Alive Like Us

by Quinn Hallows

  Beads of sweat popped along Kai’s brow. The day had been grueling, and his energy was sapped to zero. The stranger emerged from the opening and grabbed hold the rope to help. Sanna inched into view, still unconscious, and Kai hauled her onto the floor. He collapsed beside her.

  The stranger yanked up the ladder and sealed the opening. His hood had fallen down to his shoulders in the commotion, revealing a shaved head covered macabre tattoos. A brain covered the back of his skull, supported by a column of vertebrae that started at the base of his neck and disappeared into his collar.

  A Bone Boy.

  “Damn, that was close,” The Bone Boy collapsed on the other side of the opening, breathless. “What’d you do to make them so mad?” He glanced at Sanna, and his eyes rounded. They were unusual—one green, the other silvery gray. “Wait a minute—is that...who I think it is?”

  Kai gritted his teeth and prepared to fight.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Sanna awoke to the sound of male laughter and muffled words. Kai’s voice was one of them, though he sounded more relaxed than he’d been in a while. A woolen blanket was tucked tight around her, and Frankie’s furry weight was pressed against her spine. She sat up, the world spinning.

  “Hey, you’re finally up. You’ve hit a record though. Three days,” Kai said.

  She blinked; her vision blurry. He was seated at a round table on the other side of a room. The remnants of a coarse meal were strewn on top, along with two half-drunk glasses of ale. Across from him sat a skeleton in a black coat, who tilted his chair back until it was balanced on two legs. A sketchbook was open on his lap, and an ink pen was held loose in his hands. His attention shifted to Sanna, his lips pulling into a smirk made grotesque by the teeth and gums tattooed around them.

  Recognition shot through her. “What are you doing here?”

  “It’s my house.”

  “Since when do Bone Boys have houses? Aren’t you supposed to be out robbing caravans?”

  “I would be, if it weren’t for this,” he gestured to his wounded leg. “Thanks to you, I’m stuck in this dump until it heals.”

  Sanna wouldn’t call this place a dump. The area was small, but impeccably neat. Two large windows looked out onto a night sky studded with stars and a door led out to what looked like a narrow porch. Shelves crammed with foodstuffs and random goods lined one of the walls, while an open counter stretched across the other. A small stove was tucked into the far corner. The table and sleeping pallets took up much of the interior space, though the rug spread out beneath them was plush and richly colored. Overall, the room was small but homey. Not at all what she expected from a Bone Boy.

  And then there was drawings. Countless sketches papered the walls. Some were colored, others shaded in ink. Infected were noticeably absence, and many of the drawings appeared to be of tattoos on various body parts. Bones along an arm, rib cages spreading across a bare chest with a human heart at the center. All were precisely executed, with a level of detail that reminded Sanna of looking through Theo’s microscope. Each one must have taken ages.

  “Are you wondering how I stole the paper?” Zane drawled.

  Sanna glared at the man who’d tried to kidnap her eighteen days ago. She could still feel the hatred rolling off him. “Why’d you save us?”

  “I didn’t know it was you.” He flung his sketchbook on the table, and she saw the beginnings of Kai’s image partially scrawled across it. “I looked out my window and saw the unluckiest people on earth being run down by a horde and thought, why waste my time?”

  Kai shot Zane a sidelong look. “He saved us. We’d be dead by now, without him.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing I did. Kai here tells me you’re some sort of savior.”

  Sanna frowned. “I’m not.”

  “Lucas sure thought so,” Zane said, with a razor-sharp smile. “He believed in you and look where that got him.”

  Just like Tess and the others. Why did everyone assume that she’d be the one to save them? She was a single person, not a god, even if she could control the Infected. “He shouldn’t have lied to me in the first place.”

  “You don’t even remember him, do you?” Zane scoffed. “Just another body you left behind. Though it turns out you destroyed a whole town this time, huh? Erling not even on the map anymore.”

  Sanna’s blood ran cold. “What are you talking about?”

