Hybrids: A New Species

“Are you feeling dehydrated? Hunger? Pain? How’s your vision?!” Cole asks in a desperate tone.

Ben doesn’t look at him, ignoring his questions.

“Any muscle contraction? Can I see if your pupils are dilated?”

“Stop!” Ben yells, finally fed up with this game of twenty questions.

Cole stops in his tracks from the sudden answer. He stands there, staring at Ben who’s now stopped as well. They stand in silence. The sounds of the birds and the wind is heard throughout the forest of the Rocky Mountains. They’ve been walking for a few hours now on a trail going up the mountains. Ben is frustrated, his heart is accelerating and he’s had enough of Cole’s questions.

“I’m not moving another foot until you tell me what happen to me and who the hell you are.” He says, giving Cole a hard stare.

Cole give off a blank expression.

“Okay. Fine.” he mutters.

He takes a deep breath.

“My name is Cole. I was part of a team that was working on a cure to the Fallen virus. That creature you saw at the camp was the results of a failed attempt at the cure.”

“So how the hell did you end up with a bunch of savages than?” Ben asks.

“They took me from the research facility I was at.”

“Research facility?”

“A lab. It was where me and my team was located at, working on this cure. Those men destroyed the facility, captured me and my friend, and brought us back to their camp.” Cole explains.

“Your friend?”

“That mutated animal you saw.”

Ben pictures that animal. It’s grotesque leathery face and odd shaped body will always be implanted in his mind.

Ben studies him. He’s probably telling the truth. No reason he should lie, right?

“What about me? Am I going to be okay? Or will I become just like that thing?” Ben asks.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?!” Ben shouts in frustration.

“Look. The only thing I know for sure is that you’re cured.” Cole states.

“That explains why I’m still alive. But it doesn’t explain the overpowering strength I gained. I broke a man’s wrist like a twig!”

“Maybe you just don’t know your own strength?” Cole laughs nervously.

Ben doesn’t find his comment amusing.

Cole feels the tension and swallows back his words.

“I honestly don’t know.”

“You’re useless to me than.” Ben says as he turns his back on him and begins walking.

“Wait!”

Ben stops.

“I could find out!” Cole says.

Ben turns to him. “How, didn’t you just say your lab was destroyed?”

“Yes, it was. But I have a home in the city.”

Ben raises an eyebrow. “I don’t follow.”

“Some time ago, I made copies of our research. I kept it hidden at my old house. Just in case. I’m going to be set back some steps, but it’s better than starting from the beginning.”

“And how do you know your home wasn’t burned to the ground?” Ben questions.

“I’m sure it’s still there. The area was abandon last I was there. We just need-“

“We?” Ben interrupts.

Cole clears his throat.

“Yes, please. You have to help me. I won’t last out here and there’s no way I’ll be able get to the city by myself.”

Ben thinks for a moment. If he wants to figure out exactly what’s happen to him, he’s going to have to help out Cole.

“Fine. But we need to head to my cabin home first.” Ben says.

A quick flash of his dead wife and daughter appear in his head. He feels uneasy.

“There’s something I need to do.”

“Of course. I’ll follow.” Cole says.

“So, what exactly do you need from me?” Ben asks.

“Once you’re ready, help me get to my house. Also, if we want to learn what’s happening to you, let me know if you’re feeling anything different.”

“Like what exactly?”

Cole scratches his head, “Muscle pains, accelerated heart rate, large headaches. Or whatever else seems not normal, tell me.”

Ben takes a deep breath and looks up in the sky. The bright blue atmosphere is a sight he takes in and enjoys. He looks at Cole with a weary face.

“No.” Ben tells him.

“No? What do you mean?” Cole worriedly says.

“I mean I don’t feel anything. In fact, I feel better than ever.”

Cole moves closer to Ben, now invading his personal space.

“Interesting.” Cole speaks. “There are no side effects I assume?”

Ben gives him a strange look, “Are you expecting me to grow a tail or something?”

“Of course not.” Cole says. “However, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did.”

Ben is now looking at Cole with a worried look.

