by Jill Cooper
“Shush, kids.” Ginny put her arms up to shield them, but it was too late. Kim screamed, and then a powerful snort came from outside and yellow eyes peered into the window. The glistening growled, showing off his pointy fangs and red gums, but he didn’t move.
Chase has a sneaking suspicion something was going on here, other than a pack of hungry glistenings. Whatever it was, it put a sour spin in his stomach. If they were going to escape, how would they get past the door?
They couldn’t stay, but they couldn’t go either.
“Check the bathroom window,” Chase ordered roughly. He couldn’t help how he was acting, survival was kicking in, but he hated the last time he’d most likely see Ginny, to be like this. He rather it had been warm and cozy on the sofa.
Ginny nodded, but by the time she started moving, a new noise terrified them. The night air gave way to a new flapping of wings and the glistening guarding the living room window took off in flight.
Chase rushed to peer through the glass. In his immediate view, he saw two blue glistenings do an about face as a larger-than-life dragon pounded down through the sky. His landing was flanked on either side by three other smaller, shimmering, blue dragons. The center one was clearly the leader. He lifted his head back and roared.
The glistenings around the cabin sunk in their claws, digging at the dirt. They were getting ready to charge. The glistenings here, were at war with each other. Chase believed—no, he had to believe—that the large dragon was Jake.
This was their chance to break out and escape.
“Everyone out, now.” Chase pulled the door open. The winds and rain whipped into the cabin, instantly chilling the space. Ginny corralled everyone toward the exit and her eyes flashed a question to Chase. “It’s our one shot, Gin.” His voice was quiet. Chase hoped she could hear his affection for her, even if he couldn’t spell it out in simple words.
I need you to survive. I need you to make it more than me. That’s what he wanted to say.
“Let’s make it a good one then.” Ginny took his hand, and with Bruce leading the pack of kids, they ran into chaos.
The dragons circled each other in the air. Jake tore into one’s neck, while his paws punched into the gut of another.
Chase and his gang of refugees sprinted toward the woods, but their movements were noticed by the glistenings. A few broke off from Jake’s attack and dove toward them. Chase glanced back, drew a deep breath, but couldn’t keep the fear out of his voice. “Don’t look back! Keep going!”
He turned and fired a shot as Ginny and the kids leapt into the woods. He nailed one of the dragons straight in the chest and it crashed into the mud, skidding through the softened earth.
Chase caught sight of Jake landing hard into the dragon, his giant wings flapping in triumph. He couldn’t thank him, congratulate him, all Chase could do was turn. Leaping over logs and twigs, he rushed to catch up to the others. The rain pelted against his hair and wet twigs tried desperately to grab hold of his clothes.
He ignored the scratching and the pulling. Chase kept going, looking up to see the underbelly of a glistening doing its best to track their movements. Ginny and the kids were too far ahead to warn. Chase picked up speed, ignoring the burning in his chest. He had to warn them not to head toward the clearing, but to head deeper into the woods. Jake could pick off the glistenings.
Chase just had to buy them all a little more time.
“Ginny!” Chase screamed as he came up closer to her. His sneakers skidded in the mud and he slammed down the hill.
She turned and had wide eyes as if something terrified her.
Chase saw it, too.
A giant, flaming fireball was crashing toward earth like a meteor, except it was twisted metal.
He knew what it was. It was his damn Humvee, or what was left of it. Nothing more than a crumbled up ball.. There went their escape vehicle.
“Move!” Chase screamed and threw himself forward. He slammed right into Ginny. She squealed and they fell backwards into the kids.
Tumbling end over end, they slipped down a ravine on their butts, off a twisted grotto and down fifty feet. Chase groaned as his face smashed into rock and was greeted with the cold splash of water.
Kids moaned and some cried, but they were alive—for now.
Chase pushed himself up on his arms when the ground shook. Ginny grabbed his arm. “We have to go. Chase!” But his crack ribbed was made worse under the new trauma. Chase struggled to breathe and sharp pains pelted his chest as paws smashed into the ground all around them.
