Page 13 of Semi-Human

I wake to an empty bed, but I recognize River’s humming from outside the window. I yawn and stretch my stiff muscles, then put on the clothes I borrowed from River. Birds chirp outside the bathroom window as I wash my face and brush my teeth. When I step out of the house, my eyes need a few moments to adjust to the bright light, and when they do, I gawk at the unexpected beauty. The village looks like a page out of a storybook, a hidden fairyland. Flowers blossom next to every wooden house, and willows with long, slender branches cascade downward like a curtain of delicate threads. The subtle waves in the nearby lake make a soft rippling sound.

River is crouching in his garden with his back to me, his white shirt dirty with mud.

“Need help?”

“Yes.”

He’s not startled by my presence since he likely heard me waking up. “I took out stubborn weeds earlier, and now I’m planting new seeds. My neighbors took care of my garden while I was away, but it’s not the same.” He turns his head to smile at me. “My garden missed me.”

I crouch next to him, and he leans in for a kiss, smelling of soil and flowers. “Did you sleep well in my bed?”

“I slept amazingly.”

I wipe a smudge from under his right eye. “How long have you been up?”

“I woke up before the sun, but there was a lot to do.”

“When am I supposed to speak with the council?”

“Later. I’ll show you around first. Lyla is on her way over to say hello.”

He hands me a trowel. “Make little holes in the ground over there.”

I do as he asks, thinking of how rich one needs to be in the Hive to afford a small piece of land for gardening. As I plant the seeds and cover them with soil, I glance at the few people walking around, some carrying baskets. It’s so quiet when no one speaks, making the birds the loudest thing in the village.

“Do you hear your people?”

I ask River. “Are they talking now?”

“Someone’s always talking, but we don’t have to listen, and we can choose to speak to someone in particular.”

He whispers, “I blocked all my people last night when I was inside your butt.”

I’m relieved, though it could have been a hell of a way of making a first impression.

“River is putting you to work.”

I look up to find Lyla standing by the low gate. She seems relaxed and well-rested. I wonder how it feels for her to come back here from the buzzing of a city like High Hope.

River rises to his feet and cleans his hands on his pants. “I’ll change my clothes so we can show Josh around.”

He goes inside, and Lyla comes closer, her face somber.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Your conversation with the council will be harder than I thought. The latest attack on Mother didn’t make anyone more willing to fight—it made them more determined to wait till the storm passes.”

I cross my arms, not surprised. War seems like the furthest thing from this peaceful village. It will be so easy for them to ignore what is happening in the outside world. “Can they be sure the storm won’t come here once there won’t be anyone to fight with them?”

“They can’t be sure, but fighting now will make it a guarantee.”

She leans closer and whispers, “You’ll be wise to ask River not to join your meeting with the council.”

I’m taken aback by that. “River is the whole reason I’m here.”

“I love him, but I’ll be the first to admit he’s overly emotional and quick to take offense. You can do what you must without him.”

I ponder her words, seeing her logic, though I don’t like it.

“I’m ready.”

River walks out wearing clean clothes. “Are you joining us, Lyla?”

“I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Good. I prefer to be alone with Josh.”

I shake my head at his familiar lack of subtlety.

We leave his garden and walk toward the heart of the village. The day is growing warm, but there’s a nice breeze that rustles the trees’ branches. Now that I can see better, it’s easy to spot the long mountain range that encircles this island.

“Has no one ever found you here before?” I ask.

“A few people came close, but we scared them off.”

I notice two Semis walking toward us, each carrying a heavy log underneath their arm as if it were a stick. They look away the second our eyes lock.

“Good morning,”

River calls, but they ignore him, at least when it comes to using their voices. When they pass, he mutters, “Very rude behavior.”

“It’s fine. I’m the first human to enter your village. They’re allowed to be cautious.”

I clear my throat. “Listen, about the meeting with the council—maybe I should talk to them alone.”

He stops. “Alone?”

