He unholstered the SIG at his hip and sprinted after her. Misgivings pulled at him, but he was unable to stop himself. Besides, despite everything, someone needed his help.
Violet was a short distance ahead, sweeping her pulse rifle from side to side, her slim legs outlined in the moonlight. Darr swallowed. Snow swirled around the tumble of hair escaping from under the edge of her hat.
He caught up with her where the road ended in a T-junction. “Which way now?” he muttered turning up his collar against the wind.
“Listen.” She cricked her head, and noise filtered through the night. Sounds of a scuffle. Low male voices came from their left.
Darr took off, not waiting for her to comment. Moonlight bounced off the snow, lighting his way and giving the urban landscape an eerie glow. He gave the sky a cursory eyeball, the hair on his arms bristling. But only white flakes and the moon, opalescent and low in the night sky, were above him.
“Keep close to the building,” he urged as he ran, his shoulder brushing the brickwork. “We’re lit up like a goddamn stadium here.”
“Yes, sir.”
He was too tired and pissed to glare. Whatever.
At the end of the block, he peeked around the corner. Two men held a woman, while another two kicked the living daylights out of a man on the wet ground. Yet another man stood watching, his bearded face twisted in amusement.
The woman struggled and swore at her attackers, spitting and screaming. She twisted an arm free and lashed out. The bearded man retaliated with a devastating blow across her cheek that sent her jackknifing into a drift of debris.
Violet jolted, raising her weapon, but Darr leaned in and pressed the nose of her gun toward her toes. He squeezed her shoulder. “Shush. There’s six of them.” He was confident, but he wasn’t an idiot.
“Let go of me. I can sort them out.”
Darr gripped her harder, restraining her now. He bent to the shell of her ear, his lips grazing her earlobe. “There’s only two of us. You’re injured, and I’m—”
She shrugged out of his grasp. “Stop making excuses.”
“I am not making ex— “
A shot rang out, and the woman gave a strangled cry, crawling to the now-motionless form of her companion. She threw herself on his prostrate body and when she reared up, howling with distress, her shirt was stained with crimson. She doubled over, cradling the man’s head and sobbing in huge, heart-breaking gulps. Behind her, a car door opened and a child scrambled out, throwing her arms around the distraught woman’s shoulders.
Darr released a slow breath. “Fuck.”
The men didn’t even pause to see if the gunshot had attracted the wrong kind of attention. Unperturbed, they hauled the woman to her feet, looped plastic cable ties around her wrists, and shoved her into the back of a battered Volvo Estate. The child, a young girl of around six, Darr guessed, was hustled in next to her.
Two of the men got into the Volvo, slamming the doors loudly. The other four swung themselves into a jeep and gunned the engine, spitting snow with their back tires as they followed the Volvo up the street.
Violet was already up and moving. “We need to follow them.”
Darr hesitated. Even from this distance, he could smell the rank stench of Scutter blood on the men. Scutters, the scorpion-like dog-sized aliens that often accompanied the Chittrix rarely traveled far from the primary hives located in the cities. It didn’t make sense for the men to be carrying the scent of the small, but lethal, aliens.
He grabbed Violet’s arm. She rounded on him, her eyes bright with indignation.
“Violet, something’s not right here.”
She tugged herself free of his grip. “You bet something’s not right. They threw a woman and child in the back of their car after killing a man who was probably a husband and a father. Do you really need more of a reason to go after these scumbags?”
“You’re right but—”
“But what, Darr?”
“Nothing.” He shook his head. What could he say? If he told her he’d detected the scent of aliens on the men, she wouldn’t believe him. He stuck his hands in his pockets to stop himself pounding his fists into the brick wall. “Don’t go after them. Nothing good will come of it. Some things should just be left alone.”
But Violet was already jogging with only a trace of a limp across the thin layer of snow, her neat footsteps marking out a straight, true path. Just like her.
Darr blinked ice crystals out of his eyes. Damn her. She’s going no matter what I do or say. Even though she was hurt, she damn well wasn’t going to let it stop her.
“Don’t you ever back down?” he shouted, fierce protectiveness for her driving his hands into tight fists.
“No, I don’t,” she hollered back, not breaking her stride. He liked that, more than he wanted to admit to himself right now.
He ran to catch up.
“This is a big mistake, Violet.”
She skidded to a halt, her breath escaping in white huffs. “Did you not see the same thing I did? Didn’t you see the girl?”
“I did.” The last of his opposition dissolved in the energy radiating from her. He lunged and dug a hand into her coat pocket, hooking his keys out. He waved them in her face as he accelerated past. “Let’s go, soldier.”
9
Violet clung to her seat as Darr caned the small car along country roads, guided only by the gauzy moonlight. Snow fell, its lazy descent a marked contrast to the sense of urgency that permeated the small car.
She craned forward, tension slicing through her shoulders, her eyes straining to track the bobbing rear lights of the jeep ahead. With every bounce over the derelict road, her ribs protested loudly, but her leg was still bearable thanks to the anesthetic.
She risked a glance in Darr’s direction.
