Demon Flames

by M. J. Haag

  Two

  The truck slowed, rousing me slightly. The sound of the door opening and closing finished the job, and I groggily opened my eyes. The bright light of the sun blinded me. It took a few blinks to focus and understand why we’d stopped.

  Two abandoned cars sat crossways in the road, blocking our way. I frowned at the odd sight. No way they’d been left like that accidentally. The thought had barely formed before Drav lifted the back of one and took a step toward the shoulder to clear a path for us.

  In the space of a heartbeat, four infected emerged from the new gap between the cars and ran at Drav. My mouth fell open in shock. Drav dropped the car and ripped off the head of the first one. The spray of blood bathed the remaining three as Drav tossed the head away. The infected didn’t seem to notice the loss of their companion as they circled Drav.

  One lunged at Drav from behind, its teeth snapping at Drav’s sizable biceps. Drav turned swiftly, barely avoiding being bitten. However, the other two used the distraction to charge forward. My heart jumped, and I shouted a warning.

  With a burst of speed, Drav pivoted and moved behind the snapping infected. While he ripped off its head with a quick jerk, one of the remaining two gave up on him and sprinted toward the truck. Toward me.

  I slammed the locks down. It didn’t matter that the infected couldn’t open my door. Going from a nice, peaceful nap to a zombie attack had freaked me out, as had the idea that the cars had been positioned in the road on purpose. But, by what?

  Breathing hard, I looked up and came face to face with an infected. The woman’s stringy brown hair hung over her pallid face, but not enough to stop her milky white eyes from tracking my movement inside the truck as I eased away from the window. Drool spilled from her gaping mouth.

  One moment her dead eyes stared at me, and the next, Drav stood in her place, his green eyes full of life and anger. He chucked her severed head over his shoulder and stalked around the front of the truck. It took a moment for me to see he’d already moved both cars.

  I unlocked the door, and he slid into the driver’s seat, his leg pressing against me. Even with the way clear, he didn’t immediately start driving. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared straight ahead.

  “Drav?” Hesitantly, I reached over and touched his arm. The hard muscle twitched under my fingers.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Do you see how dangerous it is for you?” he asked, not looking at me.

  “Yes, I do.” I patted his arm soothingly. “But you don’t need to worry. I’ll be safe with my family. Where they are is safe.”

  He turned and met my gaze. The intensity in his eyes, behind his sunglasses, made my stomach flutter.

  “I will protect you, Mya.”

  I wasn’t sure if he said it for my sake or his own. Giving his arm a gentle squeeze, I scooted back to my side of the bench seat and buckled up.

  Drav put the truck into drive and focused on maneuvering us through the scattered vehicles. After the past week of being in the dark, it felt odd being awake while the sun still sat high in the sky. As more miles passed quietly, I relaxed and closed my eyes, lulled by the motion of the truck.

  Blood spattered dreams, showcasing my family with milky white eyes, plagued me until the truck slowed.

  My door clicked open, jolting me, and the cool air brushed against my skin. I blinked my eyes, trying to focus.

  “I have you, Mya.” Drav’s gravelly voice brushed against my ear.

  I turned my head toward the sound and found him leaning over me to unhook my seatbelt. Once freed, he scooped me against his chest. I looped my arms around his neck, snuggling close with a sigh. Something brushed my temple. It took a moment for the sensation to have meaning. A kiss. The gesture warmed me.

  “I can walk,” I said, making no effort to pull away.

  “This is safer.” He started moving, and the steady motion comforted me more than it should have. Traveling in Drav’s arms sure did feel safer. I relaxed and started to drift sleepily, but my stomach growled loudly and brought a measure of reality back. I was hungry because we’d been running since sunrise.

  I lifted my head and glanced around. The sun hung lazily on the horizon.

  “Why did we stop?”

  “The truck stopped making noise.”

  I bit back a groan of frustration.

  “We probably ran out of gas.”

