Alive Like Us

by Hallows, Quinn

  She shook her head. The trailer was well over seven feet tall—not including its crown of metal spikes. She was crazy to think she’d make it. And yet...

  She squatted low, felt the power building in her legs, and jumped. The dark velvet sky rushed towards her, and for an exhilarating moment, she thought she’d land on a star. She landed on the roof instead, the snow dampening the sound. Breathless and jittery, she helped Kai up.

  He tried the hatch. “Dammit! It’s locked too.”

  A soft rustling pricked her ears, a thousand rodent feet skittering across the frozen Earth. The Infected were fleeing into the forest, leaving behind their half-eaten carcasses.

  Ching! Ching! Ching! Dread hardened her stomach as Kai pounded the lock with his cudgel. He looked up and his eyes widened. “Watch out!”

  A shadow swooped over her and sail past the crescent moon before making a sharp turn towards them. Her heart raced. An Alpha.

  Kai clasped her shoulder and dragged her to the hatch. The winged shadow overtook them. She tackled Kai to the ground, protecting his body with her own and biting back a scream as the alpha’s talons raked across her back.

  Thump! The Alpha landed in front of them, her great wings blocking out the sky.

  It’s her. The one who’d slaughtered her grandfather and Sanna’s two Infected. She’d come to finish the job.

  The Alpha advanced, her wings folding behind her in a leathery cape. Sanna backpedaled. The hatch screeched open behind her.

  “Hurry!” Kai shouted.

  Sanna lunged to the left, ducking as the Alpha swiped the air above her head. Her feet skated and she fell forward, clawing the icy roof for purchase as she careened over the edge and into thin air.

  The Alpha snatched her up like a hawk, her claws digging into Sanna’s flesh. She cried out, kicking and thrashing, but the monster’s grip was like iron. Unbreakable. She flew upward, pumping her massive black wings until the air was thin, and the trees were pinpricks of green among the snowy ground.

  And then she let go.

  Sanna plummeted to the earth, her eyes watering and the icy air stinging her face. The small clearing with its rusty ring of trailers surged towards her. She wouldn’t survive. Not from this height. She’d be nothing more than a pile of pulp.

  The bonfire glowed under her like a malevolent eye. Sanna braced herself, wrapping her arms around her head even though she knew it was useless. Kai shouted; his voice muffled by the wind. She passed the treetops and squeezed her eyes shut. It was over. All over

  A force slammed into her. The world spun. Her face pressed into something cold and leathery. The Alpha.

  They crashed into the bonfire. Sparks blazed. Bones crunched. The world whirled into a blur as they somersaulted across the snow before coming to a stop.

  Sanna’s head spun. What just happened?

  She pushed herself up, trying to piece her scattered thoughts together. The alpha laid beside her, gasping. It was almost like she’d tried to...saved her.

  “Sanna!” Kai cried, racing towards her.

  The Alpha’s eyelids slid open, her malice towards him emanating like the sun.

  “Stop.” Sanna stood, her head throbbing. “She doesn’t want you here. She’ll kill you in a heartbeat. You won’t stand a chance. This is between me and her.”

  Kai stilled, his chest heaving. “But—"

  “It’s okay,” Sanna said with far more confidence than she felt. “ Trust me. Find Frankie and the kid. Make sure they’re safe.”

  Infected materialized around the scattered fire, forming a ring. Some were so fresh they were still in gray and white fatigues. There’d be no running away this time. The Alpha stepped into view, her amber eyes blazing. One of her wings dragged behind her, broken.

  The Alpha bared her teeth and charged, her vein-wrapped muscles bulging with the effort. Sanna backed away until fingernails raked across her flesh, reminding her this was a fight to the death. Or worse.

  She braced herself for impact.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Every cell in Kai’s body roared at him to go after Sanna. The thought of her facing the Alpha alone felt like a knife in his gut. But he had to trust her. She was strong, capable, and she had a connection to the Infected that he couldn’t fathom. He’d find Frankie and the kid, as Sanna asked, and then he’d go help her any way he could.

  He just hoped it wouldn’t be too late.

  Kai dropped through the hole in the ceiling and landed in the darkness with a soft thud. The cloying scent of Cerise’s spices pressed him on all sides. Light spilled out from the potbellied stove in the corner. It was hardly enough to illuminate the shadowy stacks of boxes and baskets, or the bundles of god-knows-what hanging from the steel ceiling.

