Six

In the dim moonlight, I tried to see past his large, eerie eyes and focus on his other features, like his thick black eyebrows and his very strong, stubborn jaw. His pointed ears were longer than normal.  Well, longer than a normal human’s ears, by about two inches.

He let go of my left arm, reached up to touch the tip of the ear I was studying, then reached out to brush back my hair.  It took all my will not to jerk away.  His fingers brushed the outer shell of my ear, then he leaned in for a closer look.

He seemed curious. But that didn’t make sense.  If he was this curious about humans, why did he kill everyone else?

“It’s an ear,” I said, finally.

His gaze met mine, and he gently touched my ear again.

Hoping that he was curious and not just deciding how to kill me, I reached up and carefully grabbed the wrist of the hand clamped around my right arm.  His hold immediately loosened, and he straightened away from me.

Free, I sidestepped him and started walking again.  Each footfall thumped in time with my racing heart.  While I almost jogged, the creature beside me kept up with long, loose strides.  We made it several yards before he stepped in front of me again.

My sanity cracked.

“No,” I said, bringing up a finger to scold him as if he were a bad dog.  “If you don’t quit stopping me, one of those hellhounds is going to find us.  We’re too close to the highway.  I need to keep moving or I’ll never make it home.”

I couldn’t believe what I’d done.  Swallowing past the lump of terror in my throat, I went around him once more.  He didn’t try to block me or get handsy again.  But he did stick right to my side and keep studying me.  I picked up my pace and tried to out walk him.

One minute I was going along fine, and the next, the ground wasn’t where it should have been.  I fell face first into dried grass because of some kind of animal hole.  The impact felt like a punch to my face.  Stunned, I lay there for a moment as the smell of copper filled my nose.

I groaned, rolled onto my back, and yipped at the sight of a grey face right in front of mine.  Without thinking, I pushed him away then immediately jerked my hand back and covered my face.  Nothing happened.  I peeked through my fingers and saw him studying my chest again.

“Enough already.  Boobs,” I said pointing.  “They’re boobs.  And staring doesn’t make them go away.  I tried.”

He tilted his head and pointed at my chest.

“Boob,” he said.

I paused mid-nose wipe and stared.  He was talking.  English.

“Boobs,” he said, reaching for one.

I slapped his hand away and sat up.

“No.  No more grabbing.”

He flexed his hand as he glanced at it then back at me.  Too late, I realized what I’d done and stared at him with round eyes.  What was I thinking?  He’d snapped necks and tossed bodies right in front of me.

“Grabbing boobs.”

He reached forward again, and I blocked his hand before it reached its destination.

“Stop.”

He cocked his head, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Stop,” he repeated.

I licked my lips, and a copper tang bloomed on the tip of my tongue. With a shaky hand, I wiped under my nose. A smear of blood coated my fingers. Crap. I tugged my sleeve over my hand and brought it up to my nose to staunch the bleeding.

With a frown, the creature pulled my hand away from my face. He lifted my sleeve and looked at my wrist.  Then he grabbed the other hand and looked at that wrist too before focusing on my nose…my blood.  I couldn’t move as he leaned forward, his lips curling back over those massive fangs.

Please don’t bite me.  Please don’t bite me.

My silent plea changed abruptly when, nose to nose, he inhaled deeply.

Please find the smell repulsive.  Please. Please. Plleeaase.

He pulled back, his gaze locked on mine. My panicked thoughts were still trying to decipher his lack of distinguishable expression when he jerked his gaze from mine and stared at the darkness to our left.

Nothing good had been coming out of the dark since the sun had set.  Zombies. Hellhounds. Him.

A howl sounded from the direction he was looking.

I shivered and debated what to do. Try to run? I glanced at the man-creature squatting beside me. How far would I get? Would it piss him off? Would I fall on my face again?

He stood, and I scooted backwards, trying to get to my feet and failing in my fear. My heart bounced into my throat.  I stopped crab crawling backwards, flipped over, and scrambled to my feet.

My captor seemed to have eyes in the back of his head because he’d already moved so he stood in front of me.

“Stop,” he said.

