Several bolts whizzed by him. Felix knew he should weave and make the shorts more difficult, but he was exhausted and it was all he could do to keep going.
Thankfully the shots at him didn't last long. By the time the raiders had reloaded, the landsharks were in range and a bigger, more menacing target.
Felix set foot on the gangplank and charged up. A burly raider blocked the top of the ramp, sword in hand. Felix didn't care about injuries at this point. He blocked a blow with his arm. The sword bit deep into his arm, and blood flowed freely.
Felix half slid, half fell around the man and onto the deck. His sprawl brought him to the edge of a shallow ramp leading into a hold. Below, he could see several cages filled with red cats.
As he was climbing to his feet, the burly man maneuvered behind him and bashed Felix with his shield. Felix tumbled down the ramp and landed next to the cages.
Above, he could hear a threatening creak from the gangplank as the landsharks followed him onboard. Shortly after, all he could hear was the shouts of the desperate raiders, the bellowing calls of the monsters and the cries of the wounded.
Felix tried to get up. He fell back to the deck when his arm buckled beneath him. It hurt so bad, and he was so tired. The screaming began to die down, but the sound of destruction had not. Felix couldn’t see above, but was sure he had succeeded. His view of the pale blue sky at top of the ramp was blocked by beady-eyed death looking down at him.
He smiled; he had won.
***
Felix screamed. Teeth flashed down at him in the dingy dark of the below decks, and pain filled everything. After a moment, he realized he was under a different deck, in a bed. The pain and memory faded swiftly.
He sat at the edge of the bed, letting the implant work its magic and numb the horror out of that memory. He didn’t like the idea of it messing with his head, but in some instances, like say, being eaten alive, he would make an exception.
Above him he heard Koale shout, and a muffled explosion. The ship rocked and surged forward.
Felix pulled on the clothes that had been left out for him beside the bed before going topside. He climbed up the short stairway, taking care of his steps with the new rock of the ship.
Once out of the hatch, he found Koale and Liz were waiting for him. Liz wasted no time and sprinted toward him, climbing and resuming her perch on his shoulder. He pet her as he scanned the horizon for any sign of pursuit.
Trent and Renessa stood together, watching as the island drifted away behind them. Trent saw it first, and pointed out over the water. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked.
Felixed looked where the big man pointed. He couldn’t see anything but the faint tendrils of smoke at first, but as they drew away from the island, he was able to see it- the broken silhouette of the ship. The mast list to the side and smoke billowed out of the hold. They would not be following for a while.
A faint smile touched Trent’s face. “You crazy bastard. Maybe you aren’t so useless after all.”
Felix rolled his eyes and turned away. He walked to the bow of the ship and looked out.
Ahead, there was nothing but open sea.
***
Daviron smiled at the camera, "Wasn't that just thrilling, folks? Who would have thought the newcomers had it in them to bloody the nose of Trevor's Crew? Even if it was one of the rookie crews, being the first season in command for Captain Elodie, it is no small feat.
I don't fancy being in her shoes when she has to tell Trevor about the total loss of ship and spoils. Nor do I fancy the newcomer's chances at surviving Trevor's wrath. GBK will bring you the inside scoop and more next time on Survival World."
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Thank you so much for reading Fresh Blood. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. There’s more to come for Felix and company and the next book is already underway!
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Jessica Hicks was born and raised in Mesa, Arizona. A few years after highschool, she did a stint in the Navy, ending her contract as a Fire Controlman Second Class aboard the USS Dewey.
During her time in the Navy, she met and married a handsome sailor by the name of Kyle. They currently live in the outskirts of San Diego with their son and too many small, furry animals.
Itching for more adventure? Check out Unknown Horizons by Casey White!
***
I stared down at the printouts, blinking slowly. Dumbly. As though I couldn't comprehend any of what I was seeing.
