The Crest

Paws was a likeable cat as panthers go, as long as you kept your distance. It took up residence under a tree at a far corner of the FORC compound. The big cat tolerated gawkers, forlorn naturalists, and spiritualists trying to reconnect with a wild antiquity from a previous world. To the puma, these humans were the equivalent of a paparazzi; and despite their best intentions, they never gave the animal the solitude it desired. Still, the animal rested and adjusted to the quirky ways of humans. At night it prowled the enclave. Paws was Axel’s introduction to the empaths. He figured, if a mountain lion could adjust to this freakish group, so could he.

Axel looked at the rest of the empaths with suspicion. He hiked the three-hundred miles from Ashland to the Crest, braved the fires, and stayed away from the gangs. He tracked a feeling that he could not articulate, an aroma from the earth that latched onto a receptor in his brain.

Upon his arrival at FORC, they called him a plant empath. What the hell was that? Who are these fucking people? he thought.

“Fucking weird, man,” his partner Biff said.

“You can say that again.”

“Some kind of cult you think?”

“No, just a bunch of drifters responding to the same signal as us.”

“Like cattle in a feedlot man. What is this place?”

“It’s the enclave government, man. Even in an apocalypse, you can’t escape fucking government.”

“Man alone can be a buffoon, but for bona fide stupidity, look no further than a government. Even then, I’ll take this government over the cannibal version out there.” He pointed his thumb beyond the Crest.

“Amen to that hermano.”

The events in Axel’s life kept getting weirder and weirder. The loner with PTSD found out that the Crest was a massive research station containing trees that could survive the Shift, somehow save mankind. To the unworldly like Axel, it seemed too much like a perverted science experiment gone off the rails. He thought perhaps the Antisis were correct, he, like they, feared the unknown. Now distrust invaded his thoughts. Undeniably, these were the times everyone lived in, on the fringe of insanity, a hair away from embracing conspiracies; a heartbeat away from death.

But then, something changed. He saw FORC for what it was. He understood the importance of the seedlings, the research, and something called the future. He thought of his daughter in Wenatchee. He recognized the dangerous army that lurked out there, in good old Oeste Americano, beyond its walls, in the abyss, the Antisis. He remembered the captured family in the forest; he grew sick. He could never live with such evil, and then of course there was Paws, who made life tolerable for Axel.

He recognized what he needed to do. He joined Team Cybes. He thought, If I’m gonna go down, by God, I’ll do it with someone who knows how to fight. I’ll do it defending the trees. He didn’t care much for FORC and the scientists, they seemed snobbish, and unapologetically sanctimonious about the nursery. What mattered to Axel Stephenson was protecting the trees.

The Team Cybes gathered to test their weapons. They loaded their M4s, adjusted the sights, and aimed at the target. “War is stupid,” they said, and “we won’t be fooled again,” they commented.

They joked about the enclave. They said they were glad they joined this ‘banana republic’ because at least they’d be serving a plant. They called the enclave other things too, the kingdom of fruitcakes and nutjobs, the fairyland of academicians and superstitions.

That is what they said when they arrived at the Greater Portland enclave, but soon their distorted mindsets concentrated on those five million seedlings. The protection of the nursery became their primary occupation.

Danielle walked out to where the 120 Team Cybes were training their weapons. She asked to speak to the group. They distrusted her but gave her an audience anyway. The rough-hewn Team Cybes looked at the director.

“I’d like to thank you for signing up to defend FORC and the nursery,” she said.

“You are the elite fighting force that we need. There is a division of hardened Antisis headed our way. I hope Crefor can hold the Crest but if they can’t, if the Crest gets over-run, I want you to know how grateful I am to each one of you. I know that some of you may distrust me, have doubts about FORC and the science we do here. That is understandable, but let me tell you we are simply trying to make a habitable planet. Your foremost priority is the nursery. You may find this odd, but the seedlings take priority over the scientists; they take priority over human life.”

The Team Cybes looked perplexed.

“We know you came a long way to be here. We know that something called you to be here, be it a sound, a smell, a spirit, a premonition, or a sign, whatever it was, we are thankful you are here. You are welcome at FORC, our home is your home.”

Danielle paused and looked at the rough group in front of her. These former soldiers looked old. That’s not unusual, everyone aged with the Shift.

“You need to make a plan of defense. The nursery is 25,000 acres. How can you be the most effective across such an area? The scientists will fight at the research complex but you…” She paused. “You must defend the seedlings at all costs. My friends I beg of you, I plead with you.”

Her voice broke and tears came to her eyes. “You are the last defense for these trees, for our research, and for FORC. All the resources of FORC are at your disposal. God Speed Gentlemen.” Danielle shook the hands of each member of the Cybes.

The Cybes looked at each other for a minute, inspired, some speechless. At last, the leader of the group, Bones, spoke up. “God damnit you heard the madam executive director ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to get organized.”

“Madam executive director, we are at your service,” Axel declared.

Bones shouted, “We’ve got some Antisis ass to kick and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna sit around and sing Kumbaya while those bastards come across that wall. What do you say ladies and gentlemen?”

A cheer went up from the Team Cybes. “Ooo rah. Hooah, Ooo rah.”

Danielle smiled and walked away. Hopeful.