by Lux Miller
Which apparently… isn’t long. Just as my eyes drift closed and Drake’s lips brush mine, a blinding light bursts through the clearing. It's bright enough to nearly blind me, even with my eyes closed. Drake and I jerk apart, startled as the deafening sound of terrified screaming obliterates the peaceful serenity. It takes several startled breaths for me to realize that the screaming is coming from me… and Drake. Bright, pure white light pulses all around us and a searing heat scorches the air between us.
I sit up with a start and slam my hands over my ears to try to drown out the sound. It drills into my brain until I’m curled in a tiny ball on the ground, writhing in pain as I reach out for Drake. When I do manage to grab hold of his hand, he squeezes it tightly and jerks me over to him. He tucks me into his lap where he holds me against himself until I feel like I’m about to pass out from the intense pressure that’s building in my head. Just when I feel like I can’t take it anymore, the frightening experience is over and the blinding light is gone.
Gasping for air, I look up at Drake to see if all that really just happened or if I’ve lost my damn mind. He looks just as startled as I feel, so at least if I have gone crazy, I’m not alone. “What the fuck was that?”
He shrugs his shoulders, but the look of concern that’s etched all over his face doesn’t falter as continues to stare at me wide-eyed. “I don’t know what the fuck just happened… and I’m no expert on the mystical and all, but I really don’t think…” He motions to my neck wildly, and I realize as I glance down that he’s pointing to the crystal necklace I stole from the Navians that’s resting against my throat and glowing in the same impossibly bright, white light that just tore through the forest clearing, “...it’s supposed to do that...”
Chapter Twenty
Drake
“I don’t know what the fuck just happened… and I’m no expert on the mystical and all, but I really don’t think it’s supposed to do that...”
Nova’s attention drops to the pendant dangling from the gold chain between her breasts. The blinding light that just blazed through the clearing is gone. The crystal stone wedged inside the slightly bent setting is still pulsing with a light that has no immediately obvious source. There’s no pattern to the pulses, but the stone never goes completely dark as it shines in stark contrast to her skin. The more the sun begins to set overhead, the more noticeable it becomes that it’s not reflecting any kind of natural light from anywhere. In fact, the faint, but steady illumination seems to be coming from within the crystal itself.
Which is impossible, but right now, more than one impossible thing is right in front of me - a stone that’s flashing like it’s a lightning bug and a woman that somehow convinced me to let myself go and give into the desire I’ve avoided my entire life. And it was incredible to be free of the overzealous trepidation about being with a woman intimately. Especially since the beautiful reminder of what I just did is still right in front of me, glowing like something ethereal. Blinking in surprise, I bring my hand up to her chest, brushing my fingertips over the stone. It’s hot to the touch, but before I can gather it in my hand to examine it further, an awful screeching sound tears through the late afternoon tranquility.
Nova’s face jerks skyward with a look of sheer panic on her face. The disgusting sound reverberates through the clearing again and both of us jump up, our peaceful satisfaction forgotten. There’s only one creature in this world that makes that sound. It’s one that neither of us wants to encounter… and certainly not naked and caught up in post-coital bliss.
Nova scrambles out of my grasp, desperately snatching up articles of clothing. She throws what’s mine at me and shoves one leg after the other into her pants, jumping as she tugs them up. Reaching over, I toss the long strip of fabric she used earlier to create a shirt and motion for her to turn around. When she does, I quickly fashion it into something crude that covers her, tying it behind her back, then fastening the leather strips around the fabric. It’s not anywhere near as attractive as what she’d done earlier, but her boobs aren’t on display, so it’ll do. It’ll have to do because as I yank on my tunic and pants, a wild look of terror on my face, I hear the crunching of branches breaking behind us.
Our eyes meet as I shove one foot into a boot, and we both murmur at the same time, “Zombies…”
I quickly get my other boot on then toss her the backpack that’s lying on the ground. She just barely catches it before it hits the ground. She slings it over her back as a series of horrifying growls fill the air from seemingly every direction. She shakes her head, her voice dropping as she reaches for my hand, grabbing ahold of it and squeezing tightly, “No… that’s a horde…”
Just hearing the word makes my blood run cold. I know as soon as she says it that she’s right, and the instantaneous fear that clenches my gut makes my elation at our encounter evaporate immediately. It’s replaced by real fear. A rogue zombie here or there is certainly a threat, but it’s one that can be easily outrun and outsmarted. But a horde… what they lack in the conscious ability to form rational thoughts they make up for in sheer numbers. A couple blood-thirsty zombies chasing you down to try to make you their dinner is a little scary. A couple hundred beings moving with the sole purpose of devouring you until nothing but bones remain is downright terrifying.
Yet both of us stand there, stupidly paralyzed with fear as the trees around us groan and sway. Finally, Nova snaps out of her daze and shoves me forward, yelling, “Fuck, Drake! Go!”
