Muts, page 1
Muts
I.D. Woods
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author and/or contributors, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. 2022
Dedication:
This is dedicated to anyone that creates worlds in their heads to escape the horrors of their past and present.
It gets better. I promise.
Acknowledgements:
There’s too many people that have been involved in this book over the years for me to thank everyone. But, for the first book of this series, I want to specially acknowledge my first ever fan and editor: Ambie.
Without you I never would’ve actually had the backbone to write this series, much less publish it.
Thank you.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter One
Sasha
The seven of us had just sat down to eat dinner when there was a soft knock at the front door. All of us turned to look at Carrie, it was her house, it was her responsibility to open the door. A simple enough job, but one of the worst ones to have here. Carrie looked up at us with her black eyes, sighed loudly, then dropped her fork to clatter back onto her plate.
“Fine, but you all really suck. Sasha?”, she beckoned to me as she pushed her chair back. Even without her asking, I had already started to rise from the table to follow her dark ponytail from the dining room. We never opened the door alone anymore. We wouldn’t make that mistake twice. Everyone else at the table returned to eating, but they kept a watchful eye on us. I grabbed my trusty shotgun out from the pantry under the stairs and checked to make sure it was loaded.
“How many are there?”, I asked Carrie casually, cocking the gun and positioning myself to the left of her, leaning against the wall for a good vantage point in case our visitor wasn't friendly. She took a peek out of the side curtains before letting the white lace fall back into place.
“Just one this time, Sash.”
“You are aware that I have a loaded gun pointed at your back, right?” I said, my aggravation clear. Everyone knew how much I hated nicknames, yet Carrie kept insisting on it.
“You really have to get over this nickname thing. It’s annoying, and you’re missing out on some real creativity here.”, she retorted before swinging open the door to reveal a lanky teen that couldn’t be more than fourteen max. He kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, looking at her with wariness in his eyes. Carrie flashed what was once a winning smile if it wasn’t for her now completely black eyes and long, pointed canines. Her mutation was creepy enough to look at when she wanted it to be, and she was in full intimidation mode. The poor kid immediately shrank back from her, but I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her antics. Even the apocalypse couldn’t damper her theatrics.
“And what can we do for you this lovely day?”, she said with obviously false cheeriness, venom underlining every word. His eyes darted away from her then froze at the sight of my gun aiming at him from the shadowy hallway. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat before he was able to speak.
“I was lost… and I don’t have anywhere to go...”, he shuffled his feet nervously, “I decided to follow the lanterns on the road, and I figured anything I found here couldn’t be much worse...”
His words trailed off, but he didn’t need to explain further. Carrie and I placed the lanterns on the road leading to the house shortly after I arrived to help other lost muts like me find safety. She glanced back at me with her eyebrows raised in question, I nodded in agreement, and lowered my gun a fraction. She stepped aside and waved him in. He breathed a sigh of relief at the invitation. He took a tentative step inside, glanced around quickly, then cried out when Carrie suddenly pinned his emaciated body against the closed door.
“So, what the fuck are you exactly?”, she asked slowly. His eyes darted back and forth between her pitch-black eyes and the gun in my hand. The kid looked normal enough, but it wasn’t uncommon for the hungrier muts to appear to be normal to get close to others. Luckily, the truly feral ones couldn’t even make out a full sentence. It made it loads easier to figure out who was truly bonkers versus who was just that way from trying to survive this bad sci-fi version of an apocalypse.
“What- what do you mean..?”, he was visibly shaking now. Typically I would’ve told her to back off of the poor kid, but we were all still on edge from our last random visitor. There was still dried blood spatter above the front door where none of us could reach to clean away.
“I-I don't…”
She wound her fingers through his hair and pulled back his head to the side so she had complete access to his jugular. Well… at least her drama produced results. The poor kid looked like he was about to wet himself.
“What. Are. You? A human? A mut? What?”
“I’m a mutant! I’m a mut! Whatever you want to call it!”, he practically shouted, tears filling his eyes. She inspected him for a second then dropped him unceremoniously onto the floor.
“Prove it, but if you mess up my house I will happily eat you. I’m over this vegetarian crap anyways.”
She gestured towards the dining room where everyone else was pretending not to be watching the exchange. His wide eyes darted around until he noticed a vintage glass lamp sitting on the little table next to the door. He slowly reached out, still giving us both wary looks, and gently touched one finger to the base of the lamp. The bulb flared to life and the light held steady until he removed his hand.
“Huh,” Carrie paused in thought as she glanced through the window behind him again, “How’d you manage to get that mutation?”
“When the bombs fell I was helping my dad work on some electrical stuff for our house, and I was knocked into the live wires when the shock wave came through. He… didn’t adapt to it as well as I did.”
Carrie nodded her head, before looking out through the sheer curtains again.
