by Jeff Olah
She looked back again as the sadistic murmurs grew nearer and her flight response took hold. “Okay.” She moved to Rath and stopping short of the water lapping at the shore, held her arms out.
Maintaining eye contact, he smiled at her and adjusted the straps of his pack, making room for her atop his shoulders. “You ready?” he asked as he took a step forward and squatted down. She nodded and in one motion, he stood and lifted her onto his shoulders, surprised at what little difference her weight made.
“Hold onto my hair as tight as you can and don’t let go, no matter what, even if you pull out a few chunks… I’ll be fine. I promise.” Chloe let out a tiny chuckle as he moved into the deeper water. His concern now firmly placed on the task of crossing the river, Rath strode forward. First to his waist and then mid-torso, his lower extremities burned as if ignited with rocket fuel. Each stepped carefully placed along the uneven riverbed, he practically stumbled with each new step.
The water now lapping at Chloe’s feet and just shy of his armpits; they’d yet to traverse the deepest section. Contemplating his next move, Rath pointed to the shore. “Chloe, it’s gonna get a bit deeper, straighten your legs until we get to the other side.
“Okay.”
Moving the soles of her shoes away from the flowing water and straight out in front of him, Rath shifted onto his right leg and dropped another four inches. The water now almost reaching the top of his shoulders, Chloe could feel it passing closely underneath as Rath took another step. His body wrenched to the side as the rock under his left foot broke free—the pair were instantly pulled under.
Her breath rapidly escaping as the icy waters enveloped her, Chloe’s head pounded from the immediate temperature drop. She struggled under the weight of her pack to get to the surface as the current continued moving her downstream. Eyes clamped down tight, she moved her hands back and forth in front of her, searching in vain for a handhold.
As she was forced to the bottom and her feet scraped the riverbed, she pushed free and her head shot above the surface just long enough to see him swimming toward her. Under once again and the last bit of air drawn from her lungs, Chloe pulled in a mouth full of the freezing liquid that surrounded her. It scorched her throat as it flooded in, enveloping her tiny body.
He visualized the spot where he last saw her and once submerged, pushed off in that direction. Four feet away he slammed into a sizeable boulder and careening to his left came upon her motionless body. Pulling her up by her pack, he reached the surface and fought to pull them both to the opposite shore. Her eyes were still closed and on initial inspection, she was also no longer breathing.
Removing her bag and laying her on the ground, Rath raised her chin and tilted her head back. Preparing to breathe life back into the girl he’d promised to protect, Rath took in a mouthful of the crisp morning air, as the six dark figures emerged from the trees on the opposite shore.
11
The next few minutes would prove to be an interesting contrast of awkwardness and humility. In all the years he’d spent avoiding the beasts lining the opposite shore, he’d never seen them navigate anything near the size of the obstacle that stood between them. He estimated that the river’s fast moving undercurrent, combined with the distance between the two shores, gave him at least sixty seconds to bring Chloe back and move out of the area.
He again drew in a short breath and maintaining her tilted head, pushed the air into her mouth. His first attempt proved to be fruitless as the air traveled down her esophagus and instead of filling her lungs, it entered her stomach. Noticing the rise and fall, he repositioned her head and blew another short breath. Pinching her nose, he pushed another breath in and as he pulled away a mouthful of water drained over her lips.
Turning her head to the side, he waited for the excess water to drain. Placing his ear next to her mouth he listened as five of the Andros entered the water; the sixth sprinted back into the trees and out of sight. Before their attackers had reached the midway point and as he moved her back to center, she coughed up a mouthful of cloudy water.
Although she displayed no signs of breathing on her own, Rath slid his index and middle finger over her carotid and although weak, she at least still held a pulse. Again holding her head in place, he gave two quick breaths and as water continued to trickle out of her mouth, his heart rate began to climb.
The weight and depth of the pulsing river caught the first three Andros by surprise. The middle section was much faster and heavier than the areas nearest the shore and they were pulled under. The two remaining Andros used the others to keep their heads above water as they frantically clawed their way through the churning water toward their prey.
Less than twelve feet separated them as Rath took two deep breaths and forced them into Chloe’s lungs. She lurched forward, coughing the remaining water and traces of dirt and sand from the riverbed onto his shirt. His head on a swivel, Rath quickly removed his pack and laying it on the ground, wrapped her in his wet jacket in an attempt to at least free her from the driving wind.
Shivering and yet unable to vocalize her confusion, the shock of their predicament was still unthinkable. Her head still pounding with the rapid beat of her heart, Chloe blinked through the haze and realized why Rath moved away and withdrew the metal pipe from his pack.
Sliding back into the trees and burying her head inside his damp, snow dusted jacket, she held her breath. The sight of the two soaking wet Andros pushing their way through the knee deep water was beyond her ability to process at the moment. At this distance, the pair staggering out of the water appeared to be at least a head taller than Rath. Given that he was one of the largest men she’d ever seen before today, Chloe began to cry.
