“What does that mean?” Sal said with a lump in his throat.
"It means we have a responsibility to help the human race,” Darwin said, almost father like.
“Are humans really that bad? I mean, my friends and family are regular humans,” Sal said, clinging to his glass of ice tea.
Mack peeked over the table and just stared at Sal for a while. "They're worse," he said, becoming spiteful.
“The eradication of Native Americans? World Wars I and II? The Spanish Inquisition? The destruction of planet Earth with pollution? Animal cruelty? Slavery? Child molesters? Even your own grandfather, to name a few."
“My grandfather?” Sal asked, clearly shaken.
Mack continued undaunted as if he hadn’t heard Sal’s question. “Humans are the real threat to life on Earth. Humans are a plague on the planet. They threaten their own existence and that of other species by using up the world’s resources. The only way to save the planet from famine and species extinction is to limit human population growth.
"Over the next fifty years or so, humans are going to be screwed. And I'm not just talking about climate change—it's a matter of sheer space, having places to grow food for this enormous horde. Either we limit population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world won't know the good from the bad.
"There's been a frightening explosion in the number of humans, and the need to invest in sex education and other voluntary means of limiting population in developing countries who can’t support themselves, and that's not an inhuman thing to say. It’s the reality.
"Until humanity manages to sort itself out and get a coordinated view of the planet, it’s going to get worse and worse.
"That's where we come in."
Sal felt as if he was suffocating. He needed air. Sal pushed his chair back, knocking down his plate as he ran for the door. As he fumbled with the door handle, he heard Darwin scolding Mack behind him.
He got the door open and stumbled outside, running past a surprised Dante who was standing under the canopy, smoking a cigarette. Sal continued to run until he literally crashed into the front gate Seth and he had entered earlier. The rain was pouring down. Blood dripped into his eye.
What the hell was going on?
He shook the gate angrily.
“Mack has a way with words,” Darwin said, walking up behind Sal, holding an umbrella.
Sal turned his head slightly to see Seth standing a few feet behind him. He looked back out between the bars of the gate, gazing into the horizon.
The water drummed hard on Darwin's umbrella, forcing him to speak louder. “He shouldn’t have gone off on you like that. My apologies.
"He gave you the wrong impression about us. Please, come back inside, get dry, and we’ll have Orion take a look at your injury.”
The thought of Seth still inside pulled on him like a magnet. How could he resist?
“Have you ever done deep research on something only to realize that if you talk about it with people, they'll think you're crazy?” Darwin said in a lighter tone.
Sal chuckled. “All my life. Maybe I’m just being foolish.”
“They say that foolishness is knowing the truth, seeing the truth but believing in the lies,” Darwin said with compassion. There was a truth to those words, and Sal willingly walked back toward the house with him.
Giant Hill.
The name was fitting.
“We’re Giants!" Darwin said. "A new species created by extraterrestrial life and stronger than regular humans.”
Seth met them at the door. Sal ran a hand over his face, trying to wipe the water from it. He couldn't believe what Darwin had just said.
“Is that why we can’t grow facial hair?” Sal asked. He heard Dante and Seth laugh somewhere behind him.
"Was it the food that freaked you out?" Dante asked as Sal walked past him and into the house. “That rabbit food will give anyone the runs…seriously.”