Sidewinder - Chapter Fifteen

“We’re lost, aren’t we,” Evita said flatly.

“Depends on your definition of lost.” Jian gave up on trying to read the GPS, which was showing her only fuzzy and indistinct lines, and shoved it back into her pocket. “I prefer directionally challenged.”

“Cute. How do we get back on track?”

“Pick a direction and head down it until we stumble on something we recognize? Hope these stupid things start working again?” Jian smacked the pocket contained the GPS. “I wonder what could be making it go all weird.”

“Maybe you should stop hitting it.”

“Maybe.” Jian sighed and stretched out her shoulders. “Want to take a break and eat anyway? It might start working again in a bit.”

She didn’t wait for an answer before dropping down in the scrubby grass lining the road and digging a package of trail mix out of her pack. Evita joined her after a moment but didn’t eat, concentrating on adjusting her skates instead. Jian had to admit it was a nice enough day, if she pretended she wasn’t topside in a race she was quickly coming to think was a bad idea, with her friends missing and strange noises in the night. More than once she’d thought she’d seen movement from the corner of her eye as they skated, but each time she looked there was nothing there. Evita seemed just as worried, frequently glancing back over her shoulder; the little frown line between her eyes had gradually deepened throughout the morning.

Jian shook her head hard and told herself to stop dwelling on it before she made herself paranoid. She turned her face up to the sunlight filtering through the clouds and closed her eyes, trying to relax for a few minutes before they got going again. It was hard to fight off a groan when Evita tapped her on the shoulder only a moment later and suggested they see if either GPS was working yet. Jian dug hers out of her pocket and held it out beside Evita’s, but they both showed only static.

“Cheap pieces of shit.” Evita tossed hers back into her pack and got to her feet again, offering Jian a hand up. Jian took it, and wondered if she’d only imagined that Evita held their fingers laced together for just a little longer than she needed to. She tried to see Evita’s expression, but Evita had already turned away, shading her eyes to look down the road.

“I think our best bet is to just try and follow a major road. And hope either we get the GPS to work, or we find someone else. Or someone notices and comes to give us new ones.” Something about saying the last sentence left a bad taste in Jian’s mouth, and she tried to push away the thought that no one was watching; or if they were, they didn’t care.

“This was such a stupid idea,” Evita muttered. “I don’t know why I agreed to it.”

“Your school, remember? When I win, maybe I’ll help you build it.” Jian slung an arm around Evita’s waist and grinned at the look Evita gave her. “Smile, you’re getting wrinkles.”

“Let’s just get going.” Evita freed herself gently, without anger, and started down the road again. After a moment Jian followed her, whistling a little to try and break the silence.

They heard the water before they saw it, the faint sound of a stream or small river somewhere off the road. Jian exchanged a look with Evita then they both left the road and headed towards the sound, keeping an eye on the undergrowth around them. After a few minutes they came out at the lip of a small overhang above a shallow but wide stream, bordered on either side by moss-covered trees with trailing branches. The water was clear enough that Jian could see the stones that made up the streambed, their colours shimmering beneath the water’s surface. Jian felt suddenly thirsty and began to make her way down the bank, but before she’d gotten more than a few feet, Evita softly said her name.

Jian glanced back over her shoulder then followed the line of Evita’s arm to see what she was pointing at. A flash of bright colour caught her eye and after some squinting she made out a pair of shorts and a red T-shirt tossed casually onto the bank, along with a hiking backpack and a pair of neon-green skates. She glanced up at Evita again then began to walk carefully towards them, wary of slipping in her own skates.

Evita joined her as she was poking through the clothing and gear, looking for ID or some clue as to where their owner was. A quick scan of the water showed no movement and the stream was moving too slowly—and was too shallow—to have swept someone away. She almost called out, then something inside thought better of it.

“I think there’s a trail over here,” Evita said softly. “Maybe they went for a walk?”

“Naked and barefoot?” Jian raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Think anyone would want to get that in tune with nature?”

“Mmm, you might be right. It’s creepy, whatever the reason is.” Evita glanced back towards the stream. “But I don’t know if I can just leave without knowing what happened.”

“Words we’re probably both going to regret,” Jian sighed, and headed down the trail.

It was broad enough for them both to walk abreast, the ground beaten and stamped down into dirt hard enough to skate easily on, and twisted in languorous curves. One curve took them within sight of distant cliffs and it didn’t take Jian long enough to figure out that that’s where the path was ultimately leading. She looked over at Evita but Evita was looking straight ahead, her mouth set in a determined line.

Nearly half an hour had passed by the time they neared the cliffs. Scuffling sounds up ahead caught Jian’s attention and she took Evita’s arm, warning her to be quiet with a finger to her lips. They moved off the path and through the bushes as quietly as they could until they came to a spot where they could see where the trail ended at the base of the cliff.

At first all they could see was a ring of things that looked like craggy rocks until they shifted and moved, revealing glimpses of flat faces and sloping foreheads, and oversized arms like a gorilla’s. They had hard-looking skin coloured in almost a camouflage pattern and streaked with bits of shine that looked like quartz. Jian found herself studying them with interest, cataloguing their appearance and movements, until the ring spread apart enough to show her what they were looking at.

The skater’s name was Robert, though everyone called him Bobby; even, and especially, when he told people to at least call him Rob. Jian had always thought him nice, if a bit quiet and easily overwhelmed by stronger personalities. Now he stood panting, covered in dirt and scratches, blood dripping down his side from a shallow gash across his ribs. He was facing something that looked like a hairless cat with the smashed-in face of a bulldog and the long gangly legs of a horse, though these ended in paws bigger than Jian’s hands, each toe tipped with an inch-long claw.

“We have to—” Evita managed before Jian clapped a hand over her mouth. The creature nearest them glanced back for a moment, its ugly face twisted into an expression of dumb suspicion, then returned to watching the hairless cat circle around Bobby.

“You think we can take them all on?” Jian murmured, leaning in so her mouth was right beside Evita’s ear. “They’ll tear us apart.”

Evita gave her a mutinous look and shook her head slightly, pointing to the knife at her belt. Jian nearly snorted in disbelief, barely catching herself back before she would have given them away.

“Unless you’ve suddenly turned into Xena, Warrior Princess, get real.” She risked a glance at the ring of creatures when a number of them made an excited snuffling noise. The cat had scraped a paw down the side of Bobby’s face, tearing his cheek open and soaking him in blood. He stumbled back, whimpering as he pressed his hands to the torn skin, and the cat began to circle again. “Jesus, Evita, I wish we could, but we can’t.”

The look Evita gave her made her feel worse than she’d ever felt before, but after a moment Evita nodded, gently pushing Jian’s hand away from her mouth. They began to creep away from the bloody ring, until a burst of whooping made them both freeze in place. Jian looked quickly back over her shoulder and immediately wished she hadn’t. The cat had got in again under Bobby’s flagging guard, and this time it had opened his belly as neatly as a butcher with a carving knife, spilling his guts down his front. He staggered, trying to keep them in with his arms, his face the colour of parchment.

Jian dragged her eyes away and kept moving, reaching out unconsciously to take Evita’s hand as soon as they reached a spot in the path where they had room to skate flat-out. Evita’s fingers tightened convulsively on hers as the screaming began behind them, and neither of them stopped until they reached the stream. There Evita stumbled to a stop and dropped down on the bank, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face in her arms, her shoulders shaking. Jian went down on her knees beside her, wrapping both arms around Evita’s shoulders and hugging her tightly, as much for her own comfort as Evita’s.

