Sunscorched

by Jen Crane

  Nayem’s movements drug Nori’s attention away from the lava. The girl ran away, but Nori didn’t chase her. Instead, she hung her head and considered letting herself break completely down. The rush of panic and fear had left an empty space that needed to be filled. Her eyes stung and her sinuses threatened to burst, but she sniffed and shook her head. Dwelling longer on Jenks or his idiot friend Wallace, who’d suffered the same fiery fate, was a waste of time they didn’t have. She scrambled back to Cooper and Kade, who watched her with barely concealed shock.

  Lonnie had somehow avoided the bulk of the gunfire, and rose onto his knees. “How dare you sully the House of Yahweh?” he intoned around a mouthful of blood.

  Sarge, whose face sported angry red burns, cocked his head and stared at the man, then looked at the dozens of people he’d just slaughtered. He examined them one by one, his stony expression never wavering. And then he aimed the gun at Lonnie and shot him one last time. Lonnie fell back awkwardly, legs bent beneath him.

  “Looks like it’s just you and me, kids,” Sarge said too brightly, his voice pitched to a maddened high. “Well, and my gun. Now, unless you three really are ready to meet your maker today, I suggest you keep your hands to yourself and go back the way we came in.”

  He pulled a pistol from a holster at his waist and nudged it into Cooper’s back, who jerked angrily away from it. “Followed you idiots here,” Sarge said. “Don’t you know how to avoid the Sword of Yahweh?” he said with a snort. “I know you do, Cooper. Taught you myself. Couldn’t believe our luck when we tracked you to this pass.”

  Nori’s head whipped in Cooper’s direction. “You knew about these psychos, and you led us right to them?”

  “Of course I didn’t lead us to them.” Cooper blew out an exasperated breath. “I mean, I knew about the Sword, but this was the way to avoid them.”

  “Old information,” Sarge sneered.

  “You didn’t think that was something we should know?” Kade accused. “You didn’t think you should tell us murderous zealots were waiting to boil us alive if we didn’t forfeit our souls?”

  “Well, I really hoped to avoid all that.” Cooper gave a jerky shrug. “Obviously.”

  “How did that work out for you? For us?” Nori ground her teeth and fisted her hands. “I thought I was gonna die, Cooper. I thought you were dead. And Kade…” She looked away and worked to calm her breathing.

  “They woulda fried you suckers, too,” Sarge said. “If I hadn’t gotten here.” The black metal of his gun glinted in the torchlight. He pointed it at each of them, sparing neither a glance nor an obvious thought for his two fallen comrades. “We’re gettin’ out of here. Place gives me the creeps.”

  No one argued the point, but they didn’t move.

  “I said let’s go!” He shoved the pistol into Cooper’s back again, but before he could even grunt at the pain of metal to his spine, Cooper spun and threw his elbow, catching Sarge in the middle of the throat. Sarge gave a strangled gag and his eyes bulged before he righted himself and leaped onto Cooper. Gravel—and the pistol—scattered as they fell to the ground.

  The meaty sound of fists to skin had Nori jumping to pull Sarge off Cooper. She slung her arm under his neck and squeezed it toward her, using the other arm to form a solid vice around his throat. Sarge twisted and bucked beneath her, cursing with venom and skill, but she held on. When he faltered, Nori ground her teeth and squeezed tighter.

  She didn’t anticipate the headbutt, and only registered Sarge’s greasy head speeding toward her face after she heard the bones of her nose grinding to slivers. She lost control of her limbs—and all consciousness.

  When Nori came to, she closed her eyes again to reboot. She blinked three, four times, which did nothing to change the scene before her. Nayem’s tiny hands shook under the weight of a gun. Kade was on his knees holding his right shoulder. Blood seeped through his fingers and soaked into the dirt floor. Sarge watched the girl through narrowed eyes, his intention to take the gun from her clear. Cooper’s eye was swollen, and a streak of drying blood marred his bottom lip.