  “Hey, man, she just woke up—” Kai began.

  “The Alpha and the horde destroyed everything, while you slept like a baby. We saw it with our own eyes yesterday. Everyone’s gone. Either dead or on their way to Sorenson, I bet. Who knows how many of them will make it, though. There’s a lot of teeth in this forest, at the moment.”

  “You’re lying. Erling can’t fall. What about our defenses?”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Kai said softly. “I’m sorry.”

  Erling is...gone? Tears fell down her cheeks in warm, wet tracks. She couldn’t fathom a world without Erling. The spring and fall festivals, the weddings and babies, communal dinners and summer bonfires. Her mother and Haven chatting over pots of tea. It hadn’t always been easy, or perfect, but it was home. Her home.

  And it was gone. Forever.

  “I have to go back. I have to help them.”

  “There’s nothing to go back to,” Kai said calmly. “The survivors have already left. It’s a ghost town.”

  “Too bad it wasn’t children who attacked, right? Then you guys would have no problem killing them,” Zane sneered.

  “We didn’t hurt that kid. He fell because you idiots sent him up our wall for nothing. There was no way he wouldn’t get caught.” She craned her neck to hold Zane’s vehement glare. “His death is on your hands.”

  “If that’s the case, then you have an entire village on yours—”

  “Lay off, Zane!” Kai cut in. “She’s been through enough already and nothing good will come from being at each other’s throats.”

  “You’re not a savior.” Zane sneered, hatred dripping from his voice like a Stage Two’s venom. “You’re a curse.” He hobbled out onto the porch, shutting the door behind him.

  “Don’t listen to—”

  “I don’t care what a Bone Boy thinks.” Sanna squeezed the blanket so tight her knuckles blanched. She wondered if his limp was permanent. She shouldn’t feel guilty. Wounding him had been self-defense. End of story.

  It didn’t matter that he’d been Nico’s friend, or that she knew the holes friends could leave when they were gone. Even now, her stomach felt hollow. Transparant. As if someone could reach right through her.

  She flopped onto the pallet. A male scent wafted up from the fabric. It wasn’t Kai’s—his was more evergreen and this...this had a spring smell. Rain dampened earth and fresh green life.

  She scowled. It was his smell.

  Why had he let her sleep in his bed if he hated her so much? Perhaps Kai had made him, though Sanna doubted anyone could make that Bone Boy do anything. Especially in his own home.

  “Are you okay?” Kai asked. “Do you want anything to eat?”

  “No,” Sanna stared at the dusty rafters, her stomach growling. “So Erling is really gone, huh? I thought leaving would save it.”

  “Yeah. Who knows. Maybe the Alpha was just on a rampage.”

  “Or looking for me. This place seems well hidden. Maybe when she couldn’t find me, she went back and tore the place apart, just like Kelsey had said she would.”

  “Either way, the voice you heard is to blame, not you. Once we get to Iris, maybe she can help us find him.”

  “Yeah. Maybe.” Sanna rolled over onto her side, her back to him. Her stomach felt hollow, as if she could reach right through it. How could she lose so much in so little time? First Nico, then Ivan and now...everything.

  The floor creaked as Kai padded across the room to his cot.

  “Raj was stealing from Erling’s tithe. When I touched that stage two in the basement, I saw her last mome
nts as a human. Raj was there. He gave the Lieutenant a vial of the virus in exchange for his cooperation.”

  “I thought so. I broke into the Lieutenant’s house the first night I was there to look for my warrant. He was drunk and chased after me, thinking I was Raj and wanting me to unlock something.” Kai yawned.

  “My grandparents trusted Raj. My grandfather loved him like brother. I guess none of it matters now.”

  Kai’s snore was her only answer, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She tucked her arm under head and tried to sleep, but Zane’s words haunted her.

  Maybe she was cursed. How else could one explain the deaths that spiraled around her? Erling wouldn’t have fallen if she hadn’t been there. Her grandfather would still be alive, along with all the other people who died in the siege. Nico. Her friends.

