Crimson Sky: A Dark Sky Novel (11 page)

Just when I thought they wouldn’t care about an explosion or a fire below them, a single skiff peeled out from under the
Behemoth
’s belly.

“
Hellions!
” one of the Junkers screamed.

I was already moving, running from the burning pile to the one just ahead, sprinting so they wouldn’t see me as I turned around a second pile to stay out of sight. I wove around it and came behind the group, skidding to a stop when I saw one of the Junkers still standing by the machine that was torturing Sawyer. I grabbed a small but heavy piece of rebar from the scrap pile on my left, then hurried to the man while his back was still to me. I didn’t hesitate, swinging the rebar as hard as I could against the back of his skull. The Junker grunted and dropped onto the ground. I felt guilty, then ran to the generator between Sawyer and Nash, who saw me first.

“Claire?”

Ignoring the larger marauder, I dropped by the back console of the generator. I hefted the rebar and slammed it down on the top of the console panel. It dented, and with one more strike, was wrenched free. The Junkers were screaming desperately for the tire fire to be put out. The skiff must be close now.

I reached inside the control panel, searching for the wheel’s motor. I spotted it beyond a snarl of wires, took aim with the rebar, and jabbed the shard of metal into the motor.

Not the safest method, but the crank wheel stopped, buzzing angrily as the gears tried to rotate around the rebar. I barely heard Sawyer’s relieved sigh as I got to my feet and ran across the road to where Gemma lay discarded on the sand. She saw me coming and rolled into her stomach to expose the knotted chains on her wrists. I knelt down and quickly began unwrapping them.

“Did you do that?” she asked, nodding awkwardly to the fire.

I slid the last of her chains free. “I couldn’t think of anything else.”

“Damn. You’re either insanely brilliant, or brilliantly insane.”

I found myself smiling as the last of her chains were undone. I was going to move to her feet, but she rolled out of my reach and began unwrapping the chains around her ankles.

“Help Sawyer. I’ll get Nash.”

There was no time to argue. Gemma was far more capable of handling herself than I was. I ran across the road again, looking up to see the Hellion skiff descending quickly. Most of the Junkers had stopped trying to put out the fire and were running for cover. Only six remained with Briggs, who looked over his shoulder and saw me. He blinked in shock, then scowled furiously.

He shouted curses at me, but I ignored them and stopped at Sawyer’s table. I went straight for his legs, which thankfully were still intact. He needed to get feeling back into them so he could run when I freed him. I knelt down and grabbed the chains, unwrapping them from the table legs. I worked quickly, hearing Briggs’ voice get closer as he neared us. There were more panicked yells about the Hellion skiff getting close to landing, but I ignored those too.

I released Sawyer’s legs, hearing him groan from either relief or pain. I ran up to his arms and worked to untie them.

“I told you to stay hidden,” he murmured.

I looked at him and narrowed my eyes, initially feeling impatient. But the bruises on his face and concern in his eyes pushed my anger away.

“I’m sorry,” I retorted half-heartedly, unshackling the binds from his left wrist, “I didn’t know you wanted your legs ripped off.”

He might have chuckled a little at that, but I was too busy untying him to notice. I hurried to the right side of the table, crouching down to unchain Sawyer’s other wrist.

The shackles suddenly yanked up and he shouted, “Claire!” but before I could see what was going on, rough fingers scraped along my scalp and clutched my hair. I yelped at the sudden pain as I was dragged away from Sawyer’s table and thrown onto the ground behind the generator. I landed on my side and rolled over, seeing Briggs looming over me. I scrambled back as he closed in, barely getting on my feet when his fist crashed into my face. Stars spun in my vision, and I tasted blood from where my lip split. I staggered into the generator, blinking to clear my vision before Briggs punched me in the stomach. Air was pushed out of my lungs, leaving me gasping for breath. I couldn’t get any air back once his hands wrapped around my throat and squeezed.

Briggs’ fingers dug into my necks like dull hooks, bruising and crushing my windpipe. I scratched and slapped at Briggs, but all he did was tighten his grip. I grabbed his hand, trying to push him off, but my lungs were starting to burn and my head was too light.

I closed my eyes, not wanting the last image I saw before my death to be Briggs’ murderous face. Just as I closed them, the hands around my neck were suddenly gone. I gasped as air entered my body again, filling my lungs almost painfully. I coughed, my knees buckling as I slid down the side of the generator.

Sturdy hands gripped my arms and I batted at them.

“Whoa, hey, Claire, it’s me!”

I blinked rapidly, finally able to focus on Gemma as she knelt over me, trying to pull me to my feet. Nash was standing vigilantly behind her, moving his dark eyes from the clouds to the ground.

“Not that you didn’t put on an impressive rescue,” Gemma said as she hauled me to my feet, “but it’s probably time you tell us the escape part of it.”

I put one hand on the side of the generator to steady myself, looking out into the road. The Junkers were sprawled on the dirt, holding their faces and stomachs. I assumed that Nash and Gemma were responsible for that.

Turning my head again, I found Briggs on the ground on my left, a heavy chain wrapped around his throat. Sawyer stood over him, shoving the last of the metal binds off his wrist. I didn’t know if Briggs was alive or dead, but Sawyer’s expression was grim. He said nothing as he stalked over to us, brushing past me to Nash. The larger marauder handed Sawyer his weapons.