“You might get defensive if they try to push me, and it can turn into a fight.”

He crosses his arms. “I’m not a child.”

“River, we want the same thing. Let me handle this, okay?”

He looks away, hurt but not angry. “Fine, but I don’t like it. We’re a team.”

“Damn right we’re a team. Me speaking with them alone won’t change that.”

“Fine. Here’s Oliver.”

I recognize the stocky man from the ferry. He smiles as he approaches. “You’re settling in nicely, I see.”

“Yes, sir. Your village is beautiful.”

He nods. “It’s the only place I’ve ever called home since I was brought here from the Kansas lab. We sometimes even get snow around here. When River was little, he had a habit of skating on the frozen lake and falling through the ice.”

River scowls. “Not on purpose.”

Oliver laughs. “Of course not, but it only ever happened to you—four times. Anyway, I’m a member of the council, Josh. We’re looking forward to talking to you soon. Please keep in mind that some of us haven’t used our speaking voices in a long time, so the conversation might feel slow.”

“That’s fine.”

After Oliver leaves, River takes me to a small restaurant next to the square. We sit at a table outside, under the shade of a tall elm tree. There’s no menu, but River says he’ll choose something sweet for me. A few minutes later, a woman walks out with a piece of cake and juice. She nods silently as I thank her, then hurries back inside.

“Is she from the wave before yours?” I ask.

“Yes. Everyone here is from one of four waves. There were five waves in total, and Richmond and two others are the last ones from the fourth wave.”

I’m reminded of what River has said about the future of his people. “Can you be absolutely sure there can’t be another wave?”

“Yes. Mother was the one who requested the lab to create each of the last four waves, and she’s positive there can’t be any more.”

I look around. It dawns on me that this magical place doesn’t have a future. “Father was able to create more.”

“But they are not like us, and he has much better technology.”

He squeezes my hand. “Don’t be sad. We’ve accepted what we can’t change, and we’re happy.”

He’s right—his people do seem happy, and it’s not like anyone else’s future is safe these days. “Do you know how many New-Humans Father created?”

He shakes his head. “We can’t be sure, but it takes a lot of resources to create one of them, and Mother estimates there are a dozen or so New-Humans in total, though she can’t know for sure.”

He shrugs. “Maybe there are hundreds.”

Hundreds of giants. I shiver at the thought.

“Eat your cake.”

I do, and it’s sweet and delicious, a mixture of strawberries and vanilla, but my mood remains grim. I want to be done with the council instead of being nervous for the rest of the day. “Can you ask the council members to meet with me? I’m ready.”

He nods. “Okay. They’ll meet with you in ten minutes.”

We walk to the other side of the village and stop at the council’s house. It’s the biggest structure I’ve seen on the island, but it’s still a simple and round one-story building.

River asks, “Are you sure you want to do this alone?”

I’m not, but I trust Lyla’s advice. “I think it’s for the best.”

“Fine, but don’t let them be rude.”

I smile. “I won’t. See you soon.”

*

Ten council members are seated in a semicircle in front of me, dressed in silky white clothes. Watercolor paintings hang on the walls around us, likely created by the residents. Some depict nature, while others capture scenes of war and fire.

A breeze blows in through the open windows, but my skin feels hot and itchy. In the silence of the room, I can almost feel them talking about me. Oliver is seated next to Rowan, and there isn’t anyone young enough to be from River’s wave. Finally, Richmond, who is sitting in front of me, says, “Welcome to our council, Josh from Unity. We were all aware of River’s ambitious plan to bring a Hive member to meet with us, but we didn’t believe he’d succeed.”

“River is good at getting what he wants.”

Richmond nods and strokes his short, gray beard. “That he is. Since you’re here, we are granting you an audience.”

Since you’re here.

I straighten, feeling the weight of their gaze. “I’m here because of the New-Humans. My people know of them and their actions in the west, but we weren’t aware of their full intentions.”

