His answer made sense, yet I wasn’t entirely convinced. “How did you see where you were going?”
“My eyes were adjusted to the dark until you blinded me.”
“Damn lucky I didn’t shoot you again. You have to stop sneaking up on me.”
“Might as well turn the light back on so I can start the fire.”
“You think that’s a good idea? A fire might draw the Raspers.”
“It might, but it’s getting really cold out and I don’t want to freeze.”
Adam had a point, but it went against my better judgment to build a fire and take a chance of announcing here we are, come get us. A shot of icy air blasted my skin and set my teeth chattering. “Well, we have our guns.”
I gave in and flicked the light back on. Adam grabbed the wood he’d dropped. When he was ready to light the fire, he conducted a weird patting of his pockets.
“Need a lighter?”
“Yeah, got one?”
I walked back to my bag and pulled one out. “Catch.”
His kindling caught instantly and soon we had a roaring fire in the opening of our small cave. I put the flashlight away, holstered the Glock, and shoved my extra gun in the back of my jeans. We sat next to each other, sharing the blanket.
I stared into the flames. “What’s our plan for the morning?”
Adam pulled out the skeleton’s map. “This guy knew more about what happened and the creatures than we do. He obviously talked or communicated with others. And he survived. Well, until he lost the battle with the tool box.”
I shrugged. “So what?”
“I think this might be an address and if so, it has to be important. Why else would the guy have written it on the map and held it as he died?”
“Even if it is an address, there’s no way to know where it is.”
Adam shoved the paper back in his pocket. “Maybe it’s in the next big city. I mean, it’s like the dead guy knew where it was.”
“That’s a big assumption. It could be anywhere. Maybe it’s not even in Missouri.”
“I say we look for the next town and see if we can find this place.”
I didn’t care. We just needed to survive. Where we tried to survive didn’t matter. “Okay. But how do the Raspers keep finding us? It’s like we have trackers on us or something.”
“Maybe they’re like Bloodhounds. Once they’ve got our scent, they can track us.”
Fear crashed into my chest and squeezed my heart. “I hope not. That means they’ll keep coming.”
“But we won’t be waiting around to find out.”
The scent of the burning wood and the flicker of the flames lulled us into a comfortable silence for a few minutes until I blurted out, “Where do you think the Raspers came from?”
“Had to be something related to Pearan’s Great Discovery of the oil. Everything was normal before then.”
I shot a glance in his direction. His face filled with a faraway look I couldn’t decipher. Thunder boomed. I shivered and scooted closer to him. “What about the Bug creatures?”
“They’re evil.” He juiced the words with venom. The wood popped in the fire.
I swallowed the baseball-sized lump in my throat. “You know more than you’re telling me.”
He licked his lips. “The Raspers surrounded us after we got out of the transport vehicle.” He paused and cracked his knuckles. “They came after us with their stingers and took out about half of the people. The Bugs got the rest. It was like a war zone.”
“God.” I shivered.
“The Bugs…they shot long metal pokers into people’s legs. The person would fall and twitch as if they were having a seizure. And when they stopped moving, the creatures moved on to their next victim.”
He stopped again and a wave of goose bumps sizzled across my skin. Holy crap. The Bugs stung people too. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened to me if Adam hadn’t shown up with the bike. I shuddered and hugged my knees to my chest. Heat radiated from the dancing flames, but it didn’t block the cold wrapping around my body.
“Then the unthinkable happened.” He traced the creases in his right palm. “A couple of people opened their eyes and got up, but they’d changed. They were Raspers.”
“What about the rest of the people?” I said the words so softly, I wasn’t sure he heard me.
“The rest didn’t get up. I think they died. It was the most messed up thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like they can only transform some people. Not everyone.”
He balled his fingers into a tight fist. His mouth scrunched together and he shook his head and released his grip. He turned and faced me. “They took over my mother and she tried to get me.” His voice wavered and Adam stared at his hands.
I wanted to hug him. I leaned closer so my shoulder brushed his. “How did you avoid being stung?”