“Found these on our friends back there,” Nash muttered. Sawyer tied his belt around his waist, setting the cutlass around his hip. He did the same for his flintlock, then glanced down the road and swore.

We followed his line of sight, and each one of us watched with horror as the Hellion skiff landed just a hundred feet away from us. The Junkers that tried to escape slid to a halt, suddenly realizing they were trapped.

One of the monsters was leaping from the skiff even before it landed. I don’t know if it was its size or the way he moved that made me recognize it as the large, intelligent Hellion. The one who could speak, according to Briggs, and was asking about me. I clutched Gemma’s arm, needing to touch something strong to ground myself.

I’d barely noticed that the sun had finally set, and the Hellions no longer needed their helmets.

It had been a long time since I’d seen the Hellions at night. Their masks were dreadful to look at, but their faces were far more terrifying. Oily black hair hung on either side of their splotchy white faces. Serrated black claws curved into hooks from their fingertips. Eyes that were blood red from lid to lid sought out fresh prey. The monsters opened their jaws and revealed two rows of jagged teeth as they screamed with glee.

They pounced on the Junkers and sank their fangs into the necks of their victims. Junkers trying to run were caught and dragged onto the ground, flesh ripped from their backs before razor teeth sank into their throats. A Junker was trapped on his back, one Hellion shredding his throat while a second tore open his stomach, throwing blood, skin, and organs into the air like an angry child.

The large Hellion swung its claws and sliced open the belly of the first Junker in its reach. Blood sprayed out of the massive wound, the man’s scream cutting through the night. I swore that the Hellion killing him smiled.

“Come on!” Nash suddenly yelled.

I jumped at his voice, but it was enough to bring me back to reality. But when I turned, I saw that it wasn’t me Nash was trying to get through to. It was Sawyer.

The marauder seemed to be frozen in place, staring at the Hellion massacre as though he’d never seen one before. But I knew that was impossible. We’d all seen the Hellions slaughter any humans they got their hands on. We couldn’t waste more time being horrified.

Yet the look on Sawyer’s face… I never imagined I would see it on him. It was the look of someone who had been betrayed in the deepest, most heart-wrenching way. The look of a man whose worst nightmare was realized, unfolding in front of him like skin being split under a knife.

His chest was heaving, as though he couldn’t breathe. I could have sworn he was shaking. Nash whispered harshly for him again. And again. And again. Sawyer didn’t move.

The Hellions continued to rip and slash, sending chunks of skin and sprays of blood hurtling through the air.

“
Sawyer
!” Nash shouted.

It caught Sawyer’s attention, but also the attention of the four Hellions.

They paused their butchery and raised their heads to us. Seeing the stark crimson blood on their paper white faces made my stomach churn. The large Hellion smiled, and I swore that it mouthed Sawyer’s name, right before it turned its bloody eyes onto me. Then its smile widened.

I turned with the marauders, grabbing Sawyer’s hand and pulling him with me. Pulled back from our shock, the four of us ran as fast as we could. I took the lead, moving on instinct and memory. The Hellions would chase us until dawn, and perhaps even after that. We had to make a quick escape, and I didn’t want to risk using a flashbang in case the Hellions split up to hunt us.

They hissed and shrieked behind us, their screams even more piercing now that their masks were removed. I dashed between the narrower piles of garbage, hoping the Hellions would have a more difficult time chasing us. Their speed was unnatural and they could track our scents. We were tired and injured. On foot, there was no way we could outrun them.

Think think think there must be something we can use some place to hide–

But nothing came to mind as we pushed ourselves, but soon the largest garage in the Junkyard was in sight. The moment I set eyes on the crudely built metal shack, I pumped my legs faster. I got ahead of the marauders, grateful that the garage’s door was open. If nothing else, it would give us somewhere to hide. I raced inside, seeing the large piece of rusted metal lying in the center of the shed.

“Hey,” Nash said, sounding shocked. “Is that what I think it is?”

I took a step closer to look at the machine. I recognized the harsh lines, the corroded edges, and the dangerous spike at the front.

“It’s a Hellion skiff,” I said.

Sawyer brushed past me. His stride was quick, but stiff. “It’s a free ride.” He jumped on the back of the skiff and took a look at the controls.

“Gemma, get some gasoline from those tanks there and pour it into the side valve. Firecracker, start this thing.”

The female marauder did as she was told. Nash hurried to help her. I hesitated, but grabbed the edge of the ship and dragged myself over the edge. Dropping the bag off my shoulder, I noticed the control panel on the floor near Sawyer’s feet and grabbed a flat-headed screwdriver from my belt. “I’ve never rewired a Hellion skiff before,” I told him.

“Time to impress me,” Sawyer replied impatiently.

Biting back a response, I knelt down and quickly opened the control panel door. I stared at the wiring, which was an uncoordinated mess of black wires. There was nothing distinctive about them, no plastic color coded insulation over the wires to tell me what they did. I was nervous about toying around with them. If I rewired the wrong ones, I could do anything from disengage the autopilot to overload the engine to blow the entire vessel up. I didn’t even know where to start.

“Well?” snapped Sawyer.

I shot him a piercing glare. “Give me a minute.”

“I don’t have enough bullets to buy you minutes,” he snapped back. “You have seconds.”