LifeWild

Arthur is sitting on his mattress when he hears a crackling sound. He looks up toward the source of the noise and notices a circular disc full of small holes mounted into the corner of the ceiling. He had never noticed it before, but he never had any reason to study the area so closely. He hears a rustling noise and also what seem to be whispers coming from the circle.

Arthur stares curiously at the disc on the ceiling. Abruptly, the crackling and whispering noises turn into a man’s voice.

“Good Afternoon. I am addressing you today with great sorrow in my heart. It has just been brought to my attention that a great injustice has been done here in our own United States. As the president, I plan to right a great wrong that has been done on our own soil. It is for this reason I am broadcasting this speech not only to those who have been the victims of this great abuse, but to those members of every family in every household of our great nation.

“Almost twenty years ago, a grant entitled LifeWild was established by the Department of Health and Human Services to study the genetics of various animals, primarily mammals, and determine the feasibility of using the findings to combat and cure human disease, or to learn of ways to make humans stronger or increase their longevity. This was supposed to be theoretical research only.

“The people who wrote this grant and were put in charge of its implementation had entirely different goals. From the beginning, LifeWild was a cover and the true purpose of the project was not research, but creation and exploitation of a new species of human designed to be sold on the black market to the highest bidder as slaves or pets or for any number of unimaginable purposes.

“Volunteers were requested, many from our armed forces, to donate samples of their genetics in various forms. These samples were genetically engineered with the samples of different species of animals into living organisms, thus making those volunteers biological parents to these ‘new humans’ without their knowledge or consent.”

Arthur finally realizes what James had been alluding to in his conversations. He and many or all of the others from the Compound were his children. It all makes sense now. Why he took a low level job to work at the Compound, why he was so interested in helping them and why he risked his life for them in Molina. Arthur wishes he had known sooner. He finds himself feeling overjoyed to find out he has a family, and also feeling sad he doesn’t know if he is alive or dead and regardless of which, he most likely will never see him again.

He continues listening to the voice from the ceiling disc.

“…was shut down due to a lack of experimental results, but due to a bureaucratic loophole, continued to be funded until now.

“Recently, I have been provided with not only enough evidence to shut the whole project down, but to implicate virtually everyone involved in the project, all the way up to the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management in the Department of Health and Human Services. All those involved in project LifeWild were doing so against government approval and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“Furthermore, it has been brought to my attention that this project was of a larger scale than we had initially guessed. Upon discovering and dismantling a facility near Molina, Colorado, the evidence we were provided with indicated the existence of three other locations throughout the state. At this time, we believe we have found and relocated all of these aforementioned victims and arrested all responsible parties. Additionally, prior to the main implementation of the project, a smaller scale feasibility experiment was done and the creation of several embryos occurred. These newborns were designed with a smaller genetic sampling and were simply to test viability of these ‘new humans.’ Upon their successful births, they were all sold under the guise of an adoption agency. We are working nonstop to locate and help not only these ‘new humans’ but their adoptive families as well. Finally, evidence has been uncovered recently the technology involved in this project might have been sold to countries throughout the world. We have devoted a great deal of personnel and other resources to answering this question.

“In the meantime, it is my pleasure to inform you, the American people, of the addition of over two hundred ‘new humans’ into our population. Their ages range from one year old to eighteen. All of them have lived their entire lives being brainwashed into believing they are less than human. In addition, they have not been formally educated, nor have they ever been in any normal social situations. This is a gross miscarriage of justice and it will be corrected.

“To aid in the integration of these ‘new humans’ into society, several steps will be taken. First of all, a community will be established where they will be able to live and learn. I have set aside one hundred million dollars to build homes and other public buildings such as schools and a library. We will be offering tax incentives to any businesses moving into the area to promote financial growth. There will be many teaching jobs made available as well as apprenticeships and other job opportunities, such as day care and pre-school for the younger ones.

“The ultimate goal of this community is to allow these newest members of our population the opportunity to learn how to fit into our world and function in our society. I ask each and every one of you to help in whatever way you can. Thank you.”

Arthur can hardly comprehend what he has just heard. He cannot believe everything James had fought for was coming to fruition. They are going to be able to live a free life without being controlled by anyone. It is everything he had dreamt of for the last four years.

