“Just you wait,” she said.
Flirtation out of the way, they set off. Liam took the lead by unspoken agreement. It was fortunate, since the arrangement left him free to survey the deserted hills without the distracting sight of Jenn’s hips laid out before him.
As the residual light of sunset faded, then disappeared altogether, the Institute gradually made its presence known. The night sky glowed with the indistinct brightness of spotlights and, whenever their path grew too near, echoed with the distant rumble of generators and industrial noise.
Liam had nearly forgotten the ever-present sound and hearing it again sent chills down his spine. He froze up, staring indirectly at the spot where the massive complex lay hidden amid the far-off forest canopy.
Jenn was at his side in a heartbeat, taking his hand. Her palm was clammy, but she seemed to be holding up better than he was, all things considered.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “They can’t hurt you. I won’t let them.”
Liam nodded woodenly. It took him a moment to recover his voice.
“We’re going to kill them all,” he said.
Jenn’s fingers tightened around his, lingering until he slipped his hand free, at last. Clutching his bow, he continued walking.
We’re going to kill them all. I’ll do it. I’m going to kill them all.
Chapter Six
It took roughly two hours for them to reach the road. Liam hesitated at the edge, crouching beside Jenn in the overgrowth as he studied the seemingly endless river of gravel and cracked asphalt that stretched immeasurably in either direction. There were no lights or signs of vehicles, but the sheer size of the manmade path gave him pause.
“Is this it?” he asked.
Jenn glanced at him, taken aback by the question. For a moment, she looked ready with a wisecrack, but then her expression softened and she nodded.
“Yeah. Well, sort of,” she said. “This one leads northeast, toward the DMZ. There should be at least one to the west of the Institute. I assume that one is where the convoys will be.”
“This one is for the Hunters.” Liam had intended it to be a question, but the words fell flat even as he spoke them. Beside him, Jenn seemed to wilt.
“That’s right,” she said, finally. After a moment, she recovered. “We should keep moving.”
That was when they heard the gunfire.
Liam grunted as Jenn tackled him to the ground, her cloak twisting around them into a wall of defensive spines. No bullets found them, however, and after a few seconds, he realized they were not under attack. Jenn realized it too, rolling off him and climbing onto all-fours. She winced apologetically, then turned her attention toward the direction from which the sound had come.
Liam’s nerves were screaming at him to flee, but he forced himself to remain still. The gunfire was so loud it seemed impossible it hadn’t been targeting them. But, now that he had a chance to listen closer, he could just make out the voices—shrieking, screaming, booming voices.
He looked to Jenn and saw in her eyes the same inner conflict he felt. The same fears.
We have to.
He mouthed the words, not trusting himself to whisper appropriately under the circumstances. Jenn sighed helplessly, then nodded. The sturdiness of the road was strange after so long after the relative sponginess of the forest and hills, but it took only a few steps to cross it. Liam was almost relieved when they reentered the trees on the far side, but the sense of looming danger only increased as the sounds of gunfire grew nearer.
Within a minute, he spotted the fires. At first, there was only the one. But, as he slowed and waited for Jenn to rejoin his side, the light spread quickly until it seemed the whole of the forest was burning in the distance.
He crept closer, fear magnifying the near-silent crackle of leaves and twigs beneath his feet until each step seemed to echo.
Then he saw them. Even without the white coats and surgical scrubs, there was no way he could have mistaken them for anything other than Occs. It was something about the way they moved, arrogant and purposeful. There were dozens of them, some carrying rifles while others simply moved about from shack to shack.
“Please! Please, no!” cried a woman’s voice.
Liam froze, eyes widening and hand tightening powerfully around his bow. Something in the voice had struck him and his eyes searched desperately through the gloom and the trees until he found the source.
The woman huddled in the shadow of one of the ramshackle buildings, the reflected light of the nearby flames illuminating the only visible parts of her. Even so, Liam could tell she was trembling. Her head swiveled frantically as she stared up at the men surrounding her.
No, not men—Occs.
Two of the Occs carried rifles, though they didn’t even bother pointing them at the woman. From their body language, Liam didn’t even have to hear their words to understand. There was a casual, almost jovial cruelty to them. A fact that was confirmed a moment later when one aimed a kick her way. The woman cried out, shying away from her attacker. Her arms rose, shielding her face and hiding the mirrored light of her eyes.
Liam felt a hand tugging at his.
“Liam!” Jenn hissed, urgently. “We need to get out of here!”
He couldn’t tear himself away. His blood was boiling. The entire world had faded away, save for the silhouettes before him.
Another Occ approached, somehow managing to capture even more swagger and authority in the way he moved. From the reaction of those standing around, the newcomer was important and he knew it.
And somehow, deep in his gut, Liam knew how things would end. He tried willing himself to look away, to allow Jenn to lead him back into the shadows.
“No!” the woman cried, suddenly. Her voice was desperate and she struggled to her feet. “Don’t you dare hurt them! Don’t you—”
The authoritative Occ gestured and the rifles rose without hesitation.
Gunfire.
The woman slumped without a sound.
