“He’s gone.” Kelly spoke with a soft, even tone. “I challenged him, and when he realized he couldn’t get in…” She shrugged. “It’s okay. You can stand up now.”
Carol came to her feet shakily then blushed. “Oh my.”
“What’s wrong?” Kelly asked as she led her away from the corner.
“I think I wet myself.” Carol looked away, shame filling her eyes.
“Don’t sweat it,” Kelly chuckled. “I think I did, too.” She stood taller and blew her breath out slower, trying to bring her heart rate back to normal.
“How did you think to…do that?” Carol asked.
Kelly shook her head. “I’m not sure. It was almost like a small part of my brain knew what to do even though my body didn’t want to.” She sat down heavily on the stool and held her hands out, her fingers trembling.
Carol placed a steadier hand on her shoulder. “Thank you.”
Kelly gave her a crooked smile. “I couldn’t let somebody else eat you, now could I?” She laughed at her own joke and Carol tried to join in, her own anxiety making it sound less than jovial. “Seriously, relax. I have no intention of hurting you.”
“Excuse me while I go and throw up,” Carol stated. “And…clean up.”
“I really didn’t mean it,” Kelly called to her in a loud whisper. “Sorry, but when I’m scared, I tend to say inappropriate things.”
“I worked with a fellow who was like that.” Carol stepped into the lounge and began stripping her pants. “Except he said inappropriate things all the time, not just when he was scared.”
Kelly blew out the remaining candles and stepped into the lounge while Carol finished changing. “That’s me, too.” She sat down heavily on the couch and reached for another water bottle. “My mom said it was my biggest flaw.”
Carol buttoned her jeans then slipped her sneakers back on. She caught Kelly watching her and gave her a slight shrug. “Considering our circumstances, I want to be ready to go if I we have to make a break for it.”
Kelly bent her knee and planted her foot in her lap. She ran a finger along the thick callouses and tsk’d. “If mom could see me now,” she chuckled to herself. “She was all about ‘presentation’ and manners.”
“I take it you weren’t as concerned with such things?”
Kelly leaned her head back, her mind drifting back to a simpler time. “I’d rather run barefoot in the grass and do things that my parents did not approve of.”
“Like what? Smoking?” Carol fell onto the opposite couch and rested her head on the arm.
“Much worse,” Kelly smiled as she reminisced. Her face suddenly sobered and she shook the bad memories away. “I think maybe we should get some rest.”
Carol could feel her hands still trembling. “If we can. That really got my fight-or-flight pegged.” She turned to Kelly and stared wide eyed. The woman was already asleep. “If only it were that easy,” she muttered.
Simon stumbled and fell, his wounded arm sending jolts of pain throughout his entire body. He rolled to his side and clenched his jaw to keep from screaming.
He lay on the ground, staring up into the night sky and knew that his days as Alpha were numbered. As soon as another hunter realized how bad his wounds were, he would be challenged.
He really didn’t want his pack eating his heart or any other parts of his body. For a brief moment he felt his bravado increase as he remembered his boomstick. Then he groaned as he realized that he’d left it behind.
“Damn it,” he groaned as he pushed himself over and slowly came to his feet. He stood swaying in the cool night air. He could return to where he left it and hope that he could find it or he could search for another weapon before returning to the store.
With a low growl he turned back towards the battleground. If nothing else, he could watch the Cagers burn before the sun came up and roasted him alive.
He forced himself to put one foot in front of the other until he had a steady pace going. He trudged for what felt like days, even though it had only been minutes. He backtracked, continuously watching the horizon. If another vehicle came at him, he had no place to hide. He’d be at the driver’s mercy.
“Mercy,” he spat. “That’s a foreign concept to those animals.”
He continued to plod along, his mind replaying the events of the evening. He had no idea how effective his warriors would be against the enemy. They had guns, after all.
He chuckled to himself as he realized that he’d sent half-starved drones into battle with nothing but a handful of rocks, sharpened sticks, and rudimentary bows. He laughed as he rounded the stand of trees and saw the bodies scattered across the ground.
He staggered past Clyde’s remains and shook his head. “You were a damned fine fighter, my friend.” He searched the area in the dwindling light of the truck and spotted his leather jacket. “I’ll be taking that back, thank you.”
He bent low and scooped the jacket from the ground, his hand slickening in his own congealing blood. “That ain’t gonna wash out.” He chuckled at his own joke as his eyes scanned the area again. He paused when his gaze fell on the big, hairy man.
He staggered up to the body, the eyes still open, staring into eternity. “Fucking traitor.” He tried to kick at Mike’s head and missed, nearly sending himself to the ground again. He turned and glared at the corpse. “Fuck you anyway.”
Simon continued to stagger around the battleground until a familiar shape caught his eye. “Ah. Boomstick.” He bent low and gripped the barrel.
He didn’t remember the thing weighing so much as he lifted it and propped it over his shoulder. He turned in a slow circle, making sure that there wasn’t anything else he might need before turning and plodding off into the darkness again.
He paused at the edge of
