Pearl

Chapter Twenty-One: Amnesty

Warning: Graphic Violence/Illness

The farmer bolted upright, back stiff and brain a jumble as he tried to take in his surroundings. After a minute of processing, he realized that he was jostling along with the bumps in the road in the passenger seat of his truck.

Behind the wheel sat Shaun, knuckles tight on the peeling leather as she leaned too far forward so she could watch the road. Darkness blanketed the world outside the cabin windows – whether still dark or newly dark Theodore couldn't tell.

Between them, Tuff had both front paws firmly planted on the center consul as she steadily watched the small cones of light from the truck headlights that lit the dark country highway ahead them.

Theodore barely registered the long pink cords that sprouted from Tuff's forehead and curved backwards over the fur of her back before he noticed too Shaun's drawn determination not to look.

He opened mouth to speak, paused, closed it again. He twisted in his seat to look back, saw Cherry sleeping soundly next to Ruff, who cradled the child with one of her new cord-like appendages, the rest of which fanned out from the collie's spine across the seats.

Theodore turned back around to face the front.

He sat for a minute, before starting and patting his chest and stomach in confusion. He poked a finger through the still-bloody bullet holes in his shirt, but felt nothing but smooth, unbroken skin and the rough curls of his body hair underneath.

"I gave Cherry something to help her sleep before I carried her out here, so she wouldn't have to see any of that," Shaun said suddenly, her voice clear and calm in the quiet of the truck cabin. "But by God Almighty, Theodore, what have you gotten us into? Rifles? Men in body armor? What happened while I was away this time?"

"Oh," she said, cutting him off before he could reply, "and let's not forget the fact that both our dogs are aliens now." 

Tuff whined lightly and tried to nuzzle her head under Theodore's arm, but her new...antenna? made her skull much bulkier than before. Theodore patted the top of her head awkwardly, noting the smooth, warm texture of the new growths.

"I...Shaun, honey, I don't know what I can tell you. I'm as surprised as you are." The farmer's voice was coarse, and he felt the harsh rasp of thirst in his throat. He saw an old bottled water in the footwell, grabbed and drained it all in one go as silence filled the space between him and his wife.

"You know what Cherry said? When I was putting her in the car with the dogs and she woke up for a minute?" Shaun asked after a moment.

"No, I don't know."

Shaun put on her blinker, pulling around and passing the first car they had come across on the lonely road.

"She took one goddam look at the dogs' tentacles and she said "Lyly" before falling back asleep. Lyly."

Theodore started, frowning as he looked at Tuff. What had made Cherry think of Lyly? The...color? Was it the color? He squinted, remembering finally the strange pink hair his guest had had at the beginning. He had almost forgotten, after seeing her with brown hair for a few months.

"Where are we going?" Theodore asked finally, having nothing to say to follow up Shaun's statement.

"Well, you'd think Tuff here were part pointer dog with how much she keeps trying to direct me. But I think I know. I think we're going to Lincoln. To Lyly."

Theodore fell back against the seat, letting out a puff of air. His head swam as exhaustion pulled at him, and his eyes drifted closed on their own accord.