Free Evolution by Cody Toye Page A

environment?
    His knife still at his side, he strolled down the corridor, making his way through the vast tunnels and gathering what he can from the bodies. He noticed many dead pod creatures laying next to the soldiers in battle. The red and green backsplash of carnage mixed perfectly and the horror of reality was written on the expressions of the damned.
    For the first time, he allowed himself a lingering gaze upon the faces of the horrid creatures. Sympathy tried to rise, but was soon crushed by the image of his own suffering. War. The word no one chose to describe the worldwide phenomenon. The arrogance of the human race was infinite.
    He looks at the casualties and purpose of both sides. He sees creatures and humans alike both fighting for the exact same thing. A right to live. He let his thoughts take over as he worked his way towards the exit of the caverns. A new understanding of the situation preserved forever in his memory.
    We assumed they attacked us. Did they assume we did the same? Did they take it as an act of genocide when we starting cutting down trees, paving the ground, and selling land? Can plants have thoughts and feelings? Of course they can! They can obviously feel pain and hunger, they can adapt to survive and hunt for food.
    The sunlight greeted him with a warm embrace, licking his cheek and blinding his eyes. As Jedd strolled out of his prison to embrace freedom, his celebration was cut short by a new found realization. One that sucks the very hope and purpose out of a man’s soul. We are the enemy.
    He slides the knife back into his boot and leans against the entrance of his prior prison. A small giggle of madness escapes his lips. In the distance he can hear the many distinct sounds of nature’s fury waiting patiently to release its wrath on the first human it can. Baboons, Podradiles, and what sounds to be a bigger and meaner unknown foe pollutes the air with sounds of anger and chaos. Jedd answers with three little words, made big enough and loud enough for Mother Nature to hear.
    “WE DESERVE THIS!”
    *~*~*
    Chapter 16
    She couldn’t help herself. It was as if time itself forgot to claim Granny Mae. She walked back and forth looking at photos that decorated the wall. Her fingers touched the cool rotary phone and her feet carried her deeper into the dwelling.  Alex saw so many marvelous things from a time when life seemed simple.
    Through the yellowing, she could see a newspaper article from the sixties; the caption proclaimed several women’s rights activists were chained to the hand railing on the steps of city hall in Sacramento, California.  There she was, Alex looked upon the old black and white picture, studying it, trying to catch a glimpse of the past. She looked upon the faces of the women, a sea of nameless faceless women. All except one. Leading the group with bullhorn in hand and the key around her neck was a younger meaner Granny Mae. Her face was twisted into a serious scowl and the riot squad frozen in time was only a few short steps away.
    Alex couldn’t contain her smile. The thought of Granny Mae taking on City Hall. I bet they had no clue what they were up against. She could picture the police moving in, only to be flogged by a mob of angry women, tearing them down and holding tight to their principles. Next would come the military, armed with every crowd controlling weapon in their arsenal, and fighting women with nothing more than a bullhorn and a severe attitude. The battle would last for a rubber band moment, stretching as long as it could before the situation would snap and one side would become the victor.
    Placing the article back in its rightful place among the mess of artifacts, Alex casually looked around the room. Her fingers seemed to extend out and randomly feel anything and everything. They took on a life of their own, craving the sensation of landing on surfaces new and foreign to them.
    Next to the large antique bed, just past the chocolate brown