“Relax.” Cole answers, knowing what Ben was saying just by the expression on his face.

“That should be the least of your worries. Be happy that you survived this transformation of a sort.”

Transformation.

This word tumbles around in Ben’s head. What happened to him back at the camp. It wasn’t normal. The pain he felt was terrible and agonizing. His organs felt they were on fire and were being ripped apart slowly by a serrated edge knife. He could feel his muscles shifting, being torn apart and being reattached over and over. It was a kind of pain he’s never felt before, and something he never wanted to experience again. Ben thought he was going to die, thinking he never be able to survive after being bit. However, through his agonizing pain he experienced, he fought for his life, and because of that, he’s still alive.

Ben begins walking back up the trail.

“Walk and talk Cole, walk and talk.” He says.

Cole runs to catch up to Ben.

They’re making steady time; they should be at Ben’s cabin in less than an hour. Ben knows these forests like his own backyard. Living in the area for eight years, he has learned the landscape and different landmarks to understand where he’s at. Anyone could get lost, like Cole, who’s never been up the mountains before. They continue on the trail.

“What exactly are you able to figure out about me?” Ben asks.

Cole doesn’t say anything yet. He’s thinking and trying to figure this out as well.

“Well, you seem fine. On the outside.” Cole says as he examines Ben all around.

The tall muscular man looks healthy. First time seeing Ben, he was pale and on the verge of death. However now, he’s walking around as if he’s been reborn. No scratches or bruises are seen on him, and he appears to be in top shape. Cole is still astonished and can’t wrap his mind around it, which is why he is desperate to get to his home in Denver.

“How’s your wound?” Cole asks as he stares at Ben’s arm.

“It seems fine.” Ben answers as he too examines the wound on his left arm. His skin is regenerating at an alarming rate. What was once a two-inch-long, inch-deep bite wound, has now become what looks like a long knife cut. It’s as if Ben was never bitten.

“I can also hear everything.” he adds.

“What do you mean?”

“I can hear the squirrels in the trees. I heard a deer running over there.” He says as he points west.

“It’s amazing! Your wounds are clearing up quickly, and it appears your senses are enhanced as well.” Cole says with excitement.

“I can smell them as well.”

“The animals?”

“No.” Ben answers. “The Fallen, their stench is worse than ever.”

Cole becomes cautious and looks around for any sign of the undead.

“Relax, they’re up ahead, but they’re not close.” Ben says calmly.

He’s seems focused.

An hour passes as they continue their way up the trail. Suddenly, one of the Fallen stumbles in front of them. Cole immediately stops, pulling out a small hunting knife he picked up back at the camp. Ben puts his hand in front of Cole, gesturing for him to stop. The undead man wreaks of human puss and rotting flesh. The smell is extremely strong to Ben; it’s burning the inside of his nostrils. But he doesn’t let it bother him. After years of dealing with the Fallen, Ben has gotten used to the smell. However, with this new enhanced sense of smell, he’s picking up a stronger stench from the Fallen. Ben approaches the undead man, who had on fisherman clothing. It lets out an unsettling moan and starts to tumble over to Ben. He stands there and waits for it to come to him. Cole takes some steps back, questioning what Ben is doing.

“Ben?! Kill it already!” Cole yells as the Fallen gets dangerously close to Ben.

Only a few inches close to him, the Fallen puts its rotten hands up to grab him, ready to devour his flesh. Suddenly, Ben swiftly moves to his left, barely dodging the grimy hands of death. He moves extremely fast and gets behind the Fallen. He grabs its head, twists it and pulls it right off. Like ripping the head off a chicken. Everything happens so fast, Cole barely had time to react. He stands there with his knife still up, but his mouth wide open. The thing’s body falls to the ground and Ben stands there, still holding the head.

“What the hell was that?!” Cole says in shock.

“I was testing something.” Ben says as he examines the head. It’s still alive, moving its jaw. Gurgling noise comes from its mouth, but not much else since the things vocal cords have been separated. The Fallen is still trying to eat Ben. Even though it has no body, the brain is still intact, so the virus is still controlling it.