Before he met Haley, that is. He is thrilled about the news, but he is not sure he will ever again feel whole. Still, he owes it to James to help out as much as possible and to aid the others like him however he can. They deserve the happiness this change will bring, even if he is not sure he will ever feel it. Keeping this in mind, he finds himself looking forward to what is to come.

Several weeks since the President’s speech, Arthur and the others have remained at the same location, but they have been given more and more freedom as the days have passed. Arthur has been able to talk to and spend time with the others, almost without limit. He found Jasele first and after a long embrace, they filled each other in on what they knew.

Both had been expecting hopeful news about James and Haley; neither of them receiving it from the other. They had held each other and mourned silently for the better part of the day.

Jasele hasn’t left Arthur’s side since. He has been glad about her presence. He finds great comfort and warmth having her near him. In the days following their reunion, they have talked with Timothy, Laila and Penelope. It has been bittersweet. Arthur and Jasele told them about their time outside of the Compound and about Haley.

They also broke the news about James. He’d played such a major role in their lives. With the added likelihood of his parentage, the news sent shock waves of silence and devastation.

Penelope expressed her thanks for what Arthur had done for her. The technicians had left the sliding panel on her door open and she had seen him attacking the two technicians who were about to enter her room. Her appreciation did not hide how guilt-ridden she felt. She believes Haley wouldn’t have been hurt if it hadn’t been for her.

Arthur, although disheartened, let her know she wasn’t to blame. They were greatly outnumbered and were doomed from the beginning.

They spent many hours together over the past weeks, finding strength in each other and regaining a sense of family. It was a time of opportunity and hopefulness. The promise of a new future brought a joy to most of their lives that has rarely been present. Arthur is trying his hardest to be happy for them. He only wishes Haley could have been with him to share in these events.

She first hears the sounds of a television in the background. Her ears hear only random noise patterns to begin with, but as she becomes more aware, she realizes she is listening to a news broadcast. She is only getting every few words, but it sounds like someone is reporting on some riots and protests in Washington, D.C.

She opens her eyes just a little bit. The room is dark except for a sliver of light peeking through a closed curtain and the irregular light given off by the television.

She opens her eyes all the way and attempts to move her head around in order to see where she is. Her head and neck feel really weak and the movement is somewhat painful.

“Try to move as little as possible.” She hears a familiar voice coming from the side of the bed. “Slow and steady when you do move, you’ve been lying here for almost a month.”

“James?” Her voice is a dry crackle, barely allowing her to speak at all.

“Yes, Haley, it’s me. Try not to speak right away. I’ll find some ice chips for you to help moisten your throat.”

As he is gathering some ice, she ponders what he just said. She can’t believe she has been here a month. She has no memory of being here. The last thing she remembers is seeing two men getting ready to attack her and calling for Arthur.

James comes back into the room and walks around to the side of the bed where she can see him. He smiles at her and spoons a few ice chips into her mouth and then gently holds her hand.

“Welcome back, kiddo. We were very worried about you.”

She smiles back while attempting to swallow the water from the melting ice chips.

“What happened?” Her voice still very light, but sounding much better.

“Well, I only have bits and pieces of what happened at the facility, but I’ll tell you everything I know.

“First of all, there were not one or two technicians in the building, there were ten. I found this out on the computer after we were separated. I had just about finished downloading the files when I heard Arthur’s roar. I assume he was being attacked by a few of those technicians. As soon as I was able to remove the flash drive, I was going to help. Before I could get out the doorway, though, two of them had blocked my way. As I was tussling with one, the other grabbed a gun and shot me in my side. After that, I remember very little. I seem to recall Jasele being in the room and seeing police. The next thing I remember is being in the hospital. They said I had lost a lot of blood, but the bullet didn’t hit any major organs. I had apparently gotten very lucky.

“I have no idea what happened to you exactly, but you were brought here with blunt force trauma to the head. The doctors stitched you up and did what they could, but they didn’t know if you’d ever come out of your coma. You have been unconscious for twenty-nine days.”

“I am sure you want to know all about everyone else, especially Arthur,” he smiles as he says his name, “so let me get right to it. I have not talked to any of them directly, but I have heard from a colleague both Arthur and Jasele are fine. They were tranquilized, so they were not harmed in any way.”

Haley smiles again, larger than before. She can deal with all of this a lot easier knowing he is not hurting.

“What happened to them?”

