by S. J. Bryant
Wren sat on the edge of his bed, frowning down at the floor. His hair hung in limp tendrils, hiding his face. His white knuckles stood out against the dull bed frame, tendons in his hand pulsing.
"Right. There's not many options for breakfast but at least we've got something," Bill said. He lay tins of food across the table. "Only one each. There's no way to know how long we'll need it."
"Thank you." Nova circled the beds and sat in the chair furthest from Wren before taking a dusty tin of beans. She peeled back the lid as the others sat down and ate without tasting. The beans slid down her throat like slimy balls of goo, leaving a sticky layer over her tongue.
"What do you guys do for fun?" Aart asked, licking sauce from his fingers.
Vayla grunted but didn't look up.
"I don't even know what fun is anymore," Bill said. "Here it's just a matter of surviving the day. Sometimes we go out for supplies, most days we stay here."
The beans turned to ash in Nova's mouth but she forced herself to swallow. "You just sit here?"
Bill shrugged. "What else are we supposed to do?"
Maya slammed her empty tin onto the table. "I will not sit here slowly dying. I'm getting out of here. Today."
Red spots appeared on Bill's cheeks. "I told you, there's no way out."
"Then I'll die trying! Better than sitting here."
"I agree with Maya," Nova said. "We have to try."
"I'm going where she's going," Aart said between mouthfuls.
Cara nodded.
"You bloody fools," Bill said, hurling his tin towards the door. It clattered against the metal and rolled across the floor. "It's only because you don't know. You haven't really seen what they can do."
"I told you they'd be trouble," Wren said, rocking back and forth at the end of his bed.
Bill's nostrils flared. "There's no way out of here. Why can't you just listen?"
"We know you've suffered," Nova said. "We understand. But we have to do what we can."
"Trouble. Trouble. Trouble," Wren muttered.
"Those things will tear your faces off as soon as you step through that door," Bill said. "You'll be nothing but lunch."
Maya sprung to her feet. "Even if that were true, it's our choice!"
"Trouble!" Wren lunged from his bed and tackled Maya to the ground. A knife glinted in his hand as he plunged it towards Maya's chest.
"No!" Nova dived at Wren.
Cara leapt for Wren's wrist, throwing her full weight against his arm and pushing it sideways.
The knife plunged into the ground beside Maya's head, sending up sparks.
Maya shoved him free and slammed her fist into Wren's face. "What the hell, you crazy bastard!"
Nova crashed into Wren and pinned him to the floor, wrenching his arms behind his back. She kicked the knife out of reach and twisted his arms until they threatened to break.
Maya sprung to her feet and loomed over Wren, fists clenched.
"Whoa!" Bill stepped forward, arms outstretched between Maya and Wren.
Maya glared at him. "Get out of the way. He attacked me, it's my right to get him back."
Bill shook his head, red hair glinting in the dim lights. "I'm sorry for what he did."
"Sorry?" Red flushed Maya's cheeks and she stepped forward.
Wren struggled in Nova's arms but she held him tight. Cara knelt beside her and helped grip his arms to his body.
"Wren… struggles."
Maya's jaw clenched. "Oh, I'll show him a struggle."
Bill sighed and let his arms fall to his side. "I didn't know him… before. I don't know if he's always been… unpredictable… or if this whole thing has made him that way."
Maya's gaze flickered to Wren and then back to Bill.
"Either way," Bill said. "I don't think he always knows what he's doing. We can't hold him responsible for that."
Maya snorted. "I'm pretty sure I can. And besides—"
"Then I'm asking you not to."
Wren's writhing stopped and he sat still, muscles twitching every few moments.
Aart stood at Maya's side and laid a hand on her shoulder, before turning to Bill. "I think we're just a little concerned because he tried to kill her."
Bill nodded and hung his head. "I'm sorry. That's all I can say. We'll tie him up for the rest of the day. He'll probably calm down."
Aart nodded and Sid and Vayla took Wren out of Nova's arms and led him to the back wall where they tied him to a support column with thick knots. "Does this happen often?"
