Phoenix Arise: YA Sci-fi Thriller (From the Ashes Book 1) Page 7

  “Trot over there and rebury them,” I whispered.

  My glolight picked up the green circles again. The circles came in pairs.

  They moved toward me.

  Blood solidified in my veins. Legs locked, I fumbled with my light; the beam darting around like children playing tag in the dark.

  Just a rabbit. Just a rabbit. Sucking in a deep breath, I regained control of my glolight.

  The drone surveys were wrong.

  A creature the size of a large dog tracked me with its gaze. Its pointy ears stood at attention, cupped my way, and its long snout shifted skyward. Seeking my scent? Lips peeled back, revealing pointy teeth. On tan legs, it stalked across the sand, acting like it had all night to take me down.

  Perhaps it did.

  My teeth chattered in my skull as panic raged through me. I swept my beam across the beast, and its dusty ruff turned to gold.

  Curling its snout, the creature snarled.

  The sound released my limbs. Stumbling backward, I picked up two more creatures hovering over the grave. They’d come to feed, and I was offering them dessert.

  Legs bunching, the lead creature accelerated, leaping forward to strike.

  I tripped over a rock and fell on my butt.

  The creature dove for my throat.

  Screaming, I smacked its head with my glolight.

  The creature yelped and backed away. Tail between its legs, it whirled and rejoined its brothers beside the bodies. It arched its neck and whined. The others joined in, creating an eerie chorus. The creature I’d hit cast a sullen look my way and with a remarkably human-like grumble, it returned to the feast.

  I rose and crept backward, my light held in front of me like the weapon it had become. My knife slipped in my sweaty grip, and I almost dropped it. Why hadn’t I used it when the beast attacked? Spent energy weakened my limbs and generated full-body shakes. My legs told me to sit down before I fell down. Resisting the urge to collapse, I backed along the crest of the hill until I ran into the big pile of rocks. I kept my eyes focused on the beasts while I skirted around to the other side, hiding me from their view. Falling to the sand, I curled into a ball and rested my forehead on my knees. Air rasped from my lungs.

  The horror of what I’d seen smacked the forefront of my mind. The wolves were eating our dead.

  I fought the bile lurching up in my throat, but the bitter tang filled my mouth. I crawled to my knees and heaved. Gory pictures ran through my mind, begging me to spit them out and examine them again in intimate detail. Bones crunching. Muscle and sinew exposed. The wide, staring eyes of the Captain and Sam.

  I slumped against the rocks and wiped my mouth on my sleeve.

  What should I do now?

  The dead don’t care if they’re dug up and eaten. The creatures would consume the bodies until nothing remained but splintered bones. That was nature for you. Not much different from what I’d contemplated doing with rabbits.

  If the wolves had food, they’d leave us alone.

  Poor Captain Blackmine. Poor Sam. Bad enough to die this far from home, let alone have animals dig them up and eat their carcasses. I swallowed, struggling to keep the acid in my belly.

  What if the beasts caught our scent and checked out the buffet waiting for them over the hill?

  Malik. Tiff. Trey.

  Joe.

  Everyone was asleep. Defenseless. I had to protect them, but what could I do? I had no weapon other than my knife, which was nothing compared to three sets of teeth and claws. If I ran, could I make it back to the others in time to wake them? I imagined myself leaping into our camp, screaming loud enough to rouse the dead. Everyone would jump from the ground, fumbling for sticks, rocks, or anything they could lay their hands on as the pack appeared at the top of the dunes.

  Together, we’d run at the beasts. We’d chase them into the desert, hollering until they became specks on the horizon.

  Yeah, sure. Who was I kidding?

  Could I creep back and wake my friends without drawing the creatures’ attention? That was the best plan. If I shook him really hard, Malik would wake up.

  Rising, I started toward the gully on tiptoe. A stick snapped under my tred.

  The beasts snarled.

  Damn.

  Spinning on my heel, I crouched, sending my light their way. Three sets of eyes glowed in the beam. They strode around the rock formation, leg muscles taut, growls rumbling in their throats.

  I clenched my teeth. Tightening my grip on my knife, I raced at them.

