Resistance: The Last Hybrid

Day 5

You wake up to the sound of gentle chewing. Opening your eyes, you find your daughter sitting at the table eating her breakfast, a bowl of cereal. Martha is nowhere to be seen, but you aren't too worried about that. You slowly get up and walk to the table where you join your daughter. Your heat stacks clack against the wooden bars of the back of the chair. The clacking alerts your daughter, and you see the curiosity on her face.

    "Why do you have those?" she asks you.

    You grab the pencil and paper on the table, and then write her an answer. You tell her you need them to survive, otherwise your body will overheat and you'll die. Katie softly nods, seeming to understand your situation. Remembering back to the attack on your home, you put together Katie's age, discovering she is five years old, born in mid 1952.

     You hear the door open behind you. Turning around, you find Martha entering with a weapon in her hands. The weapon is very familiar to you. Many humans, soldiers mostly, carried the weapon. It's similar to your weapon in many places. The human weapon takes ammo clips, just like yours. It has aim down sights, also like yours. But unlike yours, the human weapon can launch grenades. Your weapon is capable of firing a homing device so your weapon's pellets can follow your target. Your weapon also has a higher fire rate compared to the human weapon.

    "Good, you're awake," Martha says to you. "Have you seen any other Chimera during your travels?"

    You remember back to the day the link was severed. You started your journey with a few comrades, but they were killed off. You remained the only survivor of a human assault. You recall not coming across any of your kind afterwards, only dead corpses. You shake your head in response to your wife's question.

    "Then it could be safe out there," Martha says in general. "The remnants of the Federal Government are trying to join everyone back together. A radio message by President Thomas Voss states he wants community leaders and representatives to meet at what's left of Little Rock, Arkansas, to discuss the future of our country. And considering I'm currently the oldest and last of our town, I guess I'm the community leader of Greenfield, Missouri."

    The name of the current US President is interesting to you. Before becoming a Chimera, the President of your country was Noah Grace, a man who proudly supported SRPA and its efforts to learn more about the Chimeran threat. You recall Daedalus speaking to you and your comrades about possible negotiations of peace with the United States. That was back in late 1951, and you recall Daedalus informing you that Nathan Hale had killed Noah Grace. You assume Vice President Harvey McCullen succeeded Grace as President. And if that did happen, how did McCullen die? It didn't sound too important to you, but you know the question will linger in the back of your mind.

    Moments later, you and your family, along with your companion, are leaving the bunker. It was finally safe for your family to leave. Martha carries a backpack along with her gun, and Katie carries a small backpack of her own. The only thing you have to carry is your gun. All four of you go through the wrecked house and out into the street of the desolate town.

You look to your wife, relying on her to lead the war to Little Rock. She holds an unfolded map in her hands, both your current location and Little Rock marked. The path to Little Rock is highlighted on the map, telling you that Martha has been planning this journey. And now with all the supplies needed for the journey acquired, and the path hopefully clear, you and your family are ready to begin your journey.

An hour after leaving the town, you and your family are now walking through a forest. For days you've been on a highway with nothing but tall, dead grass on all sides. Now you are surrounded by green trees and grass. Instead of death being in your way, there is only life. It makes you feel relieved to finally see so much life, even if it wasn't human or Chimera. You can hear birds chirping and fluttering in the air. They are small life forms that never bothered you, even when you were under the control of your overlords. Only the things that could stop your people from conquering the Earth were transformed into one of the many Chimeran strains.

You remember some of the strains. Steelheads were tall and possessed weapons that had the ability to fire projectiles capable of drilling through solid objects. Ravagers were somewhat taller, sometimes possessing a shield and weapon that fired green projectiles, or they carried a big gun that fired beams of heat. Titans were even larger, wielding massive guns that launched balls of fire which could sometimes lock onto their target. There were other strains way bigger than the Titans, like the Kraken, Widowmaker, and Leviathan. You've never seen them in action, but caught glimpses of them every now and then. You recall once seeing a Leviathan being taken down by humans when you were stationed in a city heavily under your people's control. You wonder and hope if the city is back under human jurisdiction.

You feel something tap your hand, causing you to remove yourself from your thinking. You look down to find Katie holding her hand up. You grab onto it, watching her smile greatly. You become happy at the fact your daughter has gotten used to you being a Chimera, the very thing she's been afraid of for years. But there was nothing left of them now. Only your people's destroyed technology and rotting carcasses, mere remnants of a recent past.

You and your family stumble upon a carcass along with a destroyed tank. The carcass is that of a Titan. It must have been an intense fight between the two. There's a massive hole in the chest of the Titan, possibly created by a tank shell. The sight of the battle seems to have caught the interest of your daughter. You watch as Katie goes over to look at the remains of the Titan. Because of its dead state, it didn't frighten her.

"Katie, let's go," Martha says to her daughter.

Your daughter returns to your side, taking your hand once more.

Hours later, you are now carrying your daughter. Her small arms are wrapped around your neck, and the side of her head rests against you. You have one hand on her back and the other on her leg, using your arm as something for her to sit on. Even though you appear thin, you are quite strong.

"She seems to have really taken a liking to you," Martha says to you.

You nod in agreement. You find it surprising that Katie did take a quick liking to you. You thought it would be hard for her to get used to the fact her father is now a Chimera. But your gladness that she did get used to it overpowers your confusion.

A great amount of time passes, and it's now night. You and your family settle down in the forest. You go out to collect some firewood and return moments later with a bundle of sticks. You know it's not enough, but it will have to do. You create a teepee with the sticks and light it on fire using a match from a matchbox Martha packed away in her backpack. The sticks go ablaze, and you and your family huddle around the small fire.

Katie brings her backpack around and takes out a small baggie of saltine crackers. She opens it up and hands two to you, Martha, and herself. You take the crackers and eat them. You aren't hungry since your race can go days without food, but you find eating the crackers was a good way to stall the time it takes to become hungry again. You nod at your daughter, a sign of thanks. Katie passes a single cracker to your companion, and the dog instantly eats it.

"Does she have a name?" Katie asks you.

You never gave your companion a name, nor did you ever know the gender of her. You shake your head.

"How about Rosie?" Katie suggests. You nod. Your daughter giggles, happy that you accept the name.

Minutes later, Katie had already fallen asleep, snuggled up against Rosie. You and your wife are all that remain awake. Your wife looks over at you and asks if you want to go to sleep. You nod your head and lay down on the grass. Your wife joins you, resting her body against you. You hesitantly put your arm around her, wondering if she's ok with it. She ends up grabbing your hand and doesn't move it, signaling she is fine with it.

"This really does feel weird," she says quietly in general. "But I have to try."

You believe she is referring to sleeping with a Chimera. You understand her situation. But, so long as she remembers you are her husband, or were, you believe you will be all right.