Hardy

by Theresa Beachman

  Garrick shook his head. “No. But last week…”

  Foster rolled his shoulders. “Shit never stops does it? If it’s not Chittrix bugs, it’s scavengers.”

  Hardy brushed more earth away, making sure they were still following the line.

  Mabe spoke over his shoulder. “This isn’t scavengers. It’s too sophisticated.”

  Hardy peered up at Mabe’s frowning face. “You have any idea who might do this?”

  Mabe shook his head. “No, but…” he shrugged. “Things are always changing. That’s the one thing that’s certain nowadays.

  Hardy gave a heavy sigh. “Foster?”

  Several feet away, Foster lifted his head. “Shit, man.” He pressed the ground gently with his fingertips. “Wire does go into the air vent, into the base.” He reached for his tool belt and pulled a screwdriver out of its holster. With a short jab, he rammed it deep into the ground, grunted and pressed his weight onto the implement till a muddy grid popped free. Foster’s face was grim as he tossed it aside and angled his flashlight down the shaft.

  Hardy dropped to the soft earth beside him. The flashlight beam darted across the shaft walls.

  “Foster, keep it steady.”

  The yellow beam halted on a small package taped to the metal side of the airshaft. Fuck.

  Hardy’s stomach hardened. “Can you defuse it?”

  Foster clicked off the flashlight and sat back up. He scanned the extensive grassy expanse covering the base.

  “Foster?”

  Foster scrambled back onto his feet, his voice degenerating into an agitated buzz. “No time. We need to evacuate the base. Now.”

  5

  Georgina surveyed the meager collection of belongings on her rickety metal bed and blew out a breath. Removing Hardy’s stitches yesterday had unsettled her. Something in her was drawn to him, even though she barely knew him. She sighed. She worked best alone. Always had. It had kept her and Janie out of foster care and it would help her find Janie now as long as she didn’t allow herself to be distracted by golden-eyed lions who shook her hand.

  She rubbed the bridge of her nose and squinted. Packing. She was meant to be packing. Jeez, it was a pretty pathetic show for thirty-three years of life. Even if the last year had been spent on the run from invading aliens. Two pairs of pants, a couple of sweaters that had seen better days, underwear that had been white in a previous life. Piled up next to her clothes was a map of the south of England swiped from a corner store, a flashlight, spare batteries, a tiny first aid kit that needed replenishing, and her copy of Human Anatomy. Its contents were dry as hell, but she found its incontrovertible facts a small comfort in a world now ruled by chaos and unpredictability. She read a page a day, terrified if she stopped all the knowledge she’d acquired through her nurse training would evaporate. Just like everything else that mattered.

  She chewed her lip, surveying the utilitarian room, considering her options for the hundredth time. The people here had been kind to her. Offered her somewhere safe to stay in exchange for her nursing skills. Since arriving two weeks ago, she’d thrived. The safety, the regular meals and somewhere warm to sleep at night.

  And Hardy. The last two weeks had been a catalogue of stolen glances, mostly at his broad back when he wasn’t aware. Yesterday, touching him had burned all the way through her skin, into her. But Janie was still out there on her own. No way was she going to give up on her sister. She’d been a parent to Janie since their parents died when Janie was just ten. She wasn’t going to stop now.

  The overhead light sputtered, dipping the room into darkness for a few seconds, before shining brightly again. Maybe it was a sign. Nowhere was truly safe anymore. Running into Hardy and his friends two weeks ago had saved her life and she owed them. But she’d never planned to stay. The only person she had a real connection to, Janie, was still out there somewhere.

  Behind her, the door slammed, and her roommate danced into the compact room. Natalie threw herself on the second camp bed. It creaked ominously as bass thumped from her earphones. Natalie struggled with the changed world around her, blocking out reality often with a non-stop playlist.

  “Bloody exhausted,” she mumbled into her pillow. Then she rolled and propped her head up on her elbow watching Georgina replace everything into her tattered backpack.

  Natalie pulled the white buds from her ears and killed the music. “Going somewhere?”