“That’s the best part.”

James proceeds to tell her the events of the last weeks. He relays to her he turned in the flash drive to a General Harton he knows in D.C. From there the evidence circled through all the offices of the government and landed upon the President’s desk. The President launched an emergency act through Congress and put a plan in action to create a community designed to serve as a home and a pathway to integrate the ‘new humans’, as he called them, into society.

James also informs her that these steps have not come without cost. Since ordering this plan into action, the President’s approval rating has dropped over forty percent, and people have been protesting all over Washington. Riots have been popping up around the country. People are accusing the government of spending taxpayer money taking care of monsters, as well as science experiments gone wrong. James is pretty sure the worst is yet to come.

He reassures her all reactions are not as negative. There are a great many people pledging their time and support in any way they can. They had so many people requesting to help that all of the jobs and volunteer positions in the LifeWild Community are filled.

Haley looks at James, giving him the largest smile she can muster.

“That’s great, James. You really did it, didn’t you? You freed them all. That is so amazing!” She pauses, squeezing his hand knowingly, “Are you going to live near them? They are your family after all, right?”

James returns the smile. “I had a feeling you had it figured out. To answer your question, I have been given the title of Community Coordinator. I am basically the top man when it involves the LifeWild Community. I will be living there and helping them in any way I can, which, by the look of the news these days, is going to be a lot of public relations.”

James hesitates a moment before continuing.

“I do have a proposition for you, if you’d like to hear it.”

Haley nods, excited to find out what it is.

“For every five residents in the community, I have hired one person to act as an intermediary between them and society as a whole. Someone who can help them learn the norms of our country and of our society. Someone who can help them answer their questions or concerns. I would like you to be one of those people Haley. I have left one spot open for you, if you would like it.”

“Of course I’ll do it James! I’d love to!”

“I was hoping you would say that. I do have one last concern I need to talk with you about.”

Haley’s stomach turns.

“Well, the LifeWild Community is built in and around your hometown. I was wondering if you would like to help manage one of the established businesses and use it to employ both people from town and from the community to help merge them into society.”

Haley ponders the question for a couple of seconds.

“That sounds like it could be a bit of a challenge at times, but I would love to do it. Where would I be working?”

“Your family’s ski resort.” James clenches his teeth, unsure how she will react.

Her pupils dilate with fear and she pales noticeably.

“Are my parents safe?”

“I’ll let them answer that, Haley.” He steps into the hallway for a couple of moments and is followed back in by her mom and dad.

“Haley!” Both parents say in unison as they move close to give her a careful hug.

“Mom, Dad, I am so glad you’re okay. After your note, I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” Her relief is genuine and automatic, but a part of her can’t help but see them a little differently.

“Oh, Haley, we thought the same thing.” Her mom begins, “when the doctor came to us and threatened to kill you, we weren’t sure we would have any chance to help you. You must have gotten our message.”

“Yeah, I probably would have come back and tried to find you if you hadn’t left it for me.”

There is silence for a few minutes as they hold each other.

“Now would probably be a good time to clear some things up,” James directs his words toward Haley’s dad.

“Right.” His pause and glance away expose the difficulty of the next words. “Haley, your mom and I were never able have children on our own. We tried for many years and finally decided if we wanted to have a child, we would have to adopt.”

Haley is about to tell him she already knows, but can’t figure out how to explain why she didn’t talk to them after finding out.

“We tried every adoption agency we could think of and among other things, our age seemed to get us a lot of rejections. We finally were accepted and were overjoyed. We were so happy we probably neglected to notice quite a few details, but it turns out the agency was a cover for something called the LifeWild program.”

“Wait a minute,” confusion suddenly colors her face. “I was a part of LifeWild? What does that mean? Am I a ‘new human,’ too?”

Haley’s parents look at James.

“Yes and no, Haley,” James begins, taking their cue. “Your genetic makeup was enhanced, just not to the same extent as all the others. Human donor cells were spliced with a few of the genetic markers of a red fox. Your group was mainly created to see if the experiment would work, but there will be some noticeable characteristics which will set you apart.”

Haley once again feels like her life is upheaving.

“So, the human donors would be my parents.” She pauses before looking at James. “James, are you my real father?”

Her parents look at each other with a look mixed between sadness and regret.

