by S. J. Bryant
"We'll keep moving but we'll go slowly," Aart said, taking the lead. "And stick close together."
Maya nodded and stumbled after him. "It's better than sitting here doing nothing."
Cara glanced once at Nova and went after them.
Nova stayed leaning against the tree for three more breaths, wishing that she could stay there. Even the thought of the thing behind them was barely enough to get her moving. Everything hurt and her head spun; lights flashed across her vision as she pushed off the tree and shambled after her companions.
Her feet caught on loose logs and sticks, and she staggered, her hands scraping on rough bark. It felt like she'd been trapped in the forest forever, and yet when she looked up it was as if she hadn't moved at all. The trees dragged past, dimly lit by a red moon. Each one leered at her, twisted limbs tugging at her torn clothes.
A branch snapped behind her. Then another.
"It's here!" she scrambled forward, hands held out in front.
To either side, her companions dashed forward, cursing.
"How does it feel? For the Hunters to become the Hunted?" a rasping voice, that wasn't the Watcher, echoed through the trees.
Nova tripped on a branch and sprawled to the ground. Her knees collided with hard rock, sending numbing tingles through her legs.
"Watch your step there, Nova, the forest is a dangerous place at night."
"Shit." Nova scrambled to her feet and kept running. "He's got a night-vision mod!"
Nova's lungs pumped like a bellows, heaving air into her aching chest. Each gasp brought new agony to her injured side and each step brought more stars dancing across her vision. She clenched her teeth and kept moving. Sound, like rushing wind, filled her ears, blocking out everything else.
A sudden burst of pain exploded through Nova's arm, coursing down to her fingers and up her shoulder. The blow sent her stumbling forward and she careened into a tree, crumpling to the ground.
"Nova!" Aart called through the trees.
Nova clamped her free hand over her injured arm. "Keep going! I'll be fine." Even she didn't believe it.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Blood coated Nova's arm, dribbling in a thick river to her fingers.
She squinted in the darkness.
A bloody cross-bow bolt sprouted from her upper-arm, surrounded by loose flesh. She winced and squeezed her other hand above the wound, slowing the flow of blood. Each beat of her heart brought a new wave of pain that washed through her arm and spread to the rest of her body, joining her other aches. She struggled for breath, to stay conscious.
She used a tree to get to her wobbling feet and stumbled forward.
"Nova, Nova, Nova. How far do you think you'll get?"
She ignored the voice, hobbling forward with one hand still clutched around her injured arm.
The man behind her chuckled. His footsteps made a steady rhythm, barely faster than a shuffle, but they were getting closer.
She drew a rasping breath, her feet dragging across fallen leaves and catching on twigs. Drops of blood fell from her fingers and left a dotted trail behind her. At least with the Hunter preoccupied with her, the others had a chance of getting away; the thought gave her a small flush of comfort in the cold darkness.
A branch snapped behind her and her heart fluttered. She could hear the man breathing, air grating in his throat, and imagined she could feel the warm puffs of it tickling the back of her neck. She shivered.
The Hunter chuckled. "To be honest, I had hoped you'd put up a better challenge. I'd heard that you are formidable."
"Maybe try when she hasn't been shot, you bastard," Aart bellowed from the shadows and a plasma bolt burst through the trees.
Nova stopped, turning to watch the blast. "Aart… No."
The green ball lit up the forest and slammed into a tree a few metres behind Nova. It burst into flames and the flickering glow lit up their attacker.
He stood a foot taller than most men, with scars covering most of his body. Mods sprouted all over him, from enlarged ears and glowing eyes, to bulging muscles. In some sectors he wouldn't even be classed as human anymore. He held a cross-bow in one hand as if it weighed little more than a stick.
"Brave and stupid. You, Artemis Goldson, fit your description perfectly," he said, lifting the crossbow and aiming into the trees.
"You seem to know a lot about us," Aart said from another area of the forest. "Don't you think you should introduce yourself?"