  “Uh-huh.” She liked Natalie, but she didn’t want the entire CB to know she was leaving. With fewer than a hundred residents, it was a small community, and word travelled fast. She was extremely conscious that her nursing skills were a valuable resource. People might get upset that she was leaving.

  She tugged the zip up and tucked her raincoat under the straps and her flashlight in the top pocket. It was a far cry from just over a year ago, when her most important possessions were her purse and cellphone.

  Natalie sat up and tipped her head to one side. Janie used to look at her like that. A memory of the terror on Janie’s face as the freaks had dragged her away surfaced and scorched her brain.

  Georgina closed her eyes for a few seconds and took a long deep breath. She’d been too sick to stop the men, but she was going to make it right. When she opened them again, Natalie was studying her, twirling a finger in one of her chin-length curls. Natalie had been an airhostess. She was expert at reading people. “Janie?”

  Georgina paused and pasted a smile on her face. “Yes, Janie.” She’d explained about her sister before. Natalie had made it clear she thought she was mad for leaving. England as it once was, was gone. Outside was unknown, teeming with Chittrix and scavengers who’d rip the clothes from your back and rape you before you could blink.

  “Oh.”

  Yes. Oh. Natalie’s face displayed the doubt that Georgina felt herself even if she couldn’t admit it. How would she find her sister in the alien infested ruins of England?

  “I thought you’d changed your mind.”

  Georgina pulled at her collar. The skin at her throat was damp with sweat. Her grip on her backpack zip tightened. “No. I can’t give up on my sister. Even if…” She might be dead. Her shoulders sagged. She was tired of looking, but needed closure. “I know it’s crazy but sometimes there are things you need to do, regardless. I have to find her.”

  “Do the others know?”

  Georgina shook her head. Her throat was narrowed and she didn’t trust her voice not to crack. Wordlessly, she stuffed her toothbrush into a spare crevice in her backpack. She’d avoided telling Edwards she was leaving, unable to bear the disappointment on his face. They made a good team and she’d enjoyed helping him and Cassy out. They’d been kind.

  Like Hardy.

  Yesterday, in the infirmary, she’d had the insane notion that he’d talk her out of it and she’d just stay here. As if they knew each other. She’d only actually spoken to him two or three times.

  The idea was nuts.

  Her life before and after the invasion left no time for romance. She’d been too busy raising Janie. Between that, completing her nursing degree, and working long shifts to pay the bills, there’d been no time for anything else. When the Chittrix arrived, dating and romance became obsolete before she’d barely dipped her toe in the water.

  She’d missed that boat. The sooner she left the base, the better.

  “You could die.” Natalie climbed off the bed, her face creased with worry.

  Georgina paused. Natalie meant well, but her positivity was underwhelming. “I could die here. Chittrix broke into this base not long ago”

  The reality was she was shit scared of leaving, but she also didn’t have a choice. If she didn’t find out if Janie was alive or dead, it would eat at her. Simple as that.

  Natalie’s lips were pinched. “It’s still safer in here than out there.”

  Georgina secured the backpack. Natalie was right but also wrong. “I’m not spending the rest of my life in hiding. I have to find Janie.”

 
She swung her backpack onto her shoulders and tested the weight. It was digging in a little over her hips. She dropped it, adjusted the straps and pulled it back on. It was comfortable now. Good to go.

  Natalie covered the door handle with her hand. “Seriously, you can’t just leave. Speak to Garrick. Get help to go find your sister. Do it safely.”

  Georgina opened her mouth to answer but an explosion shook the room and her words were lost forever.

  6

  Georgina staggered and fell to her hands and knees as another explosion rocked the room. She grabbed the edge of her bed and hauled herself back to her feet. An alarm blared overhead and a red emergency light above the door burst into life, whooping in time with the alert.

  Natalie was sprawled on the floor. She touched her fingers to a gash on her forehead. “What’s going on?”

  Georgina lurched to the door. “I have no idea.” The frame was cracked and distorted now and resisted opening. She yanked hard and it yielded with a shudder.