They stayed that way for a long time, until Evita gradually stopped shaking and Jian had fought down the urge to vomit until her stomach was completely empty. Even when Evita had straightened up they still sat in silence, arms around each other, both taking deep shuddery breaths.

“We should—” Jian started, but the rest of the sentence was swallowed when Evita kissed her, almost hard enough to bruise. Despite herself Jian returned it, until noise in the undergrowth startled them both into scrambling to their feet. Jian took Evita’s hand again to lead the way back to the road, but Evita pulled away long enough to go back and snag Bobby’s pack, slinging it over the shoulder opposite her own pack.

“Supplies,” she said in response to Jian’s look, adding defensively, “And something to take home to his parents. Since I’ll bet you fucking anything that nobody else will bother.”

“Okay,” Jian said gently. “It’s a good idea.”

She drew Evita back to the road, keeping a close eye behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed. Nothing came out of the brush after them but they still set a fast pace down the road away from the spot. Evita obviously struggled with the double load but refused help any time Jian offered, and after a while Jian stopped trying.

Later, when night had fallen and they’d barricaded themselves inside what had once been a convenience store, while Evita slept with her head in Jian’s lap, Jian stared into the fire and thought about the Racing Commission. After a few moments she carefully reached over Evita to get the camera out of her pack, holding it up so the lens was pointed at her face.

“I’m pretty sure you did this on purpose,” she told the steady red ON light. “You had to have known what was up here. I think I even know why. But I’m not dying, and neither are my friends. So suck on that.”

She put the camera down on the ground and picked up the chunk of firewood sitting beside her, bringing it down on the lens as hard as she could. A crack spiderwebbed through the glass and another whack shattered it completely, making the ON light blink then flicker off. Evita stirred slightly, muttering a question, but settled again when Jian stroked her hair and told her to go back to sleep. Turning back to the fire, Jian watched the flames until exhaustion passed over her and sent her down to sleep.

Sidewinder - Chapter Fourteen

“They’re not coming, okay? I don’t even think these stupid things work.” Livia reached out and grabbed the camera from Skye’s hands, turned on her heel, and pitched it out into the darkness outside the store they’d taken shelter in. The wide-eyed look he gave her would almost have been funny if she wasn’t close to tears and shaking with a mix of fear and anger.

They’d fled after seeing the skate and realizing that the creature was feeding on a person; one of them, though they didn’t know who. It had been a clumsy and headlong flight, and when they’d finally stopped—both out of breath and clinging to each other like small children—they’d been a long way off the path. They’d spent the better part of a day orienting themselves again and trying to contact someone, anyone, through the cameras. The lack of response had made Livia twitchy, until
she’d finally lost her temper and snapped at Skye’s comment that he was going to try again.

“Hey...” Skye reached out and gently patted her shoulder. “Maybe we should get some sleep. We can try to find the others in the morning.”

Livia bit her lip so she wouldn’t tell him there probably weren’t any others left, and sat down on the floor with her back to the wall, pulling her pack into her lap. She dug through it until she found a bag of chocolate-covered peanuts and offered them to Skye when he sat down beside her. He smiled a bit and took some, offering his own bag of trail mix. They ate in silence and when Skye was done, he cautiously put an arm around her shoulders, offering her a small smile when she looked at him.

“It’s a little cold,” he said. “Go to sleep, I’ll keep watch.”

“Wake me up in a few hours.” She let him pull her in so she could put her head on his shoulder. When she closed her eyes, she saw again the eyeless creature sinking its teeth into the bloody corpse and gritted her teeth until it went away. After a few minutes she managed to relax, listening to Skye’s steady breathing until she slipped into sleep.

She slept restlessly, half-waking every time Skye shifted his weight, and finally opened her eyes fully to the grey dishwater light of the pre-dawn. Skye had fallen asleep beside her, his head tipped at an awkward angle, his chest rising and falling with each deep breath. She watched him for a moment, trying to decide what had woken her, then gently untangled herself and went to find somewhere to empty her bladder.

She peeked outside after she was done, looking around carefully to make sure nothing had snuck up on them in the night. The hairs on the back of her neck still stood on end, no matter how many times she tried to smooth them down with her hand, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something out there. Muttering at herself to knock it off, she started to turn back into the store, then froze as a large shadow drifted lazily past. She looked up quickly but between the cloudy sky and the muted light she couldn’t see much more than the suggestion of a broad shape in the sky.

A hand dropped onto her shoulder and she nearly screamed, swinging her elbow back as hard as she could before she even thought about the movement. It connected with Skye’s stomach and he stumbled back with a pained grunt. When she glanced at him he was giving her a pained look, still bent over with his arms across his belly.

“Probably deserved that,” he managed. “Sorry. What were you looking at?”

“Something in the sky.” She looked up again but it was gone. “We should get going.”

The day warmed up as they got back onto the road, though the sky remained cloudy and grey with the threat of coming rain. Neither of them spoke much as they skated, still following the course for lack of anywhere else to go. They stayed as close together as they could without tripping each other up, watching the sides of the road almost more than they watched the road ahead of them. Livia thought she could relax a little when they left the trees behind them, but somehow the outskirts of the city they reached were worse. The buildings towered over them, casting long shadows, and every drift of wind down the streets made her start.

“We should go around,” she said when they stopped for a breather. “It’ll take longer, but I really don’t care about the race anymore. I just don’t want to go in.”

Skye gave her a puzzled look before studying the city. “All right, I guess. Maybe we’ll be able to find someone. There’s stories of people still living up here, and if the stories about monsters were right...” He shrugged slightly. “Maybe they can help.”

“Maybe,” she said noncommittally, pushing herself to her feet and moving off the main road.

Skye attempted to keep up a conversation as they skated, asking her about her family and siblings. It helped to pass the time and distracted her from dwelling on the dead racer, or the monsters she was half-convinced were still stalking them. They tried to keep going in the same direction as the main roads going through the city but soon found themselves veering off-track. Livia called a halt when the city began to disappear around curves in the road, bracing her hands on her thighs as she caught her breath.

“Do we keep going?” she asked. “Even if we might end up getting completely lost?”

“I’ve still got the GPS. We can probably cut across later if we need to.” Skye shaded his eyes against the sun and squinted down the road. “Is that dust?”

Livia looked in the same direction. “I think... Come on, get off the road until we see what it is.” She moved into the shelter of a stand of trees, though the dappled shadows beneath made her feel nervous. Skye joined her and they watched the dust cloud grow bigger, until it resolved itself into a young man on skates, streaked with sweat and dirt, his chest heaving for breath. Livia exchanged a quick glance with Skye, then they both called out to him.

The young man—Danny, Livia thought his name was—gave them a wild look but didn’t stop, until Skye stepped out and caught his arm. Danny’s wild swing nearly sent them both to the dusty road and Livia was on the verge of telling Skye to let him go when she heard the pounding footsteps racing towards them.

There were two of the eyeless lizards this time, running side by side, though occasionally one would take a nip at the other. In the trees she caught a brief glimpse of the accompanying monsters, easily keeping up with their long stride. Her voice dried up in her throat and she could only make a hoarse choking noise, pointing at them with a shaking finger. Skye looked over his shoulder and hurriedly let go of Danny before grabbing Livia’s hand and pulling her back the way they had come.

All three of them kept pace for a few minutes, skating hard without risking a glance backwards, then Danny began to lag, his breath rasping harshly in and out of his lungs. Livia reached out for him automatically but Skye dragged her along before she could do more than ghost her fingertips across Danny’s arm. She looked back over her shoulder despite herself, unable to tear herself away as one of the lizards drew ahead of its companion and leaped at Danny’s back, bringing him down with its solid weight.

