5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Hector
This wasn’t the fucking plan.
The chair wobbles every time I shift my weight, fire shooting up what's left of my leg. My foot—or lack thereof—throbs with every heartbeat, my palms slick with sweat.
The bag sits maybe fifty yards away. Might as well be across the entire continent at the pace I’m moving. Goddammit, I was supposed to get into Zone T, not outside of it.
Glancing back at the boat, I catch the monster's silhouette on deck, all muscle and shadow, watching me with those unnervingly calm eyes. Crossbow aimed and at the ready.
His protection and willingness to keep watch should make me feel safe.
All I feel like is an easy target.
A cold wind picks up, carrying the scent of rust and something very, very wrong . I tighten my grip on the chair, dragging it across the uneven dock until the wood gives way to cracked earth and weeds. Every scoot forward fills me with dread.
My good leg screams from the effort, and my arms ache from bearing all my weight. The chair rattles over broken ground, nearly echoing off the prison walls. I swear a biter could hear this shit from a mile away. Or worse, one of the soldiers operating the towers up above.
As the wind shifts again, bringing with it a faint whisper of sound, I freeze, listening. One glance over my shoulder tells me nothing is there but moss and filthy water—no movement of any kind. But I swear I heard something.
The monster raises one fist, holding it steady, the gesture clear as day. Halt. Stop. Hold.
Ignoring him, I grit my teeth and press forward, every instinct screaming to turn back, but that bag is right there. I’m going to get it even if I have to crawl and drag myself back.
Truth be told, I’m fucking hungry, and that freak with the murder bird is the only thing between me and starvation. Plus, I’m starting to think he might actually care if I live, which is confusing all on its own.
I’m maybe five feet from the bag when my arms finally start to go numb. My breath shoots from my lungs, sweat pouring down my neck despite the chill. And the rations are so close.
“Gotcha,” I mutter, dragging the chair one last time before I collapse to my knees with a grunt. My fingers fumble for the strap, barely curling my hand around it, relief making me dizzy, and—
CRACK .
The ground explodes beside me, dirt spraying up into my face, dazing me. My ears ring from the sound of a gunshot.
CRACK. CRACK.
Two more shots. One slams into the chair beside me, sending a shockwave through my skull.
“ Fuck! ” I yell, throwing myself flat, clutching the bag to my chest like a shield as my heart pounds against my chest.
I can’t run, I can’t crawl. I’m completely exposed .
“Dance, rotter, dance!” One of the soldiers in the tower laughs, mocking me as he lets loose another bullet.
I twist just enough to look back at the boat, screaming for help, but the monster doesn't move. He’s off the railing now, crouched low, every muscle tensed like he wants to run, but he doesn't .
And now I’m completely fucked.
The bag presses tight against my chest as I start crawling toward the dock, another bullet hitting the ground close by.
Pain lights up every nerve in my body, my mangled leg dragging behind like dead weight.
My elbows scrape raw on the concrete, but I don’t stop.
The monster's still watching me, eyes locked, tracking every inch I drag myself.
A bullet whistles past my head and I scream through my teeth, adrenaline the only thing keeping me moving. I’ve just about reached the dock when a strangled cry reaches my ears from the water’s edge. My eyes snap to the side, and I freeze in terror.
A biter crawls from the water, half its torso gone, the remains bloated and black with rot.
Seaweed tangles through its ribs, barnacles clinging to what’s left of its spine.
The thing hauls itself onto the dock with ruined hands, leaving a smear of entrails in its wake as it shudders toward me, gurgling, eye sockets empty.
I choke on my own breath, gaze darting between the gangplank and the decaying creature clawing its way closer. Fuck, fuck. The biter snarls, jaws unhinging with a sickening pop as it lunges—
Thwack .
Its head snaps forward violently, a wooden bolt jutting from the middle of its skull. The body jerks once, then collapses in a wet heap inches from my face, black sludge oozing from the wound.
I gasp, staring in disbelief when the corpse twitches once more before it goes completely still.
A sharp clack echoes across the dock, and I lift my head to spot the Ferryman at the edge of the boat, crossbow still raised.
His hair whips across his face wildly, furious eyes locked onto mine as he waves me forward quickly.
Yanking the bolt from the biter's head, I shove it back into the river and continue to scoot toward the gangplank, only a foot away. I’ve just about crawled onto it when another gunshot cracks through the air, ripping the bag from my arms.
Twisting, I roll to my side just in time to see a hole tear clean through the ration sack, and everything —packets of dried food, herbs, bandages—spills over the gangplank into the contaminated waters below. Bleeding out like guts.
“No!” I scream, watching it all wash away with the current. “ No, no, no . Fuck!”
Scrambling to gather up what I can, another bullet hits the dock right next to my head, kicking up dust into my eye. The monster shouts, not with words, but a guttural, raw growl from the boat that has my hair standing on end.
He’s halfway up the mast now, pulling something down, an old tarp that’ll give me a second of cover. I shove what’s left of the rations into my shirt and crawl, dragging myself up. Nyx screeches overhead like a banshee, swooping through the air like she’s trying to draw fire.
I don’t know how the hell I make it up the gangplank, but I do, and when my fingers scrape the deck, when I feel the boat rock beneath me, I sob. I bawl. I don’t stop moving until the Ferryman hauls me up with shaking hands and drags me into his arms.
I collapse against his chest, the half-shredded bag crumpled between us, torn open like a corpse. Everything’s ruined. Everything’s gone, and I can’t breathe. I can’t look at him.
I almost died, and the monster saved me again.