by Imogene Nix
“Bree,” he said, and held out his hand. The gesture was enough to shock her out of her daze, and she cleared her throat.
“The water,” she said, pointing to the canteen. “Your gunshot wound needs to be cleaned.”
He just stared at her, uncomprehending, but his hand fell down to his side.
“Your wound,” she said again, and tapped her shoulder and then pointed to his.
He frowned and she did it again, this time miming getting shot. He pursed his lips and then slowly reached up to move his clothing out of the way.
“We have to keep the wound clean, otherwise it could get infected,” she began to babble as she watched him. He unnerved her, and she didn’t like it one bit.
She expected to see a gaping, bloody hole but when the area was revealed all she saw was a thin, jagged line and pink skin. Her mouth fell open.
“What the hell?”
He covered his shoulder back up, and he was avoiding her gaze as if he knew the implication of what she’d just seen.
“Oh, I see. Your race obviously heals quickly. Huh. Maybe that’s why us humans couldn’t ever kill you off. You just…regenerated. Well, that’s a neat trick to have, but that means—” She looked at the leg and then into his unblinking green eyes. “That means your leg will be healed in a day or two.”
Something burned in her gut, and she didn’t like it, although she didn’t want to analyze that feeling too hard. She should be happy she didn’t have to take care of him anymore.
“I am so relieved!” she said, and smiled at him. He smiled back. “You don’t need me, and had I known you healed in a matter of days I would’ve left you behind. That’s what you get when you can’t understand one another.”
She looked heavenward, ignoring him as he looked toward the sky too.
“It’s too late in the day for me to continue on, but tomorrow I’ll be heading out. Now that I know you won’t starve before your people come I don’t need to waste time with you. Wait, is that why your people didn’t come? Because you’ll heal quick enough and can join them?”
He said something in his language, and she waved it away.
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’m going to bank this fire. It’ll die out long before the sun completely sets. We should get some rest. I’ve got a long day of hiking tomorrow, and you’ve got a long day of letting your bones magically knit back together. At least I learned something from this.”
* * * *
Bree was abruptly awakened sometime during the night by sounds coming from the woods. She stiffened, waiting, and her hand went to her knife. It was voices, human voices, murmuring to one another, and she realized they had to be the survivors from the settlement.
A large hand covered her mouth and she startled before trying to claw the massive paw off her face. And then Niah leaned over her, his body pressing into hers and sending so many different sensations over her nerve endings that she couldn’t process them all.
“Shh,” Niah breathed in her ear, and she abruptly stopped struggling.
Her heart beat so loudly that it drowned out everything else, and she simply laid rigid, hoping he would move off her soon. Quickly. She didn’t know how to handle him pressing into her.
After an eternity, which was more likely only ten minutes or so, she heard the people walk off and only then did he remove his hand and roll off her to lie next to her. In the moonlight, his big eyes stared at her unblinking, like they always did, only this time there was something more. Something…carnal. It scared her a little and she scooted back. His hand came down on her hip, holding her still, and the world completely disappeared. There was her, him, and his touch, and she didn’t know what to do or how to cope with the fact that she wasn’t as scared of him as she should be.
His leg must be healing nicely if he was able to move around to her side of the cold fire pit. She should be feeling fear because now he could easily overpower her. Kill her. Only he did neither. He just laid there with his hand on her hip and his eyes staring deeply into her own.
This was wrong. So horribly wrong.
And yet…it didn’t feel wrong.
And that scared her more than anything.
“Shh,” he whispered again, and his hand ran soothing circles across her hip bone.
She closed her eyes because she couldn’t stand looking at him anymore, couldn’t face the attraction she was developing. And somehow she must have fallen asleep because the next time she opened her eyes it was daylight.
Bree sat up quickly, looking around. Niah was gone. His leg splints were in a nice pile, the only testament that he’d been there. She ignored the stab of pain that pierced through her and told herself it was better this way. He had gone back to his people, to where he came from. It was time she went to where she belonged.
As she gathered her things and slipped her backpack over her shoulders, she thought about when she asked him to save one life as a thank you. Well, it seemed like he’d done just that.
He’d spared hers.
Chapter 5
Bree made sure to stick close to the river but not directly in sight of the bank, preferring to use the forest as a cover. She traveled for several hours before thinking of taking a break and hunting some food. From her backpack she pulled out her snare, set it up, and waited until something small and furry came along. During her wait all she thought about was Niah. Had he found his people? Had his leg fully healed?
Why the hell was she still thinking about him?
She heard the snare snap and looked over to see a squirrel and grimaced. She didn’t like squirrel all that much, the meat was slightly chewy, but she couldn’t be picky. Methodically, she skinned the animal, set up a little fire to cook the meat, and when she was finished she made sure the flames were completely out. The last thing she wanted to do was start a forest fire.
As she continued on her journey, her mind couldn’t seem to move on from Niah. She tried to convince herself it really wasn’t that strange that she kept thinking of him. He’d been the first person she’d interacted with since her father died two years ago, and it didn’t matter that he was an invader. Because of him she’d discovered that being alone and being lonely were completely different things.
