Evolutionary

Ch 5. - Viva La Evolution!

The four days had passed with what seemed to be the haste of an ice age. Carlson was asleep in bed, until at exactly eight o'clock in the morning the alarm clock adjacent to him started to wail. His eyes fluttered open and he automatically swatted it to turn it off. With a grunt he slumped out of bed and wandered over to his bedroom window, overlooking the street. He stuck a finger between the thin strips of metal that composed his blinds, and stretched them apart in order to attempt to peer out the window. What he saw, he should have expected a two story tall wall of grass that had blades about half a foot wide. He sighed, displeased by what he could see and proceeded to wander downstairs with the speed of a snail. When he got to the kitchen he noticed that James was already awake, reading a book and sipping on some coffee.

"You never really were a good morning person." James mumbled without glancing away from his novel. To which Carlson gave a grunt of approval.

Carlson wandered into the kitchen and prepared himself a cup of coffee. No cream, just two sugars. He walked over to the table in the living room and sat across from James.

"We get to go outside today." James said in order to break the silence.

"Do we? I didn't even notice. Let's see if the emergency broadcast has been updated at all, eh?"

James agreed with his brother's suggestion and they turned on the television from the table and began to read what had been displayed on the screen.

Douse complete.

You may now exit your homes.

Carlson was excited that he could finally step out onto his new future, his new home. He could experience the world reborn, the way that Mother Nature initially intended. He was proud to say that he helped create it. His brother too showed signs that he was excited to be a part of this rebirth. They both wondered what the new world had to offer.

Carlson hurried upstairs to get changed into his normal choice of attire. He got out of his grey bathrobe and put on a white dress shirt accompanied by black jeans and a cherry red tie. James was already dressed in his usual coveralls and work boots. Carlson unlocked his door. With a click the hinges creaked open letting the noise of the jungle seep through. Chirping of birds, but they were accompanied sometimes by seemingly foreign cries. Carlson tried to peer through the grass to source the noises, but his efforts were futile. The wall of grass was too dense, only letting fragments of light through.

He extended a hand to start pushing his way through; he laid his right hand against a large blade of grass. As soon as he applied pressure to the leaf, it pushed back, cutting deep into his hand. He winced back clutching his writ, staring at the seemingly invisible line start to seep blood.

"Damn it!" he grunted.

James got up off the couch to see what the commotion was about. But it didn't take him long to figure out the details. Carlson stood by the door, questioning what had happened. He knew something had gone completely wrong. While staring at the cut that ran across his fingers and palm, the blood dripping down onto the floor, he became obsessed on finding out the cause of the mutation. He figured he could reverse the effects.

"What in the hell?!" Carlson shouted as he started to quickly make his way into his bathroom. James followed the drops of blood to find Carlson digging through a cabinet. He asked what was going on.

"The bloody grass cut me deep James, THAT'S what happened. Something is definitely not right." Carlson replied.

"No shit something isn't right! Grass isn't supposed to cut you ya'know." James grunted as he handed his brother an already opened bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a pad of gauze after Carlson set down the roll of tensor bandages he had already retrieved. Carlson poured the hydrogen peroxide completely rinsing his hand. He then placed the pad of gauze in the center over his palm, wrapping it in the tensor bandage. For his fingers he covered the wounds in 'flesh colored' bandages.