Chapter 13 Dottie
I pressed my hands over my face while the scourge outside clawed at the door. Being trapped in a men’s bathroom while those oversized abominations waited for the dinner bell wasn’t how I imagined my last moments.
I eyed the half-used sea breeze-scented spray bottle on the counter.
Scented sprays had worked for years to keep the scourge from locating us by smell.
The memory of dousing myself in horrible men’s cologne in the early days and successfully sneaking by a group of feasting buggers could never be forgotten.
It was one of those things that stayed with you for life.
But I wasn’t sure how effective it was when there wasn’t an existing meal to distract them.
Also, this technique wasn’t as successful anymore because the scourge had come to associate certain scents with the presence of food.
One example was lemon-scented Pledge. That shit was widely available and hence, overused, and now when the creatures smelled it they thought, “Yum! Lemon-flavored humans!”
I wondered if “sea breeze” would still work.
Should I try it anyway? Or should I wait it out?
It was morning, and there was a good chance the scuttlers outside, called in by that asshole flyer, wouldn’t give up until the end of the day. And depending on how hungry they were, they might even stay longer. All I had was the bottle of water Shawn had handed me earlier.
Why the hell were there so many scourge in the area anyway? The nest at the center of town was gone. I’d seen its destruction on the big screen with my very own eyes.
Movement from the tiny window above my head had me ducking lower and trying to stay out of sight.
I kept my eyes locked on the mirror, hoping to catch what it was before it caught me.
But it wasn’t another scuttler like it had been the last time.
What I saw had bile rising up in my throat.
The beady eyes of a centicreep stared back at me.
Centicreeps were the scourge’s first Earth-based mutation.
Evolved specifically for its speed, maneuverability, and deftness at hunting down its prey, it was abundantly clear where they’d stolen the genetics.
Except instead of the two-inch-long house centipedes I was used to, this thing was as long as one of those double-length, articulated buses.
And they were covered in sharp, toxic protrusions.
My heart thudded against my ribs, praying that it hadn’t actually seen me. That window didn’t open, and even if it did, I wasn’t sure it was big enough for me to crawl through without cutting myself up with glass. But it was certainly large enough for the sinuous invertebrate to get in.
To make matters worse, the giant centipede-like mutation had a series of sharp blades, all tipped in the scourge’s signature neurotoxin, and they’d learned to use the ones at the front of their bodies to break glass by swinging their heads like an ice pick.
I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. I was trapped. Cornered. Death was at the door. And windows. The air felt so thick that I could hardly breathe, so I held my breath, worried that one small sound could give me away.
But all that was in vain, because there was a sudden crash at the window. The centicreep knew I was here.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
It had managed to crack the first layer of thick glass, but not break it.
But I knew it wouldn’t give up that easily, and the glass wouldn’t hold it back for long.
I scanned the restroom one more time, looking for something, anything.
My eyes landed on the fire extinguisher behind the door. Great, I’d just foam it to death.
Nonetheless, I picked it off the wall. At least it was heavy.
Outside the door, the scuttlers were really riled up now. Except they weren’t scratching at the door anymore. Had they gotten the news to reach me through the window instead? I’d always wondered how these creatures communicated with each other.
But I didn’t have time to worry about what was happening outside the door because the centicreep bashed its hardened blades at the window again, and the first layer of glass shattered.
I braced, ready to smash it in the head with the heavy canister the moment it made it through the second sheet of glass.
The fire extinguisher was starting to feel heavy even just holding it in my hands, but when I heard the sharp crack of the second layer of glass breaking, I suddenly found the strength to lift it over my head and bash it against the creature’s face.
With the superhuman strength gifted to me by the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing through my veins, I managed to smash in one half of its face.
It thrashed wildly for a few seconds, moving in that eerie way as if it had come straight out of a horror film.
I jumped away, opening several stall doors to use as shields.
Most of its body and the toxin-tipped blades were still outside the window, but I couldn’t chance it.
