Feral Empires: First Spark

by Stephen L. Hadley

  The man was clad in an unmistakable uniform of greens and browns, blended together with so much detail it was almost hypnotizing to look at directly. His knees had barely even bent to soften the impact of his landing, so the only motion was that of his arm as he leveled his pistol.

  “Tingzhi,” he growled.

  As frightening as the man’s sudden appearance was, it was the utterly inhuman quality of his voice that drove Liam into outright terror. The multi-layered, shifting gravel tone stung his ears in the same way he might bash his elbow and leave it numb.

  Not a man, then. A Hunter.

  Somehow, though otherwise petrified, Liam had the presence of mind to release Kathryn’s wrist. He could hardly bring himself to speak, as if the effort would take the last of his strength.

  He managed it anyway.

  “Show me.”

  It was like lightning struck from clear skies. Kathryn moved so quickly, Liam’s mind struggled to process it, even after the fact. In a single, fluid motion, the girl crouched then leapt. Her feet never once touched the ground after the first, so powerful was the force of it. She struck the Hunter in the chest with both knees, the bottom half of her dress flaring out around her like a corona. One of her arms drew back, fingers twisted into the shape of claws, and then slashed horizontally across the Hunter’s throat.

  Silently, Kathryn pushed off her foe’s chest and managed to extricate herself before a single drop of blood could soil her dress.

  Liam blinked in shock. Kathryn had always been quick, but she’d moved nowhere near as fast during their first encounter.

  It wasn’t over.

  Snarling, the Hunter discarded his pistol and pressed a gloved hand to his wounded neck. With the other, he tore the helmet from his head. Dropping into a defensive stance, he held his free hand away from his body. And then, as Liam watched, he began to change.

  Where the Hunter could once have passed as human, albeit a particularly bestial one, there could be no hiding the effects of his matured enhancement once they began to manifest. His muscles bulged, fingers thickening and sharpening into deadly talons, and jaw drooping into a wicked, drooling maw. And last, but most insignificantly, his ears stretched and flared until they were nearly half as large as his head, apiece.

  Liam fumbled with his rifle, knowing he had no chance of shooting it accurately, but unable to do otherwise. Beside him, Jenn remained utterly frozen, her vines lying limp upon the ground.

  “Watch, Liam!” Kathryn shouted. She didn’t look at him, but her mouth was stretched into a joyous smile every bit as alien as the transformed Hunter’s. “Can show! Can show!”

  She never got the chance. The deafening crack of a rifle erupted suddenly and the Hunter shuddered. For an instant, Liam thought its oversized ears had simply left it vulnerable to the noise. But then the creature staggered and slumped to one side.

  With a cry of dismay, Kathryn leapt toward it. As before, her movements were a blur. This time, she ended up perched atop the Hunter’s shoulders, before they had even struck the ground. Again, her arm rose. This time, when it fell, she buried her arm into the side of its head, half-way to the elbow. Twisting, she buried her face against the Hunter’s chest. She lifted it a moment later, chin red with blood and her mouth twisted in a bitter scowl.

  “Not fair!” she bellowed. Gesturing violently with her gore-soaked arm, she glared at the village. “Not fair! Kathryn show! Was show!”

  Shaking, Liam twisted to follow Kathryn’s gaze. The nearest sentry knelt atop his roof, rifle still pressed to his shoulder. His partner did the same, facing the opposite direction. Even as he watched, additional men scrambled onto rooftops holding firearms of their own. Below, he caught flashes of movement as people rushed about without a sound.

  Jenn reached her feet a split-second before Liam.

  “Let’s go!” she snapped, grabbing him by the pack and shoving him back the way they’d come.

  “So soon?” called a voice, made distinct by the utter relaxation in its tone.

  Despite a million instincts urging him otherwise, Liam turned to look. He frowned, intensely aware of the rifle in his hands and resisting the urge to raise it.

  With a practiced gesture, a man hopped the perimeter fence. He was dressed in a uniform nearly identical to the Hunter’s. But unlike the Hunter, he was unarmed and lifted his empty hands in a reassuring gesture.

