?”

“So, you didn’t see what we saw.”

“Oh yeah? And what was that?”

“Go see for yourself.”

Billy ventured into the decayed home. Plant life had started to reclaim it. Stairs lead to a half roof where birds and spiders had gathered. He placed one foot on the stairs and it broke, trapping his foot. He screamed.

“What is it Billy? Too scared?” They yelled from outside while laughing like jackals.

“I’m stuck assholes. If you don’t help me, our parents will ask where I am!”

“Whatever, serves you right disturbing that house.” Billy’s face went blank.

“What?”

“We never went in the house Billy. We just walked you around the porch last time. Our parents taught us not to disrespect the dead.”

“Are you kidding me? What the heck is wrong with you? Why would you force me to do this then?”

“To see if you would. Bye Billy, we’ll tell your mom where to find you. You’re going to be in trouble.”

“You sons of bitches,” a phrase he heard his father use. “Get in here and help me!”

The silence grew eerie.

“Guys… GUYS! SAMMIE.”

Panic rose up into Billy’s throat like vomit. He struggled and squirmed and fought and the gashes on his left foot grew bigger. He pried and scratched at the stairs until they gave way and he was free. He limped out the back determined he could cut through the woods and avoid getting in trouble. Sammie was going to pay for this. He’d get him in trouble at school. Just you wait.

He never saw a statue in the yard before. They messed around in the yard a lot because of the woods behind it but there was never a statue. It was of a naked woman, taunt but round with hair flowing back, away from her face and shoulders. She was reaching for the house and in her left hand was what looked like a burnt match. Billy limped over, caressed the statue. He ran his fingers over thighs and arms and when he touched the match he realized it was a real match and it ignited. His eyes grew wide, his finger burned; he looked the statue in the face for the first time. The eyes were real but gray, they blinked and Billy grew stiff, his heart grew cold.

Life Mission - Part 1

In the woods, Maggie ran. Night was falling and the only advice she was given was run and hide, hope they don’t find you. Evolution had found a home in the Bone Snappers. A large, wolf-like beast covered in thick skin instead of hair, with a turtle’s jaw that snapped through bone, even trees if it wanted you bad enough. With an amazing sense of smell and superb ears and night vision humans didn’t stand a chance. The Bone Snappers were taking over, slowly, invading, but only at night. Their food source was scarce, birds didn’t sing and if you heard something shifting in the bushes odds are it will be the last thing you hear. 

Maggie had crashed landed back on Earth. She and her crew stopped receiving messages from Earth and assumed the worst. They spent 5 years in space, exploring everything within a reasonable distance. Searching for anything besides Earth being the only hospitable planet. Unmanned vessels brought back only shoddy footage and inconclusive samples. They needed something that knew what to look for, what to collect, how to interpret things. Hence the Life Mission was born. 

When they circled Earth, it didn’t look like anything was amiss, it was still green and blue, no nuclear weapons, no war they began their descent with no connection to Earth. Two of the 5-man crew died on impact. Maggie, Jeff and Vanessa were the survivors for now. 

Maggie ran, fear welling up in her like the sweat that poured from her. When they landed they crashed in the Appalachian Mountains during the day. No clue where other than that. A few people had seen the crash and rushed to see if maybe it could get airborne again. There must be some place on Earth without Bone Snappers and this was the first thing in the sky they had seen in months. When Maggie and what was left of her crew awoke, the sun was starting to set. A man told her the Earth had an affliction. The Bone Snappers are new predators that emerged liked some dormant dinosaur a few months ago and have almost wiped out life on earth.  He told her there were few defenses against them. Some houses have survived by utilizing a type of ray the government handed out before being cutoff and overrun. It was essentially a shrink ray.

“The sun is setting,” the stranger said. “You need to run and hide, but they’ll find you. Do what you can to survive.”

“How have you survived?” Maggie ventured.

“No time, sun’s gone, run.”

What sounded like laughter amplified boomed and reverberated off the trees. The stranger had disappeared. Maggie, Jeff and Vanessa took to heart the advice. They covered themselves in dirt and ran, in the dark, the laughter chasing them.

She could smell herself, which meant the Bone Snappers could smell her. There was a clearing in the woods, just ahead. Vanessa tripped and screamed.

“Shhh,” Maggie quickly rushed to her and covered her mouth. Vanessa tripped over a rope. They followed the rope. Together they pulled and revealed a grass covered thick metal door, which opened to a staircase underground. Entering and quickly shutting the door, behind them they felt trapped, following the only path there was. They came to a door and knocked. They waited and knocked again. They felt around the door, there was a button, they pushed it. Amazingly the door opened.

“Bone Snappers don’t ring doorbells,” said the child who opened the door.

“Who are you?” Said the adult standing behind him.

“I’m Maggie and this is Jeff and Vanessa,” Maggie paused to see if that would be enough. “We were astronauts for the Life Mission several years ago. We crash landed. We lost 2 crew members. “ Maggie  brushed the dirt away from her uniform patches.

