Six

The smell of bacon tickled my nose.  I sat straight up in the mostly dark room and inhaled deeply, not believing what I smelled.

“No way.”

I bolted from the bed, and like a pro hurdler, I cleared the bodies on the floor.  Drav called my name as I sprinted down the steps, waking up the men along the way with my racket.  The sun hadn’t yet kissed the horizon so I whispered “go back to sleep” as I passed.

Rounding the corner to the kitchen, I found Jerry at the stove, guarding three pans full of the greasy meat.  Molev watched from the table.

“That smells like heaven,” I said, moving close to Jerry.  “Where did it come from?”

“The freezer on the back porch.  It’s full of meat.”

“Damn.”

“Bud was glad you didn’t notice it.  But I figured if you’re leaving today, you might want something that reminds you of home.”  He shrugged as if what he’d done was no big deal.

I studied him, noting the worry in his face.  Likely for me.  He knew what to expect out there.  He’d been living it for weeks.  And, I had no real idea, but I did know the fey would keep me safe.

“Come with us,” I said softly.  “You spent all day with these guys yesterday.  You had to learn a little bit about them in that time.  They’re no better or worse than us.  They have faults, but they have strengths too.”

“I know.  I’m not staying because I don’t trust them.  I’m staying because my friends need me.  We’ve lost too many already, and I can’t do that to them.”  He set his fork aside.  “Now that you’re awake, I better get back out to the barn before Bud notices.  He’s been arm wrestling most of the night.”  A slight grin followed that statement.

“Thanks for the bacon,” I said, watching him as he walked away.

Drav entered the kitchen to the sound of the door closing behind Jerry.

“Good morning, Mya.  Is this the food you crave?” he asked, standing behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Oh yeah.  Bacon and eggs.  I never thought I’d eat that again.”

He watched me nudge the bacon around the pans while I waited for the salty meat to finish cooking.  Once it was crisp enough, I removed all of it from the pans and set a heaping plate full on the table.  Neither Drav nor Molev seemed too impressed when they tried a piece.  I didn’t mind.  It meant more for me.

Men slowly trickled into the kitchen and tried bits of the bacon before going outside.

“We’re leaving this morning, right?” I asked, looking at Molev.

“Yes.  According to Ghua, we should be able to reach the building before the sun is too high.”

“Good.  The humans are going to stay here.  We can’t leave them defenseless.  Where are their guns?”

“In the back of the barn next to the sacks of rice.”

“In plain sight?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know they wouldn’t find them and try to use them?” I asked.

“Someone was always with them.  They wouldn’t have gotten close.”

I didn’t argue, but he probably saw the doubt on my face.

“I’m going to head upstairs, shower, and pack.  It shouldn’t take me too long to be ready.”

Drav followed me upstairs.

“You should see if any of the clothes in these dressers fits you.  It doesn’t hurt to have something clean to change into,” I said as I set my bag on the bed.  While he looked through drawers, I pulled a clean set of clothes out of my bag.

He didn’t say anything when I left the room.

In the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and looked at myself in the mirror.  I didn’t look different.  Not really.  But I felt so different.  Older.  More tired.  More determined, with a clear goal.  Find my family and a way for all of us to rebuild our world, together.

Turning from the mirror, I started the shower and stripped.  Not wanting to waste time, I stepped into the chilly spray and began washing.  Physically, I felt recovered from my time in the caverns, which was a good thing.  Even though Drav would likely carry me the whole way to the new place, I would still need my strength and wits about me in the days to come.  Because, while my goal might have been clear, how to achieve it still remained a mystery, especially given the reaction of the humans to the fey.

The water had just begun to warm when the door opened.  I rinsed my face and stuck my head out of the curtain to catch Drav in the process of stripping.

“Uh…what are you doing?”

“Showering with you.”

My gaze shifted to his erection.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.  Molev wants to reach the building before the sun gets too high.  Showering together is going to slow us down.”

“No, it will save time.”  He swept the curtain aside and stepped in with me.

My pulse jumped at the first brush of his fingers over my water slicked skin.  I should have said no, but I couldn’t.  Not when he took the soap from me and ran his foamy hands over my shoulders in slow gentle sweeps.  I closed my eyes and let him wash me, relishing the feel of skin on skin.  Each soapy caress over my breasts made my breath catch.  He didn’t rush, and I didn’t want him to.  As he washed my chest, he nibbled his way from my collarbone to my jaw.  I wrapped my arms around his neck and waited for his lips to meet mine.

Instead of kissing me, he coaxed me to release my hold and turn around.  The spray of the shower rinsed my front as his hands slid over my shoulders and down the long line of my back.  I held still as his hands swept over the curve of my ass and cupped me, but I ached for more than just a washing.

He reached around me and set the soap on the ledge.  Before I could turn to rinse again, his hands gripped my hips, and he pulled me against his chest.  One hand anchored me to him while the other slid over my abdomen and down to my curls.  I reached up behind me, digging my fingers into his hair.

