With These Wings

by Wendy Knight

  Her bottom lip quivered as tears filled her huge eyes. “I was just trying to help. But nothing I do compares to your stupid alien!” She whirled and took off down the corridor, disappearing around a corner.

  Rolling his eyes, Cole swung away. He’d made a space of his own in the tunnel he and Keven had found, instead of sleeping in the common area with everyone else. Partly because he wondered if they would kill him in his sleep for chasing their Guardian off.

  Living underground, he lost track of when it was day or night, dark or light. Nyx somehow always knew, but he couldn’t keep it straight. Which was a bonus now, because he needed to sleep before they went out that night. Wouldn’t do to be running from aliens on pure adrenaline and no sleep.

  That would probably kill him.

  But every time he closed his eyes, she was there — not Phoenyx, as he would have expected, but Nyx. Flashing blue eyes, shimmering tattoos against her pale skin. And those wings, always moving, lightning seeming to run through them. They were like a physical representation of her mood. If she was nervous, they fluttered. If she was angry, they sparked. If she was uncomfortable, they tucked around her like a shield.

  Holy hell, he missed those wings.

  Not to mention the smile. The one where she forgot life sucked and she was part alien and they were all going to most likely die slow, painful deaths. The one where she just seemed… happy. No pain. It was rare, but he’d seen it a few times. Mostly when she was flying.

  And you told her she needed to be cured.

  He was such an idiot.

  Now if only she would come home so he could tell her that.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  THEY STARTED OUT SILENTLY. KEVEN HAD gathered more forces while Cole was sleeping, a guy named Damon, another named Jeremy, and a boy named Julian, as well as four girls — Bliedh, Haylen, Ruby, Michele, and Kristi. Not a huge force like Enika had hoped for, but enough. They left before the sun came up so they could make it home before the Pys came out at night.

  Hopefully.

  “No talking. Don’t trip. Don’t make noise.” Keven didn’t look at any of them, just tossed Cole a gun. Enika swung her ax up to her shoulder, looking for all the world like a pint-size medieval warrior. On their backs were blood-dipped arrows and bows in their free hands. Which meant if they were attacked, they’d have to drop a weapon. But it was better than being caught without anything at all.

  Trigger, Keven, and Justin had bows, as well. The rest had guns, which wouldn’t kill the Garce or the Pys, but it would slow them down.

  Hopefully enough.

  Actually, since he was hoping for things, Cole hoped they didn’t run into any aliens at all. But without Nyx to keep them at bay…

  He had very little faith that he’d get his wish.

  It was ten blocks to the Costco, a big, square, cement building. They were on foot because there was no more fuel for Keven’s 4-Runner or any of the other vehicles. Cole had a suspicion that Keven had used the last of it looking for Nyx, but he wouldn’t admit anything.

  They passed the mall on their way, where Cole used to go to pick up girls.

  Before Phoenyx.

  But there were no supplies there. Unless they needed clothing or jewelry. He glanced at Enika, but she barely acknowledged it. His sister, who had once lived and breathed clothes and accessories. Haylen stayed close to the front with Julian and Trigger. The other three girls all whispered to each other though. About stopping and grabbing some new outfits and how stupid the boys in the compound were for not caring about physical appearances anymore.

  The fact that he couldn’t get Nyx and her curve-hugging leggings out of his head was proof that they were wrong. He sure as hell noticed Nyx’s physical appearance.

  “Quiet,” Keven growled. Bliedh rolled her eyes.

  There was no smell. That was their one giveaway — the Garce smelled like rotting flesh, and you could smell them from hundreds of yards away. Thankfully, the only thing Cole could smell as they walked was too much perfume and raw vegetation. With no animals and no humans to keep it in check, the planet was taking over. The roads were cracked and disappearing under the trees and grass. Utah was a desert, but it looked more tropical now than he could ever remember it being. They’d come through Arizona to get back here; he, Enika, and RayAnna. The desert he’d known was mostly gone. He guessed that with no more machines, no factories, no cars, no humans, and no cows, the planet was cooling itself. It was sad what life had done. It was sad that there weren’t more people around to realize it.

