I crane my head, trying to see past the Enhanced. But I can’t see anyone other than them. Light skin and dark skin, and blonde hair and black hair and red hair and white hair and—
The woman holding the augmenter lowers it toward me. It’s so close, my eyes can’t focus on the vial.
But, that voice.
Gods. I’m hallucinating. She can’t be here…she’s dead. I left her. She’ll be dead. Or one of them. No, I saw her body. She was lying on the ground. She’s dead. I must be hallucinating. It’s the shock. The fear. The confusion. The conflict.
I hear the final click as the gun is loaded. I still can’t see it. Where is it? Hidden, in the walls?
“Well, you asked for it.”
I can’t breathe. Her voice is familiar, yet different.
Something moves in front of me. A blur. Fingers fall away from my wrists. Something hot sprays across my abdomen. A gunshot goes off. And another one. Blood splatters everywhere. Two—no three—Enhanced fall. The vial clatters to the ground. Glass smashes. Orange liquid pools in the red.
Marouska steps forward smiling. “Who’s next?”
Marouska wastes no time in shooting the others. And, within seconds, the Enhanced are all lying dead at our feet.
“Come on,” she says. She steps away from the bodies, moving her ample frame rather quickly.
After a few seconds, I get my act together. I follow her, dazed. Marouska is here? Marouska, who I left to die back at the village. Marouska, who I saw lying unconscious on the ground back at Nbutai….
I really am hallucinating.
“Your brother’s here?” she asks.
“What?” I squint at her and rub my blood-splattered fingers against my forehead. The pain there’s sharp and moody.
“Where’s Three? D’you know?”
“Uh, no. Corin… Three’s not. Corin’s here.”
Marouska raises one eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she moves to the doorway. She’s wearing her usual attire: dark rags knotted around her torso, emphasizing her voluptuous curves, and a long skirt torn in several places, with heavy, black boots.
“Where?”
“I—I don’t know. They separated us.”
“Anyone else?”
“No. I don’t know about the others.” My words fall out too quickly.
I shake my head, staring at Marouska. She’s not the large woman I remember. Sure, she’s still round, and she has the biggest chest and hips I’ve ever seen. But her face is scarred, and she’s armed. Her rifle looks a little like an AK47, but not quite. The barrel is too long, and there’s something about the shape of it, the welding maybe, that makes me frown.
“How?” I stare at her.
Marouska doesn’t slow down. “This be no time for stories, Seven. We’ve got a man to rescue.”
“But—”
A scream cuts me off. Corin’s scream.
Marouska and I leap forward. I barely notice the pain in my shoulder and back. As we’re about to step over the threshold, Marouska hands me a knife. It’s a big knife.
“Aye, Seven, I’ll be doing the shooting,” she says, gripping the AK47 look-alike tightly. “This—it’s an Enhanced gun. It can’t run out of bullets. Don’t ask me how it works. I don’t know. Just have to keep clicking it. But if any get past me, you stab ’em.” She grins rather manically.
I nod and follow her out. We’re back out in the big room now, the one where Corin and I got caught. There’s no sign of him here, or anyone. Just that flowery blouse on the floor.
“Over there.”
Marouska charges toward a closed door. Before I can warn her how many Enhanced Ones will be on the other side, she throws the door open, charges in, and lets out a war cry.
I freeze, blink hard. Definitely not the Marouska we left behind. But if she’s survived, Untamed, maybe others have too. Hope surges within me.
“Let him go,” Marouska shouts. “I’m armed.”
I stumble after her, tripping over the bases of clothes racks, and at last reach the doorway. She’s already got all the Enhanced backed up against the wall. I catch a glimpse of Corin in one corner. His face is stricken.
“Put the gun down.”
Marouska fires at them, a barrage of bullets leaping to their victims. I have to look away. I don’t want to see the limbs flying through the air, or the blood. But I hear their screams. The last gurgles of life.
I concentrate on the knife I’m holding. It’s massive, and the hilt is made of some sort of metal. Maybe even a precious metal.
“Marouska? Sev?”
