Kings of Carrion

by Keri Lake

  From where I stand, I watch Rhys’s eyes follow the man pushing to his feet, holding up a shard of the syringe, mocking his hope. “Perhaps this could’ve saved thousands of you. But it’s a good reminder of the power I wield, that I could …” His words are broken by a cough, and he clears his throat, dropping the piece of glass. “That I could ...” Another cough sends him bending forward, and he grabs the back of Gregor’s chair. “That I could crush … your chances … beneath my … feet.”

  “Sir, are you okay?” One of the Legion officers steps forward, offering him a glass of water, which he bats away. The glass flies out of the soldier’s hand, shattering against the desk.

  Szolen coughs in the man’s face, yanking a handkerchief from his suit pocket that he holds to his lips. “I’m not drinking out of a savage’s glass!”

  Blood trickles out of his nose, and when he coughs again, the stained red spittle hits his crisp white shirt. He sets the back of his hand to his nose, leaving a streak of blood where he wipes. “What have you done?”

  Rhys smiles, staring back at him, and shakes his head. “I knew the moment you called it a cure that you didn’t have a clue what it was. You designed a weapon that you know nothing about.” There’s an air of confidence in his voice that tells me he knew what he was doing all along. He must’ve learned something about the contagion during his time with Jed. “The moment you lifted the syringe out of the case, you exposed your precious immune system. The truth is, this contagion is everywhere. You’ve managed to evade it while living in your sealed bubble. But now? It’s finally made its way into your perfect little community, too.”

  The Legion soldier who retrieved the bag coughs, as well.

  “You guys had it wrong this whole time. All of you did. You can’t get rid of this disease … or the diseased.” Rhys turns around to face the Legion soldiers who remain on guard, and when I turn to look at them, their faces, twisted with fear, betray the loyalty to which they’ve sworn. “Unless you want to be infected, I suggest you get the fuck out of here. Now.”

  There’s some hesitation at first, exchanges of glances. A few of the men in the back retreat, perhaps hoping to go unnoticed by their superiors, but it’s as if they don’t know what to do.

  “Only takes a couple minutes to spread through the air. Most of you won’t be immune,” Rhys adds.

  “Kill them!” Szolen screams from behind us, before he collapses to the floor. Something red and meaty flies out of his mouth on a cough and lands on the floor before him. Thick and gelatinous, the sight of it turns my stomach, and it seems to be enough for the other men to back themselves out of the room, guns at the ready.

  The room empties of all the Legion soldiers, except the one on the floor, coughing blood beside Szolen.

  “Jed told me some secrets. Ones I’m guessing you’d kill to keep from spreading around. But that’s the danger of virulent things--they’re hard to contain. Take you, for example. You built a weapon. A weapon that got out of control and killed millions of people.”

  “We were … studying … an ancient … contagion.”

  “One that was virtually harmless, until you made it contagious.”

  “We didn’t … know.”

  “You didn’t. I believe that. You fucked with something you didn’t understand.” Rhys crouches down in front of the man, tipping his head to gain his attention. “Shit thing about karma, isn’t it? She doesn’t give a damn what you didn’t know.”

  On a groan, Szolen falls forward, coughing again, and when he rises to his knees, his eyes are black, the whites of them pooled with blood. He lets out a growl, and Six grips the back of his neck.

  Titus and Valdys grab the other soldier, restraining him, as he growls and squirms in their grasp. Like Szolen, his eyes are bloody and black.

  Rhys drags Szolen to his feet and forces him to stand beside Wren.

  All of us look on, faces plastered in confusion. I glance to Valdys and back, wondering if I should step forward, wondering if perhaps Rhys has lost his mind. Maybe he was bitten by one of them.

  Szolen claws and snaps his teeth at Rhys, while the Alpha clutches him like a kitten by its scruff.

  “You’re infected now, and you’re gonna die. But we won’t. We’ll take over this community. We’ll live in your houses. Eat your food. Some will die trying to fight us on it. And others will learn what we’ve been trying to tell you all along.” Pushing down on Szolen’s shoulder, he forces him to his knees with one hand, while reaching behind Wren, where her arms are held back behind the chair. “Evolution is the only means of survival in this world.”

