Authors: Airicka Phoenix
Chapter Thirteen
“Everyone out!” Rolf sprinted to the door, his enforcer gripped in his hand. “Lance, rear. Mac, cover me. Jack, make sure everyone gets out.” His narrowed, calm eyes met Scarlett’s. “Stay close.” He seemed to remember at the last second that there were three other people. “All of you,” he added, looking from Kiera to Marvius and Jerol.
He turned back to the door and stuck his head out. He glanced both ways before motioning everyone right. They stayed together, a tight group scuttling alongside the wall. Scarlett was just aware of Kiera’s fingers clamped around her upper arm, cutting off circulation. Behind them, Jerol had Marvius’ arm around his shoulders and was half carrying, half dragging her. Jack ran alongside them, weapon gripped tight between both hands.
They stopped at a corner. Rolf waved them back against the wall, then motioned for Mac to the wall opposite them. Bent low, Mac scurried into position, twisted and disappeared from sight around the corner.
“On my signal, run!” Rolf told them in a low hiss.
It was clear they weren’t going back to their little hideaway in the storage, but Scarlett couldn’t figure out what the plan was, where they were going until Mac gave two light raps against the wall that signaled the all clear.
“Now!”
They ran. Their feet clattered noisily and the packs on their backs weighed their progress, but they kept in pace with the marshal trained group. At least, Scarlett was, and with her help, Kiera was. But Marvius and Jerol seemed to be slowing down with every passing second and with them, Lance and Jack.
“Go without us!” Jerol was panting, his round cheeks red with exertion. Sweat glistened across his brow and dampened the locks at his temples.
Marvius looked worse. She was pale and shaken. Her eyes were barely open as she sagged against her husband.
“We stay together!” Lance told them, face bunched in concentration. “Jack.” He passed his enforcer over to the other boy. Then, without missing a beat, he slid under Marvius’ other arm.
Jack moved to take rear as Lance and Jerol dragged a barely conscious Marvius between them.
They all stopped at the second escape hatch. On the other side of the vendor level, the sound of trampling echoed through the deck like water pounding on rock as the creatures poured through the newly opened door. Their shrieks clawed along Scarlett’s spine like nails, driving terror pulsing through her.
“Why are we stopping?” she gasped.
Neither Rolf nor Mac answered as they flagged either side of the door. Rolf raised his hand and counted off on his fingers backwards from three. At Mac’s nod, he reached down and flattened his palm across the data scanner. It hummed. The latch on the door gave with a click. Mac threw it open with a sharp jab of his shoulder and disappeared through. A second ticked, then Rolf delved in after him, weapon raised.
“Go!” Lance commanded.
Saying a quick prayer, Scarlett darted in with Kiera holding tight to her.
Someone must have found the generator. The stairway was lit a dull, sick color of yellow spattered with blood. But it was clear.
Rolf motioned for them all to hurry, and not a minute too soon.
A massive horde of deformed shapes rushed around the corner they’d just turned. Their mashed and bloodied faces lifted as they
smelled
the air like dogs on the hunt. Eyes the shade of pus rolled in sunken skulls, swiveling until they found the object of their chase.
“In! In!” Rolf barked as Lance and Jerol scrambled in, carting Marvius after them. Jack leapt in last and Rolf slammed the door shut, but not before a shredded arm thrust through the gap.
Kiera screamed as the skinless fingers snatched at air. The soles of Rolf’s boots skidded back a full foot as the creatures on the other side heaved their weight against the door.
Mac rushed to help, slamming his entire shoulder into the door. Jack raised his enforcer and fired three quick rounds of electric blue energy straight into the creature’s palm. What little flesh remained splattered the wall and door. Bits sprayed across Rolf’s face and clothes. He growled and turned his head away. But the creature continued clawing, raining chunks of meat and bone to the ground. Kiera made a strangled whining sound and cowered behind Scarlett.
