Wolfen (44 page)

It takes four tries to get the car started again. Not surprising,
with a twenty-year-old, unused battery. The next time we shut off the engine
might be for good. We drive ever-northward until we find a road, then Aiden
takes over the wheel to give Arik a break.

The ride is smoother, faster over asphalt, and the gentle
rocking lulls me to sleep. I dream of running, so hard, so fast, everything
blurs around me. I run until I leave it all in the dust—my life, the converts,
the wasted world—and when I stop to look around, I’m in a sea of stars and it’s
so cold, the air blisters my lungs with each breath, but I don’t care.

Nothing can hurt me now.

~

Desiree woke to total silence, disoriented and still
floating on a haze of utter peace. It shattered when her mind finally
registered her surroundings. It was nighttime, and had been for who knew how
long. They were parked on the side of a road somewhere, the engine off.

“What’s going on?” Her breath misted, and she shivered,
hugging herself for warmth.

Aiden was leaning over the steering wheel, staring at the
landscape. “There’s a city a few miles ahead,” he said.

Arik rubbed his face, then shook himself off to wake up.
“That’s good, right? ‘s what we wanted.”

Aiden didn’t reply.

“You’ve got three people in the car,” Desiree pointed out.
“One of them a little girl. If something’s wrong, you need to tell us.”

“Tell me, Dez,” he replied distractedly. “When was the last
time something
wasn’t
wrong?”

Arik squinted into the night. “Do you see something?”

“Nah, not from this far away.”

“Then what is it?”

“Instinct. This is a bad place to be.”

“So we go around,” Desiree said. “Simple.”

Aiden breathed in deeply, and on his gusty exhale, said,
“Yeah, it would be. Except, we’re out of gas.”

Arik swore.

Casey lay scrunched up sideways in her seat, half-choked by
the seatbelt Aiden had insisted she wear, and fast asleep. How nice it had to
be not to have a single care in the world, because a whole carful of people
were watching out for her.

“So what do we do?”

“We?
We
don’t do anything,” Aiden said. “You three
stay here. I’m going to go check it out.”

Arik shook his head. “No way, man. That’s suicide.”

“For you, maybe. I do this shit for a living.”

Aiden got out, woke Casey, and explained his plan to all of
them. “I want all of you armed. You don’t take a step without a gun in your
hand. You don’t put it down for any reason. Stay in the car; it’s good cover.
No fires, no cooking, no running around without supervision.” He said the last
to Desiree. “Casey,” he added, “I want you to keep an eye on this one, make
sure she doesn’t wander away, okay?”

“‘Kay.”

“I’m counting on you.”

She frowned to make a stern face and, in as deep a voice as
she could manage, said, “I can do it.”

Aiden ruffled her hair. “Good girl.”

“How long will you be gone?” Desiree watched him root through
the weapons to choose his favorite ones. No holsters— he stuck the handguns
into his waistband and pockets. The shotgun and the machete he kept in hand.

“Depends on how far I have to go to get what we need. If I’m
not back by noon, wait a few hours longer. I’ll make it back eventually.”

“I should go with you,” Arik said. “I can help. You’ll need
backup.”

“That’s why you’re staying here. I don’t need you watching
my back. I need you watching theirs.”

“Still—”

“I’m sorry, did I give you the impression this is up for
discussion? Stay here. Keep them safe. That’s your job.” Aiden propped the
shotgun onto his shoulder and loped away into the night.

Arik and Desiree shared a look. It wasn’t pleasant, from
either side. Arik seemed mighty eager to take off, which made sense. Nothing
here for him except two dependants and an enemy. Desiree was surprised he
hadn’t split sooner. But then it wouldn’t make sense to leave without
provisions. He’d probably wait until Aiden came back, then take his share and
leave.
Good to know.

Casey scooted closer to Desiree for warmth. “I’m hungry.”

“We all are. Hopefully Aiden will bring back something to
eat.”

“Is there any meat left?”

“Nope,” Arik answered. “We ate the last of it for dinner.”

“How ‘bout water? I’m thirsty, too.”

Oh, this would be fun. “No water either,” Desiree said.