Ginny held him close and the kids huddled in closer.
Four dragons, and then five circled. Sniffing, the glistening snouts came nearer and snorted right in their faces. Ginny scooted in, wrapping her arms around Chase’s large frame.
Wings folded. The glistenings sat back on their powerful hind legs, waiting for something. Chase kicked back to put more distance between him and the glistenings, as the beasts lifted their snouts in the air and called.
“What do they want?” Ginny asked with a puff of cold air. Her voice shook. Soil covered hair was slicked to her cheeks. The hands wrapped around Chase’s torso quivered.
Chase thought they would just eat them. Tear them from limb to limb, but it seemed they had something worse in mind for them.
Something far worse.
Chapter Twelve Dirk
Dragons.
They flanked them in the night sky, but something pulled them away from the group and Dirk led the resistance to safety. They met up at the central checkpoint just as they agreed, and from there, Dirk could make the sand dunes off in the distance. That made him nervous enough, but when he counted the trucks—
There was one missing. One of the few that carried the kids, the one Chase was driving. He thought the kid’s would be safest with him since Dirk’s own attention was divided, but Dirk counted the Humvees in the convoy and one was missing.
He was sure it was Chase’s.
Back in the Humvee, Dirk ignored the guilt rising in him; instead, he tried the radio again. “Come in Chase, this is Dirk. We’re at the rendezvous point. Over.”
Rebecca shifted beside him. “If they’re not here, they’re not coming.”
He stiffened his breath and didn’t like how it seemed she had read his mind. He slammed the radio receiver down. “You can’t know that. And if I don’t ask you for your opinion . . .”
“Please.” Rebecca’s lips drew into a thin line. “You know that any of us getting through this was a long shot. The fact we only lost one Humvee . . .”
“Don’t say it.” Dirk clenched his hands around the steering wheel. He’d think twice about using them, but Rebecca’s words stirred anger in him. He’d like nothing better than to smack her right in the face.
“Don’t be such a Neanderthal, Dirk. You’re better than that.”
“I’m not the one talking about sacrificing children.” Dirk glowered at her, but maybe he was. Once. Now he just wanted to survive and find his wife. Knowing she was being held prisoner by New Haven was torture, but at least Jenna was alive, and safe. The fact that New Haven had her, brought Dirk solace and that unsettled him. What she must have been going through . . . his kid . . .
The sky glowed orange in the distance and it lit up the cabin of the Humvee. Rebecca gasped and shielded her eyes best she could, while handcuffed to the dashboard.
Dirk’s heart pounded as he stood from the Humvee. The group gathered to stare up at the sky. Terror gripped their faces as they huddled close. “I’m going to check it out.”
“Dirk—,” Jeff started.
But he cut him off by raising his finger. “You keep everyone safe and moving. You can’t stay here long. We’ll catch up, I promise.”
Jeff nodded, but with a resigned shrug of his shoulders. At least he let Dirk go without an argument. Jumping back into the Humvee, he cranked the steering wheel and drove straight toward the sight of the fire.
The Humvee rocked up and d
own as they went descended the terrain of heavy rocks and rotten tree trunks. “Are you insane?” Rebecca hissed. “We’ll never free Jenna if we’re dead.”
And if Dirk told her, he left their people behind to save her? “Time to prove you right, Rebecca.”
A dirty look darted from her eyes.
“Time to prove I’m not a Neanderthal after all. Maybe I can be a hero.”
“If I die . . .” Rebecca swallowed hard.
“Shut up. Stop your speeches and just hold on.” Dirk downshifted and the engine drowned out her whining and the constant pounding of his heart.
It was suicide, but it was also the right thing to do.
And was it the right thing to do? It was about the only thing Dirk had left.
****
Ash sprinkled into their hair like morning snow. Dirk’s nose tingled from the burning fire and his lungs struggled with a deep breath from the smoke.
