Bleak Devotion (2 page)

Chapter Two

Jessica's brain refused to admit the sight that met her eyes was real. Any moment she'd wake from one of her nightmares. A dropped flashlight highlighted Cindy's lifeless form. The monster was silhouetted above her. Six thin, crescent-shaped blades protruded from the backs of both of its arms, screaming death with their every move. The monster bent down, his blades catching the light as they swung back toward Cindy. They dripped crimson. Before her mind registered what the liquid was, a face blocked her view.

Staring at the female in front of her, Jessica felt nothing. A cold numbness settled over her. Then she realized what the red liquid was. Bile strangled her. She attempted to stifle her feelings, but they needed to pour from her in a screaming rage. Any moment they'd break through and the female would fling her toward the male and leave her to die like Cindy. More death. Always death. Only this time her own.

The female's free hand darted out, grabbed Jessica firmly by the upper arm, and yanked on her. Jessica didn't bother fighting back. There was no point. She had seen situations similar to this more than she cared to recount and fighting back would only accomplish one thing, a more violent monster. Death would be a welcome release.

But she wasn't hurtling toward the male. The female was leading her to the end of the aisle. Jessica hesitated, stunned the female hadn't delivered her to the fate all humans received. The one she deserved.

The female tugged her forward. Her feet responded, carrying her body to where a group of flashlights glowed. Realizing her left hand still clung to her backpack, she tossed it onto her shoulder and clung to the strap. Her body continued functioning like always. One foot in front of another, breathing shallowly trying to avoid the stink, and eyes darting about for trouble. It was all there, but didn't sink into her thoughts.

The small whimper of fear revealing Cindy for what she was consumed her mind. A whimper she had heard countless times before. A whimper Cindy always had trouble repressing. A whimper Jessica should have known she'd give when they came here.

A sudden whistling sound broke through the deadly sound echoing in Jessica's head. Fear woke her numb mind when she realize the female was speaking to her. Hoping the female didn't require a response, she glanced over. A gasp escaped her lips, so close to being inaudible she wasn't entirely sure it had escaped her lips. The female was staring at her with a question in her eyes.

While Jessica knew the look meant she needed to respond, she couldn't. The inaction would result in the discovery of her humanity and ultimately her death, but the shock surged anyway. Not at her imminent demise. That always haunted her. The shock stemmed from the look on the female's face.

Though the question in the females eyes was barely noticeable, they screamed at Jessica. Never had she seen so much emotion from one of the monsters. Forget that, she had never seen any emotion whatsoever.

Yet, it was an undeniable fact that the emotion was there. And now that she looked harder, she detected a hint of curiosity and sadness as well. Jessica pulled her gaze back toward the aisle which they were almost out of. What did this new discovery mean? But it didn't matter. Not when she couldn't understand the female's question, let alone answer.

Before the female could shove her back down the aisle toward the male, a second female reached out to them, saying something in their alien chatter. The female escorting Jessica let go of her arm and replied in the same tongue.

Were any more males close? She hurried to shove the thought away as she glanced back down the aisle they had come. It was too dark to see anything. The flashlight must have been turned off.

She scanned the group around her and found herself surrounded by a crowd of female onlookers, all peering past her down the aisle. Alone in a crowd. They wouldn't help or care that the last person she knew was dead. Slaughtered by one of them.

She numbed herself and inched her way through the crowd as her escort chattered on. When she reached the edge of the crowd, she glanced around to see if any of them were watching her. No eyes focused on her. She took the chance to break away from them, with a poor attempt at acting casual.

Turning off her flashlight, she picked her way at random, no longer caring whether or not she would be courting danger by heading down a populated aisle. Her shoes stuck to the ground where something had spilled. She yanked them up with a sticky sucking noise. The sound broke through her mindless wandering. Cindy was dead. Dead!

A moan built in her chest, threatening to spill out. She clenched her teeth, struggling to find the numbness as she searched for a place to hide. An abandoned corner littered with boxes caught her attention. Staggering over, she plopped down behind them.

She rested her head against the wall behind her, not caring what was growing on it. Tears stung her eyes. Even hidden alone, they weren't allowed. She brushed them away and worked on numbing herself.

Between the boxes, she watched the lights from the group of females she had just left swivel around, heading in all different directions. One stayed in place longer than the others, the light tracing across the floor around it. After a minute, the light twisted the opposite direction from where Jessica sat and trailed off.

She deadened herself to any emotion, knowing it would make Cindy's fate become her own. Survival was so ingrained, it was all she knew to focus on instead. She didn't know how long it had been like this, since the invasion. Each day melded into the next, always the same. Cindy and Jessica had avoided any contact with the monsters, hiding and scavenging for their needs. Until today.

Fighting to keep her thoughts under control, she sat. Time passed. Some part of her knew this, felt it and tried to push her up and out of the store away from the danger. Still she didn't move, ignoring the urge. She avoided every thought and feeling, staring lifelessly at the dark. After a while, the sight of Cindy's body lying motionless on the floor pushed through her numbness. Her eyes burned and her stomach clenched so hard she thought she would puke.

She had to get out of here. Away from all the deaths of those she loved. Not just out of the store, but out of the city. Out of the state. Far from any place these monsters could find her. If such a place existed.

She should have left with Cindy long ago, taking what few supplies they had. Crisp air bit into her from a draft blowing in from outside, reminding her of one reason she hadn't pushed Cindy harder to leave. Still, starvation or death from the elements would have been better than seeing the last person she knew massacred.