  She might’ve been a curse to Erling, but that was because she hadn’t understood her power. She’d managed to get the Infected from the Lieutenant’s basement to fight on her behalf. She’s saved lives. If she got better at controlling the Infected, like the voice, she could help even more people.

  Sanna rose from her bed, careful not to wake Kai, and slipped out onto the porch. Zane was sitting on the edge, his long legs dangling through the slats. The ground below teamed with Infected, their long arms outstretched like ardent worshippers.

  “If you came to apologize—” he began, refusing to look at her.

  “I didn’t. I wanted to tell you you’re wrong. About everything.”

  Zane’s skeletal mouth quirked.

  “I still think about him—Nico—Lucas—whatever his name was. I hate him. He lied and made me feel like I can’t trust myself.” She sat down beside Zane; her legs folded. “But what I hate most—what makes me furious—is that in the end, he made me question how much I hated him. He tried his best to help me, and I truly believe he didn’t want to me to be hurt. God,” she looked at the star washed sky, feeling confused and alone. “Why did he have to make things so complicated?”

  “It was my fault Lucas joined the Bone Boys,” Zane said after a long while. “He was selling used crap outside the of Clay last summer and I convinced him tag along. Then the whole thing with the kid happened, and Slicer, our boss, was furious. He wanted to get even, and Lucas was new, so he hadn’t gotten his tattoos. Yet.” Zane swept some snow off the deck, into the Infected's waiting mouths. “When he missed the first meeting, I knew something was wrong—that he was getting cold feet about the Bone Boys. I should’ve told Slicer the Infected got him or something. But hey, at least you got Bear, that bastard. Man, I thought about doing him in a hundred times.”

  “You mean the big guy?” Sanna said, recalling the large man she’d stabbed in the leg.

  “Yeah. He was bad. Twisted. The gang is better without him.”

  “God, that feels like a lifetime ago.”

  “It was—for Nico. It still feels like yesterday to me.” He motioned to his wounded leg.

  She felt the smallest twinge of guilt.

  “I understand what you mean—about people being complicated. Sometimes I wish we were more like them.” He lifted his chin to the Infected. “All they want to do is feed. They’re easy to understand, and easy to predict, unlike people. Unlike you. I never would’ve guessed you’d come out here tonight after what I said and yet here you are, making things complicated.” He shifted his attention to her. “So, what are you, anyways?”

  “I’m not sure. The Infected seem to be drawn to me, I guess. I got two to fight alongside me during the siege and I felt everything they did. When they were both killed, I blacked out.”

  “Sounds like you’re connected somehow and when their plug gets pulled it’s lights out for you too.”

  She’d come to the same conclusion. “We’re on our way to someone like me, a woman named Iris. Hopefully, she can explain what I am, and how I got this way.”

  “Are you sure it’s not a trap?”

  The thought hadn’t crossed Sanna’s mind. She didn’t know Iris’s motivations for wanting to meet her. She’d assumed it had something to do with her parents, or at least her mother. “Even if it is, Kai’s sister is with her. She’s all he cares about.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Zane said, staring into the seething horde. “You should get some rest. I bet he’ll want to leave tomorrow—he’s been inching to go since you guys got here.”

  “Thank you for having us,” Sanna said, rising. “I’ll return the favor someday.”

  “Sure.”

  Sanna felt better than she had when she’d come out. She didn’t know if they were friends, but at the moment, she also didn’t think they were sworn enemies. And, as she reached for the door, it occurred to her how the tattoos covering his face had seemed to fade as they spoke, revealing the lonely young man beneath.

  SANNA ROSE EARLY THE next morning, her breath frozen in the air above her. The fire must have gone out. Haven had been in charge of banking them back home to make sure they lasted all night. More than once, Sanna had caught her staring into the dancing flames, lost in her memories. But whenever Sanna mustered the courage to ask her about them, she’d dash away like a spooked alley cat.

  Strange girl. Then again, Sanna wasn’t really one to talk anymore.