  She took a few hesitant steps into the corridor.

  Doors on both sides of her slammed open and scared people piled into the narrow space. They bumped and jolted her as they, pressed forward toward the main exit. A woman squeezed past carrying a baby, the infant clutched to her chest, her other hand protective across the top of the child’s head. Georgina sidestepped to let her past and collided with another woman running directly at her.

  The woman grabbed her by the shoulders, her nails digging into Georgina’s flesh. “Bomb!” she screamed. “Get the hell out.” Then she took off, merging with the rest of the panicking crowd.

  Bomb.

  Shit.

  Natalie was still in the room, hunched next to the bed, her fists white-knuckled over her ears in an ineffectual barricade against the piercing alarm.

  Georgina grabbed her wrist. “Come on.”

  Another shudder pounded through the air. Dust and plaster showered her from a crack in the ceiling. Georgina cringed, trying not to think about being buried alive.

  Natalie scrabbled under the bed. “My shoes. Where are my fucking shoes?” Georgina glanced at the open bedroom door. Less than twenty seconds ago, she’d been fighting to get past people.

  Now, the corridor was empty.

  Natalie stuck her feet into a pair of battered sneakers and lunged for her dresser as if to pack a bag but Georgina snatched her hand. “No time.” She hauled Natalie, white ear buds flying, into the now-evacuated corridor.

  Georgina ran, her hand clamped around Natalie’s. God, which way? The base was a maze of identical tunnels and now under the strobing alarms it was even more confusing.

  Natalie was slowing her down, stumbling behind in a clumsy, gait. Georgina gritted her teeth and powered on, towing her around a sharp corner. Too hard. Natalie crashed to the floor, her ankle twisting underneath her.

  “You okay?” Georgina screamed over the alarm. Her chest had seized and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t suck in enough air. She leaned on the wall, willing her whooping lungs to relax and breathe.

  Natalie staggered back onto her feet and took a step then yelped. Curls fell across her face and stuck to her tear-soaked cheeks.

  “My ankle.” She hopped. “Shit, it hurts.”

  They were alone. Everyone had fucked off and left them. The Chittrix would hear this Goddamn alarm in fucking London.

  “We need to get out of here, now.” Georgina shrugged off her backpack and threw it to the floor. She grabbed Natalie’s arm and looped it over her shoulder. “Lean on me.”

  She took a small step and Natalie limped with her. It would have to do. They passed under one of the alarm units at an excruciatingly slow pace, the sheer volume making Georgina’s teeth ache. Her heart was battering her ribcage like it was going to bust out of there.

  This is going to take forever.

  Natalie lurched, nearly taking Georgina down with her and something pinged across Georgina’s shoulder.

  She tightened her grip on Natalie, desperately trying to block the burn of torn muscles and oxygen-starved legs.

  Hardy barreled out of a connecting corridor, nearly knocking them over. A solid wall of muscle, he skidded to a halt, breathing hard. She’d never been so glad to see someone.

  Instantly, he was at her side, his powerful arms pulling Natalie from her grip. He tossed Natalie over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing, then spun on his heel and hotfooted it back the way he’d come.

  “Come on,” he shouted.

  She chased him up the corridor, doors flashing past in a blur as she accelerated to keep up with Natalie’s bobbing head. Finally, they were sprinting into the cavernous space of the CB’s loading bay, rough-hewn walls carved from rock rising high on each side, the air cool and scented with pine. On the far side, the huge double doors were open, and people were streaming out, fanning into a wide chaotic arc with no direction.

  The green of outside was visible through the doors. Hardy bolted toward it. Damn. How could he be so fast with Natalie over his shoulder?

  She ran across the empty space, joining the last few inhabitants of the CB fleeing the building. Open sky loomed above, and she stuttered to a halt, frantically scanning for Chittrix.

  The sky was clear.

  She took a deep breath, suppressing her instinct to hide and ducked out, heading in Hardy’s direction.