  A pot clattered onto the floor. He froze. The fine hairs on the backs of his arms stood on end. There was something else in the trailer.

  Something...dark. Evil.

  He had to get the kid out. Now. Before whatever lurked behind the towers of stuff decided it was hungry.

  “Hey kid, where are you?” he whispered, heading for the meager light. “I’m a friend of Sanna’s. We need to go.”

  Something shifted behind a box near the stove. A dog’s head silhouetted on the wall. Relief washed over him. “Frankie, come here.”

  The dog lowered his head and whined.

  “What’s wrong, buddy?” Kai asked, drawing closer. He nudged the dog’s fluffy butt with the toe of his boot. Frankie scrabbled out; his tail tucked tightly under him. He glued himself to Kai’s leg, his ears plastered against his skull.

  “Hey,” Kai sank to his level. “What’s got you so nervous?”

  He stroked the dog’s head. Frankie yelped and ducked away just as Kai touched his ear. Or rather, where his ear should have been. “What the hell...?”

  Frankie avoided danger above all else. If he was hurt, the kid probably was too. Or worse.

  Kai made his way to the other end of the trailer, pushing past the bundles of dried plants that hung from the scene like giant, desiccated bats. There was no sign of the boy, or what might have torn off the dog’s ear.

  Maybe the boy had managed to escape on his own. Kai wouldn’t be surprised. The kid had struck him as a survivor from the moment he'd stolen Sanna’s backpack.

  Kai brushed away a final bundle of reeds and peered into the trailer’s shadowy corners.

  Nothing.

  “All right, Twig.” He turned around and surveyed the narrow space one last time, “Come out now or you’ll be left behind. I’ve got better things to do than play hide and seek.”

  A pair of yellow orbs flashed at the edge of Kai’s vision. He whipped around; his cudgel raised. A spidery shadow scuttled across the ceiling. A child giggled.

  “Twig?” A heavy mass struck Kai from behind. His knees buckled. Cold fingers wrapped around his throat and squeezed with iron strength.

  Kai reacted through instinct alone, slamming his back against the wall once. Twice. Cartilage crunched. His attacker hissed, and the vise around his neck loosened.

  It was all Kai needed. He pried the attacker off his neck and flung him into a tower of baskets. They tumbled down, their contents exploding into a cloud of dried grass and spices.

  Kai’s sucked in a breath, his chest heaving. Adrenalin burned through his veins. He felt like the live wire around the Governor’s mansion, ready to shock whoever dared cross it. He spun the cudgel in his hand and charged the heap of boxes, ready to finish the job.

  Until he saw his opponent.

  His boots squeaked against the floor in an abrupt stop. Kai raked a hand through his hair, guilt piling on him. The kid looked like a sleeping ragdoll amidst the garbage. His face was wrapped in a dark scarf up to his eyes. Where had he come from? He must have thought Kai was infected to attack him like that.

  Twig’s eyelids flew open.

  “Hey,” Kai said, using the same voice he used when Esme was upset. Calm. Soothing. “Sorry about...all that. I didn’t realize
it was you.”

  The boy stared at the ceiling.

  “You need to take Frankie and leave. Now.” He edged closer. “Okay? We’ll be right behind you.”

  Twig sat up, his back ramrod straight. His gaze locked on Kai. His eyes were as dark and empty as a grave. “I don’t think Frankie likes me anymore.”

  A chill settled over Kai like a clammy blanket. “Why’s that?”

  The boy’s lips spread into a wide smile, revealing a set of bloodstained teeth that seemed longer than before. His eyes shined like silver coins at the bottom of a well.

  “Shit.” Kai lunged backward, swinging his cudgel in front of him. “What the hell are you?”

  The boy laughed. “An Omega, stupid. The final stage of the infection. Sanna may think she’s like me but she’s not.”

  He’s the voice. The one controlling the horde and the Alpha. If Kai killed him, it would all be over. He squeezed his cudgel tight and surged forward, bringing the weapon down in a wide swing.

  The boy vanished before he struck.

  “You really think you can kill me? You. A stupid, pathetic human?” Twig scoffed. He was clinging to the corner of the ceiling like a frog. “You’re nothing but livestock. A two-legged pig.”

