Alive Like Us Read online

  The stage two. Her small body was pressed against the wall, her knobby knees drawn under her chin. The girl’s black-veined arms wrapped around her bare, bent legs. The summery dress she wore was little more than rags. She looked almost sad. Alone.

  The girl’s dark tongue snaked out of her lips and tasted the air. She leaned forward, shifting to her hands and knees. A low growl rumbled in her throat, far deeper than any little girl should make. She lunged, her bony fingers wrapping around Sanna’s wrist.

  The basement faded to darkness.

  She was laying on a strange bed, staring up at a ruffled canopy. Her body was heavy, her flesh leaden. Even breathing was a raspy challenge. Beads of sweat rolled across her forehead, damping her hair and gluing her nightgown to her body. The taste of salt flooded her mouth. Two shadowy figures, one tall and broad-shoulder and the other short and thin approached her bed, their voices hushed.

  “Here it is.” The taller one—Raj—held out a vial. “From New Hope. A good strain.” The shorter man reached for it, eager, but Raj jerked it higher. “Remember our agreement, Lieutenant?”

  “Yes, yes. As long as you supply the food they need, I don’t care what you do with the tribute. Just keep it quiet, okay? No purebloods and no one from Erling,”

  “Uncleans only,” Raj agreed, lowering the vial.

  The Lieutenant snatched it from Raj’s hands and popped the cork with his thumb. He splashed some liquid into a glass and pressed it to Sanna’s mouth. “Here you go, Gretchen. This will make you and mommy feel all better.”

  The liquid sloshed into her mouth, salty and bitter. It burned down her swollen throat. Her stomach twisted. She grimaced, her facial muscles twitching as the infection took root inside her.

  In the basement, Sanna’s skin prickled. Something’s behind me.

  The vision disappeared. Sanna whipped around, dodging the second Infected’s swipe. The stage two spat, hitting her accomplice. The stage one shrieked as the venom tunneled through her cheekbone, staggering into a pile of boxes as she vanished into the shadows. The stage two lunged, shoved the bat between them, landing a blow to her stomach. She stumbled back, falling onto her haunches.

  “I know who you are, Gretchen.” Sanna said, her voice hoarse. “I saw what they did to you.”

  The stage two rose onto her hands and knees, flinging her head up like a cobra. She was out of venom. For now. The scabs covering her eyes gave her face a skull-like appearance and thorny growths had started to poke through the fabric of her faded dress. Whatever strain the Lieutenant had given her was potent.

  “I bet you’re hungry,” Sanna continued, noticing the chain around her neck. “You didn’t get any of the Lieutenant.”

  Gretchen sprang forward; fangs bared. Sanna feinted, smacking her with the bat. Come on, princess, she thought. Give up before I kill you. They faced off again and when the Gretchen growled, Sanna answered with one of her own.

  A force plowed into her from behind, knocking her onto the ground. The rough cement bit into her cheek as the stage one’s warm, fetid breath washed over her. The stage one sniffed her hair, as globs of saliva falling onto Sanna’s neck. She envisioned her mouth inching closer, ready to taste her flesh.

  No. She wasn’t done. Not yet.

  Power surged through Sanna’s veins. She rammed her elbow into the stage one’s ribs with enough force to knock her off. Sanna recovered and pounced. She wrapped her hands around the stage one’s throat and squeezed until the creature went limp beneath her and the rage in her eyes was snuffed out. I think I did it. Maybe the Infected were like all the other animals who fought for dominance.

  She released the stage one and stood up. This one was larger—she must’ve been the Lieutenant’s wife, Ruthie. Sanna had only seen her once when she was human, when the Lieutenant first arrived in Erling last August.

  Gretchen’s chain rattled, betraying her movements. Sanna spun around and rammed the bat into her gaping mouth like a bit while Ruthie scrabbled back to her corner. Sanna drove Gretchen hard into the cinderblock wall. Gretchen twisted and thrashed like a demon trying to escape, but Sanna leaned into the bat, holding firm. Venom sizzled around the glossy wood, landing in steaming pools at their feet.