Yeah, right.  Like I wanted to stay and go toe to toe with one of those hellhounds. Before I could step around him, the sound of paws pounding against the dirt had me pivoting to face the new threat.

Shit.  How fast did those beasts move?

A snarl came from the dark ahead and just to the left.  Another, slightly to the right, answered the first. I couldn’t outrun them.  And, I knew what would happen when they found us.  My breathing grew choppy, and my muscles wanted to turn to liquid.

My captor stepped around me and crouched low just as I spotted two sets of glowing red eyes speeding toward us.  One in front of us and one to the right.  The sound of their growls increased.  A third rattling growl joined the first two, and I searched the dark, waiting for another set of eyes. When none came, I glanced at the dark back shielding me, realizing the sound was coming from him.

Yards from us, the hounds slowed, their dark bodies just visible in the weak moonlight.  Ribs protruded from under their mangy, short fur.  Yet, even starved, their long and tall bodies made them look large.

The hellhound in front of us dipped its head low. Saliva dripped from its jowls. The hellhound to the right darted forward, snapping his teeth. I backpedaled and fell. My elbow connected with a rock, and the pain robbed me of air as I watched the hounds make their move.

With its jaws open wide, the hellhound to the right dove straight for my defender’s neck. The man lunged forward and caught the hound around the torso.  The pair of them fell to the side, struggling.  But, I didn’t watch their fight.  I watched the other hound focused on me.  When it tensed, ready to spring, I frantically felt the ground for the rock.

The hound launched itself at me as my fingers closed around my only weapon.  Before I could lift my hand, the grey man appeared in front of me with inhuman speed.  The hellhound’s long, lethal claws tore his shirt as the two collided. With a forearm braced against the beast’s throat, he barely avoided the yellowed, snapping teeth. I feared what would happen if the beast bit him.

A noise to my right had me finally scrambling to my feet.  The first hellhound was getting up.  It looked at the fighting pair then stalked around them as its gaze shifted to me. I shadowed its moves, circling around the opposite way.

I got about a quarter of the way around the fighting pair when the man let out a monstrous bellow. He reached up and caught the snapping hellhound’s jaws in his hands. His biceps bulged as he gripped around the beast’s mouth and heaved.  The lower jaw came away with a spray of blood and wet sound that made me gag.

The other hellhound howled its displeasure. Hefting the weight of the wounded one, the man twisted around and threw one beast into the other. Pinned under the weight of its weakly flailing partner, the hound growled and snapped and struggled to gain its feet.

The man cocked his head at the beast, snarled, then turned toward me.

I backed up as he strode forward.  He said a string of words that made no sense. But they sure sounded angry. I kept backing away.

The hellhound was slowly working its way out from under its partner.

“Stop.”

My heart almost quit at his command.

“Go,” he said.

Before I could figure out what he meant, he grabbed me by my bruised elbow and started walking, pulling me along. I hissed in pain and stumbled as I tried to keep up with him. Although I really wanted to get away from the hellhounds as fast as possible, my legs were definitely not as long as his.

His grip tightened, and he pulled me harder. The throb in my elbow intensified.

“Wait,” I panted, trying to tug my arm free.

He grunted and moved in front of me.

I lifted my chin, ready to tell him I was moving as fast as I could when he bent forward, dipped his shoulder, and caught me around the waist. My breath left in a whoosh as his shoulder dug into my soft stomach and he lifted me into the air.

The brute wrapped an arm around my legs and took off running. My hair flew around my head. I opened my mouth to tell him to put me down then reconsidered.  The ground whipped past at an incredible speed.  Faster than I could ever dream of going.  And, there were two hellhounds behind us.  Closing my mouth, I grabbed the back of his shirt and hung on.

He ran tirelessly. Around us, the sky began to lighten enough that I could make out the highway in the distance and a few buildings in the other direction.

Eventually, he slowed and then stopped.  When he leaned forward to put me on my feet, I groaned with relief.  My stomach and head were killing me.

