by Frost Kay
She swung her leg over the branch and her calf cramped. She hissed out a curse and flexed her left foot repeatedly. Once the pain eased, she did the same to her right foot just in case. If her leg cramped on the way down, it would kill her or leave her maimed.
Hazel scrutinized the branches below and spotted her first destination. Three branches formed a V, with one branch shooting through the middle. If she placed a foot on each of the outside branches, leaned against the tree and lowered herself, she could sit on the middle one once she was low enough.
Her eyes moved to her thighs. Hopefully, she still had enough strength to do it. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered.
Getting her feet on the branches was easy enough, but sinking into a squat without falling proved to be a challenge.
A squeak escaped her when her legs collapsed. Her butt slammed into the branch below her; pain shot up her spine and down her spread legs, but she didn’t fall. That was a success in her book.
“You’re okay, Hazel,” she muttered, ignoring her stinging back. From the feel of it, the bark had scraped her right through her shirt. “You only fell a few inches. If you can do that a few more times, you’ll be at the bottom in no time.”
Every movement was painful, and slow-going, but she made it to the last branch. It wasn’t too far from the ground, but far enough that, without the use of her arms, it would hurt. She debated her options before settling on rolling onto her stomach. No matter what, the jump would jar her arms, but if she slid off the branch backwards, there was less chance of her falling forward and onto her face and broken arm.
Her elbow bumped into the branch as she twisted. White-hot pain flashed across her vision. “Damn it,” she panted through the pain, eyes squeezed shut. She really needed a better sling. The pain ebbed, allowing her to take one moment to gather her courage. “You can do this,” she whispered and wiggled backward. Gravity then took care of the rest.
For a long moment, she was weightless. Then, the moment passed, and her bare feet slammed against the ground. Shooting pain raced through the arches of her feet and up her legs. Her knees buckled, and she crashed onto her butt, pain attacking her abused body from all sides, but she welcomed it. With watering eyes, she glanced up at the tree. She’d made it down. Survived. She did it.
“I did it,” she said as emotion clogged her throat. “I did it.”
“Did what, darling?” a rusty male voice drawled.
Her body locked up. Her gaze scoured the surrounding trees, but she couldn’t spot the source of the voice. Only fiends and criminals hid who they were. Time to get out of here.
“Who are you?” she asked, pulling her feet underneath her and sloppily pushing herself upright. The world tilted; she stumbled a few steps. Stars above, that wasn’t good.
“Looks like you could use a little help.” The voice had come from her right. She clenched her hand into a fist, blood squishing from between her fingers.
“Are you offering?” she asked, facing where she’d heard the voice, and pretended to stumble backward. The wilds were dangerous. It wasn’t only the Tainted you had to look out for, but also the depraved humans who had survived the apocalypse. Let him think she was weaker than she was. That might give her the advantage.
“You here alone?” he crooned.
Alarm bells rang in her mind. Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t a friend. “Nope,” she said, drunkenly weaving toward the left side of the tree.
“That’s too bad. And here, I thought we could play.”
Adrenaline flooded her. She lunged forward and sprinted away from the tree. A shout rent the air, but she didn’t turn to look. Her legs quivered, and dizziness assaulted her, but it wasn’t enough to slow her down. Her head start was the only thing she had going for her. Desperately, she searched the trees around her for a hiding space. Fatigue rode her hard. Too much time without food and water had taken its toll. Branches slapped her in the face as she pushed through foliage, tearing at her skin. Just a little further.
A hand closed around her right arm, yanking her to a stop. A scream exploded out of her. Agony. Blinding agony. She kicked at her assailant. “Let go,” she cried. “Please, let go.”
He didn’t. Her agony doubled when he shook her like a ragdoll, fingers digging into her wound. “Stop screaming.”
She whimpered, trying to sort through the spinning images around her. But she couldn’t tell where her agony ended and she began. All she knew was pain. Heat suffused her back; a hand slid along her shoulder and wrapped around her neck, forcing her chin up.
