Independents: Taoree Trilogy #2

by Michele Notaro

  The next four days were much the same. We walked, with Orrean and me zombie-like and slow, we ate, we slept, and when we were attacked by Ferals, the others fought them. I would take out a Feral with my shoian if it got too close, but Nolan, Cal, Tabitha, and even Mandy generally protected us slackers—Orrean, Wes, and me. In that regard, we had been pretty lucky since we hadn’t run into many large hordes of Ferals.

  We estimated we were about five days out from the Independent camp. So far, Wesley hadn’t woken up once since he first went into a state of unconsciousness. It made me beyond worried, but I also really started to miss my brother, even though he was never very far from me. Orrean, Wes, and I were constantly next to one another. I could feel my energy merging with Orrean’s sometimes throughout the day before it would go straight into Wes. Every day I was losing more and more of my light, and every day I could see the strain wearing even further on Orrean and my brother.

  “Oh god. Oh no, no, no, no, no,” Nolan started frantically muttering as we walked through yet another endless field.

  I didn’t have the energy to speak, so I was glad when Cal asked, “What’s wrong?”

  Nolan turned to him with huge, wide eyes. “Don’t you hear it?”

  Everyone quieted down and listened. Before I even heard it, I knew exactly what it was going to be. Because, why wouldn’t a fucking alien spaceship be on its way to kill us? I mean, this is just your normal, average day in the life of Jeremy Ettner. Why wouldn’t aliens, Ferals, and humans alike be trying to kill me and everyone I loved?

  “Fuck,” Cal exclaimed before putting the wheelbarrow down and running over to me. “You and Orrean. Get on the wheelbarrow.” He looked at Nolan. “You carry Mandy, I’ll get these three.”

  I didn’t have time to protest—not that I would have—before Cal scooped me up and set me next to Wes’s legs on top of the wheelbarrow. Then Cal scooped Orrean up and had to sit him on top of Wes’s legs. I had to grab onto Orrean with one hand and the wood I was sitting on with the other when Cal picked the handles back up, so neither of us would fall off.

  Cal started pulling us as quickly as he could with Nolan running beside us, carrying Mandy, with Tabitha on our other side holding all the bags. They ran for a good ten minutes, but the hum of the alien ship started getting closer. Cal tried switching directions, but the ship seemed to be tracking us.

  When it became abundantly clear that we were not going to be able to outrun this thing, Orrean grabbed my hand and squeezed, looking into my eyes. I knew what he was asking, so I gave him a nod.

  With more energy than he seemed to possess a few minutes prior, Orrean said loudly, “Everyone grab my arm.”

  Neither Cal nor Nolan stopped, but Nol did say, “You don’t have enough energy for that, Orrean. We have to keep going.”

  “The ship’s gaining on us, Nol, you need to grab my arm before it gets any closer,” Orrean argued.

  “No way, Orr,” Cal yelled over his shoulder. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

  I squeezed Orrean’s hand so he would let me talk. “I don’t like it either, guys, but Orr is right. It’s the only way, and I’ll be helping him too.”

  They ran for two more minutes before we felt the wind from the ship. Cal came to a stop with a muttered, “Shit.” He ran back, grabbing Tabitha’s hand on the way.

  Cal, Nolan, Tabitha, and Mandy all grabbed Orrean’s arm. I was already holding his hand and Orrean was still half-sitting on Wesley, so he was covered too. Orrean met my eye and when I nodded, I felt the stupid white dome rip out of my chest and back, making me gasp from the sudden pain even though I had been expecting it.

  Orrean still had eye contact with me and out of the corner of my eye, I could see the white dome coming from his body as well. We had used the dome thing several times before for protection from Taoree. It was a transparent white dome that surrounded Orrean or me, and anyone that touched us. This time, it also covered the wheelbarrow, probably because we were on top of it. It looked like someone had flipped a giant bowl upside-down over top of us, as if we were trapped bugs. I knew from past experiences that the people outside the dome couldn’t see or hear anything inside and it even went as far as making them look away from us. As fantastic as it was, it was always a last resort because it was fucking painful for whoever was conjuring it and it took a shit-ton of energy… just what we needed in our current states.

