Feral

by Vesper Brooks

  “No. That is not Kat.”

  “What are you talking about? She’s right…” I trailed off as realization dawned on me. “Oh. Oh God. It’s him, isn’t it?”

  Her eyes gazed at me with so much sorrow in their depths that I couldn’t help drawing her into a hug. We clung to each other for a moment, giving and taking of each other’s strengths to shore up our weaknesses. Precious, lingering seconds ticked by as I took the comfort I so desperately sought in her arms. Finally, we parted, and though she remained pale, the air of complete despair that surrounded her moments ago seemed somewhat abated.

  “What can we take from this to fight them?” I asked as I stored away my emotions and tried to switch gears.

  “When he shifts, he is vulnerable. It is hard on him. Radia guards him.” Jasmyne shot me a small smile. “They work well as a team. I think they were trained to operate as a unit during the hidden sessions.”

  “That makes sense. They each have their specialty. Sensee was hearing and smell. Radia’s seems to be brute strength. Daxel is…adaptability and intelligence, I guess. If they get loose, our best bet is figuring out how to separate them. My biggest concern is Radia. The bullets earlier only nicked her. She bled, but the wounds didn’t go deep. The wounds are superficial, I think.” I crossed my arms over my chest as I chewed on my lip, staring at the screen. Already, a thousand possibilities filtered through my mind as I pondered our predicament.

  Jasmyne tapped my shoulder before signing, “Speaking of wounds, what did the doctor say about this?” She pointed at my arm.

  My stomach sank as I realized she had no way to know about the dozen people in the medical bay. How many more of them were having seizures now? As I opened my mouth to speak, Jaxx held up a hand to silence me. Her focus remained on the screens, and everything about her body language conveyed a sense of heightened alert.

  I leaned closer, trying to make sense of what she saw on the screen that I didn’t. Faux Kat leaned over a body, pawing at the clothing. I realized then that somehow, Daxel not only mimicked her body but her apparel as well. The implications of that made my blood run cold. Once again, his ability to learn on a curve made me both fearful and fascinated.

  Every single facet of my being froze in fear when the human form straightened and a square, flat item dangled from her hand. With deliberate steps, the creature approached the door.

  “Oh fuck, he found a key card,” I whispered. “Jasmyne, sound the alarm. Now! There’s people in medical.”

  I heard the clatter as she pushed the buttons that Lily showed her earlier. The sharp, single tone of the alarm blared through the intercom system just as we’d planned. But even the sound I’d been awaiting and dreading for an hour now couldn’t instill the same amount of fear in me as what I felt watching Daxel slide the keycard through the pad and open the door. Like he’d done it a thousand times before.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I walked briskly through the corridors beside Jaxx, trying to calculate how long we had before the geds could intercept the wounded and sick we planned to evacuate back to the bunkers. I hated the idea of taking them away from the medical equipment that could stand between them and death, but leaving them in the bay meant a higher chance of death. A glance at my watch told me hours remained between us and the hope of rescue.

  “As much as I hate to say it, we need to find a way to stop the geds permanently,” I said, keeping my voice low as we made our way toward the bay. “It sickens me to condemn animals with so much intelligence and awareness, especially knowing they were forced into this level of dangerous behavior. But they’re killing with so much ease and indifference now that I can’t fathom sanctioning them.”

  “I know.” Jasmyne shook her head, showing her dismay. “You are right. But bullets don’t work. How am I supposed to kill these things?”

  I frowned as I contemplated her question. How could we kill them? Daxel’s cunning and Radia’s strength left them with few weaknesses. Nausea swept through me as I realized one very powerful weak spot every animal contained.

  “The pups,” I whispered as I drew to a stop. I cast a glance up and down the hallway, fearful the geds could be right around the corner. “They reacted very aggressively when we found their pups. They both have strong protective instincts. We use that.”

  “How?” Her brow furrowed as she gestured at her empty holster before signing, “I’m out of ammo. The guns did nothing. They won’t stay locked in the room. What more is left?”

