Alessa didn’t know how to respond. She was glad to see Isaac so positive, especially given his maddening tendency to blame himself for every bad thing that befell the world. But at the same time, she just didn’t quite share his sunny outlook.
She wanted to help, that was for certain. She was angry about what the Ruling Class had done, and she wanted them to pay. But sometimes she still didn’t really believe that she’d gotten herself caught up in all this. It was surreal, almost, to think that she – just a normal person like anyone else in Paragon – was playing this pivotal role in changing the only world they had left. What if she screwed it up? What if she failed?
Alessa’s gloomy thoughts were interrupted as she stumbled forward, her foot kicking something with a clank. Stopping, her eyes struggled to focus through the dusk at the ground before her. She couldn’t quite place the sound. Had she clattered some old cans together? Maybe wooden dowels? Her brain struggled to resolve the source of the noise.
And that’s when she saw.
It wasn’t cans or dowels she’d kicked, but bones. Hundreds of bones in all shapes and sizes, littering the ground in every direction, picked dry and gleaming in the cold blue of the early moonlight.
Some primal intuition inside her kicked in, the panic coursing through her body and strangling the air from her throat.
She managed to choke out two words before instinct took over: “Isaac, run.”
4. DASH
Isaac knew Alessa well enough to recognize the warning in her voice. He wasn’t sure what she’d seen or heard – or maybe felt – but he didn’t need an explanation. She wasn’t kidding, that much he knew.
His body jumped into overdrive as Alessa took off ahead of him, his heart pounding and his breaths coming short and fast. Adrenaline tingled through his limbs and then he was off.
Alessa’s tall form cut a swift path through the trees, her shiny dark bob of hair gleaming in the moonlight behind her. She looked back once to make sure Isaac was following and he caught a glimpse of the urgency in her emerald eyes. Even at a time like this, Isaac couldn’t help but think how radiant she was against the snowy backdrop of the forest.
She ran, he knew, not because she was afraid, but because she knew it was sometimes better to run than fight. He loved that about her – her decisiveness and intuition. He always knew he could trust her instincts.
The icy air was a shard of glass in his throat, but he pressed on, pumping his legs as fast as they would go. He had caught up to Alessa now and ran immediately behind her, their long strides in unison as they dashed away from whatever threat she’d perceived.
Just as Isaac began to wonder if the danger had passed, he heard branches snapping to his right, rapidly coming up from behind. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder and was startled to catch sight of something big tearing through the trees maybe ten yards away. In the growing darkness, he couldn’t tell what it was. But it was fast – too fast to be human.
His heart racing, he urged his body to pick up speed. He could see Alessa slowing, obviously tired from their mad sprint after the day’s long hike. But now was not the time to give in to exhaustion, and the thought of losing Alessa to whatever was pursuing them made his heart clench in his throat.
“Go, go, GO!” he panted, the alarm evident in his voice. His entreaty worked to spur her – Alessa picked up the pace.
Whatever was moving on his right was still gaining on them, though. Concentrating on lengthening his stride, he caught wind of thumping footsteps and cracking brush coming up on the other side. A quick glance over his left shoulder told him they were being surrounded.
All conscious thought left Isaac’s brain as instinct hijacked his system – the pain in his chest, the hunger in his gut, the aching fatigue in his legs, all faded away to the buzzing of the raging fear in his head. His vision narrowed until there was nothing left except the woman darting ahead of him and the impossibly loud crashing to either side. They ran, he recognized, for their lives.
Just then a shrieking roar pierced the night, coming from his right side, followed by the thud of bodies hitting the ground. Isaac ran faster, pressing Alessa forward ahead of him, until he realized the sounds of pursuit on the right had dropped off.
He looked back quickly over his right shoulder and no longer saw movement through the trees on that side. Were their assailants falling back?
Before he could consider, he found himself flat out on his back, the world around him spinning impossibly. He could hear Alessa calling his name, but she sounded far away – so far away. The left side of his face was tingling oddly, and when he pressed his hand to it, sharp pains shot through him. He dropped his hand, the ache in his face subsiding, and tried to concentrate on Alessa’s voice.