  The moment her hands are free, she tugs the gag out of her mouth and kicks back in her chair. “Six? What are you doing?”

  He flicks his fingers for her hand.

  Shaking her head, Wren frowns at him. “No, a bite is …. It’s dangerous. I could turn.”

  “Please trust me, Wren.” Once again, he flicks his wrist, and after a lengthy pause, she rests her hand in his palm. Arm straining, he guides Szolen’s face to her arm, and Wren squeezes her eyes shut, looking away, as the man sinks his teeth into her.

  She cries out, but Rhys pries his jaw loose, and all that’s left is a bloody imprint of his teeth. Arm trembling, she opens her eyes, staring down at the wound.

  Rhys throws Szolen against the wall, and as the man, whose face has begun to blister, charges forward, growling, Valdys snatches the back of his crisp collar and yanks him backward, holding him captive.

  Lowering to his knee, Rhys tears away a piece of his shirt and wraps her wound up in the fabric, while we wait to see if she exhibits the same symptoms as the other two men. Seconds turn to minutes, and Rhys tucks her hair behind her ear. “It’s gonna be okay, Little Bird.” His palm rests against her belly. “We’re gonna be okay now.”

  Chapter 33

  Wren

  The burn flares beneath my palm, as I hold the wrapped wound. Papa once told me that bites were an immediate inoculation, and that I’d probably turn into a Rager, if I ever sustained one. Apparently, once inside the body, it multiplies, dividing rapidly, making it far more potent than the measured injections. My whole life, I’ve avoided being bitten, and now, with only a small bit of hesitation, I allowed myself to be victim to a relatively unknown contagion. One that’s been lost for decades.

  One we know nothing about, really.

  I’d have only considered something so foolish because of Six. I know he’d never place me in harm’s way, so when he insisted that I give him my arm, I had no reason to resist.

  I can feel the contagion stirring illness inside of me, but nothing more than some fatigue and sinus pressure, which is how it begins. How it’ll end remains a mystery, but then, it has been since I learned I would die, anyway, from carrying Six’s baby. At least now there’s a glimmer of hope, a small piece of possibility that I might live to watch this baby grow, alongside Six.

  We exit Gregor’s house, where Legion stands gathered in the yard, their guns trained on all of us. The one I’m guessing is Valdys guides Szolen by the back of his neck, while Titus guides the soldier. Their faces have begun to swell, the puffy skin swallowing their eyes and noses, skin cracking over the pus that gathers beneath the lesions pocked across their flesh. The two growl and snap their jaws, as we wait on the doorstep.

  Upon seeing them, the Legion soldiers step back and Arty takes a step forward.

  “What is this, Wren? What have you done?”

  “He inoculated himself, Arty. We didn’t do any of this.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t let you leave, Wren. Not now.”

  “We can set them free, and watch them tear through this community and infect all of you. Or you can step aside and let us dispose of him outside of the gates.” Given the rarity of the contagion, and the possibilities it may hold, it seems a shame to kill the only remaining evidence of it, but it’s not worth the risk.

  “Just fuckin’ kill him off? He built this place. This whole goddamn community
exists because of him.”

  “That’s exactly right. It does exist because of him.” I glance over my shoulder at Six, who stands behind me. “It’s evolution, Arty. Take note. Most beyond the wall are carriers of Dredge. We’ve had to evolve with it.” I glance down at the bandaged wound on my arm and nod toward Szolen. “He’s an example of what happens when you’ve effectively sealed yourself off from the rest of the world.”

  Lips tight, he shakes his head, and rubs his hand across his jaw. “Just doesn’t seem right to take him out like that. He’s done so much.”