I look up as Corin approaches. His eyes are still brown. I lean against the doorway, my heart races.
“I would make a formal welcoming gesture in normal circumstances,” Marouska says. “But, that would lead to stories, an’ like I said to Seven, now ain’t the time. So, I suggest we get out of here fast.” She hands Corin another knife, then starts to lead the way out.
For several seconds, Corin and I stare at each other. He looks lost and surprised and scared and relieved and amazed.
“Sev, are you okay?” he asks at last. He raises a hand to my face, and I freeze as his fingers make contact with my skin. A tiny, electrifying jolt goes through me. “That’s a deep cut.” He removes his hand. His fingertips have my blood on them.
I exhale and touch my face. It hurts now I know about it.
“Come on,” I say, and we follow Marouska out of the department store.
I don’t know whether my dizziness is because of the near-death experience, Corin’s touch, Marouska’s sudden and life-saving arrival, or the way the Calmness digs into my leg, laughing at me.
I have never seen Rahn look more surprised than when we arrive back at the car with Marouska. His skin turns an eerie white, and he looks as though he will faint for several seconds.
Three and Esther look equally surprised, but they exclaim and laugh and squeal—or at least Esther does, Three’s not the type of man to squeal.
Rahn just resembles a statue as Marouska, Corin, and I update them. It sounds crazy. Too much of a coincidence, but it’s true.
“What the hell?” Rahn finally exclaims. He looks at Corin, then at me. “What were you two doin’ in there? How didn’t you notice you were bein’ surrounded?” Beneath his dark glasses, I think I see some movement. His lips twitch. “Distracted, were you?”
I stare at Rahn. He folds his arms, gives his nephew a sharp look.
“What?” Corin’s shoulders jump up. “Her?” He jerks his eyes toward me, then back again. “That is a revolting idea.”
“That is my sister you’re talking about, Eriksen,” Three says.
“For the Gods’ sakes, they’re okay!” Marouska says. “There’s no point in any of this yelling an’ screaming—oh, the little dog’s here too, how wonderful!” She crouches and holds her arms out for the little terrier.
But my dog doesn’t throw himself at her like he used to, he just comes to an abrupt stop and bares his teeth slightly.
Marouska laughs. “We’ve all changed then.”
“Right. We need to get in the car and drive as far away as possible,” Rahn says. He looks across at Corin, and lowers his voice. “I’ll be talkin’ to you later.”
“Aye, it was scary,” Marouska says. From the back seat, I watch her unravel one of the large food packages and begin to divvy it up into six very unequal portions. The vehicle lurches over a bump, and the portions become even more unequal. “I was sure I was dead!”
“What happened back there?” Esther asks. “After we, uh, left?”
Marouska hums to herself as she unwraps another package of food. Some sort of meat, goat maybe. Soon the car smells of it. My mouth waters as I watch her put a scrap of it onto each portion.
“I got shot in the arm, but it was only a laser or something, it healed quickly. Aye, but I was out of it for a while. I guess ’em Enhanced Ones must’ve thought I was dead; they left me with all the other bodies. When I came ’round, they were gone
. Well, I thought I was dead too.”
“So, uh, did everyone else die?” Three asks.
Marouska clears her throat. “I saw Yani an’ Elf’s bodies. An’ quite a few of ’em Enhanced Ones’ too. Looks like we did good work.”
Good. Not a word I’d have used.
“What about the others?” Rahn asks, and I think of my father and Five.
Marouska shrugs. “I didn’t see their bodies. They could be dead.” She sticks her finger into a lump of fat that fell off the meat and smears it onto some bread. “But it’s more likely they’re Enhanced now.”
A strange tightness holds onto my chest as she says those words. If they’re Enhanced, they’re alive.
The Enhanced will be the only people who survive, in the long run.
I don’t know what expression has fallen over my face, and I look away quickly.
“And how did you get here?” Rahn asks. “We’re a long, long way from Nbutai.”
“Stole a car. Well, four of ’em altogether.” Marouska says the words as if it’s the most natural thing for her in the world. “They kept running out of fuel, kept having to ditch ’em an’ walk. Never realized how difficult it is to drive ’em either.”
