Niko

by Kayti Nika Raet

  Chapter 29

  The next morning Niko woke up to a sizzling sound in her ear.

  She had spent the night wrapped in a blanket keeping an eye out for monsters while Ben passed the night in the clutches of fever dreams.

  She wasn’t supposed to fall asleep but she had and now she was at eye level to the wheel of the handcart. That could only mean that she had fallen asleep on the ground. The sizzling she heard was the acid eating through the layers of fabric and heading toward her skin.

  She leaped to her feet dropping the blanket to the ground. The acid had eaten a lace pattern into the cloth.

  Ben jerked awake at the sound of her scream. His eyes were bruised and sunken in; he looked two steps away from death. “Wha?”

  Niko could still hear the sizzling and she struggled out of Lo’s hoodie throwing that onto the ground as well. She frantically patted herself, running her hands over her arms, face, and torso. “Is it on me?” She asked Ben who only looked at her blankly still half asleep. She asked him again, nearly screaming the words, pulling off her shirt as she tried to look at her back. The violent movement tugged painfully at her stitches.

  Ben’s hot fingers quickly brushed over her skin as he examined her. “You’re fine, there’s nothing on you.”

  She stood there shaking for a moment, tears stinging her eyes. If Lo hadn’t given her the hoodie Niko would have died in slow agony as the acid continued its campaign of relentless consumption.

  Ben said nothing only kept a comforting hand on the small of her back. Eventually she pulled back on her shirt wiping her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Come on, let’s go.”

  Phin hadn’t dumped all of the water from the last bottle but he might as well have. There were only a couple of mouthfuls left and Niko quickly began to wish there were more.

  It was hotter than yesterday, a humid sort of heat that brought up the smell of dead animals rotting on the ground. Sweat slicked her skin but inside her mouth was dry.

  She kept swallowing but there was one spot near the back of her throat that seemed impervious to her attempts to wet it. Every time she breathed the air scraped against the dry patch and it seemed to be growing with each inhale. She cleared her throat but that only made things worse and it felt like a second dry patch was beginning to emerge. She tried to remember what kind of Instameal packets they were carrying but the names escaped her. She hoped there was soup, something watery like chicken noodle. She squinted up at the sun trying to figure out how long it would be before it set and they could stop and drink some delicious soup.

  She swallowed but this time there was hardly anything left and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She was beginning to have a little more sympathy for the dead man she and her brothers had found. Would someone stumble upon her body and tsk at the stupidity of drinking rainwater?

  She continued on, putting one foot in front of the other eyes on the horizon hoping for a glimpse of the city. Even the barest tip of a spire would tell her that she was taking them in the right direction instead of dooming them to walk aimlessly until their bodies finally gave out from dehydration and hunger.

  Ben’s head lolled, he had spent most of the day asleep something Niko wished she could do but the longer they took to get to the city the worse his infection would spread. He wouldn’t let her look under the bandage around his leg but from his expression she could tell it was getting worse.

  It wasn’t till the end of the day that Niko began to see the first glimmers of city lights. She wanted to keep going but the gates were closed at night and she didn’t think she’d be able to fend off a Slither attack in her current condition.

  She crawled into the wheelbarrow and accidentally jostled Ben awake with her knee.

  “Are we there yet?” He murmured, shifting around to accommodate her.

  “Almost.” She answered pulling his blanket over their heads.

  The strong moonlight slipped through the weave of the fabric giving her just enough light to pick out the planes of his face as they lay facing each other knees tangled together.

  She pressed her mouth against his tasting the pudding they’d had in lieu of soup. He responded eagerly despite the lethargy that he had exhibited earlier enveloping her in heat as he pulled her toward him. Ben pressed scorching lips along the line of her jaw and down her neck, teasing the skin between his teeth. He traced a line back up to her ear.

  “You think I’m going to die don’t you?” He said his voice a low hum through her body.

  “I –” She stopped, he had a hand on her bare stomach his thumb skimming the edge of her ribcage and his pinky brushing against the waistband of her jeans.

  “Really, Niko.” His hand traveled downward till it rested on the swell of her hip. “That’s the only reason why you’d kiss me.”

  Niko stared at the blanket just a few inches above her watching the play of light and shadow dancing over its surface. “I’m not going to let you die.” And to prove it she rolled her hand into a fist and hit him on the chest.

  “Ow,” He shifted away from her and she felt the distinct absence of his heat. “Why are you always hitting me? I’m injured.”

  “Down there, not up here.” She said, she hit him again. "That's for leering at me yesterday." The wheelbarrow rocked from all the movement.

  He rubbed his bruised chest. “Alright, I get the point. I won't do it again.”

  She stared at him for a moment. She wasn't sure if she believed him.

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Besides, you're trying to save my life. It's kind of rude.”

  She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Everyone in the Rose Circle was crazy but she wouldn't be surprised to find out that he was the craziest.

  She shifted around trying to find a position that didn’t have something poking into her back or side. “You’re not going to die. I wouldn't be hitting you if you were.”

  There was a moment of silence from him then he laughed, turning away as his body shook. He held in a cough. "That is some convoluted kind of logic you have there, Niko."

  "I try."

  He cleared his throat. “I suppose I can't expect another kiss from you.”

  “No,” She said.

  “Damn.”