  “What the fuck is this?” Tabitha’s whispered voice made me look at her.

  Nolan answered, “I don’t know what it’s called, but they won’t be able to hear or see us as long as we keep ahold of Orrean.”

  “We won’t be able to hold this as long as we usually can,” I said, probably unnecessarily.

  “Don’t know what you said, J,” Cal whispered.

  I huffed in annoyance, leaned forward to rest my head on Orrean’s—now—bony shoulder, then switched back to English and said, “We can’t hold this very long. Too much of our energy is being siphoned by Wes.”

  “Just do the best you can, J,” Cal responded as he patted my back with his free hand.

  Orrean rested his forehead down on my shoulder. “I won’t let them find you, my Balu.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain in my stomach and back, then answered Orrean in Taoree, “What does that mean? I understand emm to mean my or mine, but I do not know Balu. What am I to you?”

  I felt him shake his head against my shoulder. “I am afraid to tell you.”

  “Why? Why would you be afraid to tell me something?” I whispered, still in Taoree.

  Before he could answer, or come up with an excuse not to answer, we both moaned in pain as a surge of energy went through us. I tilted my head and peeked out, seeing some Taoree Legion foot soldiers walking around. I guessed the white dome—or onghu—had to work extra hard suddenly with so many enemies so close to us. After a few intense seconds, the amount of pain seemed to level off, but not enough to regain my ability to talk.

  I closed my eyes again and tucked my face against Orrean’s neck, breathing in his cinnamon scent—it was weird that he smelled like cinnamon since it was my favorite smell, but I wasn’t complaining. I focused on his warm energy that I could feel mixing with my own. That warmth always brought me some peace, even when I was in pain or scared.

  It seemed to take forever for the soldiers to leave, and once they did, we were only able to hold the dome for about ten, maybe fifteen additional minutes. As soon as we released it, we both slumped in a heap on the wheelbarrow and the others started running. I could feel someone lift and start to pull us. It took all of my strength and determination to grip the edge so Orrean and I wouldn’t fall off. I was happy that Cal and Nolan knew enough from our experiences to understand that it wasn’t safe to stay anywhere near an area the Taoree were scouting. They always sent an extra cleanup crew a few minutes or hours after leaving an area. It was safest to get away.

  I did everything in my power to stay awake while being pulled, but it was a fruitless effort. I ended up falling asleep, so when we came to a stop, I had no idea how long we’d been traveling and was surprised to find a bungee cord wrapped around Orrean and me to keep us on the wheelbarrow. I heard the others setting up camp, so I was just going to have to trust that they took us far enough away.

  It wasn’t too long before I was carried away from Wes and Orrean. I started to panic because something in my chest was tugging at me.

  Cal must have understood my incoherent mumbling, though, because he said, “It’s okay, J. I’m just moving you inside the tent where it’s warm. Wes and Orrean will be laying right next to you in a minute, okay? Calm down, buddy.”

  I calmed a little, but not completely. I was placed inside a sleeping bag, then Cal left me and only a few seconds later, Orrean was laid down right next to me. I automatically reached for him and as soon as I found him lying against me, I could suddenly breathe more easily. Wes was laid down on the other side of Orrean, so I reached out and
sent him my energy, only to find that Orrean’s was already there and holding the Qiren at bay.

  I ended up pulling Orrean’s head onto my chest because he was ice-cold and shivering. I rubbed my hands on his arms and back trying to warm him up, but I was soon devoid of all energy, so I placed one hand on Orr’s back and one on Wes’s arm above his zheluangi that looked like a very thick metal cuff on his wrist.

  Nolan came over and lifted my head, making me sip some water and a little soup. He tried to do the same to Orrean, but he wasn’t responsive enough to drink anything, so he ended up placing a zheluangi on his wrist. I could only hope that Orr had enough zheluangis to last them both. They were both looking in even worse shape than just a few hours ago.

