Kill the Wild

by S T Branton

  Throwing one arm over my shoulder and locking her waist with both hands, I hoisted her to a crouching position, then upright. Then I lifted her again, so she was lying across my shoulders, and ran for the door. As I did, the wall of fire engulfed the room, and the wall to the outside crumbled. I looked back once and distantly saw Akker catch someone jumping from a second-story window in the building opposite. He was so close to the building and the flames coming out of the windows that it momentarily stopped me. It was either an incredibly stupid or incredibly brave thing to do. Maybe both.

  I made it out the door and down the steps before a man ran to me and took the woman from me. We all exited the apartment and ran for safety a half a block down. Fire trucks arrived, and citizens of the town threw buckets on the fire and tried to help. Akker was still helping people out of the building on the other side of The Bar, most of them unconscious, and he carried them two at a time. I ran to him to see if he needed anything else, and we turned at the sound of a massive crashing noise.

  The bar collapsed, destroyed, and people everywhere were yelling. Akker stood there with black soot all over him, and I realized how dangerous the situation was for him. For a dryad, fire was the worst possible thing to run into, and he went willingly into buildings full of it to rescue people over and over. He might be young, but he was brave. Things calmed down as the fire truck blasted the fire with chemicals and water to suffocate it, and Ally joined me by my side.

  “That was brave of you, Akker.” I braced my hands on my knees as I tried to settle my breathing.

  “I did what I had to do. Besides, dryads aren’t as flammable when we’re young. The bark isn’t old or dry enough yet.”

  “Still, it was brave of you.”

  An almost imperceptible redness crossed his cheeks. “Thanks,” he said meekly.

  A shout from behind me made me flinch, and I realized it was one made in anger and not worry or panic. It was directed at someone. Who, I couldn’t tell, but it was full of venom and rage. I turned to see the source of it, and my breath caught in my throat. A mob had formed down the street. Some carried weapons and others shook their fists in the air. They were loud, and angry, and marching toward The Bar, and Cale led the way.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  There was so much noise and chatter among the shouts that I could barely make any single words out until a chant slowly formed. It came from the back of the crowd and rippled its way forward, seeming to infect every person it reached with a violent earworm. They began to chant “KILL THE FREAKS” as one and in increasing volume.

  The mob had molded like liquid metal around a small porch The Bar once had for outside seating. Amidst the melted plastic chairs and umbrellas and deformed tables darkened with soot, Cale ran up, turned to face them, and became the voice of their frustration.

  His eyes spoke of hatred, and his half-mad smile spoke of malice and self-righteousness. He saw an opportunity to lead a small but destructive force for a means of his own, and he was jumping at the chance, whipping them up first from inside and now from in front.

  I saw people like him do this before. It wasn’t unlike the fury and devastation Hobbes caused, only Cale was no Hobbes. His big, rounded forearms and stained work shirt made him one of them, one of Hunt. His voice and his life were like theirs, and while he was dumber than a sack of potatoes, he had a built-in sense of belonging and leadership that, in their fury, the crowd went along with.

  I strained to hear what he was saying over the crowd’s murmuring. They quieted to listen to him, and it struck me how much it looked like a political rally. Cale stood on the platform and slammed his hand on the burnt railing as he spoke, and his words came through, echoing off the still-smoking buildings and in the heads of Hunt’s residents.

  “The Freak-ahs have been doing this for too long,” he shouted. “We were a safe place before. A community where you could leave your doors unlocked at night and send your kids to the store alone and know, and know that they would be fine. But these people… No, you know what? I take that back. These others, they don’t live like we do. They don’t care about our safety or our way of life. They only want to take and to cause us pain and destruction.”

  A collection of the listeners nodded silently, but others shook their fists and cheered loudly at every sentence. Cale was onto something with them and was playing their fears to manipulate them. I felt Akker shift beside me. It seemed his heroism bought him little goodwill.

