Phoenix Arise: YA Sci-fi Thriller (From the Ashes Book 1) Page 25

  “What are you saying?”

  “The snakebites.” She nibbled on her lower lip. “I think they somehow healed us.”

  Did she mean…? “No.”

  “If you took him to the desert and let a snake bite him, it might heal him.”

  “And it might kill him.”

  “It would mean a risk, that’s true. But will he get better waiting here for Riley? What if Malik can’t find him?”

  I stood and fiddled with the end of my braid, barely resisting the urge to gnaw on it like I’d done when I was ten. “What if you’re wrong? Maybe the bite had nothing to do with how fast you and Malik healed.”

  Drac cawed. He sat with Mandy, but his focus was solely on Joe. Joe’s chest barely lifted with his breaths, like he was dying before my eyes.

  “It’s a big risk for something that’s only a hunch,” I said. “The hunters could get us.”

  “They won’t.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  “Lesha. They’re—” She swallowed. “I imagine they’re busy with Riley.” Resting her head on my forehead, she gripped my upper arms. “It’s me, your best friend.”

  “Forever,” I whispered like always.

  “Can you trust me?”

  Could I? She’d done things that hurt me, scarred me. But she’d always be Tiff, my best friend. And sometimes, hurtful things needed to be forgiven. Life threw one horrible thing after another at me. Could I let a friend heap more on top of the pile?

  Tiff’s words shattered my thoughts. “I think you’ll be safe long enough to get to and from the desert with Joe.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?”

  “At least you’ll know you’ve tried.”

  “I’m scared.” Wrenching away from her grip, I backed up until I ran into the counter. “I can’t let a snake bite him. Please, Tiff. There must be something else I can do.”

  I pictured the creature on Jay’s leg, writhing as it ate his flesh. The fat, gooey bodies I’d squished under my tred. Their dark eyes staring up at me as my foot came down to crush them. Their pleading expressions. Begging me for…it was beyond my grasp.

  One thought stole through.

  Were we wrong to kill them?

  Joe’s lips parted, and his gasp echoed around me. I’d do anything for my brother, take any risk.

  Thrusting away from the counter, I nodded. “I’ll do it.”

  I ran to the front room and grabbed my pack, stuffing in a few MRBs and a water bag I filled from the pump in the kitchen.

  Tiff and Trey had fashioned a sling for Joe, and they helped load him on my back. With straps around my shoulders and waist, he’d ride piggyback, his head resting against my neck.

  “I’ll come with you,” Tiff said.

  Company would be wonderful, but I worried about the others. Best I risk just me and Joe. “I’ll be okay. One person alone can be missed. Two will be seen.”

  At the door, Tiff hugged me, her breath warm on my cheek. “Take care and hurry.”

  She released the bolts and opened the door so I could slip into the night.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I crept through the deep grass toward the edge of the compound. Pausing by the tree wall, I gazed across the valley. Nothing moved but a flock of birds that circled the sky in a black wave before settling on some trees.

  Joe shifted on my back and sighed. Heat burned through him still, pressing into my back like a lead weight. I needed to hurry.

  Taking a deep breath, I raced for the cliffs, not stopping until I drew close to the base. By then, my breath wheezed in my throat. The thrum of my pulse filled my head like a drum. My steps slowed, and I looked up, worried the hunters could be waiting at the top. They’d grab me and Joe, poke us with spears and chase me before leaving me sliced dead by morning. Joe, they’d likely kill on the spot.

  None of the others had stood a chance. Will. Piper. Nikolai. Kalani. Riley. How were we any different?

  I couldn’t believe I was doing this, that I dared take a chance some creature’s bite could heal my little brother. What a fool I was. I should head back and hide in the dome with the others. Dig through the infirmary again for something I could identify as antibiotics. Malik would be back soon with Riley. They’d figure this out. There was no reason I had to do this to my brother.

  But I had to try. Tiff was right. This was the only way.

  Finding my will, I hurried up the animal trail, guided only by moonlight. If I needed my glolight, I’d use it. Otherwise, it would be best not to draw attention. A light could be seen for kilometers.

