Born to Fight (17 page)

But I open my eyes, and the world where everything I did for one is over.  In its place is a world where I can't see all the faces of the people who need me. They've become a sea of faces, and in the dream that starts to form in my exhausted mind, they all look like me.

Chapter Ten

The hard floor leaves me feeling bruised, when I push myself up. Leo yawns and stretches. I get a whiff of his dog breath and shudder. He doesn’t seem offended by it. He continues to pant in my face. I pull back, shaking my head, "Oh that's bad, Leo. Wow. You need some mint leaves."

I always made him eat them, especially after eating the infected.

The bathroom is quiet. I listen beyond the door but nothing moves. I catch a glimpse of my face. It brings back the haunting dream. My greenish-blue eyes and light brown hair stand out in my mind. I'm not an original—I'm a copy. My mom and uncle never loved each other. He used her, the way he now uses the world around us. She imagined it was love somehow. She was an idiot.

The hate in my eyes is cold and meaner than anything I've ever seen before. Leo scratching at the door, brings me out of the bad thoughts filling my head. My stomach grumbles and I swear I'll finish the meal before getting upset and running off again. God knows what else they have to tell me.

When I open the door, I have to jump back as Will falls inside on the floor. He sits up fast, like he's dizzy.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

He looks back, his eyes are tired and puffy. He shakes his head and rubs them, "Sleeping," he says it like I should have known he would be there.

He takes up the entire doorway, waking up and getting his bearings.

"You slept here all night?"

He nods and yawns, "I was going to crawl into the bed, but Anna was there, passed out with Bernie's cat. I tried waking her but the cat hissed at me." He pushes himself up and looks down on me, "You alright?"

I shake my head, "I don’t know. Where's the cat now?" I look past him, hoping it's gone. Leo loves cats in a bad way. A couple times they've come to me for a pet and a snuggle, which always ended badly.

"He ran off," he laughs and leans on the door, blocking me in, "You okay?"

Looking up into his blue eyes is like getting lost watching the water on a lake. I smile my fake pleasant one that I have used on people, who I was about to either rob or trick.

He doesn’t buy what I'm selling, "It's okay if you're upset and want to talk about it."

I laugh, "Okay, you first. Let's share our feelings." It's cheeky and something I might have said a decade ago, when my dad was being a jerk.

Will laughs with me, "Breakfast?"

I nod and shove him through the doorway, "That sounds about right." Leo walks past us and through the door to leave the room. He makes sure he gives me one extra crappy wolf look, like he's telling me he's watching and I better behave. It's the same look Granny gave me, when I was a kid. Lord knows, Leo is probably Granny reincarnated.

We walk down the hall to the stairs, where I catch a glimpse of Anna walking next to Bernie and leaving through the front door. I glance at Will.

He laughs,  "Not every guy is a piece of shit looking to get laid, Em."

Leo is at the bottom of the stairs near the door. I run down them and open the front door, calling out to them as they cross the front grass that now resembles a field, "Take Leo! He wants out!"

She looks back at me and grins, patting her legs, "Come on, boy."

He looks up at me and then Will. I tilt my head and raise my eyebrow. He gives me the same look he did upstairs and saunters out the door after Anna. I watch them for a minute, before Jake comes walking over with Star. She's in long pants and a long-sleeve shirt. I have never seen her so covered before. I want to comment about the fact she even owns them, but I have a feeling it might be rude.

"What's crawled up your ass?" Jake asks as he peers out the door after his sister. Star giggles.

I shake my head, frowning and walking back inside. "Good to see you own pants, Star," I mutter and walk down the hall. If they can be rude to me for no reason, then I guess it doesn’t matter, if I am too.

Will chuckles and walks after me, "You know sometimes you are a real bitch."

I look back at him with daggers in my eyes, "No one asked you to come. In fact, I recall not even telling you I was leaving."

The table had food spread across it again. I grab a plate and load up with sandwiches,  cheese, meat and apples—real apples. Not applesauce or apple butter or canned fruit. I sit on a very high stool, like the ones that were in the café Granny liked.