  “Ever since these Freak-ahs moved out here, people have died, jobs have dried up, and more strangers have come around. And I think it’s high time we put an end to it!”

  Now the listeners being called to action were rumbling and getting more riled. I couldn’t tell for sure if he believed everything he said, or if he was using it as a chance to cause violence. Some people only want to hurt. He struck me as that type.

  Underneath my feet, the ground started to tremble. It wasn’t from the movement of the heavy fire truck, which had been stopped for quite a while, or from the water pumping, which finally ended as the fires seemed under control now. It was from Akker. I could tell he was getting more upset watching Cale, and knowing they were talking about him. His family. His people.

  “We should get out of here,” I quietly suggested to both of them. “I think things are about to get ugly.”

  “Why is he saying those things about us?” Akker’s voice was full of confusion and anger. “He is lying. That man is a liar, and they’re all agreeing with him.”

  “It’s politics.” Ally grunted. “Blaming other people for things they think are wrong with theirs. It isn’t new, but it is dangerous. Slick is right. We need to get you out of here, but where? I’m afraid if we head back, they’ll follow us.”

  “We should go back to our hotel.” I thought quickly. “We all need to go somewhere to rest and breathe clean air. Maybe they’ll calm down and this won’t turn into anything, but we need to keep an eye on them anyway.”

  “I’m not leaving until I find out who killed my father,” Akker replied as his eyes burned into Cale. The ground rumbled more underneath, and plaster and burnt wood fell from The Bar near Cale, who avoided it and turned a fierce eye back to the crowd.

  “God is angry with us for letting these heathens in. We need to do something before it’s too late!”

  “Come on.” I grabbed Akker’s massive arm. “Let’s go.”

  The young Vrya reluctantly walked backward a few steps, his eyes never leaving Cale, before finally turning around and putting his back to him. He walked with purpose but tried to take smaller steps so we could keep pace with him. It was a struggle, but Ally kept to his left and I to his right, subconsciously trying to protect him if someone tried to attack. We got into the hotel room, and I shut the door, then placed my back to it and sighed heavily.

  “That man, he thinks we’re the problem,” Akker asserted, his face a mask of confusion and pain. “I think he’s the problem. It is our people who have been murdered. It is our way of life that is being threatened again. Why can’t he leave us alone? Why can’t they let us be?”

  I didn’t know how to explain to him that this was so common in human history that my initial reaction was not of surprise but disappointment. The people of Hunt seemed so lovely, but like everywhere else I’d been, all it took was for things to get hard, even a little, and whoever wasn’t ‘normal’ was singled out.

  In The Deep that was me, many times. I was the Nearsider, the one who caused all the trouble. No matter if I stayed silent and calm or if I defended myself and eliminated threats to my safety or life, I was the problem. The one to shift the blame to, for everything. My heart hurt for him to experience this so young.

  But his youth wouldn’t be counted by people who wanted to hurt him. They would see him as a monster and a giant at that. He would be ripped to pieces by an angry crowd of confused and scared people who were led by someone with hate in their heart. There wasn’t much time, but we needed a plan.

 
“Look, we have a ticking bomb here, and it’s going to explode. If they don’t calm themselves down, and with a guy like Cale out there running his mouth I don’t see that happening, things are going to get crazy, fast. We need to get you out of harm’s way,” I explained. “We might need to get your family somewhere safer, too.”

  “Let them come.” Akker’s jaw set and his foot tapped on the floor as his hands pushed into one another. “I’ll take them all on.”

  “No, that won’t help,” Ally interrupted. She sat in front of Akker, making him look at her. “Not all humans are like this. I’m not like them. They’re scared and angry and confused. I’m sure they’ll calm down.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  Ally looked at me, but I had no good answer.