His eyes clouded over and the light from the fire bathed them in an eerie glow.
“I didn’t.”
7
My throat closed, choking back my disbelief. My heart sped up and I gasped. The cave walls spun.
He’d been stung.
Goddammit. Now I knew how he survived without a weapon. How he could see in the dark. How he heard things I couldn’t. I scrambled to my feet and pulled my extra gun out of the back of my jeans.
“You’re a Rasper?” My hand shook so bad I almost dropped the gun. I couldn’t trust him. I’d been such a fool. And I had given him a weapon.
“Put your gun away.”
“No way in hell. You might kill me. Or send a Bug after me.”
Adam stood and straightened his shoulders. “No, I won’t.”
“Get out.” I waved the gun at the mouth of the cave. Lightning flashed, followed by thunder.
He held his hands up. “Val, listen to me.”
“The hell with that, you son of a bitch.” I stepped toward him. “I said leave.”
“No.” He came toward me.
I aimed the gun at his chest. Shoot him. Shoot him. Shoot him. I hesitated.
He dove for me.
I twisted away and ran out of the cave. And kept running. How could I have been so dumb? That’s what I got for breaking my rules. I’d thought he was my friend. I hated him. Hated myself. Was he planning on killing me or making me one of them? Fear made my feet go faster.
“Val, wait!”
The stupid idiot was yelling at me, probably to draw more Raspers. It was so dark out, I couldn’t see where I was going. The tree limbs tore my skin as if they were trying to take a souvenir.
Lightning lit the sky. Thunder rumbled seconds later. Fear clutched my lungs and squeezed.
Rain pelted my face. I kept running, dodging trees. The ground turned to mud. I slipped and fell on my butt. I scrambled back up and kept running. My legs ached and my lungs burned. I needed to stop, but I couldn’t. I had to keep going. I had to outrun the Raspers.
The intensity of the storm drowned out any other sound. I couldn’t tell if Adam had followed me or if he’d stayed in the cave. Thinking of the cave drove a knife through my gut. I had left my bag there. I was so stupid. I had really blown it. I’d violated Rules One and Two and was probably going to die tonight.
Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them back. I would not cry over his stupid, lying ass.
My hair plastered to my head and I pushed it out of my eyes. My fingers slipped on the handle of the gun and I almost dropped it. Tightening my grip, I calculated how many bullets I had. Two in this gun and a full round in the Glock.
Sharp pains in my side made me stop and bend over for just a second. The wheezy breathing of Raspers filled the air. Adam had been out rounding up the mutants. A shadow moved on my right. I aimed and fired. The shadow went down. Was it Adam? Had I shot him? It didn’t matter. Score one for me.
Adrenaline coursed through my muscles. I took off again and tried to quiet my thoughts. How many more Raspers were there?
A flash of lightning illuminated the area ahead. My hear
t stopped. There was nothing there, just yawning blackness. I willed my body to stop, but I was going too fast. It was too late.
I left solid ground and the sensation of flying overtook my senses. Then I dropped. I was going to die. I slammed into the ground, landing on my right knee. The gun flew out of my hand. Damn it all to hell. I reached out for it, but I had fallen down about ten feet into a stream. A cry tore from my throat. Not only were Raspers after me, but Mother Nature was screwing with me. I needed to find a place to hide. I needed to survive.
When I stood, my knee popped and crackled like the twisting of bubble wrap. I tried to ignore its protests, but daggers of pain skewered down my leg. I stumbled along the rocky streambed, trying to stay vertical.
I reached for the Glock. At least I still had Dad’s gun.
Lightning flashed, highlighting an alcove under a fallen tree and a ledge of branches above it. Heart hammering, I worked my way there through the shallow water. The wind whipped, shooting shivers down my body and into my toes.
The earthy smell of dirt filled my nose. I crawled into the cavity under the tree. I had to calm down. I recited the alphabet in my head. Had to keep quiet. It was so cold, the gun shook from my shivers, but at least I was out of the water.