  Gretchen’s claws raked across the Sanna’s sleeves, shredding them to ribbons. Soon, she’d make it to her flesh and Sanna didn’t know how long she could bear the agony. Gretchen’s snarls softened into mewling yips, and her frantic scrabbling slowed to languid swipes before stopping altogether. Sanna wondered what to do next. Kai had mentioned something about the Infected instincts. Maybe that had something to do with it. If she got the more advanced one to obey her, the other one should follow, and they were by nature territorial...

  Gretchen bowed her head, her long spidery limbs falling limp at her sides. She seemed a lot smaller when she wasn’t trying to rip out Sanna’s throat, but like a rattlesnake, that meant her venom was even more deadly. She was chained to a metal pipe running up the main floor. Sanna reached over, touching the stage two’s shoulder. Drive out the horde, Gretchen.

  She stepped away and swung the bat high above her head, slamming it down on the pipe before she lost the courage. The brittle iron shattered with a deafening bang, freeing the stage two. Outside muffled cries of the villagers filtered through the cement blocks, followed by the roar of the Alpha.

  Gretchen bared her teeth, answering with one of her own.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  The Alpha was near. Sanna sensed her the same way animals sensed a threatening storm on the horizon. Terror had sharpened every one of her senses to a lethal point as she bolted up the stairs, across the kitchen. She threw open the screen door, panting, and half-expected the Alpha to be salivating on the other side. Instead, she saw only chaos. Men and women ran through the streets, hounded by Infected. Children sobbed on stoops, waiting to be let in. A few soldiers were being pinned by stage twos, their armor melting beneath a barrage of venom. Smoke stained the amber sunset. Erling must be on fire again, only this time, there was no one to douse the flames.

  More Infected sprinted down the street like living marionettes. This is the voice’s doing. Sanna could feel his hatred beating down on her like

  merciless sun. Every scream cut short; every desperate cry only served to make him

  stronger.

  She headed for the main gate, hoping to stem the tide at its source. The bodies became more prevalent the closer she got; familiar faces writhing in pools their own blood as they clutched grisly wounds. Sanna rounded the corner, following the cacophony of battle—groans and screams and the clang metal—and froze. It was worse than she thought. The massive gate was open halfway with bodies dangling from its intricate pulleys like gruesome ornaments. Her mother and a few others were near the levers, struggling to wrench them closed while the Infected poured in unchecked.

  Kai. She spotted him among a group of soldiers hunkered behind and overturned wagon. The quiver at his hip was empty, and he held to daggers in his hands. A massive hunchback on all fours was drawing closer, a furless blend between man and bear. Sanna had never seen one up close before and judging by the terrified looks of the men pinned behind the wagon, neither had they. Meanwhile the Alpha’s shadow made a beeline for Kai.

  Sanna ran towards him, all thoughts emptying from her mind save one. Protect. Protect. Protect.

  The Alpha dove, ready for the kill.

  “Get down!” Sanna shouted as her stage one, Ruthie, overtook her in an ashen blur, leaping over the wagon and tackling the Alpha. The pair tumbled across the ice-glazed road, flesh thudding against flesh. Snapping. Growling. Gretchen the stage two streaked by, loping on all fours. She pounced on the Alpha, biting her neck while the other raked its claws across her stomach. The Alpha screeched, reaching behind, and tore Gretchen off, throwing her into Ruthie. She flapped her wings, launching herself out of onslaught’s reach. Up ahead, the main gate finally began to lower.

  Sanna passed a dead solider and wrenched an axe
from his hands. Her boots drummed a hollowly rhythm as she raced up the overturned wagon and launched into the horde. Her two Infected flanked her, lunging into the crowd. Their teeth and claws tore a wide swath of blood and gore. Sanna hacked her way through the endless waves of mottled flesh, visions of her father and the countless dead flashing in her mind with each deadly swing.

  “The gate is stuck!” Someone shouted.

  A jumble of wooden crates were stuck beneath it, along with a lifeless body. The resulting space was wide enough for the more intelligent Infected to wriggle through on their bellies and join the horde on the other side.

  Sanna shoved the fat stage one in front of her aside and made her way to the gate. Her Infected followed like well-trained dogs, blocking the swipes and snapping jaws as she passed. She slid to a stop, kicking the crates free, then grabbed the body by its clothes and tried to push it clear. Its head rolled to the side.