“I am sorry to say I am not,” James’ regret is obvious. “I wasn’t a part of the program yet when you came into being, but we are doing everything we can to find out for you. I will tell you it will be difficult. Many of the donors were anonymous. I was only able to find out anything because I came back looking for information and had quite a few connections. I will do my best, though.”

“We will help you in any way we can, too, Haley.”

Her parents offer brings Haley’s attention back to them. They seem sad and unsure.

“I want you both to know I love you very much.” Her mind becomes clear as she speaks to them. “I don’t think you know this, but I found the letter you both received in the trash and read it. I couldn’t believe it at first and for the entire day while I was walking I was either crying or so angry I couldn’t think straight. I have had a while to process everything and I still am very hurt that you both never told me, but I want you to know I do and always consider you my real parents, whether I find out who my birth parents are or not.”

Her parents look at each other and share a relieved smile before giving her another prolonged hug.

“Well then, would you still be interested in working with us at the best resort in the LifeWild Community?” Her dad asks with more than a little eagerness.

“Definitely.”

“Great!” James quickly rises to leave, an excited look on his face. “It all starts in one week. Hopefully, you’ll be up and moving by then.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have one last bit of good news for you.” His face stretches out into a huge grin. “Guess which five residents will be assigned to you?”

It is morning, exactly one month after the President’s speech. Arthur is awakened by a voice coming from the disc in the ceiling.

“Good morning, everyone. Today we are going to be moving you to your new home. It is called the LifeWild Community and it has been built near and partially in the city of Crested Butte, Colorado. Soon after arrival, you will be given your living arrangements and the name of a person who will be your liaison in the community. That person will be available to answer questions, give guidance and basically help you in any way they possibly can. Ideally, this community will serve as a bridge to help merge you into society in the future, but you are welcome to consider it a home for as long as you need.

“The LifeWild Community Coordinator, James Watkins, will be giving you an orientation the moment we arrive. He is the person most instrumental in gaining your independence and in setting up this community for all of you. He will be the head of everything involving the LifeWild Community and will serve as your representative to the United States Government. He is your biggest advocate and best resource; make sure you give him the respect he deserves.”

“Make sure you have gathered anything you need. The buses leave at 9:00 am. Good luck.”

Jasele sits up and looks over at Arthur, her eyes wide with excitement.

“James! They said James will be there! He’s alive!”

Arthur gently grabs hold of her shoulders.

“We don’t know that for sure, Jasele. We don’t know what James’ last name is. This might be a completely different person.”

“No! It’s James! I know it. They said he was the one who did all of this for us, and got us our independence. That’s got to be him!”

She pulls Arthur into a hug, holding him tightly. He is not sure, but it does sound a lot like him. He finds himself excited at the prospect of seeing James again, even if it is just a tenuous hope. He only wishes he could have the same hope he will see Haley.

As the buses reach the outskirts of Crested Butte, they encounter about a dozen people on the side of the road holding signs and chanting. Arthur glances at a couple of the signs as the bus roars by. One sign read ‘New Humans = Not Human’ and another one had the words ‘Spend our taxes on human beings, not science experiments.’ He couldn’t quite make out what they were chanting, but he did hear ‘creation’ and ‘abomination’ repeated quite a bit.

He looks around at the others in the bus. They all seem to be quite disturbed about the protesters. He figures he should try to say something to them.

“Hey, don’t let that small group get you down. Remember, this Community was built by people who believe in us and all of those volunteers and businesses believe in us as well. We are already in a far better place than we were two months ago, let’s celebrate the good for now, and deal with the bad when we have to.”

Timothy stands to add to Arthur’s words.

“Personally, I think they are probably protesting some other new community near here, we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.”

His words cause ripples of laughter to flow throughout the bus. It is a much needed release for the tension built up from seeing the people picketing.

While they are passing through town, Arthur looks around at the passengers around him. For many of them, this is only the first or second time they’ve seen a town. He sees widely opened eyes and many of them pointing and stating disbelief in what they are witnessing. He knows he is nowhere near being a veteran townsperson, but what he has experienced makes him feel fairly savvy in comparison to those around him.

He thinks back to some of his experiences in Gunnison. He has shopped for clothes and groceries and he even had a meal in a café. He had enjoyed those experiences even though he was quite nervous at the time. It was a good thing Haley had been there to prod him along and assure him everything was going to be alright.