  We stood in silence and I let my gaze drop to the floor as I contemplated so many scenarios it made my head spin. The biggest flaw I could foresee was them surviving and attacking us full force in retaliation to prevent us from evacuating to the beach. I needed a plan that wouldn’t backfire on us. Unless…

  “We set the building on fire.” As I spoke, Jaxx’s jaw dropped in shock. “No, don’t give me that look. I’m sure you exploded plenty of things in your military days. We set the building on fire. Whether they survive or not isn’t the point. If nothing else, it will distract them while we get everyone to the ship and get the fuck out of here. Then we demand a tactics team with a shit-ton of firepower and balls of steel to come in here and sweep up the mess.”

  She remained silent as we continued walking. I knew she mulled over the plan and would probably figure out half a dozen ways to enact it by the time we reached med bay. When we crossed the gap between buildings, both of us moved quickly and quietly, aware the geds could be upon us within seconds.

  Screams filled the air as soon as we opened the door. I shared a glance with Jasmyne before we bolted toward the loudest ones. As we rounded a corner, my heart sank. The door to the med bay stood wide open, and the woman who was in the middle of a seizure when I left lay half out into the hallway. Blood coated her mouth and her eyes gazed at the ceiling, widened in horror over some unknown sight.

  Jaxx shoved me behind her as a form stumbled into the hallway and hit the wall across from the door. The dark hair and frame let me know instantly it was Dr. Mal, but something seemed…off. The way he slouched. The harsh, bubbly rasp of his breath.

  “Mal?” I winced as another scream pierced the air.

  He half turned, and the dark saturation of blood along his throat stopped me in my tracks. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to communicate. Ice prickled across my skin as a shadow cast over him and a body filled the doorway. We all turned to see the perfect mimic of the doctor smiling at us.

  “He says run. They are mine now.” Daxel’s grin broadened and a deep, huffing laugh shook his shoulders before he paused and sniffed the air. His eyes, yellow and gleaming with inhuman intelligence, met mine. “You are mine too.”

  Instinctively, I found myself covering the spot hidden under my jacket. Somehow, he knew I’d been infected, just like the others in that room. Before I could speak, a human head poked out of the room. It belonged to one of the victims seeking treatment earlier. His attention lit upon us, and a garbled snarl made his lips curl back, exposing bloody gums.

  As he scrambled past Daxel and tore toward us on all fours in an awkward, fast lope, Mal flung himself away from the wall. Their bodies collided and they rolled together, stopping in a tangled heap. Jaxx darted forward, tucked her arms into Mal’s armpits, and began trying to drag him away from the snapping, snarling psycho. I knew she wouldn’t leave him. She’d left too many, taking on the burden of deaths that shouldn’t have been hers to bear. But the savior in her decided to die on this hill. I could see it in the set of her jaw.

  I shot forward to help her, though part of my mind puzzled as to why Daxel remained in the doorway, unmoving. He watched us, head tilted, as if delighting in examining our responses and behavior. I shifted my focus back to Mal, ready to motivate him to survive this.

  Too late—I realized he’d expended what he had left already. The slack jaw and glazed eyes that stared past me made my heart wrench in pain and fury. I released him and drew myself up to glare at the source of all our pa
in and fear through bleary eyes.

  “Stop it!” My hands balled into fists at my side as I screamed at Daxel. “Why are you doing this? Some of these people never hurt you. They don’t deserve what you are doing to them!”

  “We did not deserve,” he responded, voice raspy with the force of his response.

  “No, you didn’t. But this isn’t the way, Daxel. Killing people endlessly isn’t going to make it better.”

  His lips curled in a strange, sadistic smile. “Better… Not better until they are mine or dead.”

  A long, low growl filled the corridor, and I found myself looking upward. Radia hung from the ceiling above me, teeth bared and muscles tensed. I stepped back and kept my motions as slow and unconfrontational as possible, attempting to put distance between us so she couldn’t drop down on me.

  I reached behind me, seeking Jasmyne’s hand as sheer terror danced through my veins like shards of ice swirling down a snowy river. I needed the comfort of her presence. To ground myself in the reality of her warm skin.

