War

by R. S. Broadhead

  “The deal is I can’t get this piece of shit to stir.” With the tip of his boot, Zeke swiftly kicked the dead Valk in the side. “Been trying for at least two hours and nothing.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say nothing,” Freeman chipped in, smothering a laugh with the back of his hand holding the beer.

  Zeke’s eyes narrowed in his direction as he took a step toward him. “You said you wouldn’t tell anyone about that.”

  “And I’m not, except Harley.” Freeman patted me on the back a few times, and left his hand on my shoulder. “I mean look at him. He looks like shit run over twice. He needs this, bro. I can tell.”

  Zeke turned around and refocused on the dead creature in front of him. “More like you need this.” He waved a hand through the air. “Go ahead. Tell him. Soon everyone will know what a joke I am at this now.”

  It was clear that Zeke didn’t want whatever the two of them were talking about shared, but it didn’t stop Freeman. Once he got the sarcastic green light, his face buzzed with excitement and he launched into telling me.

  “Okay, so you know we been out here letting him practice doing his normal shit because he comes to me as we’re looking around the place checking for any more of these assholes and tells me he wants to see if he can still do it. I brush it off at first because it’s his special ability.” He used air quotes on special ability, which I noticed made Zeke’s face redden. “Finally I cave because he’s so adamant about the whole thing.”

  “Hello. We have the biggest fight of our lives coming up; excuse me if I want to see if I still got what it takes.”

  Freeman shook his head and continued. “So after we checked everything out, we dragged this thing out here. First couple of tries nothing happened. On like the tenth attempt, the thing starts moving. So I’m like hell yeah, I can go in and relax. Nope. The Valk rolls over, rips a fucking juicy one, and dies again. Funniest shit ever.”

  Zeke put his hand to his forehead. “Maybe to you. But to me it’s an embarrassment. How is bringing back dead things that fart going to help us in the fight?”

  “Well, to be honest, the smell knocked me on my ass for a minute.” Freeman turned to me. “I thought Hollywood smelled bad. He doesn’t have anything on something dead.” His gaze returned to Zeke. “Maybe if you could get them to fart in unison and have like a whole crop dust thing going we would have a chemical warfare. They’re stunned and then we swoop in to kill them.”

  Before Zeke could answer with his rebuttal, the door to the building behind us swung open and Reese stepped out. She stopped for a moment and stared up at the sky. Every muscle in my body bunched. I fought against getting up and going to her. Instead, I sat and watched from a distance. It was clear she needed time to herself. Deep down I wanted her to look over here, see me, and want me to be with her. She sighed and darted toward the Jeep. The engine started, and within seconds, she was gone. My heart sank. No one said a word. Frustrated, I forced myself to act as if it didn’t bother me.

  “So chemical warfare, huh?” I blinked up at Zeke.

  He rolled his eyes and smiled. The stiffness of his shoulders visibly relaxed. Part of me assumed he was relieved he wasn’t the only one having a shitty night. Even though they were for different reasons, we were both in the same boat together. Just a couple of assholes having the worst luck.

  “Dude, she’ll come around.” Freeman pulled out an opened bottle of Jägermeister and set it in between us. “I’m not going to even begin to lie to you. I have no idea what it feels like. Hell, I wouldn’t want to, but you’ll get through it.”

  I lifted my chin. “I know.”

  The words were hard to say. There was a reason why I had avoided entertaining the idea of love and this was it. Never did I think the girl from my dreams would ever actually show up at my bike garage. But she did. And now my world had completely changed. I downed the rest of my beer and glanced at the Jäger. “What are you waiting for? Let’s crack that thing open. I think it’ll definitely help our night, huh Zeke?”

  “Maybe. Really wish Eight Ball hadn’t left. He could’ve given me a little something-something. You know how long it’s been since I’ve had some of his green?”

