The Hive: Part One (rough draft)

For as long as I can remember, I have never been still. I have moved and wandered from the moment I was born, and I am sure I will continue to journey until the moment I die. I was told that, if we stop at all, then we will be found, and that would not be a good thing at all.

I have always moved with the suns, and rested with the moons. It was my father who taught me these things, that it is best to move forward with the suns at our backs, and sleep with our faces towards the moons. He died so many suns ago, at least, I believe him dead. He had grown sick and weak, and when he could no longer walk on his own, he forced me to continue my journey.

“Never let the suns face you,” he commanded me. “Never let the moons outrun you. You cannot fear for me. You can only fear for yourself.” He threw rocks at me, striking me several times when I refused to go. I had to leave him, though, and I could not look behind me when I did. I couldn’t let the suns face me, I couldn’t let them see me cry.

And so I became alone, traveling on my own so that the journey would never end. Although, I am not all alone, I have my Nanny with me, and she is the only living thing I keep with me. Nanny is a goat and, from her, I get milk which I can use for various things my father taught me. Nanny is company, even if she cannot understand me, or even look me in the eye. At least she is there.

I do not know what is looking for us but I wonder if they found my father. Are they hunting us like we once hunted rabbits, or do they wish to use us like I do my Nanny?  Are we supposed to serve like Nanny to whoever we are moving away from?

I have never come across another like me, and if I have, we have kept ourselves secret for so long. Whenever I must travel through someplace inhabited, I keep myself covered, putting a specially made basket over my head to conceal myself. I cannot be seen, I cannot be found. None of us can, whoever we are.

Some suns ago, I had come across another like me. It was my first time seeing someone like that aside from my father. He was big and hairy like my father was, his skin was dark and his hair was styled in many long braids. I wasn’t sure what to think then, at first I was afraid. I wanted to run and hide from him, but he offered me a gift.

He shared his food with me and I gave him some of Nanny’s milk. We talked under the suns, walking the same path on our journeys until we came to a fork in the road where we had to part. We stayed there, laying under the moons together.

We shared our mats, and we shared our bodies. There have been times where I have thirsted and could not find water, and the desperation inside me grew. The moment we shared bodies, I felt that desperation again. I felt the need to hold on for dear life, to keep He with me always. His body was strong and warm, something that I wanted now on certain nights. I felt him so deeply inside me, I cried. We both knew that once the suns rose, we would have to keep moving, even if our paths were different.

I woke before He did and I left, taking Nanny with me. I did not look behind me despite how desperately I wanted to. I wanted He and I to be together, even if I had only known He for a short sun. The need to be with someone was strong.

Recently, there has been lots of rain. It comes and goes with little warning, causing hindrance to me moving. Eventually, Nanny and I come upon a great structure. There is a hard black ground before it, stretching out to the horizon. The building itself stands very tall and wide, following along the hard black ground into the horizon. Trees and vines grow around it, almost making it look like any other forest I have gone through. The only thing that gives it away as a structure, and not a wood, is the glass. I see it shining through the vines as well as the entrance.

I know I am not supposed to venture into structures, but this rain is growing violent and I fear for Nanny. I step only inside the entrance, and I keep the basket on my head to hide myself. I watch through the glass as the storm buffets and blusters, blowing over trees and whipping up the vines. I kneel down with Nanny, feeling uneasy since I cannot move.

“We should be moving. If we stay here, they’ll find us.” I put my arms around Nanny and her head flits back and forth. “Maybe, because of the storm, we’ll be okay.”

Nanny screams and wriggles from my grasp, she runs through a broken door and deeper into the building. I give chase after her, finding myself in a massive room filled with mess and piles. I can hear Nanny scream somewhere, but I have become fixated on the room I’m in.

All around me, I see figures like me, but they are unmoving and still. They wear such strange garments on their bodies, long flowing pieces in bright colors. I sort through the piles around them, some have fallen over, while others hang from metal stands. The fabric garments do not look as though they would protect from anything outside, but they are soft and airy, and the colors are like nothing I have ever seen before.

I hear Nanny scream again and I know I have to follow her. I follow along paths of stone surrounded by softer, fabric like places. I see Nanny standing near an edge, and when I come closer, I look down to see a great valley below.