Ben stares at its milky white eyes. Cole just stands, still holding his knife and trying to understand what Ben has done. He has a good grip on the undead head and throws it as hard as he could in the other direction. It flies far. Cole watches it fly until he can’t see it anymore.

“Why did you throw it?!” Cole says in disbelief.

“Just wanted to see how far I could throw it.”

Cole just looks at Ben with a strange look as if he’s crazy.

“I’m definitely faster. Reflexes are great, and I’m a lot stronger than I was before.” Ben says as he cleans the blood off his hands.

“Really?!” Cole angrily says. “Is that what you were doing?! What if none of that was true and you died right there?!”

Ben tilts his head to the side. “Well. I be dead right?” Cole rolls his eyes and continues to walk up the path.

“Who cares, I’m alive right?”

Cole stops walking. “You have to take this serious Ben! You’re the first person to be cured from this virus and it be nice if you didn’t die with it!” Cole says, frustrated.

“I’m just trying figure out what else has changed about me. I’ve been through a lot of shit already and I think I deserve to see what I’m capable of!” Ben explains.

“Whatever. We almost there yet?”

Ben angrily looks at Cole. He is annoyed with him. He isn’t the one who has had a taste of death and doesn’t know what Ben has been through these past few days. They continued walking.

“It’s just up ahead. Around them trees.”

Ben and Cole arrive at a wood cabin. The area looks empty, but they can hear the sounds of the hungry Fallen. They approach close to the entrance of the cabin home. Cole can hear the ghoulish moans of the undead louder. The sounds are coming from an open trench in front of the cabin. He approaches it but immediately steps back when he sees what’s in it. Three of the Fallen are in there, impaled by large wooden stakes. One of them is dead, with a wooden stake jabbed through its head. Chunks of brain and black blood give the stake a new paint of color. The other two are still alive, but unable to move. With wooden stakes driven through their bodies, and black blood everywhere, they hungrily moan, with nothing else on their minds but to keep moving. Cole looks back in the five-foot trench, examining them. Ben walks next to him.

“Traps I made for the undead to fall in. Or for stupid people who come here.”

Ben walks to the front entrance of his cabin home. The door is still open from when he left. Memories flashback in his mind again. His undead daughter eating his wife. Her attacking and biting his arm. Ben swallows the courage to enter his home. When he walks in, he can immediately smell the blood. Its strong iron smell hits him hard, it isn’t the old rotten blood he’s used to. But fresh blood. Ben takes another step inside, time is going slow. He suddenly hears the groan of a woman. His heart is pounding. He sees the mangled half of a woman laying across the room. Ben is trembling, the half-mangled woman is his wife, Pamela. She spots Ben and puts her arm out. Not for embrace, but to attack him. She’s become one of the Fallen. The other half of her body lays lifeless a few feet away from her. Cole comes up behind Ben,

“Hey what’s wrong?” he says.

Ben doesn’t say anything. Instead, he stands still like statue, staring at his undead wife.

“Ben?”

Cole see’s the Fallen laying across the room. It’s slowly crawling its way towards them. Cole looks at Ben again, who still hasn’t moved an inch, but just continues staring, not taking his eyes off of her.

“You know her. Don’t you?” Cole softly tells him.

Ben doesn’t respond. Cole knows he has to do this himself, so he grabs his knife, preparing himself to end Pamela’s life. As he approaches her, Ben grabs Cole’s shoulder.

“Don’t.” he says.

Cole gazes at him.

“I need to do this.” Ben tells him.

“Okay.” Cole says as he sheaths his hunting knife.

Ben grabs his black onyx blade. Pamela has gotten closer, only a foot away from them. She still determine to devour Ben’s soft flesh. He kneels down and waits for her to get closer. Now only a couple of inches away from Ben, he grabs Pamela by her long blonde hair. She only died recently, so she hasn’t started decaying, but her eyes have faded. The beautiful blue eyes she once had, have now become a faded dead gray color. The life it contained once before have been replaced with an empty shell. Pamela growls and moans in hunger, as she desperately bites at the air. Ben just looks at her, holding her back by the hair.