“What do we have here?” a nasally voice crooned.
If only he’d let go of her arm…
“A morsel,” the first voice answered.
Her heart thumped against her chest. Two men, not one. “Let me go,” she croaked.
“It appears to be damaged.”
“Never stopped me.”
Hazel forced her eyes open, and horror couldn’t even begin to describe the feeling coiling inside her. Fear unlike anything she’d ever known caused her pulse to jackknife. A Tainted. A nightmare in the flesh. A monster.
The Tainted male glanced down at her and smiled, his yellow rotten teeth all on display. “See something you like?”
Terror. Horror. Disgust. She thought she knew the meaning of Tainted. She’d expected a monster, a rabid animal that walked like a man, but never imagined anything like this. Unable to tear her eyes away, she stared up at where his nose should have been. Instead, there was a snout, like a pig. Bile burned the back of her throat and she gagged. It was like part of his face was made of melted wax, a grotesque combination of both human and swine. Monstrous.
His beady eyes narrowed. “You think you’re too good for the likes of me?” he asked, shaking her roughly. “You take it, Blade.” He shoved her away.
The Tainted had names and spoke? She stumbled and caught her foot on a rock. The earth rushed to meet her, and she braced for the pain. But there was no way to prepare for the pain. Fire raced through her body, short-circuiting her brain. It was the sort of pain that could make someone insane. After everything she’d been through in the last several days, she didn’t know it was possible to hurt so much. “Please,” she sobbed. “Please, make it stop.”
But it didn’t. Her arms stayed pinned beneath her body as boots kicked her legs open. A hand grabbed her ponytail and jerked back.
“Stop screaming, wench, or I’ll kill ya,” the rusty voice threatened behind her.
Was that the sound she kept hearing?
“Gag her, Will, or she’ll bring the whole forest down on us.”
Hazel forced her eyes open, the pig man coming into view. “Please, help me,” she cried. “My arms.”
His smile turned cruel, wrinkling his distorted face in a way that turned her stomach. His fingers clenched around the filthy bandana in his palm as he dropped into a squat by her face. “You should have chosen me.”
She snapped her mouth shut against the screams that fought to escape when he reached forward. No way was he gagging her.
He shook his head at her and pinched her nose closed. Her breath burned in her lungs. Once she exhaled, he’d have her. The Tainted behind her yanked her hair, causing her to cry out. That’s when the pig man wrestled the smelly fabric between her lips and tied it behind her head as the other Tainted settled between her legs.
“No,” she cried. Had she survived Aaron only to endure this torture?
He leaned closer, his foul breath washing over her. “If you thought I was ugly, you don’t even want to know what’s between your legs now.” Tears tracked down her face as he brushed a blunt finger along her cheek. “Such perfection. I haven’t seen one of you in a long time.” He smiled and pressed a dirty nail into the gash at her shoulder. Her vision dipped and darkened as her pain increased.
“That’s right,” he whispered. “Scream. We live for them.” He licked his lips. “I can’t wait to taste your sweet flesh. I reckon it will be the best meal I’ve had
in a long time.”
Somewhere in the recesses of her mind it clicked. She dry-heaved, bile dripping around the bandana and down her chin. After they’d used her, they’d eat her. He might look part human, but he was truly a monster.
A male bellow sounded behind her and the hand in her hair disappeared. A weight collapsed on her legs, pinning her. Hazel’s eyes snapped open when something warm sprayed across her face. The Tainted gaped at her with an arrow protruding from his shoulder. His eyes rolled back into his head and his snout face-planted into the ground next to hers.
Help? She peeked up from underneath her wet lashes and hope fluttered in her chest. A young woman advanced toward them, her green hood up. She crouched next to the pig man and pushed back her hood. The knot of fear in her chest loosened some. Black hair with one red stripe slipped from a loose braid that framed her face. A normal face.
“Help,” she said, the bandana muffling her words.
