by M. J. Haag
“I know I am,” I said softly. “Thank you. Can I keep walking for a little longer, though?”
Reluctantly, he let me down.
A pretty, birdhouse-style mailbox caught my eye on the side of the far street, and a brilliant idea struck.
“Can we go look at that?” I asked. After the hellhounds and the infected, I wasn’t foolish enough to move more than three feet from Drav’s side.
He walked with me as I veered toward the mailbox. I opened it and wasn’t surprised to see an empty cavity. The hellhounds had attacked Oklahoma late at night. It was unlikely that the mail had been delivered after the attack. But there had to be at least one person in this neighborhood who’d forgotten to take in their mail.
I kept checking mailboxes while we progressed down the street, until I found one with a letter. I grinned and pulled it out. My grin slowly faded. I didn’t know the town, but I knew the state. Texas. The ominous foreboding I’d felt when staring at the sunset clicked into place. The sunset had been to our right, not our left.
Drav had admitted he couldn’t read the map, yet I’d closed my eyes as soon as he’d offered to drive so I could rest. What had I really thought would happen? I’d been dictating our direction since the moment we’d met.
“Drav,” I said, looking up at him. “We somehow got turned around. We’ve been heading south instead of north.”
Three
Drav glanced at Kerr and the rest of the men before meeting my gaze.
“Yes, I know,” he said.
Was this some kind of man thing where he couldn’t admit he’d gotten us lost? Or had Kerr already told him where we were? I needed a crash course in their language.
“What do you mean, you know?”
“It is not safe to talk here,” he said. A noise further down the street confirmed his words.
“Come.” He opened his arms to me.
I frowned but quickly went to him. Held safely against his chest, I only freaked out a little when a group of six infected appeared between two houses. They ran toward us, a united mass of movement…except for one. Its right arm flapped uselessly, barely attached by a bit of gore. The mangled mess of meat had me cringing more than their numbers.
The rest of the shadow men moved forward with almost military precision to meet the attack while Drav hung back, cradling me in his arms. With quick efficiency, Drav’s friends proved his head ripping tendencies a common trait among his kind. Finished dealing with the infected, they once again surrounded us and kept pace with Drav as he sprinted through one neighborhood after another.
I watched the passing scenery over Drav’s shoulder and began to notice trees leaning heavily to the side. Leaning turned to uprooted trees laying in yards, broken windows, and one partially collapsed house. My stomach dipped with worry. Earthquake damage. How close to Irving were we?
“I don’t think we want to go any further south,” I whispered against Drav’s neck. “Are we almost there?”
“Almost,” he said.
Any signs of houses, yards, streetlights or even trees, abruptly stopped. Moonlight cast long shadows on piles of wood, shingles, and twisted siding where houses once stood. Pot holes and chunks of blacktop replaced the smooth surface of the road.
My throat tightened as the destruction grew to the point where I could no longer identify what had been house or road or yard in the weak moonlight. Hints of smoke and burnt rubber or plastic tainted the air, and I buried my face in Drav’s shirt. I didn’t want to see more anyway. Bombings had wiped everything out and left ruin in its wake. If they did this to every city, what would be left of our world?
I thought of my parents and Ryan and wished the phones still worked. Did the military understand what the bombings were leaving behind? Ryan probably did. But what good was one teen against terrified adults with heavy artillery. I realized it could have been worse. At least whatever they were using to destroy the cities wasn’t nuclear. I frowned. I hoped it wasn’t nuclear…
“We really need to get out of here,” I said against Drav. “It might be dangerous to breathe this air.”
“We’re getting closer,” he said.
I lifted my head for a quick peek and immediately ducked back down out of the wind.
“Closer to what? There’s nothing left but rubble,” I said. I started to wonder how the shadow men could possibly run through it all. As though he was reading my thoughts, Drav jumped over something, and my stomach dipped like it did when I drove over a hill too fast.
“Somewhere safe where we can talk,” he answered.
He ran tirelessly, weaving, clambering, and jumping over debris to get to wherever his friends were leading us. Suddenly, he stopped.
“Mya, I can’t carry you like this. I need you to hold onto my back.”
Drav set me down and tossed my bag to Kerr. I studied the dark area, puzzled.
In the dim light of the moon, our six companions surrounded us, watching me closely. Beyond them, several other shadow men stood encircling a large area of shadowed ground, facing outward as if guarding the space from the darkness beyond. If they were guards, they weren’t very good at it because they kept casting occasional glances our way. To be fair, though, we were the only living things as far as I could see. Beyond us, there was nothing but dirt and stone.
“Your arms got tired?” I asked, looking at Drav.
“No, Mya. I could carry you forever.”
The tender way he said the words made my cheeks heat.
“I don’t understand, then,” I said, glancing around once more. That’s when I noticed one of the guards looking down and to his left. I followed his gaze and realized the dark area I’d assumed to be shadowed ground was actually a pit. A very, very large pit about the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
I tore my gaze from the darkness and looked up at Drav.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s not safe up here, Mya. You could die,” he said softly.
Disbelief and understanding slammed into me.
