A strange thing happened when I tried to deal with the "gift" that my time traveling/dimensional hopping daughter left for me. Maybe the future me was some kind of outdoors chick who could field strip a wild hare. But the current me threw the dead animal in the outside bin.
We had to keep going; me, Kenneth and Kai. As my husband and 'new friend' slept, I gathered supplies. There were some suitcases, and packs that I filled with dry goods and other small containers that we could use for water on our journey. I also found some clothes. Although the sundress fit a little too loose, the men's size t-shirt and jeans seemed useable. Our group would look more like tourists and less like three patients who escaped a military hospital.
But back to the dead rabbit. I think it's following us.
We had to navigate our way south, on foot. Not even knowing if we would be safe. Ken could read in over a dozen languages and even spoke a little German, Russian and French. Of course, that meant Kai, as his clone, could as well. So I left it up to them to read street signs, towns, and other directions.
But every once in awhile, out of the corner of my eye, I would see that distinctly bright white creature. It was the size of a wild hare but with the coloring of a pet bunny, like something that a parent would buy for their child from the local Petco. Even in the daylight, it could see it staring me down with its red eyes and crooked glare.
"What are you looking at?" Kai asked as we traversed through a field of dry grass.
"Nothing."
"So you weren't looking at the giant ghost-rabbit?" Kai replied as he started to walk faster. "I'm going to scout out ahead."
"What?" I turned to him, just in time to trip on a rock, falling hard on my side. "Ow! fuck!"
Ken rushed to my side. All while Kai kept walking. My husband, even with his weak, sick body and nearly blinded eyes, lifted me in his arms. "Are you ok?"
I tried to answer but I could only cry. I wasn't in a terrible amount of pain, but the stress combined with pregnancy hormones had driven me to my breaking point.
Kai groaned as he turned around, from twenty feet ahead. "We need to keep moving."
"Going where?" I asked, my voice breaking with tears. "I'm pregnant, my leg hurts, I need to rest!" Mainly, I was God Damn exhausted from walking the entire length of Germany.
Kai trudged on, disappearing into the dense shadowy forest.
"Well, fuck you!" I screamed. "We'll be just fine without you!"
Ken held me against his chest, rocking my body like a crying child. "You need to calm down, Barbie-girl. Kai's an asshole but he had a point, we can't stay in one place for too long. Getting found by the police isn't going to help anything."
I knew he was right, we had no passports, identification or anything. At the very least, I would get separated from my husband. Worst case, the local authorities would run our fingerprints, find out who we are. I would be sent to a mental asylum to die alone, but only after my baby was cut from my body.
I had no idea how much time had passed since we left the hospital in Landstuhl. We would walk until we encountered food or water, only then we slept. My belly felt larger, heavier. How far along was I? Would my baby even survive?
Ken was attempting to stand. By the position of his hands, I could tell he was going to try to carry me like a bride.
Oh, crap. I readied my legs to catch myself since I already knew I was too heavy and he was too sick.
"Ah shit," Ken groaned as he fell to his knees, clenching his chest. "I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. I'm okay to walk," I said, putting Ken's arm around my shoulder. We would need to share our weight, our pain. Both of us limping, we made our way to a nearby area of dense trees. We were so close to the Switz-Germany boarder. But did that mean anything? Would we be safe?
We found a place to sit, where the branches were so dark, it felt like the sun already set. I was grateful for the chance to take a break. But without the light, it was also unbearably cold. "This could not get any worse."
I closed my eyes when suddenly I felt the barrel of a gun pressed against my neck. Silent tears started to flow. I heard the sound of handcuffs, and several men speaking German, French, and English.
Something, something, "--American Military--" Something, something, "-Raised reward---Dead or alive--"
I swallowed hard. These people weren't police, they were bounty hunters.
"But what about?--" One man, with a thick German accent, motioned to my stomach. "She is pregnant?"
Another man laughed. Something, something, "---medical experiment---harvest the little abomination."
A different man put me in handcuffs, and leg cuffs before putting an opaque black plastic bag over my head. It was just loose enough to allow me to breathe, but if I tried to scream I could easily cut off my air supply.
I reached my hand, trying to feel where Ken was, but I felt nothing. Was he already dead? Were they going to kill me? My chest heaved as I cried hard, panic-stricken tears. I could hear laughter, more words in a foreign tongue. I tried to make out words, trying to convince myself that they weren't going to kill me. But what I made out was much worse; they wanted to rape me, the 'cute, sexy American whore.' They would tie Ken to a tree and make him watch.
My body tensed, awaiting the inevitable. They were going to touch me, cut me, hurt me. All I could do was pray that it would end quickly.
But no one came. I heard grunts, cursing, crying, screaming. It all ended with a single gunshot. And then the world went silent.
I felt hands on my back, working their way down my arms. "Please don't, oh God please don't. My baby, please, don't hurt my baby."
