The Host ¤ The Next Chapter

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 25

The Host ¤ The Next Chapter: 25

Jenny

Everyone's still staring at me like their a bunch of deer in front of headlights. I don't know if I, a host who they all thought was long gone, returned that's got them stunned, or, my story is the thing that's got them all gapping like fish out of water. 

Sarah's the first to gain some sense and relax. "So you're Jenny?" she asks me.

"That would be correct." I reply, crossing my arms on my chest.

"How long have you been.....inside May?" she quetions me hesitantly. Out of concern or awkwardness, I can't tell.

"In dreaming mode---ever since May when they put her in me." I answer her honestly. "Awake, I'd say since Taylor tried to kiss her and I slapped him."

Sarah exchanged a glance with Whitney. They both turned their heads back to me once their silent conversation was over.

"Strong emotions, like anger, tend to bring out the hosts." Whitney spoke first. "Perhaps we should try making the slumbering humans angry rather than trying to soothe them to the surface with words from their relatives or friends."

"I wouldn't count on it working all the time." I remarked. "Some hosts are legitimately gone. They were either too young when they were invaded, so they were easy targets, or they were too old to put up a fight. The only margin you can work with are those that are teenagers or young adults."

The two seemed taken aback by what I had said. It didn't matter, I kept talking.

"And even then, only the strong-willed survive to have a voice. Those that are stuck in the dreaming state can stay asleep until the day the body dies."

The one named Jesse, he came closer to my bedside. He looked like he was trying to understand something. "So what you're saying is only OUR generation can be saved?"

Finally, someone who got what I was trying to say.

"Right." I confirmed his guess. "I'm afraid everyone else is lost---even if the Souls were pulled out of their bodies."

There was a silence. I think what I was saying was sinking into everyone's heads.

"How did you come across this information exactly?" Sarah retorted. I supposed she wasn't too happy to hear my news.

"It came to me when I was with May." I told them. "And also, by observing those in your own rebel base. Didn't you realize the only children in your organization were either born to host-free parents or somehow survived the Soul's take over of Earth? The elders you have managed to stay alive by pure luck. There's never been a child or elder rescued from a host in the entire history of this place." I looked at all of them. "Has there?"

"No." Whitney sighed before Sarah could open her mouth in protest. However, the girl still had things to say.

"Then what are we suppose to do?" Sarah growled. "Wait for the Souls to decide they don't want Earth anymore? They'll never do that! In case you haven't heard, Wanda is living proof that Souls can last thousands of years."

I held my tongue until after she was done speaking. "Yes, we'll have to wait a bit, but it will be worth it."

"Jenny?"

My head snapped to the right. Jeb was standing in the door with his rifle in hand.

"Doc told me everything." he continued. "If you'd come with me, please." he asked rather than stated.

If he had heard what Whitney, Sarah, and I had been talking about, he was doing a pretty good job at acting like he hadn't. Either that or he truly hadn't heard our discussion.

I got up from the cot, with no help, and walked after him. I could stand on my own now that my body had regained its water intake. Jeb led me out of Doc's little hospital, through the tunnels, and into the main cavern. I knew it by May's memories I had absorbed before she'd left me.

"In here." Jeb told me.

The new location was his house. May had been in here before. It was a small, rectangular sized hut carved out of the stone in the cavern. It had windows and doors covered by curtains and other fabrics. The counters and furniture had also been carved out of the rock. There was a kitchen on the right, but that's not where Jeb took me. He had me sit down at the table to the left.

"Your prescence," Jeb began, "Is going to cause quite a stir around here. I want to prepare everyone before you start walking around freely."

Whatever he was saying didn't sit with me. "What does that mean?" I asked.

"Some people are going to doubt that you are who you say you are." Jeb replied, "While others won't take your reappearance as happily as you thought they would."

Taylor, for example, I thought to myself. Or, my Aunt and Uncle, since they were still alive and walking around inside the base. 

"Seeing how you're still on good terms with Whitney, you'll room with her. I'll be assigning guards outside the room with rotating shifts so someone will always be protecting the entrance." Jeb informed me. "My guess is that it'll take three or four days before everyone's settled down again before you can make your grand reappearance."

"Okay." I agreed. "If it's for my own safety."

"Your safety and the safety of others." Jeb countered. "Folks tend to go a little crazy around here when things they can't understand happen."

"I've noticed." I replied, but I didn't think he heard my sarcasm.