  I crested the peak and stopped to catch my breath before creeping down the other side. Like Tiff guessed, no one waited for me.

  Stepping out from behind the trees beside the large boulder, I glanced around. Seeing nothing, I ran past the waxy, black trees. In no time, I reached the gulf of the desert. It stretched before me, an endless wasteland of sand and wind.

  I stopped and listened.

  While some might consider it crazy, I swore I sensed snakes in the desert, waiting for me. I pictured them erupting from the sand, eager to bite. With that thought in mind, it was all I could do to keep going.

  Finding my resolve, I slogged through the loose, sandy soil. Heat radiated up through my treds, warming my feet. Joe remained silent on my back.

  I clicked on my glolight and shone it around. The desert stretched for miles. Small birds, disturbed by my nearness, fled from their hiding places in grass tufts. Insects buzzed and flitted around, drawn to my light.

  A mix of fear and excitement shot through my veins.

  I took a few steps forward, then more, my wobbly legs carrying me back into the land I’d recently escaped from. The desert welcomed me home like a long-lost relative, tugging me into its arid embrace. I trooped for a short distance, and my heart was steadfast. I would take this chance.

  As night was taking over, the chilly air grabbed hold of my bones. My feet dragged, and I stopped.

  “This is stupid,” I whispered. Had I made a terrible mistake coming here?

  Overhead, the moons winked green and blue at me from behind skirting clouds.

  I drank some of my water and squinted into the night. Everything remained silent, as still as death. Doubt grabbed hold of my brain.

  How could I let a creature bite Joe?

  The sickness could kill him.

  As I turned to scurry back to the mountains, I found the strength within me.

  There was nothing else I could do but let Eris try to heal him.

  Pausing, I listened. At first, only silence overwhelmed the world. But then, a slithering sound pulled at my very core. Terrified, I dropped to my knees and lifted my hands to cover my face. I couldn’t do it.

  Lifting my chin, I squared my shoulders, determined to tough this out. No matter what happened, it wasn’t about me. I needed to do this for Joe.

  Standing, I walked forward to meet the snake. It paused in the sand as I approached, staring right at me. With a grimace, I untied the straps holding Joe onto my back and slowly lowered him to the ground. He lay as still as if death had already called him. Was I too late?

  A quick feel on his neck told me his pulse flickered, but he lived.

  As if guided by instinct, I exposed his arm to the night air. I trembled with a mix of wonder and fear as the creature approached.

  I couldn’t do this. I was risking everything.

  I was tempted to close my eyes, take my mind somewhere else while this happened, but I couldn’t. I had to know.

  The snake slid toward us, its body glistening in the moonlight. My stomach muscles quivered. Hell, my everything quivered. The creature moved in closer until it lay beside Joe. Protruding its mouth, it bit him.

  I gasped, and it was all I could do to resist wrenching it off him and flinging it into the dark.

  The creature’s dark eyes met mine as it sucked.

  Joe twitched, and his eyelids opened. His gaze met mine, his filled with wonder. />
  Had Tiff been right? Did the snakes give some sort of immunity? And if so, what did they get in return?

  The creature released Joe and slithered away. I crawled after it with a need to see what came next. It moved a short distance before halting as if studying the soil underneath. Rising on its tail, it plunged downward, burrowing deep, wiggling inside the soft sand. It struggled until it was gone, leaving nothing behind but a small mound to mark its passage.

  Returning to Joe, I checked for a pulse. Was it stronger already?

  I lay down and covered us up with my blanket. My sigh eased from me as I fell asleep, my hand pressed against my brother’s chest. I woke while it was still dark with Joe thrashing beside me. He cried out as if in horrible pain. Would he live or would the bite claim him like it had Jay?

  What had I done?

  His shivers gave way to delirium.

  “Mom,” he yelled. “Dad!”

  Nightmares of Mom flashed through my mind. The night we were caught in the riot. Mom urging us into a dumpster to hide. Someone shouting halt at the other end of the alley.