The wilderness gave way to a clearing, where the sunshine touched upon yellow wildflowers. She picked one and held it up to her nose, breathing in the sweet scent before her gaze zoomed in on a grizzly bear cub at the other end of the glade. She quickly looked around for mama bear but couldn’t locate her. However, that didn’t mean that the mother wasn’t nearby.
Her father had called grizzly cubs the antichrist because they could take a perfectly beautiful day and turn it into horrible nightmare in the blink of an eye. Bree had never understood what her father meant but as the big fucking mother bear stepped into the clearing and sniffed the air, she suddenly got his trepidation. The bear saw her, let out a roar of anger, and began charging.
“Shit!” she screamed, and turned, running hell-bent to the river.
Worst case scenario she’d jump in and float downriver a bit, but as she reached the shore, she realized the river fell away, dropping far below. The waterfall didn’t mask the huge rocks at the bottom. Hearing the bear crashing forward, Bree did the next best thing. She climbed a tree.
Frenzied panic had her scrambling high up the tree. The bear sniffed around, came to the tree, and looked up. She let out another roar, then stood on her hind legs and shook the tree.
Bree screamed as the tree jolted with pound after pound, and it didn’t take long for the bear to break it. The tree fell, with her in it, toward the water. When it crashed, it knocked her loose, and for a timeless second, she hung suspended over the falls. Spray coated her hair and face.
The bear let out another roar, and she lost her hold and plummeted down. She landed in the icy cold water and struggled to push to the top, needing air. When her head bobbed to the surface she gulped in a breath, but she was disoriented from the rapid swish of the
water. She tried to swim but didn’t know which way to go, and then her head slammed into a rock and suddenly…that was it. Her body went limp and her vision dimmed as blood filled the area around her head. Guess her father had been right. Bear cubs were the antichrist.
Of all the ways she thought she’d die, she had never figured on being taken out by a damn bear cub. It was the last coherent thought she had as she drifted off.
Muted sounds came to her. She felt hands grabbing her. Air blew into her lungs and she coughed, spitting up a lung full of water. She was turned on her side to expel the fluid and a large hand rubbed her back.
Her eyes were mere slits as she rolled onto her back and saw Niah crouching over her. His broad alien face stared at her in concern, and she saw his mouth moving, although she didn’t hear a word he said. She reached up and touched his face, her fingertips tracing lightly over his sharp cheekbones.
“You saved my life,” she murmured, or she thought she murmured. Her head was all fuzzy. Perhaps she was dreaming now. Or maybe she was in heaven. Would alien invaders be in heaven?
She passed out.
* * * *
The next time she woke up she was wrapped up in a blanket and a fire roared nearby. Evening had fallen and the first thought she had was that the flames could be seen far into the darkness of night, and she sat up quickly, intending to put it out. Pain slashed through her head, and the throbbing only intensified the longer she remained upright.
“Ow,” she moaned, and put her hand to her forehead. She felt the coarse fabric of a bandage and blinked in confusion. That was when the memory of what happened crashed over her, and she looked around to see Niah calmly watching her across the fire.
“Niah? How did you find me? Ow. I really hit my head, didn’t I? It hurts to talk.”
She slowly laid back down and shut her eyes.
“I wish I had your healing ability right about now,” she murmured. “You saved my life, didn’t you? I remember falling into the water and hitting my head. I would’ve drowned, so thank you. You spared my life and then saved me.” She opened her eyes and turned her head until she met his gaze. “Why? You came after me, didn’t you? To kill me? If that was the case, then why save me?”
“Bree,” he said. “Stay.”
“You’re confusing, you know that? Niah is confusing.”
He cocked his head as he stared at her. He pointed to her head and then touched his.
“I’ll be okay,” she assured him. “Head wounds bleed a lot. There’s a lot of vascular stuff up here. My mother had been a nurse, trained by her mother who’d been trained by hers, and so forth. My mother would’ve trained me further had she lived, but even with her knowledge, she couldn’t help herself. I have a little medical understanding, not much, but enough to know I’ll be fine once the headache passes.”
He didn’t say anything, and she didn’t expect him to. She realized he was the best companion to have, one who couldn’t tell her to shut up and one who couldn’t talk back.
“You should put out the fire,” she said. “It can be seen for miles. That would be the smart thing to do, but I must admit it feels really cozy. I just want to sleep. Come morning I have to be on my way again, and this time no bears to chase me down. It was damn clumsy of me.”
He just watched her with those big, unblinking, green eyes. He was quite handsome in a very abstract sort of way. Pitch black hair, tanned skin. Muscles. Was he anatomically like human males? Bree felt heat steal into her cheeks as that thought processed. Why would she even go there?
He said something to her in his language, and she liked the deep timbre of his voice even though she hadn’t a clue what he said. His language was difficult, with a lot of clicking and growling. It wasn’t easy like hers with hard consonant sounds and soft vowels that rolled off the tongue.
“When I was little I went to school,” she said. Memories drifted through her mind. “In the settlement where I lived there was a woman who taught language and history, and my father taught me how to survive in the wilderness. I didn’t do a very good job today, did I? Maybe I should’ve died.”