I blink at her, shaking off my stupor and putting one foot in front of the other as she slips past me, holding tight to my hand. I glance over my shoulder at our discarded items that are still littered around the clearing, including the axe, a gun, and half the gear we brought with us. She shakes her head quickly, tugging on my arm. “Leave them, Drake. We’ve got to get out of these woods before the sun sets… or we’re dead…”
I nod, picking up speed as I barrel through the underbrush, turning my face so that the low-hanging branches and twigs don’t scratch me. The sound of flesh dragging through the trees that’s been following us through the woods echoes around us. We come to a dead stop, glancing at each other with a look of concern on our faces.
“Do you hear that?”
Nova pants as she bends in half, trying to catch her breath. She nods as she straightens, glancing this way and that as she tries to pinpoint where the sound is coming from. It’s nearly impossible to narrow down the direction where the sounds are originating. The zombies may be slow all things considered, but that doesn’t mean they’re out for a Sunday stroll. They can still cover some major ground, especially since they have a singular focus - to capture and eat their prey… and we’re that prey...
A string of expletives tumble out of my mouth as Nova stumbles beside me. She yanks her hand out of mine to attempt to catch herself before she lands face first in the underbrush. She just barely manages to save herself as she ends up on her knees with a loud crunching noise that tells me she didn’t land on a smooth surface.
I skid to a stop and backtrack, tapping my foot impatiently as I watch her struggle to push herself back up. I offer a hand out to her, but she shakes her head and pushes it away. Stubborn as always. She gets onto her feet and goes to take a step, and she can’t hide the wince that twists her face as she jerks her weight off of her right foot with a startled gasp. Her sudden movements causes her to lose her balance and crash into my side, but I’m able to get my arm around her to keep her from falling over again. “Are you okay?”
She shrugs her shoulders, then nods, but I’m not buying it. I narrow my eyes at her with concern as she puts it back down and steps down onto it. A soft cry escapes between her teeth as she gnashes them onto her bottom lip, her eyes watering. The fall may not have injured her pride, but it injured something. It’s obvious as she tries to take a step holding onto my side and her leg practically crumples beneath her. Flinching at the burning sensation that sweeps through my body, I scoop her up into my arms, shaking
my head at her when she starts to protest. Instead, I curl her body against mine, holding her with both arms because I apparently no longer have an uninjured one.
The one I injured in the shipwreck yesterday still throbs annoyingly, and the one I didn’t is now on fire as I support her weight against myself. Ahead in the distance, several treetops rustle, and it dawns on me why we can’t pinpoint where the sound of the horde is coming from. I drop my face against her shoulder for a brief moment, murmuring against the sweet softness of her skin as I point one finger around us in a quick circle. “We’re surrounded…”
Nova’s face flinches as reality dawns on her. “That’s…”
I snort slightly, cutting her off before she can say it. “Don’t say impossible, because we’ve both seen a lot of impossible things happen in the last couple of days. And while it’s highly unlikely that a horde would have the mental capacity to work together to surround a target, it’s not impossible. Nomadic survival one oh one Nova… nothing is impossible.”
I nod as her face goes white as a sheet. She whacks her hand against my chest, pointing at the ground. “Drake, if we’re surrounded, there’s no way you can carry me back to Atlantis. Put me down…”
I glance down at her like she’s lost her damn mind. I did not just give my all to this woman to leave her behind so she can be devoured by a zombie horde. I may not be what you’d call a romantic, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave her behind. “Like hell I will. You won’t last ten minutes alone with a horde, Nova. Not if you can’t walk. Do you want to die?”
She scoffs, but throws her arms around my neck, sighing with a defeated resolve. She may be saying one thing, but her actions are clearly stating another. She doesn’t want to be a sacrifice anymore than I do. She finally shakes her head and buries her face into my neck as I tighten my grip on her. “This won’t be pleasant, but I don’t have the strength that I normally do. I need you to support as much of your weight as you can so I don’t drop you. I don’t know for sure, but if we’re surrounded, there may not be any going through the woods. We’ll never be able to find our way back to Atlantis if we try to sneak around the horde… so that really only leaves us one option…”
Nova squeaks as her arms squeeze around my neck and she tucks her legs into a ball against my side. “I don’t like the sound of that…”
Groaning as the trees across the clearing from us part and the first blood-smeared, half-rotten corpse stumbles out, I strengthen my resolve and tell myself that it’s now or never. We won’t have the advantage much longer, but there’s one way we can go that the zombies won’t follow. “Yeah, me either… but if we’re going to survive this… we’re going to have to go…” I step across the clearing and grab hold of the highest branch I can reach. I pull down hard on it to test if it’ll support our combined weight. When it doesn’t snap off at the juncture with the trunk, I lean down and roughly capture her lips in a searing kiss, trying to calm my nerves. Tearing away from her, I mutter gruffly, “...up…”
Chapter Twenty-One
Nova
When Drake refuses to leave me behind, I’m secretly relieved. It’s the outcome I’d hoped for, although I’m not certain either of us will survive now. While a single zombie or even a small horde is a minimal threat, the sounds coming from the woods that surround us are terrifying. And it indicates that whatever horde has found us is not only large, but potentially dangerously aware. They were able to surround us and close in on us like an apex predator stalking prey.