The girl’s gaze flickered to her and held. Her body flashed hot and cold. A muffled gasp slipped from her when the girl’s pupils expanded. Vertically-slitted pupils.
Tainted.
Darkness encroached on her vision as the monster reached for her.
Eleven
Hazel
Hazel awoke to a flash of intense pain. Tears dripped out of her eyes as she squinted up at the girl laying her arm beside her.
Not a girl. A Tainted.
She kicked out at the monster, landing a blow on her stomach. The Tainted tumbled backward as Hazel jerked into a sitting position and scrambled to her feet. She steadied herself against the tree and backed away as the Tainted glared at her from the ground.
Her brows slashed together, and she glanced at her arm, the one currently grasping the tree, then back to the now-standing Tainted. Her arm had been bandaged, but why? Without taking her eyes from the Tainted scrutinizing her, she pulled her brother’s knife from the sheath at her waist. Her arm shook as she held it out in front of her.
“Stay back,” she said, and retreated a step.
The Tainted arched a black brow. “And what do you think you’re going to do with that little blade?”
“Come closer and find out,” she croaked, and cleared her stinging throat. Nothing like that had ever come out of her mouth, but she was done pussyfooting around. Her blade wasn’t ideal, but she could wield it, and no one would hurt her again.
“I could take that from you, but I’ll let you keep it for now. We all need the appearance of safety, especially after…” She kicked the hairy monster in the side. “These monsters got a hold of you. Not that you deserved it.”
A hysterical laugh burst out of her. They were all monsters. “So says the monster,” she whispered.
Snake-like eyes clashed with hers, a vertical pupil surrounded by an unnatural emerald green. “I wouldn’t cast stones.” Disgust crossed the Tainted’s face. “You’re more monstrous than I am.”
Hazel shuddered and took another step back.
The Tainted cocked her head. “What? No comment?”
She eyed the Tainted, not knowing what to say.
The snake girl scoffed. “Of course, you wouldn’t defend yourself. You know the truth.” She sighed. “I can’t let you leave. You’re too dangerous.”
Hazel snorted. The conversation was getting weirder by the moment. Anyone could see she was as weak as a lamb. There wasn’t anything dangerous about her. Her muscles seized when the snake girl smoothly pulled her bow from her shoulder and nocked an arrow. Absently, Hazel admired how nice the bow was. The wood was well-oiled and practically shone. It was another thing those traitors had taken from her. She’d add it to the long list of grievances she carried in her heart.
Another laugh threatened to break loose. Something was wrong with her. She had an arrow aimed at her heart and she was thinking about bows. Swallowing down her hysteria, she took another slow step. Fear would not stop her from escape.
She winced when the Tainted’s eyes narrowed. Stars above, that was creepy.
“Stop right there,” the girl commanded.
Yeah, right. She’d rather get shot than comply. Whatever the Tainted had in store for her wouldn’t be pleasant. A stick cracked underneath her bare heel and a familiar sound slapped her in the face.
A rattle.
She stilled, eyes wide. Part of her wanted to search the ground for the familiar beastie, but she knew she wouldn’t spot it before it struck. Being struck by a rattlesnake was a death sentence. A painful one. The virus was only passed from bites and bodily fluids these days.
Rule number one: never get bitten.
“Make my death quick,” she whispered. If she survived the bite and mutation, she didn’t want to live her life as a monster. Hazel closed her eyes and waited for the pain, surprisingly calm. The air whistled, and she heard a dull thwack.
“It’s dead.”
Cracking one eye, she stared at the Tainted, not sure whether she believed her. Hazel eyed her with distrust but went over the facts. The Tainted had saved her from—her eyes dipped to the monsters on the ground—those things, and she’d fixed Hazel’s dislocated arms. Obviously, she wanted her alive.