He suddenly regrets thinking about the day in Gunnison. He is having a hard enough time trying to be positive and upbeat for those around him without intentionally bringing her to mind. He certainly doesn’t want to forget her, quite the contrary, his memories of her are all he has left and he wants to preserve and treasure each one. This just happens to be a time of change and uneasiness for not only him, but for everyone here and he needs to show courage and fortitude, especially to the younger ones.

His thoughts are interrupted by a combination of sad and angry mumblings swirling through the bus. He turns to Timothy and taps his shoulder to get his attention.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s just the locals rolling out the red carpet.” His voice is sounding a little sarcastic. “I was afraid I would have to worry about all these stores to choose from, but they are so nice they narrowed down my choices for me.”

Arthur discovers what everyone else is observing. There are signs and posters hanging on the doors or front windows of many of the businesses they are passing. Many of them merely say, ‘Non-LWC customers only’ or ‘Only Natural Humans Admitted’.

“Why are they doing that?” Jasele’s face is a mixture of sadness and confusion. “What did we ever do to them? What makes us in the LifeWild Community, oh wait, the LWC, so bad? We can’t help being what we are.”

Penelope walks over and squeezes onto her seat. She puts her arms around Jasele and gently pulls her head onto her shoulder.

“Nobody seems to like change, Jasele, especially when it is a change into the unknown. Remember when you told us about your escape from the Compound? You were suddenly free and since you had removed your chip, no one was going to come after you. You could go wherever you wanted to go, but you stayed near the building. You were afraid of the life you knew nothing about.

“These people not only know very little about us, but some of the things they do know are scary to them. We are stronger and faster than they are. They’ve heard that we’re able to kill humans very easily. The President’s speech even made it sound like we could be less likely to catch diseases than they are.

“Put all of that together and all they see is something to fear. Over time, they will start to accept us, but in the meanwhile, look over there.”

She gestures toward a store to the right of the bus. In front of the store stands a younger looking couple with a young girl in front of them. They are waving at the buses as they drive by, the little girl jumping in place and waving both hands. In their store window a poster reads ‘Help Wanted - Everyone Welcome to Apply! - LWC Included’.

As they continue down the main part of town, they notice more and more positive posters intermingling with the negative ones. They even see several more business owners and other townsfolk waiting for them to pass by and give their regards. Many of the passengers on the bus, especially the younger ones, begin waving back, their faces beaming.

The bus exits the main part of the town of Crested Butte and then north on Gothic Road toward the section near Mt. Crested Butte where all of the ski resorts are located. After traveling through a two mile stretch of undeveloped countryside, they enter the northern section of the town.

At first, everything looks the same to Arthur. From the times he was here at night, he still recognizes many of the buildings and stores. He is especially familiar with the ski resort Haley’s family owns. He hadn’t thought about it, but being in Crested Butte, meant he would have to be near Haley’s family. Remembering the picture Haley had of her parents, he is pretty sure he will never seek them out, but if he were to see them on the street or in a store, he is not sure how he would be able to react. He does not even know if they would be happy or upset to know he was involved in her life. Judging by the reactions of the people he has seen today, he figures it could go either way.

The bus suddenly comes alive with excited chatter and a lot of pointing and heads turning. Up ahead, they see a new looking road with a big stone wall off to the right side. Engraved upon the wall are the words ‘LifeWild Community - New Friends in a Growing World’. Many of the bus’ occupants even cheer as the bus passes the stone marker.

As they enter the new development, everyone is in awe of how clean and new the place is. The first building visible has a sign above the front doors titling it the LifeWild Community School. It is made up of three sections, basically three buildings connected by a main breezeway. Each section is two stories tall and looks big enough to hold more than the number of students coming in on the buses. In front of the school is a wonderful new playground. All the young ones are excited to see it, even Arthur thinks he might have to stop by sometime.

On the right side is a library. It is roughly the size of one of the sections of the school. Beside the library is another similar looking building with the title, ‘Community Hall’. Arthur is guessing it is where the Community Coordinator will be most of the time.

There are a few other buildings of different shapes and sizes on both sides of the road. Arthur figures those are probably available for businesses to move into the community.

The buses round a corner and slowly make their way up a slight incline. Soon, they are all looking at two good sized apartment buildings. Arthur estimates they could easily accommodate everyone from LifeWild and still have room left over.