“I love the sounds you make,” he murmured in my ear as he parted me.

I tried not to make sounds.  Really, I did.  But when his finger brushed over my sweet spot again and again, I came apart with a pained-sounding mewl.  I turned my head up to him, and he kissed me hard, capturing most of the sound.

Trembling with aftershocks, I kissed him in return until he pulled away, turned me, and placed his forehead against mine.

“I love you, Mya.”

Tears welled in my eyes for the beautiful, sincere man holding me.  My heart ached for what I felt for him.  Was it love?  I thought so.  But the fear I had for our future fought so hard to stifle it.

“We better finish up, Drav, before Molev bursts in again.”

Drav didn’t seem to mind that I hadn’t returned his sweetly worded sentiment.  When I took the soap and helped him wash, I paid all his parts as much attention as he’d paid mine.  Kissing him didn’t keep his growls quiet, though.

His release echoed in the bathroom, and I didn’t stop touching him until the last shudder wracked through him.  He kissed me tenderly, and I was glad I hadn’t fought showering together.  Even though he’d never left my side, I’d missed him like he had left me.  We’d needed this.

Someone knocked on the door.

“We are meeting in the yard,” Molev said through the wood.

“Okay.  We’ll be just a minute,” I called back.

Drav kissed me hard then turned off the water.  Pushing the curtain open, Drav grabbed the waiting towel and handed it to me before getting his own.

We hurriedly dried and dressed.  Well, I dressed.  Drav left the bathroom without wearing a stitch of clothing.  No one in the hallway seemed to even notice.

Drav put on a clean shirt and the same pants in our room while I brushed and braided my wet hair in the bathroom.  We both walked downstairs a few minutes later.  Most of the fey had left the house.  The few remaining ate soup in the kitchen.

Stepping outside, we found the majority of the fey milling about the yard in the pre-dawn light.  Molev called Drav’s name, gesturing him over toward the barn where he stood with some other long-haired fey.

“Go.  I’ll walk around before we have to leave,” I said, waving him off and shouldering my bag.  He pressed a kiss to my forehead and went to join Molev.

I wandered over to the gate.  I didn’t think we were that far from Irving, which meant we had a lot of road to cover to get to the new place.  It wouldn’t take the fey long, though, at the speeds they traveled.

While the others wandered about, I watched the trees through the fence.  Shadows danced among the barren trees, the branches rustling in the wind, creating creaking groans as bark scraped against bark.

The woman from the day before and Ghua’s story rose to my mind again.  How many infected lurked in those trees lining this road and the next?

Suddenly, I no longer felt so eager to leave.

I stepped back, ready to turn away from the fence when something in the trees caught my eye.  A trace of red amidst the brown.  I leaned forward, focusing on the spot.  There it was again.  A small figure moving through the forest.  I watched the uneven way it moved, and my heart broke.  As much as I wanted it to be a fox or some other creature, I knew it wasn’t.  A child had become infected and now wandered the woods, forever alone.

The figure stumbled from the trees into the road, tottering closer with each uneven step.  Close enough that I could see its tousle of black hair.  A little boy, no more than three or four years old, lifted his head.  I caught a glimpse of his baby blues as he stumbled then threw his hands out to catch himself.

My hands gripped the chain link gate, and I gasped, not believing what I was seeing.  Blue eyes without a trace of cloudiness.  The child was not infected, just thin and dirty.  How was he still alive out there?

The boy regained his feet and wobbled forward, each step a monumental struggle.  I finally saw why.  A heavy, thick loop of rope had been tied around his waist.  The end trailed after him and disappeared into the trees from where he’d emerged.

Fear gripped me.  Who had tied him?

I reached out and grabbed the fey beside me.

“Do you see the human?” I asked, not taking my eyes from the boy.

“Yes, Mya.”

“Go get him.  But be very gentle.  There’s a rope around his waist.  I don’t know why.  Hurry and be careful.”

The fey jerked the gate open and sprinted toward the boy.  The child stopped walking, shocked at the sight of the big grey man coming his way.  The toddler’s bottom lip wobbled.

The rope behind him moved. The slack began to tighten.  Something held the other end.

“Quick,” I yelled.  “The rope!”

The fey reached the boy and quickly untangled the rope from his tiny waist.  A loud gurgle sounded beyond them.

From the trees, a herd of infected emerged, racing toward the fey and the boy.  The number of infected spilling from the forest stunned me.  Amidst the chaotic movement, one stood still.  A woman in a torn and dirty brown business suit.  The woman I’d seen outside my window.  She held the other end of the rope.

Terror coursed through me as the fey lifted the child into his arms and sprinted toward the gate, barely ahead of the infected.

Across the yard, Bud started yelling, demanding their guns.  I hoped the fey were smart enough not to give the humans the weapons.