  “He’s the reason you’re afraid to go beyond the wall. He created something that was too big for him. Too powerful.” I know Arty enough that trying to convince him of Szolen’s involvement in the outbreak will only discredit my argument, in his eyes. Unfortunately, men like Arty bought into the lie a long time ago. Into the idea that Szolen was some magnificent savior. “He can’t stay imprisoned here.” I step down from the porch and feel a tight grip of my hand, but with a squeeze, Six releases me. “It’s likely you don’t have the immunity to keep from turning, if he bites you. Who knows if any of you do. You’ve confined yourself for too long behind these walls, and you grow more vulnerable every day. Diversity is the key to your survival. Open those gates to the savages you’ve kept out. Learn to evolve with this contagion, or I swear to you, it won’t be long before every one of you becomes the very thing you fear most.” It’s almost poetic watching the man who murdered so many now fallen victim to the very weapon he used to exact his ruthlessness. “It’s your choice.”

  Arty crosses his arms, looking around at the awaiting Legion officers. Even as the head of security here, his command over Legion is limited but respected. One wave of his hand, and we could all be executed where we stand.

  “It’s over, Arty. This battle of Legion and rebels. The pure and the savage. It has to stop. Our species is dwindling, and at this rate, we’ll be extinct.”

  There’s a long pause before he sighs, shaking his head again. For a second, I think he’s going to tell me to go to hell. Instead, he waves his hand in dismissal. “Let ‘em pass,” he finally says. “Get the fuck out of the way, unless you wanna look like that.” He points to Szolen, who snarls and snaps his jaw.

  The soldiers move aside, creating a path, and Valdys guides Szolen through it, prompting some of the men to take a few steps back.

  Cali follows closely behind him, with Titus trailing her steps, keeping the infected soldier at a distance.

  “Savage bitch!” One Legion soldier breaks from his stance, knocking his gun into Cali, who stumbles backward, into the infected soldier behind her. Broken loose from Titus, he scrambles for her on all fours, when she kicks herself away, like an animal, and I hold my breath the moment he’s close enough to bite. Before he can sink his teeth into her, the infected soldier is swiped up into the air, dangling by his throat, and in one swift twist, Valdys snaps his neck and lets the body fall into a slump on the ground. He lurches toward the man who attacked Cali, now held back by three of his fellow Legion officers.

  “He was my friend! You fucks infected him with your savage diseases!” The man seethes as Valdys accosts him, and he spits at the Alpha’s feet.

  A glance to his feet and back, and Valdys hammers his fist into the man’s face so hard it throws him into the line of men behind him.

  My guess is, if he isn’t braindead from the hit, he’ll have a headache from hell when he wakes.

  Valdys strides back to Cali, lifts her up into his arms, and carries her along the path, while Titus guides Szolen behind them.

  “So much for living in harmony together.” Swinging around to face me, Arty points toward the commotion. “’The fuck was that, Wren?”

  Lips thinned, I shrug. “You don’t mess with an Alpha’s woman, Arty. The Legion officer is lucky to be breathing.” As I pass him, I give a rueful smile. “By the way, I didn’t mean to lie to you. Back at the gate.”

  “Sure you didn’t.” Rolling his eyes, he shakes his head. “You been lying to me since you were fifteen years old, kid. I don’t expect no different.”

  “Well, I mean it this time. Take care of yourself.”

  “You’re not staying?”

  I glance back at Six, whose face holds no indication as to whether he would stay, or not. I’m not sure I trust the rest of the community enough to stay here. They’ve indoctrinated themselves too much into this way of life, to trust that they wouldn’t attack us for changing their minds. The soldier was a good example, and probably not alone in his thoughts.

  My guess is, they’ll continue to keep others out, trapping themselves behind these walls, until the very idea of going beyond them is too terrifying to chance. We, on the other hand, will continue to evolve and learn how to live amongst the predators, like every other animal on this planet. “No. There’s nothing here for me anymore. But if it’s all right with you, I might visit Papa’s grave one more time before we go?”

  “Sure thing.”

  I pat him on the back, and when he flinches, I chuckle. “You can’t get sick from a pat on the back, Arty. Not how it works.”

  Lips tight, he gives a nod and pats me on the back in return. “Take care of yourself out there, Wren.”

  “I will.”

  Kneeling beside Papa’s grave, I wipe the tear that streaks down my cheek. Six and the others wait for me inside the house, where they gather some supplies we’ll take with us.