  The next morning she discovered that she had snuggled up against him in the night. For once he hadn’t taken advantage of it, in fact when she glanced at him she found that his eyes weren’t on her at all. He was staring somewhere behind her a particularly grim expression on his face. Her back prickled. Slithers. She turned around realizing that the blankets were no longer over their heads and that Ben had the gun in his hand, his arm steady despite the fever.

  On the other side of her was a gaunt man. He was either very old or very young, the grime and hunger had chiseled away any defining age markers. He held shaking hands near his head and stared at them with watery green eyes. “Please, I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone was in there. I’m sorry!”

  Niko glanced at Ben who hadn’t taken his eyes off the man for a moment. After Phin she knew he was capable of shooting people but it wasn’t a good idea now that they were so close to the city, rumors of a recent manslaughter wouldn't just disrupt their chances of getting into the city but other travelers as well.

  She reached under her and pulled out one of their last Instameal packets before shoving it against the man’s stomach. “Here, it’s food. Now, get lost.”

  The man fumbled for a moment as he struggled to keep his free food from falling to the ground. Bowing his thanks, he scurried away.

  “You sure that was a good idea?” Ben asked, lowering his arm. “He might come back for more.”

  Niko hauled herself out of the wheelbarrow. “We’d better get going then.” She yawned stretching her arms above her head. “How are you feeling?”

  He looked at her with a raised brow and that was answer enough.

  As they neared the city they began to encounter hastily constructed dwellings, nothing more t
han lean-tos really where people, unable to return home for whatever reason, huddled. It was obvious from the hasty and feeble construction that they thought their stay was a temporary occurrence.

  One only needed to look deeper into the slums to understand that wasn’t very likely. The houses were constructed out of anything that would keep out the rain, some even managed multiple stories that leaned precariously to the left or right or even looming over the broad avenue that led straight to the city gate.

  Children played in the streets shockingly thin and underfed. They weaved in and out the line of hopefuls wishing to gain admittance into Amaryllis City.

  It was easy to tell the difference between people who already lived in the city and were returning from whatever business they had Outside and the ones who were hoping to become citizens and enjoy the safety of the city walls. People belonging to the first group were usually young men in their thirties walking alone or occasionally in pairs. They looked well fed and their clothing was cleaner than the others, they kept a rapid pace and their expressions were one of mild disgust as they passed by.

  Of the second group, hardly anyone walked alone and sometimes whole families were there, carrying their belongings with them. Their expressions were a mix of hope and fear, they’d probably have nowhere else to go if they were turned away. They walked slower than the first group and Niko avoided them, they liked to talk.

  As they got closer Niko realized that she wouldn’t be able to leave Ben and go looking for Jared on her own, she was too dehydrated, she wouldn't make it. They slowed; a line was forming. It was half a kilometer long and Niko glanced worriedly at Ben. All around her people began to settle down for the wait, reassuring cranky children and sharing their experiences with other travelers.

  Niko tapped her foot impatiently. She looked around it seemed that the people in line were only of the second group, she didn’t see any citizens nearby. Then she spotted one, he was hurrying past the line and when he reached the gate he conferred briefly with someone and was let inside.

  Niko maneuvered the wheelbarrow out of the line and headed in the direction the man had gone. She couldn’t afford to wait in line when every minute gone meant he was being tugged that much closer toward death.

  The man by the gate held up a hand as she drew near. “All Applicants must be processed before being allowed inside.” He called out. “Please go to the end of the line and wait your turn.”

  “We live here.” Niko said. “Let us in.”

  The Official looked them up and down taking in their bedraggled state with obvious distaste. “Oh really? Identification please.” He raised a scanner. Niko began to lift her arm until she remembered that she and Ben had removed their chip. She colored, grasping her forearm. “We--- we don’t have them anymore.”

  “Likely story.” The Official said as if they’d only confirmed what he already thought. “Miss, get back in line. Stunts like this only degrade your chances of getting accepted.”

  She didn’t have to glance back at the line to know it had grown longer since she’d left it. “Please, I’m not lying, we’re from the city.”

  Ben coughed, rough wet coughs that she could feel inside her own lungs. “Please, I’m Harmony Niko and he’s Benjamin King. Look it up. We’re from the Rose Circle, we kill Slithers.”

  “Miss,” The Official said, his voice saturated with annoyance. “Return to the line or we’ll have to use force.”

  From high above the wall guns were aimed at them. She glared at the Official her hands balling into fists. “Just look it up. We protect this city, dammit.”

  Ben’s voice rose up from the wheelbarrow. “‘When the devil whispers, the end has come,’” He sat upright. Ben no longer looked two steps away from death, he looked as if he had traveled beyond that point and was only still breathing through sheer willpower. The Official’s eyes widened.

  “‘So we tape his mouth and last another day.’” Ben continued leveling the Official with a glare. “Isn’t that the Circle of the Guards’ credo? It’s on the plaque right in the middle of the square but of course only someone who’s lived in the city a long time would know that.”

  The Official’s eyes bounced between them probably wondering if he had been too hasty in dismissing them. He looked down at his tablet fingers flashing as he tapped on the screen. Shock registered across his features.

  “My apologies.” He said. He waved his wrist over a panel and punched in a set of numbers. He pushed open the door. “Welcome to the city. Medical assistance will be arriving shortly.”