Page 16
Unleashed, we sprint from the dining hall into the unholy screeches of Biters.
All those horribly uncomfortable feelings I’ve been having, that nagging in the back of my skull, reminding me that it’s been too long between attacks, now make sense. I mentally chastise myself for not listening to my instincts. When will I ever fucking learn to just trust my gut? Maybe then I wouldn’t be in this impossible situation, stretched between River and Raine, with a horde of Biters clawing their way inside to take them both away.
I lead Dair and Aspen to my cabin so that I can gather weapons. Inside my room, I grab my tactical jacket, then run to the small armory we keep in the house and arm myself to the teeth. I holster my machete to my waist, load pocket after pocket with ammo, and shove a handgun into a holster, securing it across my chest. On my way out, I grab a hunting rifle and one for each of my companions.
I run down the main hall to where Dair and Aspen are impatiently waiting. “Here,” I say, handing them each a rifle and several boxes of ammo from my pockets. “Need anything else?” I ask.
“No, let’s just go,” Aspen says, rocking on her feet, just as eager as I am to get into the fight.
“Alright,” I agree, and we jog out of the cabin toward the sounds of mayhem.
I’m so angry at myself. Since the delegation arrived, I’ve been so fucking distracted. I should have stayed at the guardhouse last night instead of ditching early; then I’d have been there this afternoon when the breach happened. Instead, I was trying to make River happy by staying home and having a “family” dinner. I blew off my job this morning on River’s orders, too.
Thinking about dinner reminds me that I didn’t see Raine at the cabin. Shit, where is she? Did she go to a community cellar? Or maybe she went to the archive building this morning and is locked in right now? I should have taken a second to check, just to make sure. My scent becomes oversteeped with anxiety, and Dair snaps his head in my direction as we run.
“What is it?” he asks. I shake my head, not knowing how to verbalize the growing ball of guilt, anger, and anxiety taking over my body. Instead, I simply say, “Raine.”
Dair’s eyes turn nearly silver. “She’ll be okay,” he says with so much confidence it makes me weak with relief. I have to trust that he’s right. Raine can handle herself.
I nod, increasing my pace as I sprint toward the northern wall, where the majority of the screams are coming from. We pass a few people along the way, and I yell at them to take cover as we stream past.
The closer we get, the worse everything is. First, the stench hits me, a sour, rotting smell that feels acidic in my nose, dampening my senses and churning my stomach. Even after all these years, I’ve never gotten used to the stench of Biters or the inability to use my olfaction that comes with it. Gunshots echo through the compound and answering bloodcurdling screeches ring in my ears, driving me forward.
We finally break from the group of buildings into the dead zone, the two-hundred-foot expanse of bare ground between the edge buildings and the wall itself. Right now, the dead zone is congested with compound guards and Biters. There’s rubble and broken logs strewn about from where a portion of the outer wall was damaged enough to let the Biters in. It’s hard to see details of anything or anyone through the mass of bodies, so I unsheathe my knife and veer away from Dair and Aspen to run for the watch tower that the siren is attached to.
My foot just hits the bottom rung of the ladder when a clawed hand grips the strap of my rifle, pulling me off and flinging me several feet away. I hit the ground, breath punching from my lungs and back aching from where the metal of my rifle crushed into my spine. I push through the agonizing feeling and roll onto my hands and knees to stand. Several feet away, I see a fucking monster.
At one point it was human; you can tell from the generalized shape and the familiarity of the bones jutting out from rotting gashes in graying skin. This particular creature appears to have been partially scalped at some point, judging by its red-rusted skull visible and cracked above its one remaining eyebrow. Patches of black, oozing muscle peek through torn and withered skin crawling with maggots, and I steel myself not to vomit.
Although its gait is not smooth, it lurches toward me faster than should be possible for a glorified corpse. Its clawed hands extend toward me, looking for a piece of flesh to gouge into, and its mouth gapes open to reveal yellowed teeth that are too sharp and too strong. Rancid saliva drips from the corners of its overextended jaw, ready for consumption.
A lot of our lives now revolve around bites. In the Before, committed people exchanged rings and signed papers to become spouses. Now we pierce each other’s skin like animals, sealing our bonds in blood and pheromone-soaked saliva that creates a connection that transcends humanity. The Biters bite too. A bastardization of a mate bite, eroded and mutated into something ugly. It’s still a mark of ownership, but not toward a mate; a bite from a Biter sells your soul to madness.
The monster snaps its teeth, closing in on me. I move my knife to my non-dominant hand and grab my pistol with the other, aiming it right between the creature’s glowing eyes. Holding steady, I wait until it’s nearly too close for comfort, and then I pull the trigger. I watch as the bullet shatters what’s left of its skull, splattering putrid, rotting flesh and toxic, black blood all around us.
There are only three known ways to kill Biters: complete brain impalement via bullet or object, total decapitation, or burning them into ash. Most people don’t take the risk of shooting them when the bullet must make it completely through their brain, but decapitation and impalement are physically harder, and you have to get a hell of a lot closer. Horde burns are the most effective, but not always possible to pull off.
I’ve gotten really good with a gun since coming to Grand Prairie, so although it’s a risk, and ammo is not an infinite resource, I keep my handgun engaged as I move back toward the watch tower. I only make it halfway back when another Biter intercepts me, teeth bared and gnashing. This one’s face has even started to mutate, its nose and mouth elongating into something alien and grotesque. Anger courses through my muscles in tingly warmth as I raise my gun and put the Biter down.
All around me, fellow guards fight and shoot while their determined yells mingle with the harrowing howls of the Biters. This has to be the biggest horde that’s come through here in decades. Certainly, I’ve never seen a horde this size while living here. It’s going to absolutely decimate us unless something happens quickly. The only way to make a plan is to scale the watchtower so that I can get a better read on the situation. From there, I can also use my hunting rifle to take down more Biters.
If only I could get the fuck up there.
[ 11 ]
RAINE
Grand Prairie Compound
Days Since Last Attack: 0
Ican hear the screams of Biters all the way from the front deck of River’s cabin. My whole body vibrates with barely restrained fear as the reality of our situation sinks in. The wall has been this symbol of safety in my head for so long, but now I realize that sense of security was an illusion.
As I run into the greater compound, I find everything in total disarray. It appears that panic has bled through any and all protocols that are supposed to be followed, and chaos reigns supreme. Folks are running around, yelling out for loved ones, doing nothing but painting targets on their backs with all their noise.
My ears prickle with the sounds of fighting coming from the northern wall by the lake. Shit, that must be where the breach happened. My stomach lurches in horror as it registers that Vale and her parents live in the northwestern wedge. There’s a very good chance that they’re alright and tucked away in the community cellar, but terror seizes me by the throat, and I won’t be able to breathe until I know they’re okay.
Vale is not helpless, but her parents are older, and I know that in the case of a serious attack, she would never leave them, inadvertently putting herself in danger. Clay is likely fighting at the wall, or dead, so it’s up to me to ensure their safety, alphas be damned.