“You brought me here on purpose? You turned us around on purpose? I trusted you!” I slammed my hands against his chest, trying to push and hurt him at the same time. The blow didn’t move him.
A frown creased his brow, and he caught my wrists and tugged me toward him. I stomped on his foot, then hit him again when he released me.
“Asshole! Fucking asshole!” Tears of frustration and anger welled in my eyes. “My family is waiting for me. They are alive, Drav. Finding them was the whole point of everything we’ve done since the moment I met you.”
“I know, Mya. I’m sorry. It’s too dangerous to try to reach them. Your people are willing to kill you to destroy the infected.”
“They didn’t know I was there,” I yelled.
His impassive expression remained unchanged with my words. Seeing my anger had no effect, I stopped pushing him and moved closer to set my shaking hands on his chest. I licked my lips, took a calming breath, and looked up at him.
“Drav, please. You helped me get home and to the cabin and back to the base. You’ve kept me safe. I know we can reach the safe zone. Please.” I didn’t care that I was begging. My family thought I was on my way. I knew they were worrying as much as I worried about them.
His fingers brushed the tears from my cheeks, and my hope surged.
“No, Mya. We’re not going back. We’re going to my home now.”
“Fuck that.” I pushed away from him, wiped my eyes, and glared. His betrayal hurt. A lot. And I refused to literally disappear from the face of the planet just because he couldn’t get over his worry that something would happen to me up here. The idea of walking away from him terrified me. But, was he really leaving me with any other option?
“I’m not going with you.”
He exhaled heavily and reached out to gently smooth back my hair.
“I am not leaving you, Mya.”
I swallowed hard in relief.
“Good. Let’s go.” I turned away from
his touch and made it about three steps before he stood in front of me. He stooped low in a familiar move and tossed me over his shoulder. Anger and disbelief coursed through me. He wouldn’t…
He turned and moved back toward the pit, answering my doubt. Furious, I twisted and kicked and tried to escape his hold. The other shadow men watched, their gazes curious, but made no move to help either of us.
“Put me down,” I yelled, not caring if I attracted an infected’s attention.
Fisting my hands, I hit his back. His large palm came down with a crack on my ass cheek. The pain robbed me of breath and stilled my struggles.
“Give me the rope,” Drav said in very clear English.
“I swear to God,” I choked out,“if you tie me up, I’m going to kill you.”
His hand smoothed over my sore butt.
“I won’t tie you, Mya. Hold on.”
With that, he turned, and I found myself staring down into a black abyss. My stomach did a nosedive to my toes. I grabbed Drav’s shirt just before he hooked an arm around my legs and stepped back into nothing.
As we dropped into the darkness, my scream echoed around us, followed by a gruff laugh from above. It took a moment to understand we weren’t falling. Drav’s muscles rolled beneath my hands, and his hold on my legs tightened and relaxed rhythmically. He was climbing down. Very hesitantly, I lifted my head.
“Don’t move, Mya. We’ll fall.”
The warning was enough for me to plaster myself against him. Drav continued to climb steadily downwards, his shoulder rotating under my stomach, creating a bruising ache. How far were we descending?
“I’m never going to forgive you for this,” I said into the darkness.
His movements hesitated for the briefest of moments before resuming.
“I understand.”
“Since you’ve never dealt with a girl before, I really doubt you do.”
I blinked several times and tilted my head to look down again. My eyes seemed to be playing tricks on me because I thought I saw something.
My stomach jolted when we dropped suddenly. Drav’s shoulder jammed into my stomach as his feet hit solid ground. I grunted and tried to free myself. He held tight.
“Put me down.”
“I’ll carry you.”
“Put me down, or I swear I’m going to start biting.” My voice shook with anger and unshed tears.
“You will not be able to climb up the rope. The others are coming down.”
I slapped his back, annoyed that he had easily guessed my intentions. It didn’t matter that rope climbing wasn’t my strong suit or that Drav would have stopped me before I’d made it more than three feet or that I was almost blind. At this point, I just wanted to put some space between Drav and myself.
“Your shoulder is hurting me. Put me down.”
Instead of doing as I asked, he flipped me over and cradled me in his arms.
“You will not be able to see. It’ll be safer if I carry you.”
He walked forward down what felt like a steep slope. While the blood rushed back out of my head, I looked around, straining to see, and realized it hadn’t been my imagination that I could see again.
A subtle glow from the crystal on Drav’s wrist illuminated the area. I looked over his shoulder and saw several more glows behind us and a brighter one still several feet above. One for each of our six companions.
In the weak, slightly blue-tinted light, I could see the dark rock walls of the tunnel.
“It’s light enough for me to see, Drav. Put me down now.”
His shoulders lifted with a heavy sigh. But, instead of fighting me, he put me on my feet then steadied me by placing a hand on my arm. I shrugged off his hold and stepped away.
“Kerr, walk ahead of Mya.”
Kerr slipped past us, his bracelet lighting enough of the dark that I saw the different shades of color in the walls. I also saw my pack on Kerr’s shoulder.
“Can I have my bag back, Kerr?”
“It would be better if he carried it. The path is steep,” Drav said.
“Kerr?” I said, ignoring Drav.
“Mya, it—”
“I’m not talking to you,” I snapped.