“Then what
do
we have?”

“Maybe we should play the quiet game,” Desiree suggested.

“I don’t
wanna
play the quiet game.”

“Then just close your eyes and sleep. I’ll wake you when
Aiden comes back.”

“You just want me to shut up, just like everyone else. I
have things to say, you know!”

“None that I wanna hear,” Desiree muttered. Was the girl
going hormonal or something?

Casey punched her in the thigh, right in the stitches. “I
hate you!”

Desiree hissed and shoved her away.

Arik shook his head, then wandered behind the jeep to perch
on the back.

Hot pain throbbed in Desiree’s thigh. She gritted her teeth,
breathing through it. The cut was freshly stitched, but it shouldn’t be hurting
this much.

“I wish you were dead!” Casey hit her again, and Desiree
snapped.

She caught the girl’s hand, mid-swing. Casey screamed and
fought, making a ruckus like someone was killing her. “Shut up!” Desiree said,
and slapped her hard across the cheek.

Casey stopped, her mouth rounded in a shocked O.

“Now you listen here, you little shit. I’ve had it with your
antics. You’d better wise up, right now, or I swear the next time I really will
leave you to choke.”

Casey stared, cupping her cheek. “You hit me,” she said.

“You do not talk back to your elders—ever,” Desiree said.
“You do not disobey, or disrespect people who are putting their lives on the
line to save yours, and you most definitely do
not
hit people who are
taking care of you!” She’d aimed right where it’d hurt the most, too. “You
think I’ll let you get away with it, just because you’re a kid?”

Tears welled, and Casey’s chin wobbled.

“Aiden was right,” Desiree went on. “You are old enough. You
should know better by now.” And she did. Desiree knew what Casey’s parents, and
everyone else in Haven, had taught her by example. Pick on the cripple. She
can’t fight back, anyway. Well, they were all dead, so who had the last laugh
now?

“Arik?” Casey wailed.

“Don’t look at me, kid. She’s right.”

Casey turned sullen and shifted around to give Desiree her
back. At least she was quiet now.

Tired, and in pain, Desiree waited for the sun to rise. She
needed light to check her stitches. It worried her how much the cut still
ached, long after Casey’s hit.
Please don’t let it be infected. Please.

When the sky lightened some hours later, Desiree steeled
herself, untying the knot she’d made at the bottom of her right pant leg. She
felt covered in a layer of dirt and filth. Not the way a wound should be
treated. Desiree held her breath, rolled up the garment, and unwrapped the
bandage. When the last of it peeled away, she bit back a moan. The wound was
swollen and red, moist across the seam, and tender all around.

The beginnings of an infection that would likely turn very
bad, very soon.

With a shaky hand, she tugged open the pack at her feet, and
pulled out the small jar she’d repurposed yesterday. Knowing this might have
been a possibility, she’d saved their tea’s soggy chamomile flowers, wet enough
to use as a dressing. Hopefully they still held some anti-inflammatory
properties. Desiree shifted her stump to protrude over the edge of her seat and
poured more alcohol over the wound, bracing against the searing pain. Then she
piled the flowers on in an even layer and re-wrapped the bandage.

By the time she’d finished, she was lightheaded and
shivering.

“Dez?” Casey said softly.

“What?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Desiree sniffled, and wiped her face dry. “We’re in this
together. Right?”

“Uh-huh.”

She straightened in her seat, and faced the girl. “We need
to help each other, not hurt each other. Right?”

Casey nodded.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

The car jerked as Arik shot to his feet. “We’ve got
incoming!”

Desiree twisted to look out the back window. Arik stood on
the jeep, obscuring her view. “What’s going on?” she asked.

He cursed and dived for the boxes of weapons, pulling them
out one by one. “Converts,” he said. “Lots of them.” When he ducked down,
Desiree gasped.

A sizable group was coming up the fractured road. Still a
good distance away, but there was no question where they were headed, or why.
Desiree couldn’t count them all; they weaved back and forth tightly together,
like a dizzy military formation marching forward.

These converts weren’t native to the town Aiden had left to
recon. Looked like they’d followed the car from Haven.