They traveled by foot up the rocky terrain and Rebecca resisted the whole way, but Dirk gave her a tug as they climbed further up the hill. Flanked on either side by dry trees, the path was littered with wet leaves cushioning their steps.
At the top of the hill, Dirk laid flat and Rebecca had no choice but to do the same. She sighed, but stayed still.
Dirk gave her a look to indicate silence as he fished out his binoculars and trained them on the terrain below, in the valley. A flattened area surrounded by the running stream, he could make out two trucks and people being held outside of them.
It was the missing kids.
Dirk took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. It wouldn’t be long before the kids were marched inside the trucks and taken out of there. The window in their attack and rescue was quickly closing.
He panned left and saw another group of kids with Ginny—and Chase.
So, they were alive.
There were at least three glistening dragons protecting the cargo trucks, but the drivers were in human form—as were the glistenings forcing Dirk’s people inside. He noticed their hands were bound in front of them.
Where were the glistenings taking them?
Dirk lowered his binoculars and sighed, biting his lip. “They’re keeping the glistenings kids separated from the humans.”
“Why?” Rebecca asked.
Dirk shook his head that he didn’t know, but suspected, that Jake had been right all along. The glistenings wanted to take their kids back. Indoctrinate them while they were young; get them to hate their humanity. Get them to identify as glistening rather than human.
“You realize to go down there is suicide,” Rebecca said.
Of course, he knew, but it was his only choice.
“I’m cold. We should get back in the truck and join the others. We have a better chance to cross the sand dunes at night undetected. We should—.”
“Stop thinking about yourself for once and shut up.” Dirk glared at her. She represented what he hated about the old world. Self-indulgent, political, and concerned only about her own ass. “If we can get Ginny and Chase free, or give them at least a chance to go free, then we will double our chances.”
“I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?” Rebecca went green and struggled with a deep breath. “Instead, I’m stuck here with you, and if given the chance, you’ll leave me to die.”
Dirk knew he didn’t need to answer, but he did. “I’d never wish for anyone to get eaten by a dragon, Rebecca, not even you.”
“Then un-cuff me. Let me help you. You’re a fool if you think you can do this yourself, and I know you’re no one’s fool, Dirk, least of all mine.”
She was right on a lot of levels. Dirk wasn’t even sure if there was a way to get out in one piece. So what was he doing? Was it a last stand? A way to prove to himself, that it wasn’t just about Jenna? There was a bigger picture; he knew that. He wanted to help.
He was more than a bounty hunter for New Haven.
“All right,” Dirk un-cuffed Rebecca’s hands.
She rubbed her wrists with her mouth open. “You won’t regret it.”
“I better not. No funny business. If you even try to run—.”
“Run?” Rebecca laughed quietly. “And be alone in the woods with those things chasing me? I couldn’t survive day camp if left to my own devices.”
“Some glistening rights activist you are.” Dirk narrowed his eyes in judgment. But she had never been a rights activist as far as he was concerned. It was just a cover and one she played well at the time. Now her act crumbled and the mask she wore was ripped away—revealing the weasel she was.
Dirk handed her the P90 laying on his left. Rebecca had basic training when they were on the run months ago. He hoped she could remember it well enough to cover him. “You’ll stay here and provide cover.”
“What are you going to do? Just walk in?” Rebecca asked.
If only it were that easy, but Dirk had a surprise. One he had been saving in the case of an emergency. Being kidnapped by glistening dragons seemed like it fit the bill.
Dirk tapped the bag he wore over his shoulder. “C4. I’m going to set a . . . distraction. Hopefully that’ll get me close enough to Chase to make a difference.”
Rebecca nodded and Dirk noticed the quiver in her chin. “Good luck. I mean that, Dirk.”
He thought to smile, but didn’t have the nerve. Dirk turned and ran into the bushes to descend upon the glistenings.
Straight into the jaws of the mighty bear.