  Freeman turned the bottle up and downed some of the amber liquid. “That’s probably why you can’t remember how to raise the dead. Your brain is fried on that shit.” He offered the bottle to Zeke, who snatched it out of his hand.

  “It stimulates the mind, man.”

  After taking a swig, he handed it to me while the two of them continued to have an argument on if there was any truth to Freeman’s words. I stared at the bottle. My eyes dropped to the whites of my knuckles. I hadn’t realized I was squeezing it that hard until then. Where was she going? It killed me not to know. Not because I was some freak who wanted to stalk her, but because I wouldn’t be there to make sure nothing happened to her. Reese could take care of herself. I knew that, but still. She might need me. I couldn’t bear the thought of her hurt.

  “You done with that?” Freeman asked.

  I looked at him in confusion and noticed him gesturing toward the bottle in my hand. I nodded. “Yeah.” I handed it to him without bothering to take a drink.

  There was no use. Nothing could rid my mind of the thoughts she put there.

  6

  Reese

  No one said a word on the way back. I think we were all in shock from what we had found. After discussing what our immediate actions should be, Savannah and Lance decided to stay to guard the portal. It was the only option for now.

  I slammed my foot down on the brake and came to a grinding halt. I wasn’t completely sure I had it in gear before I jumped out, but it was a chance I was willing to risk. I needed to find Fuzz. Surely, he would have some answers.

  He was in the new security room with Dax, hooking up several monitors.

  “Like the new setup?” he asked. He focused on me, the smile leaving his face at once. “What happened?”

  Dax glanced up, the screen lighting his pallid face. “Don’t tell me someone else was taken. Or died?” His Adam’s apple bounced as he swallowed.

  I shook my head, still trying to wrap my mind around what I was about to tell them. Although both of his suggestions were bad, this had to be worse. This would involve several people dying if we didn’t get it under control and soon. I opened my mouth, but blackness clouded my peripheral vision. I staggered to the side and reached for a table to steady myself. Beads of sweat rolled down my temples. “The portal.”

  “Get her some water, Dax.” Fuzz’s voice sounded far away.

  I blinked, trying to focus on his face, but he was a hazy mess. My knees buckled, and everything vanished before my eyes.

  When I woke up, I was laying on the floor with a pillow behind my head. “Where am I?” I tried to sit up but someone pushed me back. I dropped down again and stared up at the overhead light, trying to remember what got me here.

  “You passed out,” Fuzz answered my unspoken question.

  I swallowed and focused on his face. “You realize the last time we were in a situation like this you were telling me that the world was full of monsters, right?”

  A solemn smile scarcely touched his lips. “I remember that night very clearly, although I wished it had never happened.” He scooped up a bag of ice and placed it on my forehead. “But it needed to. Sorry.”

  “There’s no need to be sorry.” Tears pooled in my eyes. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. “Fuzz, the portal is open. They’ve already won. We can’t beat them now.”

  He stilled for a moment, taking the ice from my head. “That’s impossible. How can they win something they haven’t even fought us for yet?”

  I stared at him as he replaced the bag. It wasn’t the reaction I thought I would get from him. I figured he would be like me. But Fuzz was different. I could let him see my vulnerable weak side. I knew he wouldn’t think any less of me. Somehow, in my darkest times he always seemed to make me want to carry on against
the impossible.

  “What are we going to do?” I asked him.

  He sat back on his heels. “What did you do when you saw it there?”

  “I left Savannah and Lance there to watch it under orders to kill whatever came out.” Suddenly that seemed like a bad idea. What if they were overrun? My decision could have killed them.

  “That’s exactly what I would’ve done, Reese,” he said as if reading my thoughts. “At least until we have a way to close it.”

  Narrowing my eyes, I needed to ask something that had bugged me since finding it there. “Fuzz, you and the other guys came through that portal, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you have us guarding it this entire time if you knew where it was instead of acting like you had no idea?”