A branch snapped above me. All my muscles tensed. Were Raspers up there? Had Adam found me? Was he even looking for me? Probably not, the jerk. Then again, I could have shot him. Again.
I breathed through my nose to stay silent. Tingles zipped over my skin. Oh, God. Something crawled across my arm. I bit my lip to keep from moving. What was it? Lightning streaked, lighting up the night. I risked a quick glance at my arm. I shouldn’t have.
Two spiders crept over my upper arm. Spiders. I hated spiders more than rats. My chest heaved and I fought not to scream. Tears ran down my face, but I didn’t dare move to wipe them away.
Another branch crunched above me.
“Vvvaaalll.”
The gravelly voice filled my ears and pierced my heart with its lack of inflection. How the hell did the Rasper know my name?
“Vvvaaalll.”
It was dark. I had spiders on my arm. Raspers were stalking me. Talking to me. I was going to die. Rocks dropped from the ledge and I brought the gun up close to my ear. If I shot the gun from this position, I might or might not get the Rasper.
Another flash of lightning.
Two Raspers stood on the other side of the stream, not twenty feet away. I was surrounded.
“Vvvaaalll. Time to join us.” The wheezy words seemed to be coming from right next to me.
This was it. Time to react. I needed to move, but my muscles froze as if they were concrete. A pounding of feet then a thud sounded above. My finger twitched on the trigger.
Splash. Something landed in the water. Someone. I pointed the gun at the body in the water, but hesitated. Something wasn’t right.
Another flash of light.
The Rasper wasn’t standing, but lying on its side in the stream. In the brief instant of light, I recognized the face. It was one of the Raspers that had been at the church house. It had stalked me here. Crap.
The ground above me moved again. How many were there? All my brain cells screamed run. I needed to get away. I pointed the gun at the Rasper in the stream and fired.
Lightning zapped across the sky and thunder roared. The Rasper’s mouth opened. Then it was dark again. I wasn’t waiting for the next flash of light to see another Bug crawl from the Rasper’s mouth.
I swatted the spiders off my arm and struggled to my feet. A shadow danced to my left. I fired. There was at least one more still hunting me. Where was he?
Raspy breathing sizzled down my spine. I glanced back. Couldn’t see anything. My knee threatened to drop me, but I pushed on. If I was going to die, I was going out fighting. Mom would have wanted it that way. Dad would have expected it. Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the rain. Pain seared through my leg as if a hot poker had been driven into my kneecap.
With another flash of light, I caught movement to my right. But before I could fire, pain exploded in my calf. I went down, my knee striking the ground again. My vision burst with fireworks of white light. I dropped my gun.
I reached for the weapon, but it was too far. I crawled forward. Pain sliced my leg, burning as it tore through my system.
I’d been shot.
My head became too heavy for my neck to support. The ground twisted. I couldn’t move anymore and collapsed on my stomach. Coldness wrapped my body like a blanket. This was it. I was dying. Visions of my parents flashed before my eyes.
Then nothing.
Someone—something—was moving. Raspers. I kept my eyes shut and tried to figure out how many there were. It sounded like only one. I opened my eyes and my body cried with pain. What had happened? Where was I?
I was on top of a blanket in the dirt. The ceiling above me was rock. I had to be in a cave. I struggled to sit up, but couldn’t. Stabbing sensations shot through my legs. Was I paralyzed?
I tried to swallow, but gagged on something wedged in my mouth. Oh, God, there was something in my mouth. I pictured the Bug ripping the Rasper’s face open. No. Please no. Not a Bug.
I thrust my tongue at the object. It was soft, not metallic. Cloth, not creature. My heart resumed beating. Until I glanced up and came face to face with a gun. The bastard Adam stood over me, pointing a gun at my head.
I tried to curse him out, but the gag silenced me. My arms were bound with rope. I shifted my legs, but pain shot through my calves. He was so going to die.
“Stop moving.”
I narrowed my eyes and tried to give him my meanest look, but since I was bound and gagged, I don’t think I pulled it off.
