Chapter 15
Star
Rage had already figured out how to raise the hatch and did so without making any noise. With the heat-seeking console doublechecked, we knew exactly where the marauders were hiding for the night. The others were none too pleased that I was joining them, Wrath and Vicious especially.
I had to give the scientists who’d provided their new names credit. Rage. Wrath. Vicious. Blade. Ghost. Wizard. Rock.
They were all incredibly handsome, all with sculpted muscles that were no longer seen in the survivors.
When people were starving, muscular structure disappeared first. But even with indulging myself at enjoying their chiseled features, a little voice inside my head reminded me they were a product of laboratories.
Well, for the most part.
I couldn’t lie and say their features had been completely transformed as my memories of the boy who’d saved me were rearing their ugly heads, adding to the confusion of how I felt about him. He was the same yet enhanced, partially because he’d grown into a man. One handsome man.
What was I doing thinking about how good looking he was when we had fifteen killers waiting outside?
“Stay behind me,” Rage said, knowing I wouldn’t respond because we were stepping onto the terrain.
He’d held a brief conversation, laying out plans for the attack.
It rang of a military operation, which I wasn’t used to.
I preferred working alone, which made both hiding and escaping much easier. “Do not venture off. Understood?”
But he was in charge and obviously used to his people obeying him.
“I hear you. I know how to fight.”
“You don’t know what we’re up against.”
“And neither do you.”
“Stop talking,” Wrath hissed. The Savage was right. Drawing any attention to our approach was reckless.
I’d chosen a pistol instead of an assault rifle, learning the hard way that I was best served with more hand-to-hand combat instead of use of the automatic weapons. Plus, the ammunition was limited, conservation necessary to keep us alive.
As with any group of unwanted people, there was always a chance they’d managed to create heat sources using animals as decoys. It had been done before. That was why when we were outside, we moved in formation.
I didn’t need to be told what to do. I’d been down the road of hunting assholes who’d tried to steal from us. Granted, I preferred being in the city and when light was used as my friend and a level of protection. There were too many unwanted creatures after dark.
Including wild animals.
There was no sign of a storm. In fact, the ugly haze from the moon had fallen over the earth. Maybe Rage was wrong. I almost snickered from the thought.
We walked a good distance away from the compound and farther into the darkness, our only light that of a distant moon, the strange glow almost always covered by a haze. At least the powerful glow along with my knowledge of every inch of the area surrounding the compound would come in handy.
While the Verndari were in stealth mode, easily making their way toward the enemy, I realized my heart was beating so rapidly the sound might give our position away.
I stayed behind Rage as he asked, at least until a noise caught my attention. It wasn’t where a heat node was positioned, which was why I was alarmed. No, I shouldn’t have ventured off, but I’d reflect on that later.
A wrong step and I felt the trip wire the second I moved against it. That set off a chain of events, including some sort of a flash bomb detonating. A trap had been set and I’d walked right into it.
The surprise of light and sound forced a screech from my lungs while pitching me backward by several feet.
I landed on the ground with a hard thud while the flash of light continued to blind me.
The bastards hadn’t accounted for a pile of rubble to catch fire, but in this instant, light could be used for instead of against us.
I felt Rage’s reaction, still silent but changing course immediately. His heavy boots crunched against the dry turf as he rushed in my direction.
Whoever the people were attacking, they had balls of steel, completely unconcerned about making noise so late at night.
The pistol was knocked from my hand, tossed into the darkness. As I took a sweep with my hand trying to locate it. movement caught my attention.
There was no additional advance warning, no time to regroup. All I managed to do was scramble to my feet, yanking my sword into my hand. I stepped into the attack, catching the bastard off guard. With a single swing, I thought I’d taken him out, but he was too quick for me, jumping backward.
The plan of attack was now ruined by my incompetence, but I had no intention of allowing a single member of the gang to take advantage.
Just seeing the man’s face was almost as horrible as the moment. It wasn’t that his hair was long and scraggly or that his clothes were filthy, maybe soaked in blood. Nor even because of the horrific jagged scar on one side of his face, but his eyes as they stared at me.
And the smile on his face.
Pure evil.
There was no humanity left in him, no sense of decency. Merely an extreme need to maim and kill.
While rare for me, I felt a huge rush of terror. These bastards were much more dangerous than any Savage or Night Dweller.
Before I was able to make another move, the weather completely changed in the blink of an eye. Wind swept through the stubbled foliage, a horrific chill forcing shivers down my spine.
I glanced toward the sky, seeing the first sign of lightning, the bright bolts of purple crisscrossing the sky in mangled patterns. Mother Nature was pissed off tonight.
“Finish this,” Rage demanded, the two words as if he could alter the outcome. He was that confident in his skills.
Intruders popped from every direction, two making the mistake of lunging toward Rage. The crack of gunfire came in a quick burst, silence following until bodies dropped with heavy thuds.
I swung the sword again, the jerk darting to the right. A second popped into view and in those few seconds, I had a difficult choice to make.