But I know there’s no way we’re going to outrun them if they’ve encircled the clearing. I can’t bear weight on the ankle that I twisted when I tripped over the underbrush. It wasn’t intentional. I mean, who purposefully trips over roots and almost busts their face on the forest floor? But I know I probably wasn’t paying the best attention, and now I’ve put us in a real bind. Drake’s already injured from the shipwreck yesterday. After we gave in to our carnal instincts and fucked in the woods, he started acting like he was in an immense amount of pain, though he’s refused thus far to slow down. In fact, if anything, he’s taken on even more of a burden since he’s now carrying me. And he basically just announced that since there’s no way we’re going through the horde, we’re going over them.
I want nothing to do with his half-baked idea of climbing trees right now, but I know he’s right that it’d be suicide for me to attempt to try to run through a horde. Drake essentially still has open wounds, even though they’re covered. I’m sure the unmistakable smell of sweat and sex that’s wafting off of me like a cheap cologne will pique the interest of the zombies too. I mean, it’s not like they’re only attracted to the scent of blood, after all. They’re attracted to the smell of humans and all of their bodily fluids.
You could spit on the ground and a zombie would pick up the scent. The fact that the crotch of my leggings is soaked through with Drake’s cum that has seeped out of me isn’t helping our cause right now. In fact, the sharp scent of sex is probably what has them in the frenzy they’re in on the other side of the clearing as one of the half-rotten former humans bursts into the clearing. Its dead expression focuses on us as it stumbles forward, a horrifying growling sound coming from its maw.
Burying my face into Drake’s neck, I tighten my arms around him and start whispering a silent prayer to the ancient gods for a hedge of protection over us. I’m not sure how much good it’s going to do to pray to dead gods. At this point, it’s worth a shot, though. I close my eyes and continue to murmur softly, over and over as I feel Drake’s thick, corded muscles flex underneath me. I’m too scared to open my eyes, because I don’t know how I’m going to react if I open them and see that the ground below us has disappeared. For all intents and purposes, I’m sure it’s because Drake was pretty clear that we were heading into the trees, but I don’t need confirmation.
Time seems to both crawl by and speed forward as I try to focus on Drake’s heartbeat thundering wildly in his chest. The woods are alive with sounds as I hear branches cracking and snapping all around us, from the sickening groan of zombies to the deep, feral noises coming from Drake. And then, from somewhere in the distance, I hear the distinct caw of a raven, and my heart leaps. It could be any bird, but I know that my prayers have been answered in some way.
I lean my lips up to Drake’s ear without opening my eyes and whisper, “Follow her, please… follow the bird… trust her…”
He snarls in response, but the rush of air that speeds past us startles me into opening my eyes. All around us, the world is a blur of motion, flying by so fast that I can’t focus on any one thing. And then it comes to a stop. Drake groans as we crumple to the ground below. Instead of forest brush, I roll out of his grasp and into the unsteadiness of sand that I find myself sitting in. Blinking in surprise as I look around myself, I see Drake hunched over a dozen feet from me. From the looks of it, he might be emptying the contents of his stomach, so I quickly avert my gaze so that I don’t end up following suit.
I catch a glimpse of a shadow skate by in the corner of my vision, and I look up to see the raven circling above us, cawing loudly. She dives down with each pass within feet of Drake, but he’s so zoned out that he doesn’t seem to notice. Finally, he flops forward like he’s been thrown by an invisible force and comes to rest on his stomach, facedown in the sand. The only movement is his back rising and falling with what I hope is breaths.
Crawling to my knees, I stare at Drake in horror as his body continues to twitch. His mouth is twisted in a silent scream as his eyes stare blankly beyond me somewhere. The bird circles and lands on the sand out of Drake’s reach, about halfway between us. In frustration, I scream at the bird, “What’s happening to him?!?”
The beady-eyed thing turns to look at me, hopping closer as its feet kick up granules of sand. It tilts its head to the side, then replies, “He’s resting.”
I blink, shaking my head quickly as I rub my hands over my eyes in surprise. I must’ve hit my head when Drake and I c
rashed to the ground because now I’m hearing things. If you asked me right now why my eyes are bugging out, I’d undoubtedly reply to you that the bird just talked to me.
Gritting my teeth, I glare at the raven as it keeps itself just out of Drake’s reach - if he wasn’t lying lifeless in the sand, that is.. The dang thing stares at him expectantly like it’s waiting for something to happen, and I’ve seen enough. I don’t know what I can do to help, but he shouldn’t suffer alone! This is insanity!
I scurry onto my hands and knees and crawl across the sand, purposefully avoiding getting too close to the bird. It squawks at me in warning anyway, pecking at my hands as I get almost close enough to Drake to touch him. Jerking my hands out of the bird’s reach, I recoil from it, a look of confusion on my face. I grab a handful of sand and sling it at the bird, but the raven hops to the side, easily dodging it as the bird emits a sound that makes me cringe.