  Only a few steps and the air behind her ignited and tossed her in a maelstrom of shattered timber and mortar. Scorching heat boiled against her exposed skin and flung her onto soaking grass that imprinted itself on her face as she rolled, once, twice and then the world went black.

  7

  A blast of hot air punched Hardy in the back and tossed him high in the air. He crashed onto the ground on his side, curling his body around Natalie to protect her from the blistering heat. It roared over his head as charge after charge detonated in a non-stop cascade throughout the CB. Blood hammered against his temple. How the fuck had someone managed to plant so many charges without them knowing?

  Natalie was crunched in a tight ball in his arms, her back pressed to his belly, her panicked heart a fierce rat-a-tat-tat against his palms. She clung to him, gripping his wrists in a lock that threatened to cut off his circulation.

  Hardy counted long, slow seconds in his head as he waited for the cacophony of destruction to ease. When he got to a count of thirty with no further explosions, he relaxed his grip and released her.

  He shot to his feet, curling his nails into the palms of his hands. The air was alive with fire, but there was no sign of Georgina.

  “You okay?” He reached for Natalie and pulled her to her feet, checking her sooty arms and legs with hurried sweeps. He cupped her cheek. Her face was a blotched mess of hair and tears turned golden by the flames. A laceration marked her forehead. “You’re fine. Nothing broken.”

  She was sobbing too hard to speak. Earbuds hung from her neck, the cable twisted and blackened. He hesitated. Crying women were so far out of his comfort zone it wasn’t even on the damn map. Shit. Quickly, he pulled her into his arms, searching the burning landscape over her shoulder.

  Small groups of escapees were staggering away from the CB in search of shelter.

  None of them had long fair hair.

  The blaze was consuming the sky in bands of scarlet and gold. The Chittrix would arrive soon, drawn by the noise and light. And when they did, they would kill everything they found.

  He released Natalie. Squeezed her trembling shoulders.

  He stabbed a finger in the direction of the ground. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

  She nodded, hugging her arms.

  Hardy took off, heading for the loading bay. Flames and acrid black smoke belched from the entrance. He whipped his t-shirt over his mouth and nose as caustic fumes stung his lungs. His vision blurred as he fought the sickly flutter uncoiling in the pit of his stomach. Where is she?

  There.

  A crumpled heap on the ground ten feet ahead. He spr
inted over, dropped to his knees, and rolled her onto to her side, checking her pulse and breathing the way Edwards had taught him.

  “Georgina.”

  Her eyes fluttered open, and she coughed, retching from the billowing smoke. She grasped his forearm and he helped her into a sitting position. Her eyes were streaming and she wiped them on the back of her sleeve, leaving clean streaks on her cheeks.

  “I’m okay,” she croaked.

  Thank fuck.

  Hardy slipped a hand under her arm, scooping her up onto her feet. He rubbed her back, checking the sky. Just looking at it made his stomach churn. They were sitting ducks out here, might as well have targets painted on their backs. “Come on.” He tucked his arm into the loop of her elbow, urging her forward. “We need to get out of here.”

  Her voice rose in pitch. “Where’s Natalie?”

  Hardy pointed to a short distance away where Natalie was standing, clutching her arms tight to her body, her pale face upturned.

  Hardy gripped her shoulder and they ran as one, dodging twisted metal and ragged hunks of concrete. He sheltered her under the curve of his arm as they ran through swirling dust.

  Natalie took a few hobbling steps in his direction. “Georgina!”

  Hardy released Georgina and the two women fell together in a desperate hug.

  Georgina broke the embrace first, pulling back, smoothing Natalie’s hair from her face. “You okay?”

  Natalie gave a firm nod. “I’m okay.”

  Hardy dragged his attention from the two women and swung the Sweeper off his back. It was fully charged. The green light a reassuring blip in the carnage surrounding him.

  He moved off, barking out his orders, “Stay close behind. We need to find transport.” Hardy turned his back on the Command Base for the final time.

  There was no going back.

  8

  Georgina tracked Hardy’s broad back through endless suffocating smoke, Natalie’s hand clamped to hers. God, it was endless.