  “Reese, all of us have tried and tried to remember where it was, but it was almost like once we entered this realm that night, it was blocked from our minds. Must have been a security measure Nabea put on it when she hid it. It’s the only thing I can rationalize.”

  His expression looked sincere, but there was no way I could be totally sure he was telling me the truth. Leaving that portal unguarded benefited our enemies. Hopefully he wasn’t lying to me. “How did you do this for so long? Having everyone’s fate dependent on what you decided?”

  A faraway look pinched his features. “By a thread. Every order I gave, every person I lost, it was all taxing on me. It wore me down.”

  My brows rose in surprise. He never came off like it ever affected him. My heart hurt for him. I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “It’s almost over.”

  He nodded. “You okay to get up?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  He jumped to a standing position and cradled my elbow until I teetered on the balls of my feet. “Take some time to regroup. I’ll work out a schedule and get to work on finding a way to close it.”

  “Thank you.” I walked out, ready to free myself of this building. After quickly gathering a backpack with some essentials, I darted down the hallway. I was mentally checking to make sure I had everything and almost collided headfirst with Raven. Great. Just the person I wanted to see right now.

  “You aren’t staying here with everyone else?” she asked with a chilled tone and questioning stare as she assessed the bag strapped to my back. Wow. She was really upset that I had been gone. If she only knew the person I had been while I was away. “I mean, it really might not be that safe by yourself.” She rolled her shoulders. Great cover. Not quite convincing though.

  “I think I’ll be fine. After everything…being alone isn’t something I’m afraid of. I’ll be back after sunrise.”

  Before she could attempt to get more information about what happened when I was gone, I turned and left her standing alone. I rounded a corner to find Shayla and Dax walking in my direction. I quickly came to a stop and veered into a room to my right. I cracked the door just enough to watch through. The moment they passed, I slipped out. If Shayla knew I was leaving she would insist on coming with me.

  The air outside was cool and crisp. I stopped and dropped my head back to stare up at the sky blanketed with a black backdrop and speckled perfectly with brilliant stars. It had been so long since I could appreciate an Alabama night. Sure, most would say the perfect night would be on the back of a tailgate near a bonfire in the middle of a field companied by friends and beer. But this. This was all I needed. Sadly, the other image made me miss Sim. I wondered what he was doing. Hopefully his life had gone back to normal now that he wasn’t a part of all this anymore.

  I sighed and focused in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Harley, Zeke, and Freeman watching me. Ugh. It was best to ignore them. There was no way I was letting Harley go with me. Things between us were too confusing for me to be alone with him. I wasn’t ready to have that conversation yet. I cared about him. Hell, maybe I had loved him. But that was when I didn’t have my memories. I didn’t have the hurt that wouldn’t go away. I wanted to shelter him from that. It was selfish, I know. I hated to let him down. I knew how he felt about me. There was no way I could give him a heart that was broken. It wouldn’t be fair to him.

  I briskly walked to the Jeep and jumped into the driver’s seat. I maneuvered it down the tiny road, through the trees until I reached a main street.

  Where to go?

  The world was asleep around me. Not a car in sight. I turned to the left, allowing my gut to take me where I needed to go. The longer I drove, I became aware of where I was heading.

  The old training facility.

  I needed to see it with my own eyes. It didn’t seem plausible when they told me it had been destroyed. There were so many memories there. It was where I had started a new life. It was where I’d found out who I really was. What I was capable of doing.

  My palms became slicker the closer I got. Was I really ready to see it? The knot in my gut told me no. But I kept pushing forward. I wasn’t turning back.

  I grabbed my backpack from the passenger seat and locked the Jeep. I shifted it on my shoulders. The weight seemed unbearable for some reason.

  Stop coming up with excuses!

  I forced one foot to move in the front of the other until I was deep in the woods. My eyes darted over my surroundings. The entrance should be getting close. My breath cut sharply as I stumbled over a pile of rock. I caught myself with one hand, but still managed to take most impact to my knee. Sharp pain lanced up my hip. I rolled over to survey the damage. An unsightly bloody spot emerged, staining my jeans. Clutching the wound with my hand, I studied the rubble. I wanted to kick the shit out of it. But I knew that was pointless. My leg hurt too badly for all that.