Danny screamed as the lizard thrust its long snout forward, sinking its mouthful of teeth into the back of his neck. The other lizard paused a moment to snatch a bite of one flailing leg, then continued on, swallowing as it ran. Livia jerked her gaze back to the road ahead, unconsciously moaning as Danny’s screams grew higher in pitch and then cut off in a gargle. The pounding of the lizard’s feet as it chased them soon drowned out any other noise except for the throb of Livia’s heartbeat in her own ears. Skye’s grip on her hand was turning her fingers numb but she barely noticed, trying just to keep herself upright as they pelted down the road.

Her skate caught on something suddenly and she tripped, her hand coming out of Skye’s grip as she flailed to catch her balance. She fell hard on her knees and the lizard slammed hard into her back, shoving her down on her front. Making shrieky little noises of terror, she struggled to free herself, managing to almost wiggle her way free before it bit down on her shoulder.

The pain was immediate and intense, shooting fiery daggers down her arm and across her chest. She screamed, twisting to try and free herself despite the pain, feeling warm blood run down her side. The lizard pulled away slightly and opened its mouth wide to bite her again, but before it could Skye kicked it in the head, knocking it to one side. He yanked Livia bodily to her feet, holding her with one arm and twisting his body to put himself between her and the lizard as it shook its head and picked itself up, growling. For a moment they faced each other, then a large shadow passed over them. Slumped against Skye, feeling fuzzy and overheated, Livia thought she heard the noise of engines through the roaring inside her skull.

“Holy shit,” she heard Skye say, his voice filled with awe. He pulled her back and down to her knees, protecting her with both arms as the sound of heavy gunfire filled the air. Livia pressed her face into Skye’s chest, unable to keep blackness from washing over her.

She opened her eyes again as she was being carried through a silver hallway lined with flashing blue lights that swam in and out of focus. With a great effort she turned her head and saw Skye beside her, his face drawn and anxious. Even as she was wondering who was carrying her if not Skye, and where she was being carried, she slipped back into unconsciousness.

Sidewinder - Chapter Thirteen

He’d rather eat dirt than admit it, but the pace Six set was tougher than Zephyr had expected, especially when it was obvious during their brief breaks that Six was still favouring his injured leg. They’d skated the rest of the morning away and the sun was high above them, its rays surprisingly strong. Six had already stripped his shirt off in the heat and stuffed it into his pack, though the tail end hung out in a patch of blue against the pack’s worn grey fabric. Behind him and struggling to keep up, Zephyr still took a moment to watch the way the muscles in his back moved under his sweat-sheened skin, and resisted the urge to ask where he’d gotten the narrow scar that twisted from the small of his back to just under his ribs.

His stomach growled audibly, loud enough that Six glanced back and raised an eyebrow at him. Shrugging, Zephyr said, “What? I’m a growing boy.”

“You don’t need to grow any more.” Six faced forward again, but his pace gradually slowed and he moved off to a patch of grass at the side of the road. “Eat quick.”

“You do realize we have a really long way to go, right? You’re going to burn yourself out by tomorrow evening.” Zephyr dropped down on the grass, glad to be off his feet for a little while, and dug through his pack until he found a sandwich wrapped in saran wrap. It was soggy and somewhat squashed but he still ate it happily, quieting his stomach.

“I’ll be fine. You just try to keep up.” Six stretched, raising his arms up over his head and arching his back. It took Zephyr a moment to tear his gaze away from the long, lean lines of his stomach and remember what they were talking about.

“I guess if you don’t mind losing, you can go as fast as you want,” he said. “I just thought you were in it to win it.”

“I am.” Six glanced down the road, shifting his weight impatiently. “And I’m going to win.”

“Not if you skate yourself into a heart attack. You can deny it all you want, but there’s something wrong with you, and it’s not your attitude.” Zephyr swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and pushed himself to his feet, shoving the crumpled saran wrap into his pocket. “You still all shaky?”

“Like I said, I’m fine.” Six crossed his arms over his chest, his mouth thinning to an angry line.

“Oh yeah? Go like this.” Zephyr held his arms out in front of him to demonstrate, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Six gave him a sullen look, then grinned suddenly, skating a few weaving steps backwards. “You want something from me, Zeph, earn it. Beat me in a sprint and you can have whatever you want.”

Zephyr felt his cheeks heat and ducked down to grab his pack to hide it. When he looked up again Six was already halfway down the road, his strides strong and even. Muttering a curse, Zephyr swung his pack onto his back again and followed him, skating as hard as he could just to catch up. Six didn’t slow even then, pushing the pace until they were both breathing hard. Zephyr ducked his head and fought to pass, but even his long stride was no match for Six’s speed until Six suddenly stumbled and went down with a painful-sounding thump.

It took Zephyr a few moments to stop without crashing himself, and by the time he skated back, Six was sitting up and growling a steady stream of expletives as he picked bits of road out of his arm. He ignored the hand Zephyr extended to him and pushed himself up, wobbling a little as he put weight on his injured leg.

“Now will you slow down?” Zephyr asked. “Before you end up wearing your entire first-aid kit?”

Six ignored him and got the kit out of his pack to disinfect his arm, but when he set off again, it was at a much slower pace. Zephyr watched him with concern for a few minutes, then shaded his eyes to look up at the sky. The sun was beginning to drift down, though he judged they had a solid five hours of sunlight left. He sighed at the thought of another five hours of skating and started humming under his breath just to break the silence, keeping watch over Six out of the corner of his eye.

Another hour passed before Six called a halt to look around, his movements stiff and slightly clumsy as he checked the buildings around them for any sign of life. Zephyr stuck close to him, half-afraid he would collapse suddenly, and tried not to think about the bird-monster Six had killed early that morning. If he never saw one of them again he thought he could probably die happy.

“Looks clear,” Six said finally, making his way over to an old bench and setting his weight carefully on it, stretching his injured leg out in front of him. “Keep an eye out.”

“Where are we?” Zephyr started to go through his pack to find the GPS he’d been given.

“Cornwall,” Six said absently, without looking up from his inspection of his leg. “What’s left of it anyway. We’re still on track.”

Zephyr paused and glanced up at him. “You know that without even looking at the map?”

“Yes.” Six dug through his pack and pulled out a handful of jerky wrapped in plastic, setting them on the bench beside him before taking out a mini box of cereal to eat.

“Going to expand on that?” Zephyr asked after a moment, dropping down on the other end of the bench. It gave an alarming creak that made Six glare at him, but held.

“No, I’m not.” Six dumped the rest of the cereal in his mouth and took a swallow of water from his water bottle.

“Jerk,” Zephyr muttered. His eye fell on the jerky and he picked one up, only to have Six grab it out of his hand. “Hey!”

“This stuff is older than you are,” Six snapped. “You eat it and you’ll be shitting what few brains you have out, if you’re lucky. Don’t touch stuff that isn’t yours.”

“What are you doing with it then?”

“Bait. Something’s been following us for the past half-hour.” Six pushed himself to his feet and unwrapped the jerky, breaking off a piece to leave on the bench. “Come on. Hopefully the cache is still here.”

Frowning, Zephyr got up and followed him down the street. “You’ve been here before,” he said after a few moments. “But you’re only 25. You’d have been two when we went underground. So when were you here?”

Six ignored him, scanning the streets around them carefully and finally turning off into a narrow alleyway that weaved between a few blocks of highrises with smashed windows and doors hanging open on creaking hinges. He trailed his fingers along the wall and paused a few times to trace symbols carved into the brick, barely visible until Zephyr saw Six’s fingers outline them. They seemed to tell him where to go and he moved confidently through the maze until he stopped outside what remained of the back door behind one of the highrises. He looked into the dark hallway for a moment, then pulled his knife and went in, his skates clicking on the tiled floor.