If just one of those blades cut deep enough into me, I was a goner.
Then, to my horror, it slowed and refocused on me. Apparently, it didn’t need both sides of its brain to survive, or even to hunt.
I tried to lift the canister again, but this time it felt like lead. My arms wouldn’t move, and for a moment I thought perhaps one of the blades had nicked me after all, and the toxin was already coursing through my system, paralyzing me.
Suddenly the door burst open, and a wall of purple muscles was between me and certain death.
Ror’k!
Holy crap, he’d come for me like a knight in shining loincloth.
He held off the centicreep with his staff, slicing off several legs with the plasma-bladed end that glowed a brilliant white-blue.
I recognized the relief in his eyes as he picked me up. Then I was smashed to his broad chest with one powerful arm and hauled out of the bathroom and into a hallway littered with scourge carcasses.
Realizing its prey was getting away, the creature in the bathroom screeched and lurched forward. I watched through the closing door as it collided with the row of urinals in a bone-rattling crash. I held onto Ror’k, burying my face into his chest, my whole body still shaking from adrenaline.
It wasn’t until fresh air hit my lungs that I realized I’d been breathing in the scourge’s stench all along. I gulped in a breath.
Ror’k was still moving, and he didn’t stop until we were inside his shuttle. The portal closed behind us, but I felt it all the way to my bones when the monster outside crashed into the door.
He ignored the creature trying to crack his shuttle like a nut and turned to me instead. “Dottie, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. I think.” I righted the crooked glasses on my face. I had to give credit where it was due; they were still intact. Heavy plastic frames for the win.
Ror’k held me at arm’s length, frowning. “Krux. You’re covered.”
I looked down at my body, and sure enough, I was covered in centicreep brains.
Eww.
“We must get it off you before the fungus takes hold.”
He tore the offending garments off, throwing the fabric into the decontamination stall.
This wasn’t quite the way I’d imagined him ripping the clothes from my body, but I understood the necessity. His own equipment and armor went into the stall with the soiled clothing, and when we were both nude, he set the stall to start a cleaning cycle.
“It’s still on you,” he said, ushering me into the alcove at the back of the vessel.
Ror’k pressed his hand on the side of the wall and a door opened up, showing a neat row of rolled-up towels. He picked one up and started cleaning my face and hands with it. It was warm and damp, and I leaned into his tender touch.
One moment I was standing on my own, and the next I was wobbling as the adrenaline that had been keeping me going ran the fuck out. The floor of the shuttle rushed up to meet me, but Ror’k caught me before I fell too far.
“I got you,” he said, sinking down to the floor cross-legged and settling me in his lap.
He got me, all right. And a good thing too, because I was ready to pass out.
Tossing the soiled towel aside, he grabbed a fresh one and started on my body, moving methodically like he was trying to find where I’d been hurt. I had a bunch of scrapes and bruises, but luckily no cuts from the scourge.
I couldn’t believe I was still alive. My heart was racing from the memories of claws scraping at the door.
The moment the windows broke and the centicreep forced its way in played over and over in my head.
I could still feel the impact of the fire extinguisher against the hard exoskeleton and heard the crunch as I threw my full weight into the strike.
Then there was Ror’k and the way he’d charged to my rescue like a hero from a fairytale.
I sat there as he cleaned us both until we ran out of warm, moist towels. It was only now that I realized we were both naked and I was sitting in his lap. He was purring too, but not the sexy kind. This felt more like a cat purring to soothe itself.
Everything felt odd, like a movie. Like, I wasn’t really in my own body. Was this shock? This was totally shock.
There was a series of beeping sounds, but they sounded so far away. Ror’k helped me to the contamination unit, and after removing our items urged me inside. He stepped in after, still supporting me.
“Are you okay? Dottie. Talk to me.”
I tried to get my throat to work, but it felt too dry, and my tongue was heavy. All I could do was cling to him, so I did as the decontamination cycle started.