He loosened his hold on me as blood rushed to places it hadn’t reached while I rode over his shoulder.  Feeling lightheaded, I struggled to find my balance.  My legs started to shake, and I began to drop.  He caught me by my bruised elbow again. This time I didn’t bite back the cry of pain that made my eyes water. He released me slowly and followed my descent down.

He squatted near me and brought his long fingers to rest under my eyes. He dabbed at the wetness and pulled it back to his nose. He closed his eyes as he breathed in.

Exhaustion made me not care that he was sniffing me again.

“Let go,” he said suddenly.

“You’re going to let me go?”

He frowned then made a bunch of word-sounding noises that were incomprehensible to me.

“Who are you? What are you?” I asked.

“Drav.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Drav,” he said, patting his chest again.  He didn’t try grabbing me.  His gaze remained steadily on mine.

“Is that your name?”

“Name Drav.”

“Drav,” I said slowly.  A monster with a name.

He reached forward, clearly aiming for my chest again.

“Boobs.”

I crossed my arms over his goals, effectively blocking him.

“No. My name is Mya. Not boobs.  And boobs aren’t for grabbing.”

“My-ah,” he repeated

He sat back on his haunches.

“I just want to go home.”

Drav’s eerie eyes met mine.

“Home,” he repeated.

I looked away to the glow on the horizon and hoped the light indicated the direction for Oklahoma City and not someone’s yard light. Time to finish this journey, lose my stalker, and get home to my family.  I climbed to my feet.

A strong hand wrapped around my bruised elbow. I yelped and tried to pull my arm back. Drav moved in front of me, his large fingers still pressing into my sensitive skin.

“Ow,” I said.

Drav trailed his hand down my arm.  I winced when he skimmed over my elbow.

“You can’t grab me there. It’s bruised.”

“Bruised?” He cocked his head and lifted my arm.

Drav’s nostrils flared, and his eyes widened. I didn’t like the look on the big brute’s face, and my pulse jumped in alarm. His gaze fixated on my sleeve. My dried blood dotted the cuff from where I’d wiped my bloody nose.

He bunched the fabric between his fingers and pulled back hard. I stumbled forward, the sound of tearing fabric cutting through the otherwise quiet world around us. I gaped up at him, as he yanked half my sleeve off my arm and held it up in his hand.  He growled at the fabric then paced away.

In stunned silence, I watched him quickly dig a hole and toss my sleeve in.  Could my life get any weirder?

Shivering at the cool air on my exposed arm, I turned toward the distant glow of Oklahoma City and started walking.  In two steps, he was beside me.

We didn’t speak as we moved closer and closer to the outlaying north-eastern portion of the city.  Very faintly, I heard a quick succession of pops.  The noises grew with each passing step.  Worry twisted in my stomach.  Shots meant infected, hellhounds, more Dravs or all three.  I hoped Mom, Dad, and Ryan would be safe.

When the first houses came into sight, Drav slowed.  I kept going until he grabbed my arm again.

“Will you please stop yanking on my arms?  They’re going to fall off,” I said in a harsh whisper.

Drav blinked at me then let go.

“Thank you.  Next time try saying stop or wait.”

He motioned to a copse of trees and nudged me in that direction when I didn’t immediately start moving.  I looked at the houses and reluctantly gave into his urging.  Some of the lights were on, some weren’t.  Who knew what lurked inside.  Infected?  Scared humans with guns?  Both would be dangerous.

In the shadow of the trees, he watched the houses. I shifted my weight from foot to foot and yawned until my eyes watered.  He kept glancing at me but didn’t say anything.

As we stood there, I realized the kind of decisions that lay before me. Life or death ones. I’d always thought the saying, “or die trying” sounded so melodramatic.  But now it was my reality.

Sitting heavily, I leaned against the trunk of the nearest tree.

Was I smart to keep trying to get home?  I didn’t know.  I didn’t see any safer option.  If I stayed in the trees, one of those hounds would find me eventually.  Or the infected.  I listened to the pop, pop, pop and decided, at least in the city, I might pick up a gun.  Or die trying.

I shivered and closed my eyes as I thought about what waited for me.

Hellhounds, zombies, demon looking man-people who liked breaking necks and ripping off jaws…I was so fucked.