“Get out of my way, Peter,” I said, hardening.
Peter shook his head. “Not a chance. While the others try to put out the inferno you’ve started upstairs, I’m going to snuff out the source right here.”
I released Jess and she looked up at me, scared, “Nick…?”
“I have to take care of this,” I said, bracing myself.
“It didn’t have to be like this,” Peter said, advancing.
I stepped into him. “Of course it did.”
I swung first, my blade whistling. Peter stepped away and slashed horizontally for my neck. I ducked, heart leaping into my throat as I felt the air sing. I hammered the handle of my ax into Peter’s gut and was rewarded by a grunt of pain. He stepped back and I went with him, bringing the head of the ax around, aiming for his ribs.
Peter jumped back as I missed, eyes blazing. Before I could recover, he punched me in the face, hard, and stars danced across my vision. I blinked and had the awareness to bring my ax up, catching the machete as Peter followed through his assault.
“No one makes a fool out of me,” Peter snarled, locked in combat.
I leaned into him, muscles straining, our faces inches apart. “I didn’t have to.”
And then I spat into his face. He retreated immediately, crying out in surprise, hands going to his eyes. I jumped forward and swung low, my ax hungry for blood.
The blade crunched into the side of Peter’s knee and I felt bone break. Peter screamed and went down on his good leg, blood pouring from the wound as I yanked the ax back out. Dirt and dust swirled around us, kicked up in the struggle, and I wiped it from my face and stood over Peter.
“When you come back,” I said, panting, “don’t try to find me.”
Peter stared up at me with venom in his eyes, “I will never stop hunting you, Nick, for as long as we’re here.”
I planted the ax directly in his face, splitting his skull in two. He went limp immediately, his body collapsing. I stepped on his chest and jerked the blade free, watching as blood and brain oozed out onto the floor.
“Until next time,” I muttered.
I turned and saw Jess staring at me, her eyes wide. Without waiting, I reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her with me.
“Come on, we have to leave right now. I don’t know how much longer we have until they figure out I was the one who started the fire and killed Ryder.”
Silently, she nodded and we raced for the stairs. I felt the heat on my face as we pattered up the stone steps, an orange hue beginning to paint the walls. The fire had spread quickly and I was grateful for it.
About time something went your way.
We reached the ground level and were greeted by complete disarray and madness. The fire had snaked into the sanctuary and the pews roared with flame, the dancing ribbons reaching towards the ceiling. Smoke choked the air, a burning black haze that settled around everything. I coughed, eyes burning, as the Hooves sprinted about in complete chaos, trying to put out the blaze. One of them kicked the twin doors open, hacking, and a gust of cold air swept through the chamber.
The fire greedily accepted the oxygen and began to spread even faster. Cloaked Hooves bumped past Jess and me, racing for the open doors, buckets in hand. One of them was barking orders, trying his best to coordinate the others into dousing the flames. They raced outside and began to fill the buckets from the stone pig head, the waterfall splashing down over them. But no matter how many buckets they passed, the fire would not be controlled, their efforts too meager to master the opposition.
It’s a stone structure, I thought, squeezing Jess close to me, slithering our way to the doors. Everything will burn up inside, but they’ll get to keep their church.
I felt a slight twist of satisfaction.
They’ll always have a reminder of the day I beat them.
I pressed Jess’s head down and into my shoulder, wrapping an arm protectively around her. In the chaos, no one seemed to notice us, the thick smoke obscuring their vision and the roar of the fire absorbed their attention. We worked our way down the wall towards the open doors and I kept a sharp eye on the crowd running in and out, buckets in hand.
We reached the door and I pushed us through.
We splashed down the steps through the waterfall…and that’s when I heard someone yell for us.
I cast a quick look over my shoulder as we flew down the steps and into the field, the church billowing heavy lungfuls of smoke into the gloomy sky.
“Oh shit,” I hissed. “Jess, RUN!”
Two Hooves had taken notice of our flight and were flying down the great stone steps, fury plastered across their smoke smudged faces. They weren’t far behind.