  Blue fabric sandwiched between the broken pieces of concrete swayed as a soft breeze pushed through the trees. I stared at it for a good solid minute, like it was some type of alien being from another planet. Curiosity got the better of me, and I tugged at it with my free hand. Despite my efforts, it remained lodged. I groaned, revisiting the thought of kicking the pile again.

  I released my knee, since my pain had now dwindled down to a dull ache, and yanked the material free with both hands. Holding it up to the moonlight, I realized what I had in my grasp. A piece from the comforter I’d had on my bed in the training facility. I bent over, clutching the soft cloth within a tight fist. I had made it. All I needed to do was get up and see it with my own two eyes. But I remained seated. I wasn’t sure why. Maybe I thought if I didn’t move things would go back to the way they had been. I stared at the tattered material. This was pointless. I couldn’t stay this way for the rest of the night. I had come here to look over everything for myself. Opening my hand, I dropped the soiled memory before pushing up to a standing position.

  Air lodged deep within my lungs. I opened my mouth, uttering a few things that sounded like jumbled words. The trouble was, I couldn’t get my tongue to work. Everything was numb.

  The destruction from the training facility was all around me. It seemed the earth had changed. The tall pines leaned with no particular direction. Some were completely uprooted and had collided with others. The soil was overturned as if thousands of animals had burrowed into the surface. Dead leaves littered the floor, turning the once grassy floor into a decaying blanket of mosaics.

  There was nothing left of the life we once had in this place. Movement in the distance sent my heart slamming against the inside of my chest. I strained to see through the swirling darkness, but it was impossible to make out any details. Internally, I groaned as I squeezed my lips together in frustration. I crouched low, careful to stay hidden behind the thick, tangled foliage. Parting the brush, I squinted at the edge of the woods and tried to decipher the forest shadows from any type of possible threat. Large figures emerged. My heart sank.

  So much for coming out here to regroup. Maybe I should have reconsidered bringing someone with me.

  7

  Reese

  My feet froze in place. Three choices presented themsel
ves: fight, run, or hide. Before I had time to react, the newcomers appeared from the thick shadows. What were Valks doing out here? There were at least a dozen, if not more. Every scenario raced to play out in my mind. Before I could fully decide on what to do, the decision was made for me.

  “Stop,” one said, putting a hand across another’s chest. “Do you smell that?”

  His head tilted back as he dragged air into his lungs before a long tongue extended from his mouth wiggling in the air. “We’re not alone.”

  The group dispelled, shooting in all directions. Fighting became my only option. I emerged from behind my hiding spot.

  “Well, well,” one with a hunched back chirped. “What do we have here?” His head tilted, and he smacked his grotesque curved teeth together. He spun around to the others and flung his rail-thin arms out to the sides. “Looks like we’ve found dinner, boys!” He refocused on me. “A little thin…maybe a snack?”

  Another one stepped forward. With one swift movement there was a loud crack! The hunched one soared back and slammed into a thicket of bushes from the blow to his jaw. “Filthy maggot! Don’t you know who that is?”

  The bushes shook as the Valk jumped back to its feet. For being hunchbacked it sure was fast. His jaw tightened, not taking his eyes off the one that had hit him. He growled in his throat, a feral sound. “No matter who it is. The last one that dared to touch me the way you just did got his eyes plucked clean from the skull!” He pounced forward.

  With little effort, the other Valk caught him mid-air and tossed him above his head before snapping his back. “As I was saying,” he paused and dropped the broken body to the ground, kicking it once in the head before continuing. “Am I the only one that knows who we’re in the presence of?” None of his comrades answered. I waited for it. The unbearable seconds ticked by. “Reese Salt.”