by A. P. Madden
It was standing at the edge of the darkness. Its chest was covered in muscle and sinew and glistening with sweat or blood or both. Its talon-tipped fingers were braced on the trees around it, and it dragged them down the bark, shredding it like paper.
But it was the eyes that trapped him. Luke couldn’t look away from those glowing hypnotic crimson eyes. It was furious that its prey had escaped. Those eyes were filled with rage and savage hunger and pure, malicious hatred. It wanted to kill them. Not just to hunt prey or to fill its belly. It hated them.
Luke didn’t know how long he stayed like that, staring into those eyes. Eventually, the thing turned and loped away into the darkness, and Luke stared at the empty space.
Eventually, exhaustion pulled him back, and he let his head rest against the ground.
***
Chapter 31 - Fire
It didn’t take long for Luke to realise that they were trapped. They were in a clearing. The open space had saved their lives, but it was surrounded by dense trees, and they had no idea how far it was to the edge of the forest, or even which way they should go.
“It’s getting dark,” Luke said. “We should build a fire before the sun goes down.”
Naomi nodded and reached for a fallen branch nearby, but her hands were shaking, and she clenched her fist tightly. “I just... I need a minute.”
“It’s okay,” Luke said, picking up the branch and tossing it into the centre of the clearing. “Take all the time you need. To be honest, I’m surprised neither of us is sitting on the ground, rocking back and forth.”
“I’ve thought about it,” Naomi said with a weak smile.
Luke grinned and kept looking for firewood. He should have been on the verge of a breakdown after their near-miss with a horrific death, but his body was filled with energy. He had never been so happy to be alive.
He kept an eye on the shadows, but he didn’t see anything, apart from the telltale signs of smaller mutants. It seemed like the smaller ones were more willing to risk coming out to the edge of the darkness, while the bigger ones preferred to stay in the deepest shadows.
“Maybe they’re hungrier,” Luke muttered, adding another branch to the pile in his arms. “Bottom of the mutant food chain. If the bigger ones get hungry, they eat the smaller ones, but the small ones don’t have that option.”
He brought his armload back to the middle of the clearing. Naomi was still pale, but she had started arranging some of the smaller sticks and kindling for the base of the fire.
“Do you have anything to light this?” Naomi asked. “My bag fell off while we were running. I think one of the mutants ripped it off, but honestly, I was so terrified I didn’t even look back.”
“Yeah, I do,” Luke said, reaching for his backpack. He rummaged through it until he found a lighter, and he handed it to her.
The lighter clicked, but there was no flame.
She rolled the wheel down again, but no flame appeared. She did it again, and again, and Luke saw the tiny spark, but nothing else happened.
“Luke.”
“I know. Shit. I didn’t even consider... How was I supposed to know we’d be in this situation?”
Naomi stared at him. “We live in a world full of mutant creatures who hate light.”
“Fair point.”
“You don’t have matches or a backup lighter in there?”
“No,” he growled. “Sue me.”
She shook her head and kept trying. “I can’t sue you if you’re dead. I’ll try to light the twigs with the flint, but you should have a look around for rocks or something.”
“Rocks?”
“To make a spark,” she said. “Or find some sticks to rub together.”
Luke glanced up at the sky - it was already starting to get darker.
He searched through the clearing for anything useful, but it was a hopeless endeavour. He kept glancing over at Naomi to see if she was successful.
“Stop staring at me,” she said.
He could hear the fear in her voice, so he kept his eyes on his search and pretended not to listen to every click of the lighter wheel.
On the edge of the clearing, all around them, the mutants gathered. They must have been smart enough to understand that the sun was going down because their numbers grew as twilight began to fall.
“One of us could escape,” Luke said. “If the other one ran into the forest and distracted them. The lighter is my fault, I should-”
“I’m not letting you do that,” Naomi said.
“It’s my fault, Naomi. We shouldn’t both die for this.”
“The lighter will work, Luke. Besides, I lost my backpack. It had the matches I brought with me, so it’s my fault, too.”
“You can do more to help people-”
“Neither of us is running into the woods as a sacrifice,” Naomi said sharply. “We’re not discussing whose life is worth more. We’ll survive this. Together.”
He just nodded and kept looking, but he knew that they were on a time limit, and he would be forced to make a decision sooner or later.
Finally, Luke heard a noise of triumph from Naomi, and he turned to face her. “You got it?”
She blew gently on the tiny flames and grinned at him.
“Now we-” Luke broke off when something moved behind him, and he jumped away from a mutant that leaped out into the sunlight. It stumbled and wailed as the light hit it, and it rushed to scurry back into the safety of the shadows.
That mutant’s bravery seemed to encourage its companions, and soon the edge of the forest was teeming with ravenous creatures that were completely focused on Luke and Naomi. A few of them risked stepping out into the light, but the pain was too much for them to handle and they jerked back into the dark.
