Holly and the Hunter (Xarc’n Warriors)

Chapter 1 Holly

The recipe book was exactly where I’d left it, mocking me from the storage shelf, completely oblivious to the fact that I’d had to run back through the freezing cold to get it.

And of course, the settlement-wide alarm had to go off the moment I’d set foot in the storage building.

Now I was stuck here in the cold instead of somewhere warm like the kitchen.

There was shouting outside, and I peered over the window ledge to peek through the frost-lined glass. Raiders in patchwork gear darted between buildings, boots crunching over the freshly fallen snow, weapons drawn. They were coming this way, toward our supply depots.

One of our guards fired a warning shot, the sound echoing through the crisp winter air.

But the raiders didn’t even flinch. This group was well-armed and organized, wearing armbands with the letters NEM on them.

New Earth Militia. They were a bunch of zealots who claimed their main goal was to take Earth back from the aliens.

And by aliens they meant our allies, the Xarc’n warriors, and not the bug-like, man-eating scourge, our real enemy.

Clearly, these asshats had done this before. We were just another stop on their winter tour of terror.

A deafening boom shook the walls, rattling the windows and sending a shockwave so strong that it knocked me back onto my ass. Dust rained down from the ceiling, and the lights flickered. Somewhere outside people were shouting, but it all sounded muffled, like I was underwater.

I crawled back toward the window, my ears ringing. Smoke billowed from one supply building over. They’d blown a hole right through the side of it!

I wanted to run out there, scream at them to stop, throw something, do anything.

But my legs weren’t cooperating. I was just Holly the Holiday Chief of Glitter and Garlands.

My job was to whip an army of Santa’s helpers, also known as New Franklin’s Christmas Committee, into transforming our little settlement into the ultimate holiday wonderland. I was no fighter.

Our defenders, armored and armed, poured out from the buildings. They surrounded the raiders and the lone crate they’d managed to steal.

Suddenly, blaster fire from a Xarc’n shuttle rained down. Our alien protectors were here to help!

But wait… what the hell? The shots weren’t aimed at the raiders, but at our guys. Our brave fighters ducked for cover. And as our fighters regrouped, the raiders didn’t run. Instead, they started wrapping straps around the crate.

What the hell were they doing?

And then I saw him. The new Xarc’n warrior who’d just recently joined New Franklin. The one I’d tried to chat up the other day and got only a single, uninterested grunt in return.

He was tall, almost seven feet if I had to guess.

His massive, curved horns gave him a regal look, and his body was perfect too: broad shoulders, trim waist, and muscular legs that ended in sharp claws.

He wore only a loincloth, no chest harness like the other hunters used for their gear, which meant I got a full view of those dark purple pecs and sculpted abs.

So much purple!

He stepped into the open with his massive sword, the sharp cutting edge aglow with plasma energy. The raider took one look at him and fired. He moved fast, the bullets pinging off the charged metal like they’d hit an impenetrable shield. They struck the snow harmlessly.

I blinked. Did he just block all the bullets? And he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

The raiders looked just as shocked, but one of them tried to rush him. Bad idea. The alien warrior twisted, knocked the weapon aside, and dropped the guy with one smooth strike. This gave an opening for our guys to attack.

But now the remaining raiders piled onto the crate, and to our surprise, the whole thing lifted off the ground. Our supplies dangled in the air like a prize. The shuttle! They’d strapped it to their shuttle.

“Shoot the chain!” someone yelled.

Our guys only managed to get a few shots off before the crate disappeared into the cloaked space around the enemy shuttle.

And then, just as fast as they’d appeared, they were gone, and the chaos was replaced by silence.

Heart still pounding, I grabbed the recipe book, the icing sugar, and the Christmas-themed cookie cutters, which had been the whole reason I was in the storage building to begin with, and stepped outside. A crowd was already gathering, demanding to know what had been stolen.

I resisted the urge to join them and went the opposite way instead, ducking into the main survivor building.