  The wolves watched my approach with puzzled gazes, pink drool staining their chests. Guess they hadn’t met anyone like me before. They backed away, ears slumping, and their confused whimpers echoed around them.

  Tears blurred my vision. Sweat streamed down my face. I swung my arms, bared my teeth, and thrust my knife like a sword.

  The beasts shifted their feet. One fled, shooting a glare over its shoulder. Its brothers followed, claws clicking on rocks.

  I was the predator now.

  Shrieking, I took after them. My high-pitched barks flew into the sky. Vindication forged steel through my veins.

  I chased them until they outdistanced me. Until they became specks in the night, bushy tails flashing copper in my glolight’s beam. Eventually, their fleeing images merged with the horizon.

  Halting on the top of a dune, my breathing wheezed from my lungs.

  I dropped my glolight onto the sand. My knife landed beside it.

  I fell to my knees and buried my face in my hands.

  Chapter Ten

  “Are you out of your mind?”

  Teeth bared, I grabbed my knife and spun. My lungs heaved. “Malik. What are you doing here?”

  He stared down at me, anger blazing on his face. “Watching out for you.”

  What else was new? I panted as adrenalin coursed through my veins, yanking my heart along with it.

  He offered a hand, but I brushed it aside and rose under my own steam.

  “How long have you been creeping on me?” Sourness filled my voice.

  He snorted. “You left camp. I needed to make sure you were okay. Good thing I did. What did you think you were doing?”

  After tucking my knife into my pocket, I brushed the grit off my knees. “Nothing.”

  “Hardly nothing.” He rubbed his head with both hands. “I can’t believe…that was some sort of crazy-assed shit you just pulled there.”

  Defensiveness raised hackles on my spine. Now that my rush had waned, I questioned my sanity. Not that I’d admit it to anyone, especially Malik.

  “I heard noises.” I clicked my glolight on and moved around him, striding toward the grave. “And I found…They were eating Sam and the Captain.”

  “Why didn’t you come to get me?” He caught up. “I woke, and you were gone. It scared the crap out of me. If you’d let me know, I would have come with you.”

  I shrugged. “I thought the sound was a little animal, maybe an Eris rabbit.” I grimaced. “I had this wild idea of catching it so we could roast it up for breakfast.” My stomach growled loud enough he must have heard it.

  “What, with your bare hands?”

  “I’ve got a knife.”

  “I saw that.”

  Groaning, I yanked on my braid. “I…I saw the creatures eating the bodies. It didn’t just gross me out.” I glanced toward his profile. Shadows drifted across his features as he squinted toward the grave. “It was wrong. I couldn’t leave them to it, you know?” My arms spread wide, and I swallowed back unexpected tears, unsure why I sought his approval.

  “I do understand,” he said softly. “But next time, let me know. It’s not fair you get to have all the fun.”

  “Fun. Sure.” A shiver sped to my toes, leaving goosebumps behind. I’d chased the creatures across the sand with snot and sweat running down my face, and heat pouring through me. At the time, I could have taken on the world. Now, my jelly limbs suggested I couldn’t fight off Joe’s mouse.

  �
�If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

  I sputtered to a stop. “Why? You think I can’t handle something like that by myself?”

  He turned and walked backward ahead of me. “I think you can handle just about anything, but running after a bunch of wild animals?” He lifted his arm toward the desert as if he encompassed the world. “With a tiny knife? That was freaking awesome.”

  I huffed. Awesome, huh? Glancing up, I caught him watching me. Like always, his face showed nothing. Not being able to read him kept me on edge. I was uncertain about myself, let alone him.

  We approached the burial site, and I tried not to look closely at the ripped flesh and exposed muscle and tendon, although the images would play with my mind the next time I slept. Welcome to my world, nightmares. Plenty of fodder on Eris. I propped my glolight on a rock, pointing it toward the grave. We fell to our knees and covered the bodies again. Sharp grains trickled off the pile as we mounded it high.

  “What do you think those things were?” I asked.

  “Looked like a big cat, mixed together with a wolf.”

  I shuddered at the memory. “Maybe an Eris wolf. I saw a picture of Earth wolves once. Burnished fur. Tufted ears. Long, pointy teeth.”