****
Dirk took his time descending into the clearing. He stayed low, crawling arm over arm through the bushes. His body caked in mud; the closer he got, the more sounds he could hear that stilled the manic beating of his heart.
Kids crying and quiet voices.
Dragon tails swirled in the night sky and a huff of dragon breath came so close, it ruffled the leaves right by Dirk’s head. One dragon was different than the others. Rather than a regular shimmering blue, it had a purple streak running down the tip of its head.
Well, that was different.
He closed his eyes and took a quiet breath, having to fight the urge to drop to the ground. But any sudden movements and the glistenings would hear. It was only by sheer luck that they hadn’t tracked him yet.
Dirk kept going and did his best to keep his thoughts at bay. He didn’t want to think about Jenna or any of it. All he had to worry about was right now—what he was doing and how he was going to get through it. One day at a time, one crawl at a time, that was the only thing Dirk focused on.
Otherwise, he might not be able to keep it together long enough to survive.
Taking the long way around the glistening dragons, Dirk found himself in a dense area of trees. Some had fallen and others had been reduced to chopped firewood. Glancing over his shoulder, when Dirk was sure he wasn’t being watched, he set the C4 charge beneath the fallen trees laid against each other crisscross.
The explosion should be just what the doctor ordered. And the fire?
Hopefully, enough to distract the glistenings and keep them off of Dirk’s back long enough to get to Chase and free their people.
Killing glistenings, wasn’t Dirk’s priority.
Staying alive was.
Dirk set the timer for sixty seconds and hurried back to the base of the clearing. Slithering on his belly through the mud, branches snared his shirt, slowing him down. He outwardly shivered, the longer he was in the mud, the colder he grew.
Forty-Five seconds.
He hid in the bushes and waited, moving carefully closer to the glistening dragons, but not too close. He could see their backsides, tails swishing along the ground. It was hard to keep his eyes off the dangerous spikes that rose from their flesh.
Twenty-five seconds.
Voices caught his attention and Dirk still lay far enough away from the glistenings not to be seen, and from the explosion? He just had to hope he put enough distance between himself and the blast.
“What’s the hold up? Why are
you keeping us here?” It was Chase’s voice and it had his usual edge of distain for authority.
Dirk checked his watch. Ten seconds to go, but his legs were anxious to move after hearing his friend’s voice. A kid in all regards, and one, Dirk felt personally responsible for. He just wanted to reach out and save him.
Someone answered Chase, but Dirk didn’t hear the words. It was drowned out as his watch chirped that his ten seconds were up. He bent his head down low and covered it with both arms.
Boom.
****
Once again, fire lit up the sky.
The sound of trees being ripped apart caught the glistenings’ attention and they moved to investigate. Dirk stayed low to the ground, his hands digging into the dirt, as the dragons took flight to check on the commotion.
But they didn’t all go. A few glistenings in human form stayed behind, guarding the humans, they had made prisoners, and those were the glistenings that Dirk kept his eye on. He advanced through the bushes, his gun trained on the glistening male as he approached. His attention was caught elsewhere, along the tree line.
It was now or never.
Dirk went around the trucks to sneak up on the glistening guard. When the kids’ eyes fell on him, he held his finger to his lips. Their eyes darted away and Dirk hid, waiting for the glistening guard to pivot his attention back.
Sucking in his breath, he forced his P90 under the chin of the guard and pulled him back behind the caravan. The glistening fought, stumbling in the dark. His hands clung to Dirk’s head and struggled to disarm him, but Dirk had the advantage.
Holding his breath, Dirk made a one-two-snap and broke the neck. The crack sent shivers up Dirk’s own spine and he dropped the guard’s body like a heap of old rocks behind the vehicle, hoping no one would see.
He squatted down low and approached the side. Chase and Ginny sat on the ground, their legs straight out. Chase was holding his side and Ginny stared off in the distance. They both had the look of fatigue, droopy eyes, backs rounded; they were barely able to keep themselves awake.
