Chapter 5 Holly
My lips still tingled, and my head was spinning long after New Franklin had vanished behind us, swallowed by snow-dusted trees and the pale gray sky. I was still reeling, and not just from the toe-curling kiss either.
Burr’k had purred for me. Me! I knew what that meant when it came to Xarc’n warriors. We were compatible. Well, technically, we were all biologically compatible, but purring meant we could be mates. As in forever, happily-ever-after mates.
Seeing the blissfully mated couples around New Franklin, I’d wanted to snag a Xarc’n warrior of my own. Was this my chance?
When Burr’k had said he’d help me find hope, it hadn’t been just a line to appease me. He’d meant it. Beneath all that gruff, brooding armor was a hunter who genuinely cared. But now he was all business again, mumbling about the annoying music.
Sigh. Two steps forward, one step back.
I surreptitiously turned down the music a little. I knew that Christmas tunes didn’t always rub everyone the same way.
But his surly reaction had me doubting everything.
Maybe being compatible wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Sure, the alien warrior was as perfect a physical specimen as you could get, but I also wanted to make sure we were right for each other.
Would I be happy being stuck with a grumpy warrior forever, even if I was sure now that the chemistry between us would be explosive?
I wasn’t all happy as sunshine by nature. I’d worked really hard to be this way and not wallow in the misery of having my entire life upended by the scourge and losing so many people I loved.
What if his rain cloud stamped out my sun?
Perhaps it would be best if we left the kiss as-is and avoided getting any closer during this trip.
I forced myself not to think of the sexy-as-sin hunter at the helm and instead looked down at the trees below. Winter had stripped the landscape bare. The forest below looked skeletal, branches reaching like gaunt fingers through the frost.
Occasionally I caught some movement, but every time I looked, hoping I’d see some sign of wildlife, it was yet another group of scourge. How depressing! I was sick of seeing scuttlers and spitters. I wondered how much of the wildlife had survived the deadly scourge invasion.
I stole a glance at Grumpy-by-Nature. His brow was furrowed, eyes locked on the horizon. The stern, protective shell was securely back in place.
“There’s a shuttle nearby,” he said suddenly, voice low.
“Friend or foe?” I asked, even though I already knew by the stiff set of his jaw.
“Foe. It’s not on my map. The locator has been turned off, but the shuttle still detects it.”
Turning off a shuttle’s locator was a good way to avoid detection, but there was more than one reason someone would do that.
“It could be a hunter from the third contingent,” I suggested.
Originally, only two warrior groups were meant to come to Earth.
But a third contingent had hijacked their mothership after discovering Earth women were mating-compatible, and came here against orders.
They went into hiding, afraid they’d be forced to leave if found.
But it had been years since their landing, and many had already emerged from hiding and been welcomed into hunter groups worldwide.
Burr’k didn’t look convinced. “Or it could be the raiders. They had a shuttle.”
Okay, so his version was a little more likely.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared to the right of us. It grew quickly, almost taking up the entire side of the shuttle.
“Krux!” Burr’k reached for the navigational screen.
The shuttle lurched hard to the left, and my body flew before slamming against the right wall of the shuttle.
My head hit the shuttle’s panel, and the force knocked the breath out of me.
A blinding white light filled my vision, and for a split second, it was all I could see. My heart jackhammered in my chest.
Bile rose in my throat, and it was a miracle I didn’t spew all over the shuttle. My hand went instantly to my head, but it came away without blood. I was going to get one hell of a bruise though.
It was only now that I realized we were being shot at. Burr’k had been right; it was the raiders.
Another blast lit up the sky beside us, followed by a low, vibrating hum that made my teeth ache.
“Hold on!” Burr’k barked.
But there was nothing to hold onto except for smooth, textureless metal.
Then the shuttle was tilting again, back to the other side. I slid across the floor, my arms coming up to protect my head. This time, I hit the raised platform of the sleeping nook. I held onto the tough but soft standard Xarc’n-issue sleeping mat.
“Climb in. I will engage the barrier.”
In my dazed and confused state, it took me a moment to understand what he meant.
I scrambled into the sleeping nook, practically tumbling in as the shuttle shifted again.
Then with a flash, the energy barrier appeared across the entrance, sealing me in.
I’d seen this barrier in action before in Evie’s shuttle, but had never actually touched it.
The shuttle straightened, and I tried to scramble up to my hands and knees on the soft mat, but was immediately knocked to the side again, right into the barrier. Made out of energy, I didn’t understand how it could hold me in, but it did. It had a little bit of a give and felt almost bouncy.
I didn’t have long to consider the texture though, as we were turning again, and the sudden movement sent me flying to the other side. But this time the shuttle wall was right there, and the impact wasn’t too bad.