Zephyr fumbled his own knife out of his pocket and followed, so tense he jumped at every noise. The only light came from the door they had just come in, and a small shaft of greyish light from the front of the building, where Zephyr guessed the front foyer was. Every shadow seemed to leap out at them, and by the time Six stopped him with a hand on his arm, his heart was pounding so hard it was hard to breathe.

“Wait here,” Six murmured, barely above a whisper, and went in through the open front door of one of the apartments. He was gone so long that Zephyr started to feel twitchy, casting quick glances back over his shoulder and shifting nervously from one skate to the other. He was on the verge of going in after Six when Six finally came back out, carrying a heavy black bag over one shoulder. Six ignored his questions and just led the way out, squinting into the sunlight then taking the bag over to a pile of broken wood to open it.

Zephyr leaned over his shoulder to see the contents and his eyes widened when Six reached in to pull out a thick black semiautomatic and its magazine, loading it with practiced ease. He caught a quick glimpse of at least one other similar gun in the bag before Six zipped it closed again and slung it back over his shoulder.

“Do I get one?” he asked, following Six back out of the alley.

Six gave a derisive snort. “If you didn’t blow your own balls off, you’d probably end up shooting me. No way am I giving you a gun.”

“You could teach me how to use it.”

“No.” Six shaded his eyes to look back the way they had come, where the sun was beginning to cast longer rays the further it got down towards the horizon. “It’s there somewhere. Stick close to me and just... shut your face.” He tossed the other half of the unwrapped jerky out into the street and led the way past the buildings, looking around like he was checking out the area before ducking into what had once been a courtyard and was now a mess of broken walls and wild growth.

Following Six’s instructions, Zephyr ducked down behind one of the pieces of free-standing wall, bracing himself against it so he could still watch. Six threw another piece of jerky out into the street and went back to the clearest area of the courtyard, unloading and then loading the gun again, stretching out his shoulders and arms. Zephyr thought again of the scar across his back, and wondered if his hands were even steady enough to aim and shoot.

It came around the corner in an ungainly shambling hop, its long tongue flicking out like a snake’s. Its eyes were little more than slight indents in its thick head but it seemed to have no trouble spotting Six. Zephyr could see the outline of the buildings behind it through its transparent, jelly-like body, as well as its internal organs hanging like sacks of meat. In shape it looked a little like a toad the size of a man but its body bulged in odd places and as it moved it left a trail of slime behind it.

“Come on, fucker,” Six told it, his tone casual. He still held the gun hanging loosely at his side, though Zephyr saw his finger curl around the trigger. “Everybody wants a piece anyway.”

The creature hesitated a few moments longer then shuffled towards him, hanging its broad mouth open to reveal rows of tiny razor-sharp teeth. Six let it get uncomfortably close before he brought the gun up and fired, the movement so fast that Zephyr barely saw it—though he saw the creature’s triple-chambered heart explode within its body. Six fired again, obliterating an organ that Zephyr guessed was the creature’s stomach, then threw himself bodily behind the wall Zephyr was hiding behind. Zephyr turned to ask him what he was doing and Six yanked him down, seconds before the creature itself exploded with a sound like wet porridge dropped on the floor, flinging strips and gobbets of slimy flesh in all directions.

“Fucking gross,” Zephyr managed after a few moments of disgusted noises. “That’s just...” He shuddered, unable to put it into words. “Did you know that would happen?”

“Yes,” Six said, laughing a little. “Their stomachs are highly reactive. Don’t be such a girl, it’s just a little blood and guts.”

“Ugh,” Zephyr said, watching a chunk of transparent flesh wiggle its way down the wall until it fell off with a plop. “I’m going to puke. Can we go now?”

“Yeah.” Six used Zephyr’s shoulder to push himself up and picked his way through the mess. Zephyr followed, trying not to gag at the smell of ammonia rising from the remains of the corpse, and didn’t look back as they left the courtyard behind.

Sidewinder - Chapter Twelve

Katia found herself alone on the road when the fog finally cleared, though she’d been sure Jian was right behind her. She looked around, frowning a little and shifting her weight onto her left leg, then checked the GPS she’d been given before she set out. It confirmed her suspicion that she’d gone off-track somewhere and wandered onto old side streets leading in the wrong direction. She looked up at the darkening sky and decided to find somewhere to take shelter for the night, rather than risk being caught out by whatever still roamed these streets.

She set back towards the correct path, favouring her right leg slightly, and picked the first house she came across that looked sturdy. She checked it carefully, both inside and out, and finally settled down in the room closest to the back door, after using the broken junk scattered around to barricade everything else. It was still hard to relax and she jumped at every small sound of the house settling as night fell, her food tasteless in her mouth. She gave up after the first few bites and concentrated instead on stretching out the muscles in her legs to distract herself from her nervousness.

After a while she managed to doze, though only lightly, and came awake suddenly to the pitch black of night, her heart thumping in her chest. For a long moment she stayed where she was, breathing shallowly and listening intently, until she heard the soft scrape of footsteps on the stone path outside. Her heart leaped into her throat but she carefully got to her feet and grabbed the baseball bat she’d found while searching the house. Moving as silently as she was able, she went to the archway between the room she’d camped in and the outside hall and waited in the shadows as the back door eased open.

She could only make out the vague outline of whatever moved into the house, just enough to judge that it was only a little taller than her, and built along broad lines. She held her breath as it walked closer and waited until it was in range before stepping forward on her good leg and swinging the baseball bat at its head with all her strength.

It ducked, letting out a surprisingly human yelp, and came up again in almost the same movement, grabbing the baseball bat and shoving her backwards. She stumbled, struggling to keep her balance, but tripped over the edge of some debris and fell hard, letting out a yelp of her own as it fell on top of her. It flung the baseball bat across the room with one hand and flicked on a powerful flashlight with the other, dazzling her eyes before she threw her hands up to cover them.

“Aww, shit.” The voice was male and as human as she was. “It’s just some girl.”

The light turned away from her face and she gingerly dropped her hands, trying to blink the dazzle out of her eyes. A strong hand hauled her to her feet and held her in place as its owner played the flashlight around the room, pausing on her gear. She heard him grunt, then he walked her over to her pack and pushed at it with one toe. Katia risked a glance at him and saw a man around her own age, if not a little older, with shaggy black hair and stubble darkening his jaw. He was frowning, his eyebrows drawn down over his eyes, as he studied her pack and the skates lying beside it.

“Grab your stuff and let’s go,” he said after a moment.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Katia said sharply. “Let go of me.”

“Listen, I’ll carry you kicking and screaming if I have to. Let’s just make it easy on both of us.” He gave her false left leg a meaningful look.

“You don’t want me to start screaming. There’s things out there listening.” She saw his dark eyes narrow slightly and knew she’d scored a direct hit. “So how about instead of the he-man act, you tell me your name and what you’re doing here.” She twisted away from him and held out a hand. “I’m Katia.”

He eyed her hand then grudgingly took it. “Ezra. You tell me what you’re doing here.”

“A race.” Katia indicated her skates and blushed a little at the look he gave her. “I know. You think I want to be up here? I came because my little brother and my best friend wouldn’t believe me when I said it was dangerous, that there’s a reason we went underground. And then we got lost in the fog and I don’t know where they are.” She took a shaky breath, surprised to find herself near tears, then laughed despite herself at the way he awkwardly patted her arm. “So I need to find them if nothing else.”