  “Then a fire is the least of our worries,” she replied.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Akker hadn't sat down since we got him into the hotel room. I decided to shower since soot and various degrees of gross from the crumbling buildings still coated me. I didn't bother with the hot water. I had enough heat for the day. The chill of the water soothed my skin and washed away the layer of smoke clinging to me. Looking down at my feet, I watched the water swirl across the shower floor and spin down the drain. The darkened stream looked like the black and white version of Psycho.

  By the time I got out, all the heat the fire had seared into my skin was gone, and enough chill had gotten to my bones that I shivered my way into the fresh clothes waiting for me on the counter. Adjusting the air conditioner in a hotel from its wintry temperature wasn't my style, so even the air in the room wasn't comforting against the cold. Throwing on my trusty leather jacket seemed like a touch of overdressing, so instead, I tucked myself into bed, resting back on the pillows and pulling the blankets up over my bent knees because I was dignified.

  Akker was still pacing. It made me tired to watch him, but I understood what he felt.

  "I'm not going to sit by and let these people blame us for these atrocities. We had nothing to do with any of this," he raged.

  "We know that, Akker." I tried to comfort him. Or at least bring down his intensity a little. This much anger coming from a towering, powerful young man could be dangerous. The last thing we needed right this second was another earthquake.

  He turned sharply to face me. "You heard what that disgusting man said about us. He blamed us for killing our kind and for caving in the mine. Now he's saying we started that fire. He's trying to turn the entire town on us and run us out. Or worse."

  "I'd be worried about the 'or worse'," Ally stated.

  "Not helpful, Ally," I muttered through the corner of my mouth.

  Splinter scurried off the bed beside me and over to my duffel sagging on the floor. After burying himself in it, he came back out with the remnants of a bag of snacks from the road trip. He stuffed himself into it and came back out with a chip in his mouth. After crossing the room, he hopped up on the second bed, then leapt over to land on Akker's shoulder. He ran down his arm and held the chip out to him. The young dryad looked at the food, then at me.

  "He's trying to make you feel better." Tears sprang to my eyes at the gesture from my strange little flying toilet brush rat. "He wants you to have a snack."

  "That's sweet. Thank you." Akker accepted the chip. Splinter nuzzled him, then ran back over to me.

  I shot Ally a smug look. "See? Akker thinks he's sweet."

  "I'm working on it," Ally grumbled.

  A heavy knock on the door sent Splinter scrambling. He dove under the pillows and stayed hidden while I climbed out from under the blankets and walked up to the door. Akker went stiff, on edge as he stared at the entrance. Nervousness flickered across Ally's face as well. It seemed like each of us was thinking the same thing. Beyond the door could be Cale or more of the mob, ready to drag Akker out and into the middle of the street to turn him over to the rest of the angry townspeople.

  "Yes?" I called through the door. "Who is it?"

  "It's Jonas. Open up."

  I disengaged the chain lock and opened the door. It was only open a few inches when Jonas squeezed his way inside.

  "Come on in," I huffed.

  "Is everyone all right?" Jonas asked. "Slick? Ally?"

  "We're fine," I told him. "It got pretty crazy out there, so we're trying to lay low." I leaned over toward the pillows and shoved my hand under them to grab Splinter. "Come on, you big baby. It's only Jonas."

  I pulled Splinter out, and he curled up on my shoulder, trying to hide in my hair. It wasn't a good disguise. Jonas looked across the room, his eyes locking on Akker. The younger man took off his shirt soon after we got here to check a burn across his back. He hadn't put it back on, and now Jonas's eyes scanned over the unusual features of his skin. His gaze moved along Akker's body, taking in his height, then snapped to me.

  "He…" He looked back at Akker. “You're a…”

  "A dryad," I offered. "It's not a bad word. You can say it. He knows what he is."

  "I just…" Jonas seemed so shocked he couldn't even string words together correctly. "The Vrya…"

  "Them, too," I confirmed. "That's how it works with families. Generally the same species."

  "You conveniently left all that out when you were telling me everything," Jonas said.

  "Does it bother you?" Akker asked.