  She got up and nursed the fire into a healthy blaze. Her stomach growled, loud enough that she feared it would wake Kai and Zane, who were snoring on opposite corners of the room. She rummaged through the remains of the meal the night before, munching on crackers and nubs of cheese. Still hungry, she poked through the baskets and bins on the shelf, following her newly sensitive nose. Bingo. A bundle of smoked fish made her mouth water. She devoured them all, tossing a few filets to Frankie, who stared at her with pure adoration. The meat assuaged the emptiness inside her, and she licked her fingers clean before setting out to make tea with the dried leaves she found. She placed the kettle on the stove, then shook some dried debris into the teapot.

  “You should warm the pot first.” Kai sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Tea is all about temperature and timing.”

  “I think I know how to make tea.”

  “Anyone can dump water over twigs, but to truly appreciate tea you must first respect the ingredients.” He crossed the room in a few short steps, taking the metal teapot from her hands. He peered inside and tutted softly. The kettle whistled and he poured the water inside the pot, swirling it around before pouring it into the waste bucket at his feet.

  “What are you doing?” Sanna whispered, glancing over at Zane. “I’m sure he won’t appreciate you wasting his supplies.”

  Kai carefully shook dried leaves into the teapot, then poured the steaming water over them and put the lid in place. “Get the cups out.”

  She found three mugs under the counter and examined them. Like everything else in the watchtower, they were spotless.

  “It’ll be a few minutes,” Kai said, deadly serious.

  She nodded and went about her morning routine, thanks to the pitcher of water and basin at the far end of the counter. Afterward, she shrugged into her puffy parka and slipped onto the porch to check on the horde. There wasn’t a single one of them left. Weird.

  “Maybe they got tired of waiting,” Kai mused as he joined her, passing her a cup. The rich aroma wafting up from it was tantalizing. “It has been three days.”

  “Perhaps.” Sanna doubted it though. She had a feeling the Infected were called off, like dogs, which meant the man in the woods had something else up his sleeve. She took a sip and practically shivered with delight. “I gotta say, I was skeptical at first, but you really do know your way around a teapot.”

  “My mother taught me. I used to make it for her at night, when she got home from whatever market we were hawking our stuff in that week.”

  “And what about your dad? Where was he?”

  “Around. Sometimes he and my older brother would go out scouting for things we could sell in other colonies, but mostly he let my mother handle everything. She
could drive a hard bargain and was quite an actress when it suited her. Oh, the scenes she’d make...” Kai shook his head, his lips quirked into a half smile. “I’d seriously want to die, right there in the street. Esme’s a lot like her, actually.”

  “Hey,” Zane flung open the door and leaned out onto the porch. “What is this? Why is it so good?”

  “Tea,” Sanna said. “Kai made it.”

  Zane frowned, peering into the cup. “It never tastes like this when I make it.”

  She smiled at the slight coloring spreading across Kai’s face. He must’ve been nothing like his mother—quiet and steady. Watchful. He probably took great care of her, while she was alive. She finished her tea, relishing every drop. “Hey, you should eat. I’ll get our stuff packed. Maybe Zane would part with some supplies. I have some money, but not much.”

  Kai took another sip. “Don’t worry, I already made a deal with him while you were out. It’ll be lean, but we’ll survive. Especially if we catch some game on the way.”

  Zane insisted Kai make another pot of tea so he could study the process. Then the three of them sipped it in the relative warmth and comfort of his makeshift home. Kai and Sanna got ready to leave shortly after breakfast. Part of her wanted to spend a few more days waiting out their enemy. After discussing their location with Zane, Kai realized they were closer to Iris than he originally thought and wanted to forge ahead.

  The prospect of seeing his sister again was making Kai reckless.

  “You know,” Kai said as he slung Zane’s small backpack over his shoulder, which had been traded for some oddly familiar golden bracelets. “There’s probably a lot of Erling refugees in Sorenson now. Some of them will want to go to New Hope and they’ll be looking for a guide.”