Nova's knees gave out and she slid to the ground, dark shadows passing over her vision. Her uninjured arm fell away from the wound and landed on her gun. Her blood-coated fingers slipped on the holster.
The Hunter peered into the trees over the top of his cross-bow, squinting against the bright firelight.
More shadows, people, flickered before Nova's vision. She squeezed her eyes shut, begging them to go away. She'd held back the visions, the time slips, for almost a year, but when things got bad they surged back, shattering her control.
The shadowed people ran back and forth through the trees. Some of them looked familiar, one in particular she recognised, much as she didn't want to. It was herself, stumbling through the trees, clutching her injured shoulder.
Nova shook her head and blinked, shoving the visions down. They faded, although faint outlines still moved through the trees.
She licked her cracked lips and with one finger slipped her gun loose of its holster. It fell to the ground with a rustle of leaves and she froze.
The Hunter sneered at the trees, oblivious of Nova. "You can call me Zudikas. It means killer."
"Don't you think that's getting a bit ahead of yourself?" Aart said from another part of the forest.
Zudikas growled and fired, the bolt zipping into the forest and knocking leaves loose. "I hope you're enjoying dancing through the trees. You won't last long."
Nova inched her hand forward and clamped it around her gun. She lifted it slowly, begging for Zudikas not to look at her.
"You bet," Aart said.
A smile flickered across Zudikas's face as he reloaded and levelled the cross-bow. "I don't know what you hoped to achieve. Your friend is as good as dead."
"Clearly you don't know Nova—"
Zudikas and Nova fired at the same time. His cross-bow bolt whipped into the trees as her blue plasma bolt slammed into his ribs. He grunted and stumbled back as flames flicked across his chest, blistering his skin.
Nova's hand dropped, sapped of all energy, and her head fell back against the tree-trunk. "Aart? Aart, are you okay?" she whispered.
Zudikas grunted and whirled on her, his mouth twisted. "Your friend's dead. But he was right about you. A tough nut, aye?"
He stepped towards her, aiming the cross-bow at her face.
She stared back at him, jaw clenched. His dark eyes reflected firelight as he loaded a new bolt. She took a deep breath and held it, thinking of Aart and hoping he was alright.
"Hey, you bastard. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Cara shouted, purple bolts streaming through the trees and knocking Zudikas off balance. The cross-bow fired and the bolt slammed into the dirt.
"Yeah, you ugly piece of cosmic crap." Maya fired from Zudikas's other side, more plasma bolts slamming into his stomach and chest.
He spun in a circle, hands held in front of his face as he glared into the trees. Blackened holes opened up along his flesh and he howled. Charred chunks of muscle fell to the forest floor, smoldering. "Show yourselves, cowards!"
He loaded a new bolt and fired into the darkness.
"Missed," Cara sung through the trees.
He growled and threw the cross-bow to the ground, pulling a massive gun from his back. It filled his arm, at least as big as any weapon that Gus would carry. Zudikas pulled back the safety and squeezed the trigger. A stream of fire bellowed out of the wide barrel and lit up the trees. Flames licked across the ground, and nearby branches burst into fire. Someone in the trees howled.
Nova blinked, h
er eyes drooping closed despite the heat bellowing from the flames.
"Nice gun." Aart's voice sounded strained but Nova's heart fluttered and she forced her eyes open. A new stream of gunfire joined the battle, pounding Zudikas from three directions.
Zudikas roared and swung his gun on Nova. "Cease fire or she's dead."
The plasma bolts stopped streaming through the forest, leaving Zudikas surrounded by a circle of flames. His skin clung to his body in blackened shells, his clothes fused to his flesh. Anyone else would have died.
"Nice stamina mods," Nova said, voice rasping in her dry throat.
Zudikas glared at her, gun unwavering.
Smoke filled the air and scratched Nova's lungs, she coughed, blood spattering the leaves around her. Heat scratched over her skin, her arms turning red before her eyes. Fierce crackling filled the air, combined with glowing sparks that rose up into the trees.