It was hard to believe that just a few short years ago, most of the inhabitants of New Franklin had fit into this building. Several had lived with the hunters over at the hunters’ compound just across the street, but most of us had made do with whatever space we had.

New Franklin had grown a lot since then.

For one thing, we had several buildings for inhabitants now, and we even had a community center with a library, a skating rink-slash-wading pool (depending on the season), an attached school, and enough room for book clubs, knitting bees, and the occasional impromptu dance night.

But the OG building was still the heart of it all in my eyes.

I pushed through the kitchen doors and found Janice and Evie waiting for me.

Janice was the kitchen coordinator for the main building, and Evie ruled the smaller kitchen over at the hunters’ compound.

Evie was also my Christmas Committee co-leader and best friend.

Her apron was dusted with flour, and her brow was furrowed from worry.

“Holly!” she gasped, rushing over. “Are you okay? Were you caught in the attack?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “But the raiders made off with one of the crates.”

“Mother trucker!”

I grinned at Evie’s PG-13 swearing. She was adorable like that.

“Do we know what’s in it?” Janice asked.

I shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll find out soon.” I held up the box of Christmas cookie cutters. “But I got the goodies.”

The middle-aged woman brightened. “Oh, good! We really need to start on these cookies.”

We’d learned from previous years that we had to get on the cookie-making and decorating early, before the holiday prep turned us all into frazzled messes. So we now did the bulk of the baking and decorating weeks ahead and froze the cookies. We were already late this year.

In fact, the whole holiday shebang was behind schedule. We didn’t even have the gifts out of storage yet, which meant we still had a bunch of wrapping to do. But I wasn’t worried. I knew we’d be able to pull it off, even if we had to burn the midnight oil.

I went to wash my hands and was throwing on an apron when the kitchen door creaked open.

Roger stepped in with Junior trailing close behind.

Roger was the unofficial leader of New Franklin.

He kept complaining about not wanting the job, but also kept doing it fantastically.

Junior wasn’t technically his, but you’d never know it.

Melissa had been pregnant when they met, and Roger had raised that boy like his own from day one.

According to Junior, Roger was Dad. End of story. It was really sweet.

“Did we figure out what they took?” Janice asked, setting down her measuring cup.

Roger nodded slowly. “Yes, and I thought you should be the first people I told.” His eyes switched between Evie and me, which was confusing. Why should we be the first? “The good news is that they didn’t take anything vital for our survival this winter.”

I relaxed. “That’s good.”

“Yes, it is… but … they took the Christmas crate.”

I froze, and Evie gasped.

On one hand, I was glad it wasn’t anything essential like medicine. Winter was hard in the bugpocalypse.

But the Christmas crate! The one with all the hand-knit stockings.

The children’s gifts. The lights. The tree topper.

Everything we’d been collecting and crafting for months to make this holiday season the best one yet.

We’d had many new survivors join us this year, some of them children, and we’d wanted to make it special.

Junior was the first to speak. “Does that mean Christmas is canceled?” His little lips trembled.

“No,” I said, voice shaking but firm. “We’ll save it. We still have time.”

Janice put a hand on my arm. “Holly, Christmas is in a week.”

See, told you we were really behind.

But I wasn’t ready to give up. “We can replace the stockings if we use super chunky yarn. We already have the trees up. They’re just missing decorations.”

“And the presents?” Evie asked. “Our foragers have been bringing those back one by one all year.”

“We’ll hit up a toy store,” I said, much too quickly. “We can make it a special foraging trip. We’ll find replacement lights too.”

Roger rubbed his jaw. “We need to fortify and rebuild now that the New Earth Militia has started targeting us. But if you’re serious… maybe one of the hunters would be willing to take you.”

“I’m serious,” I said. “I’ll do it.”

“I’ll ask around,” he said. “See who’s available.”

Janice clapped her hands together, eyes shining. “That’s so brave. And exciting.”

My smile was tight. “It’s Christmas. We’re not letting it go without a fight.”