Which to kill first.
Horrific grunts blanketed the sky mixing with loud rumbles of thunder. The ground beneath my feet vibrated almost as severely as during an earthquake. With a quick glance toward the sky, I witnessed huge swirling dark clouds swallowing the jagged moon, relentlessly gobbling up the sky.
Movement dragged me back and I yanked my knife into my left hand, swinging my right. This time, the blade of the sword cut clean through, the light of fire highlighting the exact moment when his head became detached from the man’s body.
I almost lost my balance when I lunged to the side, barely nicking the asshole’s cheek.
Everything began to happen very quickly, the man kicking the knife from my hand then using his foot to drive me forward.
While I didn’t lose my grip on the hilt of my sword, I was at a terrible angle, unable to gut him.
He picked me up by the hair and I kicked him brutally in the shins. His grunt indicated pain, which loosened his hold. I took off running, hoping Rage noticed what was happening.
Several abandoned buildings were just ahead, offering decent places to hide until I could catch my breath.
By the time I turned around to catch a glimpse, the light from the fire was no longer visible.
Neither were any of the Verndari, but I heard them, three shots fired, an eerie howl following although I doubted it was made by one of the Savages. They knew better than to draw any attention to themselves. I’d seen that in action.
I shoved my back against the building, cognizant of the frightening sounds of nature. In the daylight, I could handle the mournful cry of coyotes and wolves; at least that’s what I’d I thought I was hearing.
But the slithering mass of something that outweighed me by fifty pounds was enough goosebumps popped along my arms. I took a scattered breath, the frigid air filling my lungs tasting of soot and something nasty and raw.
Like death.
The moment I licked my lips, I tasted copper. The blood of the man I’d killed covered my face. I moved toward the opposite end of the building to a location where the moonlight was deflected by the way the remaining buildings were positioned.
Rain began to fall, not soft drops dancing across my skin but torrential, rapid pellets of pain pinging against my body. It wouldn’t take long before puddles developed, then the stream only a mile away to become a raging river.
We needed to get back to safety. The fight must be finished. With the wind howling, every other sound was drowned.
As soon as I rounded the corner, a hand reached out and grabbed me, another slapped across my mouth.
But not before I managed a single, muted sharp cry.
That no one would hear. They were too far away, the wind carrying the sound in the wrong direction. I had to fight for my life. My anger was intense and I could feel the burn churning deep within, the same incredible rush that I’d felt only a day before when I’d started a fire.
Something was wrong. I couldn’t gather the momentum.
Tackled to the ground, I struggled, managing to get off a few punches in his face, but he was too strong, too big, his full weight crushing me. Now that he had me in place, he shifted one arm under my chin, putting on enough pressure I couldn’t breathe.
His stench was overpowering, my eyes watering even as tears of frustration formed. My blood was boiling and I did my best to shift my hips like I had with Rage, but he wasn’t playing fair, determined to kill me if I didn’t cooperate.
“You’re going to be fun to fuck, you stupid bitch.”
I wasn’t thrown by his harsh words, merely furious that he dared think he could take advantage of me.
He managed to rip at my pants, even unfastening and yanking them down my hips.
Oh, hell, no. I struggled with everything I had left in me even as my vision began to fade, the horror of what was happening creating tiny whimpers when no other sound was possible.
With my fists pummeling his face, his neck, his chest, he wasn’t daunted by my actions, even lowering his head and nipping my ear. Why couldn’t I react as before?
Rain slickened everything, the wind ripping trees apart, lashing us with limbs.
Bile formed in my throat, his stench so disgusting I even tried to turn my head. I could feel him on top of me, getting close, using his knee to separate my legs.
No. No.
I’d taken everything for granted. My skills. My weapons. But there was only one person who could help me.
“Rage!” My cry was one of desperation, uncertain if the Savage was even still alive. I was all alone.
Just as I started to black out, I sensed a change in the atmosphere, or maybe I was falling into unconsciousness.
A single sound caught my attention, which forced me to open my eyes. A figure appeared from the shadows, completely devoid of sound.
The asshole on top of me wasn’t paying any attention.
Gasping, I was barely conscious when air suddenly rushed into my lungs, immediately choking me. I rolled over, clawing my neck as I heard a woeful cry behind me. But instead of hearing gunfire or even the thud I knew to be from a knife, there was a sound I never forget.
A cracking of bones and a huge pop before a thud and a roll.
I had my face pressed into the dirt, still struggling to breathe as another stench hit my nostrils. Opening my eyes, I was inches away from another set of them, the stream of moonlight enough that I could see no light reflected.
Just as strong arms lifted me from the ground, I recognized what I was looking at.
A head devoid of a body. Only my savior hadn’t used a sword as bones and veins were sticking out of a gaping hole, blood gushing and all I could think about was how I’d wished I’d been the one to end the motherfucker’s life.
Rage had saved me and maybe everyone was right. Maybe he was the one.