"Surrender and we'll let you live," Maya said.
Zudikas didn't move his gaze from Nova. "No. You all must die."
"We've got you surrounded. There's no way you win this."
"Kill him!" Nova rasped. Darkness swirled just at the edge of her vision, threatening to swallow her into unconsciousness. If it meant the others could live, she'd dive in whole-heartedly.
"No one has to die," Aart said. "Just put your gun down, Zudikas, and we can all walk away."
Zudikas glanced down at his charred hands and then back to Nova. He hoisted his gun and his arm tensed. "Maybe not, but I can at least take—"
His head exploded into fragments of broken skull and brains that sprayed across the ground and splattered Nova's boots. His body wavered and then fell forward with a heavy crunch.
Behind him, outlined by the firelight, stood Aart, his gun still raised. Blood poured down his right leg but he grinned at Nova.
She grimaced back before everything went dark.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Pain surged through Nova's body and she woke, arms flailing. She grabbed hold of her injured arm. The excruciating pain felt like thousands of electrodes jabbing into her flesh. A part of her considered cutting the damn limb off, because surely that would hurt less than the hell she was currently enduring.
She had no idea how long she'd been out, but sunlight was already peeking through the trees.
"Looks like you need another fix-up," Aart said with a raised eyebrow. He leaned over her, face lit by flickering firelight.
Nova swallowed. "What—"
"Ugly is dead and we decided to risk sitting still while we get you fixed up."
"The others?"
"Everyone's fine… except you, so nothing's changed."
The corners of Nova's mouth flickered but then the pain made her wince. "I think I could do with a couple of stitches."
Aart snorted. "Yeah, that's all you need. Side or arm first?"
"Wasn't your leg injured?"
"Yes, but I've bandaged it up. Now answer the question."
"Side."
Maya and Cara spoke quietly out of Nova's field of view. She couldn't make out what they were saying, not that she had the energy to care.
Aart pulled the needle and thread from his bag and Nova lifted her shirt with her good hand. The red gash gaped in the forest air, bleeding down her side to stain the ground below. Loose threads poked from the sides of the open wound.
Aart pulled them free. The sight of the thread sliding through her skin made Nova's stomach churn.
"Don't I get a Parapem or something?" she said through gritted teeth.
"I'm afraid not. Can't afford to have you doped up out here."
"Screw you," Nova said with a breathless sigh.
Aart pinched the flaps of Nova's stomach together and threaded the needle through.
Nova grunted and her hands clenched, grabbing handfuls of dry leaves that crackled in her grip.
"Here," Maya said, shoving a ball of cloth into Nova's mouth.
Nova bit down hard as Aart pushed the needle through her skin a second time. The thread burned as it weaved through her flesh, tugging. Nova squeezed her eyes shut as she did her best not to lash out and kick Aart's face.
"You know this is the last time I'm going to do this," Aart said. "There's only so many times a man can sew shut someone's stomach."
"Well if you sewed it better, you wouldn't have to keep doing it," Nova said, her voice muffled by the cloth.
"Careful or I'll have to sew your mouth shut too," Aart said, holding up the needle. "Alright. Twelve stitches, a new record. That's that one done. Please try and take it easy from now on. Even if I did want to keep sewing you shut, I'll run out of thread eventually."
"I'll do my best," Nova said.
"Let's look at this shoulder."
Aart moved around to Nova's wounded arm. He frowned at the protruding piece of metal and the blood still gushing out of it.
"I can still move my hand and fingers so it hasn't damaged any major nerves," Nova said.
"Yeah," Aart said. "Okay, pull it out."
Nova turned to glare at him. "What do you mean, 'pull it out'? Aren't you supposed to be my medical specialist?"
"Yes. And I'm quite happy to sew things shut for you, but…" Aart moved his eyes from the crossbow bolt to Nova's face. "The last time I tried to pull an arrow out of you, you punched me in the face."
Nova's mouth twitched as the memory flooded back. "That's because it hurt like a damned hot coal to the eyeball."