  Jonas cleared his throat and shook his head. "No. It was simply a surprise."

  "I needed more information before I unloaded everything on you," I explained. "Remember, I said minimal bullshit. You're the one who gave me that margin. That's all on you."

  He held up his hands as if in surrender and smiled. "You got me." The smile faded as he looked around the room at each of us. "So? What now?"

  I sat on the edge of the bed and reached down for my boots. After shoving my feet into them, I laced them tightly.

  "We have work to do. I need to figure out what Cale is up to and how he plans on executing it. Whatever it is, it won’t be pretty, but if I can get to him before he does something monumentally stupid, then I think I can stop a war."

  "I'll help you," Jonas volunteered. "I know this area well. I can help you navigate and investigate with you."

  I shook my head. "Thanks for the offer, but I need you to hang back here in Hunt. Like you said, you know this place well. And they know you. I need you to try and keep a lid on the mob. Keep things under control as much as you can and don't let them blow up. Do you think you can do that?"

  "I'll do the best I can," he said. "But they're angry, and whatever they’re up to, they’ll get to it pretty quickly. There isn’t a lot of time to waste."

  "I know. But that's why I need you to hold them back as much as you possibly can. I need some time to unravel things," I told him. "Right now is the time for you to be the very best human you can be."

  Jonas nodded. "I think I can manage that."

  "Great," I said.

  Ally hopped up from where she'd been sitting in an armchair by the window. "I'll go with you. Two people trying to hold back a mob is better than one. And I've been told I can be pretty persuasive."

  She smiled, but I shook my head. "You're going to lean into that, aren't you?"

  "Hey," she called, one hand landing on her popped-out hip. "I didn't get to be trained by a master wizard and carry around a fancy switchblade and things that blow stuff up. I have to take my strengths where I can find them."

  "Fair enough. Go with Jonas and sweet-talk the mob."

  Ally grinned and rushed over to Jonas. They said goodbye and promised to keep in touch before leaving. I closed the door behind them and turned back to Akker. He didn't give me a chance to say anything.

  "I want to see my father's body," he demanded.

  I blinked a few times. "Akker, I know you want to know what happened, but I don't think it's the best idea for you to see him like that."

  The young dryad stared at me without a hint of hesitation in his eyes. "I want to see my father, Sara. You got to see h
im. I deserve to see what happened to him. Especially since it seems some people want to do the same thing to the rest of my family and me. Bring me to him."

  He was right. I had seen his father's body, and it was horrific. That wasn't something he should have in his mind. It would stay with him forever, never letting go. But I saw his devastation and anger. He wouldn’t give up. I put myself in his place, trying to imagine what it would be like to have something so horrible happen to my father and not be able to be near him. I nodded.

  "All right, Akker. I'll bring you. But I have to warn you, it's going to be hard to see."

  "I know. But it's harder not to."

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  "Are you sure about this?" Akker asked.

  I pressed my back against the brick of the doctor's office and nodded. "They weren't exactly pleased I gave them the slip. And unless they suddenly got an influx of patients from some other town, I don't think they see enough people regularly to forget my face in less than two days. We can't simply stroll through the front door and ask for a tour of the doctor’s office. We have to get inside without anyone noticing us."

  "Do you have a specific plan for where we're going in?"

  I shook my head. "Not specific, per se."

  "A vague plan?"

  "Yes."

  That vague plan was that we were going to sneak inside at some point. The first time I was inside, I didn't pay attention to other doors or windows along the corridor where we found the makeshift morgue.

  It didn't occur to me that I might be back to revisit the body and would need a way to smuggle myself inside. Now I wished I'd used a little more observation instead of having to scoot myself along the back wall hoping to find a place to get in before getting caught.

  Ahead of me, I saw a small metal door set into the wall a few feet off the ground. A metal loop on the side indicated there should be a lock, but there wasn't one. I made my way up to it and grabbed the open ring.