“Didn’t bring any friends we don’t know about yet, did you?”
“No, I swear. I haven’t seen anyone in days.”, he stuttered.
“Well, I hope you’re not thinking about trying anything funny.”, Carrie said in a dark tone before turning and walking away with her snooty, trademark hair flip.
“Of course not.”, he readily agreed. I paused to examine him closer now that I wasn’t looking at him for aiming purposes only. Chapped lips, severe sunburn, sunken cheeks; he definitely was wandering in that dystopian hellscape for a long time. I just hoped that he could meld into our little family without any issues. There was something about him that brought out my sentimental streak, there were very few kids his age who have survived this long. I leaned the gun against the wall and extended a hand to help him back onto his feet.
“She takes some getting used to,” I explained with what I hoped was a calming tone while motioning towards Carrie’s retreating back, “What’s your name?”
“James.”
“Well, James, come on in then. I hope you like the salad. That’s all we ever really eat anymore. Well, that, bean chili for protein purposes, and bread when Maria spends all day growing wheat.”
“Wait, wheat…? Where did you find vegetables? Nothing will grow out there…” James questioned me in wonder but, before I could even respond, his attention was ripped away. When we entered the dining room he froze, not that I could blame the poor guy. He was wandering out there for god knows how long then he shows up to a house full of mutants that are openly sizing him up. Most of us are alone, in pairs at best. Our little family was definitely uncommon. When I arrived it was only Carrie, Terrence, Maria, and Richard living in the old house and just seeing those four I was completely petrified.
James’ eyes were glued to Allana though, which makes sense. Seeing a woman completely covered in mirror shards that was casually trying to dig a knife into the palm of her own hand was riveting enough any day. But when her mirrors varied in length, from inches long on her arms, to little spikes on her face, and sharpness of those edges it was enough to paralyze you on the spot. It was immediate to imagine the damage those jagged angles could do to simple flesh. I’ve seen her do some terrifying things when in a pinch. Nothing like razor edges to keep everyone a safe distance away.
I wanted to try to keep dinner calm and casual for a few minutes at least, for James’s sake. At least until he had some food and water, he needed a minute or two of peace. I gestured to an empty chair for him beside me before Carrie slid her plate in front of him. James only flinched a little at the sudden motion, to his credit, before jerking his eyes away from Allana, thanking Carrie, and quickly picking up a fork. I had a feeling that he previously was raiding empty stores for what food he could find. Regretfully, most of us had the exact same idea so being able to find even a single can of food was a miracle. I didn’t like thinking of those days not far away enough in the past. The constant hunger and fear almost made me go completely insane. I can’t lie. There were a few moments where I even thought about eating the other people I came across before I ended up here. At least I only fantasized about it at the worst. There were others who didn’t stop at fantasy,
“Carrie, you need to eat.”, Allana said, raising her brows at her quick disregard of food but without bothering to look directly at her. She had dropped the knife by now and was running her fingers over the back of her hand, probably trying to find a flaw in the thick layer of mirror shards that covered every inch of her. Over the past months she had become increasingly obsessed with finding a way through her mirrors. I had a suspicion she was seeing if she still had skin under there, but so far she was impenetrable.
“I don’t want anymore of this leafy crap. I want a double bacon cheeseburger and my body weight in fries.”, Carrie complained back as she sank into her chair, her tone sulky, “Richard, can’t you figure out if any of those animals out there are safe to eat?”
He looked at her over the rims of his glasses before rambling on in his nasal, patronizing voice. Why she even bothered to instigate a conversation with him I’d never understand. Everything had to be a speech and most of it was infuriating. I’ve never even been in a fight before but every time he opened his mouth I had an overwhelming urge to send my fist through his teeth. But, I had to agree with Carrie, having a medical professional is a “priceless asset, even if he is the reason why there is ‘ass’ in ‘asset’.”
“Look at what’s happened to our bodies, do you really want to push your luck with those creatures out there? I mean, be my guest. You might want to lend Matthias your gun though Sasha, it’s a well known fact that men are a better shot.”, he speared a bit of tomato onto his fork casually, as if he wasn’t testing my will power with every syllable. I swear, it was like he was being deliberate in the way that he chose his insults. “If you do, at least let me know where you’re going so I can pick up your corpse later. I’m incredibly bored here and doing research on your body would make for a satisfying afternoon at least.”
I know he meant the corpse comment in jest and Carrie laughs accordingly, but he was already a misogynistic prick before all hell broke loose, but his recent lack of empathy towards us was making me grind my teeth. No empathy is a great way to get a serial killer. Granted, the apocalypse can bring the psycho out of anyone. I’ve never had to shoot a sane mut before. But, he was the only one here with any kind of medical training and that was priceless now. I glanced back at James who had already cleaned his entire plate and was trying, and failing miserably, to not look longingly at our plates from under his matted hair. Poor kid looked like he hadn’t had a real meal in weeks, probably closer to months.