Scarlett shook her off and ran to help. She smacked both palms into the cool surface of the door, right next to Rolf’s shoulder and shoved. Jack holstered his weapon and hurried to take the spot on Mac’s other side.
Next to Scarlett’s ear, the arm began to crunch as the bone along the curve of its elbow cracked beneath the force. Her stomach roiled and she twisted her head away as though that might save her from hearing the horrific sound. But it only amplified the harder they closed the door on it. Blood sprayed. Muscle squished. The creature snarled, as did the dozen or so that seemed to have joined it on the other side.
“Take her!” Lance shoved Marvius into Jerol’s arms and sprinted forward.
With a vicious move that brought spots of black across Scarlett’s vision, he grabbed the arm by the wrist, twisted and tore it free of the socket. The resounding
bang
of the metal door slamming shut and Kiera’s ear piercing scream muffled the revolting splat as the tattered appendage hit the floor at their feet.
“Oh my God!” Scarlett gagged and mashed her face into the taut muscles cording along Rolf’s arm. Her fingers dug into the material of his blazer as she used it to stifle the stench wafting off the single body part.
Warm hands settled on her as he twisted his body and brought her to his chest instead. They pressed into the small of her spine and the back of her skull, holding her to him as his heart cracked against her cheek, beating as wildly as hers.
Scarlett came to her senses quickly and detached herself from the safety of Rolf’s embrace. She kept her gaze averted as she straightened her top and adjusted the straps on her pack. She told herself she would have reached for whoever had been there at that moment, but she knew it was a lie. She always seemed to need Rolf when things were at their worst and watching body parts get torn apart was probably the worst.
“We need to keep moving.” he told the group, over Kiera’s hysterical wails. “Kiera, stop!”
Mac pushed away from the door and went to her. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder and gave her a light shake. It was probably meant as a comforting gesture. He certainly wasn’t expecting to be pummeled by a ninety pound blonde. But the look of pure shock on his face when Kiera threw herself into his chest was comical as he staggered under the attack. His wide brown eyes shot to Rolf, the panic and apology bright in them. Over Kiera’s head, he made several frantic hand gestures that Rolf waved off.
“We need to go.”
“Where?” Jack asked and fished the data port from his pocket.
“Down,” Rolf answered. “The further we can get the better.”
“How did you know those things weren’t here?” Jerol asked as he jostled his wife higher in his arms.
“I didn’t.”
Jerol frowned. “How do you know they’re not down there?”
Rolf looked up at him, his features solemn. “I don’t. What I do know is that we can’t stay here. We’re lucky right now and have an opening. We need to take it.”
Hoisting his bag higher on his back, Rolf started downward. Lance slipped beneath Marvius’s free arm and helped Jerol take her weight as Jack followed with Scarlett a step behind him. Mac took rear with a weeping Kiera still clinging to his arm.
The decks were easier to maneuver with the lights on, illuminating the numbers next to each steel door. Scarlett watched the slow descend of digits the lower they went, her heart escalating with every level they descended, and no creatures stopped them. But she refrained from allowing herself to hope. There were still too many floors left between them and freedom.
“Deck eight,” Jack said as though they couldn’t see the number for themselves. “This is as far as we got yesterday.”
Rolf squared his shoulders. “Keep moving.”
And they did. They picked their way down carefully, ears strained for even the smallest hint of noise. Aside from the resounding bongs of their boots, their combined breathing, and the rustle of their clothes, no other sound penetrated the silence. Scarlett was just starting to believe that maybe, just maybe, they would make it this time. They would reach the pods, get everyone on board, and then go search for Hunter. But she should have realized that it was all too good to be true, that the silence was a mask for something even worse waiting for them. It didn’t strike her until the creatures seemingly appeared out of nowhere. They charged up the stairs,
a wave of dark, blood thirsty death. Their snarls swallowed Rolf’s bellow to turn back, but it was too late. They weren’t fast enough.