“And what are those intentions, do you think?”

a woman asks, her face pretty but her blue eyes cold. It takes me a moment to recognize her as the one who didn’t want me entering their village last night.

“They have raised an army that is taking over land and turning people into slaves,”

I say. “They want to become our rulers and get rid of everyone who doesn’t fit their vision of a new world.”

“But haven’t humans always had rulers?”

she asks. “Isn’t it in your nature to blindly follow the strong and powerful, even to the brink of destruction?”

I can’t debunk her claim, and I don’t want to go on the offensive. “Blindly following powerful people is what likely destroyed the old world, but we should learn from past mistakes. And there’s a difference between following willingly and becoming a slave or a corpse.”

“They claim,”

the woman says, “that humans have failed to create a better world after we helped you rise from the ashes. In other words, you had your chance.”

The room fills with murmurs of agreement.

I try to keep my anger at bay, feeling as if I’m threading between mines. “I’m not going to make excuses for what happened before my time, but you’re making it sound like surviving is a gift rather than a constant battle. Yes, there are horrible people out there, but there are also communities who are trying to make something better with what little they have.”

“Like the Hives?”

an older man asks, his fists shaking on his knees.

I sense a trap, but I still say, “Yes.”

He snorts. “You speak of the New-Humans and how they're destroying what doesn’t fit their new world, but it was you who tried to do the same to us, even though we’ve given you back the world that you destroyed.”

“True,”

an older woman says, her face flushed. “Defenders… they kill… they chase until… death. You and them… all the same.”

My heart pounds, and my mouth is completely dry.

I expected to face these accusations, but the hatred in their eyes rattles me.

I take a breath to compose myself, then say, “I can’t change what happened, but I wish that I could. My home was attacked almost ten years ago by Raiders. We call it Skyfall. None of us have been the same since. I joined the Defenders the first chance I got, like my father did before me. I have been fighting to protect my people for the last three years, serving alongside brave men and women, many of whom are no longer alive. I’ve recently met refugees from the west, their community destroyed in the name of a new and better world. I’ve seen people crucified to celebrate the coming of the giants, and it’s only going to get worse. I’ve read the history books. War is not containable; it consumes and spreads like wildfire. Your home is not any safer than mine, at least not in the long run. Like it or not, the moment you refused to join Father, you chose your side. I just hope you do something while there’s still time.”

The room is dead silent, but I know the lack of sound is an illusion. My shirt is stuck to my back, and I badly wish to be outside, away from so many accusing glares.

Rowan is the one to break the silence. “We have nothing to lose by speaking with the Hives. For all we know, they might not even want our help. To them, we could still be abominations.”

I want to say that isn’t true, but I can’t.

“River is clearly interested in joining Josh back to his Hive,”

Rowan says, “and since River isn’t authorized to speak for this council, I volunteer to join them.”

I frown. “You’ll come to my Hive?”

“I can communicate with my people over greater distances, and I can officially speak for our council—if they agree to send me.”

“It will be a waste of time,”

the woman who wanted me gone says. “New-Humans and Defenders will do us all a favor by killing each other.”

“We’ve heard enough,”

Richmond says before I can react. “Josh, you may return to River. His attempts to listen in on this conversation have been persistent. We will inform you of our decision soon.”

*

I step out into the sunny day, deeply troubled by how things went. I wonder if I should’ve said anything differently, since I’m not likely to get another chance at convincing them.

River is waiting under a tree, shifting his weight from his toes to his heels in anticipation. The thought of failing him sits heavy on my chest. I’m about to reach him when his lips stretch into a smile. He rushes forward and almost knocks me over with a hug. “You did it!”

“I… yes?”

“Yes! Rowan will come too, but that’s fine.”

He kisses me hard. “We’ll leave tomorrow. Come.” He holds my hand and pulls me after him. “We need to get supplies for the road. I’ll need to exchange some of my vegetables; you can help me pull them out. But not the carrots, though—they need more time!”

Overwhelmed, I let him guide me back to his house. The second we’re inside, he pushes me against the wall, his eyes intense. “Nutrients,”

he growls. “Now.”