  Hide. Mom’s work-roughened fingers stroking my cheek before she ran to the end of the alley.

  They’d found her body the next day, lying in the street. And found us still hiding in the dumpster.

  Joe quieted and seemed to drift to sleep. I could only pray he wasn’t approaching death.

  I drifted off myself, dreaming of Riley stalking me through the halls of the Bunker, hands outstretched, his nails dripping blood.

  I raced through the caverns in my mind, each turn unveiling a new terror until everything faded to dust on the horizon.

  At dawn, I woke and turned to my brother, dreading what I’d find.

  He stared at me, his cheeks their normal color and his eyes no longer red-rimmed. A quick check told me his leg was healing already.

  “Lesha,” he said. “I feel better.” He looked around. “Where’s Drac and why are we in the desert?”

  After I explained about Dad, I gathered him into my arms, and we sobbed together.

  Chapter Thirty

  Exhausted, I banged my fist on the door. “It’s us, Lesha and Joe. Let us in.” My legs shook. Walking in a desert for more than a week should have conditioned me better.

  Tiff cracked the door and let me inside. Cupping Joe’s face, she stared into his eyes.

  She hugged him and then stepped back, grinning at me. “Success. Wow.”

  I glanced around the open dining area. “No Malik?”

  Her eyes darted away. “Not yet.”

  Felicia hobbled into the room, leaning on a stick. She dropped onto a bench and sighed.

  Mandy followed with Drac in her arms. She walked forward and smiled when Joe took the creature from her.

  I stared at the bird who stared back at me, and I fell into the animal’s eyes. So many secrets on Eris, just beyond our reach.

  If we just held out our hand…

  Later that day, I picked at my nails and squinted through the crack I’d made in the dome door. With night coming, we’d have to shut it up tight and hide for safety. “I’m worried about Malik,” I said to Tiff. “Where is he? He should be back by now.”

  She shuddered. “I’m worried, too.”

  Like tornado shelters on Earth, the colonists had built a small room underneath the floor, accessible by a hatch. Once the sun went down, we locked up. We hauled our survival blankets down the rickety wooden stairs and spread them on the dirt floor. Stories got crowded out by yawns, and we went to sleep soon after that.

  I woke sometime later. With the dirt sound-proofing around us, stillness ruled. Hell, a bomb could explode above, and we wouldn’t hear it.

  Had Malik returned while I slept? If so, I hoped he saw the digital journal lying open on the table in the great room and read and understood my cryptic my note. What if he was outside the dome, unable to get in? Trey said Malik would know the code to open the door, but Trey could be wrong.

  Clicking on my glolight, I muffled the beam with my hand and slid it around the small room. Joe and Mandy slept with me. Tiff snuggled with Trey. Felicia lay under a clump of blankets on the opposite side of the room. Colin slept near the stairs, his leg elevated. I’d dressed the gash, but he could only hobble around. As if my light disturbed him, he snorted and rolled over. Having seen enough, I turned off my light.

  No Malik. How long before we needed to start getting worried about him?

  Shit, I was worried already. I’d been worried since the moment he left to find Riley.

  I imagined him somewhere outside, calling for help. The hunters would hear and move in for the kill.

  Crossing the room, I climbed the wooden stairs and peeked through the hatch. Eris’s version of crickets chirped, but nothing moved. Slipping into the room, I let the lock engage with a soft click behind me. I turned on my glolight and scoured the rooms, hoping to find him asleep on a bunk or curled up in a chair.

  Finally, I couldn’t help it. I cracked open the front door and stuck my head out.

  Since bugs stilled when predators passed, the steady insect drone told me all was clear. Stepping outside, I propped the door open with my foot so it wouldn’t lock behind me.

  Soft morning clouds hovered over the mountain tops. The sun would be up within the hour.

  In the deep grass, the insects stilled. Because of me or had something else given them pause? Fear trickled down my spine, raising my hackles. Should I—

  A scream pierced the night. I jerked my head back, and my heart smacked against my chest wall.