Will goes around the counter and piles a plate up extra high, "I know you think you can do everything alone and you don’t need help, but you aren’t alone. Maybe you don’t need us but we're here."

I frown and shove meat into my mouth. I block him out as he rambles. I know if Bernard tries anything on Anna, Leo will eat his ass. I hope that if Star tries anything on Jake, he won't have any issues telling her to take a hike.

"Did you hear me?" he asks.

I shake my head, "I'm hungry and tired and not really in the mood for a lecture. I got plenty when I was a kid."

He takes a bite of a sandwich and shakes his head, "You need to listen to me—we need a plan for the city. If we show up, they're going to grab us and put me in a work camp and you in a breeder farm."

I pick at the meat on my plate and narrow my gaze, "The doctor/nurse angle doesn’t work?"

He shakes his head, "I don’t know."

"Why are you helping me with this?"

He snorts and finishes the bite, "Because I want you, Emma. I want you and me, and that god damned wolf, to go and live and be together. If I have to endure getting bit and shoved to the ground every day for the rest of his life, I will. If I have to walk into the lion's den and help you kill your dad so you can go back to being a hermit, I will."

I don’t trust him, or his words. "That’s a lot of work for some sex. You could probably get yourself a nice girl, who won't make you jump through hoops every time you try to get near her."

He grins wide, like he's about to boast, but he doesn’t say anything. He winks at me and opens a can of something. He takes a drink and makes a face. I can't fight the laugh.

He puts it down and shivers like he's gotta pee. "Oh my—wow. Oh God. That’s shit. Don't drink that." he shudders again.

I snicker and finish my plate of food. I haven’t felt full and relaxed in a long time. It's making me tired.

I get up and leave him in the kitchen. I need a nap in a bed, not on the bathroom floor.

Climbing the stairs, I notice the strangest feeling I have ever felt overwhelming me. I don’t care. I'm tired and beaten down and I don’t care. Anna is going to have to take care of herself. Leo will protect her, but I'm too tired to run out there and monitor her with a thirty-year-old man. Something is wrong with me, but I'm too tired to figure it out or go over the feelings I have.

I climb into the bed Anna and I were going to share, and pass out almost instantly.

When I wake, I feel warmth next to me. I reach out for him to run my hands through his fur. There is no fur and he stirs and clears his throat. I open one eye and frown, "Why are you in here?"

Jake smiles, "I was worried. You've been sleeping for like eight hours and you seem weird. Thought you might want to talk about it all."

I shake my head, "Tired, too tired."

I close my eyes and let the bed take me again. I feel his fingers brush through my hair.

"Em, you don’t have to be so strong. You can let me in."

I open one eye, "There is nothing to let in. I'm a science experiment.  My real father is a bowl of mixed ingredients, my mom was an idiot who was tricked easily, and my dad was the only person who ever tried to keep me safe from this all. Well, dad and Granny and Gramps. I still have to stop him, I have to. I need to end this." I close my eyes and nestle into the blankets. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me into him. It feels nice, like the sleep on the couch, when he had a fever and kissed me. I don’t want him to kiss me now though. I want him to hold me and care about me, but I don’t want him to kiss me. It's not like that for me, even if I want it to be.

I drift off again.

My eyes shoot open when I hear a scream. It had blended into my dream at first, but with my eyes open, I know I'm not dreaming. Jake is passed out on the bed. I shake him till he stirs.

"You hear that?"

He shakes his head, "What?" The scream rips through the halls again. It’s a high moan.

"Infected," I whisper.

He moves closer to me. I grab my bow and quiver from the floor and pass him Anna's rifle, "Don't shoot me."

He makes a face, "Funny."

We climb off the bed, moving slowly. The sound comes again, only now I think there are two.

The little hairs on my body are standing on end. Peeking around the corner of the doorframe, I see nothing. I slip into the hall. I can feel the heat from Jake behind me. I ignore him and focus.

I hear the ragged breathing coming from the bottom of the stairs.

