The Good Samaritan - Chapter 3
Scott brushed the snow from his face and pulled his hat down over his head as the winter weather continued to worsen. He saw only a few other Souls out at this hour. Sounds of the city faded away as the blanketing snow fell. It all added to his feelings of isolation and loneliness as he trudged along by himself.
'This is stupid,' Scott told himself. Actually it was reckless, dangerous, and idiotic, but Scott had already gotten himself worked into a foul mood and he realized he just did not care at this point.
When the Souls conquered Chicago, he and the other Human survivors had agreed upon rules about how to work on the surface when they went into hiding. The rules were simple and pragmatic about how to survive in a city full of aliens. The number one rule – do not go out alone – and now Scott was completely ignoring it. Moreover, he had not told anyone where he was going, so no one would even be looking for him if he ran into trouble.
Scott came to a stop before a small town home, one among many on this street. Some Souls living on this street had put up lights for the Christmas season, but nothing at the home Scott watched. When Scott had been a little boy, there had not been any lights either. He had asked his father once why they did not decorate their home like the others during the holidays. His father explained they were Jewish and they were not like their neighbors. To Scott this made no sense, wasn't Hanukkah celebrating light in the darkness? Would not hanging lights like the others be a part of that celebration?
But his father had always been old fashion and would not hear of any displays other than the Menorah in the living room. Scott wondered if there was Menorah setup this year. While Souls were quick to adapt human traditions, they often had only a superficial understanding of their host's customs. Scott had seen Souls go to churches and synagogues, but as far as he and the other humans could tell Souls had no real religion.
Scott had become the human rebels' unofficial expert on Souls and still much of what the alien parasites did not make any sense to Scott. He closed his eyes and pushed all of his questions away. Right now all he wanted to do was go home. All he had to do was cross the road and knock on the door. To see Mom and Dad again.
'Not Mom and Dad anymore,' Scott reminded himself.
The day had been like any other. Scott came straight home from high school and his mother welcoming him at the door with an odd expression on her face. She seemed almost frightened. Her eyes regarding him like he was a wild animal in her home. When he asked what was wrong, she told him to wait in his room. Like the good son he was, Scott obeyed. He soon heard her calling someone on the phone and only minutes later an unknown man arrived.
She called him down from his room and he had come obediently. His mother introduced the stranger as Mr. Robinson and he was her brand new boss. The situation had become so strange to Scott, he stopped and scrutinized both his mother and this Mr. Robbinson. At that moment, the sun shone through the open living room window and Scott had gasped in horror at the silver glow in their eyes. His mother's inhuman eyes narrowed at Scott's reaction. Both of them tried to corner Scott, but he had run out the back door in a panic. They had chased after him, but Scott was driven by an intense primal fear and ran as fast as he could.
After losing them in the rows of identical houses, Scott found an old payphone. With his hands shaking he had called his father, desperately blurting out what had happened. Hoping he would know what to do. But his father quietly told Scott in an unusually calm voice he was mistaken and Scott should go home to his waiting mother and Mr. Robinson. Scott had hung up thinking his dad was right, he must have been wrong about what he had seen. Those alien eyes of his mother could not possibly be real. About head home, Scott realized he had never told his father about Mr. Robinson. How had his father known his mother's new boss?
Growing only more confused and frightened Scott had gone to a nearby police station. He was not sure what he was going to tell the police, that his parents are acting really weird and his mother's eyes glowed?. About to enter the station, Scott found himself grabbed from behind and yanked him into a nearby alley. He had tried to scream, but a strong hand clapped down on his mouth. His attackers revealed themselves to be two older teens, both of them dressed in worn and dirty clothes. The taller of the two looked him over, eyeing him wearily.
"Jason here," explained the teen as he pointed to his companion still holding Scott down, "will let you go if you promise to shut up and stay put. If you don't, well…" and he made a small shrug,"…we will pound on you till you do."
Now utterly terrified, Scott nodded meekly and the teenager named Jason let go of him. He sat on the ground staring up at the two boys in silence for a minute.
Eventually, the taller one spoke again as he pointed at the nearby police station. "You don't want to go in there."
"What do you mean?" asked Scott.
The taller teen had a short spiky mess of hair on his head. Giving Scott a speculative look he asked, "Who was it that changed on you? Parents, teachers, a friend?"
"My…my parents," said Scott in surprise.
The one named Jason nodded and added gruffly, "They work that way, take the parents and then grab the kids when they come home from school."
"What do mean!? What happened to my parents? Why can't I go to the police station," scoffed Scott angrily.
The other teen jerked his thumb back at the police station, "It's not a police station anymore. 'They' took it over. The people in there might look and sound like cops in there, but trust me they ain't cops."
"Who the hell are they?" asked Scott, not able to believe what he was being told.
"I don't know…but I'm pretty sure they aren't human," said the teen with dead seriousness. He continued to watch, gauging Scott's reaction. He saw Scott's disbelief and shrugged again, "Yeah I know it sounds like some dumb sci-fi movie, but it's the truth."
"Who are you?" demanded Scott.
With a grin spreading across his face, the young man replied, "Names Marc Walters."
Now more than four years later Scott stood outside his old home. Would the Souls that lived there now welcome him in? Their host bodies' prodigal son returned. Of course they would. They would welcome him and then call the Seekers. Because turning you over to the Seekers was what Souls did with Humans.
Scott wondered what it would be like to have the alien parasite inserted. Would it hurt? Would he be aware of it? Would it be aware of him? Or would he, Scott Adelman, be gone, snuffed out in a heartbeat. Scott's curiosity and wish to go home warred within him.
'If it was just me, no one else's life on the line, I think I could do it,' considered Scott as he watched him old home. However, many people would be put at risk if he were captured. The realization he was genuinely willing to give up and become nothing more than a host body hit him like a punch to the stomach. He closed his eyes and fought the tears from falling. It was not until that moment Scott realized how deeply depressed he had become.
Turing, Scott fled down the empty street, now desperately wanting to put as much distance between himself and his former home. The snow and the wind had abruptly picked up and it swirled around Scott. The icy wind cut into Scott like a knife. He dodged into a dark alleyway, the buildings on either side providing a refuge from the continuous blast of cold and snow.
Scott considered what to do. The small sensible part of his brain told him to get into the tunnels and go back to his home underground. Back to his life of continually scrounging for scraps of food and the perpetual fear the Seekers would find them. Another part of him just wanted to leave all his fears and worries behind. In the dark and cold alley, Scott reached into his pocket and took hold of the small pill.
Having contemplated getting captured and taken over Scott turned the little capsule over in his hand. Was not that just another form of suicide? With the small cyanide pill, it would be quick and easy. And while the Souls were sure to find his body, there would be nothing for them to track back to the others.
Scott looked at the small pill in his hand. Was this really what he wanted?
Before he could make any decision, Scott heard the sound of a car engine, then the sudden sound of metal on metal, followed by a loud crash. Pulled from his inner crises, Scott gazed out to the street and saw a pair of tracks in the accumulating snow veer off where the road railing had become bent and twisted. Scott looked about but saw no other cars and no one else on the street. In the rapidly falling snow, an eerie empty calm had filled the night.
Racing across the road, Scott saw past the railing and saw a steep ravine going down. At the bottom of the ravine sat a small white car. The car's driver side window was shattered and Scott could see a body slumped over the steering wheel. The wind picked up and loose blond hair from body danced in the wind. It was a woman.
Scott turned slowly around again, but there was still no one in sight. Thinking out loud he asked himself softly,"Well, what do we have here?"