but, kenneth, she looked so sad - “
“she was a child. and we can not take any chances.”
“i don’t see how you can say all the children are these mutants. surely some of them are truly lost and need help -“
kenneth banged his fist on the steering wheel.
“we have two thousand miles to go, helen, and you are starting to drive me crazy with your nonsense.”
“i - i’m sorry, kenneth, it’s just that i - “
“don’t start again, helen. we have been over it all a hundred times.”
helen started to speak but stopped, and nodded.
kenneth kept his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road, which was only a little lighter than the surrounding dark desert.
they were driving with the headlights off, to conserve the car’s energy.
despite helen's lament and kenneth’s outburst, they had not seen one of the children for over forty miles.
or any other cars.
“what was that?” helen asked.
“a jackrabbit or a coyote, if it was anything at all. “
“i wonder why there are no other cars,” helen said after a while.
“because most people have either had enough sense to reach the refuge already, or were too stupid to even try. people like you, helen, who thought the children could be negotiated with.”
helen did not reply, and kenneth went on.
“in case you have forgotten how dire the situation is, my dear, let me refresh your memory. it seemed that civilization was progressing quite nicely in the year 2409 when the world parliament got the bright idea to give all schoolchildren the wonder drug f-877, to improve their cognitive skills and their stamina.
within two years a new race of super children emerged and proceeded to ravage the earth, driven by urges and motives that the most renowned scientists could only guess at.
the children were - are - implacable, relentless , invulnerable, and above all, untiring. they never sleep.
the surviving adults , including some of the world’s most eminent scientists, have gathered for a last stand in a dome in the mongolian desert.
the dome we are trying to reach right now, and will if only a few storms come up and we can recharge the car and if our supplies hold out.”
kenneth looked up at the sky. a few stars and a thin moon lit it up, but there were no clouds.
“damn it!” kenneth cried, “where are those storms bob wilson promised me!”
the energy meter on the dashboard showed a perilously low 18 percent.
as they hurtled through the desert the meter dropped to 17, then 16.
“look,” helen finally cried, as dawn finally began to show.
a few heavy clouds showed on the horizon. even better, a few flashes of lightning showed among them.
“at last,” kenneth exhaled. as the clouds seemed headed directly toward them, he stopped the car.
kenneh and helen got out of the car. as kenneth began opening the energy nodules on the front and sides of the car, helen got a couple of bottles of water and a couple of sandwiches out of the trunk.
“this is strange” said kenneth, watching the approaching storm. “it is coming almost too fast - almost as if it were being guided.”
“guided by what, dear?” asked helen.
but as she spoke, they could see some small, ghostly forms appearing on the horizon as the sun rose.
children!
quickly, kenneth got into the car and retrieved his blaster from the glove compartment.
“get your own weapon out of the trunk, helen,” kenneth commanded.
helen hesitsted, but went back and took a small blaster in a holster out of the trunk and strapped it on.
the children - about six or seven of them that helen and kenneth could see - came closer, but the storm clouds came even faster, until they were directly overhead.
then the clouds unleashed their fury. rain poured down, and tremendous blasts of lightning lit up the sky.
but instread of being drawn down into the car’s energy nodules, the lightning blasts converged on kenneth!
screaming curses, kenneth unleashed his blaster on the clouds.
but to no avail, as the lightning lit him up and hurled his lifeless body to the ground.
the children came closer, and helen could begin to make out their faces.
how innocent and beautiful they looked!
helen reached for the blaster but something knocked the holster, and the blaster in it, off her hip and into the sand.
the lightning stopped.
the first child was now plainly visible, even in the wind and rain.
a little girl with the biggest, bluest eyes helen had ever seen.
“don’t be afraid, pretty lady,” said the girl. “all we need is love.”
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