  I studied our surroundings. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere, and there wasn’t another vehicle in sight. A vehicle had been ideal while near the cities, but as those four infected on the road had proven, we were hitting quieter areas. And with the sun rapidly dropping, the noise of a vehicle would not only attract the infected but also the hounds.

  “It’s probably for the best. Are you tired yet? Should we find somewhere to rest?”

  “No. You need to eat.”

  Instead of arguing that he’d gone days with little sleep, I tugged the bag from his shoulder and cradled it on my stomach so he could run without making any noise. He picked up his speed, and I turned my face into his chest. The wind whipped past, whistling in my ears for several minutes before he slowed.

  Glancing up, I saw an old farmhouse. He placed me on the screened-in wraparound porch and told me to stay while he checked inside. The world remained eerily quiet while I waited. However, the sound of all those explosions continued to haunt me. Were the planes still out there destroying cities? I wrapped my arms around myself and hoped the bombings had stopped. It would be one less problem I needed to worry about. I still had to figure out how to find one of the safe areas without Drav getting hurt in the process.

  As if my thoughts had summoned him, he returned. In the fading light, his gaze swept over me. I could see the tender concern in his eyes.

  “Come,” he said softly. He held out his hand, and I threaded my fingers through his.

  He led me into the little house’s foyer where stairs led up to the second floor. Passing by those, I followed him through the house to the kitchen in the back. I spotted a switch and turned on the lights.

  A small breakfast table was tucked next to the big picture window. He told me to sit while he searched the cabinets. I glanced out the window at the lowering sun, and my stomach tightened both with hunger and nerves.

  My family waited for me out there somewhere. How would we ever find them? We had so much working against us.

  The thump of Drav setting a couple of cans of food on the table interrupted my thoughts.

  As I looked down at the fruit, tuna, and Spam, I finally noticed the infected blood speckling Drav’s hands. Hands that I’d just held. I quickly looked at my own. Although the blood didn’t appear to affect Drav, it still posed a threat to me.

  “Wait, we need to wash up.”

  I stood and went to the sink, scrubbing my hands with soap. After I finished, I turned and found Drav just behind me. I squeaked and looked up at him.

  Infected blood splattered his forehead and cheeks, several little dots close to his eyes and mouth.

  “Wow. You really got them good. Or, I should say, they got you good. Just a sec.”

  I searched the drawers near the sink for a towel. Finding one, I wet it with a bit of soap then faced Drav. He hadn’t moved. Mid-way to handing him the towel, I changed my mind. Without a mirror, he’d never get it all.

  “Let’s move to the table after you wash your hands.”

  He quickly scrubbed his hands free of infected blood. His shirt remained spattered. I considered digging in my bag for a clean one then changed my mind on that, too. If he didn’t plan to spend the night here, he’d probably just get dirty again, anyway.

  As soon as he sat at the table, I stepped between his open legs and began to wipe away a small spatter of blood closest to his eyes.

  He exhaled slowly. A tug on my sweater caused me to look down. Drav’s fingers curled around the hem and held tight. I knew it wasn’t fear. He just liked hanging on to me. I might have smiled a little when
something started to swirl in my belly at that thought.

  Moving to the other side, I continued to clean away the blood spatter. When I finished, I took a new cloth and wet it to rinse away any soap residue. His fingers once again toyed with the bottom of my shirt.

  I hated knowing that he would be in even more danger now because of me. Any human who spotted us together would think Drav had taken me and was dangerous, just like Charles had. Drav would not only need to work at keeping me safe from hellhounds and infected, but he would need to keep himself safe from humans, as well. We had so much stacked against us.

  When I finished, I pressed my forehead to his. He closed his eyes at the contact.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “For what?”

  “For everything.”

  I went to place a kiss on his cheek, but he turned his head at the same time so my lips landed on the corner of his mouth instead. His hands suddenly gripped my sides. Not painfully, but possessively. I pulled back quickly. His gaze held mine for a moment while my face heated. Then, he slowly released me.