The passengers in the bus are completely ecstatic at the sight of their new homes. All uneasiness from the protestors and townsfolk has been forgotten for the time being. Right now, it is all about them, and they love it.

They continue past the apartment buildings approximately a half mile. Up ahead there is an amphitheatre consisting of a stage and a band shell, with at least twenty rows of metal bleachers. There are five or six people near the stage and at least one hundred people sitting in the bleachers. The buses head into a parking lot off to the side.

As the buses find their spots and begin parking, the passengers in the bus are practically popping out of their skin in anticipation. Arthur is anxious but of mixed emotion. He feels like someone just gave him everything he ever wished for, only he found out he had always wanted something more.

He looks out the window, remembering how sure Jasele was that James is going to be here. There are way too many smells to be able to identify anyone out there by their scent, especially while these buses are running, so he focuses on what he can see.

The crowd is full of people of all shapes and sizes. They are still a good fifty to seventy yards away, but after scanning carefully, he is fairly confident none of them are anyone he knows. He turns his attention to the people near the stage. A man in a suit catches his eye. He is waving at the crowd. Lots of people in the crowd seem to be focusing on him, as well as two people directly to his left and right. The people surrounding him are also in suits and appear to be concentrating really hard on what is going on around the first man. Arthur concludes he must be an important or famous person. Maybe it is James Watkins. He would certainly be important to the LifeWild Community. If that is James Watkins, it isn’t the James he knows. He looks nothing like him.

Arthur suddenly feels really disappointed. He thought it was unlikely this James would be the same person, but Jasele’s enthusiasm must have gotten the best of him, because he really was expecting the man in the suit to be him. He notices the man standing further off to the side looks more like James than the man in the suit.

His random thought suddenly kicks his brain into high gear. He looks intently at the man off to the side. The hair, the body shape and the posture are all James.

“Jasele. It’s James! Timothy. Laila. Penelope. Look over by the stage.”

They all rush to the side of the bus to see who Arthur is talking about.

“It is him!” Jasele’s words are coming rapidly in her excitement. “You’re right. He is alive. I told you, Arthur. I’m so happy. I can’t wait to see him. I wonder if he missed us. I sure missed him. Are we parked yet?”

The bus has moved over to the part of the parking lot for larger vehicles and they are now two hundred yards from the stage. The others from the Gunnison Compound, younger and older, are talking excitedly with each other, telling their favorite James stories, wondering who will get to talk to him first and betting on who he likes the best. Arthur is just watching him with a small grin on his face as the bus begins slowing into its parking space. He is relieved he is alive.

Arthur watches him as he moves over toward a woman sitting in a chair a few feet to his side. He stands in front of her and it looks like he is leaning over to say something into her ear. He then straightens up and offers his arm to help the woman to her feet.

Arthur gasps and stumbles forward, falling onto the seat in front of him, in an attempt to see the woman better. He has to be dreaming! He can’t be seeing what he is seeing! He sees her hair, her face, her legs, arms, hands and waist.

“It’s her!” He practically screams the words. “Jasele, tell me it’s her. Tell me that’s Haley!”

He can’t see her anymore; his eyes are filled with tears. He furiously rubs the liquid from his eyes and looks to see if she is still there. She is. His heart is racing to the point where the pounding is almost painful. He wants it to be her so badly; he thinks he might be imagining her.

“That is Haley, Arthur.” Jasele confirms. “This is too amazing! They’re both okay. I can’t wait to talk to them.”

The bus comes to a stop and opens the door.

“I have got to go see her!” Arthur is already moving to the door. “I need to go now.”

Arthur is down the steps of the bus and quickly heading around the front of the bus before anyone else in the bus has even stood up. Jasele follows his lead and begins to move, so do Laila, Timothy and Penelope.

Once he is around the bus and is in a straight line path with Haley and James, Arthur begins to run using his arms and legs. He is up to full speed in less than a second. He is about one hundred and eighty yards away. He will reach her in about nine seconds.

One second later, Jasele is passing him at twice his speed. She will reach them in about four seconds.

One more second later, Penelope is passing Arthur. He assumes Laila and Timothy will be following, but they will never catch up to the three of them.