  Before I had too much time to worry about it, I fell asleep.

  ***

  Orrean was curled up in a ball again, but this time he was clearly crying.

  I knelt down next to him. “What’s wrong?”

  He looked at me with sad eyes. “You’re going to hate me when you figure it out.”

  I furrowed my brow and put my hands on his arms. “Figure what out? I could never hate you, Orr.”

  Instead of answering he ducked his head so he wasn’t looking at me anymore, then mumbled, “This is the only time you’re ever going to hold me and I’m so out of it that I can’t even enjoy it.”

  “I hold you all the time,” I said, confused because I really did hold Dream-Orrean often.

  He looked at me again. “I mean really hold me.”

  Oh. I had fallen asleep with Orrean’s head on my chest, hadn’t I?

  I sat against the tree, then shifted him around until I was holding him in my dream, too. I didn’t know what to do to comfort him. He cried silently for a little while before tucking his head under my chin and finally relaxing.

  When I woke the next day, I was fucking freezing, even though I was apparently sharing a sleeping bag with Orrean. He was still lying on my chest and his skin felt even icier than mine did. With one hand still on his back and one on Wesley’s arm, I sent out my energy to both of them, but found that Wes’s Qiren were taken care of by Orrean and that Orrean’s vitals were all low. I tried giving him some energy, but it was like his body just couldn’t heal. He didn’t have an injury that I could fix, he just hardly had any energy, any light, left at all.

  Orrean’s body was now using the smallest amount of energy—of his light—as possible, so he could keep himself and Wes alive. Every bit of energy he had was focused on those two tasks, and it seemed that he had somehow managed to make more of his energy go into helping Wes than into helping himself. I couldn’t believe he was willing to do so much for my little brother.

  Cal came over when he saw me awake. “Hey, J, how you feeling?”

  “Shitty,” I answered honestly. “But not as bad as these two. Orrean’s barely keeping them alive.”

  He grimaced. “Let me get you some food and water. Once you eat, we can see if you can walk. Obviously, we’re gonna have to pull him,” he pointed at Orrean, “too. We’re gonna make this work,” he mumbled the last part, almost to himself.

  When we got going for the day, Cal and Nolan had strapped Orrean and Wes next to each other on the wheelbarrow. At first I was simply walking next to them, but after about an hour, I somehow knew that Orrean needed physical contact to use my energy for himself and my brother. I grabbed Orrean’s hand and could feel a very small trickle of my energy flowing into him—our hands seemed to be the best conduit—then it continued to his heart and some of it went to Wes’s Qiren. That amount of energy siphoning normally wouldn’t have been noticeable, but with all of us so low on resources, it was leaving me extremely tired and grumpy. I just wanted to crawl into a bed and sleep for days on end. But I knew we should be getting close to the Independent camp… probably only about two days away, so the energy siphoning shouldn’t need to last too much longer, thank fuck.

  After lunch, I held Orrean’s hand as we walked again—of course, because we were always fucking walking—when I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I suddenly felt like someone was following us. I instinctively reached out with my senses and came to a stop.

  “Cal,” I whispered to him since he was the one pulling the wheelbarrow.

  He looked over his shoulder at me and stopped walking when he saw that I had halted. He raised a brow in question at me.

  I closed my eyes again, double-checking before saying, “There’s a Taoree trailing us. About a quarter mile back. Only one. I can’t sense any others, but he’s definitely following us.”

  Cal looked completely shell-shocked for about ten seconds before exclaiming in a quiet voice, “You can fucking sense Taoree now too?”

  I shrugged. “I guess? Or maybe Orrean is telling me.” I waved my hand that held Orrean’s a little to show what I meant.

  He stared at our joined hands before asking, “Are you sure it’s only one of them?”

  I closed my eyes again and concentrated. I could sense the Taoree running toward us, but I didn’t notice anyone else, so I looked at Cal, saying, “It’s just one, but he’s closing in fast.”