  Twig scuttled down the wall on all fours, disappearing behind a stack of wicker bins. Kai charged and swung. Rice poured out onto the floor.

  “Should I kill you now? Or make you watch while my Alpha finishes your girlfriend off?” Twig taunted from the far side of the trailer.

  Damn, he was fast. And small enough to hide just about anywhere in this dark, messy space.

  Twig zipped right past him, slamming through the stacks of goods one after another like a child-sized bullet.

  “C’mon.” He giggled, amused by his swift destruction. “Let’s play.”

  He’s running out of stuff to break. And Kai clearly couldn’t chase him down. He spied a pulley attached to the metal wall. A thick rope hung from it and coiled on the floor like a fat snake.

  Kai dropped his cudgel and grabbed his side, groaning, his face screwed into a look of sheer agony. He took a step forward and stumbled, falling to his knees.

  “What’s wrong?” The boy sneered from the darkness. “If you’re boring, I’ll just kill you.”

  “Cerise...poisoned me.”

  “I have to tell her to stop doing that. It’s way more fun when they’re alive.”

  Kai gripped his stomach. “Sanna will...kill you. Or send her horde to do it.”

  “No! No, no, no!” The boy stomped into the light. His scarf had fallen off, and his face was a patchwork of skin sewn together. Dark blood oozed from his clumsy stitches. “It’s my horde. Not hers. Mine! Mine!”

  “Really?” Kai feigned a wince. “Then why did the Alpha just save her?”

  “There’s no way she’d do that.”

  “Sanna also turned a guy into an Infected just by looking at him.”

  “That’s easy.” Twig snorted. Something glinted in the boy’s hand. Kai guessed it was a knife. “I can make anyone infected if they’re sick enough. But she can’t control the Alpha like I can.”

  Kai cried out and writhed on the floor until the small loop was close to his face. His fingers brushed against the coarse fibers of the rope behind him. Now if he could just get Twig to step into it, he’d have a chance. “But you’re just...a kid.”

  “A kid?” The boy’s face darkened into a fierce scowl as he stormed closer. “I’m sixty years old.”

  His foot stepped into the loop.

  Kai yanked the rope. Twig inverted, his head smacking against the floor as he was hoisted into the air. He swung like a pendulum, cursing enough to make a Bone Boy blush. He hissed and clawed the air until Kai finally managed to bind his wrists together.

  “Now call off the Alpha,” he ordered.

  “No,” Twig said; his voice deep as a pit. He swung back towards Kai, snapping his teeth.

  Kai jerked out of reach and noticed Twig’s knife underneath a jumble of bowls and grain sacks. He grabbed it and pressed the point into the creature’s nape. “So you can control the Infected, huh? I wonder if you'll die like one too?”

  Twig stilled. “I will gut you for this. Filthy human! I will crush your skull beneath my feet.”

  Kai pressed the blade deeper.

  “Fine,” Twig growled. “Take me to them. It’s the only way it’ll work.”

  Kai cut the rope. The kid fell hard and immediately lunged for him, snapping his teeth. Kai kicked him away and felt an automatic twinge of guilt. He had never hit a child. But this was no child. At least, not one born of flesh and blood.

  A piece of skin had peeled away from Twig’s cheek, and the musculature shined wetly beneath. His eyes burned with rage. “You’ll pay for that.”

  Kai pressed the blade against his throat and dragged him up. The kid refused to stand, acting like his legs were overcooked noodles. Kai tucked him under his arm, careful to avoid his ever-snapping jaws. He head for the door and prayed that he wasn’t too late.

  THIS WASN’T GOING TO end well.

  An Infected lunged behind her, herding her back to the center of the ring, where the Alpha seethed and waited.

  It happened over and over again. Sanna avoided the Alpha’s attacks, got too close to the writhing ring of Infected, and was forced back. The Infected on the sidelines never attempted to bite her, but their hits were solid—and she had a shredded coat to prove it.

  How long could she keep this up before the Alpha went for the killing blow? She’d nearly gotten her twice already, and without a weapon Sanna was no match for her.

  She spotted a tall, lanky stage one. He’d probably been a teenager in his former life, if the spots on his face were any indication. He stared mindlessly ahead, drool dripping from his gaping mouth.