His hands white-knuckled the steering wheel, and his jaw was clearly defined with tension. He was a walking contradiction, taking care of her, but also desperate for her to leave him alone. And alone to what? His current lifestyle made no sense, at least based on what she knew. Despite herself, she was curious.
“What are we doing?” he muttered as he shoved the car into a lower gear.
Violet turned to face him. They’d been tailing the other vehicles for over twenty minutes. “What we have to do.”
Darr drummed his fingers on the wheel. “Sorry, just thinking aloud.”
She studied him. Even now, he doubted this. It was there in the way he evaded eye contact. “You’re different,” she said at last.
“Different?”
“From before. At the Command Base.” Violet paused, choosing her words carefully. Garrick would be proud. “I see hesitation in you that wasn’t there before.”
Darr grunted. “Things change.” He flicked on the wipers as the snowfall increased.
Her head bobbed in acknowledgment. “I get that.” Shadows loomed and whipped past the safe confines of the car. “But if we give up on each other now, then we might as well all go and shoot ourselves because there’s nothing to live for. Truly, is there any point if we don’t fight for each other? As a species?”
“It’s not that simple, V.”
Shivers skated across the base of her spine at his abbreviation of her name. “Yeah, I know.” She picked at a loose thread on the seat. “Some people are fucked up and best avoided, but the rest are worth fighting for.”
Darr wrung the steering wheel between clenched fists, but he remained silent. “Shit.” He indicated his side window. “They’ve pulled off the road.”
He swerved down a sidetrack, frozen snow and stones protesting under the tires.
Violet straightened, lifting her pulse rifle from the floor. “Where are we?”
Her question was answered as the car swept past a battered sign.
MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
This is a prohibited place within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act.
Unauthorized persons entering this area may be arrested and prosecuted.<
br />
Violet picked at loose skin round her nail. “Rings a bell.”
Then they were past the sign and descending.
“Middle of bloody nowhere.” Darr let the car coast in neutral as the road sloped. “You know this place?”
Violet grunted softly. “Yes, I do. Box Quarry was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defense as an ammunitions depot in 1988.”
His face was serious. “Ammunitions? Fantastic. They’ll be armed to the teeth.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “They’ll probably also have a working radio.”
Darr killed the engine and steered the car to a soft, crunching halt in a clump of bushes where long fingers of sleeping trees scratched at the windscreen.
Violet cracked her door open to get a better view as condensation obscured the glass. Red and orange lights blinked further down the hill. Doors opened, and a yellow interior light lit up the scene as the woman was dragged from the car and dumped on the ground. The child followed swiftly, running to the fallen woman.
Darr checked his SIG, closing the chamber with a loud snick. “Okay. We’re just having a look. We’re scouting.”
Her hand tightened on the car door as her pulse kicked up a notch. “We need to help them.”
His gaze hardened. “We follow them and find out what’s going on. Then come back with reinforcements.”
“Cool.” Whatever he needed to hear. Violet kicked the car door wide and had one booted foot in the snow before Darr grabbed her upper arm, stopping her.
“I said come back later with reinforcements. We’re not engaging with anyone right now,” he said through gritted teeth.
“This is reconnaissance,” she whispered. “We check things out. Come back with reinforcements. Agreed.”
She paused, searching his face. “I don’t believe you’ve given up on the human race, despite what you say.” She wrestled her arm free of his vise-like grip. “Are you with me? Are you going to shut the fuck up and come help me? Or stay here and play with your radio? And that—” She pointed, wrinkling her nose. “That is the shittiest stereo ever.”
Darr’s voice was level and calm. “Just so we’re clear, you going alone isn’t an option.”
Violet shot him a smile. There was hope for him yet.
Outside the protection of the car, icy gusts whipped loose hair across her mouth and nose, forcing her to tuck escaping strands under the edges of her hat. Darr hid his keys in the driver’s sunshade then closed his door and stuck his SIG into the back of his cargo pants.
They headed in the direction of the other vehicles, snow patterning their bare faces. Violet tugged Darr’s jacket tighter around her torso. Only the creaking branches above their heads and the soft noise of their footsteps filled the night.
Violet tracked Darr, his long, loose-limbed step surprisingly reassuring. He wasn’t military, but he walked with the confidence of a skilled hunter. Questions about his past and who he had been before skated on the tip of her tongue. She bit them down. Maybe later.
They skirted the parked vehicles, the beaten grass and trampled snow indicating the route the men had taken. Darr indicated with two fingers a narrow sheep’s path that curved downhill, parallel to the men’s route.
The ground underfoot was uneven, littered with large, jagged stones that twisted and turned under Violet’s boots, forcing her to splay her arms wide to maintain her balance. Trees and branches had been cut and dragged across the path, making it hard going.
As the track narrowed, Darr’s strong arms guided her behind him, sheltering her with his tall frame.
Protection.
Without warning, the night brightened around them as the sky ahead lit up with floodlights to the whoop and holler of voices. Darr ducked and pushed Violet deeper into the undergrowth. She knelt, wet mud chilling her knees.
They were crouched on a small precipice above the rough road the men had followed. It looped beneath them, widening into a large circular space. Here, the quarry entrance spread out before them, carved out of dusty white rock.
