Vessels || Dustin Bates

Last To Fall

When I woke up the next morning, Shay and I had shifted so that I was laying half on the couch and half on top of her, my head still resting over her heart. I could hear and feel it's steady beat, gently starting to lull me back to sleep.  I closed my eyes again, but then I felt her stir a little, her fingers slowly moving down the back of my neck and to my shoulders, rubbing them with a gentle hand.

"Good morning," she whispered through a yawn. I opened my eyes and let my arm that draped across her waist pull her closer to me. She giggled, holding onto me. "Does your head feel better?" I nodded, not bothering to open my eyes again. She slowly slid out from under me, standing up to stretch. "Are you going to get up or lay there all day?" 

I slowly peeled myself off of the couch, sitting up, then standing next to her. I saw my glasses on the coffee table that was in front of the couch, sliding them on my face. I looked over at Shay, finally seeing her face in the full crispness that my glasses provided me. I smiled lightly, just admiring her beauty. She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow. 

"What?" She questioned, reaching over to take my hand. I smiled brighter, lacing our fingers together. 

"Nothing. Nothing at all, Shay." We walked out of the room together, looking around at the people passing us. We quickly made our way to the main control room of the base. As soon as we entered, we saw Ben standing against the doorway watching the room around him. We stood next to him, none of us saying a word for several minutes. 

"It feels good to be home." Ben finally broke our silent watching. Shay reached over and took his hand, connecting the three of us. 

"Home. Such a funny idea," she thought out loud. I squeezed her hand, encouraging her to save her thoughts and comments for later. She was quiet about her lack of understanding on the matter for the rest of the day. 

"Something has changed, though. I can feel it. Something is very... wrong. There are more adults than when I left. Nobody comes to this planet- not without a purpose." Ben's intense eyes scanned the room, watching each and every person carefully. "Fewer Carnivore attacks. That shouldn't be." He sighed, continuing to look around. 

"Shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, Burnley." Shay nudged his shoulder with her own. He nudged her back, smirking down at her. 

"If I didn't look one in the mouth, how would I know if it is a trick or not?"  

"True." She shrugged, leaning back against the wall. The two were as mirrors. It was a scary concept. Soon, the entire team was in the control room, standing next to us against the back wall. It was only after Adam entered the room that the doors all shut around us, closing us in. Ben's team looked at each other confused. It was out of the ordinary. 

"Where's John? Shouldn't he be here?" Ben called out to the closest person. The woman just stared at him, blue eyes piercing. Their eyes look familiar. 

"John has died. Many have died." The reply was blank, emotionless. Shay's eyes narrowed. Something was very wrong. She leaned over to Ben, whispering something. He took a deep breath in, slowly reaching behind him to where he had a gun stored. The man never went anywhere without one. He gripped it tightly, knuckles turning white. 

We all continued to stand against the wall, the air thick with tension and anticipation.  I kept trying to think where their eyes all looked so familiar. It was so, so familiar, but I couldn't place it. I stood thinking it over and over, wracking my brain for the answer and the place to recall where they were from. I looked over at Shay. When she looked back, the answer stared me right in the face. 

"Sick Carnivore..." I breathed, my eyes wide. "Shay... they're all sick." She nodded, leaning in to whisper in my ear. 

"They act like I did when I first changed. However, my programming was stripped. They still have traces of the programming. Their loyalty lies with-" she was cut off by a door slamming open. A man stormed in, flanked by creatures in long, black robes, gray eyes shining through.