  “No need to run,” the man said, continuing to advance. His eyes moved to Jenn as her vines rose. He slowed, but did not otherwise react. “I’m Lieutenant Chandler, Indy Irregulars.”

  Slowing to a stop, the man glanced at each of them in turn. As an uncomfortable silence fell, he cleared his throat.

  “So, you guys hungry?”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Not fair,” Kathryn grumbled. She glared at the large bowl of water that had been provided for washing and slurped a handful of water before resuming her work—in this case, stubbornly licking the Hunter’s blood from her arm. “Was show. Not help. Can kill.”

  Liam watched her from the corner of his eye as he stood and sipped from his freshly filled canteen. The clean water tasted better than he could ever remember, but their current situation was too unnerving to enjoy it fully. That was why he kept his back to the barn’s exterior wall, rifle propped within arm’s reach, as he watched Lieutenant Chandler’s prepare the promised meal. They’d wanted to hold it inside but after he and Jenn had objected, the lieutenant had relented and agreed to speak to them outside.

  He doubted Kathryn would have cared but she was indignant enough to object to anything at the moment.

  “I don’t like this,” Jenn whispered, turning her head slightly to speak out the corner of her mouth. Like Liam, her eyes continued to scan the buildings and passing men for any sign of danger. “Who gives food to strangers?”

  Liam nodded in agreement, but made no reply. It was all he could do not to sprint for the trees. From their current location, near the center of the village, he couldn’t quite see the sentries at their posts. That fact alone made him nervous, to say nothing of how a Hunter had managed to follow them.

  He didn’t have long to stew over such mysteries. Lieutenant Chandler returned, wearing a grin and the same uniform as before. His grin faded slightly as he eyed the food that had been laid out, and winced apologetically as he seated himself on the far side of the dishes.

  “Sorry about the hospitality,” he said, helping himself to a bowl of something yellow. “We already had breakfast, so this is just leftovers.”

  When none of them moved to join him, he gestured.

  “Sit, please,” he said. “Help yourselves.

  Liam shared a look with Jenn, who nodded him forward. She continued standing, keeping guard as he sat. Kathryn, on the other hand, continued to lick at her arm as if she hadn’t even noticed the lieutenant’s arrival. From her expression, the offered food held no charm.

  “Lieutenant,” Liam said, studying the man for a moment before turning his attention to the food. He didn’t recognize any of it. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, he grabbed a platter of some kind of meat. He didn’t recognize the smell, but nearly cried out in delight as he bit into it. Rather than dried, it seemed to have been cooked fresh and the warmth and juiciness of the meat nearly brought tears to his eyes.

  Then a thought occurred to him and he paused. What kind of life did these people live that they had enough meat to spare for strangers? It was either wealth or wastefulness, neither of which spoke well of their intentions.

  “I didn’t catch your names,” Chandler said, setting his food aside.

  Liam did the same, ignoring his body’s urgent demand that he stuff himself with every mouthful he could.

  “We didn’t say them.”

  “She did,” the man said, nodding in Kathryn’s direction. “Kathryn, was it?”

  The girl glanced up, met the lieutenant’s eyes, then went back to work. The reaction made Liam want to
grin, but he resisted. Suspicion aside, there was no harm in being polite. These men could be friends of Scott, after all.

  “Liam,” he said, recapturing the Lieutenant’s attention. “Jenn.”

  “Kathryn, Liam, and Jenn,” Chandler said, nodding to each of them in turn. “Like I said, I’m Lieutenant Chandler. Care to tell me why the Occs are after you?”

  Liam shrugged. “Why are you here?”

  The man bristled for just an instant, then gave a snort of amusement and leaned back to rest his weight on his arms. “Slept with the wrong woman, I guess.”

  “Huh?”

  “A joke, sorry.” Chandler shook his head and grinned. “We’re here to fight Occs, of course. Only damn reason I’m on this side.”

  Something about his jocular tone struck Liam wrong and he frowned. “You don’t want to be here?”