"I hardly think this is going to be less painful, and I do not want to have to get surgery again just to fix my face from your meaty hands."
"They're not that meaty," Nova said, a grin tugging the corners of her mouth.
"Meaty or not, you're going to have to pull it out."
Nova sighed and pushed herself up straighter. Her injured arm dangled at her side, covered in blood. She reached her other hand up and gripped hold of the metal bolt. It was cool to her touch even through the layers of blood.
She tightened her fingers around the bolt and took a deep breath. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pictured a calm field with bright green grass waving in a slight breeze. She clenched her teeth on the chunk of material and yanked.
It ripped free of her arm with a sickening sucking sound. Her good arm swung away from her body and she released the bolt mid-movement so that it sailed through the air. The sharp metal flew through the trees, snapping leaves and branches as it went, and clattered to the ground some distance away, out of sight.
Nova screamed as the bolt came free. Tears stung the corners of her eyes and she gasped for breath. Her arm exploded with new levels of agony that coursed right down to her fingertips and made them clench uncontrollably.
Aart dashed in and held a piece of medical cloth over the wound. He stifled the gushing blood and the bandage turned red. He pushed down and Nova winced.
The bandage contained clotting agents that would help stop more blood-loss. Nova tried to be grateful for that.
Hazy clouds billowed at the edges of her vision, threatening to draw her into unconsciousness again. She blinked and bit her lip, hoping that the new pain would keep her awake.
"We've got to keep moving," said Maya. "We have no idea what else that nutcase has sent after us."
Through her haze Nova saw Aart frown. "She's lost a lot of blood. I don't think she should move."
"I'm afraid doctor's orders don't mean much right now."
Aart glared up at Maya, keeping the bandage firm on Nova's arm. "She's saved my life more times than I care to count. I'm not going to leave her here."
"Well—"
"Aart, don't be such a wimp," Nova whispered, her eyelids heavy. "Get that wrapped up and we'll move out." Her voice sounded weak even to her own ears, but Aart grinned down at her.
He foraged through his bag and pulled out another bandage with sticky edges. In one quick movement he pulled the first bandage away and slapped the second in its place, smoothing it over her arm with the care of a practiced nurse.
The bandage stuck in place, even on her blood-soaked arm, and released its numbing agents. Pain fell away from Nova's upper arm until it became the only part of her not throbbing in agony.
"Thank God," she whispered.
"My name's Aart," he said with a grin.
Nova smiled back but didn't have the energy to correct him.
"Well I must say, I'm surprised," the Watcher's booming voice filled the trees. "I didn't expect you to get so far. Still, I'm glad you did. This is always my favourite part."
Nova's stomach clenched and she swallowed. "You've done this before?"
The Watcher chuckled but didn't reply.
Aart glared up into the trees. "What do you want, Watcher?"
"Did you Hunters stay in school long enough to learn about HAV?"
Aart's jaw clenched. "Of course."
"Um, not all of us," Cara said, stepping forward.
Nova took a rasping breath. "2050. It practically wiped out all of human civilisation. Set us back hundreds of years and made room for the Confederacy."
The Watcher chuckled. "In short. But did your teachers ever tell you of the Reapers?"
Aart spun in a tight circle. "That's just a legend!"
"Then prepare to meet a legend."
Nova's heart hammered in her chest and her stomach dropped like a lead weight. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain rocking through her muscles. "No."
"I thought it would be a fitting last stand. And the best part is, when you succumb, you'll become part of the trap for the next band of Hunters."
Nova shook her head and met Aart's gaze, their mouths hanging open.
"What the hell is he talking about?" Cara said.
"They'll be with you soon, I suggest you start running."
Nova turned and dashed into the trees. Aart's boots slammed into the ground behind her. Cara and Maya pulled ahead, their light feet sending sticks and leaves flying.
Nova gasped for breath, pain searing up her side. She didn't have much hope for the stitches holding.
"He can't mean it," Aart said between breaths. "It's a legend."