Fallocaust (The Fallocaust Series Book 1)

by Quil Carter

  “Day three,” Doc whispered. The doctor slicked back his grey speckled brown hair, and dashed the cigarette, not saying another word. He stared out of the back of the cart almost wistfully, though his hands were trembling. He probably had dipped into the coke earlier, it always gave him the shakes.

  “Sharpie…” a voice suddenly called, not two feet from the tarped caravan. Leo peeked out and saw the cloaked merc shouting to his friend. His eye caught Leo’s. “Just a vehicle. Stay inside the tarp.”

  Leo’s heart jumped. He looked around in apprehension. Sure enough, he could hear a motor off in the distance, several actually.

  “There are people coming..?” Leo said, his voice full of dread. He had been about to stand when he felt a hand grab his.

  Leo looked back at Doc, the expression on his friend’s face was… fear? No…

  It was guilt.

  “Stay down, Leo. I don’t want them to shoot you too.”

  “What?” Leo said in alarm. “Shoot me…? Too?”

  Suddenly there were gunshots. Leo hit the bottom of the caravan and so did Doc.

  Leo could hear popping above him. He looked up to see the blue canvas tear into pieces, revealing the steely grey sky above them. It fell on both of them, cloaking the world in blue before something ripped it away.

  Leo felt hands on him, rough hands, as he was pulled violently off the cart and onto the wet ground. He groaned and tried to rise, but felt a hard kick to his stomach.

  He could hear commotion all around him; a flurry of voices, some panicked, some commanding and fierce, and gunshots… lots of gunshots. He covered his ears to deafen the rings as it rattled every part of him.

  People were dying… everyone was dying. Leo closed his eyes, waiting for the gunshot that would throw him into darkness. His hands were pressing up against his ears so hard it felt like his head was in a clamp. His mind shot in all directions, frantically trying to figure out just what was going on. Why was this happening? They hadn’t told anyone they were leaving, no one.

  A shot landed beside Leo, spraying him with damp dirt. He coughed and tried to look around for a place to crawl to.

  Who would I think of before I died? Why does my mind always go to such stupid places when I’m seconds away from being killed.

  Leo jumped as the head mercenary fell down dead beside him, his blank eyes staring off into oblivion, a trail of foamy red dribbling down his bearded face. Behind him he could see legion-garbed men finishing off the last of the guard. They fell like rats, one after the other.

  Then his eyes fell to the cart. He could see Doc looking at him from behind the wooden barriers of the caravan. His dark eyes were wide from shock, his rain-washed hand gripping the barriers like his life depended on it. The look on the doctor’s face told him he didn’t even believe what was happening. Everything seemed surreal, just a dream.

  “Raise him,” a young, authoritative voice commanded.

  Leo kept staring at his friend. His eyes never left him as someone pulled him to his feet and started dragging him away from the cart. He looked around at the death and dying around him. His guard, his protection, all riddled with bullet holes, glassy eyes staring off from where they had fallen. Blood mixing in with the dreary dark grey, washing away already in the sprinkling rain.

  How long would it take for Reaver to find this place? To figure out what happened? Would he be the one to tell Greyson I was gone?

  There was another punch to his gut. He keeled over and gasped as the wind was knocked out of him.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Leo yelled, but none of the soldiers would talk to him.

  He hands were pulled tightly behind his back with such a ruthless force he could feel his muscles spasm. As he was marched away from the caravan party he could see more of the legion vehicles on the ridge below them. They were parked in a messy circle, surrounded by tire tracks and disturbed ground, bright compared to the darkened wet soil. They had fallen right into an ambush.

  The soldiers cloaked in their black and blue pushed him forward, towards a large circle of legion quads. The cougar chimera on their combat armour snarled in declaration to the wonders of their king. The soldiers were talking excitedly to each other, happy their mission had succeeded.

  They’ve captured me.

  But why? Surely they didn’t want…

  No, there was no way they could have found him. I’ve been so careful.

  “Tell me what you fucks want!” Leo demanded. “Donny? Donny? What the hell did you do?”