He sinks to his knees and pulls down my pants and underwear, taking me in his mouth. I struggle to keep standing because I’ve never been sucked with such hunger and gratitude before.

“River… River, come to bed.”

We hurry to his bedroom, our clothes flying off until we’re naked. I don’t know how we’ll do these things on the road with Rowan, but for now, it’s just the two of us.

I lie opposite him as we suck each other at the same time. As much as I’m giving it my all, I’ve got nothing on River’s skill and energy. I have to stop every few seconds to catch my breath while he continues at full speed. We’ve done this twice before on the road, and both times he managed to make me come before him, which I’m determined to change.

I wet my finger and reach behind him, searching for his entrance. He tenses, but still lets me slip a finger inside him.

“You’re a cheater, Josh Bennett.”

“You want to talk about cheating, River the Enhanced?”

“Hmm, fine.”

I take him back into my mouth, and with my finger probing him, he begins to breathe faster, which also makes him suck faster.

In the end, it’s almost a tie, with me coming in his mouth a few seconds before he comes in mine. Considering the clear victories he had before, I give myself a mental pat on the back.

I move to lie next to him, wrapping my arm around his chest.

He smiles dreamily, then laughs.

“What’s funny?”

“I forgot to block my people. The whole village felt what we did. I think they like you now.”

I cover my face. “We should hit the road right fucking now!”

*

“Josh, wake up.”

I crack open my eyes, feeling as though I’ve barely slept. It’s dark outside the window, and River is a shadowy figure sitting on the edge of the bed.

“S’up?”

I mumble and rub my face.

“I want you to meet someone.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

I push myself on my elbows. “Who is it?”

“Mother.”

He sounds dead serious. Instead of questioning his obscure statement, I slip out of bed and put on my clothes. We step outside into the dark and quiet village, the air chilly. River leads me to the waterline, where a rowboat is waiting. I climb inside, and once I’m seated, he pushes the boat into the water before elegantly jumping inside.

“You’re being very mysterious,”

I say, though I’m not worried. He has done enough to earn my full trust.

“I don’t want the others to know what we’re doing. Richmond agreed, but he asked me to keep it private.”

I have many questions, but I decide to let things play out. River begins to row, the oars slicing through the water with ease until we reach another shoreline. I turn to see a very small island, not much bigger than River’s house. There’s a single tree at the center, and when I stand up, I notice what seems like a door on the ground.

We climb out and stand by the door. There’s enough moonlight to see that it’s made of metal, but I can’t spot a handle or a keyhole.

“This used to be a bunker,”

River says.

“On an island?”

“We turned it into an island for protection. This is where we put our old technology when my people settled in this valley. We don’t need to come here to talk to Mother, but maybe someday we will if we keep losing more satellites.”

The door suddenly creaks, then opens. A row of lights illuminate a steep staircase. River enters first, and I follow. The air becomes heavier the further we climb down, until we stop at a wide space filled with screens and old computers. There’s a big examination chair at the center.

“You need to sit,”

River says after wiping off some of the dust.

I do, wondering when somebody last sat in this chair.

River says, “This might be a bit scary, but it won’t hurt.”

“Okay.”

He walks to bring a helmet connected with wires to some of the computers. I try to keep calm, but that helmet is frightening. River places it gently over my head. It’s heavier than I expected.

“I’ll know if you need to stop,”

he says. “Ready?”

I’m not sure, but I remind myself he wouldn’t have brought me here if it wasn’t important. It’s also a testament to how much he trusts me. “I’m ready.”

He leans down to kiss my chest. “Settle down, Josh’s heart. He’s safe with me.”

He walks to one of the computers and starts pressing buttons. I hear a buzzing sound coming from the helmet. Seconds later, the wall in front of me changes from black to gray, then to white. I blink to make sure my sight hasn’t gone crazy, noticing my helmet has disappeared. I’m no longer in the bunker, but I don’t know where I am. Everywhere I look, the world is pearlescent white. I get up carefully from the chair, and when I turn around, the chair is gone. At least I’m still wearing my clothes, though they seem cleaner.