“Nick, I can’t,” Jess cried, the toll on her body slowing her as she limped through the dead grass, rain pelting us.
The Hooves had reached the foot of the stairs and were now only a couple dozen yards away. Close enough to see death in their eyes.
You can’t fight them both, I thought, rain plastering my hair across my forehead, you’re too tired; they’re going to kill you.
Fatigue rippled through my muscles as I tried to help Jess along, knowing we only had seconds. My heart was pounding in my chest, my breath coming out in heavy gasps. My boots slammed into the soggy earth, kicking up clods, but Jess was falling behind.
Not now, I thought, please not now when I’ve come so far.
Jess fell, her legs giving out, and she went sprawling in the mud.
I stopped and turned as she crawled back to her feet, but the Hooves were already on us, vengeful smiles wringing their lips.
“You fucking traitor,” one of them growled, drawing a long knife from his cloak. The other mirrored his action and together they advanced.
I slowly backed up, gripping Jess and pulling her behind me. I blew moisture from my lips, gasping for air, fear coiling around my throat.
“We’re going to turn you inside out,” the second Hoof said, twirling the knife in his hands.
This cannot be your end. You’ve come too far, Nick.
I planted my feet, pushing Jess back further.
The Hooves smiled, knowing they had the upper hand.
Thunder rumbled and I ground my teeth together. “You can’t take her from me again.”
They charged in unison, blades held high. I raised my ax and caught the first blow, deflecting it from my face. Before I could confront the second Hoof, I felt a line of fire across my ribs and I howled, squeezing my eyes shut in pain.
I was suddenly airborne as one of them tackled me, driving me face first into the ground. Darkness sparked across my vision as my head struck the soil. I felt the wind knocked out of me.
I blindly threw an elbow and felt it connect with something hard, a cry of pain following. I rolled onto my back, realizing that I had dropped my ax. A knife was whizzing towards my face and I jerked my head to the left, the blade sinking into the dirt.
A foot plowed into my side and I grunted, trying to get to my feet, trying to find my ax.
Somewhere I heard Jess screaming.
Suddenly, one of them was over me, and I took another kick, this time to the stomach. I wheezed, blinded by the rain slamming into my eyes, my arms waving wildly above me in hopes to stave off another blow.
I scrambled to my hands and knees, shaking the stars from my vision and nausea from my aching gut. Footsteps splashed to my left and suddenly a fist was plowing into the side of my face, over and over again as one of the Hooves straddled me like a horse.
I dropped to my stomach, tasting blood in my mouth and bucked him off.
More pain exploded over me as one of them grabbed my hair and slammed my face into the earth. I tasted blood and dirt on my bleeding tongue and I could hear my lungs scream as they tried to keep me alive.
Then a knife was driven deep into my shoulder.
My body rocked with blazing agony. The blade felt like a burning tooth, biting deep into my flesh.
They’re killing yo
u.
I blinked sluggishly as the knife was ripped out and a fist slammed into the open wound. I didn’t have the air to howl.
I lay in the mud, panting, bleeding, the rain a relentless gale across my battered body. I could hear the two Hooves circling me, chuckling to themselves. They were savoring the kill, enjoying the sight of their broken prey.
They’re going to take her back. They’re going to take her away from you.
I felt my hands ball into fists, mud squishing between my fingers. Blood squirted around my teeth as I grit them, a snarl rising in my throat.
Kill them, Nick. Fucking destroy them.
Gasping, I got to my hands and knees, shoulder burning, muscles quivering with exhausted effort. I slowly raised my eyes, rain running down my face, pulling mud from my skin.
One of the Hooves had Jess on her knees, his eyes locked with mine. He was grinning. Slowly, he pressed her face into his crotch and ground her into him, laughing the whole time, his eyes never leaving mine. Jess was crying, trying to push herself away, but he wrapped his hand in her hair and ground into her harder.
Fire hotter than the deepest pits of hell burned in my chest as I got to my feet.