  “Tell her to stop, Daxel. Please,” I begged.

  “No!” Daxel barked. With smooth, deliberate motions, he turned his back on us and walked back into the lab. A loud, chilling chorus of unnatural howls greeted him as he disappeared from view.

  Without saying a word to each other, Jaxx and I turned and bolted down the hallway just as Radia leapt to the ground with a throaty growl. How she swiveled and shifted her bulk to land on her feet eluded me, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I could swear I felt the heat of her breath on the back of my neck as we ran. The exit appeared so far away, the red light glowing in the shadows of the dim lights.

  Jaxx skidded to a halt as she grabbed a door. With a quick twist of the handle, she flung it open. Her arm collided with my stomach as she caught me around the middle and used my momentum to throw me into the room before whirling and slamming the door shut on Radia’s face. The door bowed as the ged rammed into it, rattling it in its frame.

  “That won’t hold her,” I said, glancing around. We stood in the conference room where I’d first questioned Evans mere days ago about the nature of the Ged Project. Oh, how I wish I’d walked away then when he provided half-assed, elusive answers.

  Jaxx pointed at the row of windows on the other side of the massive table. Immediately, I understood what she wanted. I ran to them and slid one open. Thankfully, we remained on the first floor, so the drop wouldn’t hurt. I cursed my wide hips as I shimmied through, wincing at how the metal frame scraped me and caught on my jeans. Jaxx’s nimbler form followed me out with much more ease. Before we left, she turned and slid the window shut.

  The simple action seemed brilliant. Radia’s reduced ability to scent meant she couldn’t track us that way. It wouldn’t stop her, but it provided precious time for us to make our escape.

  We ran for the nearest building and ducked around the corner of it before I turned to Jaxx. Panting with exertion, I asked, “Now what?”

  She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, expression grim, before answering. “We burn this bitch to the ground. I have an idea. Come on.”

  “You had me at ‘let’s set things on fire’,” I told her, and I meant it.

  Chapter Thirty

  It felt like walking into the domain of a ghost when we entered Mal’s lab. I couldn’t stop seeing him in my mind’s eye. The memory of him smiling in his Deadpool pajamas appeared, and then I could see his gashed throat and glazed-over eyes. I shook my head, chasing the nightmares away that I knew would provide companionship for years to come. Each death affected me, but I knew Kat’s would haunt Jasmyne the most.

  I walked over to where his dart gun remained and picked it up. He’d already loaded it, and several more darts sat on the counter. Since Mal measured them, I knew he’d put in doses to take out the geds. The darts felt so thin in my hand, and a part of me worried they weren’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough to end this tragedy.

  The tap on my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned to Jaxx whose hands moved in an intricate dance as she spoke. “Are you sure? This plan seems riskier than mine.”

  “It is, but if it works, it will take out Radia and the pups. We know the tranqs work on her. The needles don’t have to penetrate far to dose her, so that thick-ass hide of hers isn’t an issue. My biggest concern is that Radia and Daxel will show up. That’s why we have to be patient. Do it my way.”

  She stood for a moment, eyes searching my face. In a moment of sheer emotion, I leaned forward, letting our lips touch. The kiss remained a soft, chaste one at first, before she deepened it, giving me every worry and doubt she felt and exchanging it with my own. When we parted, I touched my lips reverently.

  “Jasmyne, when this is over—”

  “Yes. I want a real relationship with you.”

  I smiled at how well she knew me, before beaming at her response. She felt the same! That in itself helped stave off the monstrous darkness and despair that threatened to consume my soul. “I’d like that. Yeah.”

  Using my joy as a shield against the pain and sorrow in my soul, I walked a quick circuit of the clinic to check for anything else that might come in handy. A peek into his cabinets revealed several bottles of rubbing alcohol, and I stashed them in a bag Jasmyne held out to me.

  “Why couldn’t he be a smoker?” I grumbled as I searched his desk. “I need a damn lighter.”

  An idea blossomed, and I dashed into the back to check through his surgical tools. When I found the small, slender, pen-shaped item I searched for, I pumped my fist in the air. The tiny blowtorch, used for cauterizing, provided the perfect lighter for what I had in mind.