“Hello, Josh from Unity,”

says the pleasant voice of a woman, but it doesn’t come from any specific direction—it just exists.

“Hmm, hello?”

My voice echoes weirdly, as if it’s not coming from my mouth.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I would like to present myself, but only if you are calm.”

“I’m… yeah, I think I’m calm.”

I barely get to finish my words before the woman from Dino’s old photo appears in front of me, wearing a white lab coat. She’s short, her curly hair light copper, and her eyes seem kind.

“I thought it would be nice to design my Enhanced with the same hair color as mine,”

she says with a warm smile that quickly fades. “However, I did not expect it to become a way for others to single them out. It’s astonishing how much you cannot prepare for.” She motions for me to follow, despite this place lacking any clear directions. We take a few steps before the world around us shifts, bringing us to a gray corridor with a metal door up ahead. I rub my eyes to stop my head from spinning, then I follow Mother—or Helena.

“We believed—or rather hoped—our Enhanced would lead our broken world into a better future,”

Helena says. “We designed them to be kind, but never submissive. Calculated yet willing to trust. Ivan wanted to make them even stronger, but I refused. Too much power can be a curse, and I wanted our Enhanced to be accepted and loved. I got my way, but I was tragically wrong.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the people I met in the village.”

She stops in front of the metal door and turns to me. She may not be real, but the gratitude in her eyes seems genuine. “That’s kind of you to say. What I meant was that by making them less like gods, I ignored how cruel humans could be toward what they don’t understand.”

Her eyes dim with sadness.

“Ivan and I knew we were at risk when the Defenders began looking for the lab, so we decided to leave our bodies behind. I honestly never expected it to work—the technology had never been fully tested—but we had luck on our side. I woke up—for a lack of a better word—as Mother. When the original Ivan and Helena were killed, we helped the survivors find this valley and made the decision to separate our Enhanced from the rest of the world. I requested the Kansas lab to work on a second wave, which perhaps was selfish of me, but I didn’t care. During that time, Father shared with us his vision of a better world, where no one would hurt our Enhanced because we would be the rulers. I rejected the dark path he wished to lead us on, but in secret… a part of me hoped for him to succeed.”

I take in her words, confident River and the rest have never heard this. “But you still fought him.”

“Did I? I convinced our Enhanced to stay in the village, but I didn’t fight to keep the remaining scientists here as well. Father was much weaker back then, yet I allowed him to leave. By the time I realized the full extent of his plan and heard about the New-Humans, he was no longer in my grasp. Now, it’s too late for me to fight him directly, but he still sees me as a threat.”

She opens the metal door and leads me inside.

I gawk, taking in the unexpected sight of rows of human-sized pods, filled with thick, green liquid. I’ve seen this place in the photos Dino showed me, but it’s much creepier seeing it in person.

“Did they all grow up in one of these?” I ask.

“No, most didn’t need a pod beyond the fetus stage.”

“We thought the ones who built the purifiers were immune to radiation.”

“We tried to make them so, only to later discover how badly we failed. Those who survived the Defenders’ attacks started dying horribly a few years after we reached this village. I will never forgive myself for failing them.”

She shakes her head as if fighting a bad memory. “Come, let’s go see our River.”

Confused, I follow her into another short corridor. We stop at a nursery room packed with eleven copper-haired toddlers. Some are wearing blue diapers and some pink. I don’t know how, but I recognize River immediately. So young, he doesn’t look much different than the rest, but I feel it’s him.

Without asking for permission, I sit cross-legged next to him. He watches me with curiosity, his cheeks round and full. There’s mischief in his familiar honey-colored eyes that I will grow to adore years from now. Nearby, I see a baby with a pink diaper who seems like Lyla, playing with a monkey doll.

“Are they really the last wave?” I ask.

