Roth (10 page)

It is in this moment that I know we’re in deep shit, and that this is going to only be the beginning of our problems.

Chapter 7

Marduke

I can’t believe my eyes. I even rub them, shaking my head, and give myself a silent talk to be reasonable. Yet, when I glance back into the clearing, I see the same as what I saw before.

A Claw nest.

It’s impossible. It’s insanity. How did they get here? How long have they been on Roth?

We haven’t had anything to do with the Claws for ge
nerations. We fled that planet and never went back. I have always believed what I’ve been told—that it was out of a sign of respect we didn’t risk any further lives trying to get that planet—although part of me wondered if it wasn’t in small part because of the fear we felt. We had never been defeated before, not like that. And we had never seen such loss of life. Thousands of women and men were lost. We silently mourned for years on Oden and continue to have memorials of remembrance for the people we lost. There is no way anyone on Oden went back and definitely not to take those same ruthless creatures to put on our other planets.

Still,
Mattie has seen them on one of our spaceships. There is no way she could have been transported to anywhere else—our technology is unique to us. We’ve used the same principals for two hundred years and never before have we seen it replicated anywhere.

Nothing about this is making sense. Add in the fact that we crashed and the strange spaceship that flew over us yesterday, and
I have possibly never been so confused before in my life.

Also weighing me down are my worries that Mattie is definitely pregnant with my child, confirmed by the fact that she has been able to use our technology, which isn’t possible for humans. I have no idea how
I am supposed to tell her. I don’t know what I should say, how she’ll react. Given our current situation—staring at a Claw nest—I don’t think it wise I worry about it now.

“What the fuck are those things?” Kane mutters, his head turning to the side as he examines them.

“Forget that. What should we do?” Hank whispers back to him.

“We need to get out of here
,” I hiss, grabbing onto Mattie’s sweater and pulling her back.

“Oh, the brainwashed freak wants us to run and hide!” Kane sneers, his voice growing louder.

“Shut up. We don’t want them hearing us,” Mattie hisses at him. “What Marduke means is that we have no weapons and we’ve already seen what they can do. We need to get back to camp and find weapons that will work against them,” Mattie reasons, her body moving to stand in front of me.

I know it’s her way of trying to protect me. For as long as I’ve known Mattie
, she’s been selfless, brave and willing to put her life on the line to protect others. After living my entire life being on my own, being taught to only rely on myself, I feel warmth building inside me to be reminded that she cares about me. I’m someone she’ll risk her life to protect.

However
, I am also reminded that she’s carrying our child, and she’s not just risking her life anymore. She’s risking our baby’s.

I place my hand on her shoulder, holding her in place as I step beside her, and then edge my shoulder just in front of hers.
“That in there is a nest, which means those creatures patrolling it are in a protective mood. If they even so much as sense a threat, we’re dead. We need to get as far away from this nest as possible.”

Kane grudgingly nods that he agrees and
then we sneak past the nest. As soon as we’re far enough away, we sprint, running for a long time, our pace hindered by the constant dodging of the trees and shrubs around us. The entire time, I am aware of Mattie struggling to keep up, and when I give her a quick glance, I see sweat covering her face and she’s breathing heavily. She doesn’t stop, though.

I eventually call out for us to slow down. Even if we could keep running, we currently have no access to water or food.
Therefore, straining and exhausting ourselves doesn’t sound like the best plan to me.

It takes until one sun is gone before we find running water. We all collapse by the narrow river in exhaustion. Eventually
, it is decided we should sleep and keep moving at first light.

I hold Mattie to me as she sleeps, my hands spread out over her abdomen.
However, I can’t feel anything there, not with the vest on her.

On
Oden, when a woman falls pregnant, she is immediately placed on a special diet to give her body and growing baby the best nutrients and vitamins to keep her and the baby healthy. It is common for women to gain some weight during pregnancy.

Yet,
Mattie doesn’t have any access to the type of foods she should be eating, and because of that, she’s losing weight and our baby is probably suffering because of it. What’s more, any medical supplies we had on the spaceship are long gone, destroyed in the crash. We need to hope that the camps have medical supplies that can handle a pregnancy. Then, as soon as possible, I have to get Mattie off this planet.

Before
, it was only about escaping my family and the humans, who would condemn Mattie for having my child. Now, it’s about escaping the Claws. Something is very wrong about them being here, and I get the feeling I’m not going to like the answer I’ll get.

Is my father sending them here? Is this a way to ann
ihilate the humans? He can say to our people he offered them refuge, but the Claws came and attacked them. He could claim there was nothing he could do. He’d probably even receive sympathy from it and a renewed fight and purpose from our people.

After having him
pit me and Ival against each other, knowing one of us was likely to die, I wouldn’t put this passed him.

***

I don’t sleep at all that night and barely any of the other nights we spend in the forest. During that time, we come across three more nests. I’ve seen over a dozen Claws now, which puts me on edge and makes me frustrated. We found some fruits growing in the forest that we’re able to pick and eat. All foreign to the others, but I convinced them to give them a try. Given the fact that they were starving, they gave in easily. Even Kane ate the fruit.

To be honest,
we consider it more of a weed because, once planted, it grows quickly and rapidly. We found the fruit on this planet, so it has never been eradicated from here. On occasion, it is used on Oden as a base ingredient in soups, but not often. The skin is not supposed to be eaten, although with no sharp tool to cut through it, we’ve had no choice other than to eat our way to the juicy centre. It tastes bland and there is very little energy or nutrients in it, however when you haven’t eaten anything in days, a weed tastes like the finest food in the world.