“LET’S GO,” Rath shouted as he slammed his pipe against the stump of a fallen tree. “Only the two of you made it?”
By his estimation, it would have been six years since he’d heard one of them speak. Never to one another and unless it was in the stilted grunts that only they seemed to understand, no other form of verbal interaction was used. They communicated through action and bravado, the weak always submissive to the Alpha. And the first to exit the water fit the profile.
Standing well over six and a half feet tall and somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred seventy pounds, this behemoth was most certainly the Alpha. His long dark hair iced over as the frozen wind pushed in from the north and dotted his face with white flakes. He stepped to the shore and motioned for his comrade to stand down.
Confused by their apparent display of obedience, Rath motioned back toward the river and as the others were forced down and held under by the vicious current, he smiled. “Looks like you’re friends are gone. I’ll give you one chance to follow them before you find out why it was a bad idea to—”
Its deep gravelly voice interrupting, the giant Andro spoke. “I’m going to kill you and eat you.” His smile stretched from ear to ear and held an air of superiority that clashed squarely with the darkened circles and blacked out teeth he provided as evidence of his sincerity. “But first,” he said pointing past Rath. “I’m going to make you watch me dismember and then eat the little girl.”
Turning to Chloe, who’d been watching through his unzipped jacket, Rath winked. “Chloe, we’re going to be fine. These men are just lost; I need you to cover your face again. I’m going to help them find their way back home.”
His face flush with anger and spitting as he spoke, the shirtless Alpha commanded his disciple. “Bring her to me.”
With much less control than his larger counterpart and about to explode with anticipation, the second male Andro rocketed from the shore, his blacked out eyes locked on Chloe. Three long strides and he’d closed half the distance, unaware of the movement to his left. He narrowed his line of sight, planted his left leg and prepared to leap.
The strike came much quicker than the Andro was able to react. Rath spun to his right, gripping his three-foot metal equalizer like a man possessed and swung hard and low. T
he viciousness with which the strike landed sent shockwaves running up his arms and into his hands as he clutched the weapon even tighter, relieving the momentary annoyance.
Sliding on his chest and hands into the slop just a few feet from Chloe, the Andro howled like a beaten animal. Reactively folding at the waist and gripping his lower leg, his foot hung back in an awkward position. The tibia bone now protruding through the skin offered a graphic message seemingly directed to the enormous beast standing ten feet away.
Before turning his attention back to the real threat, Rath moved in and landed a pair of strikes to the head of the fallen Andro, assuring he no longer posed a threat and somewhat evening the odds.
Unflinching and by all accounts unfazed by the swift dispatch of one of its own, his final opponent glared expressionless into Rath’s eyes. Although this Alpha had shown that his appetite for verbal provocation may in fact match his thirst for human flesh, neither spoke. The massive Andro closed his eyes, stretched the early morning stiffness out of his shoulders and stepped away from the shore.
Planting his trailing leg against the stump directly to the rear, Rath drew his weapon and spring loaded his body, awaiting the opportunity to strike. His attacker came straight at him, left arm cocked and as Rath put everything he had into the first debilitating blow, the Andro barely flinched.
Three additional body shots did little to discourage the gargantuan male. Rath ducked and moved left, although the Andro anticipated his move and had him by the throat before Rath had a chance to react.
Now on defense and his weapon feet away, Rath pounded his fists into the Andros midsection as he was lifted off his feet. Before he had a chance to react, he was shoved back into the mud and held down by the neck, his airway slowly closing. Rath continued to struggle against the escalating grip the giant had on his throat, his vision turning a filtered shade of grey.
His aggressor smiled. “I guess I am going to kill you first.”
12
Sarah’s face across the field, she was still running and with each step moving further away. His strides stilted and awkward, eliminated any chance he had of catching her and the overwhelming sense of helplessness shook him to the core. His world grew darker with each passing second and as she stopped and turned to face him, the gravity of his current situation rushed in. Pulled from this blissful scene he was being afforded, Rath opened his eyes, if only to watch himself die.
. . .
His body quivered, unable to draw another breath as the massive Andro dropped his right knee into Rath’s chest and brought his head in close. “You think that we’re just monsters, animals, that we are a lesser form of being. The reason we don’t speak to your kind is because it weakens our race as a whole. Your people’s days are numbered. Your position on the food chain is unfortunate and today you’re going to find out why.”
It felt less like dying than he thought it would, although much more painful. The massive surge of electricity coursed through every extremity and felt as if it loosened his teeth in the process. The skin on his neck seemed as though it was on fire, his esophagus a toxic wasteland.
As his vision cleared, he looked to his right and noticed an index, thumb and middle finger severed and scorched, sitting eighteen inches from his face. He hoped they weren’t his.