"Only a couple of times," Bill said. "Not that bad though."
"He's as bad as the damned Watcher," Maya said, throwing her hands wide.
Nova climbed to her feet, side aching, and sunk into a chair. "He didn't do any damage. Thanks to Cara."
Maya's eyes narrowed. "He could have."
Nova nodded. "Yes, but he's tied up now."
"So I'm just supposed to forget it?"
Nova shrugged. "You wanted to escape today, remember? He won't be with us for much longer."
Maya scowled but she dropped her gun back into her holster and sat at the table beside Nova.
Bill sighed. "I suppose that didn't exactly help my case."
Nova shook her head. "One way or another, we're leaving here today."
"It's suicide. They'll know what you're planning, smell it."
Nova shrugged. "We're not staying here. It's our only other option."
Bill shook his head but said nothing.
"Got guns?" Vayla asked.
Nova nodded, gesturing to the plasma pistol in her holster.
Sid shrugged. "That's better than what Jarred had."
Bill rounded on Vayla and Sid. "You can't be thinking…"
Vayla met his eyes. "They're right about one thing. We can't stay here forever, and with all eight of us it's the best chance we're going to get."
"And with their guns we've got eight plasma pistols. That might be enough to take down fifty Reapers," Sid added.
"Have you already forgotten what it was like? Last time…" Bill trailed off.
"Of course not," Vayla said. "But back then half of us were armed with blunt axes. This is different."
"Don't forget the booze," Maya said, some of the fire leaving her eyes.
"What?" Bill turned to face her.
"Fire bombs just waiting to happen. The legends always said Reapers are like moths when it comes to fire, can't stay away."
Bill sighed and rested his head in his hands. His red beard peaked out from behind his fingers in bright tufts.
Wren glared across the room at Maya although his displeasure seemed to radiate out, including Vayla, Sid, and the other Hunters. "Trouble! Suicide!"
Maya locked her eyes on him, glaring with unveiled hatred. "You don't have to come, in fact I'd rather you didn't. You can sit here and slowly rot away. But I'm taking the chance and it sounds like the others are coming with me."
Bill lifted bloodshot eyes. "I don't like it. But it is the best chance we'll have. If we stay here while the rest of you try… it'll be worse for everyone."
Nova's heart fluttered and she nodded.
"Wren?" Vayla said, fixing him with a solid gaze.
Wren's mouth twisted and his fingers tapped a feverish rhythm on the floor. "It's madness."
Bill turned away. "He'll come around in a bit. One thing I can guarantee, Wren doesn't like being left on his own. I guess this is it, we're doing it. Madness."
"Better to go down fighting," Aart said.
"Or not at all," Bill said. "We do this properly. We've been here a while and we know more about the Reapers. If we're going to get out of here we need to be smart.
Nova nodded. "We'll follow your lead. Just tell us what to do."
Bill bit his bottom lip. "We'll use the fire as a distraction and run for the trees in the opposite direction. The last thing we want is a fire-fight with these things."
"You're gonna send some poor bastard out to start a fire? Like a lamb to
the sacrifice?" Wren spat from the floor. "No, thank you."
"I'll do it," Nova and Cara said at the same time.
They shared a glance.
"You're not in any position to run," Cara said, nodding at Nova's blood-stained shirt.
"I can go," Aart said. "I'm the fastest. It'll only—"
"Whoa," Bill said, waving his hands. "I'm very impressed that you're all so eager to throw yourselves at the Reapers. But I can't ask anyone to take that kind of risk."
"You're not asking," Aart said. "I'm volunteering."
"With that busted leg?" Cara said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think so. I'm the fastest and uninjured."
"Fools," Wren growled.
Bill sighed. "Alright. We need to do this right. The girl's got a point. No offence, but you all look like shit. If she's the fastest, then it's best for all of us if she's the one."
Cara nodded once.
"There's a gas station on the other side of town. If you can light that up it'll create a distraction and just maybe we can sneak out of here alive."
