“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.
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