Then she bundled me in a blanket and helped me onto her bed. I welcomed the softness of her palm when it touched my cheek and memorized the kind brown eyes as they crinkled at the corners when she smiled down at me. “There you go, child. All done. Forget your trespasses. Your feelings are normal for an inexperienced girl. I’m sorry your mother wasn’t around to teach you our ways, but I am here now. I will teach you everything you need so that you may be ready for the beast man.”
“I don’t want to go back.”
“I know. It’s difficult, but it must be done.” She walked the few steps to her nightstand and moved it to the side. She stomped on a stone. It flipped over. I leaned in to see. A tiny box hid inside a small hole under the stone. Momma Jo opened the box and got something. She sat by me and put an inch-long vial in my palm. The clear liquid inside swished.
“I don’t need that. I won’t sleep with him.” I said.
“Sometimes young girls become lustful and lie with the beasts. Then they wake up regretting it. The seed they take into their womb may become fruitful and breed more of the beasts. This medicine eliminates the seed.”
“I did not have sex with him.”
“No, but if given to a beast male, it will also eliminate him.”
I thrust the thing back to her. “I’m not very good with clues. I think you mean I should kill him.”
“Why, child, of course you should.” I gaped at her again. Hands on my shoulders, she shook me. My teeth rattled. She let up and, brown eyes wide, said, “You could be paired with him. What’s to stop him? There are no males here, no one to lead us, no one to say no. If not you, then it will be my Georgina or Joy or any of my girls out there. Don’t you understand? They will breed us, and more beasts will be born. Humanity will die. But if we don’t breed, they’ll leave us alone, go back to where they came from.”
“I don’t think I can do this.” I put the vial back into her hand. As I did it, Momma Jo’s gaze hardened. “Your daddy would want you to do it. He must be a part of Men of Earth, and the new Prophet Tom is training him. That’s why he hasn’t come yet.”
“Daddy is a loner. He’s not into movements.”
“My old man wasn’t either until he saw there was no other way. Together we stand stronger, and Tom has showed us the way. You were put here in my community by God’s hand. He picked you to do his work, and it is my duty to show you how.”
“If the beast dies, they’ll kill me.”
She cradled my face. “That ol’ cow is giving him medicine of her own. Right?”
“Right.”
“Nobody will know which one you gave him. It will make him sleep and not wake up. He is a sick beast. He could’ve come here sick. After you give him medicine, you leave as if nothing happened. They will find him in the morning and do nothing about it but burn his body. You won’t be suspected.”
Chapter Ten
Torrent
Crimson taste in my mouth. The cold stone against my cheek. An arrow sticking out of my neck. Jamie and Vice falling into the ground in the middle of the sanctuary. Men of Earth began chanting. I presumed they prayed. I tried to crawl out of there. A foot pressed on my cheek, and I howled in pain. Somewhere out there, Felicia howled. Jamie didn’t respond. Had they killed him?
The guy with his foot on my face picked up my arms and dragged me down the steps. He left me there to watch as the other men brought out large sacks. They piled the sacks on top of Nedr’s dead body, poured gasoline over the pile, and lit him on fire. Just as well. He’d find our Great Mother and be at peace. As the fire burned away the sacks, the contents spilled out. It was bones. They clicked against each other as they fell. I squinted my tired eyes. Those were someone’s remains, skeleton pieces. Two whole skeletons, one in each sack.
A skull rolled out. The jaw protruded, large canines still intact. Beast skeletons. Why would they do that?
Now, I had my answer. Men of Earth had come prepared, might have anticipated the raid. They collected the bones of our deceased so when the beasts descended on the community to investigate what had happened, they’d find bones and think Felicia and I had died.
Two sets of bones and one male burning made three. Inside the hole, they got rid of Vice and Jamie. After they cleaned up, they loaded me and Felicia into a truck and drove us away. Everyone thought we’d died. For a while, we believed Vice and Jamie were dead too, but then we overheard them talking about Jamie, so we knew he’d made it. It gave us courage to move on. Still, we knew Jamie wouldn’t even think to look for us.