  Perfect.

  Sanna inched towards him as close as she dared, never taking her eyes off the Alpha. “What are you waiting for? Come and get me!”

  The Alpha hissed, baring her viper teeth. Sanna watched the pale venom arc towards her, diving at the last moment. It hit the teenage Infected instead. He staggered back, a watery moan rumbling up his throat. Sanna grabbed his wrist and used his weight to propel her through the split-second opening.

  Wind gusted behind her as the Alpha took flight. Her wing must have healed.

  Sanna raced for the nearest trailer, searching for Kai’s scent amidst the smoke and blood. She sank beside it, breathless. The Alpha was strong—too strong—between her venom and rapid-fire punches.

  She needed to find a weapon. Something. Anything.

  The Alpha landed on top of the trailer, rocking it. Sanna dove underneath and crawled out the other side, then ran along the trailer’s length, tripping over the body of an Infected with a hatchet buried in his skull.

  She wrenched the hatchet out of the corpse. The Alpha landed in front of her, shaking the very ground.

  She was massive, formidable, but Sanna spotted the dark line running down her chest where her grandfather had briefly struck her down. She could be hurt. Stopped.

  Sanna charged, hatchet raised. The Alpha bared her fangs, then suddenly drooped like an abandoned puppet. Sanna buried the hatchet into her neck. It wasn’t quite deep enough. She ripped the weapon free, sending a river of dark blood flowing around the Alpha’s many spikes. But the edges of the wound were already knitting together.

  She was running out of time. She raised the weapon again, to finish it. A child’s thin, furious scream echoed through the silence. Twig.

  The Alpha jerked awake and snatched Sanna by the neck with such force that her hatchet clattered to the ground. She kicked the air, seeking purchase but nothing could stop the tremendous pressure constricting her throat.

  No. She couldn’t die. Not yet.

  Sanna focused on the Alpha’s bare stomach and landed a solid kick. The Alpha faltered, her grip loosening. Sanna ripped free and fell to the ground. The Alpha sent her flying with a backhand. She landed o
n her side, blood filling her mouth. Her gaze landed on the mangled body next to her, still clutching a burning torch. She grabbed it and swung. A wave of embers streaked across the sky, driving the Alpha back.

  The door to Cerise’s trailer swung open.

  “Sanna, it’s the kid—the kid!” Kai shouted as he emerged from the depths, Twig tucked under his arm. Kai shoved him forward. “Do it. Call it off.”

  Metal flashed next to Kai. Sanna opened her mouth to shout a warning but it was too late. A heavyset female lunged out from the darkness, her gaze burning like a zealot’s as she plunged a blade into Kai’s side.

  “Cerise?” Kai slumped against the trailer wall, clutching the wound. Twig wriggled away with a feline hiss. The woman stood over him, the knife in her hand dripping with blood. Kai’s blood.

  “You can’t hurt him.” Cerise raised the knife high. “Not until he cures us.”

  Twig leapt onto Cerise, nuzzling her throat. Her scream turned into a gurgle as she tried to push him off. He jerked his head, and a chunk of flesh flew through the air. Cerise crumpled. He leapt off before her body hit the floor, a fountain of blood pumping from her neck.

  Twig grabbed Kai’s ashen face with his small, blood-soaked hands. “Where’s Iris? Where’s the demon? Tell me or the girl is dead.”

  It’s him. He’s the voice. Sanna had known he was weird from the beginning, but she’d assumed it was a side effect of being an orphan in the Deadlands.

  She sprinted towards Kai, determined to save him. The Alpha’s claws dug into her back. She twisted around, driving the burning torch into the Alpha’s stomach.

  Your boyfriend is as good as dead once he takes me to Iris. Twig’s singsong voice echoed in her mind. And soon you’ll just be another one of my soldiers.

  The Alpha’s glowing eyes narrowed. She stepped forward into the torch, further searing her own flesh. Her bony hand wrapped around the wooden handle and squeezed. The wood splintered. Sanna, caught off balance, fell forward. In a blur of movement, the Alpha grabbed hold of her right arm.

  And bit down.

  White-hot pain raced up her arm as the Alpha’s razor teeth worked deeper into her flesh. Sanna ripped her arm away and stumbled back, her body numb with horror.