  “Okay, time to get set up.” I turned to Jaxx who frowned as she stared at the bag she held. “What? Do you think it won’t work?”

  I took the bag from her, freeing up her hands so she could talk. “We shouldn’t both go. One of us needs to go back to the bunker and get people to the beach. I can do this alone.”

  “Like hell you are. We go together. If we die together, we do. I get this is akin to a suicide mission, but we need two of us to do it the way I want. One to close the door on her and trap her, the other to shoot the gun.”

  “I am capable of shooting the gun,” Jaxx responded, her brow raised cockily.

  I reached out and grasped her hand, effectively silencing her. “I know you can. You’re a damn good shot. Just…let me do this. I need to. For Mal and Wulph and Destry. And you need to for Kat and David. We need to work as a team, not fight over who gets to pull the trigger. Besides, your ass is faster than mine. I need you closing the door so I don’t die. Okay?”

  After a moment she gave a small nod, conceding to my wishes. I smiled at her, though I knew it looked strained at best. What we prepared to do would either wipe out Radia and the pups, or we’d die trying.

  “I know it would be best to let Lily and the others know to go ahead and evac to the beach, but we can’t risk running into Daxel or Radia or…” I trailed off with a shudder, unwilling to mention the rabid man we’d seen earlier. “Once we’ve thrown everything into play, we can get back to them and run the evac. Hopefully, Daxel will be too busy trying to pull his pack out of the flames to worry about us.”

  Her firm nod let me know she agreed with me. After one more lap around the vet clinic, we headed back outside. This time, we made our way to the interior ged pens where they’d hopefully left the pups. It wasn’t until we managed to get halfway down the stairwell in the building that I realized they could have moved them after opening the door. I kept the thought to myself, as if voicing it would make it come true.

  We crept into the room, half crouched and scanning for adult geds. The soft sounds of small bodies squirming and tiny whimpers reassured me the pups remained in their nest. As we picked our way across the room, I tried desperately to avoid looking at the bodies around us. At Kat’s face, with her mouth open and cheek a hollow hole that let me see the gleam of her teeth in the filtered li
ght. At the bones protruding from Destry’s neck, or the way David’s entrails drifted in a wake behind him, like he’d tried to crawl across the floor with his lower half missing.

  I handed Jasmyne the gun so she could cover me while I did the one thing I didn’t want to do. The soft warmth of the pups permeated my skin as I lifted two of them up. Their round, fat little bodies didn’t feel that different from a regular dog, except for the fact they remained hairless. But seeing them up close left a sickness in my stomach that could never dissipate. Their short snouts, boarish like their mother, rooted around as they took in my scent. Soft spikes, like the plumes of a young bird coming into feather, laced down their backs. A claw protruded from the tip of one’s tail, and I fought the urge to touch it and see if it was as sharp as it looked.

  “They’re like chimeras,” I whispered as I carried them to the container used to move Radia from the interior pen to the exterior one. “They don’t even look real.”

  Jaxx lifted her chin to acknowledge what I said, but her eyes never wavered from the door. It provided the only way in and the only way out. She kept the tranq gun trained on the entrance as I set the trap.

  With care, I placed the pups onto the metal bottom of the container. A small, compassionate part of me hated what I planned to do. Hated that we only perpetuated the cycle by bringing the pups into this. How many animals in the world were slaughtered every day because they showed aggression while protecting their young? Here I stood, great animal advocate and canine scientist, baiting a trap with an animal’s babies. It took another trip to gather the rest of the litter before I could call this part ready. Disgusted with myself, I stepped back and wiped my hands on my pants.

  Jasmyne handed me the gun without protest when I reached for it, and I took up her stance as she slid into the V-shaped gap created by where the crate door met the wall in its opened state. We knew from experience that while Radia tried, she couldn’t trace scent well. And since we’d been in here earlier, if she did pick up our scent, it wouldn't trigger any alarms for her. Hopefully, the pups being in a new spot wouldn’t make her stop and think, either. Thinking didn’t seem to be her strong suit.