Mary Tomkins held her children tight. Brandon, only three and, truth be told, a little tired from a day at play, snuggled close. Eight-year-old Anna squirmed and sighed. She loved the attention, but there was still so much to do with her day. Her mother had long since turned off the television, wielding the remote like a weapon against the horrific images on-screen. There were tears in Mary’s eyes neither child could understand, and it made Anna both curious and uncomfortable.
Anna wriggled herself loose from her mom’s grip and, hugging her one more time, went off to her little table in the corner of the living room, selected a notepad, and started drawing. Mary smiled at her little girl and put Brandon down. As the toddler sat down to play, she went to the kitchen to find her husband.
Paul was deep in thought, drying and putting dishes away. Mary leaned against the doorframe and watched him until he turned around and saw her. He tried to hide it, but she couldn’t suppress a small grin at the way his eyes widened and breath hitched slightly on seeing her. She’d startled him.
“Sorry,” she said. “You must have really been off in your own little world there.”
He smiled and kissed her forehead. “Something like that.” He finished drying the coffee mug in his hand, and grabbed a second from the cupboard. He filled them both with coffee from the pot Anna hadn’t noticed was even turned on and sat at the kitchen table. She answered his questioning nod by taking a seat beside him.
“What do you think is going to happen?”
He shook his head. “Been thinking about that all day. Can’t be good, whatever it is.”
“I had to turn off the news. Those things,” she said. “The clones. They’re so violent. They’re so...”
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to shake the memory of what she’d seen. As the Donors filled the city streets, they had attacked anyone that moved. In some cases, they satisfied their growing hunger over the screams of their victims. Sometimes, they simply attacked, as though possessed of a singular directive to destroy life.
Paul, who had also gotten his fill watching the violence in the City, just shook his head. “Yeah.”
No comments:
Post a Comment