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“What’s wrong?” Gage asks.
“Kaitlyn was monitoring the radio. You need to hear this.”
All three men turn in tandem and walk down the boardwalk, passing colourful clapboard buildings until they come to the communications shed. As they enter the small room filled with various equipment, a long table, and a few chairs, Kaitlyn glances up from her seat at the comms. Her usually tanned skin is pale, and her green eyes are wide. Chills run down his spine as a charismatic voice from the past booms out through the speakers in the room. He’s had a run in with this man before, and it didn’t end well.
"My fellow survivors, I know many of you may have thought the Homani were extinct, wiped out by the apocalypse twenty-five years ago. But, I, Vance Donahue, have seen with my own eyes that they are not only alive, but they have been hiding among us this whole time. They possess abilities far beyond what we can imagine, and now, they have revealed themselves to the world. And it's not just a few rogue individuals, they have entire communities living among us.”
Gage staggers back and falls into a seat behind him.Fuck.His heart hammers in his chest. This can’t be true. Even as small children in the facility they were told that the Homani, the people whose DNA the scientists used to create them, were all dead. That they were failed experiments, vicious beasts who needed to be put down. Gage grips the cracked arms of the plastic chair. That they had been alive and thriving in communities–it went against everything he had been taught. The Homani were the monsters that went bump in the night.Another fucking lie. A surge of anger heats his skin. All this time, all of this wasted time that they could have had with the people from whom they were created—gone.
“I urge you all to join me in taking a stand against these shifters. Together, we can protect ourselves and our future. We must act now before it's too late. Let us show them that we will not be intimidated or controlled by their kind. The fate of humanity is in our hands. We must band together and fight back. I can’t stress this enough: join me and let's take back what's rightfully ours. Together, we can rid the world of these monsters once and for all."
The radio goes silent, and Gage shoots to his feet.
“We have to help them,” Kaitlyn chokes out, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Without question,” Lennon says, his hands fisted at his sides.
Gage meets JD’s intense stare and nods. “We’ll gather everyone tomorrow and decide our course of action. Until then, keep monitoring the radio and put out some feelers to see what you can learn. We won’t leave them to die.”
Kaitlyn nods and puts on a headset, her fingers flying over the various knobs of the vast communications equipment in front of her.
Chapter three
Thesnickofthelock echoes off the stark white concrete walls and tile floor. The young boy obediently climbs out of his cot and pulls his starched t-shirt over his dark curly mop, the common uniform of the children here. He dresses before he opens the door of his tiny room and lines up with the other children for mealtime. The silence in the hall is only broken by the click-clack of high heels as the technician walks by with her clipboard in hand.
“Are they ready for the next phase?” a male voice inquires.
The young boy peeks up through his long lashes and catches the sour look on the homely woman's face.
“They better be. We can’t afford any more failed experiments like their predecessors.”
The male’s laugh is humourless as he responds, “The only good thing that came from the Homani are these specimens. It’d be a waste of good resources to have to destroy them.”
Quaking, the boy’s small chest heaves as he tries to catch his breath at their words. They must pass this test. Around him, some of the other children’s faces have lost colour, and some are weeping quietly. They can’t fail like the monsters did.
Gage gasps awake, kicking the tangled sheets off his bed. He sits up, a fine sheen of sweat coating his skin, and cups his head in his hands. Letting out a long breath, he rubs the scruff on his face. He hasn’t dreamt of the facility in years.
Rising from his bed, he walks naked down the bright, narrow hall to the bathroom. His bare feet are silent on the hardwood floor. Turning on the shower, he waits for the water to heat. Once ready, he steps in through the large glass door and lets the hot spray wash over his muscled frame as he leans one hand against the gray tiled wall. A tightness fills his chest.
The Homani.
After the clones had arrived in Crescent Harbour, they learned as much as they could about the Homani from the humans who took them in. There wasn’t much to tell. The Homani were humans who had been taken and had been subjected to ghastly experiments not much different than what Gage himself had gone through. The difference was that where the Homani had once been human, the clones from them, his people, were genetically manipulated from conception in a lab. They weren’t born. They were made with the intent of being superior—the success.
The now cold water pulls him from his thoughts. Stepping out and grabbing a towel from the rack, he dries off and brushes his teeth, then walks back into his room. Pulling on jeans and a black t-shirt, he quickly dresses and heads to the kitchen to make a coffee.
Stepping outside, Gage sits on a weathered wooden deck chair with his gaze fixed on the distant horizon where the first tendrils of light kiss the ocean's edge. The air is cool and slightly damp, carrying the invigorating scent of saltwater. A mug of steaming coffee rests comfortably in his hands. Its warmth is a stark contrast to the fresh morning breeze that ruffles his hair.
Taking a deep breath, he inhales the hint of salt in the air, a familiar scent that calms his jumbled thoughts of possibly taking his people into battle.
With quiet reverence, Gage raises the mug to his lips and takes a slow, contemplative sip. The rich, familiar taste of the coffee mingles with the misty tang of the sea air, creating a sensory symphony that perfectly complements the unfolding scene before him.
As the sun's golden orb breaches the horizon, a soft, diffused glow bathes the world in a tender light. He follows the sun's ascent, his focus on it unwavering. The coffee warms his palms as he cradles the mug, feeling a deep connection to the moment and the world around him.
The higher the sun gets in the sky, Gage can almost feel its life-giving energy infuse his very being. The mug's rim touches his lips again, and he takes another sip, savouring not only the taste but also the tranquillity of his quiet morning ritual.
He shifts his shoulder as he mulls through his thoughts on what is coming.Can I bring a possible war to our people? Do I want to?He shakes his head as the answer to his questions are clear.There is no choice. As the sun climbs, so does the pit in his stomach. With a sigh, he stares into his now empty cup, walks back into the kitchen, and places it in the sink.Let’s get this day over with.
Gage walks toward the center of town where the previous night’s festivities were held where a small group of people are cleaning up tables and sweeping the area. Lennon and JD are speaking at the corner of the street.