  Lights flickered halfway up the mountain range, kilometers away. I watched, but they didn’t shift or move.

  “No.” The cry came from that direction. A scream followed.

  The anguish in the voice made my knees weak. I leaned against the doorframe before I fell to the ground. The hunters tortured someone. Riley or Malik?

  Rushing back inside the dome, I left a message telling the others where I’d gone.

  In the kitchen, I stuffed my pack with a few MRBs. I filled water pouches. Gnawing on my tongue, I looked around, trying to decide what else to bring. My crossbow and bolts were a must, but I needed back-up.

  Last night, Trey had found a cache of laser pistols tucked inside a steel box, in the bottom of a locker. There were only a few charges with them, but the guns still worked.

  I yanked on my braid. He’d taken one into the shelter but where had he left the others? Maybe in the front room. I raced down the hall. Slashing my light around, I picked up a silver glint underneath the chair by the door, where Trey must have hidden it. I grabbed the pistol and slid a charge in place. Two more sat on the chair pad. Should I take another, or leave them? Each held eight rounds, which wasn’t much.

  I was one person while my friends were six. They might need them for defense. One should be enough. Since I hadn’t practiced with a laser pistol other than sims on Earth, I’d have to make sure I was accurate with each shot. Assuming I needed to fire the weapon at all.

  After slipping out the front door and letting the lock click behind me, I ran for the woods. I scooted close to a large tree and waited, listening for what seemed like too long. Soon, the insects renewed their whirring chorus.

  Trees grew in dense clusters on the hillside, and my glolight’s beam did little more than identify tripping hazards, because I had to muffle it. I needed to get to wherever the scream had come from. But, if I crashed through the woods, they’d hear me coming long before I arrived. I needed stealth, and stealth wasn’t exactly my middle name.

  Hurrying along the edge of the woods, I darted my beam toward the forest, hoping to find something that would tell me where to go. It was obvious the colonists hadn’t been near the dome for a long time. Any tracks I found would be from someone else, maybe from whoever had killed my friends.

  There. Fresh indents in the damp grass. The blades had yet to spring back. Something or someone had passed this way within the past few hours. Tracks led int
o the woods and continued up the gradual incline, following another animal trail.

  The deer we’d startled yesterday had fled this way. Perhaps these were their tracks. I stooped and outlined the mark with a finger. A shoe.

  I had to check it out.

  In the distance, a shriek rang out, making me quiver. It came from due east, above, and to the right of me. Tightening my grip on the gun, I raced along the trail, threading my way around brush and trees so large it would take three of my arm’s span to encircle them. The trail continued across a number of low hills that transformed into the mountains.

  The cries didn’t come again. If the hunters had caught someone, they could be finished with their play.

  While I wanted to race up the hills and finish this, I had to move carefully. Giving myself away could mean my death. I watched where I placed my feet, avoiding sticks and pausing every few minutes to make sure nothing followed me. It wouldn’t do to become the hunted.

  I crested a hill. In the field ahead of me, dew glistened on the grass in the early morning sunlight. Pink and lavender flowers swayed in the breeze. I hovered on the edge of the clearing, listening for a long while before starting forward.

  Something…no, someone lay in the matted grass ahead of me.

  My heart fluttered. Malik? Was I already too late?

  The hardest thing I ever did was stop and listen, but I had to make sure this wasn’t a trap. When the insects continued to chirp, I crept closer.

  Malik wore blue.

  A dark green durasuit leg twitched.

  I’d found Riley.

  Staked out.

  My breath wheezed. While I’d hated this man for what seemed like forever, only compassion flooded me now.

  If I had any way to heal someone, I would do it, but I hadn’t even thought to bring my kit.

  Cuts covered Riley’s exposed arms, legs, and abdomen where they’d filleted his durasuit to get to his skin. The face he’d used to his advantage too many times back on Earth displayed deep fissures that seeped blood. A pointed flap on his right cheek dangled across his chin. Flies hovered and buzzed in the air. No one could live through something like this.