Luke grabbed his knife and the heaviest branch from the pile. “Hurry,” he said.
She glanced up at him. “It’ll take a while. The sun is still up, we have time.”
“Not as much as we thought,” Luke said, watching as the mutants got braver and stupider and more reckless. “They’re starving. I don’t think they’re going to wait until the sun fully sets.”
As he spoke, one of them rushed forward. It screeched as the sunlight hit it, but it kept stumbling and tripping towards him. Luke moved forward and raised his knife. The creature didn’t even attempt to avoid the attack, it just opened its mouth and tried in vain to bite him.
Three others did the same thing. Luke could see that they were in agony, but the sunlight was getting weaker, and faint clouds were blocking out the worst of the light. They were weak and slow and confused, and Luke made quick work of them.
The rest growled and hissed, and Luke felt the temperature dropping as dusk took over the sky.
“Hurry!” Luke shouted.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Naomi demanded. He glanced at her and saw that she had nurtured the flames into a small fire, but it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the creatures at a safe distance. Her hair had fallen down around her face and her eyes were big and bright, completely focused on building the flames.
Another creature lunged from the darkness and Luke drove his blade through its skull.
Luke slowly moved backwards towards the fire. He stayed close to Naomi, swiping the branch at the creatures that came within reach and keeping his knife for the ones reckless enough to get too close.
Naomi coaxed the fire into a blaze over the course of a few minutes. It was just in time, too. The setting sun was obscured by a cluster of dark clouds, and minutes later, it dipped below the horizon.
Darkness claimed the clearing.
The roaring fire pushed the monsters back. They were stupid, but some of them started to realise that nightfall didn’t change anything. They knew what the campfire was, and some of them turned and disappeared into the forest to look for easier prey.
Others stayed, too hungry to abandon the sight of two humans directly in front of them.
They kept
building the fire, taking flaming branches into the trees to scare off the creatures while they grabbed more firewood. There was an unspoken agreement to keep the fire excessively big to avoid any risk of it going out or any mutants getting too close.
“On the bright side, we’re not going to run out of firewood,” Luke said.
***
“In the morning, we’re going to have to go through the forest,” Naomi said. “We have to get out of here one way or another.”
“Caelan might come for us,” Luke said.
“How? He doesn’t know we’re here. He might see the smoke, but he won’t know it’s us.”
“We could wait. Something might change during the day.”
“We won’t last another night out here,” she said.
Luke slammed his fist against the ground. “I know! I know, alright?”
“We’ll get out of this,” Naomi said. “We need to keep our heads clear. All we need is a plan, and we’ll survive.”
“This is my fault. I’m sorry, Naomi.”
“It was just bad luck,” she said. “If that man didn’t come over to the trees, it would have worked.”
“Yeah, I guess. Bad luck.”
“Now, come on,” Naomi said, standing up. “Let’s check out the trees for the best path out. We’ll get through the night, but as soon as the sun rises, I’m taking a burning branch and getting out of this forest.”
He looked up at her. “You never give up, do you?”
She shrugged and took a few steps closer to the edge of the clearing, and Luke picked himself up and joined her, holding his blade at the ready.
“We’ll wait until noon,” he said.
“Why?”
“The sun will be right overhead. It’ll be the best time for sunlight to break through the trees and reach the forest floor.”
They spent some time discussing which sections of trees looked the least thick and which direction would be the shortest route to the forest’s edge, but eventually, there was nothing else to do but wait.
“I can take the first watch,” Luke offered.
“I doubt I’ll be sleeping,” Naomi said.
“Me, neither.”
She smiled at him from across the campfire, and the flames danced across her face. “Know any ghost stories?”
He laughed and reached for his backpack. His food supplies were running low, and between the two of them, there was barely enough to call it a proper meal. They had to leave tomorrow, they had no choice. They were out of food.
Naomi warmed her portion over the fire, and Luke watched the way the light flickered over her skin. It made her eyes shine and cast her whole face into a strange, exotic light. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.
“Can I ask you something?”
Naomi nodded. “Sure.”
Luke hesitated, fidgeting with the water bottle in his hand. In the background, beyond the crackling wood in the fire between them, he could hear the rustling sounds of footsteps and the occasional growl from one of the dozen mutants that were glaring at them from outside the circle of firelight.
“Do you think I’m a bad person?”
Naomi blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Ever since the lab... When I was there, I had to do horrible things, but I also did other things that I didn’t need to do. Bad things. Does that make sense?”
“I think so.”
“I’m wondering if that’s who I am. Deep down, I think I’m broken, and I just never realised.”
Naomi was quiet for a while, and then she got up and came around the fire to sit beside him. “You’re not broken. Not more than anyone else.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think we’re all broken in our own ways. Everyone pretends to be okay, to have it all together, but we’re all damaged. Some people have it worse than others, but almost everyone has something. Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” Luke said.
“Why did you tell me?”
“Well, the obvious answer is that we might die out here.”