“I’ll take the gag off. If you scream or attempt to kill me, I will shoot you. Do you understand?”
I nodded.
He reached down and pulled off the gag. I spit, then swallowed, and ran my tongue around my teeth. They were fuzzy, as if I hadn’t brushed them in years.
“Tell me your name.” He moved the gun closer to my face.
My throat closed and it felt as if I’d swallowed sand paper. I stared into the gun barrel. Any second a bullet could rip through the metal and end my life. It was the first time I had been on this side of a gun. I didn’t like it.
“You know my name.” I choked the words out despite the desert in my mouth. What game was he playing?
“Tell me your name or I pull the trigger.”
I exhaled. “Val, you asshole.”
He smiled in an I-missed-you way and pointed the gun at the floor. “You’re okay.”
He’d gone insane. Nuts. Crazy. He tucked the gun in the back of his jeans and bent down. I didn’t move. He untied my legs first, then my arms.
I sat up and boiling pain radiated from my toes to my butt. “Who shot me?”
“You weren’t shot.”
“Like hell.” I twisted my leg and tried to see the wound. My jeans were rolled up to my knee and my calf was a purplish black, with tendrils of color radiating out of a pea-sized hole. But it wasn’t a bullet hole. What the hell?
“Hurts, doesn’t it?”
“Shut up, Rasper.” I needed a plan. I didn’t have any guns and my knives were gone. Bastard probably took the knives. I plotted his painful death.
“I’m as much a Rasper as you are.”
I ignored him and struggled to stand.
“I wouldn’t stand. You’ll just fall back down.”
I got vertical. Took a step. My leg gave out and I collapsed.
“Told you.”
I wished I had a weapon. “What’s wrong with my leg then, Genius?”
He sat on the ground next to me and rolled the rope into a ball. “You were stung.”
8
My vision and thoughts spiraled with the speed of a tornado. It had all been for nothing. The hiding. The training. The running. The Rules. None of it mattered. Didn’t make any difference. I’d been stung by a Rasper. Was
I one now?
“Val?” Adam leaned forward and touched my arm. His touch wasn’t warm like it had been before. The realization set off warning sirens in my head.
“This is hell, isn’t it?”
Adam let go and laughed. The happy noise sounded wrong. “Not technically, but some days it sure feels like it.”
“Am I dead?”
“No. I think you’re like me.”
“What?” I couldn’t focus. The rocky cave walls spun with a kaleidoscope kind of dizziness. What was happening to me? Was I changing into one of the creatures? I glanced at my hands. No yellow.
“I didn’t lie to you and I’m not a Rasper. You asked me before you stupidly ran away how I avoided being stung. I said I didn’t.” He bit his lip.
“But you said after the people got stung, they fell down and came back as freaks with a desire to kill everyone else.” Would I want to kill Adam? I mean, more than I already did?
“That’s not exactly what I said, but close enough. The thing is, I never collapsed and the damn things never took over my mind.”
My skin itched and crawled. I hugged myself, trying not to picture myself as a Rasper. “Why not?”
“That’s what I don’t know. Everyone else collapsed. Even my mom. When she came back to and turned to me with that look in her eyes, I…I took off running. I wish I had the answers. But I do know the stinger poke hurt like hell.” He rubbed his side.
“What happened after you got stung? Did they chase you? How long did it hurt? Why did he sting me in the leg? I collapsed, so how do you know I don’t have a Bug in me? How do they know my name?” I fired the questions at him in rapid succession. Then pain like I’d never felt before seared through my muscles and I moaned. I rubbed my calf, but the pain burned more and more. I had to be morphing into one of them. But my skin stayed the same color and my fingernail didn’t change into a stinger.
“I was there. I saw you fall and picked you up. I thought I was going to have to fight the Raspers while holding you. But they stopped their attack.”
I stretched my leg, trying to make the pain disappear. “Why does it hurt so much? Why did the Raspers stop? Why did you save me?”
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