I count seven nights before we find the edge of the fo
rest and the camps in the distance.

Hank and Kane find renewed motivation and rush fo
rward, eager to get news to the camps about not only the Claws, but also the possible rebellion.

With the realisation that my father might be engaging
in a mass murder of all of these humans on probably all of our planets, I can’t put much hope in the humans fighting back. Suddenly, the lack of contact on the other planets makes more sense.

They probably are being slaughtered by the Claws. I haven’t shared my suspicions with Mattie
, though. I can’t bear to take away the hope that perhaps humans can reclaim Earth. She’ll realise it soon enough, so there is no reason to get her there sooner.

As exhaustion and hunger
have settled in, her mood plummeted quickly. Even though she’s stayed close to me, letting me hold her every night and often holding hands during the day, I have felt the distance growing between us. I often also hear her crying through the night and calling out for her parents. Sometimes, she cries for Logan as well, and when she wakes, I have to reassure her he is alive. Hank told me about the nightmares she has had every night since arriving on Roth, and it makes me angry she’s had to face them without me. I am furious with the situation we were stuck in, which meant she thought I was dead, and the fact that it added to her pain and loneliness.

So while Hank and Kane run towards
their people, I hold Mattie back, stopping us so we’re just outside the forest and standing in the large clearing surrounding the camp. In the distance, machines patrol along the outskirts on the other side.

“When we get to the camp
, I think you should take a break. You need to eat some proper food, gain your strength back, and get checked out by a medic.”

“Marduke,” she sighs my name, sounding annoyed, but I can’t help
loving my name on her lips. No matter how she’s saying it. “I’m fine. I don’t need a doctor. The food here is shit—even worse than that boring green stuff we’ve been eating—and we don’t have time for a break. We need to get ready for the fight. We not only have to destroy the machines, but we need to kill those creatures, too. Then we have to figure out how to get off this planet.”

I frown at her stubbornness. Now is the time I should explain that she’s pregnant. I should tell her so she’ll know slowing down and keeping out of harm’s way is important.
In spite of this, I feel reluctant to say anything, feeling like, maybe once I do, things will change between us. I’m not sure it will change for the better, but it’s not right to keep it from her. She deserves to know.

“Listen
, Mattie, there is something I need to—”

“Oh
, shit!” she cuts me off, her eyes peering over my shoulder. “Run!” she screams, grabbing hold of my arm and pulling me forward.

Hearing the screeching of the Claws behind me, I don’t have to wonder why she’s dragging me along as though our lives depend of it. Our lives are very much in danger.

I speed up, charging forward until I am instead pulling her along after me. The ground vibrates as we are chased down, and I remember from stories that outrunning the Claws is almost impossible. We’re out in the open with nowhere to hide. We’re exposed, and it will take a miracle for us to survive this.

Out of
the corner of my eye, I notice movement. When I quickly glance to the side of us, I find several more Claws running towards the camps. To our other side, there is the same sight. Some of them might be chasing us, but their main goal is to attack the camp ahead.

“Faster!” Mattie gasps, her feet faltering from a mi
sstep before she almost falls over. I catch her, yet we slow down, and I turn to see how long we have before we’re killed.

The Claws chasing us are only seconds away, but then I hear a new noise enter the fray.
A mechanical crunching and scratching, and then an automatic gun is repeatedly fired at the incoming Claws.

The hinemas are defending the camp. In front of us
, one comes storming through, and I dive Mattie and me out of the way as it reaches the Claw on our tails and a battle ensues.

Standing us both up
, we leap forward and wind our way around the battle. The Claws are no match against the hinemas, however they are outnumbered and the saliva of the Claws is like acid. It eats through the hinemas outer skin and weakens their resistance.

As we enter the camps
, we see humans staring out at the battlefield in wonder and fear. I keep ahold of Mattie’s arm, running her farther into the camp for safety, moving us towards the back. When we’re a good distance away with no one around us, I stop us so I can make sure she is okay.

I hold her soft face in my hands, moving my thumb over her cheeks and finding a few light scratches lining her forehead. I
then move my hands down her arms and hold both hands in mine. Her hands appear small against my own larger ones, the stark pale colour standing out against my dark skin. I step back, double checking there are no injuries to her legs, then quickly move back in close to her and hold her in my arms.

“Those… the machines… they’re fighting the…”
She appears to be in shock.

“They were placed here to protect you. They’re just
doing their job.”

“On Earth
, they were trying to kill us,” she shrieks. She’s definitely going into shock.

“They were
programmed to collect all humans from Earth, but Ival changed it so that any resistance was to be met with force. The reason they came down so hard and brutal on us in particular was because they were hunting me. Right now, they’ve been programmed to protect you; however those Claws are here to kill you.”

I feel her shiver in my embrace and wish
I had said that differently.

“I need to get word out to someone, tell them what is going on. There is a reason those Claws were placed on this planet
, and I want to know what it is. I’ll arrange transport for us to get off here.”

“Like one of those spaceships that brought us here? Where will we go? Could you take us back to Earth?” I watch her eyes light up and realise she thinks I meant ge
tting a ship for her rebellion.

“I mean a ship to take you and me away.”

“Marduke, we can’t just leave everyone here. I won’t do that.” She shakes her head at me.