The handcuffs unlocked, followed by the leg cuffs. The first thing I did with my newly freed hands was to tear off the plastic bag. Blinking my eyes, my vision cleared. There was blood, so much blood.
Kai was wielding a massive weapon that appeared to be covered in hamburger meat. He hacked at the bodies, which were no longer struggling. The bloody chunks wiggled with the slightest death twitch as they bleed out. By the time he was finished, I could no longer tell how many bodies there had been.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I felt sticky. My arms and legs were covered in blood. Choking back vomit, I looked around for Ken. Much to my surprise, it appeared that Kai had freed him first. My husband was gathering weapons and other supplies from the chunks of what used to be bodies. Ken had so much blood on him, I could only assume he had fought alone side Kai.
"You came back, Kai," I said out loud.
Kai dropped his blade. I had not noticed it before, but it looked like nothing more than a large chunk of scrap metal. "You're all I know, all I have. I want to be with you, even if I'm just a third wheel."
Ken patted Kai on the back. "I can't say I'm happy you're here, but you did save my wife and child, and for that, I am forever grateful."
"Well, at least, now we have a vehicle," Kai said, twirling a set of keys in his hand. "And plenty of meat."
Uh, what? I raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me you're referring to their supplies."
"You wouldn't eat someone who tried to kill you?" Kai asked with a smirk.
"Let's get out of here." I turned to walk towards where Ken was loading up a vehicle. Part of me was glad he could see well enough to strip the corpses of our enemies but he was too visually impaired to drive.
Kai leaned in and kissed my cheek. "I'd eat you, Barbie-girl. I think you'd be delicious." He quit flirting just long enough to gather clothing and identifications. "Here, he tossed me a wallet, shirt, and pants.
I wondered why but then I looked at the ID. One of the bounty hunters had been female. of course she hadn't been pregnant, but I could make do with covering my exposed stomach with a jacket. Or whatever was not covered in blood. "Did you find an ID for yourself and Ken?"
"Yup, we're all good," Kai replied confidently. He shook a water bottle, revealing it's nearly empty contents.
I watched as Kai took off his blood-stained shirt. He splashed the small amount of water over his face. With the blood wiped from his eyes and cheeks, he looked presentable, even normal. Kai turned his back to me, as he pulled his long hair into a ponytail. My blood ran cold.
On his back was a massive rabbit tattoo that had not been there before. He flexed his shoulder, reaching into the vehicle. "Score!" Kai pulled out a clean leather jacket covered in colorful patches.
Even I had to admit it looked cool. I looked down at the wallet in my hands. Her name was Anna, she had been an American living in Russia.
Ken put his arm around my shoulder, guiding me to the vehicle. "We need to move quickly."
Instead of taking me around the carnage, we walked a diagonal line straight through the center, allowing me to take in the full extent of what we had done. I closed my eyes, burying my face in Ken's shoulder. When we reached the dark-green, military-style truck. I took a seat in the back and promptly vomited out the door with such force I nearly fell.
Ken had been sitting in the passenger seat so he was able to rush to my side. "You're ok." he held me close, not even wiping my mouth. "Just rest your head and try to get some sleep."
"Ok." I tried to look up, to get a glimpse at his face. But Ken sat next to me, pinning my face against his shoulder, so hard I could barely breathe.
"Let's roll!" Kai shouted.
I heard him slam the driver's side door as we sped off. After a few seconds, Ken released his grip, allowing me to sit up. I turned back to see a massive ball of flames. Oh, Dear God. I gripped my throat, trying to avoid screaming, crying or anything that would make me even more of a burden to my teammates.
Ken held my hand. "With any luck, the police will think we're among the bodies."
I forced myself to nod. "Yeah... um... sounds good."
We drove into Switzerland without incident. But according to Kai, our goal was still France. "France is a hub for illegal immigrants, all the people trying to get into the UK. No one will notice us."
His reasoning seemed a little too simplistic but I was in no position to argue. We drove in the direction of Lyon until we found an open pasture, to stop for the night.
"I'm going to grab stuff to start a fire," Kai said, jumping out of the truck. "You and Ken should sleep against the side of the truck."
"To avoid being seen, by anyone on the road," I replied. "Sounds good."
"There should be some extra clothes in the back if you're cold."
"Kai?" I reached for his hand as he left.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you." Ken and I made a bed using two duffle bags filled with leaves and other spare clothing. The final result was surprisingly comfortable. We cuddled close under the light of the moon. It wasn't uncomfortably cold.
Wrapped in my husband's arms. I felt a calm soothing sense of peace. Even if someone was to come put a bullet in our heads at least we would be together.
I closed my eyes to sleep. After a moment of quiet darkness, I felt a strong warmth, followed by the sound of a crackling fire. "Kai?"
A young female chuckled, then sighed. "Why am I not surprised."