“Get Mya away from the gate,” Drav shouted.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist and yanked me off my feet.  As I was carried away from the gate, I couldn’t stop watching the scene play out.

The fey and child made it into the yard with the herd of infected right on their heels.  Men tried to force the gate closed as the infected crashed against the fencing, the sound of grunts and groans filling the air along with eager yells.

I swatted at the arm holding me.

“Stop.  Put me down.”  The fey listened, but he stayed close to my side.

“Get the kid to the house,” I yelled.   The man, who still held the boy in his arms, heard me and sprinted in that direction.

The rest of the fey moved toward the fence, ready.  On the other side, the infected pushed harder against the metal barrier.  One fell.  The infected behind him stepped on his back, reaching closer to the top.

Metal groaned.  Fear clawed at me as the gate’s hinge twisted under the weight of so many infected.  Infected spilled into the yard.  The nearby fey met them with a brute strength that sent the first infected head flying from its body.

“Protect Mya and the child,” Molev’s voice called out from somewhere in the fray.

The fey beside me nudged me back toward the house as infected swarmed the men nearest the gate.  I couldn’t tear my eyes from the fight as fey began to disappear under the swell of bodies pouring through.

Bud continued to yell for weapons.  Weapons wouldn’t help against these kinds of numbers.  Only the fey could.

Not a single infected made it a step in the direction of the house—my direction—because of the number of fey lined up to meet them.  The sickening sound of tearing flesh filled the yard.  Heads began to sail through the air as the fey pressed forward, clearing infected from those in the front.  Heads weren’t the only thing flying.  With a thunderous yell, one of the fey sent a body flying over the chaos.  The limp headless infected landed outside the fence.

In the melee, I saw an infected slip between two fighting fey and go for Bud.  I opened my mouth to call out a warning at the same time Bud saw the infected.  The man grabbed Butch and pushed his friend toward the creature.

The infected pounced on Butch, and Bud turned to sprint into the barn.

In horror, I watched Butch struggle with the woman.  Bodies blocked my view for a moment, and the fey with me nudged me further toward the house.  There were still infected pouring in through the gate, though.

“Go help them.  I only need one of you.  We can’t afford to lose any of you.  Go!”

Half the fey guarding me broke off to help their friends.  I caught sight of Kerr racing toward Butch and the infected that had him pinned against the barn.  He ripped the infected away from the man by grabbing the infected woman’s hair and shoulder.  His biceps bulged as he separated head from body. As Butch slowly slid down the barn’s wall, Kerr turned back to the fight.

Within minutes, the fey eliminated the remaining threat.  Bodies littered the blood-stained ground, and the fey began tossing infected parts over the fence.

I shuddered at the sight and focused on the men by the barn.  Bud had reemerged, and Butch still sat on the ground, a hand pressed to his shoulder.

I strode over to them.

“What happened?” I asked.  Blood seeped through Butch’s fingers and shirt.

“Nothing, demon-bitch,” Bud said.

“He was bit,” Jerry said.

“Fucker pushed me,” Butch panted, pulling his hand away to reveal the bite on his shoulder. 

Gnarled, torn flesh flapped against the remaining skin and blood poured from the wound.  I held in my gag and focused on Butch’s face.  I didn’t know what would happen to him.  Every person who had turned infected that I’d witnessed since this thing started had been because a hellhound had killed them.  But I knew from Charles, a bite from an infected caused the sickness to spread, too.

I squatted down in front of Butch and met his pained gaze.

“How long do you have?”

“Not long,” Jerry answered for him.

I reached out to put a comforting hand on Butch’s leg, but Drav stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

“No, Mya.”

I hadn’t even realized he’d joined us.

“What happens now?” I asked.

“Give us the location of the guns so we can put this fucker out of his misery,” Bud said.

I stood and looked Bud in the eye.

“I saw what you did.  I wish I had the strength to hit you in the face and break your damn nose.”  No sooner had the words left my mouth than Drav’s fist darted forward and made my dreams come true.

Bud howled in pain as blood poured from his nose.

Ignoring him, I squatted back down by Butch.

“Thank you for that,” he said.

His breathing hitched, and he groaned in pain.  Drav jerked me back, well out of the man’s reach.

A moment later, Butch hunched over.  He clutched his stomach and threw up.  The other men jumped backwards as bile and breakfast splattered on the ground.  Butch kept dry heaving.

“Butch?” Jerry stepped forward, but Tucker stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t, there isn’t anything we can do.”

“FFFFFuuccck,” Butch moaned, straightening enough to lean back on the barn.

His eyes watered, and tears fell down his cheeks.  My stomach became queasy as I noticed blood coated around his mouth.  In a moment, he fell forward onto the ground.  He made no noise, and the area around us became utterly silent.

“Butch?” I said.

A muffled groan came from the fallen body at our feet, and slowly Butch got back to his feet.  His milky white gaze swept over us, his mouth opening and closing listlessly.