As they neared, Desiree recognized their massive leader
front and center, towering over the rest. His unmistakable voice sent shivers
up her spine, made her hands so numb, the gun she’d palmed clattered to the
seat.

Casey pressed it back into Desiree’s hand, clutching her
knife to her chest.

Arik fired the first shot, and Desiree flinched, meeting
eyes with Casey.

The converts screamed. He must have hit his mark. Now there’d
be no stopping them.

Desiree took cover between the seats as Arik opened fire,
burning through ammo in a hurry to take down as many as he could.

Casey sobbed, scared, but with a hard determination in her
eyes, like she’d jump out of the car and charge them, head on.

Desiree shook her head. “No,” she said, frantically looking
around for a place to hide her. Nothing in the car, but a few yards ahead stood
a tall tree with thick limbs and a crown full of leaves. Desiree shoved Casey
out. “Go,” she ordered. “Get up that tree. Now!”

“But what about you?”

“Now, Casey. Run!”

The girl fled, and Desiree waited to make sure she could get
up there, then got out of the jeep and positioned herself so she could lean on
it for balance. Then she fired.

Arik had managed to take down six of them, but ten more bore
down on them much too fast. With the last volley from the semi-automatic, he
took down three more, then had to drop the weapon and pick up another one.

Desiree fired to cover him, but she wasn’t a trained marksman.
She couldn’t even tell whether she’d hit anything, and they moved so damned
fast!

Off to the side, a gangly female launched so high into the
air, Desiree lost sight of her until she dropped down on top of the jeep,
tearing into Arik before he knew she was there. He screamed, and the sound
abruptly cut off as she took him down.

Desiree stumbled away from the jeep, kept her balance for a
hop or two, before she lurched forward into tall grass. She cringed, waiting
for claws to rip into her, but they didn’t. Daring a glance, she saw they
weren’t coming after her at all, weren’t even looking at her. The converts
descended on the female and ripped into each other to get at her meal. The
leader, a muscle-bound male with skin the color of charcoal, snarled and tossed
them aside one by one like disobedient children.

Desiree froze. No one had ever gotten this close to a
feeding horde, and lived. Not to her knowledge, anyway. She lay there, afraid
to blink, as the scene played out mere feet from her.

When the female refused to give up her prey, the leader
struck out and ripped into her skull. She squealed and slunk away. He was
taller than Desiree remembered, neck thick like a tree, long claws curled into
talons. His eyes were a sickly green, his fangs coated pink with blood. His
face was scarred, and he had one ear missing, claw marks crisscrossing all over
his torso. A creature who’d earned his rank fighting off challengers.

He hoisted Arik’s body high over his head, roaring his
victory to the screeching chorus of the others. Desiree slapped a hand over her
mouth. Arik was still alive—fingers twitching, mouth open to take a breath,
even as blood bubbled from his neck where the female had torn it out.

The gun wavered in her hand. She wanted to do something, but
what? Put him out of his misery? A single shot would signal to the converts
there was more meat to go around.

Arik’s head lolled back, then to the side. He blinked
slowly, caught sight of her, and his mouth moved, forming words: “Help…me.”

Then, with a twitch of his massive arms, the convert leader
rent Arik in two, lifting his face to the shower of blood and guts that rained
down. One half fell to the waiting group, the other dropped to his feet. None
of the others dared touch it. Those regenerated from their injuries and picking
themselves up didn’t even look his way, joining the feast on the ground
instead.

While they tore into their meal, the leader dug out Arik’s
heart. The defeated female crawled closer, sniffing at his feet, and he
growled, baring his fangs. She flinched, but tilted her head, cawing as if to
appease him. The leader gave her the organ, and she snatched it up like a
greedy squirrel, turning her back to protect it while she ate.

They were much too close. If the female looked up, she’d
spot Desiree in an instant. But she was so preoccupied with her meal, she
didn’t even notice the leader coming up behind her. Claws to her hips, he
picked her up and held her, flailing, in the air, before he slammed her
face-down to the ground and mounted her. She screamed until he bit the back of
her neck, and then she went quiet and limp, helpless against his brutal
assault.