“Pam. I’m so sorry.” he starts talking to the moving corpse. “If only I had stayed, maybe.” he chokes on his own words.

Cole watches the heart-breaking scene. He’s afraid Ben might let himself get eaten but chooses to let him have this disturbing private moment.

Ben continues, “Pam, I love you. And I promise to find Hailey and put her at peace as well.”

Pamela is grabbing onto Ben’s arm with the knife, but she can’t get any closer to him. Ben shakes away her arm,

“IM SORRY!” he yells as he thrusts the large blade right through Pamela’s skull.

She stops moving and goes limp. Ben pull the knife out and her body drops. Dark red blood is now infused with her beautiful blonde hair. He’s on his knees, crying for the loss of his wife. Cole silently watches in the back, not knowing how hard this is for Ben.

Ben finishes laying out dirt. He has buried Pamela in the backyard of his cabin. He hoped he never had to bury his wife, but he left an empty area for graves. Just in case. Cole comes outside. He has a bag packed with some water, fruits, and a few old cans of food. “I’ve finish packing” Cole says as he opens a bottle of water. Ben grabs a few stones and lays them out on the soft dirt to use as a grave marker.

“Fine.” Ben mutters.

Cole can feel the tension from afar.

“Do want to talk about it?”

“No!” Ben angrily answers. “I barely know you! Why the hell would I want to talk about this?!”

“I’m sorry I just thought-”

“Just leave Cole! You have enough supplies to get back to town so just go!”

“Ben, you know I can’t do that. You have to come with me.”

Ben drops his shovel and has a furious but also deeply sad expression to his eyes.

“Why should I?! Because I’m some kind of fucking miracle to your cure?! You did it once, I’m sure you can do it again!”

Cole gets frustrated, “You’re the only one left you idiot! Your mankind’s last hope to this damn virus!!”

Ben walks up to Cole, he’s now in his face.

“I don’t care! Let mankind wither away, what hope is there?!”

Cole suddenly punches Ben in the face. He falls to the ground. Ben is surprised that this small thin man was able to knock him to the ground.

“SHUT UP! SHUT THE HELL UP!” Cole yells, his fist throbbing in pain. “How can you say that?! You’d let the entire human population go extinct?!”

Ben wipes a small drop of blood from his mouth. He looks to Cole, who standing by the door to the cabin,

“You’re going to regret that.”

He stands up, and immediately runs to Cole. He tackles him, and crashes on top of the kitchen table, the wood table is destroyed upon impact, sending pieces across the floor. Cole was to slow and scared to dodge. Ben is now on top of him. He punches him, Cole’s glasses fly across the ground. He punches him again. Spits of blood cover pieces of the table on the wood floor now.

“EIGHT YEARS!! EIGHT YEARS WE SURVIVED!”

Cole’s bruised face looks to Ben, and tries to say something, but Ben interrupts him with another punch to the face. Ben brings up his fist once more, its covered with Cole’s blood. Cole looks in horror at Ben, knowing this is the end for him. Ben uses all his force and swings his fist once more. Cole’s eyes close, hoping his death will be quick. The loud sound of wood breaking forces Cole’s eyes to open. He looks to his left to see Ben fist has missed him and has gone through the wood floor. That strike would have definitely killed him. His heart is rapidly beating and he looks up to Ben. The frustrated expression that Ben had has now become one for mourning.

“My wife! My daughter! We lived through this apocalypse and we survived!” Ben explains as he pulls his fist out of the ground and gets off of Cole. His fist is covered with Cole’s blood and his own. Cole lays there, face bruised and a bloody lip. Ben continues,

“But now there’s a cure?! The thing we hoped for every night and day! It’s not fair! This had to happen when there was finally a damn cure?!”

Cole slowly tries to stand up, he’s on one knee.

“Ben, I know this unfair. I wish this didn’t have to happen, but it did.” He finally stands up, holding on to a chair that wasn’t destroyed when they crashed into the table.

“I can’t know what you’re going through, but I can guarantee there are people out there who do.”