  “That’s, well—” Chandler straightened and studied the assorted dishes between them for a moment. “That’s complicated. I want to fight the Occs. And I’m here to kill as many of them as I can. That’s the important thing.”

  Lifting his head, he studied Liam expectantly. Picking up on the unspoken cue, Liam shifted where he sat. He could feel Jenn’s eyes on him and knowing that she’d disapprove of anything he said, he chose his words carefully.

  “We escaped from the Institute.”

  “The what?”

  Of all the things the lieutenant could have said, this was the one Liam had expected the least. He stared at the man, expecting him to dismiss the comment as another joke. He didn’t. Instead, Chandler stared at him with uncomprehending interest.

  Liam’s throat grew tight, though he couldn’t quite identify the reason.

  “The Institute,” he repeated. Glancing up at the sun to orient himself, he pointed in the approximate direction. “The Occ building that way. The one where they make Hunters.”

  “Another one?” Chandler said, eyes following Liam’s gesture. His voice dropped to a murmur. “Why the hell did they put us here? The whole state is one damn minefield.”

  Liam gaped at him, stunned beyond speech.

  “You didn’t know?” he said. “How is that possible?”

  Chandler shrugged, rising. “Sorry, kid,” he said. “You can’t throw a rock without hitting an Occ factory around here. Anyway, you’re safe now. If you feel like joining up, I’m sure we can find you a couple guns.”

  Liam climbed to his feet, utterly bewildered by the path the conversation had taken. He shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts racing through it.

  “We’re going to destroy it,” he explained. “Scott went to find his men. Maybe you’re—”

  “Who is Scott?” Chandler said.

  “He’s… he’s with the Free States Militia. He’s the one who—”

  “Never heard of him,” Chandler said brusquely. His expression had become a scowl at the mention of the militia.Turning, he gestured to another uniformed man, who came trotting over. “This is Sergeant Menendez. He’ll find a place for you to stay.”

  “Wait!” Liam cried, desperation rising. He stepped forward, noticing with some alarm the way Menendez’s hand shifted toward his sidearm. Tearing his gaze from it, he stared at the lieutenant with all the urgency he could muster. “Lieutenant, there are still people inside the Institute. We have to save them. That’s why we ambushed their convoy. If they—”

  “That was you?” Chandler snapped. His expression and voice were full, not of admiration or gratitude, but a blistering, barely contained anger. “This just keeps getting better and better. Fuck! No wonder the Hunter—”

  The lieutenant trailed off, then turned on his heel and stalked away. Liam watched him go, then turned to Jenn. She did not meet his gaze. Instead, she continued leaning against the wall, arms folded and vines hovering around her shoulders. Her face, however, bore a look of weary resignation.

  A hand settled lightly on Liam’s upper arm and he instinctively shrugged away from it. A part of him still could not believe the manner in which his words had been dismissed. Well, if Chandler and his men wanted nothing to do with the Occs that was fine. They could stand on their rooftops, eating meat and ignoring the suffering of those around them. He would do something.

  Unfortunately, it seemed the lieutenant had other plans in mind. Again, the hand closed around Liam’s arm and, again, he twisted free. He stepped away, only to find his rifle held by another uniformed man. This one was no older than Liam himself, though he carried himself in the same mature way as the others. He did not even blink as Liam neared.

  “Give that back,” Liam growled.

  “Liam,” Jenn murmured softly, warningly.

  This time, when the expected hand caught Liam’s arm, he did not pull away. Still glaring at the man who held his rifle, Liam allowed himself to be led away by Sergeant Menendez. Jenn followed after him, unassisted. She hesitated briefly, then stooped slightly to gain the attention of Kathryn.

  The girl still sat in the same spot as before, her arm now thoroughly licked clean. At Jenn’s touch, she seemed to awaken to the world. As her eyes found Liam’s, she leapt to her feet and raced to join him.

  “Liam!” she chirped, grinning. “Feed, soon?”

  Eyes narrow, Liam ran a hand through her hair. It had clumped in several places where she’d not been fast enough to avoid getting blood in it. Despite its overall softness, those spots were a tangible reminder of how deadly the girl could be.