“Underground?” he said in a musing tone. “And you’re having some sort of race? You’re all idiots.”

“Thanks?” Katia took a step away from him in case he tried to grab her again. “What are you doing up here?”

“I live up here. We didn’t all get to run and hide like you did.” He glanced at her, then in one swift movement scooped up her pack and her skates. “Now are you going to come with me, or are you going to stay here with just the clothes you’re wearing?”

She glared at him, fighting the urge to punch him right in his smug smile. “Why so eager?”

“It’s not for you, trust me. I just don’t want to wander across your half-eaten corpse in a few days.”

“We were told this area’s pretty clean,” Katia said, but uncertainty crept into her voice in the face of his amused smile.

“Somebody lied to you, girl. This is practically Ground Zero, and it stretches for miles. I promise, I’ll drop you off somewhere you can get back home.”

“Promise you’ll help me find my brother and my friend instead. And warn everyone else who came up here with me. Otherwise, yeah, I’ll stay here with just the clothes I’m wearing.” She crossed her arms, trying to sound tougher than she actually felt, and hoped it wouldn’t come to a physical fight; he was taller than her by a good few inches, and much broader.

“Fine,” he said after a moment, sticking a hand out again. “Shake on it. You can tell me about your precious underground while we look.”

She ignored the bitter tone in his voice and just shook his hand, then followed him out of the house, debating if she should ask for her pack and skates back. They walked down the road in silence for long enough that fear curled in the pit of her belly and she cast a quick glance back over her shoulder, wondering if she should make a run for it even if she lost all her gear. After a moment Ezra cut across a field spotted with gnarled trees, gesturing for her to keep up as he increased his pace. She gritted her teeth and lengthened her stride, keeping her eyes mostly on the dark ground to keep from tripping.

Finally they came to a jumble of huge boulders and a tall rock face, its top sparsely decorated with trees. She glanced up and for a moment saw something swoop across the stars, blocking their light with a wingspan wider than she was tall. She shivered and moved closer to Ezra, who was kicking about in the loose rocks at the base of the boulders. After a few muttered curse words, he made a soft ‘ah-ha’ noise and leaned down to scoop something up from the soft earth.

“Now watch this.” He grinned at her, looking suddenly boyish, and pressed the heel of his hand against the object he’d picked up.

For a long moment nothing happened and she felt her eyebrows beginning to draw down in annoyance; then, suddenly, the boulder nearest to her split apart like a cracked egg, expelling a rush of hot air. She spun towards it, automatically putting up her fists, and found herself looking into a metal hallway lit by dim blue lights. The effect was like looking into a spaceship and she felt her mouth drop open even as a chill ran up her spine.

“Go in, it won’t eat you.” Ezra placed a hand on her back and gave her a push forward. She stepped into the hallway, half-expecting something to greet her in a robotic voice, but instead she only heard the gentle humming of engines.

“What is this?” She touched the wall and found it to be plain steel, cool and unyielding under her hand. “It kinda...”

“Looks like a spaceship, I know. It’s not, just an airship. It’ll look more normal further in.” He propelled her along the hallway and up a short flight of steps to a heavy wooden door, which he unlocked with a key from his pocket.

She carefully stepped inside when he opened the door and relaxed a little when she saw how much it looked like a regular, if oversized, room. Both sides were blocked off by wood panelling but she saw what must be the cockpit to her left. The middle was taken up by a couch and a pair of armchairs, as well as a massive desk covered in papers and junk. A bookcase stood against one wall and there was a window beside it that she could just see the cliff through. To her right the door in the panelling was closed, but she guessed it probably contained a bedroom or two.

“Welcome to home.” Ezra dropped her pack on one of the armchairs and put her skates down beside it. “You can come up front if you want. There’s seatbelts up there.”

“Always a bonus,” she muttered, following him into the cockpit. She took the seat he indicated and pulled the seatbelt tight, her eyes widening as the shadows outside drew away like a curtain. Ezra settled into his own seat and began manipulating the controls, coaxing the engine up from a grumble to a steady roar. He checked gauges she couldn’t even begin to understand and then the ship began to shake underneath them. Katia gripped the armrests on her seat, trying to breathe in deep steady breaths, and felt the ship begin to slowly rise.

The mess of boulders dropped away beneath them and she glanced to the side in time to see them come even with the trees at the top of the cliff. Briefly she looked for the thing she’d seen up there before, then turned her attention back to the front, watching the stars as they moved forward into a steady pace. She didn’t realize she was grinning until she heard Ezra snort in amusement, but the look he gave her when she glanced over was friendly.

“Your friends have at least enough brain power to get under shelter for the night, I hope,” he said. “So I’m going to catch a nap. You can stay up here or go camp out on the couch, just don’t touch anything.”

“It’ll fly itself?”

“For a little while. I’ll be back up in an hour or two.” He got to his feet but paused at the door, giving her a questioning look.

“I’ll stay up here.” She smiled a little. “I want to watch. I won’t touch.”

“See you in a bit.” He gave half a wave and left the cockpit, leaving her to watch the stars.

Sidewinder - Chapter Eleven

Six skated at full speed only just long enough to keep Evita from catching up to him, then slowed down to a steadier pace, absently rubbing at his left arm, where the muscles trembled underneath his skin. To his relief the trembling soon stopped, though he could still see a slight shake in his fingers when he held his hands out in front of him. He dropped his hands down by his sides instead and made himself concentrate on the road until the rain began. Shading his eyes with one hand, he looked up at the sky and grimaced, then started looking for somewhere to shelter until the clouds cleared away.

He found an old gas station a little further on, its small store's door still locked and the windows whole, if only because they were covered with wire netting. Six studied the door for a moment then backed up a few feet and charged at it, hitting it with his shoulder and spilling it and himself into the interior of the store. He picked himself up and moved further inside, ducking behind the dusty counter and pushing open the door to the back office. It was dim and desperately in need of a clean, but it was dry enough to he decided it would do until the rain stopped. Brushing off the seat of the chair behind the desk, he dropped down into it and eased his skates off, massaging the arch of one foot.

The rain beat down on the roof in a steady rhythm and he soon found himself growing sleepy. He tried to fight it but within moments his eyes had slid closed and he slumped back in the chair, his breathing evening out into the steadiness of sleep. He slept while the rain slowed to a drizzle and the fog came in, sending questing fingers across the floor of the store, and didn't wake until nightfall, feeling groggy and disoriented. A chill had settled into him as he slept and he felt stiff as he pushed himself up from the chair, rubbing at his sore neck. His stomach growled painfully but he ignored it in favour of stumbling off to the bathroom to relieve his aching bladder first.

When he was finished, he rummaged through the store's shelves to see if there was anything he wanted, taking a pack of lighters and a handful of wrapped jerky sticks. He shoved them into his pack and took out one of the sandwiches he'd packed—slightly battered now, and soggy—and ate it while he was pulling his skates back on. He stepped out into the cool night air and paused a moment to look around warily, then made his way back to the road.

He skated at a steady pace for a while, all his senses on high alert. The night remained silent all around him, and so dark that he felt as though his eyes were opened too wide to compensate. A flicker of movement to his right made him skid away, breathing hard and dropping his shoulder defensively, but he saw it was only the wind ruffling the overgrown bushes along the road. Rolling his eyes at himself, he looked back ahead and forced himself to keep skating.

The night passed slowly and by five am he was exhausted enough to start looking for another place to catch a few hours of sleep. He'd made it into the outskirts of what had once been a major city, now crumbling to ruin and overgrown with weeds, and its close confines made him feel even less safe than the open countryside he'd just passed through. He made his way towards the nearest house then stopped, spotting the telltale marks of thin skate wheels crossing the mud onto the cracked sidewalk. Beside them he saw other prints, thin but longer than his hand, like the footprints of a tall bird.

