Into the Wastes by Milo James Fowler

Author:Milo James Fowler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic science fiction, speculative fiction, short stories, horror
Publisher: Chiaroscuro Press
Published: 2017-12-25T00:00:00+00:00

Breath of Life

Five of them approach, half-human monkeys we created for our amusement long ago, before their rebellion left Earth desolate. They drag a body through the dust by its ankles. The skin's grey pallor and clay-encrusted limbs tell me all I need to know before the stench of it reaches my nostrils.

"Help her." One of them speaks in a hoarse bark, like a dog with surgically impaired vocal cords.

I stand outside my cinderblock hut and patch the clay exterior with a trowel. The concrete inner walls are nothing against these desert winds. They require a natural barrier and regular maintenance to avoid erosion. From dust to dust.

"Bring her to life." The fuzzy sun-burned creature points at the body. His four brothers crowd around, staring up at me with stark white eyes and pinprick irises. "Do like before."

I set down my bucket and carefully place the trowel beside it. They must not think I am armed. The last thing the Church needs is to lose another missionary on this reservation. I would make three in as many months at the hands of these primates.

"That was different, Jason." I shake my head. "You were not—"

"Bring her back."

It's a full-grown female, the same genetic hybrid they are. The flesh is in an extreme state of decomposition—not a surprise, considering the shallow graves they dig for their kind. But there are no ravenous beasts to consider anymore, and grave-robbing is not part of their culture.

Until today. They have exhumed an entire body.

"We want her alive again," rasps a little one who jostles his way to the front of the pack.

"Now." Jason is their leader; again he points. "Breathe life into her."

How can I make them understand? "You were not dead. You fell from a great height and could have died, but all I did—"

"Do it for her." They advance, and I can't help cringing at the touch of their sticky fingers clinging to my arms, insistent as they drag me to the corpse of their mother. "We need her."

It's foolish even to think of resisting. They're stronger than ten men, even as boys. But of course the Church doesn't want me to think of them as "boys," although it's impossible not to. They carry human DNA, so it's assumed they must have something of a soul. And if so, they can be saved from eternal damnation.

They pull me to my knees beside the emaciated body. Its head tilts back on a frail neck with yellow fangs gaping, eye sockets hollow and puckered, the skin equally parched and drawn back from where lips had been. The odor is too much to bear as her children shove me close and hold me down. Bile surges in a reverse waterfall. I choke.

"Breathe life!" Jason grips the back of my neck.

"She's dead," I manage over the battle between my heaving bowels and thundering heart. "I can't help her."

"Do like you did for me."

Recoiling at the thought, I realize it may be the only way. I'll have to show them the futility of their request.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.