Niah growled a little, and her eyebrows went up. He held up a canteen.
“No, thanks. I wasn’t saying I needed water. I was saying… Oh, never mind.” She waved her hand dismissively. “I was just feeling sorry for myself. I’ve been by myself for two years now, and sometimes I question why I keep going. I won’t ever allow myself to have a husband, or partner, or mate. Whatever you’d like to call it. I can’t afford to grow attached to someone just to have that person leave and never return. I don’t think I could face that again.”
She took a deep breath. He said something to her, and she watched as he grabbed a backpack and dug through it. When did he get that? And where? It looked…new. Unease went through her as she contemplated where he’d gotten it. Had he been sent to find her? Why? Did he think she’d lead him to other settlements? Other humans?
Had that been why he saved her? Did he think she’d just betray her own race because he spared her life?
He pulled out some type of food bar and held it out to her. Tentatively, she took it and smelled it. He demonstrated opening it so she tore the wrapper and immediately a fruity smell enveloped her nose. She took a small bite, to let her brain process the taste and texture, and when her brain gave the okay she scarfed up the bar.
“Thank you,” she said around a mouthful of food. “I hadn’t realized how hungry I’d been. I’ll take the canteen now.”
She mimed drinking, and he handed over the water. She took a deep gulp, and then her belly felt nice and full. A yawn hit her.
“I must’ve slept the day away but I’m so tired,” she said, and snuggled down into the blanket. Somewhere in the back of her mind it dawned that it must belong to him, and if it belonged to him then it must be alien made. But her body was succumbing to the warmth, dragging her down into the darkness of sleep, and not giving a fig that she was using something from the very people who’d destroyed her own.
Chapter 6
Bree awoke as the sun crested over the horizon. She stretched and yawned, wincing slightly at the slight sting of her wound. She couldn’t believe how refreshed she felt. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt so awake.
“Bree,” Niah said.
“Morning, Niah.” She turned to greet him, smiling.
He smiled back at her and held up a food bar.
“For me? Thank you. Yes, I’m a little hungry, although I wonder where you got these obviously factory made bars. And the blanket you let me borrow last night. I’m not stupid, Niah. You retrieved your bag, didn’t you? From your patrol or your group, or…whatever.”
She opened the wrapping and munched on the bar. Whatever they were made from it was enough to satisfy the rumbling in her belly. She finished the food and grabbed the canteen for a long drink of water, and that’s when she saw that all her possessions had been laid out to dry from her unexpected fall into the river, including her back-up undies. With wide eyes she hurriedly grabbed them and stuffed them back into her bag. She felt heat steal into her cheeks as she glanced at him. He stared at her as he munched on his own bar.
“Thanks for, ah, letting my things dry,” she said. “I would’ve hated for mildew to set in since I’ve only got one other change of clothing. Oh, my book!”
She grabbed her most prized possession, a book of poetry wrapped in a plastic bag. Niah had laid it out, and she opened the bag to make sure the pages had stayed dry.
“This is the only thing I have left of my parents,” she continued, flipping through the pages. “My father would read these poems to my mother at night and I would listen, sitting at his knee.”
She opened to the first page and lovingly touched the printed words.
“Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone, for the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, but has trouble enough of its own.’’ She looked at him. “It was written by a woman named Ella Wheele
r Wilcox a very long time ago. Apropos, isn’t it?”
He didn’t say anything, and her melancholy mood stretched over the fact that he didn’t, couldn’t, answer her. She closed the book and put it back in her plastic bag and stood. She folded the blanket before handing it to him. She repacked her bag and slid it onto her back.
“Bree,” Niah said. “Stay.”
“I can’t stay, Niah. I’m heading up the mountain. Oh, crap. I shouldn’t have told you that.”
“Bree. Niah. Stay.” And then he joined his hands together.
“You want us to stay together?”
“Stay,” he repeated.
Somehow it didn’t seem like a good idea and yet…yet she liked the idea. Still, what was he doing? Was he defecting?
“I don’t know what you want from me,” she whispered. “I don’t…I don’t know what I want from you. I’m human. You’re…you know, I don’t even know what your race is called. But yours kills mine. I don’t see that as a very good start to any relationship.”
As if he hadn’t heard her, he simply packed up his own kit and slung it over his shoulder. He lifted a brow, waiting for her to do something, but she didn’t know what to do. He didn’t understand anything she said.
So she turned and began walking, heading north, up the river, like she did last time, only now there was a giant invader trailing her. For the most part, he kept his distance, although she was very aware of him behind her. Bree realized they were on the opposite shore of where she had been when she encountered the bear cub, so this time she kept the river to her left as she made her way north, up the face of the mountain.
“I need to find someplace to hunker down for the winter,” she said, needing to break the silence. Knowing he was behind her was eating into her psyche. “I’m looking for a cave. Someplace I can clear out and make into a comfy home, where I can build a fire without it being seen. The plan is to keep the fire burning all winter long, which means I need to gather wood and store it. I’ll need to hunt as well. Gather nuts or berries. Edible plants. So somewhere along the way you’re going to have to figure out where you want to go. I don’t think you want to bunk down with me during the long, cold winter.”