I lose my breath for a moment, this must have been a great place once. It goes underground, continuing on for what feels like an eternity. I take Nanny’s leash back in my hand, and despite my better instincts, Nanny and I go down the stairs.

There is very little sign of life here, everything feels trapped from the moment it became like this, as if the suns and moons outside didn’t pass by everyday. I hold my breath, biting my lip as Nanny and I go deeper inside. I come to a sea of tables and chairs, surrounded on all sides by different caves, each with writing above them.

“I wonder what this was, Nanny,” I murmur to myself.

Nanny’s head flits back and forth and she tugs hard on the leash.

“Stay put a moment, I want to look.” Nanny tugs hard again, wanting to go her own way or give me trouble again.

I wander to one of the caves where there is a small glass partition, below that, there are metal basins. Nanny grunts and tugs while I look, hand upon the glass.

“Just a second, Nanny, I’m trying to look at this. It’s so very strange.” I know I should be more careful than this, but I am fascinated by all I see here.

I step back, looking around and up. Above me, the ceiling is domed, looking as though it is trying to swallow the suns. I gaze up in awe, wondering if this was once where people worshipped. The height of it, the wide gaping maw, it instills inside me this wonderful sensation of both fear and enchantment.

“Stranger with the goat!” The voice booms above me and my only reaction is to cry out and fall to my knees. “Stranger with the goat,” the voice booms again. “The mall is closed. What are you doing here?”

I make sure the basket is staying on my head. They’ve found me! I wasn’t moving enough and they found me! I keep my head down and start crawling back in the direction I came, enchantment gone, only fear.

“The mall is closed, you are not allowed to be here,” the voice continues to speak from all around me. I come to the stairs, but when I look up, I see one of those motionless figures above me. It had not been there before. They must have put it there.

Nanny screams and charges up the stairs. She tries to headbutt the figure, but it steps out of the way to avoid her.

I run, heading back towards the sea of chairs and tables. As I do, I see another figure walk out of one of the caves. It crawls along the floor on all fours, its limbs jutting out at odd angles. It then rises at once, standing as tall as He did.

I don’t have time to think, I just reach for the weapon my father gave me. The blade is short, but it’s sharp. I should be able to protect myself with it. I charge them, stabbing into the side of their neck, but the blade bounces off of something hard and the force jabs it back into my wrist.

In agony, I accidentally drop my blade and they grab it from the floor. I hold my arm against my chest, stepping backwards as they come closer to me. Suddenly, I’m grabbed from behind.

“Easy now, Forty, no need to scare them too much.” I look up at the one holding me. They’re tall and thin, looking like one of those still figures from above.

The jerky one steps forward, looking over my blade. “You’re scaring them more than me now, Twenty-Two.”

They chuckle and knead their hands into my shoulders. “They feel petite under all this bulk. I wonder what we have here.”

“They are probably malnourished! The nomads always are.” Forty turns and looks around. “Where’s the other one? The horrible little screaming creature?”

“It’s still upstairs, running around.” Twenty-Two’s hand rips through my basket and yanks it off the top of my head, only then do I scream and cover my face with my free hand.

“It’s a miracle!” Forty announces loudly.

Twenty-Two grabs my hand, pulling it away from me. “That it is. And look how pretty it is.” Their other hand strokes my hair. “We can’t get our hopes up. The female is extremely rare due to its violent nature. We’ll have to be careful, Forty. We can’t let our special little catch hurt itself, now can we. Remember what happened to the last one.”

Forty places their hands upon their waist. “The last one was old and frail. It was of no loss to us, Twenty-Two. Should we alert the others then?”

Shaking their head, Forty continues to stare at me in a curious way. They have no eyes, at least none that I can see. It looks like they have no face at all, just a void. “Not yet. We’ll send out the signal as soon as we know what we are dealing with. It looks pretty, but who knows what is hiding under all these clothes?” Their hand gently lands on the side of my neck.

I try to rear back and hiss at them.

“This will only hurt for a moment.” There’s a sharp pinch and then, I see the moons.

When I wake up, my arms and legs are heavy and my body is bare. I try to struggle, but I am held fast to the ground. I look around as much as I can, seeing only walls around me. I struggle again, straining against whatever is holding me, but I barely gain an inch against it.

“Stop that!” A scolding voice shouts at me.

I lay flat and still, eyes wide as I gaze above me.