Kiera screamed. The sound seemed to send the monsters into a frenzy. They snapped blood-stained teeth and lunged. Enforcers cracked. Blood, flesh, and guts sprayed the walls like a macabre painting. Screams and howls lanced off stone and steel. Scarlett whipped out her pipe and gripped it with both hands as a handful got past Rolf and the others and came charging up the stairs towards her.
The sickening splat as the iron rod connected with the side of the creature’s head sang up her arm. Blood exploded from where it impacted. The thing crumpled to the ground and Scarlett struck it again and again until she was sure it wasn’t going to move again. The second one grabbed her while she was trying to catch her breath. It clamped strong, bony arms around her, chaining her arms to her sides as it snapped rotted teeth at her face.
She cried out, jerking back. The creature seemed unaffected by her attempts. It followed her movement, getting closer. Then his entire head burst like a firecracker inside a pumpkin. Brain matter and gore splattered all over her, hot and sticky. The arms confining her dropped, as did the creature. Behind him, Jack met her eye. He said nothing as he turned his enforcer on the next one.
Trembling, Scarlett staggered back a step, using her sleeve to wipe at her face. Her stomach muscles convulsed and she willed herself not to be sick. Not now. Swallowing down bile, she hurried to where Lance stood, enforcer rapidly firing in one hand and holding Marvius with the other.
“Let me take her,” she said. “They need you.”
Lance didn’t argue as he ducked out from under Marvius’ arm and dove right into action taking down the one creeping up behind Mac as he fight to keep Kiera safe. Scarlett tucked Marvius’ arm around her shoulders and helped Jerol take the weight.
Mac, with Lance’s help, drove a good portion of the monsters back, clearing enough space for maneuvering. He took Kiera’s arm and shoved her, not hard, but just enough to propel her out of harm’s way. Without his protection, Kiera scrambled up the steps and clamped on to Scarlett.
“Move back!” Rolf roared.
Scarlett tried to, but Marvius was completely deadweight. Her legs dragged, catching on each step, forcing them to lift her each time. Having worked the fields for three years, Scarlett had reasonably good upper body strength, but not enough to lift a whole person. Jerol helped, but it was obvious it was beginning to wear him down. Sweat poured off him in streams to soak his green T-shirt. He was breathing hard and looked about a second away from fainting. Scarlett hoped he didn’t. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to carry them both.
“Kiera, grab Marvius’ legs. We’ll cart her up,” Scarlett panted as sweat rolled into her eyes, burning them.
“Leave her!” Kiera snapped. “She’s slowing us down.”
“I’m not leaving her!” Jerol growled.
Scarlett opened her mouth to tell them both to shut up when another wave of creatures surged up the stairs. The wall the boys had made wasn’t enough. They broke through.
“Take my pipe!” Scarlett shouted at Kiera. “You need to—”
“No! No, no, no!” Kiera wailed, scrambling behind Marvius.
“Kiera!” she growled through her teeth as the first creature leapt at them.
Scarlett wacked it with the pipe the best she could while keeping a grip on Marvius. The swing wasn’t high enough and only caught it in the shoulder, barely fazing it. It came at them again, face rotted, eyes bulging. She kicked. The heel of her boot caught it in the knee. The gut churning crack was only a small satisfaction as it toppled backwards into the three coming up behind it. The trio tumbled down the stairs. But it wasn’t enough. Five more took their place almost immediately.
For a split second, Scarlett doubted they would make it. Was this the end? Terror paralyzed her before she caught herself. No. She had to fight. She had to find Hunter. Dying wasn’t an option.
Fueled by a new wave of determination, she swung and stabbed. She kicked and shoved every single creature that came her way. Her arms ached, her shoulder throbbed, but she wasn’t going to die.
Then she heard it, the low, guttural growl of a rabid dog about to attack. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it wasn’t from the things in front of her.
In her arm, Marvius shuddered. Her entire body convulsed like someone had prodded her with a stunner on low. The foul stench of decay wafted off her even before she raised her head and opened her eyes. Speckles of yellow marred the white as melted irises swiveled with an almost
disorientated roll in hollow sockets.