“Isaac, get up!” He could barely hear her through the ringing in his ears. The world was a blur of trees and starlight and snow – cold, cold snow. He rested his throbbing left side against the frozen powder and relief washed through him.
But why was he lying here? Hadn’t he just been running?
Dazed, he tried to remember how he’d ended up on the ground.
And then from somewhere behind him and to his left, whatever had been chasing them finally caught up. A blur of movement leapt towards him, a vicious snarl ringing out from its throat. Time slowed, but in his muddled state, Isaac couldn’t think of what to do, couldn’t react. The menacing mass of sinew descending over him, he felt alarm bells ringing somewhere in his gut, but couldn’t remember what they meant.
In that same instant, as Isaac lay helpless, another form flew from his right, tackling the first in mid-air as they crumpled to the ground in a tussle of growls and yelps. His first thought was Alessa, but he could still hear her calling his name from the opposite direction.
And then someone had grabbed his hand and he was pulled upright, and suddenly his feet were moving and he was running again. Alessa looked back at him, her face pleading.
“How did you manage to run into a tree at a time like this, Isaac? I know it hurts, but we need to get away while they’re distracted. Just a bit longer – keep moving.”
His head ached, but Isaac complied, not knowing what else to do. Holding Alessa’s hand tightly, he followed her into the darkness.
The hearty scent of sautéed onions and the sharp light of a new day roused Isaac from his stupor. Rolling onto his left side to better appreciate the fire warming his back, he was shocked by a smarting sensation as the side of his face touched the blanket bunched beneath him. “Owww,” he moaned.
Alessa quickly scooted to his side and slipped a plastic bag filled with snow in between his head and the blanket he was using as a pillow. Her face was racked with concern. “How are you feeling? Do you remember anything?”
Isaac took a moment for the cold to seep into his face and the pain to subside. “I remember running.” His voice felt hoarse when he spoke. “My throat burning from the cold. And then I remember being on the ground.”
Alessa smirked, “You ran straight into a tree, love. Like head on, at top speed.” She was clearly trying to suppress her laughter.
Isaac just groaned.
“I only caught it because I looked back when there was all that commotion on the right – and then BOOM! You were down.”
Isaac got a mental picture of what he must have looked like and chuckled, bringing a fresh wave of agony to his head. “Argh. It hurts to laugh.”
Alessa grinned. “I guess we probably shouldn’t be laughing about it, anyway…” She shrugged. “I don’t know what was following us, but I’m pretty sure we almost died.”
Massaging the snow bag into the aching side of his face, Isaac replied, “Are you sure I didn’t die?”
Alessa smiled brightly and planted a long, playful kiss on the right side of his lips, away from his injuries. “Does that feel dead to you?”
His eyes still closed, Isaac leaned back and smiled. “Hmm… it feels like I might have died and gone to heaven.”
; Alessa laughed heartily. “Well I’m glad to see your injury hasn’t affected you too badly.”
“We’ll see about that,” he groaned, sitting up and dropping the cold compress.
Alessa grimaced. “Your face looks horrible.”
“Thanks,” Isaac muttered.
She laughed gently. “I’m sorry, I mean your injury looks horrible – it’s bright red and shiny, probably from all the ice.”
“It does feel kind of numb.”
Reaching toward the fire, Alessa came back with a can full of food. “Here. You need to eat something.”
“Onions and acorns?”
“Onions and acorns.”
Isaac swallowed a few big mouthfuls gratefully; it did help to have something hot in his stomach. He could feel the meal revitalizing him from the inside out, the heat slowly radiating from his core. The throbbing in his head lessened as he took in his surroundings. They were sitting in a shallow outcropping of rock, a small weather-worn cave that was just large enough for the two of them and a small fire. Isaac yawned.
“I’m so tired.”
“That might be because I woke you up every hour last night to make sure you were alive.”
“You did?”