"We'll wait for night?" Aart said.
Bill shook his head. "They've got every advantage on us in the dark, they can see better, run better. No, we'd be dead in seconds. If we're going to do this it has to be during the day."
"Today?" Nova said.
Bill rubbed his forehead. "It's so soon…"
Vayla stepped forward. "Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. I think we should take a chance while we've got it."
Bill nodded. "You're probably right. Okay, today it is then, but we'd better act fast. Everyone finish your meals. Cara, I'll draw you a map."
***
Nova crouched in the shadow of a rusted car, peering down the street towards the gas station. Cara had dashed off ten minutes ago and should have reached her target. Nova's stomach clenched. She should have gone, injuries be damned. At least then she wouldn't have to wait, not knowing.
Aart knelt at her side while the other five huddled a little further down the street. Shadows flicked between buildings up and down the street. Reapers. Occasional howls split the air, bloodthirsty and starving.
Nova's neck tingled and her feet ached to run, be free.
"C'mon," Aart whispered. "Dammit. I should have gone."
Nova swallowed, not trusting herself to speak.
A bright flash of light filled the street, followed a second later by a rumbling boom. Orange flames licked the air, just visible above the buildings, and black smoke billowed out above the town.
Shrieks echoed between the buildings and Reapers poured out onto the street, racing towards the brightness. They shoved at one another as they ran, like a herd of rabid buffalo, teeth gnashing.
"Let's go!" Nova said, grabbing Aart's shoulder.
Sticking to the shadows they ran in the opposite direction, away from the fire. The trees loomed ahead, a line of green at the edge of town. The street seemed clear, the Reapers racing towards the crackling flames.
"What if Cara—" Aart puffed at Nova's side.
"She'll make it," Nova said, unable to consider the alternative.
They sprinted towards the trees, every step sending pangs of agony up Nova's side. Stars flashed across her vision but she blinked them away and kept running.
"I think we're—"
"Get back!" Bill's voice filled the street as he came pelting back around a far corner, Maya, Vayla, Sid, and Wren at his heels. "Get back!"
Nova and Aart hesitated, stumbling to a stop in the middle of the road.
"Back to the bunker you idiots!" Bill said, shooing them onwards.
A moment later a pack of Reapers swarmed around the nearest building, teeth gnashing. Their long limbs chewed up the road, lunging them closer.
Nova's heart clenched and she turned, sprinting back the way they'd come, back to the bunker. Her arms and legs pumped, ignorant of the flashes of pain that ate up her side and made every breath agony.
The sound of Reapers grew louder.
Nova glanced over her shoulder in time to see one lunge at Sid. It snagged his shoulder but he lifted his gun and shot it without breaking stride. The rest of the pack jumped over the fallen Reaper, getting closer.
Nova loosened her gun and pulled it from the holster. The bunker seemed an eternity away, too far to get to with the Reapers so close. Aart breathed heavy at her side, also bringing out his gun.
"I told you it was madness!" Wren howled. "They'll eat us all!"
"Shut it or I'll trip you," Maya muttered.
"We've got to make a stand," Sid said. "They'll have our backs in seconds."
"Nearly there," Nova called back. "I'll turn and cover you while you get it open. Do it fast."
"Me too," Aart said.
The bunker door loomed fifty metres away. Thirty. Twenty. Ten. One.
Nova took one step past and spun, gun already firing. Reapers lunged at the Hunters, their sharp teeth glistening with spit. Nova's first volley took a Reaper in the head and it collapsed in a spray of blood.
Wren reached the door first, his fingernails scraping on the metal handle, hands shaking as he tried to open it.
"Get out of the way," Bill said, shouldering him to the side and wrenching the door.
Aart and Nova stood shoulder-to-shoulder, guns firing. The pack of Reapers surged forward but the first three fell in a volley of bright plasma blasts.
"Get in!" Bill called from inside the bunker. "They'll be attracted by the gunfire. You'll be dead in minutes."