“Get…your fucking…hands…off her,” I growled, catching my breath, ignoring the protest my body was putting up. Every part of me felt broken, but I pushed it aside, driven by the absolute hatred and cascading rage I felt.
The Hoof laughed and slapped Jess hard across the face, taking her to the ground.“I can do whatever I want with her. She’s mine.”
I unlocked.
Something animal inside of me emerged and I bared my teeth, screaming into the wind, charging the Hooves.
I took the first one by surprise, my speed and recovery slowing his reaction. I plowed into him and we both went hard into the mud. I didn’t give him a second to resist. I sat up on him and plunged my fingers into his eyes, popping them like rotten grapes.
Then the other one was on me, the one who had slapped Jess. My shoulder screamed as he connected with it, tackling me off his friend. I rolled and splashed with him, yelling, clawing, biting, trying any way I could to make him bleed.
I ended up on top, his face hoisting a trail of bloody lines where my fingers had gouged trenches. I slammed my forehead into his nose and I heard it break, blood gushing down his face. Without pause, I shoved my hand into his mouth, completely lost in the roaring current of violence.
I ripped out his tongue.
As he gagged on his own blood, I tossed the limp meat away.
I sat up on him, watching his suffering, my words hissing between red teeth, “No one fucking touches her.”
And then I lunged down, teeth bared, and buried them deep into his throat. I felt his windpipe burst under my jaw and my mouth filled with his blood as I ripped the flesh from his body.
I spit out the wad of skin and slowly crawled off him, his dying gurgles filling my ears with joy.
I stood shakily and walked over to the eyeless Hoof, still on his back screaming and clawing at his empty sockets. I raised my boot and caved his face in. Shards of bone clung to my feet as I pulled my boot away with a wet sucking sound, the carnage gushing over the earth and joining the rain.
And then…it was quiet.
Rain drummed the bloody earth and I slowly sank to it, my knees squishing divots into the soft soil. Exhaustion draped itself around my shoulders like an old friend, every muscle burning, my breath thin and fragile across my lips. My shoulder was a well of agony, the knife wound pulsing with heat.
I collapsed forward, darkness threatening to overtake me. My face splashed in the mud and I lay there, my chest heaving. My eyes fluttered and I fought to stay awake. I knew we needed to move, I knew we needed to get into the forest and away from the Temple…
…but goddamn it, I was tired.
Gentle hands pulled my face from the dirt and I was rolled onto my back. Squinting through the rain, I looked up into Jess’s face and saw her eyes fill with fear. Her hand went to my shoulder and I cried out as she examined the bleeding slit.
“Nick, we need to go. We need to go right now; there’s going to be more coming,” she pleaded, her voice weak.
I reached up and caressed her cheek gently, “Ok…ok…just give me…a second.”
I told my body to rise, but it laughed instead, my limbs like anchors sinking into the ground. I felt like stone had replaced my muscles, a useless weight pulling me under the layer of mud. We weren’t that far from the Temple. Someone could have seen what happened, could have seen me kill their brothers. They’d want revenge, they’d want to take Jess away from me.
No.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself up, crying out as I did so. I felt like I had been run over by a truck. My ribs creaked and my shoulder sang, the combination sparking stars across my vision.
“Easy, easy,” Jess whispered, helping me stand. My legs quivered and a wave of dizziness shook the world. I dragged a filthy hand across my face, pulling clinging hair away. I looked around in a daze and saw my ax a couple feet away. I pointed to it, the words caught in my throat. Jess understood and picked it up, offering it to me with a worried look.
“Clothes,” I managed to croak, “take their clothes.”
Jess, still naked, nodded and began to strip one of the dead Hooves. They would be loose, but it was better than freezing to death under the constant rain. I watched her pull the pants off one of the corpses and noted how mechanical her actions were, a dull lifelessness in her eyes, her mouth a white line.
That worried me.