Alessa yawned too. “Yup. You don’t remember?”
“Not really. I remember getting up right after getting hit but everything between now and then is a blank.”
Alessa gently laid her fingers on his face, searching his eyes. “I’m pretty sure you got a concussion.”
Gingerly rubbing his head, Isaac concurred. “Sounds about right.”
“So I guess that means you didn’t get a good look at whatever was following us?”
Isaac sighed and shook his head.
“I was hoping you might have seen them when you were on the ground maybe…?” she prompted.
“Everything I saw was a blur, babe. Sorry.”
“Damn. I was a little ahead of you and the trees were in the way. And then when I came over to grab you, all I heard was a bunch of snarling in the underbrush – I couldn’t see anything, unfortunately.”
“How did we manage to get away? Last I remember they were gaining on us…”
Alessa shook her head. “I’m not sure – they just stopped coming after us. It seemed like maybe they got in a fight or something?”
“Weird. What do you think it was? Wolves?”
“Wolves? Do wolves pile the bones of their kills in one spot?”
“I dunno. Is that what you saw when you took off?”
Alessa shuddered. “Yeah – we were standing in the middle of a graveyard. I didn’t realize it until I tripped over some kind of clean-picked carcass, and something in me just snapped.”
“Well, I’m glad it did – we probably wouldn’t be here otherwise.” Isaac thought for a moment. “Do you think this was the same pack that was stalking you the other night? Did you… feel anything this time?”
Alessa shrugged. “I felt something, but it wasn’t quite the same. It was more primal than last time. I felt… I’m not sure how to describe it.” She paused, her face scrunched in thought. “Like bloodthirstiness. A sense of predator and prey. Fury. But that all might just have been my fight-or-flight response, right? I don’t know, maybe I’m making this whole thing up. It was probably just the adrenaline both times.”
Isaac didn’t doubt that Alessa had experienced some kind of heightened emotions the past few days, but the logical side of him still thought that there must be a rational explanation. Between the blizzard and the previous night’s excitement – and their constant dull hunger and exhaustion – he wouldn’t doubt that Alessa was feeling a little out of sorts. He just wished he could have gotten a better look at whatever had been pursuing them so that he’d know for sure what they were up against.
Packing up their belongings, Isaac and Alessa prepared to set out for another long day of trudging. He felt a little wobbly on his feet, but it was nothing that would impede their progress significantly. Slinging his pack over his shoulder, Isaac stumbled a bit and caught his balance on the edge of the boulder that marked the entrance to the cave. Alessa rushed to his side.
“Are you okay? Are you sure you don’t want to stay put for a day or two?”
Isaac shook his head emphatically. Ouch. It wasn’t like they were on a schedule or anything, but nevertheless, he was eager to be out of these woods before they had another encounter like last night’s. “No, no, I’m fine. Seriously.”
Alessa huffed. “That’s what you said when you fell off your bike and ended up hospitalized for a week.”
Isaac thought back to that incident – he’d only been what, five or six at the time? It was so long ago he barely even remembered – a whole lifetime ago it seemed, before Paragon, before even the war. He hadn’t remembered even thinking of it in recent years, let alone sharing it with Alessa.
“What made you think of that? And how’d you know about it anyway?” he wondered aloud.
“I don’t know, it just popped into my head. You must’ve told me about it sometime. Didn’t you?”
“I don’t think so…”
Alessa squished her lips to one side in the adorable way she had when concentrating on something, then shrugged. “I guess Joe must have told me, then. He would have been seven or eight when it happened – it would probably be pretty scary to have your younger brother in the hospital. I know I would remember if it was Janie.”
That made sense to Isaac. “Well, anyway, I was a little kid then. I’ll admit I’m not 100 percent, but if I needed to stay put, I would tell you, Less. I don’t feel a need to play the tough guy to impress you. I have other ways of doing that,” he winked.
Alessa laughed incredulously and shook her head in dismay. “Well, you certainly seem like yourself. Just let me know when you need a rest, okay?”
“Will do,” Isaac agreed.