In a split-second decision he followed the tracks up to the house, silently freeing his knife from its sheath on his hip. The long blade, honed to a razor-sharp edge, glimmered pale pink in the first light of dawn. He paused long enough to take off his skates and slipped into the house with the knife held defensively up near his chest, ignoring the slight tremble in the fingers gripping it as he made his way in silent socked feet through the dark front hall. He could smell something swampy inside the house, a smell like brackish water and rotting meat. It nearly made him gag but he fought the urge back, easing around the corner of the hall until he could see into the living room.

Whoever was sleeping there had wrapped themselves up into a cocoon of blankets, hiding themselves from view, and was completely unaware of the bird-like creature standing over them, head cocked so it could study the blanket-wrapped form with one beady eye. It looked a little like a blue heron the size of a tall and skinny man, but where its beak should have been there was only a hole ringed with a double row of sharp teeth. It breathed so noisily that Six couldn't believe the sleeper didn't hear it, and viscous yellow drool dripped down to splatter the blankets.

Six didn't wait for it to realize that he was standing there. While it was still distracted by contemplating its oblivious meal, he stepped up behind it, grabbed its slender neck in one hand, and brought the blade of the knife whickering across, nearly severing its head from its body. The head flopped obscenely back in a welter of blood and he shuddered in disgust at the light still in its rheumy grey eyes, then hurriedly tried to scramble out of the way as it took a swipe at him with one great clawed foot, still obeying some last impulse from its lost brain. Just the tips of its claws dug into his thigh, but even that was enough to knock his leg out from under him and spill him in an awkward heap. He clapped a hand to the blood welling from his leg and held the knife ready, but the creature did a spastic dance and collapsed in a pile of swampy feathers and dark blood.

Breathing hard, he pushed himself up and nearly fell again, until a hand caught him under his upper arm. He looked up into Zephyr's pale face and groaned, yanking his arm away and steadying himself.

“Of course it's you,” he muttered. “I knew I should've kept going.”

Zephyr didn't even acknowledge it, his wide eyes fixed on the dead bird creature. Its legs twitched suddenly and he scrambled back so quickly he tripped over the edges of his own blankets and landed with a hard thump. The horror was written so plainly on his face that he looked nine instead of nineteen, an image only strengthened by his sleep-tousled hair sticking up in spikes and tufts. Torn between laughing at him and reassuring him that he was safe, Six settled for extending a hand to help him up instead. The movement put weight on his injured leg, causing fresh blood to soak into his shorts, and he hissed through his teeth, unconsciously tightening his grip on Zephyr's fingers.

“Ow!” Zephyr looked at him, some colour coming back into his cheeks. “Let go before you break something.”

“Shut up, Zeph.” Six released him and carefully leaned down to wipe his knife clean on the top blanket. He slid it back into the sheath and limped towards the door, tossing back over his shoulder, “I'm out of here. Where there's one there's probably more.”

“Wait!” He heard Zephyr scrambling behind him, but already had his skates back on by the time Zephyr made it out, his hair still stuck up in spikes and his pack slung over one shoulder. “Um. Look. Thanks. Um, I know it's a competition and everything but can we... stick together for a bit? Of everything I was expecting, that wasn't it.” He cast a quick glance over his shoulder, hunching up as though expecting an attack. “You hate me, I know, but at least I can watch your back.”

“Sure,” Six said, heading down towards the road again.

“Really?” Zephyr caught up to him, the relief in his voice mixed with suspicion. “You're not just fucking with me?”

“Nope.” Six led the way to the concrete stairs leading down into the nearest subway station. “Then I don't have to outskate the monsters. I only have to outskate you.”

Zephyr fell back for a moment then followed him down. “Funny. What happens after they've eaten me?”

“Indigestion.” Six took out one of the lighters he'd taken from the gas station and flicked the wheel, muttering a curse when it didn't light right away. He rolled it between his hands for a moment then tried it again, relieved to see the flame spring up. “Shut your mouth for five seconds while I look around.”

He moved around the long platform carefully, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his thigh; checking the tracks on both sides and leaning over to look into the tunnels. When he was satisfied that it was empty, he made his way back over to Zephyr, who still stood at the foot of the stairs, looking lost. Handing him the lighter, Six sat down on the bottom step and pulled a first-aid kit out of his pack, followed by a small steel bowl barely bigger than the palm of his hand. He poured bottled water into the bowl and gave it to Zephyr.

“Hold the lighter on that and try to make it hot.” He took off his skates again and stood up to strip out of his shorts, examining the triple gashes across his thigh. The middle one was deepest and still bleeding sluggishly, though the other two had clotted over again.

“Here.” Zephyr awkwardly knelt down in front of him and stuck a finger into the water to test it. “Not great, but if you've got some disinfectant in there, it should be okay.”

“I don't need the help.”

“Yeah, well, I happen to think my life is worth at least this much.” He leaned over to grab the first-aid kit and dumped a liberal amount of disinfectant in the water before using one of the big bandages to start scrubbing out the gashes across Six's thigh. “Though this is sort of becoming a regular occurrence.”

“You're just so willing to get on your knees.”

“Ha.” Zephyr went silent for a few moments. “So, um, why are we down in a subway station? Isn't this just the type of place monsters like?”

“Not these ones. They don't like it underground for some reason. Why do you think our cities are so safe there?”

“I dunno, I guess I just thought they were guarded well. You know a lot about this, Six.” He glanced up with half a grin. “Smarter than you look.”

“Maybe if you didn't spend all your time being an annoying little shit, you'd actually be able to learn something,” Six said, his voice sharper than he'd intended it to be.

“I didn't think it was common knowledge, that's all. Sorta classified, in fact. And you killed that thing pretty easily, almost like you knew exactly how to do it.”

“It's not that hard to figure out. Even you could probably manage it, if you weren't stupid enough to almost get eaten in your sleep.”

“Where'd you grow up anyway?” Zephyr smeared on antibiotic cream and slapped a bandage on top of it. “You showed up out of nowhere.”

“What's with all the questions?”

“I'm curious.” Zephyr heaved himself to his feet, dusting off his legs. “Nothing much else to do right now but talk.”

“Wrong. I'm going to nap and then I'm going back out on the road. Come, stay, get eaten, I don't care.” Six pushed himself up and pulled his shorts on again, moving away from the stairs to find a flat spot of floor to curl up on, wrapped in a blanket and using his pack as a pillow. He closed his eyes but sensed Zephyr join him, sitting on the floor nearby. Zephyr said something but by that time Six had drifted too far into sleep to hear him, and let himself drift away without bothering to find out what it was.

Sidewinder - Chapter Ten

“You’re getting slow in your old age, Six. I’m not even breaking a sweat to keep up with you. I’m practically cold.” Evita made a show of shivering without breaking stride. “I’m about to leave you in my dust.”

“Stop talking,” Six said, still looking straight ahead. His movements were strong but nowhere near the speed Evita knew he possessed, though they had both easily outstripped the rest of the pack.

“Need to save your breath? Understandable. I mean, after your last performance...” She pursed her lips and made a tsk sound.

“Shut the fuck up, Evita.”

“Did I hit a nerve? You never could take any comments on your performance. That’s probably why we broke up.” She grinned at his quick side glare. “That and it drove you nuts that I’m taller than you in heels. You need to be the big man, which is why I can’t understand this infatuation with Katia’s baby brother.”