Jess shrugged into her new garments and I shot a quick look over my shoulder at the Temple. Through the curtain of rain, I could see smoke still piling from the front doors. Red smudges ran in and out, too occupied with dousing the blaze than to bother with us.
Wincing, I used the long handle of the ax as a cane and we began to move. My thigh felt like it was one huge knot, a pulsing twist of pain. I looked towards the distant forest and tried not to dismay. It looked impossibly far away.
My plan was to use the trees as shelter and follow them all the way down to the coast where Kevin and Trent were hopefully still waiting. It was a long haul, and my body wept at the thought, but it was our only choice right now.
Just get to cover, focus on that. Don’t think about how much you hurt, don’t think about how impossible this all is, just get to cover. Your problems will be waiting for you there, rest assured.
Jess rolled up the sleeves of her new shirt, trying to ignore the blood stains, and slid next to me. She took my arm and put it around her shoulders, wordlessly taking some of my weight.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
We silently trekked across the rolling grassland, our panting gasps a labored harmony that joined the ever-present drumbeat of rain. After a couple minutes, I stopped, catching my breath. I looked at my shoulder and saw blood still spitting from the wound. I ripped a length of my shirt off and Jess took the dirty cloth. She tied it securely around the gash and looked up into my eyes, her face unreadable.
I nodded and we continued. In the distance, we heard the roar of Pig Born and the scream of Suicidals. The red cuts in the clouds loomed over us, the long swinging ooze dancing as a wind whipped through the sky. The dead sun hung miserably at our backs, crying its black poison into the unseen ocean.
By the time we reached the tree line, I thought I was going to collapse. My leg was trembling with every step and absolute exhaustion crushed my senses every time I blinked. I knew Jess felt the same, her steps becoming more and more labored as we went. She didn’t say anything, though; she just continued to help me, her support growing increasingly needed as we walked.
The trees towered overhead as we crunched into the foliage and into the gloomy interior of the woods. The relief from the rain was welcome, as was the cover of greenery. I felt slightly less exposed and allowed myself a second of elation.
And then I fell, fatigue winning over.
Darkne
ss swallowed me up and I was gone.
Floating…floating through the nothing…I was weightless and aware but could see nothing but black, thick endless black. I felt something on my face, a soft hand caressing my cheek. I tried to open my eyes, but my mind wasn’t ready to give up the peace this place offered. There was no pain…no suffering…nothing by an endless horizon of eternal nothing.
Slowly, the world came dribbling back. It started with sound, a gentle patter of water hitting leaves, growing through the darkness. Soon after, feeling seeped back into my limbs and the familiar ache rose to a point where I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
I peeled my eyes open.
“Hey,” Jess cooed, looking down at me, her blue eyes filling my world.
“Hey, yourself,” I said, content to lose myself in her gaze. We didn’t say anything for a while, just stared at one another and I saw a sad smile begin to curl her chapped lips.
I returned the smile, emotion brimming in my chest like a hot tide rising across a lonely beach.
And then Jess started to cry. It was silent, a simple trickle of tears that welled from her eyes like reluctant rain water. I didn’t say anything, just looked at her, my heart breaking, as silent sobs wracked her body. Tears dripped down her cheeks and dotted my own, her lips trembling as sorrow took her.
Ignoring my own pain, I sat up and took her in my arms, pressing her face against my chest and stroking her hair. She clung to me desperately, shivering and weeping softly. I kissed the top of her head and stared out into the woods.
“I’m so sorry…” I finally whispered, sorrow cracking my voice.
Jess remained huddled in my arms, my words bringing another wave of tender whimpers.
And in that moment…I hated myself.
I hated every choice I had made, every selfish act, every stupid decision that brought us to this hellish world. As I wrapped her tighter into me, I felt my own sorrow begin to bud in my chest, a deep regret filled with self-loathing and disgust.
“If…if I had been stronger…” I started, feeling something warm run down my cheek.
Jess looked up at me and shook her head, pleading, “No, Nick, please don’t; this isn’t your fault…”
The Black Farm Page 16