  “Wait, no!” Cooper’s desperate yell threw Nori’s attention back to Nayem. He leaped toward the girl, whose little face contorted when she squeezed her eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

  The sound of gunfire cracked through the tunnel, and Nori pressed palms to her ears. It all happened so fast. One minute, Nayem’s shaky aim was headed straight for Nori, and the next, a blossom of red spread from Sarge’s gut. He fell into the wall, gasping. Nayem’s little mouth formed an “o,” and her breaths whistled through the tiny opening.

  “Is there anyone here?” Nori asked her. The girl didn’t flinch, didn’t look at Nori.

  “Nayem,” Nori asked urgently. “Is there anyone coming for us?”

  Nayem’s dark eyes swung viciously toward Nori. No, they wouldn’t be alone there for long.

  Cooper swiped the back of his hand over his bloody lip. “Kade, can you ride?”

  Kade nodded, wincing as he trudged toward them.

  “Where are our bikes?” Nori asked. “And what about Sarge? Do we take him? Finish him?”

  “There’s nothing we can do for Sarge now,” Cooper said. “He looked the man over, but showed no emotion. “We have to get out of here before the rest of them find us.”

  “We came in through there,” Kade’s voice was strained as he motioned toward the passageway with his good arm. “Hopefully, it’s the way out, too.”

  Nori didn’t have a name for the emotion pulling at her heart. “Wait!” she said and ran toward the chamber, where Nayem stood. She crept toward the girl, whose savage gaze shot up to meet hers. A tremor started at the girl’s grubby feet, and before long, took over her entire body.

  “It’s gonna be all right,” Nori said. “I promise.” She aimed for calm and soothing, though she felt anything but.

  The girl didn’t acknowledge her at all, but stood looking wildly around.

  “Nayem? Come with us, okay? We’ll get you out of here. You’ll be safe with us, I promise.”

  The child’s narrow lips thinned until they disappeared, and she shook her head. There was something not quite right about her eyes as grim determination crossed her gaunt face.

  “Nayem?” Nori repeated.

  Without a word, the girl lurched toward the center of the chamber, arms dangling behind her as she ran. She climbed into the windowed opening of the arch overlooking the fiery pit.

  Nori’s stomach dropped and her breath wheezed out. “No!” Nori screamed as Nayem leaped into the bubbling pool of lava without ever looking back.

  38

  The Big Man Goes Down

  Cooper closed his eyes and shook his head, his stomach twisting with nausea. He’d give Nori time to recover if he could. This had all been too much, too fast. She wasn’t used to this pace, to the harsh environment, to the danger and death.

  He ground his teeth as regret washed over him in angry waves. He should’ve found another way around Yahweh’s territory. He’d made a mistake, and they’d nearly paid for it with their lives. Nori had stunned him, though, with her attack on Jenks. Good. She’d need to be tough, to think quickly to survive down here, and there was no better way to learn a lesson than the hard way.

  “Nori?” He lifted her from the chamber floor because her legs didn’t seem to be working. “Nori, we have to go.”

  Her face was drained of blood, the blue of her eyes like cerulean saucers against a white tablecloth.

  “Why would she do that?” Nori whispered. She turned to face him and clutched his arms. “Why would a little girl do that?”

  Pity flooded his heart, and it wasn’t all for Nayem. “We’ll never know what she endured here,” he said. “Maybe she found her own way out.” He allowed Nori one more moment then set her onto her feet. “I’m sorry,” he said. “We really have to go.”

  “It was…a lot…easier…when we were…coming down,” Kade said through ragged breaths. Despite the long, s
teep incline from the pit of despair back to the main tunnel, he was exhausted too quickly for someone in his prime shape.

  Nori searched his face. Too pale. The front of his jacket was soaked in fresh, red blood.

  Cooper was looking, too, then he turned to her. “Just a little farther.”

  She heard something. Voices—male. And they were getting closer.

  “Kade, man, we’ve gotta move faster.” Cooper ducked under the fighter’s good arm and hefted him up the steep path.

  The shouts came louder, the tone violent.

  There was only one other way to go. “Through here,” Nori said and led them through a shallow doorway carved into the earth. There were no torches in the rooms, but that was no impediment for her.