  “The better to eat you with, my dear.”

  Way to creep me out. “What does that mean?”

  He shrugged while he smoothed sand across the grave. “It’s an old Earth fairytale about a wolf and a girl in a red coat.”

  I shoved stray hair off my face with sandy fingers. “Haven’t heard of it.” Wolves in a children’s story? Sounded like something Tiff would enjoy. Talk about giving a kid nightmares.

  He tapped his chin. “I think it had a happy ending.”

  “If you say so.” How could it when it involved wolves eating little girls in coats?

  He grunted.

  Standing, I followed him to the rocks I’d hidden behind earlier. We moved a bunch of big ones onto the grave, stacking them over the bodies until the pile rose above our knees. After, we filled sand in around and patted it down, and then headed back to the gully.

  “We need a guard,” I said as we slid down the hillside to rejoin our group.

  “Agreed.” His fingers tapped my arm, and he kept his voice low. “I’ll take first watch.”

  I wanted to protest, say I could do everything myself, even stand watching until dawn if I had to, but my eyes ached. My body drooped. I swayed, my brain gone punchy. Stasis lag and stress had done me in. Would it be horrible to let Malik take over this once? I could sleep light and keep my ears peeled for sounds.

  I could keep my knife handy.

  My yawn decided it. “Okay, but wake me in a few hours, and I’ll take my turn. I mean it. You don’t want me handling things all by myself, and I feel the same way about you.”

  His eyes honed in on my face. “You do, huh?”

  I paused, suddenly nervous, not daring to maintain eye contact. “Sure.”

  His voice grew husky. “I like that.”

  My face flamed, and I wasn’t sure what to say next. Was he just being friendly or did he mean something more? Curse me for wanting it to mean more. Too tired to figure it out right now, I handed him my glolight. “Ah…goodnight.”

  “Night.” He studied me for a long moment before nodding.

  I startled awake after what felt like seconds, although my perception of time had to be off. A mix of nausea and hunger rocked my belly, and the thump in my temples pounded an endless beat, worse than when Tiff and I snuck two bottles of wine into the Bunker.

  The cold night had passed, leaving behind balmy dawn. Relief made my limbs shake. Even though Malik said we’d see the sun, I’d worried we’d live forever in darkness, ice sinking inside us until we grew as stiff as when we were in stasis.

  Pink streaked across the morning sky. Warm rays stroked my cheeks like Mom’s fingertips the last time I saw her. I closed my eyes and took in the wonder of clean air filling my lungs. We’d had a terrible start to our new life, but things would get better. They had to.

  I rolled onto my back and stared at the arc of blue above me. I’d only known a sky so thick with smog the sun couldn’t penetrate. They’d shown us pictures of skies like this in school, with fluffy white clouds. And night vids, with stars winking from the heavens. Vids had nothing on Eris.

  I stretched and rose onto my elbows.

  Joe slept beside me, as did Mandy, with Tiff and Trey beyond her. Other people lay scattered around. We’d found sanctuary in an open area at the base of three rocky dunes. Scruffy bushes dotted the hillsides, their branches almost bare of leaves. No bunnies waited for me to scoop them up, unfortunately. My belly acted like it wanted to gnaw through my spine.

  Malik slumped against a large rock, his chin resting on his chest. Damned stubborn guy. He should have woken me to take my turn at watch.

  A smile tugged at my lips as I did my own creeping. Someone sweet and innocent took over Malik when he slept. The military guy disappeared, and a vulnerable boy slipped into his place. I wanted to tiptoe over to him and stroke his face. Maybe kiss him.

  Sunlight glinted on something metal under the hand resting on his thigh, but I couldn’t see what it was. His shoulders twitched, and he lifted his head. Deep mahogany eyes met mine, soft with sleep. A warmth that had nothing to do with the sun swirled in my belly.

  Color flooded his cheeks. “Sorry,” he whispered and looked around. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

  “S’okay.” Nothing would make me happier than the chance to sleep for three weeks. I got to my feet and brushed off my durasuit.

  “What the…?” Malik darted over to stand beside Jay, the team psychologist.

  When Malik grimaced and stooped down beside Jay, I joined him.