The entrance was a dark maw hewn from solid stone at the bottom of a gradual incline. Steps were cut into one side of the slope, while in the middle, rusting derelict rail tracks descended.
Bright graffiti, a swirling multi-colored cacophony of names and images, covered every spare inch of the quarry wall, at odds with the entrance’s derelict appearance. Violet spotted crude representations of the Chittrix splashed in black ink—clearly not all the graffiti was old.
Unaware of the surveillance the men hustled their captives toward the entrance and a faded gray door. The woman tripped and fell to her knees, her forehead almost touching the ground. When one of the men hauled her back onto her feet by her wrists, blood leaked from her nose, and her eye was swollen and puffy.
Violet glanced at her watch. Only half an hour had passed since they’d left Chippenham. “It didn’t take us long to get here. Haven’t you run into these people before?”
Darr shook his head, his voice a bare whisper. “Generally, I avoid people.”
She flashed him a quizzical look. Why was he so keen to distance himself from the human race? “Are we all so bad?”
The subtle upward quirk of his mouth hinted at a smothered smile. “It’s not you that’s the problem.”
Gunshot splintered the night, stalling Violet’s reply. She tore her attention from Darr, searching below for the woman and child. Relief surged through her when she saw they were still alive.
The bearded man was responsible for the noise. He’d stripped to a checked red shirt and now he fired another shot into the air.
“Tonight, we honor the monsters!” he bellowed, shaking his weapon above his head as he ushered the group into the mine.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Violet asked no one in particular as Darr stiffened beside her. “Darr?”
“If I told you everything about this was a bad idea, would you listen?” His blue eyes were muddy with fatigue.
Violet dismissed his concern with a shrug. “Everything is a bad idea nowadays.”
Something sparked in his eyes.
Violet continued undeterred. “I’m not going to spend the rest of my life hiding. When I die, I’m going to die fighting.”
Darr released a long, slow breath. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
10
Darr took the lead, tracking a steep path that headed towards the quarry entrance. He pointedly ignored the misgivings rattling through his mind. If he listened, he would turn and leave right now, but he’d promised Violet they would check this situation out. He wasn’t about to renege on his promise.
He rubbed his abdomen absentmindedly as his gut cramped the closer they drew. Mutters and rattles skittered across his skull. He sucked in a deep breath, willing the excruciating mental noise to ease, but the volume only ramped up as they neared the entrance. The nearest Chittrix hive was Bath, but the cacophony in his head indicated a more immediate alien presence. Scutters, if the scent he’d picked up from the men was correct.
He popped the lid on the plastic bottle stashed in his pocket. It was empty. He stared, not quite believing what he saw. Violet. Bringing her back to the library, cleaning her up. He’d failed to replenish his supplies before running out the door after her in the dead of night.
A muscle pulsed in his jaw as he checked his watch—only two hours since his last dose. He should be fine. Doubt fluttered in his chest. Something was seriously the fuck up. If it had only been two hours, why did his head throb like it was about to split? He took a deep breath, striving for concentration. If he was out of action, Violet was alone, vulnerable, and that wasn’t a scenario he was willing to entertain.
Violet scooted up beside him, oblivious to his worry. “That’s our way in.” She indicated with the nose of her rifle.
Darr followed her line of sight. They were only a few feet above the entrance now. It was deserted save for the wind stirring snow in eddies across bare rock and the powerful hum of floodlights.
The breeze brought the smell of hot plastic to his nostrils.
Lights.
Why the hell were the lights still on? His scalp prickled. There was no one here, and no one had spare power to waste. “Yeah, but we’re not going in.”
Violet snorted her disagreement. “We can’t leave them.”
Darr placed his hand on the small of her back, his fingers close to her waist. He kept his voice low. “I agreed to come here, check the situation out, but that’s it. If you want to organize a rescue with the rest of the Command Base be my guest. Later.”
Violet’s tone was sharp. “Those men down there are animals. If we don’t help they might kill that woman and her child.” She hesitated. “Or worse. You want to be party to that?”
Leaning forward, Darr spoke directly into her ear. “Look, I appreciate the sentiments but we’re not going in there to rescue anyone and that’s final.” He slipped his fingers through her waistband, not trusting her to stay put.
She twisted, showing him the whites of her eyes as she pulled at his hands. “Are you seriously doing that?”
His voice was a low rumble. “Seriously I am. I appreciate all your good intentions but this is the plan Violet—getting the fuck out of here before anyone spots us.” Darr inched close to her ear, keeping his head dipped. He hardened his grip on her string belt. “We’re leaving now.”
She stared at him, her cheeks flushed and her hands trembling against his.
He met her gaze unflinching. “Violet, this isn’t about being right. It’s about being safe and deep down you know that. We don’t always get to be right anymore if we want to survive.”
A long slow second ticked between them before she slumped, the fire gone from her eyes, the tension releasing from her shoulders. She nodded and muttered under her breath, “Why is the best option always so shitty nowadays?” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
Darr dropped his chin to his chest and exhaled a long breath, flexing his hands to ease the sudden stiffness.
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