Rolling to his left side and as his eyes adjusted to the spectrum of brilliant colors, Rath keyed in on the short blue arcs jutting from the end of the baton. Her voice was shallow, although still recognizable; he sensed the courage in it. “Mr. Rath, get up, please. I hit the bad man who was hurting you.”
The stun baton dangled from her right hand, the blue arcs now absent. Chloe stood between him and the beast that was attempting to end his life. The baton still locked at maximum ferocity, she momentarily ended the attack. Weighing less than sixty pounds soaking wet, she’d removed the weapon from his pack and acted on impulse. Chloe had seen the powerful discharge of the stun baton only one other time and shoved it into the arm of the distracted Andro. She saved him.
Convulsing and still under the spell of the electrified current that blew four of his fingers off, the Andro attempted to move to his knees three times and three times he failed. Blood poured from his right hand and flowed along the outline of his body into the fresh river water. Involuntarily shifting onto his back, his shadowed eye sockets grew darker. He licked his lips and attempted to speak, not a single sound could be heard over the churning river only feet away.
Struggling to his feet, Rath moved to Chloe and hugged her. He rewrapped his jacket around her and motioned toward the trees. “Get your pack and wait for me over there. I’ll just be a minute.”
She smiled, but only for a second. “I’m really cold and can’t feel my toes.”
“Me either, although we’re going to fix that. I just need a minute to take care of our friend here.”
Confused and a bit curious she asked, “What are you going to do to him?”
Retrieving his pack and then the baton, he moved to the downed Alpha and used his boot to pin the injured hand to the sloppy ground below. “I’m going to send him home.”
The baton once again cranked to its maximum setting, he slammed it into the shaking Andro. No response. He held it to the sky; no blue arc and no visible current emerged. He slammed it into the ground, “Figures, just as I was getting used to this thing.”
The Andro’s last attempt at pushing itself to a seated position was cut short as Rath went back for the only weapon he’d trusted or needed for the last twenty years. The battered lead pipe he’d carried for years had saved his life on more than a handful of occasions, and it was about to serve its intended purpose once again.
Realizing his fate and without the dexterity to willfully command any of his limbs to do as ordered, the Andro used his remaining strength to spit a mouthful of saliva and blood at the man who was about to end his life.
Gripping the weapon in both hands, Rath said, “I’m not sure we’ll ever fully understand one another… and it’s probably better that most of your kind have lost the ability to communicate. We both know that there’s nothing you could possibly say that would be worth hearing.” Twisting to the right, Rath took a full swing and ended the attack.
It took another three minutes to drag both bodies into the water and let the river carry them back the way they came. Rath’s feet and calves, again on fire from the frigid temperatures, made the task that much more difficult. By the time they’d gathered up their things, his traveling buddy had turned a hazy shade of blue. “Chloe, we need to get you someplace warm.”
She leaned into the stump and dry heaved for a minute before getting her pack and sidling up to Rath. Each step clumsy and drawn out, her attempts at walking, let alone keeping up with him, proved to be too much. “I can’t feel my feet… I think they’re asleep. Like little needles sticking into them.”
. . .
In the best of conditions, the route he’d planned would take them the rest of the day and if slowed by the storm, they’d still be out in the elements by nightfall. An hour’s walk past District One, the town known as Extinction was last controlled by a small horde of Andros. In the years that followed the destruction of their planet and before humanity went underground for ten years, this area was the last remaining civilized town. It was renamed after the planet that brought about the end of the world. This was his next stop… and unfortunately their only hope for survival.
Twenty minutes in and although they’d crested the ridge, she wasn’t going to make it another ten minutes on her feet. The early stages of hypothermia were beginning to take hold and although she’d stopped shivering, her lack of coordination, coupled with the rugged descent, was more than he was willing to put her through and much more than she could handle.
He was going to have to carry her.
13
Bright orange, the thick cotton coveralls were at least two sizes too big. The guard reached into the bag and handed Sarah her black socks and a pair of tatt
ered leather boots. Moving to Lauren, he looked into her eyes, reached back into the bag and pulled out the exact same items, only her coveralls were dark blue in color. Her eyes narrowed with curiosity as she turned to Sarah.
“What do you think the different—”
As the guard turned his attention away from the next person in line and took a step back toward Lauren, Sarah placed her index finger over her mouth and shook her head. The guard didn’t acknowledge the actions of either woman, stepped back, and went along passing out the assigned items.
Waiting for the guard to move a safe distance down the line and in something just shy of a whisper, Sarah talked out of the side of her mouth. “Lauren, we’ve made it this far without any trouble. Let’s see how this plays out.”
Without the same discretion, Lauren twisted to the right and in a slightly intensified tone, she said, “What’s with the different colors? Are they splitting us up?”