  Escaping, I returned the towel to the sink before washing my hands once more. I took my time, letting the warmth in my face cool and the butterflies in my stomach calm. When I felt more in control, I turned off the water.

  Drav watched me closely as I walked to the table and sat down again. I didn’t know what to say or do, and his intense look and lack of response made me even more on edge.

  A rumble from my empty stomach gave us both something else on which to focus. Drav pushed a can of food toward me.

  “Eat, Mya.”

  I wrinkled my nose at the Spam and pushed it away, choosing mandarin oranges instead. All the cans had pull tabs, and I immediately opened mine. Drav watched me fish out an orange wedge and pop it into my mouth before he grabbed the tin of Spam that I’d scooted away.

  He popped a hunk of gelatinous meat into his mouth and chewed. I watched his reaction, waiting to see what he thought. Based on his expression, he liked it. When he caught me looking, he offered me some. I declined, and he ate the rest while I finished the oranges and then some tuna.

  Drav pushed another can toward me.

  “I’m full,” I said. More than that, I couldn’t waste any more time on food or whatever had just happened between us. I had to find my family.

  Before I’d been chasing after hope, but hearing from Ryan and Mom had changed hope to reality. Even though I knew they were protected by a fence and men with guns, I also knew all the dangers that waited out there. I doubted there was anywhere truly safe anymore.

  “Are you okay to keep going?” I asked. “We could probably find another car to use until the sun goes down.”

  “I’m okay, Mya. But, don’t you want to sleep a little more?”

  “No. We need to get moving.”

  The longer we stayed, the more my stomach knotted. With the bombs and the weird infected behavior on the road, I worried that we wouldn’t be able to travel at night as swiftly as we had been. It felt safer to keep moving while we had a bit of daylight remaining.

  We left the farmhouse after I stuffed some cans of food into my bag, which Drav shouldered. Once outside, he didn’t ask if I wanted to be carried. Instead, he picked me up and began running before I could even protest. Not that I would have. He could get us there faster—where ever“there” was—if I wasn’t slowing us down on foot.

  With a sinking feeling, I realized he’d left the map in the truck.

  “Drav, we have to go back and get a map.”

  “We don’t need it. I will keep running in the trees alongside the road.”

  I reluctantly agreed. Although, I would have felt better with the map, I didn’t care for the idea of backtracking and wasting precious time. We could check cars along the way.

  The sun dropped closer to the horizon as Drav ran. A pretty sunset peeked through the trees, and the soft, warm reds and oranges slowly began to darken. Although breathtaking, something about it felt wrong. Ominous. Unable to figure out what, I tucked my face into Drav’s chest to avoid the wind until he suddenly slowed.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, looking up at him.

  His attention snapped to the right, toward the remnants of twilight. In the distance, a howl echoed, followed by another. A shiver chased through my body.

  Hellhounds.

  “Hold on tight,” Drav said.

  He took off faster than before. I squeaked and put my head into the crook of his neck to protect my face. The air whipped past us, lashing at me with icy fingers.

  A howl sounded closer, and Drav quickly changed directions. Snapping branches and a sharp snarl jerked me from my protective cocoon. I peeked over Drav’s shoulder and caught a flash of glowing red eyes. The dark shape wove through the trees, slowly closing the distance between us. Behind it, another set of red eyes flashed.

  He tightened his hold on me. Fear swam in my stomach. Would we be able to outrun them? I had no idea who was faster. Drav or a hound? He and I hadn’t seen any since the night we’d met. Sure, Drav had dealt with that pair, but I would prefer he not stop to fight these two.

  The trees blurred with Drav’s speed, but the hounds were still too close. Drav took a sharp turn and dodged around some trees.

  Ahead, something flickered through the barren treetops. A second then a third appeared. Houses. Maybe if we—

  In the dim light before us, more shadows moved. My hope that we could make it to a house, or somewhere safer, died. They had us surrounded.