  He tried to look behind him, but one of the legionaries wrenched his head back so he was facing forward.

  “Where are you taking me?” he demanded. He tried to drag his feet but their pace was so quick his brain automatically kept walking. “Doc? DOC? Do they know? DO THEY KNOW?”

  “I’m sorry, Leo. He has my family.”

  Leo swore, swallowing the thorns and glass that had seemed to be lodged in his throat. The panic was bubbling to the surface, he was bordering on losing himself, losing his mind.

  Did they know, did they know?

  No, they couldn’t know, they had no way of knowing… he was safe. He had taken every precaution possible. They had been so careful.

  Greyson… I need you. Leo swallowed. His husband was miles away, days away. It was just him now.

  “Make sure he’s secured, Nero’s already on his way,” one of them said as they pushed him into their truck.

  “Nero did this?” Leo said faintly. Anyone but that fucking lunatic…

  The man chuckled at his tone. Leo looked over at him and felt his face drain of colour. He hadn’t recognized him, he had gotten older, they all had. He was a man now.

  “Caligula?” Leo whispered.

  The young boy, not even twenty, didn’t acknowledge him, but Leo knew who he was either way. Like all chimeras he was handsome, perfectly formed with eyes as bright as stars. Leo could’ve picked out his genetic category just by watching him walk; he could have told him what coding he had used just by checking his teeth.

  Caligula had survived, but what about the others? Had they been drawn back, or had King Silas changed his policies since Leo had been gone? No, no… he remembered now. Caligula had been given to Kessler as an infant, to raise as his successor. He was no longer the little baby Leo had watched grow; he was a monster now just like the rest of them.

  The man with curled black hair and eyes the colour of the metallic steel kept walking, no answer dancing on his lips.

  He wasn’t allowed to answer, his master must have told him not to talk to me. Did he know who I was? Did he know my name?

  “Caligula, is Kessler here too?”

  Caligula’s metal eyes were staring ahead. “They know what you did, Lycos.”

  It was then that Leo knew it was over. It was in that moment that any hope for this being for a ransom, or a toll ambush disappeared, evaporating with the slam of the vehicle door.

  Leo looked behind him. The rains fell on the dead mercenaries and the forgotten bosen. The blue tarp was shot to pieces, now only a shred of it clinging to the barriers, secured by shoe laces and twine.

  Leo watched Caligula walk up to a slumped figure. He crossed his arms and started to speak.

  Donny looked up; he had tears running down his cheeks. Good old reliable Doc. Leo had trusted him with everything – with all of their secrets. Doc had been a part of their mismatched family since Greyson had smuggled Leo to the bunker, clutching a newborn to his chest.

  Caligula watched Doc breakdown with minimal interest; even when Doc put his hands on his boots, pleading, he was unfazed. Caligula shifted away from the doctor’s touch like he was some filthy thing, not worthy of even touching his army boots.

  As the vehicle lurched forward with a grinding whine, Leo watched Imperial General Kessler’s heir wrench the doctor to his feet and push him towards an awaiting legionary vehicle.

  Leo screamed at him; he screamed at him every name he could think of as his own vehicl
e drove away from the grisly scene. He screamed until his voice broke, and his chest heaved from exhaustion. Doc could hear him, he knew he could, but he didn’t make eye contact. He didn’t even look at what he had caused, what he was about to cause. Doc had single-handedly destroyed everything Leo, Greyson, and Elish had worked for. Everything.

  It was all over now.

  Silas was coming for Reaver.

  Chapter 48

  Killian

  Dad was running around in a frenzied panic, so was Mom. Neither was really noticing what I was doing, so I sat and played my Game Boy on the stairs. They didn’t need me yet anyway and when they did I would do my job as greeter.

  I was already dressed in my best blouse and black pants. Dad said I looked dapper. I didn’t know if that was good or bad. I assumed good.

  Mom was straightening Dad’s collar. She was wearing a yellow dress, the new one she usually only wore to outings in the town.

  Today’s tea was important. Elish Dekker would be visiting us.

  There was a knock on the door. Mom and Dad froze for a split second, before Dad ushered me forward.