Before he even had time to consider what he was doing, Liam charged. He felt Jenn’s fingers clawing at his wrist and heard Scott’s warning ringing in his ears, but ignored them both. There was an arrow his hand that he didn’t remember grabbing, but he had it nocked to his bowstring before he’d gone a dozen steps. And when he drew it back, it seemed to take so little effort that he had to check to make sure he hadn’t snapped the string.
He hadn’t.
Liam couldn’t hear the sound of his heavy footfalls, but the Occs must have. The one in charge had just begun to turn when he loosed his arrow. It caught his target in the ribs and the man toppled backward with such an exaggerated motion that Liam couldn’t help but laugh.
He was still laughing when the Occs returned fire.
This time, as he toppled backward, Liam knew he’d been hit. And more than once, if the pain in his chest was anything to go by. It felt, perhaps unsurprisingly, like his wounds during his first meeting with Jenn, though a bit more centralized.
The memory brought her face to mind and he felt a brief twinge of regret. He’d broken his promise. Jenn would escape just fine, of course, but he’d promised not to leave her alone.
Hopefully, she would understand.
***
“—r to God, if you die after all this…”
Liam groaned as he opened his eyes. His back felt as if it had been sliced open in a hundred different places. It wasn’t that unlikely since, given the stars above him and the way his arms were raised past his head, he’d apparently been dragged quite far along the ground. Long enough, in fact, for the pain in his chest to fade entirely.
In a flash, Jenn was crouching over him. Her face was pale and shadowed by her hair in the moonlight, but from the streaks visible on her cheeks, it was obvious she’d been crying.
“How long was I out?” Liam asked. A thought occurred to him and he sat up swiftly. “The Occs! What happened? Are—”
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Jenn slapped him viciously. Then, a second time.
“You… idiot!” she hissed. “You colossal fucking idiot! What were you thinking? They could have killed you! They almost killed us both!”
“I’m sorry,” Liam said. He glanced around at the dark trees surrounding them and realized he did not recognize them. There was no sign of the Occs, either, or their victims. In fact, he could neither hear the Institute’s ever-present noise, nor smell the piercing smoke of the fires they’d set. The unexpected change in scenery helped him collect his thoughts. “Did you carry me here?”
Jenn nodded and made a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. She kissed him then, every bit as passionately as she’d slapped him.
“Idiot,” she grumbled. “I’m so mad at you right now.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Liam peered nervously over his shoulder. “Where are we?”
“About a mile south of the road.” She jerked her head toward the top of a nearby slope. “The cave is twenty minutes that way.”
Liam whistled softly and looked at Jenn with raised brows.
“That’s… a long way to carry someone,” he noted. The sorry state of his back suddenly made a great deal more sense. “How long was I out?”
Jenn shrugged. “Not sure. A while. It’ll be dawn in few hours.”
Liam blinked in surprise and glanced upward. Jenn was right; there was a hint of not-quite-black to the sky that confirmed her words.
“Any sign of the Occs?” he asked. “Why did you stop here?”
Jenn bristled, glaring.
“I was tired,” she snapped. “And you’re damn heavy, even with my vines.”
“Shit. Jenn, I didn’t mean—”
“And thanks to you, every Occ within a hundred miles is looking for us. I wanted to make sure nobody managed to follow us before we go back to the cave.”
Liam lifted his hands, conceding. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Want me to carry you the rest of the way?”
Jenn rolled her eyes, then let out a reluctant laugh.
“Wait, are you serious?”
In response, Liam climbed to his feet, crouched, and offered up his back. Jenn laughed again, stepping into place and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. At once, her pleasant, floral aroma pushed his unpleasant memories of the night before aside.
Jenn gripped him tightly, playfully head-butting him as they set off.
“A girl could get used to this,” she teased.
Liam said nothing and merely angled his head to escape the range of her attacks. As they walked, her annoyance faded and she began peppering the nape of his neck with ticklish kisses instead. He certainly didn’t mind. That Jenn had managed to drag him well over a mile, undiscovered, was nothing short of miraculous. Letting her rest her feet and vent her frustrations on his body was a small price to pay.
Despite the silence of the forest, there was a sense of danger looming amid the trees. Liam’s eyes scanned them constantly, searching for any sign of pursuit. He didn’t know how Jenn had managed to extract the two of them from the battlefield, but she was undoubtedly correct; the woods would be crawling with Occs for days, or longer. His bow had vanished, no doubt left behind after he’d been shot, and the idea of facing down potential foes without a weapon left him skittish.
“Liam,” Jenn whispered. “Where are you going?”
He paused, glancing over his shoulder at her. Jenn squirmed against his back and slid to the ground. There was an unmistakable look of concern in her eyes, but she masked it quickly as she took his hand and tugged him away from the winding path he’d been following.
“It’s right over here,” she reminded him, gently.
Liam shook his head. “Sorry,” he said. “I’m a little… off.”
Jenn squeezed his hand, then released it as she pried open the concealed door. Holding it open for him, she glanced around. “Go get some rest,” she said. “I’ll keep watch for a bit.”
“But, you dragged me here. You’ve got to be more tired!”
A bit of her usual scornful expression returned. “I’m not the dumbass who got shot. Go. Sleep.”