  Jay’s durasuit had ridden almost to his knees as he slept, exposing his flesh like bait. A snake-like creature lay against his leg, its mouth latched onto the jiggly part of his exposed calf. Jay’s chest rose and fell with ease as if he didn’t know a creature was chowing on his leg.

  I whimpered, but no one around us stirred. Cringing, I dropped to my knees and inched closer, worrying the inside of my cheek. The creature extended about a half-a-meter in length and a hands-breadth in width. It had attached itself to Jay by a thick, sucker-like appendage projecting from its mouth. Or what I assumed was its mouth. Both ends looked the same.

  The creature wiggled. Like a child mesmerized by gore, I drew close. The creature turned to narrow its eyes my way.

  Gasping, I reeled back, afraid it would strike.

  “What is it?” Apprehension spiked through my belly, and I shook Jay’s shoulders. “Wake up, Jay.” My words came out in a shriek. Only a few people sat up before slumping back to the ground. Most just moaned and rolled over. Stasis lag hit people hard, but they acted like this was a damn slumber party. Even Riley was sleeping through this. So much for being a Team Leader. As far as I was concerned, he could wake up now and lead.

  Jay bolted upright, and his eyes darted around. He moaned and grabbed his neck, where inflamed burn welts seeped. He also rubbed his belly, and I wondered if he had injuries I couldn’t see from the crash. A big smile spread on his face when he gazed at the snake-like creature, like he was happy to find it draining him.

  Chills wracked my frame, even though the day was warming up fast.

  The creature’s skin shimmered, and it dug its mouth in further.

  My stomach flipped.

  “Enough.” Malik grabbed the creature by its tail end. It squished, and thick liquid oozed from its pores. Lifting the thing with both hands, he stretched it to the hilt. With a moist smack, it dislodged from Jay’s leg.

  “Wait.” Jay stretched out his arms toward it, his fingers flexing.

  Malik threw the creature on the ground. Its head swiveled to glare up at him, and the sucker retracted into its mouth.

  I reached across Jay. “Watch out—”

  Malik’s boot came down with a sickening smack. B
loody fluid gushed from both ends, and it twitched before going still. Malik swallowed hard. He grabbed a stick and prodded the creature before lowering himself to his knees beside it. “This thing’s unbelievable.”

  I crawled over to look closer. Taking two sticks, I pushed back an open area in the skin, exposing an inside as bloody as the rest of it. Oh, wow. I pulled my knife and peeled back the outer layer. “Tiny intestines, a liver, kidneys, and a stomach. Pretty much like us, only in alien snake form.” I did some more poking. “The backbone flexes both ways, like an eel’s.”

  When Malik didn’t reply, I glanced over at him.

  He grinned. “I did say you were awesome, didn’t I?”

  I rolled my eyes but couldn’t keep my smile from joining with his.

  Jay tipped his head back and moaned at the sky, jolting me back to reality. Wrapping his arms around his legs, he rocked in the sand. My heart shuddered to a halt, and I ran through a variety of medical reasons for why he could be acting this way. My first guess was poison.

  “It’s horrible,” he wailed, dropping onto his side and curling in a ball. “I wish you hadn’t killed it, Malik.” His gaze flew back and forth between us. “You know what happens to us when they die?”

  Malik’s eyebrows rose, and I was sure mine did the same. “No, Jay, what happens?”

  Someone snickered behind me.

  “We die,” Jay said.

  That stopped the laughter mid-snicker. It also sent a flash of dread through me. How could he know anything like that?

  Joe wove his way through the others and latched onto my hand. I didn’t like him watching this. “Hey, Tiff. Want to do something with the kids while I make sure Jay’s okay?” Was poison working through him already, taking over his mind?

  “I want to stay with you,” Joe said sleepily.

  I turned to him. “Tiff has a few ideas that’ll be fun. Maybe go with her?”

  Joe scowled but his shoulders slumped. “Okay.”

  “You know what? I think it’s time to tell a story.” Tiff held out her hands. “Come with me, kiddos.” She herded them far enough away they’d be out of the loop with this. Her voice floated to us as she began a story about unicorns, flowers, and magic. Too bad that wasn’t our reality.