  And, even though Liam knew he shouldn’t dwell on such things, the memory offered a brutal sense of satisfaction as it burned in his gut. He glanced back at Jenn and shared a brief look of understanding.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Soon.”

  ***

  The place they’d been assigned, ironically enough, turned out to be the home of both the boy and the woman who’d led them here. The boy initially hid behind his mother as Sergeant Menendez explained the situation to the woman, but soon gathered his courage and began to stare at the three of them with undisguised fascination.

  The woman, however, needed no such time to make her thoughts known.

  “Bastards show up and think they own the whole damn place,” she grumbled.

  Leaning against the wall of the small wooden house, she continued the work she’d been occupied with as they arrived: patching a torn garment of some kind. She was obviously well practiced, since from the enraged manner in which she stitched, Liam was astonished she hadn’t stabbed herself with the needle.

  “Listen up,” she continued. “You call me Julie, or ma’am. You sleep on the floor, keep quiet, and keep out of my way. And God help me, if any of you lay even a finger on either of the children, I will skin you alive. Understood?”

  It was. However, it wasn’t until Julie had spoken that Liam noticed the babe seated on the small corner bed. The child was impossibly small, clad in only a simple cloth diaper and seemed unsteady though she merely sat there.

  He glanced at Jenn, though she did not seem to share his wonder. Still, the discovery of the child managed to distract him for a few moments before reality came crashing back in to smother him. He slid to the floor as its weight settled heavily on his shoulders.

  They were trapped, barely a step up from being outright prisoners. And though it took him a bit to accept the painful fact, under the circumstances, he had to admit that the Irregulars were no better than the Occs. As long as they were not free to ambush the Institute’s supply convoys, they were among enemies.

  The house’s windows were simple gaps in the wood, filled with cracked and ill-fitting pieces of glass, and Liam stared through one at the bright, blue sky beyond. They would have to wait until nightfall, then escape. The thought of doing so without a rifle left him uneasy, but he’d been in worse situations. And given what he’d seen Kathryn accomplish, it wouldn’t be long before he found another.

  Kathryn, however, did not look able to wait. She sat in the corner, legs drawn up to her chest an
d her arms hugging them tightly. Her small frame shook with each breath and her eyes, though pointed in Liam’s direction, did not see him. Even more startling, her already pale skin was now an almost colorless white.

  Concerned, Liam quickly went to her side.

  “You okay?” he asked. Julie’s orders still ringing in his ears, he kept his voice to a whisper. “Kathryn?”

  “Small,” the girl whimpered suddenly, still not looking at him. She was practically panting. “Too small. Too small. Trapped. Outside? Please?”

  Liam hesitated. Though no one had explicitly said as much, the manner in which Sergeant Menendez had shut them in left no question as to their status as prisoners. As did the patrolling guards. And the last thing he wanted to do was raise suspicion before their escape.

  And yet, looking at Kathryn and the panicked look in her eyes, he knew exactly what she was feeling. He’d felt it himself. He’d seen it in Jenn. The Institute left scars, both visible and invisible.

  “Soon,” he whispered, running his hand through her hair in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “We’ll go back outside soon.”

  “No, no. Not soon. Now. Please. Please! Outside.”

  Liam glanced at Jenn. The woman was seated on a small stool on the far wall, eyeing him while attempting to draw Julie into conversation. From the intensity of her stare, it did not appear to be working.

  There was nothing else to do.

  “Feed?” Liam whispered. His stomach knotted with the knowledge of everything that would follow. “Blood-secret? Would that help?”

  Kathryn’s head perked up. She looked at Liam, pupils dilating as if noticing him for the first time. His suggestion seemed to have calmed her the slightest degree, though she continued to pant for breath as her attention shifted past him to Jenn.

  “Blood-secret? Not secret?” she whispered. “Can show… Plant-girl?”

  Liam shrugged, putting on a brave face as he continued to stroke her hair. He knew there would be hell to pay, but if it made the waiting bearable for Kathryn it would be worth it.