“Life Mission? How long have you been in space?”

“About 5 years.”

“You’ve got a lot to catch up on, I’m Mark and this is Charles.” Mark smiled and grabbed Maggie in a hug. “Come in, come in, let’s get you some food, maybe a shower and get you caught up on the Bone Snappers. It’s so nice to meet other survivors sometimes. We’re so used to it just being the 6 of us.”

“What is this place,” Vanessa asked.

“We built this when the Bone Snappers were first discovered. Sometimes it helps to be a nut job that lives in the woods. There’s the door entrance and we kind of scale down this hill towards to lake so we can have access to water.“ Mark discussed everything so light and easily like we were expected for a dinner party.

They followed him down a narrow hallway and then it opened up to a well-done, elegant kitchen. With his back to the astronauts, Mark said,

“These are some astronauts that crash landed and are only finding out about the Bone Snappers now.” He turned to face them,

“This is our family. My wife, Sandy.” She waved. “Our former neighbors Jim, Beth and Tiffany.” They all waved.

“Hello, I’m Maggie and this is Vanessa and Jeff. We were with the Live Mission that launched 5 years ago. Could someone please tell us what is happening."

“It’s a long story,” Sandy said. “Best you sit down and eat while we tell you, I’m sure you’re hungry.”

“Would it be possible,” piped up Jeff, “to use any kind of shower?”

“My goodness, of course!” Said Sandy. “You all must need one. How about we do that first?”

“Thank you, very much for your kindness and for letting us into your home,” Maggie said.

They settled in, took some showers let the truth of the world permeate. When they all converged back in the kitchen, the got the whole story:

“The things just showed up about 6 months ago. They’re unstoppable, insatiable and they only hunt at night," Sandy said.

“Why at night?” Maggie asked.

“No one knows, no one who encounters them can stay alive long enough to figure it out and even if they did, they’ve taken over the world. They can swim long distances. We have no way of communicating with the outside world. Or being communicated by the outside world…”

“Unless they trip over your rope while running,” Vanessa said.

It lightened the mood, soft giggles.

“We’re just surviving. We can only go so far during the day for wood and food. None of us have even seen them up close we’ve just heard the laughing, the noises they make when they’re on the hunt and we can’t even hear that down here,” Sandy finished drank some water and stared at her son. “We were lucky. We even got one of the shrink rays and set it up at our most vulnerable point, where our compound meets the water. Well at the doorwaythat leads down to where our compound meets the water.”

“A shrink ray seems like an odd way to combat these things,” Jeff said.

“Yes, everyone thought that too but nothing kills them: guns, knives, anti-artillery, fire or electrocution. At least when they’re small they’re weaker. We can’t crush them or burn them, but we can collect them, let them starve out. They die in captivity after 3 days. I hate it, a slow, cowards’ death,” Mark answered.

“Can I see your vulnerable point?” Maggie asked.

“Sure.”

They walked down a series of zig zagged stairs. Floors and floors. The floor gave away to dirt and there were some pillars one had to wiggle through to get to the water. Maggie made her way through the pillars and stared out over the lake. It was beautiful. The moon reflected off the still waters. It was strange to see the moon from earth again.

Ripples formed on the surface of the lake. Maggie turned toward Mark, who had remained behind the pillars.

“We don’t come down here at night; you really should get back behind the pillars.” 

It was too late. A Bone Snapper rose from the serene lake scene. Mark bolted up the stairs. Maggie ran to the pillars. It pursued. It laughed. She squeezed her way through the pillars and the Bone Snapper slammed itself into them. Put its entire weight and force into bringing down the pillars.

“You’re so scared.”

The Bone Snappers could talk.

“I want your marrow.”

“What are you?” Maggie gasped as she backed away towards the stairs.

“Your bones crunch so deliciously. Your blood is the best marinade.”

Maggie ran up the stairs but could hear the Bone Snapper laughing and breaking through the pillars. She struggled to climb fast enough when she was almost at the top she screamed,

“It’s behind me!”

She flew into the kitchen and before she could turn around Sandy activated the shrink ray and soon the Bone Snapper was the size of mouse.

“They can still snap at you, draw blood, you have to pick them up a certain way,” said Sandy as she grabbed it by its neck and walked it over to a dry aquarium tank. The tank held some weak and dying mini bone Snappers.

“We bury them once they die around our compound, they don’t like the smell it usually keeps them away. They must be starving,” Mark said.

Maggie caught her breath,

“They talk.” She got out between breaths. “It taunted me.”

“They don’t talk, that’s impossible,” said Beth. It’s the first time one of the neighbors have said a word to the astronauts.

“It talked.” Everyone started at the tank of Bone Snappers. They didn’t make a sound.

There was a deep bellowing laughing that ricocheted from the stairwell. It moved slowly but was coming closer. Beth gasped,

“We took her mate.”