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“We used to see infected outside the walls all the time. The lights drew them in,” she said, standing and talking as she moved.
I followed her to the door.
“A few weeks before you arrived, they used ladders and breached the walls. That was before Tenacity was finished,” she continued as she shrugged into the jacket Drav handed her. “We were overcrowded, and it was complete chaos. We lost a lot of people that day. But after that, the infected just disappeared from around here.”
“So why are they back?” I asked.
“Exactly.”
We must have been walking too slowly because Drav and Tor scooped us up at the same time and took off at a run for the wall. They didn’t need a ladder to jump to the top.
Just below us, a line of fey waited. Beyond them, a line of infected stood, some swaying slightly, side to side, in a creepy predatorial way. At their center stood a familiar decaying man in a blue jacket.
“I’ve seen him before,” I said. “He was at the bunker. He’s the one who seemed to coordinate everything. The hellhound, the horses, killing the cows. Adam said that everything that thing did reminded him of when he and his father used to hunt. Baiting the prey.”
“Well, that just gave me future nightmares,” Mya said under her breath.
“Sorry.”
“No. It’s okay. That's exactly what this feels like.” She glanced at Drav. “We need to watch everywhere, not just here.”
“We are,” the fey who’d knocked said. “As soon as we spotted them, we doubled the watch and sent a group to Tenacity.”
I only half-listened while I watched the blue coat man. There were only eight infected with him. Why so few?
“I’m not the only one imagining a pack of hellhounds hiding in the trees behind them, am I?” I asked, glancing at the sky. It was almost at its zenith.
“It’s the wrong time of day for that,” Mya said. But I could hear the doubt in her voice.
It wasn’t hellhounds that emerged from the trees, but Adam, led by another infected. His mouth was gagged, and his hands were tied behind his back.
A choked sound escaped me.
“What are they doing?” I asked.
Tor didn’t wait to find out. He leapt from the wall, running impossibly fast. The other fey from below joined the charge. The blue-coat man let out an unholy bellow but didn’t flee like he had last time. His eyes flashed red, and he charged at the oncoming fey.
“What the fuck?” Mya breathed, seeing the same thing I was seeing.
The infected behind Adam let out an answering call. Adam tried to run. I could see in his eyes that he knew what was coming for him as the infected behind him lurched forward. They went down in a heap, and Adam used his legs, the only thing that was free, in an attempt to kick the infected away.
Tor leapt over the leader, leaving him for the others as he raced to reach Adam. Adam rolled and kicked and did his best to avoid the snapping teeth. I lost sight of him behind Tor.
The blue-coat man let out one final call before his head was ripped clean off his shoulders by one of the fey. The field went silent.
Tor tossed a head and bent to pick up Adam.
Tears streamed down my face as he raced back to me. The hope and joy I felt faded when I saw Tor’s devastated expression a moment before he leapt onto the wall and landed in front of me.
“He was bitten, my June.”
“No,” I gasped in denial.
Tor set Adam down and carefully removed the gag. Drav nudged Mya and me back a step.
Adam’s face was pale as he looked up.
“Listen to me, June. There’s not much time. They followed us from the bunker. They watched this place. They waited for us to leave and followed us to the caves. They’re watching, June. They’re smart. And they’re changing.” He looked at Tor. “I was with them when your brothers were looking for me. I watched the fey kill a group of them. They’re not all dying when you take off their heads.”