“We’re doing this so you don’t get hurt. It’s very rare to find a female of your species, let alone one in such fantastic condition. Keep still and behave, and we will reward you.”

I scream and start to thrash again.

“Stop it, I said! Forty, go in there!”

A door opens and one of those creatures comes inside. Their body is black and yellow, the yellow parts look dented and banged, the front of its very blank face has a hole and is nearly caved in.

“Easy now, princess,” it coaxes. “We’re happy to have you here! We just want to take care of you.” They place their hand upon my head and stroke my hair. “We need to see how healthy you are, though, so that may seem like we’re going to hurt you.”

I scream and thrash again, only to feel a sharp horrible pain in my side. I flop back onto the table, unable to move.

“I didn’t want to do that,” Forty sighs.

I choke and spasm, my chest feels heavy and my limbs don’t feel like they belong to me. I look up at Forty, eyes wide and filled to the brim with terror.

“I really didn’t want to do that,” Forty shakes their head. “Twenty-Two, she looks so pitiful.”

“She’ll learn in time. For now, we have to see what sort of condition she’s in before we report her to the others.” The door opens again and Twenty-Two comes in beside Forty. Their body is completely white, and their limbs are very long and thin. The smooth white head has features, unlike Forty, but the features looked carved from stone rather than a face.

“She’ll need a bath, of course, poor thing stinks.” Twenty-Two moves my limbs for me after taking off the restraints. “Some grooming will really help as well.” I am poked and prodded, rolled this way and that as they examine me.

“We’ll get the results for these tests later, but for now, there are more pressing issues.” Twenty-Two motions for Forty, who picks me up. “Give her a bath while I finish all this.”

“I’d love to!” Forty holds me close and nuzzles their cheek to my hair. “I am going to take such good care of you. I know your kind typically doesn’t like baths, but you’re going to feel so much better once it’s done.”

I want to yell and roar, but I can barely make a grunt, let alone raise my voice. Forty carries me through the building, taking me into a room with a big stall. They sit me down inside, turning on water that rains down upon me. They get me very wet then they rub a slippery stone all over my body that lathers up.

As strange as it is, the warm water feels nice, and Forty is very gentle. They rub every inch of my skin, rinse it off, then rub again. They cut my hair so there is only a little on top, washing it vigorously with something sweet smelling.

“Do you have a name, girl?” Forty asks me gently. “Will you tell us when you can?” They wipe the water from my face. “I would like to name you if I could. I’ve always wanted a girl.”

I can feel my fingers again and I start to wiggle them.

“You look so much better,” Forty coos. “So pretty, so soft. I have a special bed all made up just for you.”

I raise my hand, but keep it close to my side. I don’t want them to know I can move just yet. Best to play dead while I can.

Forty dries me off then combs what’s left of my hair. It used to be so long, but now, it was barely a fluff at the top of my head. Just enough to run fingers through.

“There now. Much better. Doesn’t that feel nice?” Forty wraps me up in something warm and soft. “I’ll take you to your room now so you can relax.”

That’s when I swing, striking them in the head and making them stumble for a moment. I hit the floor, barely able to raise my arms, but I can drag myself. I’m able to crawl, almost reaching the door when Forty jumps in front of me without their head! How is that possible?

“Bad girl! Don’t hit like that.” They heft me up onto their shoulder and their palm claps down on my rear.

“Don’t touch me!” I struggle and rip from their grasp, hitting my shoulder hard upon the floor.

“You talked!” Forty says in amazement. “You can talk?”

“I can kill you too!” I spit. I rise up, grasping my sore shoulder.

Forty just goes and finds their head, more dented than before, and places it upon their shoulders. After a few long moments of silence Twenty-Two comes to stand beside Forty, looking down at me.

“So, you can talk?” Twenty-Two murmurs. “That’s very good.”

“Get away from me,” I snarl. “Both of you, whatever you are. Stay away!” I jump to stand, but my legs still feel weak, but I can at least move on them now.

Twenty-Two lunges, capturing me by the neck and pinning me against the wall. “I am not letting you go anywhere. It has taken us years to find you, and I am not letting you go when we are so close. You have no idea how fortunate you are to land in our laps. You can stay, be still, and never have to struggle again. Now be a good girl for us.”

I grip my hand around Twenty-Two’s wrist. “No!”