“I never really liked salads before, but that was delicious”, James said, with near reverence in his voice, “I haven’t seen anything this edible in weeks. Where did you find this?”
“That would be from me dear.” Maria practically purred while leaning around Carrie to look at him, her gloved hands resting under her chin. Maria had a habit of acting like an old-school-silent-movie-era type of woman, and I had to admit that it worked for her. Her dark brown eyes sparkled with good humor out of her heart shaped, tan face. She still had a slight accent, and it absolutely melted me when she rolled her Rs. To answer his unspoken question, she slowly slid down one of her dark satin arm length gloves to the elbow. When he could see where her flesh began the slow transition into a thick layer of rich black earth that covered her from elbow to fingertip, his mouth fell open. While he was occupied I quickly switched his plate with mine.
“How did that…?”, he asked, obviously trying to be delicate but burning with curiosity. I had a feeling even while he was out in the world that he didn’t get a lot of polite conversation. She gave a soft laugh, already knowing the rest of his question, before rolling her glove back into place and returning to her plate.
“Oh, I was gardening when the bombs dropped. I fell in the dirt, and the rest is history.”
There were a few moments of awed silence from James while he studied us and tried to figure out our mutations. Some, like Allana and her mirrors, were obvious. Mine, for instance, was not. Unless you got close enough to notice the fur growing down my neck, my rapidly darkening eyes, or the small antlers beginning to just over the top of my hair. I easily had one of the most useless mutations ever.
“If you wanna see something really cool, check this out!”, Matthias, Allana’s perkier brother, suddenly chirped with a toothy smile and he held his hands out for James’s inspection. James’s eyes scanned the wires criss-crossing across his forearms and widened when he saw the headphones jetting out from the center of his palms.
“Woah...”, he grinned at Matthias, and I couldn’t help but to think how young smiling made his face look, “How did that happen?”
“Well, Allana and I were getting ready for class on the day it happened. She was doing her makeup and I was listening to music in my room. Our bathroom mirror got all in her face, and my headphones just melted into my hands.”
“Oh.” James paused awkwardly, looking at Allana again, “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
She snorted and turned her face away from him, but Matthais shrugged off her bad attitude and chuckled.
“So, are they functional…?” James asked. Allana’s mask cracked a bit when a smile flashed over her face, granted she turned away immediately, but I saw it.
“I wish. I can get about two bars out before I lose concentration. Hold on, I’ll try.”
He scrunched up his face and barely the first few notes of music played through his hands before the sound distorted and stopped. He sat back and exhaled hard before shrugging at James.
“Eh, I’ll get back to you on that.”, he said, dejected. Allana chuckled under her breath, and he sent her a scowl before turning back to his meal.
“I’m Sasha by the way,” I cut in softly, before Allana could start ribbing Matthias again about having a useless mutation. I gestured to the others in turn, “This is Richard, Maria, Allana, her brother Matthias, and where is Terr-- Terrence get out of the window!”
Terrence paused for only a second with one leg still dangling over the window sill before his unfocused eyes managed to latch onto my face. His face crumpled and he started slurring on about how the walls were insulting him. James glanced at me in alarm, and I mouthed the word “drugs” at him before quickly returning my attention back to our resident wack job. Terrence had noticed my distraction and was trying to, unsuccessfully, slide his thin body out the window unnoticed. Luckily Allana was the one with the most experience dealing with him other than Maria, but that was only because his constantly hallucinating brain just wanted to stare at her mirror studded skin. She grabbed him by his shirt collar and bodily threw him onto the dining room floor where he landed on his back. He flopped onto the carpet like a fish, laid frozen for a second, then started violently writhing as if in pain.
“Too many snakes! Snakes! Snakes!”, he started shrieking. If money was still a thing, I’d bet my next paycheck that the vines woven into the rug had caused this particular fit. Maria pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a slow breath like she was trying to not lose it.
“Matthias, dear, if he wants out, would you mind helping the man leave? I have a raging headache and I just can’t take any more of his hysterics today.”
“Hey Terrence.”, Matthias said loudly, snapping his fingers in his face until he focused his eyes on him. “Hey buddy, I think there’s a concert upstairs, wanna go with me?”
Terrence didn’t respond, he just squinted his eyes and looked at him with a distrusting question mark on his face.
“I heard there’s going to be some Rachmaninoff.” At those magic words, an almost maniacal smile replaced his scowl and Terrence quickly clambered to his feet. He latched onto Matthais’s arm happily babbling nonsense about hand size and octaves as he led him out of the room.
“Thank goodness.”, Maria sighed as she slid her chair back, addressing no one in particular, “That man is completely exhausting. We have to figure out some way to get any kind of drugs to even that man out.”