He keeps his eyes on Haley. He is close enough now to be sure beyond any doubt it is her. She has noticed the three of them coming in her direction. Apparently, James and the other three have noticed as well, because they are all frantically moving.

One of the men surrounding the important man has covered him with his body and is moving him to the ground. The man on his other side is reaching inside his jacket for something. James is waving his hands towards the other men, moving his body between the men and Arthur and the others.

Jasele is about two seconds away. Haley recognizes Arthur and Jasele, smiling briefly before realizing what is happening and turns in horror toward the four men beside her. Two of the men are on the ground now and the one covering the other is reaching in his jacket. James reaches the other man who has pulled out his gun and he grabs the hand holding the weapon. He is yelling something.

Jasele is one second away. Haley and James are both shouting at the men with guns. James has wrestled the gun from the other man’s hand and is leaning toward the other.

Jasele reaches the group, slows to a stop and puts her hands up in the air as she realizes what she has caused. James falls on top of the arm of the man who is still holding a gun and quickly disarms him.

Penelope stops behind Jasele and puts her arms up as well. Arthur has already slowed down to a walk and is covering the remaining distance arms in the air. Laila and Timothy have begun carefully walking as well, not entirely sure what is now going on.

“They mean no harm, Mr. President.” Haley quickly explains. “They’re really close with James and were just excited to see him.”

He pulls himself up into a sitting position, the men with him quickly rising to their feet to help him off of the ground, still very alert.

“It’s alright, I am not hurt. It is fortunate this ended in this way. We could have had a disaster on our hands.” He takes a few steps toward them. “You must be Jasele. James has been telling me all about you.”

He reaches out his hand to her and Jasele does the same, gently shaking his hand. At the same time, James is slowly picking himself up off of the ground while Laila and Timothy finally catch up to the group.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. President.” Her voice sounds a little awkward, but pleased.

He looks at the rest of the group.

“Let’s see, you are Penelope and you’re Laila,” reaching out his hand to each in turn, “and I’ll bet you’re Timothy.”

They each respond politely to his words and handshake, their expressions a mix of awe and curiosity. They know the President is the leader of the United States, but are not sure how big of a deal it is. They are all much more interested in seeing James.

He steps over toward Arthur, who is barely paying attention to what he is doing, mainly because he has been staring at Haley the entire time, still afraid to look away in case she disappears. He is trying to take in every detail and preserve it perfectly into his memory. The way her hair shines in the sunlight. The sensuous movements of her soft pink lips, which, even though seem to be telling him something, keep reminding him of their kiss. The quick back and forth movements of her perfectly shaded dark green eyes, appearing to direct his gaze away from her. The graceful beauty of her hand as it points leftward, attempting to aim his attention elsewhere.

He is abruptly aware that she has been doing her best to signal him to look to the left. He reluctantly does so, finding the President standing directly in front of him, looking expectant.

“I’m sorry, sir,” he begins sheepishly, “I didn’t catch what you said.”

The President lets out a laugh.

“I was guessing you were Arthur, but from what James has told me and the way you’re mooning over Haley, I have no need to guess. The look I see in your eyes when you look at her is how I imagine I look at my wife, Arthur. We can get to know each other later; right now, just go over there and show her how you feel. I’ve got a speech to make anyway.”

“Thank you, sir.”

He nods quickly and immediately begins to move toward her. She is already on her way to him as well. Arthur is so elated he is almost laughing. He is already taking in her scent, causing his body to shiver with bliss.

They embrace instantly and hold each other as if letting go meant forever. He takes in as much as he can of her scent, her warmth and the feel of her body against his. The world falls away around them, leaving them with only each other. He never wants to let her go again.

“I thought you were dead.” He whispers, a little choked up by the words. “I am never leaving your side again. I love you. I never knew feelings this strong existed before I knew you. When I thought you were gone, I was just an empty husk. My life is yours, forever.”

“I love you, too, Arthur. I think I always have and I know I always will. The way you were so gentle and caring to me after you found me. You saved my life, physically and emotionally. I am pretty sure you are better at love than any human I’ve ever met. I only hope I can love you as much.”

As Arthur and Haley hold each other, a speech which will undoubtedly change the nation is taking place. The President officially welcomes the LifeWild Community into the United States and encourages both human and new-human to look beyond what separates them and seek out ways to build relationships based not on fear of the differences between them, but on faith in the similarities within them.