“Do you really want to be alone forever?” Forty asks gently. “If you stay with us, we’ll be able to help you find a family, find more people like you. We’ll be able to bring humanity back!”

“Humanity?” I struggle against Twenty-Two but they won’t budge. “What’s that?”

“You, my girl, are quite possibly one of the last human females left in this world. You would be the first found in this area of the world. If you are healthy and able, you will be given a mate, and with our help, you will be the dawn of a new era for humanity. You, my dear, could save the world.”

I start to tremble. I don’t know what any of this means. “Please let me go.”

Twenty-two sighs. “I’m afraid, for your own sake, you don’t have much of a choice, my dear. Forty?”

Forty approaches. “I’m so sorry, little one.”

I feel that sharp pinch again which makes my body grow warm and limp. Twenty-Two passes me off to Forty, who once again carries me away. I’m placed on a soft bed, surrounded by small fluffy things, I’m laid so I see a window that looks out into a big room full of glowy blinking lights.

Forty strokes me, petting me like I used to pet Nanny. “Please, try to understand we are doing this for your own good! We want to help you. We can’t keep living in this world without you.”

I gurgle with the effort of trying to speak.

“Just rest. You need to save your strength. From now on, though, you needn’t worry about anything anymore. Twenty-Two and I are going to take such good care of you.” They pull a blanket up over me. “I already love you.”

I want to scream and shake, but whatever they have done to me keeps me as limp as a pile of rags. I lay there, gazing through that window. I see Twenty-Two inside, they move about, sitting, standing, doing things I don’t know.

I eventually fade away, closing my eyes and drifting to sleep. I dream about He, I see his beautiful smile and kiss his dark skin. He holds me close, his strong arms assuring me that I am safe with him. I long to share bodies again, but alas, I know I must wake before I can taste such sweet eternity.

My eyes flutter open and I can move my limbs again. I look around the room, seeing small animal-like objects laid about me. There’s music playing, I’d not heard much before aside from what my father sang, and from the villages we had passed through. The tune is slightly dull and repetitive.

“Play with your toys, Darling, they’re there to stimulate you.” Twenty-two replies. “We don’t want you getting bored and irritated again.”

I look at them staring at me through the big window. “Toys?”

“We weren’t sure what you’d like so we may have overdone it.” Twenty-Two chuckles. “You do look so cute in your big bed.”

I spit at the glass and Twenty-Two tuts. “Now, now, Darling, that is not how we behave here.”

“I don’t want to be here!” I slam my palms up against the glass. “Let! Me! Out!” I slam my hands and arms down with each word.

“Now, Darling, you’re safe and well cared for here. What would you want to go back out there for?” Twenty-Two places their palm upon the glass. “You’re going to have a mate soon, a family. No longer will you have to trudge along this earth alone, frightened, hungry and abandoned. Darling, we need you, you are the most important thing in the world right now.”

I wish I could claw through this glass. “I don’t want that!”

“Breakfast!” Forty comes in through the door. They set something down upon a table. “Come eat, Darling. I’ve made you something very special.”

I sniff the air, smelling something sweet and delicious. My mouth waters and I scramble over to the table. I rip something from it then go into the corner, away from Forty. I bite down into it, whatever it is. It’s soft, fluffy, and is sweeter than raw honey. I gobble it down, sucking it from my fingers.

“It’s a crepe. I have you biscuits and gravy as well. I had to do a lot of research to figure out what you humans would really like.”

I grab food from the plate again, finding it wet and thick. I lick the food from my arms and palms, there’s meat and other things! It’s creamy like Nanny’s milk, but it’s warm and somehow spicy too!

“I’m also learning how to make cheese from your goat’s milk too. They say to serve it on crackers, so I’m trying to make some of those too.” Forty sounds so pleased.

I lick more of this gravy from my skin. “Where is Nanny?”

Forty tilts their banged up head to the side then clutches their hands together. “There’s a garden we’ve let her loose in. She’s already making friends with our other animals.”

I slowly stand, eyeing the food remaining on the plate and then looking at Forty. “I’m not going to stay here.”

“Maybe try,” Forty says. They reach out and wipe the corner of my mouth. “I promise, we want to protect you, Darling.”

I lick my mouth then wipe the back of my hand against my chin. “Protect me from what?”

“Yourself.”