When I reach the end of the hall I see the matted dirty head of the sick. It was once a lady with long, dark hair. She had ripped pants and shirt. Her body is emaciated with backbones showing through the holes in the ripped clothing. Old scabs, running sores, and the ragged breath are the things I focus on. I pull back the arrow I've pulled and let it go at her head. It slices like it would have a watermelon. Jake gags. I ignore him and walk down the stairs past the dead lady. Her stink and rotting flesh bring the fear of the real world into the safe haven we have been enjoying. When I get to the kitchen, I see him. He's shoveling food from the counter into his decayed face. He eats a piece of napkin with cheese on it.

Behind a cupboard to the left, I catch a glimpse of a reflection in the steel fridge. It's Anna. She's holding a knife. I pull the next arrow and hold it steady at him. He looks up from his meal, flashing a milky eye at me. I release the arrow as he screams the high pitch moan.

"Anna?" I whisper.

She slips from behind the cupboards, "They came up the driveway so fast."

My heart starts to panic, "Where Leo?"

She swallows, "Outside still."

I hate the look in her eyes. She's scared of me or scared to tell me something.

I turn and run for the front door. The hot air of the summer day hits me, as I run from the shade of the front porch. I see him, fighting four of them. I pull the arrows fast. I take down the first one closest to me and run closer. I have the second arrow pulled and ready. I watch the head of the monster bob and move. I release the arrow and miss.

"Shit," I mutter.

I pull another and take him down.

Leo takes the third to the ground, but the fourth one jumps on his back. I pull an arrow and hit the large infected in the back. He doesn’t flinch or stop. I pull another but it hits him in the arm and almost hits Leo. I pull another but run at them. I dive onto the pile. As his slimy face turns to face me, I stab the arrow down on his eye. He stops as Leo rips the head off the one he's got. He looks back at me and growls. I get off him and the dead. Looking around, I see we are not alone. They came in a huge group, the biggest I've ever seen. They are a swarm, like in the city.

My breath is heavy as I assess the situation.

Only Leo and I can fight them. Everyone else risks exposure. I still don’t believe I'm immune, I can't help but feel like I should run.

Jake comes out the front with the rifle.

I walk back slowly, watching them shuffle towards me. One scream fills the air. I shudder.

Will comes out the front door, snatching the rifle from Jake's hands. He tosses me a gun like I have never seen before. I shake my head, "You use this one." I pass it back and take my rifle. I site the first one in. They're moving quickly across the gravel to us.

The sound of their crunching feet on the driveway is frightening. I pull the trigger and a body drops. Will does the same.

"There's too many. You should go inside and lock the doors," I say.

He shakes his head, "After you."

I grit my teeth and pull it again. I drop the rifle and pull my bow and quiver again. I can shoot faster with arrows. Leo crouches and attacks to the far flank. He knows if we're shooting he needs to stay to a side.

I drop two more and see a shape beside me. I glance over as Anna grabs the gun and starts shooting. The three of us have enough distance to kill them, plus the few Leo kills. The ones who weren’t killed properly twitch in the driveway, as the last one falls to the ground.

Bernie comes out of the house with a mask and gloves and an odd-looking contraption. He walks up to the infected dead and shoots flames at them. Some scream or twitch. I gag when the smell of the cooking flesh hits me.

"Leo."

He lifts his head and looks at me. I slap my leg and walk to the side of the house. I pull the garden hose that I gave him water from the other day. He comes and lets me hose him off. Normally, I would find a water source and force him to have a bath, but this works. I spray chunks of skin and bone from him. The dark blood is harder to get off. He lifts his face and lets me clean his muzzle. We've been doing it since we were little, he knows the routine.

I spray myself off and glance over at Will and Anna talking, "I'm going to shower and then I'm leaving."

Anna scowls, "We should stay here for a while."

I shake my head, "You're staying, I'm going."

Her blue eyes light up with her stubborn fire. Her and Will make the same face. "I'm coming."

I shake my head, "No. You're not coming. Most likely, I'll end up in a breeder farm. You definitely will. I can lie and say I'm twenty-eight—you can't. Will is older too. They won't breed us if they think we're older. We can look like professionals. Bernie is going to take us in, like he's on a food run." I've come up with the plan while I was sleeping for a whole day.