Their progress the rest of the day was slower than usual, but they managed to negotiate a steady pace that assured Alessa she wasn’t pushing Isaac too hard while still whittling away the miles. Finally in the early afternoon the fatigue of Isaac’s head injury started to catch up with him, and he requested that they stop for a short break.
Plopping down in a small clearing with a crumbling log against his back, Isaac took a long swig of his canteen and exhaled contentedly. He noticed Alessa eyeing him uneasily and gave her hand a squeeze. “Please, I’m okay. Just need a few minutes. I’ll even nap if it will make you feel better.”
Alessa considered. “It would, actually.” Unwrapping one of their few remaining energy bars, she added, “And eat this.”
Begrudgingly, Isaac took a few bites and handed it back to her with a pout. “You finish the rest – it tastes like cardboard.”
Alessa gnawed off an end reluctantly and put it away. “I never understood why Janie liked these so much – something about the texture is just so… unnatural.”
Washing down the chalky remains in his mouth with another swig of water, Isaac snickered, “Agreed. If food weren’t so scarce, I’d use these babies as kindling.”
Isaac waited for a response, but Alessa stared off into the distance, her mind obviously elsewhere. He squeezed her hand once more. “Hey – you there?”
She looked startled. “What? Oh, sorry. Yeah, kindling, hah.”
Isaac gave her a look. “Less. What’s the matter?”
Alessa sighed and fretted with her cuticles before meeting his eyes. “I’m just so worried about Janie.”
“Don’t be – she’s strong, she knew what she was doing, she can fight off the effects of the stitch…”
Alessa sighed again and went back to picking at her fingers.
“And yeah, the prison sucks, but they’ve probably got her on another show by now, anyway. Maybe she’s playing a famous socialite or a maid in a rich person’s mansion or something – she’ll be perfectly comfortable until we get back.”
Alessa snorted, “Not if they’re making her clean stuff, she won’t.
” Smiling, Alessa reminisced about the days before Paragon, “Do you know she actually tried to go in and get a second set of shots instead of reporting to recycling sorting duty during our civil service?”
Isaac laughed and thought back to his own time in the mandatory government service program, doing the menial jobs everyone took turns with in their teenage years to support the country while so many of the adults were busy with the war effort. “I mean, I only did it for two years before the outbreak and I know there were some terrible positions – the sewer plant in particular was quite the olfactory experience – but recycling wasn’t bad. Most of the stuff that came through was already clean. And those shots were brutal – they gave us like six different vaccines at once, I think. I can’t believe she’d rather do that again than rinse out some old bottles.”
Giggling to herself, Alessa replied, “Luckily the med center was keeping good records and sent her right back to work. She’d just turned 14 and started her service, so she’d had her initial set of inoculations only weeks before. Who knows what another round of that stuff might have done to her? It’s amazing the dumb things we do as kids, huh?”
Isaac had to agree. “Well, then maybe she’ll get lucky and get cast as the heiress, and some other poor schmuck will get the job of cleaning up after her.”
Alessa burst out laughing. “I just got an image of Lizzie on her hands and knees mopping up Janie’s mess! Oh, that’s a good one.”
Isaac chuckled in agreement. It was certainly a possibility, given that Lizzie had also been cast on the drama as one of Alessa’s sorority sisters, and as far as they knew, was still in the hands of the producers. Regina’s daughter had certainly proven her mettle before that by breaking free from the Ruling Class’s sickening harem, but all the same, she was still a bit of a priss.
It’d been a running joke between Isaac and Joe about where Lizzie found her tailor, as the colony’s standard issue jumpsuits had always seemed to somehow miraculously cling to her body in all the right places, in a way that – to a younger Isaac’s chagrin – it certainly did not on the compound’s other women. She was quite the sight at the rebel meetings, her eyes lined with dark kohl and never a hair out of place. And much to Joe’s satisfaction, her lips always seemed extra pouty whenever her attention was turned in his direction.
Shudder (Stitch Trilogy, Book 2) Page 3