Free Feast by Jeremiah Knight

the crops that led to the unhinged evolution of all life on Earth.”
    “She tried to warn—”
    Peter was silenced once again, this time with a harshly raised index finger.
    “Tell me, Kristen,” Mason said. “What made you worth saving, while the rest of the world went to hell?”
    For a moment, she was worried that he recognized her. Before the Change really took effect, she had been on TV several times, warning people about the dangers of ExoGen crops. That was before the company caught up with her, kidnapped her and threw her in a cell until she agreed to stay quiet and continue her work for them. At first, she had wondered why they hadn’t simply killed her, but later she had realized it was her mind they wanted. The genetic tinkering they had done, for reasons that still evaded her, was just the beginning. Despite having been a somewhat public figure for a few weeks, she was now far skinnier, had a clean-shaven head and was covered in grime. Her own parents might not recognize her.
    Ella looked at the floor, and then glanced at Peter. “He did.” She met Mason’s eyes. “She wasn’t interested in saving me. Just him.”
    Mason waited for more.
    “They had an affair. Had been childhood friends, and then more than that for a while. We ended up back in the same town with that bitch, and he...” She shook her head at the very real memories. “He couldn’t say no to her. Never could.”
    “And yet here you are,” Mason pointed out. “Together, and by all accounts, in love.”
    “He...made the right choice in the end. Chose his wife and children over something...shallow. She was nostalgia. A reminder of younger days. I have struggled to forgive the choices he made. I’ve hated him for it. God knows, I have. But in the end, he chose his family, and that...that is a man worth loving, despite his faults.”
    Mason gave a nod and leaned back in his chair. “Takes a strong woman to forgive such grave misgivings.”
    “Wasn’t easy,” Ella said.
    Mason gave another nod. “Now then, near as I can tell, the Askews were friends of Dr. Ella Masse. Like-minded science-types, whom you asked for by name, yes? Given your husband’s adulterous past, I’m surprised you accepted such a generous gift.”
    “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to protect my children,” Ella said. “That woman...she was a lot of things I didn’t like, but she was also brilliant. When someone like that tells you your world is coming to an end, you listen, even if it means accepting help from someone who hurt you the most.”
    “And the Askews?”
    “There was a list of names and locations,” Ella said. “Of biodomes around the country. Eighty-seven of them. Bob and Lyn were on the list. It’s why we came here.”
    “And where is this list now?”
    Ella shrugged. She’d thrown the list away long ago, and really didn’t know where it was. “I memorized it.”
    “Uh-huh. And how did you come upon it? The list.”
    Ella took in a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. “She came to our house.”
    “When?”
    “Five weeks ago.”
    “Where is she now?”
    “Dead,” Peter said. “I put a bullet in her.”
    Mason’s eyebrows crested high on his forehead. He appeared to be enjoying the story now.
    “She came to us seeking shelter,” Ella said. “It’s why she paid for the domes. So she’d have places to hide. But when she came to us, she brought trouble in her wake. Stalkers. Horrible creatures with tails that look like wheat stalks. Hard to see in the tall crops. They hunted in a pack. And we...Peter, had to destroy the house to escape.”
    “And Dr. Masse? She died at the house?”
    Ella nodded, and then spoke to Peter. “But it didn’t need to be done in front of the kids.”
    “Couldn’t have been avoided,” Peter replied, anger creeping into his voice.
    “Now, now,” Mason said. “I am not a fan of lover’s quarrels.”
    “Sorry,” Peter said. “It’s all still...raw.”
    “What about the girl