The side wall of the sleeping nook was the only panel that showed the outside in here, and as we straightened again, I saw that we were much lower to the ground now.
The treetops whipped past just feet below us, their snow-laden branches blurring into streaks of white and gray.
After several long moments, the energy barrier of the sleeping nook disappeared.
I peered out. Burr’k was still at the navigation screen, body tense and ready for another attack.
“I asked my shuttle to stop relaying our location,” he said. “We will not show up on the map, but they’ll still be able to pinpoint our location the way my shuttle had theirs, by the disturbances in the air.”
“Is that why we’re flying low?”
“Yes, they are still looking for us up there.” He gestured upward. “It is ideal if we land and wait.”
“But won’t they see the prints of the shuttle in the snow where we land?
“Not if we find a solid piece of ice or rock.”
It was much harder to search for that so low to the ground than if we were in the air. So I helped him look. We weren’t over trees anymore, but over farmland.
“Over there!” I pointed to a shabby red barn that looked like it needed a ton of work. “The doors are open. It’s going to be a tight squeeze, but we’ll fit. Do you think you can maneuver the shuttle inside?”
He scoffed. “Of course I can.”
It was a good thing we found the barn because several flyers were now circling the sky where we were, probably attracted by the commotion.
I shuddered at the sight of their scorpion-like bodies.
Except, unlike Earth scorpions, these things were the size of a truck and had bug wings.
And instead of a stinger, they had a spike meant to kill by impaling.
They freaked me out, and I’d much rather be hiding in a barn than trying to travel with those things in the air. It wasn’t even noon yet, and that was when the monstrosities really came out to play. And worse? They were known to attack hunter vessels en masse, even when they were cloaked.
Burr’k angled the shuttle toward the barn with an excess of confidence that made me nervous.
The structure looked like it had survived one too many winters with its faded red paint, sagging roof, and doors that hung crooked on their hinges.
One of the doors was only half opened, but the space looked to be wide enough.
I held my breath as Burr’k brought us in. In the background, the jingling of Christmas carols reminded me that my playlist was still going. Burr’k made it look easy as he threaded us through the gap with barely an inch to spare. With a gentle thud, we landed, leaving snow swirling in behind us.
He smirked. “See, easy.”
“Okay. I have to admit, that was impressive.” The guy deserved a little praise after that maneuver.
Burr’k puffed out his chest, not trying at all to hide his reaction to the compliment. And for a moment the grumpy exterior faltered and he looked almost cute. That was if one could ever call a seven feet tall alien warrior with horns, fangs, and massive claws on his feet cute.
The sudden change in music, from “Joy to the World” to a generic ringtone, had me searching for the phone.
It had flown off the bed during our evasive maneuvers and ended up on the floor at the back of the shuttle.
I was glad rental devices came with super heavy-duty Otterbox-style cases; the device looked totally unharmed.
I answered. “Roger?” The name had been on the screen.
“Holly! Thank fuck, you’re okay. Your shuttle icon dropped off the map. We thought”—he paused—“wait, are you okay?”
“We’re fine,” I said quickly. “We got attacked by raiders. Burr’k disabled the location so they couldn’t track us. There are a bunch of flyers around now. We’re lying low until they clear out.”
Roger blew out a breath. “Whew! That’s quick thinking.”
I glanced over at Burr’k and pointed to the phone, hoping he understood that I was asking if he had anything to add. He didn’t respond, so I promised Roger I would keep him updated and hung up.
I was tucking the phone away just as Burr’k opened the shuttle door.
I stared at him. “Aren’t we staying in here?”
“Why do that when I can secure the building?” He stepped out into the barn. “The air is fresh and free of the scourge’s fungus. And I didn’t see many scuttlers in the area when we were in the air. A few roaming groups, but nothing I can’t handle.”
I hesitated, then quickly threw on my boots and followed. The cold hit me instantly, but it was clean and crisp, like he said, with no sign of the stench of the scourge at all. The nearest nest would’ve been the one in the old town of Franklin, and that was gone now.
I suddenly felt extremely empty-handed as I followed him around. Burr’k was right! Where the hell was my weapon? I quickly ran back into the shuttle to strap on the blaster.
Then, spotting an old, rusted axe leaning against a column, I picked it up and hefted it in my arms. There, much better. Now I was armed for both close and ranged combat. By the time I stepped outside, Burr’k had already rounded the corner.
A rustling sound had me whipping around, my eyes scanning the area. Nothing.
I only took two more steps before I heard it again. Except this time it was accompanied by a sound that sent dread zinging through me: the scratching of many little feet against the cold, hard ground.
Every human on Earth alive today knew what that sound meant: scuttlers!
The rottweiler-sized monstrosities had ant-like bodies, spider legs, and scythe-shaped claws like praying mantises. They hunted with scent, and these ones had clearly found their prey. Me.