The Change: Life

A Story by Christian Nicholas

13 Years have passed since Ivy was born, and during that time the world has become a much darker, dangerous place...

PROLOGUE

13 Years Earlier

(Directly after the events of The Change: Birth)

- ME -

I drove my father's truck a chaotic bundle of confused, scared, and emotional girl.

No, not girl. Mother.

I was a mother now.

I briefly looked down at Ivy as I drove, almost becoming lost in her sweet, quiet innocence. She was sleeping peacefully, her little green face completely lax and beautiful, her tiny eyes shut and twitching lightly every few seconds.

She had to be dreaming.

What would a creature born to a strange, mutated Changed dream about? The fact that she was born at all was an enigma to me. I fell in love with her even more as I drove, holding her carefully cradled in my left arm as I struggled to keep the truck steady with my right. I was all she had in this world. It was a powerful, intoxicating feeling.

I would do anything to protect this little girl.

Even though I was only barely 16 years old and had never thought of being a mother before �" well, never seriously, at least �" I knew deep inside my soul that this little infant I held would never in her life feel alone. I would make sure of it.

The truck jumped.

I looked up finding I was no longer on the road, but driving off onto the grass. Changed were scattered sporadically around me, and they watched me with unusual curiosity as I fought to take control of the truck.

And then they did something I had never seen them do before.

They hunched, in unison, almost as if they were bracing themselves, then took off in a dead sprint toward me. I was so startled by this unusual behavior that it took me a second before I could bring myself to react. I held Ivy a little tighter and accelerated. They slammed into the truck and promptly bounced off as the truck picked up momentum. My heart was pounding and I could feel my daughter stirring in my arms. I couldn't risk looking at her, though; all my attention and energy was focused on getting back on the road and picking up even more speed.

Soon they were behind me. I looked back in the rearview mirror as I tried to put even more distance between us. What I saw made my blood go cold; they were still running towards me, almost frantically, as if their life depended on it.

Something strange was happening to the Changed.

That turned out to be the understatement of my life.

The more I drove, the more I noticed just how much the Changed were acting abnormally. No matter how far away they were, they chased me - even tried to intercept me at times. There were several close calls, yet amazingly, my daughter slept through them all. If I hadn't been there from the moment she was born, I would have sworn that she had been drugged.

I envied her.

The more I thought about this recent turn of events with the Changed, the more uneasy I became. Why were they acting this way? What had changed with the Changed? There had to be a reason, a catalyst, something that had altered the already chaotic dynamic of the world I had become so accustomed to.

While I drove and pondered this, my thoughts gradually drifted to my father. I decided to make a quick detour to visit him in the barn. After all, there wouldn't be any harm in checking to make sure he was still OK. Besides, I could introduce him to Ivy. I was positive that he would love her; and she, him.

About a half hour later I pulled up to the barn, my eyes widening the closer I came to it; it's doors were wide open, with one even hanging halfway off its hinges.

I scrambled out of the truck, started to put Ivy in the seat while I checked to see what was happening, then thought better of it. I didn't want to leave her alone for even a second �" not with everything being as crazy as it was. I grabbed my shotgun with my free hand, having no idea how I would fire it if I had to, but still wanting it by my side regardless.

Yeah, that was me; all logic.

As I stumbled on a rock trying to be stealthy on the way to the barn, Ivy chose that moment to wake up. Which was odd. Not necessarily that she woke up, but the way that she woke up. She didn't gradually awaken as most babies would, or begin automatically crying. Instead, her eyes simply snapped open and she stared up at me, her eyes wide, green, and curious. Almost as if she were saying, "Mother, what is amiss? Do you require my aid?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I smiled a little at my absurd musings. I could really be silly at the most inappropriate of times.

Ivy flicked her eyes in the direction I was walking, causing me to pause and do the same.

It was quiet. Very, very, very quiet.

Way too quiet for my current paranoia level.

Clenching my shotgun tighter, I came closer to the barn door and peered inside. It was a little dark, but I could see one thing for certain almost immediately; it was empty.

My father was gone.