“What infatuation?” he snapped, and Evita had to bite back a snort of laughter.

“Come on, Six. You’re like a little boy pulling Zeph’s pigtails. If you were broadcasting it any harder, you’d be lit up like a neon sign.”

“Did all that slutting around finally fuck up your brain? You’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

“Aww, so defensive,” she said in a sing-song voice. “That’s how I know I’ve scored a direct hit.”

“You wish,” he snorted.

“Good comeback. You really are off your game, aren’t you?” She took a moment to study him. “Actually, you do look kind of sick.”

“Your presence has that effect on me.”

“That’s a little better. So back to Zeph. Why? I mean, really, why? I guess he’s kinda cute, in the same way as some giant puppy covered in mud, thumping around and knocking things off the coffee table. I saw you smile just now, Six.”

“Why don’t you go use your mouth for something you’re actually good at, instead of running it at me?”

“Because bugging the shit out of you is fun. Though if you’d prefer, I can go back to find Zeph and—” She saw him move too late, her reaction time too slow in the face of his unnatural speed as he darted into her path and clotheslined her in the same move he’d used on her in the races. Her feet went out from under her and she landed with a hard thump, skinning her arm against the asphalt despite her pads.

“Fucker!” she yelled at his back as he took off, wincing as she picked herself up and examined the scrape on her arm, just below her elbow pad. She gave his dust the finger and moved to the side of the road to find the disinfectant in her pack, hissing through her teeth as she spread it over her arm. She slapped a band-aid on top of it and started skating again, muttering curses and promises of what she would do to Six when she caught up to him again.

It started to rain before she did, and she lost the trail completely when the fog descended. Disoriented by its thickness, she wasn’t even sure she was going the right way, and eventually she slowed to a stop and looked around, aware of how loud her breathing sounded.

“This sucks,” she muttered, just to hear the sound of her own voice. After a moment’s hesitation she turned back the way she thought she had come, the need to stop being alone in this creepy fog stronger than her desire to win the race. She could always strike off on her own again later, when the fog had cleared and she no longer felt as if unfriendly eyes were watching her from just past the fog’s barrier.

A shadowy figure loomed up out of the fog so fast that she nearly fell in her hurry to stop. She put her fists up automatically, balancing on her skates, then grinned sheepishly when the fog cleared slightly and she saw Jian giving her a raised eyebrow.

“Hey. Sorry.” She dropped her fists. “I thought you were Six.”

“That’s usually my reaction too.” Jian glanced around, wiping droplets off her cheek. “I don’t suppose you saw Katia?”

“No. Haven’t seen anyone except you since this damn fog came down.”

“I just looked away for two seconds, and when I looked back she’d disappeared.” She smiled a little and offered Evita a hand. “Buddies instead of competition, at least until we get out of this fog?”

“Please.” Evita took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. “Though I’m not even entirely sure which way is up anymore.”

Jian pointed. “That way. I think.”

“Works for me.” Evita started off again, matching her pace to Jian’s.

They skated in comfortable silence for a while, until the fog finally began to clear to show the last rays of the sun. Evita exchanged a glance with Jian and without speaking they both turned to look for any sign of the other racers. The road both before and behind them was empty of everything but the last shredding wisps of fog, and it was so quiet that Evita winced when she shifted her weight and her skate scraped on the ground.

“This is creepy as fuck,” Jian said after a moment. “I say we find somewhere to spend the night. I don’t really feel like stumbling around in the dark.”

“Good idea.” Evita shaded her eyes against a lance of red-gold sunlight as the sun began to slip below the horizon. “I’m going to guess there aren’t many five-star hotels around here though.”

“Sorry, princess.” Jian gave her an amused look. “We’re just gonna have to rough it.”

Evita sighed. “Yeah.” She wriggled her pack to a more comfortable position and followed Jian down the road again.

It didn’t take them long to find a small house that looked in good repair, though they spent so long checking it out to make sure it was empty that it was full dark by the time they went through the door. Evita left Jian to fiddle with the lock and went into what must have once been the living room. She poked at the grungy armchair in the corner for a few minutes before deciding it was usable enough for her to sit and take off her skates. She flexed her toes in her socks and stretched with her arms behind her head, arching her body to try and loosen the muscles in her back. When she relaxed again she saw Jian was watching her with an odd expression, though it quickly became half a smile.

“Want to see if we can start a fire?” Jian nodded to the dusty fireplace at one end of the room. “If we don’t manage to suffocate ourselves or blow the place up.”

“I am a bit cold.” Evita got up and went to poke through the ashy remains inside the fireplace. “I thought things would be more wrecked up here, after twenty-three years. It almost looked like people were here recently.”

“You’ve heard the stories, right?” Jian put her foot through a flimsy latticework end table, making Evita jump at the sudden crunch. “About people who didn’t go below.” She brought the remains of the table over and piled them in the fireplace.

“Some of them. I heard they just left people in jails. So if there is anyone up here, they’re probably a crazy murderer.”

“Instead of just a crazy racer. I need kindling.” Jian went to go hunt through the house’s cupboards and drawers, and returned triumphantly with an armful of slightly damp magazines. Evita watched her with amusement as she produced a lighter and coaxed the flame onto the magazines. For a few moments it looked like the fire would go out, then the flames caught and began to lick along the pieces of the end table.

They ate dinner in front of the fire, sitting crosslegged with their packs behind them to lean on. It was cozy enough that Evita felt herself finally relaxing, though a nagging voice in the back of her mind still nagged at her about how dangerous it was up here. She glanced at Jian and was about to say something to break the silence when Jian spoke first.

“So if you win, what’s going to be your big prize?” she asked without looking away from the fire.

“Mmm... You’ll probably laugh.”

“Please don’t tell me you’ve decided to join the circus as a clown.”

“What?” Evita said, laughing. “No. I kind of want to open a school for girls. Where they can learn sports and stuff, and not just be judged on how they look.”

“You’re a good racer as well as gorgeous, you know,” Jian said dryly.

“I know.” Evita flashed her a grin. “But there still aren’t a lot of women racers. There’s what, a dozen of us up here? Only four women though.”

“The Racing Commission is run by a woman.”

“She’s a creep though.” Evita shook her head. “Whatever, I’m not here to preach or anything. I just think it’d be nice to open up my own school. So when I win, that’s what I’ll ask for.”

“When you win? Cocky much?” Jian shoved at her shoulder. “I’m not chopped liver here.”

Evita stuck her tongue out. “Prove it then.”

“Tomorrow. Right now I just want to sleep.” Jian stretched out on the floor, punching her pack into a pillow. “Night, Evita.”

“Night,” Evita said, though she sat up for a while to watch the fire die down. When it was little more than gently glowing coals, she finally curled up next to Jian, hesitantly leaning against her for warmth. To her surprise Jian snuggled up in her sleep, looping an arm around her. For a long moment Evita kept herself stiff and rigid, then gradually she relaxed and slipped into sleep.

Sidewinder - Chapter Nine

The fog seemed to thicken between one blink and the next, so fast that Livia looked away for one moment and looked back to find everyone else had been swallowed up in the greyness. She paused a moment then called out, grimacing at the way the fog muffled her voice. A shadow flashed by on her right and she decided to follow it, hoping it would quickly lead her out. Something—some sense of self-preservation, maybe—warned her to stay as quiet as she could, alone out here in the dampening fog. She just concentrated on skating, making sure she didn’t veer off the road onto terrain that would trip her up.