Clamping her jaw together, Jessica stood and strode to the closest aisle. As she passed through it, she shoved a bag of trail mix into her backpack. She continued past the aisle and headed toward the less frequented clothes section with purpose. The stench of rotting things lessened, mingling with a musty scent. She came to the men's clothes. Her light brushed over an area where a few shirts hung on the racks. Knots in her stomach tightened. She rushed forward, hoping the women's section wasn't the same.

Three bare-chested males looking through the remaining shirts glanced up at her. No blades jutted out of their arms, but she expected them to emerge any moment. She wanted to run, but suppressed the impulse. Her next thought was to smile at them, to try and fake her way past them with innocence. But she didn't, knowing the expression would give her away for what she was. Instead she pulled her gaze away from them and focused on her task, hoping the horrid metallic noise wouldn't manifest.

Stealing into the women's section, the padding of her feet slowed. The racks were still full and only one female rummaged through the selections. Relief came, though only a bit that was easy to hide. Spending time to find something that looked just right would be pointless now. There was no one left to see it. Why did she even used to care?

Quick and efficient became her mission. She passed up anything that wouldn't keep her warm in the chillier season. She grabbed two long-sleeved t-shirts, an extra pair of jeans, socks, and underwear. On her way over to the shoe department, she noted a clearance coat rack. Taking hold of her backpack, she grabbed the coat that looked the warmest and put it on. The fake fur framing the collar and cuffs would have turned her off before, but now she didn't care. She welcomed the warmth no matter the style.

Placing her backpack on again, she headed for the shoe section. Her sneakers squeaked across the laminated aisle and turned to a soft thudding on the carpet. Her light shone over sandals and strappy high heels. She had trouble staying upright on those things in the best of conditions; trying to tramp through the snow with them would be a joke. She kept hunting, searching for something more appropriate. Despair attempted to overtake her when she couldn't find any boots her size on the shelves, but she thrust it away. She turned around to look at the next size up.

Her index fingernail made its way to her mouth as images of her toes falling off in the coming winter flashed through her mind when that section came up empty, too. Yanking her hand out of her mouth, she chided herself for the action. It was the one habit that she couldn't get rid of. Most of her emotions had been conquered months ago. At first she recited times tables to keep herself void of feeling. Anything math-related made her brain have to work in overdrive, making time tables ideal. After a while being emotionless had become second nature.

Crossing over to the next aisle, she prayed she would find something. Impractical stilettos met her eye. Why did it have to be spring when the invasion took place? A group of lights passed her and she worked to keep the frustration from showing on her face. As they passed, her light caught on a pair of black boots fringed with a gaggle of hot pink feathers. Jessica wrinkled her nose, but reached out for them.

She sat down and replaced her comfy sneakers with an extra pair of socks and the boots. Pulling the laces of her old shoes through a loop on her backpack, she tied them together and stood up. With the extra thickness from the socks, her foot didn't slide around as she had feared it would. They weren't the best, but at least her feet would be warm.

Glancing over the aisles as she walked past, she headed toward the sunlight pouring in the front doors. She wondered what else she could use. There would be no returning to this or any store in the future, and she wanted to make sure she'd have enough to get by. Passing an aisle with no clutter of dirty foot prints, she glanced down it. Dust covered the gardening supplies in the forgotten section.

Jessica said a silent thank you for the aisle being on her way out. She would be able to use this stuff if she could manage to make it on her own. If she could get something to grow. She had never had much luck in the past when helping at home, but hopefully the greater need would offset that problem. She raced to the end cap and shoved packets of seeds into her backpack, not caring what they contained. Not much else would fit in her bloated bag. Wishing she could take more, she shoved a spade in a coat pocket and crossed her fingers hoping none of the monsters found it odd.

She zipped her backpack as far as it would go and put her arms through both straps. The bag was heavy, but the weight comforted her. It reminded her of the days in school when she carried thick textbooks and notebooks with her everywhere. Seeing a dark refrigerator, she stopped and opened it up. She passed by all the sodas, choosing instead to pull out the last bottle of lukewarm water. With the bottle in hand, she continued toward the door.

The automatic doors remained closed now that the power plants weren't running. The manual doors next to them opened and closed as the monsters passed through them, sending brisk blasts of air into the unheated building. She forced herself into the crowd.

Her movements became automatic and stiff. A female, who looked as if she could have been one of her friends if not for the void of emotion on her face, opened the door. Jessica braced herself against the shock of cold air. It bit at her nose and cheeks, but the coat and boots helped to keep the rest of her warm.

Fear gnawed at her stomach. Outside, the sun was starting to set. She thought every footstep might be her last, but no one turned on her. Males and females scattered in different directions, each heading their own way. One of the males brushed against her arm as he hurried past. It took all her willpower to keep her face from giving way to the rage and horror screaming inside her. Even through the coat she wanted to scrub her arm clean.

Without thinking, she looked at the back of his arm as he walked away. Three metal rectangles blemished the back of his lower arm. A fourth was half-covered on his upper arm by his sleeve. An image of him suddenly turning on her sprang to mind, the sickening clang of the rectangles shifting into blades reverberated in her ears. His wild fury directed at her; blades curving closer to her. She took quick, frantic gasps.

She dropped her eyes to the ground and rushed forward. Slow, deep breaths filled her, helping rid her of the morbid thought. Under her feet, black asphalt turned to cement littered with red, yellow, and brown leaves. They crunched and rustled with each step. She kept onward, forcing one foot in front of the other. Moving instead of thinking.

For a time it worked, step after step. Then the sidewalk gave way to grass. Somehow she'd wound her way to her parent's house. Generally, she avoided it whenever possible, but some part of her must have known to come here. Hoping nothing had taken it over since she had last been there, she stopped the mindless wandering.