Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I have no rights to anything other than the characters I create.

Chris Farber exited out the back door of their newly established compound in one of the many nameless ghost towns that dotted the desert landscape across the border in Nevada. There stood Ham Tyler, leaning against the weathered supports of the back porches overhang, a cup of coffee in one hand, and a rifle in the other.

If Ham had heard him (and Chris was pretty sure that he had) he made no inkling as he stared out at the desolate desert landscape as the first rays of sunlight made their shy, reluctant appearance.

"Found ten more individuals yesterday in Vegas." Chris said as he joined him.

"That makes us what, twenty strong, now?" Ham quipped.

"Yeah, give or take." Chris replied.

"You know, when I was with those idiots back in Los Angeles, I was beginning to think that there weren't no more like us." He added.

"I knew there were, they just needed to know that somewhere there were still people who shared their views." Ham said, a smile playing about his mouth.

"Once we got about fifty or sixty, then we'll show those dumbasses what's what." He added.

"Everything okay?" Julie asked Mike as she found him standing at the doorway to the mess hall, watching everyone as they had breakfast. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, ambient talking and laughing filled the room, Ham and his associates seem to have been forgotten by everyone … everyone except him.

"I was just thinking about Ham, I don't think we've seen the last of him yet, and you saw firsthand how deadly he is, and that was when he was on our side, now that he is against us … I just … I don't know." Mike said as he rubbed his face wearily.

"Is that why you didn't come to bed last night?" Julie asked as she wrapped her arm around his waist.

He smiled in spite of himself, he could never hide anything from her. "It's been on my mind since he stormed out that door almost three months ago. We have to protect ourselves, Julie, we're going to have to start training and make sure everyone stays sharp on their skills, and to make sure NO ONE goes anywhere alone." Mike said.

"How's our stockpile of weapons and supplies?" Mike asked Robert and Elias as they joined him with their own steaming cups of coffee.

"Got some bad news for you, chief, that asswipe Tyler and his cronies took most of it when they split." Elias said.

"Son of a bitch! Mike spat.

"Including their homemade weapons." Robert added.

"We need a plan, we need to send scouts out to round up more supplies and weapons as well as more people. Julie, send word to our friends, I think we need to pull everyone back in in case there is an attack. Knowing Ham, he's going to recruit as many people as he can before he launches and attack."

"I'll go." Willie's voice said from behind them.

They all turned to face him.

"Willie, I know you want to help, but I can't let anyone go out there alone, it's too risky." Mike said, his face harboring an amused smile.

"Then I'll go with him." Izze said as she walked up to join him, her one-eyed gaze not wavering from Mike's.

Mike chuckled in spite of himself.

"Alright, alright, I know when I'm beat, just take a radio and be careful! No unnecessary chances, hear?" he warned them.

"Yes, sir!" Izze playfully saluted him as they were off.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say she's growing on you." Julie said as she nudged Mike.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I imagine that if I had a daughter, that she would have been something like Izze … which is yet another reason why I am so glad I had a boy."

"You ain't the only one she's growing on." Elias said with a knowing smile as he nodded towards Willie and Izze's retreating forms.

"Where … are we going?" Willie asked, watching out the passenger side window as they left the city behind them.

"To visit some friends. And don't worry, they're reptile friendly." She said as she noticed his unease.

"Oh … good …. Good." He said, visibly relieved as he sat back in his seat.

The sun was sinking low when they finally arrived, Willie marveled at the imposing fortress that loomed in front of them with its concrete walls and twelve foot tall chain link gates.

"This place used to be a steel blast furnace." Izze told Willie. "Stay here, I'll handle this." She added as she got out, her hands above her head and slowly walked around to the front of the car.

"Izze Grayson here to speak to Patricia." She said, holding her hands steady.

"Well, ain't you a sight for sore eyes!" a short, thick man of about sixty said as he came around to stand in front of the huge chain link gates.

"How ya been, Nix?" Izze said as he unlocked the gate.

"Oh you know, same ole shit, different day." The man called Nix said as he swung the gates open and motioned for them to drive through.

"Patricia and her gang found me, they helped me get back on my feet. They took care of me." Izze explained as they drove through.

A short, tough looking woman that looked to be in her sixties met them at their car as they pulled around to the back of the huge furnace.

"Izze as I live and breathe! It's good to see you again, girl!" The woman said in a rich southern accent as she embraced Izze warmly; Willie hung back, unsure and afraid of how he would be received. He liked humans, but his past bad experiences with first meetings had made him wary.

"You don't need to fear nothin' here sugar, a friend of Izze's is a friend of ours, I know she wouldn't just pal around with anyone. My name is Patricia, what's yours?" she said as she ushered them inside.

"William … but everyone … just calls me Willie." Willie said, taken aback by the woman's kindness and hospitality.

"I'm sorry to have to hurry Pat, but we have problems." Izze said.

"Visitors comin' back again?" Patricia said, her expression hardening.

"No, it's worse, it's humans." Izze replied.

"You don't say! Well, we got just the shit so you can show those assholes what's what." Patricia said as she motioned them to follow her down a flight of stairs to the buildings sub-basement.

"Well hot damn, Pat! Ya'll been busy!" Izze drawled, evidence of her southern roots surfacing.

"You bet your ass we been busy, we ain't just been sittin on our asses!" Patricia said.

"Now then, let's get ya'll fixed up!"

"Pat, I can't thank you enough, I know there is probably no way I can ever repay you for all you've done not just today, but for me since Alabama." Izze said.

"Don't you worry about that, there'll come a time when we'll need a favor, I'm sure and I know you'll be there for me." The older woman said as they embraced.

"Here, it's gettin' dark, why don't ya'll stay the night and get a fresh start in the morning?"