It was sunset before she came out of the fog, and she was chilled to the bone from the cold damp. The last dying rays of the sun offered little warmth and as soon as she stopped skating, she started to shiver. Muttering a curse, she moved to the side of the road and stripped off, casting quick nervous glances around to make sure no one was watching her. Changing into dry clothes made her feel much better, despite the oncoming night, and she set off determined to find out where the rest of the group had gone.

She stopped again towards midnight, with the moon riding high in the sky and no group, though once or twice she’d heard things moving in the long grass and nearby woods. After a moment she pulled off her skates and stowed them in her pack, changed into sneakers, and went into the woods herself, searching until she found a massive old tree with low branches. It took some maneuvering with her heavy pack dragging on her shoulders, but she managed to heave herself up onto the lowest branch and from there climbed up until she found a twisted ledge of branches big enough to hold her for the night. She hung her pack from another branch after taking a blanket and some food out of it, and snuggled up against the trunk with the blanket around her shoulders to eat.

After a while she closed her eyes and dozed without dreaming, only to wake after a few hours to the sound of branches snapping. She glanced down automatically but her relief at seeing nothing climbing the tree towards her was short-lived. Shadows moved on the ground below, one tall and thin, the other heavily muscled. In her sleepiness she thought they were people at first, until the moon slid out from behind the clouds to illuminate them.

She bit her lip against a scream when the lizard-faced monster suddenly looked up, craning its heavy head back and snorting audibly. The tall shadow with it gave a yank on the chain it was holding, pulling the creature forward a step by its collar. Livia watched wide-eyed as they passed beneath her tree and faded away into the darkness beyond, only realizing she’d been holding her breath when she gasped for air.

She spent the rest of the night wide awake, clinging to the trees and jumping at every small noise. Dawn found her stiff and tired, with a pounding headache and a numb butt. She climbed gingerly down from the tree and stretched before making her way back to the road and sitting down to put her skates back on. She nibbled on a handful of licorice as she skated, gradually cheering up under the warmth of the sun. For a while she enjoyed the skate, the feel of moving easily forward and the wind against her face, the fresh air and sun overhead.

She was just beginning to think about stopping for lunch when she heard a sudden barking grunt from somewhere behind her, followed by a low snarl. She whirled and looked around but saw nothing; she’d come down over a rise a minute before and it blocked her view of the road beyond. For a long moment she hesitated, warring with herself, then cautiously skated back towards the rise.

A branch broke nearby and she stopped again, poised on the edge of flight. The sudden appearance of someone rushing over the rise froze her in place like a deer in the headlights, until they crashed head-on into her, slamming them both into the asphalt. She yelped as it scraped up her back and crossed her arms over her face to try and protect herself.

“Livia?” The way he said her name was almost a yelp itself, but it made her peek between her crossed arms to see who it was. Skye didn’t give her a chance to even relax, scrambling awkwardly to his feet and pulling her up with him. “Come on, we have to move, before they come back.”

“Who?” Livia asked, trying not to trip as he yanked her down the road. “You’re going to take my arm right out of the socket, knock it off!”

“Sorry.” He slid his hand down from her forearm to her hand, squeezing her fingers tight, and casting a nervous look back behind them. “There was this thing, like a lizard but it had no eyes, and some sort of I dunno, an alien? Really tall and thin and ugly.” He let out a shuddery breath. “It tried to eat me. The lizard.”

“Just breathe for a minute.” She winced as he squeezed her hand again. “Come on, man, don’t go into hysterics on me.”

“I’m not, I’m good.” He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “I swear I saw them. Monsters.”

“I believe you. I saw them last night.”

“Katia said the stories were real but I didn’t believe her. She told me I was full of hot air.” He laughed, a little hysterically. “Guess I should’ve listened.”

“Do they know?” Livia asked uncertainly. “The Commission, I mean. You’d think they would, right? But then why send us up here?”

“Maybe they don’t.” Skye glanced quickly around again then dug out his camera, holding it up so he could talk into the lens. “You guys saw that, right? What happened to protecting us? Where’s the armed guards? Whoever scouted this area did a shitty job.”

“Breathe,” Livia told him again, reaching up to turn the lens towards herself. “Hey, we need help up here. Tell your guards to pay more attention.” She covered the lens with one hand and raised an eyebrow at Skye. “Not giving up, are you?”

“Hell no,” he said after a moment, stowing the camera back in his pack. “I just want a bit more protection. Those things are really creepy.”

“No kidding. So can I have my hand back now or were you planning on keeping my fingers?” She gave him half a grin to show she was teasing.

“Sorry.” He released her and ran both hands back through his hair, making it stick up in spikes. “Gross, I need a shower.”

“I think we’re stuck with ponds and stuff.” She started skating again and he followed, matching his pace to hers so they could skate side by side. “So if you see one, let me know.”

“You’re not bothered by that thought?”

“Water’s water. And I don’t care if you see me naked. Or anyone, really.” She snorted a laugh at his expression. “Is the thought that horrifying?”

“I’m sure anyone would be happy to see you naked,” he said after a moment.

“Very diplomatic,” she said, laughing. “I do still need a bath though. So do you.”

“I didn’t really think about that kind of thing when I signed up.” Skye shook his head. “Didn’t think about a lot, I guess.”

“I know the feeling.” She drew him away from the trees, hoping he hadn’t seen the shadow pacing along beside them. “So hey, tell me why you’re up here. Got something important and special you want to win for?”

“Not really. The fame, I guess. I’ll probably ask for money and give some of it to my parents.” He shrugged. “Nothing exciting. You?”

“To get away from my siblings.” She laughed. “I’m one of ten, and it gets crowded.”

“Man, no kidding. I just have the one brother and he’s a pain in my ass.” Skye shaded his eyes to glance up at the sky, then grinned a bit. “We’re supposed to be racing. Wanna race?”

Livia took off without answering, laughing at his indignant squawk. “You snooze, you lose,” she called back over her shoulder, then settled into the business of racing.

They passed a pond a little while later and doubled back to see if it could be used to wash off. The area around it was filled with gently waving grass and a few twisted trees, but there was enough open space that Livia felt safe stripping down and wading into the water. She grinned at the blush that spread across Skye’s cheeks and the way he turned away from her, studiously looking anywhere else.

“Coming in?” she asked, splashing in the water to warm up.

“When you’re done. I’ll keep watch.”

Livia snorted but didn’t push the issue, taking the opportunity to scrub all the sweat and dust from her skin. She stayed in the water until her fingers had gone all pruny and she was starting to shiver, then reluctantly pushed herself back up onto the bank and shook her clothes out before changing back into them. She turned to tell Skye that it was okay to look now, but a sudden high scream cut her off. Skye met her gaze with wide eyes and flinched at another pained shriek. Shivering from more than the cold, Livia hurriedly strapped her skates on and threw her pack over her shoulder before heading towards the sound.

“Liv!” Skye caught her arm. “You are not going charging in there. The guards—”

“Fuck the guards.” She tugged her arm free and kept going, though the next scream sent a shiver up her spine and made the hairs all over her body stand on end. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Skye catch up to her, and together they skated towards the source.

Snarls and ugly chattering growls filled the air as they approached another hill and Livia reached out without thinking to take Skye’s hand. Clinging to each other, they crept around until they could see past the hill, to a flattened uneven circle of beaten grass soaked in blood. Livia felt her stomach turn over at the stench, and swallowed hard against bile when she saw another of the eyeless lizards—or maybe the same one—tearing at the flesh of some animal. The corpse had been so mangled that she couldn’t tell what it was at first, until the monster sidestepped to dig at another chunk of flesh.

Tangled in the torn grass was a single skate, its bright colours dimmed by streaks of blood and its wheels still gently spinning.