  “Lead the way, Nor.” Cooper’s voice and muscles were strained under the weight of Kade’s big body.

  She jogged into the darkness, Cooper and Kade limping behind her, falling farther and farther behind.

  “Hold on,” Nori gasped and slowed. “I smell gas.”

  “Keep going,” Cooper called and waved her on. “Maybe it’s the bikes.”

  When they caught up to her, Nori had found the motorcycles and reattached their supplies.

  “Can you ride out of here on your own?” Cooper asked her.

  “What?” She blinked, uncomprehending.

  “No way Kade can operate a bike. I’m worried he can’t even stay upright behind me.”

  “What?” she said again.

  Cooper’s jaws clenched as he helped Kade onto the back of the bike she’d ridden with Cooper. “Nori, I need you to ride his bike out of here. You can do it. I know you can.”

  “I mean, yeah, I can ride, but I’ll never get it kick-started, and you know that. I’ve tried fifty times.”

  Cooper’s face took on a different kind of strain. A guilty one. “Kade’s bike has an electric starter. You don’t have to kickstart it.”

  Nori sucked in a shocked breath. “You’re not serious,” she said. Cooper looked at the ground and nodded. “And all this time…when I was learning to ride…you didn’t tell me. You made me kick, and kick, and kick your stupid bike.”

  Cooper still hadn’t met her gaze.

  “Oh, you suck, Sam Cooper. Did you get some sick enjoyment out of watching me struggle? That’s just cruel.”

  “You’re right, okay?” He finally looked at her, and he at least seemed sincere. “I’m sorry. But we do need to go. Now.”

  Nori fisted her hands and narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay. But this is not over.” Cooper nodded guiltily at her before he mounted the bike in front of Kade.

  “Okay,” he said. “See that little black button?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Push it.”

  The motorcycle roared to life beneath Nori’s thighs. With a final shake of her head, she put the bike in gear and followed Cooper out of the Sword of Yahweh’s den. She didn’t look back at the fanatics pouring out of the tunnel after them. She couldn’t look back. Not ever. She would only see Nayem.

  Kade lost consciousness without warning. His thick arms fell heavily to his sides and his big body slumped into Cooper’s back. The motorcycle was already weighed down beneath the two men, and the added instability sent it wobbling. Cooper held the handlebar with one hand and reached behind him to grab Kade as they slowed to a stop.

  “Wait, and I’ll help you,” Nori called as Cooper stopped to maneuver the fighter to the ground. “Are we far enough away?” she asked, hefting Kade’s big legs. “Will they come for us?”

  “I haven’t heard anything since we left.” Cooper said and carefully laid Kade’s torso and head down.

  “That’s probably because I yanked tubes from every vehicle I saw while I waited for you and Kade to catch up.”

  Cooper’s mouth fell open, and, after a second, he laughed. “Impressive,” he finally said. “Anyway, their MO is lure and capture, not hunt, so we’re in the clear.” Nori breathed a sigh of relief until he added a mumbled, “I hope.”

  She knelt and skinned Kade’s bloodsoaked jacket from his body, pushing his shirt away. He hadn’t been shot in the chest as she’d thought, but in the outside muscle of his shoulder.

  “Did it go through?” Cooper’s voice was urgent as he sifted through the bike’s saddlebag.

  “Ah.” Nori’s hands shook as she hefted her friend’s shoulder off the ground. She’d never been squeamish, but seeing Kade bloody made her lightheaded. “There’s a bigger hole on the back side of his upper arm.”

  “Good,” Cooper said. “That’s good.”

  “He’s lost a lot of blood. He needs a doctor, Cooper. What are we going to do?”

  “He’ll have to make do with us.” Cooper pulled disinfectant and gauze from a first aid kit they’d lifted from the lodge.

  Oh, to be back there again with a hot shower and movies, Nori thought. And a bed. Lying on the cold stone floor wouldn’t be good for Kade—a gaping gunshot wound was sure to get infected in such conditions.

  “The biggest threat right now is blood loss.” Cooper was still speaking while she daydreamed. “Press his coat into that wound and stop the bleeding while I make a tourniquet.”