  I stuffed my Game Boy in my back pocket and opened the door.

  In front of me was an incredibly handsome man, one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen. Of course he was though, he was a chimera and they all strived to be beautiful and perfect. Elish didn’t need to strive though. His long blond hair was shiny and the colour of the sun; it fell down far past his shoulders like spun gold. His violet eyes also attracted my gawking gaze. They were warm velvet set on a backdrop of pale milky skin. His cicaro was lucky to have him.

  My uncle had told me that soon I was going to be sold to Skyfall to become one, that I had been singled out by Bishop himself. I asked Mom about this but she almost smacked me, she looked so mad at the suggestion. I didn’t think it would be that bad if I got someone like Elish… I mean it’s better than some of the grubby men that stay in this town. It might be fun to live in Skyland.

  “Good afternoon, Elish. It’s a pleasure to have you visit our home,” I said politely. I stepped back to let him in.

  Elish didn’t move, his eyes were focused on me. He had an air of cold indifference about him, but, despite this, he looked at me with intense interest.

  I dropped my gaze, feeling small and filthy in his presence.

  I looked nervously up at him, and watched his violet eyes analyze me like a computer.

  When he got what he wanted he swept past me as if the time hadn’t gone by at all, and greeted my parents, two armed thiens behind him. They disappeared into the dining room and closed the door.

  I waited by the door. I pressed my ear against it and tried to listen. All I could hear was muffling though. I hissed under my breath and debated my options.

  “You shouldn’t snoop so much,” a voice said behind me. “It will just get you into trouble.”

  I looked behind me quickly. I hadn’t seen anyone behind Mr. Elish and his bodyguards.

  A teenager like me, but taller and with messy jet black hair, was leaning up against the door frame in a casual manner.

  “Who… who are you?” I stammered, feeling temporarily frozen.

  “A mere cicaro, my name is Jade.” The pet named Jade smiled, though his eyes held a different emotion, inquisitive and all seeing, as if he was peering into my soul. It was eerie.

  The pet had a studded collar on, and a tight leather vest and pants. He was twirling his leash chain in one hand, with the other he was drinking something that smelled alcoholic. When we made eye contact his smile turned nonchalant. I could tell already he was trouble. Mother would never let me be friends with him. Maybe that’s why she didn’t want me to be sold to an elite chimera.

  I took a step away from the door. I was just a boy in a factory town, but as a chimera’s pet Jade was technically a slave, so I wasn’t sure if he outranked me. I didn’t want to chance it.

  “It’s too bad you’re leaving Skyfall, you would have done well as a pet.” His eyes scanned me up and down like his master’s had. They were yellow. I had never seen anyone with yellow eyes before. “I bet you would taste nice.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Whatever you say.” The pet gave me a wink and tossed the bottle over to me, before he turned and walked with a self-assured sway down the stone steps.

  I caught the bottle and sniffed it before recoiling. It was rum. I took a drink and gagged as my throat burned like fire.

  When Elish and my parents emerged from the dining room, I ran over to hold the door open.

  Elish noticed the bottle. He motioned at a thien who grabbed it from me. I didn’t protest.

  After courtesies, Elish was gone, along with the guards and Jade the cicaro.

  “So you’re fired? It’s official?” Mom asked. I watched as she took the papers my father was holding.

  “Dad, you got fired?” I said in alarm. What would this mean for us? Would we lose the bookstore? Jade… Jade had just said…

  “I’ll talk to the boy,” Dad replied.

  Dad faded, Mom faded, Mr. Elish, Jade… everyone faded into my memory again. Though, as what happened so often nowadays, they would stay near the edge of my consciousness, waiting to take me away for hours on end.

  I jolted, and as I did, I felt the warm, cozy feeling of Reaver’s house around me.

  I looked down and saw I still had the needle in my arm. I slipped it out and recapped it, then I leaned over and hid it in my dresser. I sat back on the chair and closed my eyes again, feeling warmth and comfort flow through me.

  The heroin had been saving me, it had been putting me near comatose. The first time I had tried it, I was out of it and drooling for hours; so deep in my dreams I couldn’t get out, not that I wanted to.