Reluctantly, Liam obeyed. Sleep proved elusive though, thanks in part to the overpowering scent of mildew that coated every one of the blankets stored within the cave. After tossing and turning for a few minutes, he eventually gave up on the idea of resting and settled for merely relaxing with the company of his own thoughts. Unfortunately, staring up at the roof of the cave proved even less restful than trying to will himself to sleep.
He’d killed an Occ. And yet, however much he’d fantasized about the opportunity, the aftermath was a bit disappointing. He’d expected to feel… something, some sense of righteous victory or misplaced guilt. Instead, there was nothing. It was like taking a bath or preparing a meal: just another chore.
He hadn’t saved the woman either. That was worse. Not because he’d somehow failed her; the Occs would have killed her no matter what he’d done. But the powerlessness made him feel small, somehow. Inconsequential.
Could they really do this? Could two—three—people hope to topple something as powerful as the Institute? And even if they did, would it even matter? Who knew how many more Institutes were out there? Scott said Occs controlled over half the continent; there could be dozens more. Hundreds, even.
Liam was still musing when Jenn returned. He sat up, forcing a grin as she opened the door. It faded a second later when she hurled herself inside and swiftly yanked the door shut behind her. After the brief exposure to the morning sunlight, it took his eyes a second to readjust.
Jenn held a finger to her lips. As soon as he acknowledged the gesture, she crouched and began to prepare. Her hands swam through the air in front of her, briefly touching the tips of her vine-cloak. At each touch, the already thorny tips of the plant life stretched and sharpened into yet more deadly weapons.
Liam scrambled to his feet, scooping up one of the rifles with as much silence as he could. The bolt was stuck, slightly rusted from prolonged exposure, and it took him a moment to work it. The quiet squeak of scraping metal made him wince, but he ignored Jenn’s furious glance as he plucked a bullet from the open box she’d knocked over the day before. Fortunately, the rifle’s action did nothing more than click as he chambered the round. Heart pounding, he shouldered the weapon and pointed it at the closed door.
Then they waited. After a few seconds of tense silence, Jenn glanced at him. She held up a hand, flashing all five fingers twice, then pointing in roughly the same direction from which they’d arrived. Liam exhaled deeply and nodded with understanding.
There were ten Occs, then. Heading this way, no doubt.
Liam cursed himself for a thousand different reasons. For letting himself be shot, for forcing Jenn to drag him so far, for volunteering to carry her. Each one must have left a dozen clues that any competent tracker could have followed. The only thing they could hope was that the Occs would lose the trail before they reached the cave. The door was well-hidden from casual passersby, but wouldn’t stand up to the scrutiny of an experienced search party.
As the minutes dragged on, however, he quickly realized that the waiting was much worse than the frantic violence itself. Every puff of breeze or imagined footstep sent a burst of adrenaline racing through him until it took all his effort to keep from shaking.
Then it happened. A shadow crossed in front of the cave door and Liam’s breath caught in his lungs. His finger moved to rest on the trigger and he only just remembered to toggle off the safety.
Another shadow. Liam’s eyes narrowed as he peered down the iron sights. A murmur of conversation trickled into the cave, spoken in a language he recognized but could not understand. It was answered with quiet laughter, strained and subdued.
Then, yet another shadow passed. He could hear the crunch of rock underfoot and several dislodged pebbles clattered against the wooden base of the door’s exterior.
Liam groaned inwardly as he prepared himself. That had given them away. There was no way the Occs could miss the unnatural sound.
Another shadow passed and Liam couldn’t resist glancing at Jenn. She looked back, equally bewildered. It wasn’t possible. And yet…
They crouched there, keeping their respective weapons trained on the door for what felt like hours. There were no voices, no footsteps, no shadows, and no invading Occ soldiers.
Finally, when the weight of his rifle pushed Liam’s aching shoulders past the limit, he reluctantly lowered the weapon. He stretched slowly, then hefted the weapon once more and took a cautious step forward.
Jenn caught his arm at once, her eyes full of alarm. Liam gestured helplessly at the door and stared back at her. Eventually, she relented. Nodding, she crept forward alongside him. Every one of her vines hovered around her shoulders, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.
Liam fully expected to die the instant he pushed open the door, despite barely moving it an inch. When he did not, he opened it wider.
There was no sign of the Occs, or anyone else, for that matter. From the doorway, he scoured the hills and trees, certain he was missing him. Beside him, Jenn did likewise.
“It’s not possible,” she said, at last. “They had to have seen it.”
“If they had, we’d be dead,” he pointed out.
“It’s some sort of trap,” she insisted.
Liam inched forward, pausing with each step to examine each newly visible tree and section of wilderness.
“There’s no sign of them,” he said. “Maybe they weren’t actually looking for us?”
“Bullshit. Who else would they be looking for?”
“Scott?” he suggested, switching the rifle’s safety back on. “Or maybe they didn’t expect us to hide. They could be trying to chase us into some kind of trap.”
Jenn shook her head and crouched to examine a track left by the passing soldiers. They’d passed within mere feet of the door.
Feral Empires: First Spark Page 6