Page 17
I unclip my axe from its holster as I wind my way toward Vale’s cabin, being smart about rounding corners and paying attention to the scents in the air. I pass a few other residents and remind them to take shelter, but the closer I get to the screaming, the fewer people I see, and I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or not.
I come to a stop at the cabin just in front of Vale’s and slowly inch my way around the walls until I’m at a corner I can use as cover. Cautiously, I peek out from my hiding place. Icy panic floods my veins when I see that her front door is smashed in, barely hanging on by a single hinge. When the wind changes direction, I smell the acrid, violent scent of Biters.
Inhuman growls and hisses sound from the main room of Vale’s home while furniture crashes and the decaying scent burns my nose into uselessness. Fuck, what am I going to do?
Mother’s voice whispers in my ear like she’s right next to me, telling me to walk away, to recognize that Vale is likely hiding, bolted into one of the community cellars, waiting for the Biters to leave or be executed by guards. Her voice is obviously trying to act as the voice of reason, so why can’t I listen to it? It’s like my body craves the fight.
I creep closer and closer, keeping my axe at the ready as I crouch low to the ground, moving in steady, gliding movements so as to not attract any attention. I finally pause underneath the front window and take a moment to catch my breath.
Slowly, I rise on tiptoes to peek over the windowsill into the main room where I see two Biters wrecking the place with no obvious rhyme or reason. I don’t see Vale or her parents, alive or otherwise, so I duck back out of view and wait to see what the brainless horrors are planning to do.
Minutes later, their disorganized chaos seems to coalesce as loud banging reverberates out of the front door. I take a chance and rise to look again, seeing the Biters working together in an alarmingly organized way to ram their rotting bodies into one of the bedroom doors. Fear clenches my gut in a tight fist while my lungs strain to breathe quietly. Are Vale and her parents trapped in that bedroom? Maybe they didn’t make it to the cellar after all. Fucking shit.
With no other options, I grab a hunk of concrete near the foundation of their cabin and lob it into the near distance, cringing as it clacks and rolls across uneven paving stones. Immediately, the pounding of bodies against the door stops, and I hear the quick scuttling of Biters as they herd themselves back out the front door to investigate.
They snarl and lunge at each other, almost in annoyance, and I optimistically think to myself that two against one isn’t the worst odds. I may not be the Wilds-hardened girl I once was, but I’ve faced a lot worse with fewer weapons.
Firearms aren’t my first choice, but if I can shoot one through the brain while they’re distracted, I’ll only have to deal with one at close range. It’s a gamble considering the large margin of error with shooting something that moves as unpredictably as Biters tend to, but at this point, alone against the wall of my best friend’s cabin, I think it’s my best option.
As quietly as I can, I prop my axe against the cabin wall, swing my rifle off my back, and wedge it against my shoulder, gaze already trained through the ancient scope. I hate this part. The moment when I have to come to terms with killing something that was once a human, that used to be just like me. The only difference between the Biter in my scope and me is luck.
I take a smooth breath, holding for a moment, and as I release, my trigger finger readies so that when my body naturally pauses between breaths, I squeeze. The shot reverberates through the air, the crack as sharp and uncomfortable as the recoil, but the Biter I was trained on drops to the ground in a spray of black blood and hunks of rotting flesh. Its buddy immediately turns toward the sound of the rifle and spots me.
Quickly swinging my rifle onto my back again, I brace myself for impact with my axe at the ready. The monster shrieks in rage as it begins its freakishly fast clamoring toward me. One of its arms is clearly only attached by a rotting thread of tendon, but the madness in its glowing eyes still chills my blood. I wait for it to get closer than comfort, close enough to feel the energy in the air from its slicing claws, then I spin away before it can box me in.
Once behind it, I kick its one good leg in, and the creature falls forward as I relish the resounding crack of bone. Its screeching turns shrill while it thrashes around trying to recalibrate. Quickly, I raise my axe and use both hands to hack the sharpened blade into the Biter’s neck. I slice clean through its papery skin and crack its frail vertebrae in half, sending the blade gushing out the other side in a fan of putrid blood.
Its rotting head falls to the ground with a thud, and I step back as the body slumps backward. Breathing has become exceptionally hard, so I allow myself a moment to close my eyes, catch my breath, and recenter. It’s then that I hear a familiar voice scream, “Run, Raine! Run!”
My eyes fly open, connecting with the horrified face of Vale, standing on the small deck of a cabin several houses down. “Raine!” she screams, her warm skin draining of color. “Run!”
I follow the direction her finger is pointing, and my stomach turns to stone as I take in the group of six Biters heading right toward me in a jerking mass of rotting flesh, snapping teeth, and stinging stench. The gunshot must have driven them away from the main fight and right to me.
My body betrays me, doing the one thing I’ve never done in a fight—freeze. My eyesight blurs with tears, my lungs burn as my chest heaves in panic, my whole body shakes, and for a moment, I consider just letting the fucking things have me. Six against one are the kinds of odds reserved for heroes in epic stories, not random omegas surviving in the end of the world. It doesn’t feel like I can run or fight right now. I’m too much of a jumbled mess, betrayed by my own mind and body. Frozen in fear, I shake my head at Vale.
“Raine,” Vale sobs, “you have to move!”
Something in her voice tugs at my brain and loosens the hold on my limbs. I stumble forward, tears now flowing down my face, and half run, half trip as I scramble toward Vale. I choke out, “Get in the cabin!”
Vale stubbornly stands her ground and paces the small porch, chewing on her lip, hands clenched in front of her. Her body nearly vibrates with anxiety as she watches my progress. Why isn’t she seeking shelter?
“I’m never going to make it!” I yell. “Please, go!” My feet are finally cooperating, and I’m running as fast as I can while the rifle on my back slams into me with every hurried stride, but it still won’t be enough. I can feel them behind me, can sense the cloud of noxious rot surrounding me, trying to pull me into its cursed embrace.
Vale watches in horror, coming to the same conclusion as me. I will never make it, but damn it, I can be a hero too, so I’m going to fight until the very moment their teeth pierce my flesh. If Vale doesn’t retreat inside soon, she’ll be joining the horde with me. “Get inside!” I cry once more.
“No!” Vale shouts. “This isn’t how this ends,” she growls.
I’m almost to her now, inadvertently guiding the Biters right toward her. Gods, please let her family be elsewhere; please let me not be the reason Clay loses his whole family. No, I won’t let that happen. I’ll run right past Vale and lead the Biters straight to the wall. There will be nowhere for them, or me, to go, but at least I’ll be their only target.
My heart pounds with desperation and regret for everything that won’t happen, and all the things that I wish never had. I almost laugh because it’s this moment that makes me realize that Dair was right. The wall isn’t keeping me safe; it’s keeping me in.
On the porch, Vale squares her shoulders and her normally sunny face turns stern. For some godsforsaken reason, she takes off her shoes, and then her dark-brown eyes collide with mine as she says, “I’m sorry.”
My mouth falls open as her eyes shift, flashing before fully transitioning into a burning gold. Although I’m basically at the deck steps now, I don’t even have time to consider what the fuck is going on, because the next thing I know, my best friend is exploding into fur and claws as a giant black wolf launches itself off the porch, over my head, and into the group of Biters.
[ 12 ]
RAINE