  Though sometimes my zombieland took me to horrible places, mostly there were nice thoughts: Reaver’s warm embrace, my old home in Tamerlan, warm by the stove surrounded by books, Mario Kart in the basement with my boyfriend. So many good memories.

  Some nightmares, but I took those with the good.

  I curled up in the chair and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and let the warmth take all of my worries away.

  Reaver would be here soon, not now… but soon.

  Reality didn’t come to me until I was hitting Reaver’s back and sliding off of him.

  I leaned a hand on an old truck for support and threw up. I didn’t have anything to puke but water and candy but my brain didn’t care. I lurched until my legs shook. I could feel Reaver holding me up, his firm arms keeping me steady and straight.

  I spat onto the ground, a small pool of bile and stomach fluid underneath the rusted car rim. I stared at the pool until I heard him talk.

  “Want to go back home?” Reaver asked. He thought it was my own mind and memories making me nauseas. In reality it was the heroin.

  I shook my head and climbed back onto him. He carried me everywhere now, I liked it.

  I tightened my hold on him and rested my head against his shoulder blade. The warm amazing feeling came back. I closed my eyes.

  “He’s drooling on your back.” I felt myself lifted up and placed on the couch. My head tipped back but I caught it. A moment later I heard fingers snapping in front of me.

  I focused my eyes and saw Greyson staring at me. He looked concerned.

  “You still in there, son?” Greyson asked. His hand was on my foot and he was shaking it.

  I looked at him, and then down to his hands, once again remembering the time he had strangled Reaver. “Is Leo here?”

  Greyson shook his head. “No, he’s been gone for several days now. Doc too, he left to catch up with their caravan. They’re both in Anvil doing business. Just me here and the fish.”

  I nodded and tucked my knees to my stomach.

  “Is this… typical?” Greyson rose, and turned to Reaver.

  Reaver nodded, his jaw was tense. They walked out of earshot.

  I wasn’t sure how long it was, but ev
entually those voices got higher. The next thing I heard was the two of them walking up the stairs. I stayed lying down on the couch. My mind was too fuzzy to care what they were doing.

  Leo was gone, so the place was clean as ever. I always found it funny how Greyson was the clean one and Leo was, well, not messy, but not as anal, more like Reaver. Maybe that was a chimera trait, though Elish gave off the air of someone pandemically clean, but I guess he did have sengils and cicaros to clean for him.

  I hoped Leo stayed gone for a while. It was nice not to have to worry about being sniped. I had enough to worry about.

  It had been almost a week. I bet Asher was really rotting now, the bugs and the worms had probably come by now too. There would be remainders from Perish’s body, so they would eagerly crawl to a fresh corpse to devour it. What part would they eat first?

  No matter what, they wouldn’t touch that voice recorder, nothing decayed plastic, not even sulphuric acid.

  I sat up as I heard something upstairs. I craned my ears and felt a surge of nervousness as I realized it was yelling. I hated yelling… I hated it when they fought. What if Greyson hurt Reaver again?

  They were probably fighting about me.

  I sighed and stood up. Jamming my hands into my pockets, I slipped into the bathroom.

  After I had shot up, just a small amount not enough to make me out of it, I could still hear the angry voices, though the ones above me were almost drowned out by the ones in my head. I needed to get out and go for a walk, I needed some distraction. I didn’t want to be stuck inside with the fighting.

  I quietly slipped outside.

  It was raining, but it wasn’t a freezing cold rain, just tepid. I looked up at the charcoal grey sky and walked along the balcony for a few minutes before I made my way to the street.

  The rain felt nice against my skin. I took my jacket off and tossed it into one of the abandoned vehicles that had been pushed off to the side of the road. I momentarily raised my arms and welcomed the rain with a happy sigh before I continued to walk.

  No yelling, no fighting. No people threatening me, or hurting my boyfriend. No crazy raticaters and no haunting painful memories. This was the closest I had felt to living in reality in a long time. I actually felt in the moment, not a thousand miles away on different planet.