Nova stepped towards the door, still firing, Aart at her side. At the last second they dove through the door and Bill slammed it shut behind them, the thud echoing through the bunker.
Nova leaned against the table, breathing hard and clutching her side while the others stared at the walls.
"Cara," Maya said in a soft voice.
"She could still be okay," Aart said, holstering his gun. "We don't know."
"Are you kidding?" Wren said, throwing up his arms. "She's either deader than those Reapers or she sold us out, ran off somewhere else."
Maya and Aart turned on Wren, fists clenched, while anger simmered inside Nova's stomach.
"If she ran in another direction to stop herself getting killed, what's so bad about that?" Aart said.
"She's not frickin' dead," Maya said in a low tone.
Wren rolled his eyes. "Your idiot plan turns to shit and you can't even admit it."
"Wren!" Bill barked. "Shut it or I swear I'll toss you back out there myself."
They spent the rest of the evening in tense silence. Nova sat by herself disassembling and reassembling her gun, Aart kept packing and repacking his bag, while Maya sat glaring at the wall. The others whispered occasional conversation but mostly they sat, lost in their own thoughts.
"She was a good kid," Aart said when it seemed like the tension would physically fill the room and suffocate them all.
Nova nodded.
"Yeah," Maya said. "And she did it for us."
Bill nodded. "I say we break out a bottle of the good stuff. I'm sure she'd rather we celebrate her than sit in silence."
He rummaged through their pile of food and pulled out a glowing green bottle. He poured a small shot into seven glasses and handed them out.
Nova clutched hers like a lifeline, her gaze getting lost in the swirling green colours.
Bill raised his cup. "I'm sorry I didn't get to know her better. She seemed like a good Hunter and a great person."
"Here, here."
Nova tipped her glass and the green liquid slid down her throat, leaving behind a pleasant burn that helped scorch away the ache in her side and the pain in her chest. She held out her cup for a second round.
Maya cleared her throat. "We didn't know her for long, and I know at first I hated her, but she's a good kid. She deserved—"
The door slammed open and a dark shape spilled to the floor inside, the door swinging shut behind it.
Cara sprung to her feet, hands on her hips. "I go out there, risk m
y life to save your sorry arses, and while I'm running for my life, you're here getting pissed?"
Nova's mouth hung open, similar expressions mirrored on the other Hunters' faces.
Cara sauntered over and took the bottle from Bill's hand. "Don't mind if I do." She put it to her lips and took down a large swallow. "Wouldn't recommend going outside at night time. It's a bitch."
"You're alive," Maya said, hands trembling.
Aart grinned and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "I told you she'd be fine."
Wren scowled and shuffled to his bed where he lay with his back to them. Most of the tension lifted out of the air, leaving behind a pleasant buzz.
Cara grinned. "Those bastards were everywhere. I'd nearly caught up with you guys when the pack got you. They cut me off from the bunker, and I've been laying low since then, waiting for them to get bored."
Nova let out a long breath and slid into a hard chair. "Thank goodness you're okay."
Cara smacked her palms together. "So what's plan B?"
Bill shook his head and crumpled into the chair beside Nova. "How can you say that? After today… we almost all died."
"But we didn't," Cara said.
Vayla and Sid hung back, their faces partially hidden in shadows.
Bill shook his head. "You've seen how hopeless it is. Why are we repeating this conversation?"
"Because nothing's changed," Maya said, stepping forward. "We still intend to leave, no matter what."
Nova nodded. "Today was a setback, but I'm not giving up."
"Me neither," Aart added.
"Bloody hell," Bill said, hanging his head.
Vayla stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I think they're right. We survived today, there are other ways. We come up with a better plan and we keep trying. I don't want to spend the rest of my life cooped up here. Better to die fighting and all that."
Bill sighed. "Fine. If that's what everyone thinks…"
The other Hunters nodded, except Wren who remained curled up on his bed.
"Cara managed to stay hidden from them all evening, so there has to be a way to escape notice. If we set up a distraction like we did today, but be more careful about our line of escape… maybe," Bill said.
They went to work planning.