“I’m afraid so. It’s a miracle we got even these few after all these years. Not giving them the ability to reproduce was a mistake.”

River crawls on all fours and climbs fearlessly onto my legs. I let him sit in my lap, his head resting against my chest. I offer him my hand, and he grips my fingers tightly. I’m grateful for this surreal moment, yet terrified of failing his future self. This is bigger than anything I’ve ever faced.

“You are enough,”

Helena says, smiling in reassurance. I guess my thoughts are somehow known to her. “River’s mission is a difficult one, and he will need you with him.”

I nod. “I’ll take him to see my people. We’ll raise an army, and—”

“I’m not talking about that, Josh.”

The way she says it sends a shiver down my spine. “Then what is it?”

She shakes her head. “This is for River to share when he’s ready.”

She looks past me. “Nanny Spider is here to watch over the children.”

I frown and look back. What the hell is that? I hold baby River tightly because the robot that has entered the room is the stuff of nightmares. It was made to look like a spider, a black metallic machine with long, narrow legs, all ending with what seems like human palms. Its white face is flat and human-looking, while its eyes are two round, black dots.

I can’t imagine leaving the children alone with that thing, but I remind myself that this is the past.

“Come, leave them to play,”

Helena says. “You have one more thing to see, and I’m afraid it’s much more dire.”

I kiss the top of River’s head and place him down to play with the others. He rushes to the spider instead, which lifts him with two of its palms, causing River to shriek in delight.

Helena leads me out of the nursery, and I find myself in the same pearlescent space from before. She faces me, her expression somber. “The threat in the west is unlike anything your people have ever faced.”

The white around us morphs into black, and then I’m somehow standing above a massive, shiny city.

My body reacts as if I'm about to plunge to my death, and I yell out in fear. Someone grabs my arms tightly. Startled, I look around me, but there's no one here but Helena. It must be River noticing my panic. Not wishing to alarm him, I take a breath to calm down, telling myself that I'm safe, even floating in this fake sky.

“Las Vegas,”

Helena says. “In Nevada.”

“What’s the deal with that wall?”

It stretches around the city like a giant snake.

“Slaves have been building it for almost a decade. Father wants his kingdom protected.”

Beyond the wall lies only sand. It’s hard to believe Colorado is on the same continent as this barren land.

“They won’t stop until everyone submits to their new regime,”

Helena says. “In the last year, they’ve been expanding faster than before, and nothing has been able to slow them down.”

We float lower, almost reaching the streets. There are people everywhere, though they don’t look like slaves with their nice clothes and the way they cheer. I hold my breath at the sight of two giants walking toward us. They’re more than twice as tall as the tallest man I’ve ever seen. Their skin and hair are white, their faces almost identical. Armed soldiers surround them, dwarfed to the size of children. Behind their column, there’s a rolling row of massive tanks, sending dark smoke into the air.

We can’t fight this. We will die in droves.

The city vanishes, and Helena stands in front of me. “You know now what we must face. Your fear is understandable, but don't let it control you. Believe in River, believe in yourself, and believe in your people. This is not a war we can afford to lose.”

Before I can respond, she disappears. A wave of dizziness hits me. I feel my body shift until I’m back on the examination chair. When I blink, I’m in the bunker, and River is removing the helmet from my sweaty head.

I rub my face, feeling lightheaded. “Damn.”

He strokes my head. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

I watch him, momentarily seeing him as a baby, born into an ungrateful world that fears and resents his kind. “I saw you as a baby.”

“Really? Was I cute?”

“The cutest. But that spider…”

He smiles. “Nanny Spider. My first friend. I miss him.”

I clear my throat, Helena’s latest words still floating in my head. “Whatever it is you need to do to beat them, River, I’ll help you.”

He looks away as if he’s not happy to hear that. “Thank you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Let me help you up.”

We exit the bunker and return to the quiet village. He tells me to catch some sleep before we need to leave, but my heart is heavy and sleep stays out of reach.