  He gave me a single nod before turning to Nolan and Tabitha. “Did you catch that?” At their nods, he said, “Everyone get out your reelian.” When Tabitha didn’t move, he clarified, “The gun that can kill Taoree.”

  She gave him an exaggerated nod before pulling out her reelian and moving to stand next to Mandy, who already had hers out and ready to shoot.

  Cal asked me, “What direction is he coming from?”

  I pointed in the direction we had been traveling from, then aimed my own reelian that way and said, “Tabitha, can you and Mandy stand behind the wheelbarrow, so you have a shield?” I was hoping that Tabitha wouldn’t get offended. I knew she could easily fight like the rest of us, but I wanted her to help protect Mandy. I was hoping she would understand my intention.

  “Sure thing, J,” Tabitha said as Mandy sighed in annoyance.

  We all waited with bated breath for the Taoree to come down the small side street we were walking along. When the nearly seven-foot alien came into view, he paused, taking us in. He had clearly not been expecting us to be waiting for him, but he powered on until he was only about thirty feet from me.

  “Stop right there,” I called out to him, proud that my voice sounded stronger than I actually felt. “Or I’ll shoot.”

  “Guns cannot harm me, foolish little human.” The alien’s slimy voice reached my ear, making me want to shiver it away.

  “No, but my reelian sure as hell can,” I called back.

  The alien very obviously blanched at my statement before trying to mask his reaction.

  I called out, “Each one of us has a reelian aimed at you and we’re all ready to shoot. Do not come any closer.”

  The Taoree tilted his head like he was thinking before saying, “Give me Orrean and I shall let you and your humans live.”

  I snorted at that. “Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy. You need to turn around and go back the way you came.”

  “I cannot return without Orreannysius-Anyke Serparla,” he growled, reminding me of Orrean’s long-ass name that I didn’t even think I could repeat. “Hand him over and I will let you all live.”

  “Not. Going. To. Happen.”

  The Taoree sneered and took a step closer. “He has a bounty on his head, alive or dead, and I will collect. Hand him over or I will have to kill all of you, including the Taoree.”

  Before I could argue, Cal yelled, “Listen, buddy, this is gettin’ old real fast. Get the fuck out of here or we will kill you. You’re not getting him.”

  The Taoree sneered at Cal and started walking toward us, so I followed his movements with my reelian and said, “Stop or I will shoot.” He glared at me before taking another step, so I yelled, “I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to.”

  The alien smiled this purely evil, wicked grin at me. “That is the difference between you and me. I do want to
kill you.”

  Before I could even blink, the fucking Taoree was swiftly at my side—obviously using some sort of super-speed—and pushing me away from Orrean, making me land on my ass and aiming his reelian at Orrean’s chest.

  Suddenly it was like time slowed down. I saw the alien’s finger twitching on the trigger of his reelian and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was going to kill Orrean. I also knew without a shadow of a doubt that I wasn’t going to let that happen. I would do anything in my power to protect my family.

  I lifted my reelian and was pulling the trigger, but someone else beat me to it. One of my other family members—Nolan, I was pretty damn sure—shot that bastard right in the shoulder. The Taoree fell backward with a scream of pain onto his butt. I jumped up with a sudden surge of adrenaline and attempted to block Orrean from the other alien. The stupid bastard got back to his feet, coming right for us, so I lifted my weapon and pulled the trigger.

  The bullet landed precisely in the right side of the Taoree’s chest—exactly where his heart was. I hadn’t forgotten about Orrean telling us where the Taoree heart was located since it was different than humans, but I also hadn’t forgotten him telling us that their hearts were better protected by denser bones, so the best place to aim for a kill shot was the head. So before the asshole fell to the ground, I pulled the reelian trigger a second time, aiming for his head. He fell to the ground immediately. My father had taught me how to shoot, and I’d never been more appreciative of it.

  After a moment of shocked silence, I bent forward and felt for a pulse. When none came, I stood and turned to face the others, who all had varying looks of shock written on their faces. Then I hooked my reelian back onto my belt and leaned against the wheelbarrow as the sudden rush of adrenaline left my muscles tired and shaky.