  Nori held the fabric to her friend’s wound, and Cooper knelt beside her and tied a strip of fabric so tight around Kade’s arm and shoulder she was glad he was unconscious.

  “What’s that?” Nori asked as he poured a thin liquid over the bloody holes.

  “A sterile solution to wash the wounds.” He opened a packet with his teeth and extracted gel-like sponges. “And these will help stop the bleeding. Hopefully.” He packed the sponges into both the entry and exit wounds, which had continued to seep bright red blood. “The location of the wound isn’t ideal for a tourniquet, but I did the best I could.”

  As they watched, the flow of Kade’s blood slowed. Nori blew out a breath and took her friend’s hand in hers. Cooper gave an encouraging nod, but she didn’t feel much encouraged.

  “What now?” she asked.

  “Now,” Cooper said. “We hope for the best.”

  “Shouldn’t he be awake by now?” Nori paced beside Kade’s prone body.

  “He lost a lot of blood. I don’t know.”

  “We’ve got to get him to a doctor,” she said. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing.” She kicked the hard stone wall and regretted it as pain shot through her toes. “We’ve got to do something.”

  Cooper closed his eyes and let out a breath. “You’re right. Change of plans. We’re making a detour.”

  She nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

  It was a struggle to lift Kade’s dead weight onto the bike, but they finally found a working method by making one move at a time. Sit him up. Lift his legs. Lift his trunk. Carry him toward the bike. Maneuver one leg over the bike. Push his trunk onto the seat. Hold him upright.

  Once they finally had Kade astride the bike, Cooper slid in and leaned the fighter’s heavy head onto his shoulder. Cooper’s idea to prop Kade on the seat in front of him, facing him, had seemed like a good one at the time. But the result was the two embracing like lovers. Nori tried, but couldn’t contain her giggle.

  Cooper whipped his head toward her as far as he could, his eyes throwing darts. “A little gratitude would be great right about now.”

  Despite the seriousness of Kade’s condition, Nori’s giggle spread to a full-on belly laugh, and she had to work to catch her breath. “Sorry,” she squeaked, making a real effort to tone it down. “I think I’m a little hysterical.”

  Kade’s body jerked like he was waking from a bad dream. “What?” he mumbled, his eyes unfocused. “What’s happening?”

  “Hey.” Nori eased toward her friend and ran a hand down his arm. “Everything’s okay. We’re taking you to a doctor.”

  Kade winced but sat up on the bike, which put his eye level at Cooper’s forehead. He scowled, and the fine muscles of his jaw feathered. “Anybody care to explain why I’m sitting in Cooper’s lap?” />
  In the end, Kade was able to sit behind Cooper for the trek to the nearest town. The injured arm rested in his lap, and he braced his good hand on the seat behind him. Nori grinned at the awkwardness between the two and hoped they didn’t make any sudden turns.

  “Where are we?” she yelled as the tunnel subtly widened.

  “We had to go a bit farther west than the route I’d planned. This is Bannera.”

  “What’s in Bannera?” he asked.

  “Hopefully, a doctor.”

  Each person they passed along the way turned to watch them until they were out of view. They were certainly a sight to behold—two big men sharing one bike, and a girl trailing on her own behind them. Nori sat up straighter and saluted a particularly obvious ogler. Might as well give ’em a show.

  They stood their bikes next to several others along a long wall just outside of town. Kade’s face was still pale, and he had a pretty high fever, but he was holding it together. Cooper strode toward the entrance of a general store, and the two followed.

  “Hello.” He nodded to the wiry woman checking out a customer. “My friend’s been hurt. Any doctors in town?”

  The woman took in Kade’s bloody clothes and arm. They all looked a mess, even by Subterranean standards. The woman squinted her dark eyes, and her lip curled. “Bannera’s a peaceful town. We keep it that way by limitin’ the influence of outsiders.”

  “We’re just looking for some medical help, ma’am.” Cooper widened his eyes in feigned helplessness. “My friend’s badly hurt. We’ll move on just as soon as he’s able.”