The vehicle crashes over another bump, and pain bolts through my shoulder.
“I hope that’s not my food that’s now on the floor,” Rahn says.
“No, it’s Corin’s.”
Three smirks. Corin, who’s also in the back, but sitting as far away from me as possible, doesn’t say or do anything. He’s turned his back on everyone and is staring out the window, probably in a mood.
“Marouska, what happened next?” I lean forward slightly. The terrier lies between my feet, and his ears prick up. Everyone wants to know. But my dog’s on guard, tense, I can sense that easily. “How did you find us here? Why did you go to New Repliza?”
“Coincidence,” she says. “I was looking for the Mariballii tribe. Well, originally.”
The Mariballii tribe is something of a legend; few people doubt that a large tribe of Untamed could still exist. I personally don’t think so. No one’s actually seen them for about fifty years. Same with that other large tribe—the Zharat. They just disappeared. No one’s heard of them for years. Either they’ve perfected the art of hiding, they’re dead, or the Enhanced have them.
“But we’re not near their grounds,” Rahn says. “The Mariballii tribe isn’t even in this region the last I heard.”
“Aye. I know. Listen,” Marouska says. “I travelled east for a few days, in my search for the tribe, but then ran into trouble. The Enhanced caught me. Took all my weapons, they did. But they didn’t check my boots. An’ I pulled the knife I keep in the left one on ’em.” She goes silent for a moment. “The Gods and Goddesses must’ve been watching over me. I killed a good dozen Enhanced Ones. Aye, an’ there were eight chivras too.”
“Eight chivras?” Rahn says.
My eyes widen. I look at Esther and Three. They blink in astonishment.
Marouska nods. “Aye. I stormed ’em. To be honest, I thought my time was a’tickin’, but it just gave me a concussion. I’m telling you, chivra spirits ain’t as evil as we think. An’ when they’d gone, I got myself one of ’em Enhanced people’s guns—an’ I’m telling you this, for a people who don’t believe in violence they have a hell of a lot of modified guns in their possession. The one I got from ’em don’t even need reloading with bullets. I don’t know how it works, but it can’t run out.”
“It can’t run out?” Corin speaks for the first time since getting in the car. He turns and looks toward Marouska.
“Aye.”
“Where is it?”
“By my feet,” Marouska says. “An’, no, you ain’t having no look at it, ’cause I’ll never get it back once you’ve got your hands on it. Here, eat this up.” She hands a package of food behind her. It is the one that ended up on the floor.
Corin takes the food, looking a bit miffed.
A small part of me is glad Marouska didn’t give him the gun. My shoulders tighten. If he has that gun, he might shoot me.
It was inevitable that I’d find out.
No. What the hell am I thinking? I shake my head. Anyway, if Corin was going to shoot me, he has his own gun. Even if it does require manual reloading.
“So there I was, with my gun,” Marouska continues, “looking for the tribe an’ hunting down ’em Enhanced. Six days like that on the road. Blood on my hands. Hissing all ’round me. Huh. An’ then I needed another new vehicle, an’ so went to the next nearest town. Heard lots of voices an’ screams. An’, low an’ behold, not only did I find the Untamed, but I found you.” She turns around to look at me, then twists even further—in a way that doesn’t look natural for anyone, least of all her—until her eyes rest on Corin. “Miracle, ain’t it? The Gods an’ Goddesses an’ spirits are watching. Aye, they want us to win this battle.”
We spend the rest of the day driving along the mud road by a small river, discussing our route ahead. The plan now seems to be that we’ll drive, and keep driving, until we find the Mariballii tribe—if they still exist.
Just before dark, we turn off the road, and Rahn parks the vehicle in a little copse.
“Should be secluded enough here,” he says, as he turns the ignition off. He twists in his seat and looks at us all in the back. “Three, make a fire over yonder. Corin and Esther, see what you can gather and hunt down.” He looks down at the terrier. “Seven, you take him out for a walk. Looks like he needs it. While you’re out, scout the land. Marouska, we’ll sort out what resources we have and what we need to get.”