She laughed. “True. Is that the only reason?”
“I trust you,” Luke said, shrugging. “I can talk to you about... stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“I don’t know,” he laughed. “Stuff. Anything, everything, things I wouldn’t talk about with anyone else.”
“Since you trust me, can I tell you something?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
“You’re not a bad person.”
“But the lab...”
“You’re not,” she repeated. “You’re a good person, Luke. I can’t watch you destroy yourself over this.”
He looked at her, searching her eyes. “How can you be sure?”
Naomi lifted her hand to his face. “You’ll have to trust me.”
Before Luke could speak, she kissed him.
Every question and doubt vanished from his mind, and his head was filled with her. Her lips, her hair, her skin. His hands wrapped around her and pulled her against him. Her arms wound around his neck as the kiss deepened, and her fingers tangled in his hair. He lost himself in her, forgetting everything else in the world. For a moment, there was nothing but them, and he wanted it to last forever.
When they finally stopped, he was smiling. “That was unexpected.”
Naomi laughed. “Do you believe me now?”
Luke grinned and kissed her again. “I believe you.”
***
Chapter 32 - A New Day
They held each other and talked and watched the flames, but it was impossible to ignore the constant growling, footsteps, hissing and scraping of claws against the ground. The mutants had short attention spans, apparently - Luke thought he saw some of them leaving and others coming to replace them. The new ones were easy to identify because they were more vicious, more animated, more eager to risk coming close to the fire.
As the hours stretched on, Luke wondered if he was imagining it. Maybe the mutants were all the same. Maybe they never gave up or lost interest or got distracted by distant sounds of potential other prey.
It was almost impossible to tell them apart, but Luke didn’t want to spend too long looking at them to try and spot the differences. It would already be hard to forget them, and he didn’t want to make his inevitable nightmares worse.
The night dragged by, and they were both eager for dawn to break on the horizon. Luke knew that his nerves would have been scraped thin if he was here alone, and he guessed that he would have started yelling and screaming at the creatures that circled them. He didn’t want to admit that to Naomi, but she didn’t let go of him once during the night, so he guessed that she felt the same way.
Waiting for noon was even worse. The mutant numbers had dwindled since the sun rose, but they were still everywhere, and the thick forest protected them from the sunlight.
“It’s a bright one today,” Luke said for the tenth time. The sun blazed in the blue sky, and there wasn’t a cloud to be seen for miles.
“Thank goodness,” Naomi said.
“I don’t want to think about what would have been in store for us if it was a cloudy day. The sun is already going to struggle to push through the canopy, but clouds would have made it ten times worse.”
Naomi just nodded, but she didn’t say anything. He didn’t blame her. They had had the same conversation again and again, but neither of them wanted to talk about anything else. They couldn’t. It was impossible to ignore the forest and the horde of mutants surrounding them.
“It’s time,” Luke said.
Naomi was pale, but she nodded and rose, grabbing her gear. Luke lit the ends of two long branches and kicked dirt over the fire. When it was completely covered, he handed one of the branches to Naomi.
They stepped into the forest together.
The path was narrow and barely visible, but patches of the ground were illuminated with weak rays of sunshine, and Luke and Naomi were able to run between them and rest in the rel
ative safety of the sunlight.
The mutants clustered around that side of the clearing when they stepped into the shadows, but the burning branches kept them away. Luke and Naomi ran from sunny patch to sunny patch, and they used the branches when they were forced to move through the shadows. Luke carried an armful of fresh sticks to replace the burning ones when they needed them, and his other hand brandished the flame in front of him. Naomi held her branch in one hand and kept her weapon in the other.
They both knew the weapon was just for show. If they needed to use it, they were already dead.
Only the smaller mutants seemed to risk coming out in the daytime, and Luke realised that the bigger ones had a stronger aversion to light. It was useful information, but it also made his mind conjure up images of what monstrous abominations were lurking in the darkness around them. The inky blackness could contain unimaginable nightmares, and there was no way of knowing.
Images of the monster that chased them yesterday kept flashing into his mind. He thought he saw it in every shadow, every flicker of movement in the darkness, every pair of blood-red eyes that belonged to the smaller monsters that stalked them.
The path split a few times, and Luke let Naomi lead the way. She had an innate sense of direction, while he could barely tell which way was north, and soon the trees were set further apart and the sunlight penetrated more of the foliage above. By the time they found the edge of the forest, they didn’t even need the fire.
“We made it,” Naomi said, almost laughing in disbelief.
Luke grinned and pulled her close. “Of course we did. I didn’t doubt it for a minute.”
She laughed and put her arms around him. “Neither did I.”
He pressed his lips against hers. They kissed until a low growl interrupted them, and Luke glanced over at the trees to see a lone mutant that was too stupid to realise its prey had already escaped.
“I guess that’s our cue to get moving,” Naomi said, reluctantly untangling herself from him.