  And who the hell wore perfume on a recon mission, anyway?

  “Do you think there’s anyone else out there? Or is our compound it?” one of the girls whispered, but so loud that it seemed to echo off the crumbling buildings. “Are there still other people out there in the world?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure there are. I bet there’s more here in Utah, even. We just never get out of the compound, so we don’t see them.”

  “We need to get out more.”

  “Agreed.”

  Enika glanced at Cole and rolled her eyes. He could see her jaw clenched tightly, refraining from any comments on their stupidity. Those girls had been in the compound from almost the beginning. They obviously had no idea how terrifying it was with nowhere to hide, no food, no help. And he was starting to think these girls came just for the adventure.

  Keven glared at them over his shoulder, effectively shutting them up. Cole breathed a sigh of relief as silence fell again.

  They made it to Costco without further incident, running lightly the entire way. Cole stood guard while Keven broke through the boarded up main doors, watching for Garce, praying the Pys didn’t show up, either, attracted by the noise.

  “Got it. Come on. Julian, Haylen, stay out here. Scream if you see anything.” Keven led them inside just as the sun came up while Julian and Haylen, the youngest members of their team, stationed themselves near the road, watching.

  Inside, they switched on flashlights and got to work. Most of the shelves had been picked clean. There were still pallets and boxes up near the rafters though. “Head to the back. Look for ladders or anything we can use to get up there.” Keven pointed to the back of the gigantic store, and Jeremy and Damon disappeared into the darkness, their flashlights bobbing as they jogged away.

  “I can climb that,” Enika said, dropping her ax.

  “Don’t be stupid,” Keven answered as he moved away. “You’ll fall and break your back and we’ll have to leave you here to die.”

  “Oh my gosh!” the girls all gasped. “That’s so mean.”

  Enika rolled her eyes and stuck her flashlight between her teeth. Like a monkey, she clambered up the iron sides, balancing on each new level, until she got to the top. “Nailed it,” she called down.

  Cole snickered.

  “What are you gonna do now, hot shot?” Keven called. “You gonna lift those giant pallets down by yourself? Or tear the shrink wrap with your teeth?”

  Enika frowned, the light from her flashlight giving her an ethereal glow. “I’ll figure something out.”

  While she did that, Cole jogged off in the opposite direction, looking for anything left behind. He heard the eerie cry of metal scraping across the concrete, and assumed they were returning with a ladder. Everyone else had split up into different areas of the store, and he could only see the pinpricks of flashlights, but no faces.

  He’d just reached Enika when the screaming started.

  “Hello, little girls.”

  Cole’s blood turned to ice.

  Not Garce.

  Pys.

  “Run! Get to the light!” Keven yelled.

  “Enika!” Cole bellowed. She doused her flashlight and slid over the edge, gripping the side with her fingers, edging to the next level. Too slow.

  The ladder clattered in the back, amid cries and yells and swearing.

  And screaming. Lots of screaming.

  “Enika, hurry up!” Cole hissed. “Jump. I’ll ca
tch you!”

  Ahead of him two aisles, he heard the click of a round loading into the barrel. Suddenly, Cole wasn’t sure which was more deadly — the Pys or friendly fire. Enika landed next to him and grabbed her ax. “Go!” he yelled, shoving her toward the opening as the rifles exploded, shooting blindly into the night.

  “Get out of here!” Keven bellowed. Cole couldn’t tell where he was. There was so much noise, so much terror. And above it all, beautiful, hypnotic voices, the Pys were murmuring.

  “We can make you pretty. Don’t you want to be pretty?”

  “Don’t you want to live forever?”

  “We live forever.”

  “We can make you pretty.”

  Cole ran hard, Enika in front of him, sliding on the slick concrete. If they could just make it to the light, they’d be okay.

  “Don’t you want to be pretty?”