Kerr said something, but of course, I didn’t understand a word.
“I hope that was a yes,” I said.
Neither man spoke.
“My flashlight is in the bag.”
“It’s not safe to use it yet,” Drav said quietly.
Semi-blind, I angrily followed Kerr. My foot slipped and loose stones tumbled down the rocky slope. And, they kept tumbling, the sound growing quieter but never really ending. Just fading away.
“I’m going to die down here,” I said to myself, jerking away from the hand Drav had used to steady me.
It took effort to maintain my footing on the slow-going hike downward. Between that and the increasing temperature, sweat plastered my hair to the back of my neck in no time. My head began to ache and my clothes felt like I had sweated out all the moisture in my body.
Just when it started to feel like a never-ending march, the slope bottomed out. Two steps onto the even surface, a tingling sensation rushed over my skin and my ears popped painfully. I blinked back my tears and kept shuffling forward, wondering at the sudden drop in temperature. On the third blink, I froze and looked around in stunned awe.
The area before us stretched further than I could see. And I could see.
Ethereal blues and greens lit different type of rock formations rising up from the cavern floor. I realized the unique designs, with their crude edges and unsymmetrical patterns, could only have been made by nature.
Weird strings dangled from the ceiling further into the cavern, lighting the way and giving this area its breathtaking, subtle light. Underneath the strings to our right, a still pool of water reflected the beautiful glow.
It all seemed so surreal. Why did that surprise me? I had been taken into this pit in the Earth on the shoulder of a demon man, while hellhounds, infected, and humans destroyed the world up top. Unreal no longer seemed to have the same meaning it used to.
One of those demons walked past me and quickly scooped some water into his hand from the still pond, jolting me from my thoughts. He moved to the side while he drank. I’d forgotten about the others in my surprise.
I twisted to look behind me. Rock, shaped like a series of frozen waterfalls, bordered a gaping blackness where the light didn’t reach. The rest of the shadow men were magically emerging from the hole’s gloom.
“What the hell?” I half-whispered.
Drav stood near me, watching but saying nothing. The final man gradually appeared. A leg then torso and head emerged as if he’d stepped through a curtain of invisibility. It let me know that something insubstantial had kept me from seeing Drav’s world until I stood in it.
I took a step toward the dark, wanting a closer look, but Drav blocked me.
“You’re not leaving, Mya.”
“You’re a tool, Drav,” I said, turning away.
Kerr stood behind us with my bag. He handed it over with a nod then moved to where the others crowded around a small cave in the waterfall rock formation. They sifted through the group of weapons piled there. Knives, long walking stick things, and bows.
Drav watched them for a moment then turned toward me.
“Stay. I will be right back.”
He turned away from me before I could flip him off. Pissed, I looked at the magical darkness that led the way home.
Four
Where the hell would I go? I thought angrily.
Sure, that black abyss promised a way back to the top. But, it also led to a place where I wouldn’t be able to see and to a rope I wouldn’t be able to climb. Even if I could somehow manage to reach the surface, I would be facing infected-central alone and without the vehicle I’d counted on to get me to a safe zone. In what world would I have any hope of making it out of the city and further north without help? Definitely not the world I curren
tly lived in. I was at Drav’s mercy, and it pissed me off.
Bending down, I dug through my bag until I found my water bottle. Nothing swished inside when I shook it, and I berated myself for forgetting to refill it at the farmhouse.
Glancing at the pool, I wondered how safe the water would be to drink. Sure, the shadow man had done it, but he came from here. However, since I knew finding a nearby faucet wasn’t going to happen, I didn’t see that I had much choice but to do the same.
Kneeling beside the pool, I dipped my hand into the cool water and brought it to the back of my neck to bathe away the sweat. The second handful, I lifted to my mouth and bravely took a drink. It tasted a little like lake water, but it wasn’t too bad. I let it settle in my stomach for a moment, debating the chance of it making me sick. The world was falling apart, and I was in my own underground hell. Why not throw in some dysentery? I scooped both hands into the water to take a bigger sip, partially quenching my thirst.
Not knowing when I’d get another chance for a refill, I dipped my bottle into the water. Ripples raced out over the previously calm dark surface, making the reflection of the green glowing lights from above dance prettily.
Mesmerized, I leaned over the edge of the pool, wondering how deep it descended. Something moved in its depths. Before I could see what, the water erupted.
Time slowed as a fish with knitting needle like teeth rose toward my face. In frozen fear, I stared at its bulbous eyes.
A sharp tug pulled me off my knees just before the thing reached my face. As I fell backwards, Drav stepped in front of me, his wide shoulders partially blocking my view. He drew back his arm, spear in hand, and skewered the fish through its gaping mouth before I landed hard on my butt.
My pulse pounded in my ears while I stared at the writhing creature.
Drav tossed it and the spear to the cave floor then turned to me. The thing gave a final flop, then stilled. My shaky breaths echoed in the sudden silence, and I looked up at Drav.
His wild, rage-filled eyes swept over me before he squatted next to me and cupped the back of my head. I readily leaned toward him, pressing my forehead to his, needing the feel of safety that only he could provide.