Ben looks at Cole; he’s still struggling to stand up.

“There are still families out there. Men like you. Women like your wife. Kids like your daughter. All they want is this nightmare to end.”

Ben has calmed down. He’s gazes at the hole he made with one punch, his new-found strength still surprises him. He listens to Cole’s words.

“I’m sure there are still people out there who are struggling to survive. Just for some kind of miracle. I know you didn’t ask for this. You were just like those people out there, wanting all of this to end. But now you can be that new hope. You were cured, and now you can save these people.”

“How do you know there are still people out there? People who want this to end?” Ben speaks. “The people I’ve met are dangerous. They want to survive, but they’ll kill anyone to have that. I don’t think there’s any good people left in this world.”

“I thought the same way, until I met you Ben.” Ben’s eyes meet Cole’s.

“When you saved me Ben, I knew you were different. I mean ya, you put a gun to my head and threatened my life,” Cole says with a chuckle, “but you didn’t kill me. You wanted answers.”

“Who wouldn’t? I was bit and should have been dead. Anyone would have done that, what makes me different?” Ben says.

Cole picks up his glasses from the wood floor and cleans them.

“You’re wrong. If you were like those men at the camp, you wouldn’t have questioned it. You would have probably killed me and used your new opportunity at a second life for your own selfish desires. But not you. You wanted answers because deep inside, I think you knew this was a chance to save the world. To change things.”

Ben doesn’t say anything; he again examines the destroyed floor he caused. Blood and bits of debris from the table are scattered in the kitchen floor.

“Ben, this is the hope the world was looking for. I gave up when I was captured, but after seeing you, I knew there was still a chance to save the world. Will you help me? Help me cure this world from this damn virus and save the good people that are still out there?”

Cole’s words have reached Ben. He walks up to Cole and helps him stand. They walk to the couch in the living room of the cabin. Ben rests Cole down on the couch. His breathing is slow. Ben did quite the damage to him, however, for how small and scrawny Cole is, he’s extraordinary tough for his size.

“Do you really think we can do this?” Ben asks. “Just the two of us?”

Cole laughs, but shortly stops when a sharp pain on his side interrupts him.

“No Ben. I don’t” he answers. “But we need to try. Even though people will be hesitant of the whole thing.”

Ben brings a chair from the kitchen and puts it across from where Cole is sitting at. He sits and continues to listen to him.

“Imagine if some huge muscled man and a scrawny nerd came up to you and said they had a cure for the virus.” Cole says with a chuckle.

Though he’s in pain, he still jokes around.

“Hell. After saying it out loud like that, I don’t even believe me.”

“Then how will we do this?” Ben asks.

“Well, desperate people will believe us. Sane people would be cautious. As for the crazies that are still out there. They might not cooperate. But we can at least start with good people who would want our help.” Cole slowly sits himself up and looks at Ben. “You’re living proof that this works. It’ll be hard at first, but the more people we cure, the more people we can save and...”

“The faster we can return to civilization.” Ben finishes Cole’s sentence.

“Exactly! So, will help me?”

Ben stands up. He paces back and forth. He’s in deep thought and wonders if he should start this new mission to save humanity. Images of his family project in his mind. His wife Pam, sitting at the table reading a book. His daughter Hailey, drawing and coloring animals on a piece of paper. The vivid thought almost feels real. He looks to his wife and daughter, knowing they’re just fragments of old memories. However, Ben looks to them both, sitting at the kitchen table, and they look back. They nod to him, as a gesture to accept this task and help save humankind.

“I got to say Cole. You’ve convinced me.” he says as he turns his attention to him. “I’m sure my family would want this. To save the world.”

Cole smiles. “Thank you. But before we do anything too drastic.” His smile fades.

“We still need to head to my old home. I got to put the final pieces to this cure and figure how we’ll administer it to other people.” He grabs his side in pain, “It’s going to be a bitch getting there. You really messed me up.” He laughs.

“Sorry about that.” Ben says in guilt. “But we won’t be walking.” He says with a smile.

He looks back at the table that his family was at. They’re now gone.