  He heard sobbing. Not from the Pys, who seemed pleased with whatever answer they were getting. He whirled around, was nearly trampled by Justin and Trigger, and spotted the sparkling blue wings shimmering in the darkness. The tattoos, so like Nyx’s, glimmering against pale blue skin. They had one of the girls, Cole couldn’t tell which one, stroking her hair, sliding their knife-like fingernails along the skin of her face. “Don’t you want to be pretty?”

  “We can make you pretty.”

  “Cole! Come on!” Enika jerked his arm, nearly dragging him backward.

  “Get her out of here!” he yelled, shoving her into Trigger’s path. Trigger didn’t hesitate, just grabbed Enika’s arm and ran for the light.

  Across the store, he saw Keven racing toward the Pys, as well, gun loaded.

  The Pys created their own light, enough so that Cole could see the ground in front of him as he ran. Jeremy — or what was left of him — lay in tangled remains across the aisle. Cole skidded to a halt, staring in horror.

  Keven started shooting.

  Wrenched from his trance, Cole jerked his gun up and unloaded a round into the darkness, praying he hit the Pys and not one of his own team. The girl in her hand — he was pretty sure it was Bliedh, tried to scramble away as the Py turned toward him, beautiful face pulled into a frown. And she screamed.

  The scream shook the store. The rafters cracked, the metal scaffolding tumbling around him. The other girls, Ruby, and Kristi, both raced past him, slipping and sliding in fresh blood. Bliedh, her face torn and terrified, made it two steps.

  The Py grabbed her, jerked her back. “I don’t like to play games,” she cooed.

  And snapped her head off.

  The other girl, Michele, froze, staring at the Py, at her dead friend.

  “We can make you pretty.”

  “Do you want to be pretty?”

  Sobbing, Michele stumbled toward them.

  The Py cooed at her, its smile adoring as she reached for Michele, curling a clawed hand around her chin.

  Cole yelled. Broken from her spell, Michele tried to run. She stumbled, fell, and curled into a ball. One of the other Pys pounced, claws tearing clear through Michele’s back and out her stomach, lifting her to her feet. “You’re not strong enough to be pretty like us,” she sang.

  The first Py, the one seeming to be the leader, snarled and spun toward Cole. “You took her away from us,” she hissed, moving lightning fast through the dark, crumbling aisles.

  Cole raised his gun, shot her in the face, and even with a bullet hole in the center of her forehead, she was somehow beautiful. She slid to a halt, clawing at the pain, as the two with her collapsed, grabbing their faces, as well.

  “Cole!” Enika screamed.

  He whirled around and ran for all he was worth. His boots pounded on the concrete, sticky with blood, the vision of Bliedh’s head getting snapped off and Michele being impaled swam horrifically in front of him.

  The Pys got up.

  He heard them, heard their sweet whispers, their chilling words — this time not in his language. He could feel them coming closer and closer, felt the claws grabbing for his shirt. They were so fast. So much faster than he was. He heard Enika screaming and thought wildly that he’d broken his promise and left her.

  Light flared through the main doors.

  The Pys screamed as the sun hit them, scrambling backward as fast as they could. Cole dove forward, into safety. Keven grabbed his arm, dragged him outside. Justin and Trigger had pulled the rest of the boards off the doors, letting the sun in. Saving Cole.

  “We’ve gotta bomb this place or they’ll come after us as soon as the sun goes down,” Keven said. His hands were torn and bleeding. Both girls held each other, sobbing and trembling.

  Enika stood silently, ax ready, watching the doors like the Pys would somehow dare brave the sun.

  “What if there’s more of our team in there?” Justin asked, face pale in the early morning light.

  Keven shook his head. “No one’s alive in there.”

  They’d lost four. Damon had somehow made it out, as had Cole, Enika, Keven, Justin and Trigger, Kristi and Ruby. They all looked like they’d been through a war.

  A war that lasted about five minutes. Maybe ten.

  “Bombs won’t kill them.” Damon’s entire body shook, fear still consuming him.

  “No. But it will force them into the light and the sun will do the rest,” Keven answered distractedly while he dug through his pack.

  “You might want to get back. This is gonna be messy.” Keven stood up, explosives in his hand.