Twisting to the side, she searched the surrounding ground. “Stars above,” she breathed when she spotted the rattler. Part of its body underneath a rock, the exposed half bent back on itself. She blinked at the arrow passed right through its skull, nailing it to the ground. If it wasn’t for the arrow, she wouldn’t have been able to spot it at all. Her lip curled back as she glared down at the serpent. The mutation gave the beasties an unfair advantage that led to so many deaths.
Something stung her arm. Hazel whipped around and pulled a dart from her arm. Her eyelids dropped, and her legs dropped out from under her. Arms caught her and lowered her to the ground. She glared at the Tainted above her. That sneaky wench.
“You drugged me,” she slurred.
The Tainted smirked at her. “You gave me no other choice. I won’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy it after you kicked me in the chest.”
“Well, that’s petty.”
Hazel gasped and cringed back when the Tainted grinned at her and flashed pointy fangs.
The Tainted’s smile dropped and her expression hardened. “You’re all the same. I won’t feel bad about what comes next.”
“Next?” Hazel forced out through numb lips as the world took on a dream-like quality.
“This was your choice. It will get worse before it gets better.”
Pain was her new reality.
Whatever the Tainted had knocked her out with still burned.
She glared at the Tainted’s back. They’d been walking for three days.
Three days ago, she’d woken with the worst headache of her life with all her wounds cleaned and bandaged. What surprised her was that the Tainted had left her with her dagger. When the Tainted noticed her attention, she’d held out a dart, wiggled it, and smiled. The threat was clear. If Hazel attacked her, she’d get darted.
She didn’t attack, she ran.
But that didn’t work out so great either. Her captor had overtaken her in a matter of seconds. She was fast. Faster than she ought to have been. Well, compared to a human.
Her punishment had been swift and painful. The fabric that had been wrapped around her feet as makeshift shoes were retracted. It wasn’t horrible in the forest, but once they hit the sand and rock, it burned.
Hazel cast a sullen glance in the Tainted’s direction and then down to her feet. Her abused body wanted nothing more than to collapse against the earth. They’d started up the side of a mountain this morning and she’d slipped twice already. It was only by the continued threats that she kept on.
Thankfully, her prickly captor didn’t make her walk through the night. Every night, the snake girl held a dart up as a reminder, not that Hazel needed it. Sleep claimed her almost immediately … except for last night.
She had almost been asleep when the Tainted jerked to a stand to scan the area. “Sta
y here,” she’d commanded, and disappeared into the darkness. Hazel had been on full alert, straining to hear movement around her. Had the girl left her on her own? This was her chance. On quiet feet, she’d stood and crept away from their camp spot.
A deep growl had rumbled from behind her. Ever so slowly, she had peeked over her shoulder. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing there. Her shoulders had sagged. She must have been imagining it. She’d taken one step when it struck. There hadn’t been any time to scream, run, or even lift her arms up, so she’d closed her eyes and waited for death.
It didn’t come.
A slick hiss followed by a thwack and a growl caused her eyes to pop open. She locked eyes with a golden-eyed feline. It growled low, a mournful sound, before stilling. Her body had trembled from head to toe. She scrambled back, never looking away from the dead creature. Her captor had prowled out of the dark and dropped to her knees to yank out the arrow.
“What is it?” she’d asked through chattering teeth.
“A diablo.”
“A devil?” she’d murmured through numb lips. It was huge.
“Yes, because it’s a devil of a time killing them.”
She eyed the patterned fur. It was a series of dark red-brown spots inside lighter spots. It blended in perfectly with its surroundings. No wonder it had been impossible to see. “How did you know it was there?”
“I didn’t, but it’s been trailing me since I picked you up. I knew it would show itself if there was an opportunity.”
By opportunity, she meant … her stomach rolled. “You used me as bait.”
“You smell like blood. Plus, you left bloody scraps of fabric for it to follow. It wanted you, not me. Now, we can continue on without looking over our shoulders.” Her captor had paused, giving her a puzzled look. “She hesitated.”
“The beast?”
“Yeah, she faltered as if she couldn’t track you. If it hadn’t been for that, things could’ve turned out a lot differently.”