  “You were right in your journal, when you said we saw the world differently. And yet, somehow we still learned to love each other unconditionally. We evolved together. And maybe that was your point. There was never a cure, was there?” It’s clear to me now that, aside from Papa, none of the doctors at Calico were ever really searching for a cure. They were only looking to create something bigger, stronger, more violent than the existing monsters. Six didn’t risk his life to retrieve an end to all of this.

  There is no end. Only survival.

  “It was always about learning how to live with one another. To evolve as a species.” I smile at how ridiculously simple the concept is, yet how complex and elusive at the same. “I wish you were here to explain this to me, because it makes no sense. I should’ve turned Rager from that bite. Even as a carrier. You told me direct inoculation was ...” Frowning, I shake my head. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

  The only plausible explanation I have is his journal, where he diagrammed an antibody found only in Six. The strongest titers against the proteins produced by the disease. One that was to be used as a basis for a cure. Perhaps that antibody lives in me, with this pregnancy.

  Papa would’ve loved to tease out the possibilities. In fact, I imagine him examining my arm, feverishly jotting notes as he studies it, trying to puzzle the mysteries of the universe. Perhaps it could’ve saved him, too. “I miss you, Papa.”

  Chapter 34

  Cali

  A stack of folded clothes clutched to my chest, I enter the room that was once Wren’s bedroom, glancing around only briefly at the bed and furniture within in the small space. The sound of water draws my footsteps toward the bathroom, where the door stands cracked. I peek inside to see a massive figure through the frosted glass, my heart caught between contentment and sorrow. Light and darkness. The peace I should feel at having found the man I love is shadowed by the despair of having lost another.

  I set the clothes that Wren offered for Valdys down on the countertop beside the sink, and keeping my eyes on what must be his back, I yank my shirt over my head, tossing it to the floor behind me. My pants follow, then underwear, until I’m as naked and vulnerable as I feel inside. Padding quietly toward the door, I open it to find him standing in the water, his forehead pressed to the tiles.

  Across his back, etched in deep grooves, are a series of scars that mar his skin overtop of older ones. Thick, puffy ridges inflicted by the unforgiving lash of a whip.

  Errant sprays of water against my face mingle with the tears already gathere
d in my eyes.

  With a solemn glance over his shoulder, his eyes silently profess the guilt that must be tearing him up inside. He turns slowly, gaze dipping toward my body, as I reach out to touch his scars.

  He swipes up my hand before I reach him, pulling me inside, but I move behind him. Hard leathery skin, weathered by horrific retribution, slips past my fingertips. So many scars, there isn’t an inch of his skin left unmarked. Yet, the surface of his flesh is somehow stronger because of his wounds, hardened by them.

  “My punishment for escaping.”

  “There are so many.”

  “I’d have taken a thousand more lashes, to know you were safe.”

  I let the gravity of his words bleed into my skin, and press my cheek against his back, closing my eyes, as I wrap my arms around him. “I will never let you suffer again, Valdys. Never.”

  Tugging my arm, he pulls me around to his front and backs me into the wall, crushing his lips to mine. The cold tiles pressing against my spine fail to cool the heat of his wet lips that devour mine. I slide my arms around his neck, and he lifts me into his arms. Holding me against the wall, he buries his face in my neck as the water cascades down our bodies. In the safety of his embrace, my body comes alive, as if I’ve been dead inside for months.

  The world around us disappears. Like falling beneath the water’s surface, everything goes mute. Foreheads pressed together, we close our eyes and breathe, holding each other.

  And I fall deeper.

  Chapter 35

  Wren

  It’s late by the time we arrive back at the camp. Surprisingly, they didn’t bother to head east, but perhaps they had a bit more faith than the rest of us that we’d return.

  I lie beside the fire, running my finger over the bite marks in my flesh that have begun to heal already, while Six gets a briefing from Tripp outside our cave. Rolling onto my back, I place my hands against my belly that still hasn’t yet begun to show, and close my eyes. It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve become infected by a contagion more potent than the one I’ve grown up with my whole life, one I saw tear through children and grown men, while I worked alongside Papa in Calico. And yet, I feel nothing from its effects. I suppose I won’t know for certain whether, or not, it was worth the risk. Only time will tell.