The light’s already changing, getting deeper and heavier. We know we’ve not got long. But, for several seconds, none of us move. We all stare out the windows. There’s an acacia tree nearby, and I focus on it, noticing the way its thorny branches cut the sky cleanly. Behind it, everything looks darker, and—
I freeze, eyes wide.
There. Movement. A figure? I blink.
“What’s the matter?” Rahn’s tone is cynical.
I turn back to the window, my gaze pouring outside to the acacia. There’s nothing behind it.
“Thought I saw something,” I mumble.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Just my mind tricking me, making me think I saw Raleigh.
Everyone gets out the car, so I force my stiff body to work, groaning a little, and call for the terrier to follow. He does, slowly at first, then more eagerly. His ears are alert, and his nose is to the ground as we walk.
I glance about. It’s dusk: the evening sky is gentle. The Turning wasn’t long ago, but I can’t help thinking another will be soon. Strange. I pull my jacket around my body tighter, ignoring my throbbing shoulder—Esther had a look at it when we stopped earlier, and she reckons the wound’s healing okay.
I tell the terrier to keep close to my heel. He does. He’s a good dog.
We come out on the other side of the trees, and the green landscape stretches around us. For a few seconds, I pause, drinking it all in. The grass is knee-high in most places, thin and wispy enough to sway in the slight breeze. To the right, stand more trees. On the other side, grass spreads out toward the foot of a huge hill. Beyond, there are small mountains with rock formations scattered down their sides. Above, a black stork beats across the cool sky. On the horizon, I can make out several silhouettes. Ostriches, maybe.
The terrier, nose to the ground, trots off, and I watch him for a few minutes. Hardly visible in the long grass, he barks every now and again, then reappears by my side. I greet him and fuss over him, telling him what a good boy he is. He looks up at me with his big, droopy eyes, then licks my hands. There’s something about his eyes, something that makes my heart beat just a little faster. He does deserve a name. I know that.
I stare at him, press my lips together. I fought for my name when the Enhanced said I was Shania. Names are important, and the terrier needs a name. I fold my arms as I lo
ok at him, trying out different sounds on my tongue. But nothing takes. He’s always just been our terrier.
“Come on,” I say to him, and together we run through the long grass. He jumps up at my side, barking loudly.
I run faster and faster. The wind is in my face, exhilarating. I can almost forget the pain in my shoulder. The glass vial in my shorts pocket pounds against my thigh; it’s the reminder that this life is not perfect. It makes me feel strange. Its presence betrays a part of me, and I betray myself because I still have it.
“But I’m Untamed,” I shout to the sky. My lungs burn. “I am Untamed.”
I am. I’m nothing like the Enhanced. They are murderers. I’m not one of them. The Gods and the Goddesses and the spirits chose me for their Seer. I am Untamed.
Yet you won’t throw the augmenter away.
The words hit me like a sharp dagger, and heaviness drags me down. I slow until I’m walking again. My breath comes in huge gasps, and my chest shudders with every gulp of air. My shoulder’s not great either, but I push the pain away as best as I can—I’m used to it now. The dog is a few feet away, and I call him back to my heel with a loud whistle. My father taught me how to whistle—he could mimic the birds’ tunes too. We walk around for a little longer. The stork is no longer visible in the distance, and the light is fading. The ostriches have gone too.
“Time to go back,” I tell the dog.
He whines slightly, but doesn’t run off.
We walk back to the trees where we parked the vehicle. I haven’t been gone longer than half an hour, but I see that Corin is no longer gathering. He’s standing on the outskirts of the trees, looking out over the grassy valley. I shiver slightly, wondering whether he saw me running about. I hope not. I swallow hard. Not that I should care what he thinks of me. I shouldn’t let him affect me.
As I get nearer, Corin disappears back into the trees, melting into the landscape. I take a deep breath. It was almost like he was never here, like I imagined it. After all, why would he be out here, watching me, when he was supposed to be hunting and gathering what he could with Esther?
Untamed Series, #1 Page 18