  Simon. Had he come out of hiding when the horde breeched the wall? How many people would still be alive if she’d let the Alpha finish her off? Tentacles of guilt lashed around her, and her concentration slipped. The Infected who’d been defending her from the others stilled.

  No. I have to stay focused. She shook the thought away and pushed Simon’s body through the gate.

  His hand suddenly clamped onto her wrist. Sanna panicked, trying to rip her arm free, but he held firm with impossible strength.

  “Stop the gate! Stop it!” Voices shouted all around her, blending into a dull roar. She’d lose her arms. After everything that happened, she’d bleed out like a stuck pig. His icy grasp held firm and even started pulling her under. Simon peered through the shrinking crack. Dark veins had crawled across his jaw and left cheek, centering around a gray eye that glowed with malice.

  Gretchen, small but lethal, slipped under the gate and barreled into Simon. The force jerked Sanna further under and she crawled through mud, desperate to clear the gleaming metal edge.

  She wasn’t going to make it.

  Agony burned through the base of her spine as weight bore down, crushing delicate bone and muscle. A low, keening moan ripped from her throat, something between animal and human as she clawed at the earth, desperate to escape the grinding, unstoppable force.

  “Get out of there!” Her grandmother shouted from the wall. “Move!”

  I can’t. I don’t have—Sanna looked down, expecting her body to end in a blood stump. Her legs were still there, despite the wrenching angony she’d felt moments before. What?

  Movement inched to her left. Ruthie, the stage one, was dragging her body through the snow and leaving behind a grisly trial of dark blood and glossy gray organs. Ruthie was cut in half by the gate, not Sanna, though she had felt it. Even now, she was numb below the waist.

  Gretchen ripped off Simon’s head like a broken doll. More Infected closed in, locking her in a dozen separate battles as she struggled to keep the onslaught at bay.

  Sanna pushed herself into seated position and scooted towards the wall, her legs useless. One assailant bit Gretchen’s shoulder, and Sanna cried out as she felt the invisible fangs gnaw on her flesh. Why is this happening? Why do I feel everything that they do?

  A male stage one slipped by Gretchen and leapt towards Sanna, landing on his stomach. He reached for her ankles. Sanna crawled through the snow, frantic, her lower body dragging behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Gretchen seize the male and fling him to the side. The male landed on all fours, recovering, and pounced, tackling her to the ground in front of Sanna. He bit into Gretchen’s arm, and Sanna gritted her teeth against the agony.

  Gretchen landed a double kick to the male’s stomach, throwing him off. He charged again, but this time she feinted to the right, then jumped onto his back. She gripped his head and jerked, snapping his neck. He fell to his knees, then onto his side. She scuttled off him on all-fours and snarled at the encroaching throng of Infected. They backed off, uncertain. She’s...protecting me.

  The gate behind her creaked open. A horse and rider burst through, Frankie sprinting alongside, while the Alpha’s shadow trailed them. Kai.

  The Alpha swooped low, but he dodged and circled back for Sanna while Frankie continued on to the woods. The Alpha closed in; ready to snatch him off the horse, but Gretchen tackled her at the last moment. They rolled across the snow, snapping and clawing. The rest of the horde fell back.

  Kai pulled the horse a stop in front of her. “Get on! Hurry!”

  “I can’t move my legs!”

  He dismounted, slipping his arms under her knees and shoulders. The horse danced to the side as he approached, and for a heart-sinking moment Sanna feared the beast would bolt, leaving them both to die. Kai held tight on the reins as Sanna grabbed the saddle horn and hauled herself over the mare’s withers. Kai leapt on, his leg colliding with Sanna’s nose.

  “C’mon!” he shouted, digging his heels into the horse’s sides. The mare broke into a gallop, heading for the forest. She was large enough that all but the most tenacious Infected shied away, pooling behind them instead. It’d be a miracle if the mare lasted long enough to outrun them.

  The Alpha’s claws wrapped around Gretchen’s head like vise, lifting her up. SHe thrashed, tearing the Alpha’s arm to ribbons but the monster held firm, unphased.

  Black motes clouded Sanna’s vision. Blood pooled in her cheeks. She cried out, the pressure around her head mounting until Gretchen’s skull gave with a wet crack and Sanna sagged over the mare, lifeless as a corpse.