  Cole blinked exhaustedly at the C4 Keven was pulling out of his bag. They’d been fighting aliens who shot some insane form of fiery blood, and Keven was carrying C4 in his bag. And then he looked up, motioning for everyone else’s bags.

  They were all carrying C4.

  Good to know.

  “Where’d you get that?” Damon asked. “Isn’t that illegal?”

  Keven didn’t look up. “Grab me all the rocks, garbage, metal — anything you can find.” To Damon, he said, “From Kennecott. Just after the second invasion.”

  Dropping their weapons, they split up to look for bomb-making stuff, except for the two girls, who still sobbed. But for everyone else, this was life. It had been ever since the Garce showed up.

  “I don’t know which is worse. The Garce are scary as hell, but the Pys and their beautiful faces and sweet voices…” Enika shivered next to him.

  “They both have weaknesses. We can beat them,” Cole said. He sounded confident in his head. Not so much in his heart.

  It took them four hours to find enough shrapnel to make a makeshift grenade and get the C4 in place all the way around the building. Every so often, the Pys would hear them and attack the walls nearby, screaming and singing and laughing as they tore at the concrete. But they wouldn’t come out. Not while the sun still shone.

  “Ready?” Keven asked finally.

  Silently, they nodded.

  “Start for the hospital. I’ll meet you there.”

  “What?” Kristi and Ruby both gasped in unison. “We’re not going home?”

  The look Keven gave them clearly said he thought they were idiots. “Do we have more supplies? Do we have medical equipment? No? Then we can’t go back.”

  “But—but we were attacked!”

  “Yeah. Didn’t give us what we needed though.”

  Cole raised an eyebrow, waiting to see what happened.

  Kristi raised her chin. “We’re going back.” Ruby nodded.

  “See ya.” Keven didn’t look up from the lighter he was holding.

  “No.” Kristi snatched the lighter out of his hand. “We’re all going back. We can’t go alone.”

  “Especially after an explosion. It’ll bring the Garce in like crazy.” Damon jerked his head toward the south, which was apparently the direction he thought the Garce would come from.

  “Then we’d better move fast, huh?” Keven jerked the lighter back. “If you want to go back, go. I’ll carry what I can.”

  “We’re staying with you.” Enika
rested her ax against her leg and crossed her arms over her chest. He wondered when his baby sister had turned into a warrior.

  “Us too.” Justin and Trigger came to stand next to Enika and Cole. Silently, Haylen and Julian did too. A clear line stood with Keven at the center.

  “Start for the hospital. I’ll catch up.” Keven turned his back on all of them, ready to light the bomb.

  Cole motioned for his side to go. They had to move fast, because with as much C4 as Keven was about to set off, that was going to be one big explosion. And Damon was right. The Garce would come in droves. They took off along the road going east.

  Cole glanced over his shoulder. Damon and the two girls headed the opposite direction, toward the compound. Keven stood all alone in the Costco parking lot.

  The hospital was at least three miles away.

  The explosion came minutes later. It shook the whole area, cracking the road behind them. Enika shrieked and whirled around, squinting into the sun. “I don’t see him. Where is he? I don’t see him.”

  “It’s Keven. He’ll be fine.” Justin adjusted his pack and started moving again. Cole hesitated, eyes transfixed on the smoke billowing into the sky, flames licking the wind.

  He didn’t hear them.

  When they’d blown up the hospital, the Garce had screamed. Their howling had been louder than the fire. But the Pys…

  He didn’t hear them.

  The report of a shotgun echoed through the dead city. Two more shots came after that, and then the fire’s roar smothered anything else. Enika’s hand clamped over her mouth as tears filled her eyes.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “WE STILL HAVE A JOB TO do.” Justin called from further up the road. “Keven would have killed us if we didn’t keep going.”

  “I’m going back.” Cole adjusted his grip on the bow.

  Enika nodded.

  “You think it’s a good idea to split up again?” Trigger asked. They were already breathing hard — not quite recovered from their fight earlier. Cole could feel the blood drying down his neck and back. Enika had a bruise forming along the entire left side of her face, and Justin was limping.