"Take your time," the creature across from me cooed. It was spindle-thin, with too many fingers and too many eyes and too many legs. Completely and totally alien - which was only to be expected, after all.
Alien abduction was something that happened to other people - crazy people living in trailers out in the woods, complaining about the fluoride in city water and the government satellites spying on them in their homes. Not me. So I’d always thought.
I'd learned otherwise.
"I...don't know," I said, furrowing my brow carefully.
The alien across from me sighed, unable to mask its smile. Gaelinin, I'd been told to call it. "That's fine. It's fine," it said. I understood every word, somehow, despite the fact that its reedy, wind-chime voice should only sound like meaningless, nonsensical noises.
They'd...done something to me. I couldn't remember. But when I'd awoken, my head was shaved, and there were scars all over my scalp. They'd put something in me. I didn't know quite what, but we could understand each other.
"I'm tired," I said plaintively, fixing the alien with my biggest puppy-dog eyes. "Can I go back to my room?"
Its skin flushed in the way it always seemed to when it was happy. "Oh. Just a little more, Sam. Just one more. Here. Could you solve this problem for me?"
It slid another sheet across to me. I looked down with careful, methodical deliberation.
X=4
(2X+10)/2 = ?
Inwardly, I groaned. More middle-school math. They kept doing this - checking and double checking my mental acuity, my speed, as though they couldn't quite believe the results they were getting.
I stared down at the numbers, pressing my nose closer inch by inch.
"Is it six?" I said, pursing my lips as I looked back at Gaelinin.
It made the hissing, gasping noise that was its laughter, then held a many-fingered hand up like it was trying to hide the expression. It was a bit of humanity I wouldn't have expected.
"Oh...I'm so stupid," I said slowly.
"No. It's fine, Sam. Why don't you go back to your room, now?" Gaelinin said soothingly.
My collar beeped. I flinched, stiffening and then relaxing. That meant I could leave, that I was free to exit the test chamber. Thank god. I'd seen what their device could do, and I could never quite rest easy until I knew it had gone into 'sleep' mode.
The fact I'd seen what it could do was the reason I was playing this damn stupid game, after all.
I rose, my motions wooden and slow, and slipped into the hall. The panel on the wall beeped, signaling for the world to hear that it had begun tracking my collar. They'd let me walk myself home, at least. Why not? Where was I going to go?
I stepped from the room, letting the door slide shut behind me.
The sound of screaming echoed down the hallway. They weren't human - I knew that much. I hadn't seen any other humans on this ship, in fact. But I'd seen them through the windows of their test chambers.
The sight of them as I'd first been dragged into Gaelinin's room between two guards had put me into such a shock that I'd been dumbfounded, frozen solid. The tubes hanging from their arms, the way they writhed as the system put them through test after test after test…It was pushing them farther and farther, finding their limits of mental and physical acuity.
I hadn't realized it at the time, but that very dumbfounded reaction had saved me.
The door slid shut behind me as I stepped into my room - tiny, windowless, and bare. There was no doorknob. I was little more than an animal to them, after all. Just another curiosity to be poked and prodded.
But they wouldn't expect greatness out of an animal. They wouldn't do the things to me that they'd done to the rest of their subjects.
And animals wouldn't be considered a threat. That had been my deepest, darkest fear, the one I’d kept hidden. So long as my captors thought I was useless, Earth was useless to them too. It was safe, wherever it was. I had to hope that we were still close, at least.
It had better be. When I made my escape, I wanted to go home.
Slowly, carefully, I ran the plan over in my mind again. The little device Gaelinin wore on its belt would do the trick - I'd seen it open the forbidden doors. The caretaker wouldn't expect it from me, and that gave me an opening.
If I failed, the game would be up. The aftermath would be...unpleasant for me. I was sure of that much.
But I had to try. I wasn't going to stay here forever.
Sliding my eyes shut, I pushed the doubts away.
There was only the plan. That was all.
And it was nearly time.
Fresh Blood Page 27