  KAI LEANED OVER THE mare’s neck, giving the animal her head as they galloped through the forest. She needed no encouragement. Death chased them, nipping at their heels with a hundred hungry mouths.

  He didn’t remember mounting the horse or charging through the gate like an idiot with death wish. It had all happened so fast once he realized that there was something terribly wrong with Sanna and she wouldn’t make it to the rope her mother had flung out to her.

  Now they were almost certainly going to die.

  The horse couldn’t run forever, especially with two riders. He risked a glance behind him. The horde had thinned but was still one of the largest he’d ever seen, crushing small trees and bushes into splinters beneath their bare feet. If the mare stumbled or slowed, they’d all be torn to pieces.

  Sanna’s body hung limp over her withers, and he held onto her as they leapt over fallen tree. The land sloped downward, and the trees thinned, replaced by large boulders. They barreled past them at breakneck speed. The Alpha’s shadow glided over the stones; her body silhouetted by the fiery sunset.

  They had to get to forest, where the dense canopy would serve as a shield.

  The Alpha dove in front of them, blocking their path. The mare skidded to a stop with a shriek and reared. Kai’s stomach caught in his throat as he teetered back, into the horde’s waiting mouths.

  He recovered, gripping the mare’s mane and urging her onward. The Alpha made a swipe as they passed, her claws raking through Kai’s thick coat and tearing his flesh. He gritted his teeth as pain ripped across his forearm. On his periphery he saw the horde was overtaking on them, their cackles and weird whoops growing louder in excitement.

  At last the forest enveloped them, blocking the Alpha’s attack and further winnowing the horde.

  The mare slowed to a canter. Her nostrils steamed. Foam flecked her chest and neck.

  A man in black emerged from behind a bush, waving a crude wooden crutch. The mare spooked. Kai and Sanna tumbled off, landing in a pile of bruised flesh as she galloped away with a burst of newfound energy, leaving them to their deaths.

  “Sorry about that,” the figure in black grabbed Kai’s arm with tattooed fingers, pulling him up. His hood obscured his face. “What’s wrong with your friend?”

  “Unconscious,” Kai said. He doubted the other guy would believe the truth—that Sanna had achieved some sort of mental link with two Infected before passing out.

  “Leave her,” the stranger ordered,
hobbling through the dense forest. “Hurry, they’re coming.”

  Kai ignored him, pulling Sanna’s body over his shoulders like a sheep and hurried after the stranger. Infected crashed through the forest in the distance, urging him on. He caught up to the other man, and found Frankie already trotting alongside him.

  “How far is this place?” Kai said, breathless. Sanna was heavier than she looked.

  “Your gonna have a hard time getting your up the ladder.”

  “She’s not my—Wait. Ladder?”

  The man pointed to an old deer stand, balancing on long, stilt-like legs, nearly lost in the pines. A rope ladder descended from its belly, ending in a tangle of underbrush.

  “Go on. You’ll be faster. There’s a rope attached to a pulley inside. Throw it down to me and I’ll tie it around her.” The stranger steadied the ladder. “Hurry. We gotta get up there before the Alpha finds us.”

  Kai set Sanna down and picked up Frankie, zipping him into his coat. The dog squirmed about, and Kai swore if he jumped that would be the end of him. He relaxed once Kai started to ascend the swaying ladder.

  He prayed that horde had continued after the horse and that he could it there in time for both Sanna and the stranger to get to safety.

  He reached the underside of the building and Frankie immediately scrabbled out. Kai found the rope hanging from the ceiling and fed down to the stranger.

  Gray skin flickered through the dark trees. They’ve been spotted.

  “Behind you!” Kai shouted, pointing at the Infected emerging from the forest, twenty yards away.

  The stranger knotted the rope around Sanna and scurried up the ladder, trying his best to not use his wounded leg. Kai pulled Sanna up, hand over hand. The system creaked, and he hoped it was strong enough to hold her. The Infected pooled beneath Sanna and the stranger, reaching for them with long, gangly arms. One even managed to drunkenly ascend the ladder. The stranger kicked him off with his good leg and kept ascending.