“What was that about?” Mikey asks immediately as I approach. My dad stares into the distance, trying to see something too far away. I can only assume he’s keeping track of my mom.
I tilt my head to the side and Mikey and I shuffle out of earshot of the group still trickling in. I note Vaporface purring in the background as Raquel parks, talking nonstop as she exits the car.
“Maverick gave me this.” I flash the box and she gingerly takes it.
“Why you?” she asks with bitterness in her tone.
“Because he didn’t want to be lectured by you,” I respond quickly. “Apparently this is powerful, and it’s split into two parts—”
“Because he expects us to share.” She chuckles quietly. “What if one of us took both halves, then?”
I shrug.
We stare at the shifting balls of liquid until Raquel’s voice nears, talking about Vaporface and how much she loved driving it. Mikey and I share a quick glance before she shoves the box back into my hands. I tuck it back into my pocket.
Raquel stops before us, huffing as she places her fists on her hips. “What are you guys doing over here? What’s going on?”
“Maverick’s giving everyone weapons,” Mikey answers, gesturing to the guns on our hips.
Raquel cocks an eyebrow. “Even though we have Bleeders that are more than capable of handling themselves?”
“If they’re weaponizing Bleeders, then we have to be stronger than our counterparts. We have to be ready for whatever comes our way. If anything, Maverick’s a genius for giving us as much of an upper hand as he can.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Raquel huffs as she glances over her shoulder at Rick, who’s begun to pace as he waits for instructions. “Hey, can I have Vaporface?”
“No,” both Mikey and I respond.
Raquel wrinkles her nose. “You don’t even know how to drive.”
I lick of my teeth at the flare of annoyance in my abdomen. “Of course I do. I just never did because insurance for zombies is sky-high. Or it was, before we became a target.”
My mind drifts to the island as Raquel finally mutters something about Rick and walks away.
“I think we should wait.”
“Hm?” I ask, Mikey pulling me out of my thoughts. “For what?”
“The box. We don’t know what it’ll do to us. If we use it now, who knows what will happen?”
“So you’re wanting to use it in case of emergency?”
She nods.
“We still won’t know what it does if we do that.”
“Right, but it’s different. Because what if it doesn’t last very long. Or what if we have a reaction to it and we explode like that Draugr did on the ship? I say we play it safe and wait.”
I hate to admit it, but she’s probably right. Even if it’s something that makes us uncontrollable, then if we’re in a tight spot, that inability to control what’s happening might be what gets everyone out of harm’s way.
“We’ll have to stick together, then.”
Locking onto my eyes, she says, “I know.”
I grip the wheel tightly as we weave through the trees. Mikey and I had the idea to stash Vaporface close to where we’ll be invading, just in case someone needs a quick escape. We left after everyone else, the box heavy in my pocket.
I spot people in trees and around trunks, the smaller, more dexterous creatures ready to slip in undetected. If that doesn’t work, the tanks are right behind them, prepared to burst through enemy lines.
Mikey and I slip out and join the ranks, Maverick giving us a cursory glance. When we receive the all-clear, we bring up the front with the minotaur and other Bleeders. A door is opened and we come through, my dad leading the charge.
It’s… quiet.
Mikey’s words echo through my brain just before chaos explodes in our faces.
Gunfire litters the air as animalistic shouts rush through the hallways. Doors are flung open and Mindless Bleeders crash into us. We fight for our lives, the air crackling with energy as our forces transform. Magic charges my senses as I drop three Bleeders, their chests healing slowly.
Ambush.
Blood makes the ground slick as the opposing forces suddenly back away, a high-pitched sound exploding through the air. Mikey and I drop to our knees, rendered useless as the other Bleeders and rebels back away, assessing the situation as best as they can.
Flashbacks from experimentation rage across my vision as I lose all my senses. Suddenly, it’s as if I’m trapped in my body, the ringing changing tones. My limbs start to move on their own like I’m being controlled by a puppeteer that’s given me one objective: destroy.
My claw swipes at the nearest person. The Minotaur reels back, cursing at me as he brings his axe around. It’s embedded in my shoulder, the ringing outside my ears momentarily deafened by the ringing inside them.
Get… a… grip… Zeke!
My thoughts consume me, but aren’t enough to overcome the ringing as I feel my jaw unhinge. I bite deep into the Minotaur’s forearm as he reaches for his axe. He cries out as my venom pumps into his bloodstream. His movements grow stiff when I release, the paralyzing agent numbing his senses.
There’s an explosion of cold as ice covers the walls. I use the distraction to grab ahold of myself. I lift my arm and sink my teeth into my muscle, swearing I hear my teeth or bones crack. The pain is enough to snap me out of it, and I spin to see where the ice had come from.
Ein appears at the end of the hallway, confusion lining his face.
“Ein!”
The snap of Maverick’s voice overcomes everything, shaking the walls as he suddenly appears before his old friend. He shifts to grab his neck, but Ein easily avoids it, as if he saw it coming.
“Maverick?”
Maverick leaves a dark, bloody mark along Ein’s jaw as he punches him, the vampire’s eyeballs turning pitch black as his midnight hair comes alive with energy.
“I’ll kill you,” Maverick threatens as another set of Bleeder’s claws drag down my back.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I hear Ein say before my elbow cracks against my perpetrator’s face.
Mikey.
She turns back to me, her pupils dilated as she lets out a cry, her newly elongated fangs shimmering in the fluorescent lighting.
“Mikey, push through it,” I advise as the piercing sound attempts to break through my resolve. “Mikey!”
I glance over my shoulder as she grabs my arm and throws me into a wall, the rage rippling through me as my spine cracks and reforms. In my periphery, I see more of our group entering into the fray.
Maverick and Ein have disappeared.
I hit the ground as Mikey approaches. With a grunt, I sweep her legs out from under her and pin her to the ground. Another Mindless Bleeder rushes at me, but I give him an upper-cut with so much force, he crashes into the ceiling.
“Mikey, hang in there.”
I can see her trying to fight it, using our tussle as a way to break free.
And then, suddenly, the sound is gone.
Mikey relaxes with a loud huff and I help her up as one of our magic users pins down as many offenders as he can. His nose has started to bleed. He’s at his limit.
Water sloshes through the hallways and I stifle a groan as hatred pools in my gut.
My attention darts to two familiar figures at the end of the hall.
“Thanks for falling for my trap, you guys, it really means a lot,” Daemon says with a wicked grin as nearly everyone is subdued with water. “I just needed you out of the way.”
The second figure sidesteps around Daemon and sprints full-speed toward us, eyes wild and claws spread wide.
My mom.