Izze hesitated, her brow furrowed in frustration. She had meant to make this trip in one day, but Patricia was right, it was late, and she could feel the pull of fatigue starting to weigh her down.

"I think that would be good … you look very tired, Izze." Willie spoke up.

"I agree, it's settled then, follow me." Patricia said.

"It ain't the Ritz, but it's got everything ya'll need. Bathrooms down the hall, it's got a shower, too. Breakfast is at 8am sharp." Patricia said as she gave Izze a knowing wink and left them to it.

"Well … this is rather … awkward." Izze said, her cheeks reddening as she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Why? It was very nice to let us stay." Willie said, the whole exchange going completely over his head.

"No … I meant … that she thought we were … you know … together." Izze said, her cheeks were hot now, she prayed the dim light of the compound was enough to hide it.

"I do not understand, we are together, are we not?" Willie replied, still not getting it.

Izze laughed in spite of herself.

"NO, silly! She thought we were a couple … like a romantic couple." She said as she made an extravagant, flourishing gesture between them.

"Ohhh …" Willie said, finally understanding and suddenly finding himself very embarrassed.

"No worries, we can still make this work, I'll take the couch since I'm shorter and you can have the bed." Izze said.

"Okay." Willie replied.

Izze awoke with a start and found herself in a small room, barely large enough for the bed she laid on.

She knew this room, it was where they had kept her and the other people they did experiments on.

'Oh, god, no!' she thought to herself as she pinched herself, trying to wake up, but she couldn't, the door opened and Diana's familiar, frightening face appeared along with two of her goons.

"This has got to work, she's the last specimen we have." She could hear Diana saying as her two assistants grabbed her and hauled her out of the room.

"Get your slimy reptilian claws off me!" Izze heard herself saying as she struggled uselessly against the two male visitors unrelenting grip, they pushed her down roughly into a large metal chair as she struggled vehemently.

"She's a fighter, maybe she'll be the one." One of them said to Diana, who was drawing back a huge syringe filled with a thick liquid that was a sickly green color.

"Let's hope so." Diana said as she came towards her with the syringe.

"No! stay the fuck away from me!" Izze roared as she bucked and fought against her restraints like a wild animal.

Diana grabbed her face and forced her to look into her eyes.

"You'd be better off not fighting, it will just hurt more if you fight." Diana said with an evil smile, reminiscent of her true reptilian nature.

Just then, a familiar voice cut through the scene.

"Izze! Please … wake up!"

A crash woke her from her nightmare and she found herself sitting up on the couch, the familiar surroundings of Patricia's compound started to materialize around her; she hadn't been on Diana's ship at all, it was just another one of the terrible nightmares that plagued her almost time she closed her eyes.

She heard a groan emit from across the room, her eye darted to over to see Willie slowly getting unsteadily to his feet.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry, Willie!" She said as she ran to him.

"You were having a dream, I tried to wake you." He said.

"Yeah, it's the same one I have every time I fall asleep, about that bitch Diana experimenting on me." she said as she helped him to his feet.

"I didn't hurt you, did I? See this is why I usually sleep alone, I should've warned you not to touch or try to wake me up." She said as she eyed him sadly.

Willie however didn't answer, she noticed that he was looking at her with a strange expression, one of empathy and sadness.

"What? What's wrong?" She said, when he didn't answer, she ran out of their room, and down the hall to the bathroom. To her horror, she realized that her left eye had also become the same red color, like her right, and the patch of scaly skin had grown almost halfway across her face. Her teeth were also morphing into the pointed fangs all the visitors had.

"Now you know the truth." She said as Willie's reflection joined hers in the mirror.

"That the visitor DNA Diana injected into my body is slowly fusing with my human DNA, and it's slowly taking over. Soon, I won't be human anymore, I'll be a kind of hybrid." She said.

"You keep this secret?" Willie said, Izze mentally grimaced at the hurt in his voice, she knew she should've told him, but she was too ashamed.

"I didn't know at first, it wasn't until Julie and I started doing some testing that we discovered it, we used my blood and my DNA to create the new injection for you and the other Visitors since my human DNA makes me immune to the red dust."

Willie didn't reply, but she saw all the questions in his face.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Are you ashamed to be like me?"

"Why don't you trust me?"

"It wasn't because of you, it was because of me; and because I was afraid of what the people in our group like Ham Tyler might think."

"But now he is gone, you don't have to worry about him." Willie replied.

"Yeah, but losing your humanity is a huge, and bitter pill to swallow." Izze said with a tragic smile.

"My friends have taught me that it is not what you look like that make you … good." He said.

"If you want, Julie can make you this, like she does us." Willie said as he plucked at his pseudo skin.

Izze smiled warmly. "I might take her up on that."

"Thanks again, Patricia, I hope this didn't clean you out too much." Izze said as they swung the heavy bags over their shoulders.

"Naw, this ain't even half of what we've got, plus you know we can always make more." Patricia said with a wink as she sent them on their way.

Willie and Izze made the drive back mostly in a comfortable sort of silence, each deep in their own thoughts.

She looked to Willie, his gaze was fixed on the road, his expression was indiscernible from behind the dark glasses he wore in defense against the harsh desert sunlight. Izze fished out her own sunglasses from her bag, with each passing day, her eyes grew more and more sensitive to bright light.

She liked him … no … it was more than that, she felt like she might actually be falling for him. But she had too much emotional baggage, and Willie, kind, gentle and caring, deserved better than the damaged goods she was.

Willie suddenly slammed on the breaks, pulling her rudely out of her haze of thoughts.

"Willie, what the … oh shit!" She said as she followed his gaze.

Their outpost lay in smoldering ruin, the acrid smell of gunpowder and burning flesh filled the air.

Notes: I am sorry I had to suddenly end it there, it would have been WAY long if I hadn't.