Chapter 12
There was something heinous about being accosted in a place I considered safe. Especially since we’d had a successful forage the day before. Three more mutants down, probably a million more to go, but Xavion wasn’t daunted.
We’d come back with a mother lode that had us dragging a pair of large suitcases on wheels. A little noisier than usual but the sun was out, the monsters in bed, and I was in love. Especially since he offered to carry my suitcase up those ten flights of stairs.
I didn’t let him, of course, but the fact he treated me like someone special had me ripping off his clothes the moment we stumbled into the apartment.
We had sex. Then we made love and, in a pool of late afternoon sunlight, spilling onto the bed, fell asleep.
The drool on my cheek woke me.
Instinct kicked in, and I screamed as I rolled. As I hit the floor, I heard a boom. I shut my eyes and covered my ears. Told myself to wake up. This had to be a nightmare.
Only when Xavion said, “Lia,” did I peek over the edge of the mattress.
Xavion remained under our nest of blankets, spattered in mutant goo and carcass. He folded the sheets back over the corpse as he rose. Naked, lean, yummy.
Some might wonder that my mind could jump in so many directions at once; fear, fight, lust. Welcome to the apocalypse.
Once more, we’d defied death. I wanted to celebrate, but Xavion didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm.
“Get dressed. We need to go.”
“Can’t we just dump the sheets?” I eyed the mess. “Maybe swap the mattress too.”
“We can’t stay. They know our location.”
They obviously being the mutants. “You think there’s more?” Sometimes they traveled in groups. But with one down, and the two of us working together… “We can handle it.”
“Two, three, even four, probably. But why take the chance?”
Leave? It shouldn’t have given me such a pang. How many homes had I gone through since the apocalypse?
Still… It made me sad. “Can’t we just set a trap and kill any of its buddies that come looking?”
He cast me a look that said don’t be stupid.
“You can’t expect us to move at night?” Night had fallen while we napped.
Rather than reply, I saw him looking at the arm sticking out from under the sheet.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s got some kind of marking.” He pointed to the scarring on its forearm. Swirls and whorls.
“And?”
“Reminds me of something a guy passing through said a few months ago. Claimed he’d come across mutants banding together and using scar tattoos to show what clan they belonged to. Apparently, some of these groups are seeking out humans for sport.”
“That would imply them thinking and strategizing.”
He didn’t reply.
“Wait a second. These things are mindless monsters.” It was what helped me mentally when I had to kill one.
“Most are, but I’ve encountered some that can comprehend my words. Even reply.”
I snorted. “Now you’re shitting me.” The mutants were much like zombies in film. Mindless, moaning, and snapping beasts.
“Don’t tell me you’re that surprised. Five years ago, they were all people. That knowledge, that memory is still in there somewhere.”
“If this is supposed to evoke sympathy, it’s failing.”
“Fuck no. They’re murderous beasts who will torture and eat you. Never hesitate. Just saying don’t underestimate them.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” was my dry reply.
“Glad to hear it, because the guy also said the ones with tattoo might share a hive mind.”
Worse and worse. I growled. “So they are the Borg.” Or given they arrived in a sphere and not a cube, they should have a different name like Sphorg.
“I don’t know if it’s true, but just in case, we should move before they come looking. Get dressed, armed, and be ready to go in three minutes.”
“Three?” No point in arguing. The carcass on the bed kept any stupid words in check. If the guy who hunted monsters for sport said, move your ass, then I really should move my ass.
I ran for the bathroom. Speed peed, brushed my teeth, and dressed in less than a minute and a half. Then I strapped on my weapons.
Xavion was in the kitchen packing a knapsack with food. Mine bulged already on the counter beside a sword and a rifle.
“There’s a long barrel. You know how to use it?” We’d developed a comfortable camaraderie that held much sarcasm and teasing.
His grin held naughty male satisfaction as he said, “You would know. Three times was it this morning?”
How could he still make me blush?
I slung the knapsack on my arm and followed him to the door and saw where we’d made our mistake. It gaped wide open.
“Fuck me, we didn’t lock it.” He scrubbed his face and guilt oozed from him. Securing the door and apartment was usually his job when we got home. However, in this case, it was technically my fault. I’d distracted him with a blowjob the moment we walked in.
“Sorry.” I hung my head, my cheeks burning.
“Don’t be. Even if we had locked it, the mutant would have been in the hallway or stairwell waiting for us.”
“You know a lot about the mutants,” I said as he opened the door and peeked out.
“Didn’t have much else to think about once the world ended.”
“Are you bitter the people in charge were so dumb? I mean, why did they have to meet on Earth? They should have done it in a space station, where once shit hit the fan, they could have blown it up.” I railed against the misfortune.
He rolled his shoulders. “Wouldn’t have mattered if they did it in space. The plague required sunlight to trigger. The UV rays mixed with the alien spider pheromones created a pathogen that couldn’t be filtered from the air. Some people proved more susceptible than others.”
“Why are we immune?” I asked as we reached the stairwell.
“Because, according to Darwin, only the fittest survive.” He would, of course, say that with a cocky grin. I couldn’t help but smile back because I was one of those surviving.
Up yours, Darwin.
The stairs had a smell to them that had Xavion hesitating rather than going down. His lips pressed close to my ear as he muttered, “We can’t go down.”
I wasn’t about to argue; however, I did wonder his plan as he grabbed the bucket and spilled it on the landing before we climbed.
I wanted to ask why we were going up, too far up to escape down to street level, unless you had wings. I didn’t have wings, or a rope. Just a blind faith in the guy holding my hand.
At the top was when he pulled out a lighter and a cigarette. I almost asked him since when did he smoke. He lit and dropped the cigarette, and my eyes widened in understanding. The whoosh below confirmed his strategy. He’d made the stairwell an impassable inferno for mutants. Which sounded good until I realized he’d trapped us on the rooftop in the dark.
I didn’t like it very much. This was nothing like the time he’d woken me early and dragged me up here at his insistence. In a comforter, we’d snuggled and watched the cresting dawn. The moment its warm rays hit us, I’d turned my face into it. Enjoyed it. Felt compelled to admit, “I spent three years avoiding sunshine.”