  Drav didn’t slow, though. He ran straight toward the oncoming numbers, shadows that moved…familiarly. I squinted into the wind, trying to see better, and finally grasped that the shapes were much too large to be hounds. Demons. Shadow men. Drav’s kind.

  The first one blurred past us. A snarl, followed by a grunt, sounded in our wake. Three more men sprinted by us. I glanced back and watched them work together to face the oncoming hounds. The first beast yipped in pain when one of the men tore its jaw away. Trees blocked my view from seeing anything further. Still, I listened for signs of anything coming after us, until Drav slowed.

  I faced forward again to see the trees giving way to the end of a house-lined road. Street lights illuminated the two shadow men waiting for us.

  “Drav,” one said.

  “Kerr. This is Mya. She is a female.”

  Kerr’s mouth dropped open, and the man next to him grunted in disbelief. I realized, with that one word, we’d just bypassed the whole no-penis talk.

  “Hi,” I said, politely.

  “Asking to see her breasts or pussy makes her uncomfortable—”

  “Geez, Drav!”

  “And she does not like to be smelled or touched without permission.”

  Kerr’s mouth snapped shut, and he stared at me. I glared up at Drav.

  “I can’t believe you just said that.”

  “You want them to smell you?” Drav asked, frowning down at me.

  “Of course not.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Just…never mind. Is it safe to put me down? Are your friends killing the hellhounds?”

  The man with Kerr said something in their language, stealing Drav’s attention. Drav answered in kind.

  “I don’t like when you do that,” I said. “They understand what you say when you say it in English. But I can’t understand you when you speak your language.”

  Drav glanced down at me but kept talking, throwing in a few words like Ghua, Phusty, no penis, smell, and dead to clue me into his conversation. I waited for outrage, accusations, or anger. But, there was none. The two men listened impassively.

  I peeked back at the trees and saw the blood-spattered men who’d run to help us, standing behind Drav. They listened intently to Drav’s explanation of what had happened with Phusty. Each one of them watched me, but none had the aggression that Phusty had immediately shown.

  When Drav stopped speaking, they remained quiet. I glanced up at Drav after a mo
ment. I didn’t have much experience with his kind. Sure, Drav was great and Ghua had been okay. However, the whole fighting thing with Phusty, because he wanted to see my bits, still had me slightly unsure.

  “Does this mean they are going to be okay with me?”

  Drav’s gaze held mine, and he nodded.

  “No fighting?” I asked.

  “No fighting.”

  I glanced at the men again, knowing they understood everything we’d just said. Their expressions remained mildly curious, without any hint of aggression, and they continued to stare.

  “Then, can you put me down? My legs are starting to hurt.”

  He grunted and gently set me on my feet. I kept an eye on the others while I casually stretched my legs.

  “Come. We’ll walk for a while,” Drav said. He seemed to sense my hesitation around our new companions because he set his hand on my lower back and led me forward. The others fell in step around us.

  Drav’s abbreviated and slightly crude introduction seemed to have done the trick. No one made any move to sniff, touch, or get close to me. They stared, though. A lot. Since they’d never seen a girl before, I could understand the gawking. Maybe being around so many of Drav’s kind should have made me nervous, but I felt more relief than anything else. They’d just proven how useful traveling in numbers could be.

  We walked down the center of the quiet street. A few cars sat in driveways, making me wonder if it wouldn’t be wiser to travel by vehicle. This area seemed quiet, but how far were we from the next big city? I looked at the cars again, thinking about at least looking for a map before I realized it wouldn’t do me any good. I had no idea where we even were. At the corner, I glanced at the street sign, which only showed a numbered avenue. No help there.

  Three infected came running at our group from behind the corner house. Drav lifted me into his arms as two of the group dashed to meet the infected before they got closer. In seconds, three heads went flying and the headless bodies fell to the pavement.

  “You are safe, Mya,” Drav said.

  I looked up at him, slightly amused by how quickly he’d snatched me up and reassured me. He didn’t look amused. Worry creased his brow as he set his forehead to mine. I reached up and smoothed a hand over the back of his head.