Nadya didn’t think twice about her options. She saw her window and took it. She had weapons and food in her pack and what was left of their medical supplies. She could make it. Would make it. Her boots hit the pavement hard, pushing her deeper and deeper into the darkness until her chest burned and her clothes were soaked with sweat. She didn’t hear the others following her, but it didn’t mean they weren’t. She’d killed Rory. She’d acted purely on instinct. Her aim true, her hand punching through his chest cavity with such ease. She hadn’t questioned it. Her mind had given her an image—the soft patch of skin easily penetrated. She knew her kind were the only ones who were capable of that kind of strength. She’d accumulated enough memory snippets to tell her that much. Her only issue, she had no clue who—or what—her kind was. Marius hadn’t looked shocked. He’d looked pleased, even impressed with her show of force. She hadn’t realized her own strength until after it was all over. Diamond, on the other hand, had been rocked by her actions. Still, his pride had him thinking he controlled her.
He didn’t.
Nadya looked left then right. Trying to gauge exactly where she’d run to, but couldn’t pinpoint her exact location. There were abandoned buildings on either side of her, the windowpanes no longer there, lending to the already eerie atmosphere. She thought she saw movement in one of the windows but ignored it and kept moving. The street signs were all gone in the section she was in. Trash littered the ground, and roots from deep beneath the concrete pushed through, making her journey cumbersome.
Nadya reached a section of street that was completely flooded. Charred vehicles half in, half out of the water littered her path. A bus was turned on its side with the beginnings of a tree growing out of one of its side windows. There were sandbags piled high. Someone had tried to keep the water from seeping through, but they were doing a poor job. The buildings on either side of the street were completely covered by thorny vines. The smell alone was enough to make her turn around. You have to keep moving forward.
Nadya pulled her mask over her face, hoping to block out the smell. She hoped her boots were water resistant; her feet had remained dry when she’d fallen into the mud hole. Bottom line, she needed to get to the other side quickly and find a place where she could hole up for the rest of the night.
She’d have to use the cars to get across. If the tires weren’t touching the ground, she could maybe paddle her way to the other side. Impossible. The cars will be too heavy for one person to maneuver alone. She had to try something. If Diamond or Marius caught up with her, it was going to be her ass. There was a long branch growing out of the sidewalk a few feet away. It’d make for a good tool to test the depth of the water. She hadn’t forgotten about Phyr. He was out there somewhere with her. Likely following her, or worse, tracking her.
Nadya yanked the stick from the ground, secured her pack, and made sure her weapons were strapped down before taking the first step towards the water. She adjusted her headgear and was happy that she had a glow stick in her pack. That and her goggles were the only things lighting her way. At first look, it appeared the water wasn’t that deep at all. There was an old car with some sort of lights fastened on top. It was her starting point. With sure footing, she made it up to the top of the car without incident. Slowly, Nadya made her way to the front of the car, as far as she could go, and leapt to the next car.
She made it all the way to the bus before she realized her mistake. The water was a lot deeper than she’d anticipated, and the bus was filled with bodies. They were past the point of decomposition. Some were all bones with rotted clothes. Others looked fresh and bloated. The smell was offensive and made her gag. It was clear that everyone on the bus was dead. When she made it to the roof of the bus, she became physically ill. The smell was really starting to get to her. The bus was blocking out a large part of the water source. There were cars stacked high on either side, but there was nowhere to go. She had two choices. She could swim the rest of the way, though she didn’t know how far of a swim it would be, seeing as there was no sign of dry anything for as far as she could see. And that meant she’d have to contend with whatever was in the water. Or she could climb the railway bridge and walk the tracks. The buildings on either side of her were lined with the spiny vines, and though they looked dead, she was reluctant to take the chance.
There was a sound to her left, and Nadya turned, aiming her sawed-off in the direction of the sound. Nothing. There was nothing there. Shouldering her gun, she contemplated how she was going to maneuver the railway. There weren’t any footholds she could see that could assist her in getting to the top.
Fuck.
“Shit.”
She looked for something to help her climb the railway bridge and kept coming up short. She was about to give up when she heard the moans. It was coming from inside of the bus. Some of the windows were closed, and her goggles weren’t doing the job of seeing inside, and her glow stick wasn’t bright enough to see all the way inside. A loud slap against the window right below her feet alerted her to the gruesome face beneath. It wasn’t just one Rager, but several. They looked abnormally different from the Ragers she was used to seeing. These looked far past the state of living. By all accounts, they should be dead—their skin grey, and eye sockets sunken in. Their eyes, colorless and large, were bloodthirsty as they continued to bang against the window of the bus. Trying to get to her.
They are going to break through.
No sooner had the thought occurred, then the glass beneath her broke and something had hold of her foot, trying to pull her down. Nadya would have screamed, but she was already in survival mode. Using the branch in her hand to hold her steady, she balanced on one leg as a grey, bony hand tried to pull her through. There was the sound of gunfire whizzing past her, and one bullet clipped the metal of the bus right at her feet.
“What the fuck?”
Another bullet sailed by, this one going through the wrist attached to the hand trying to pull her into the window. Nadya looked up to see where the shots were coming from and noticed a lone figure in the broken window of a vacant building. She couldn’t tell who it was, but was grateful either way. When her foot was freed, she made her way to the tail end of the bus, closest to the railway, and was about to jump when another hand grabbed her ankle, propelling her forward. Half her body was atop of the bus, while the other half dangled loosely, inches from the murky water below. This was not happening. She was smarter than this, faster. The firing stopped, and the bus rocked when the shooter landed on top. Nadya couldn’t see who it was; she was too busy looking at the items from her backpack floating on top of the water. Great. Just great.
There was nothing to be done about it now, and it looked like she was going to go swimming. In nasty-ass water. The hand at her ankle shook, and jerked, trying to pull her up, and Nadya tried to make her weight as heavy as she could. She’d rather be dropped into the unknown depths of the water than munched on by a Rager.
“Hold still, woman. I’m trying to pull you up.”
“Phyr?”
Startled—and maybe even a little shocked it was Phyr and not a Rager—Nadya stopped struggling and allowed herself to be lifted.
“You’re a lot of trouble.”
“You mean I’m in a lot of trouble.”
“That, too.”
Phyr’s chest moved rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. His hair was damp, the long strands wavy. His blue eyes were murderous as he stared at her for long moments.
“I’ve never met a Raema as idiotic as you. What tribe are you from?” Phyr asked.
Raema? What the hell was that? Although the word vaguely resonated with her, she wasn’t sure if it was from some memory or if she’d heard the word in passing.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not a Raema.”
“Sure you’re not.”
“I’m not.”
At least, she didn’t think she was.
“Seriously, I don’t have time for your lies. I’m Bloodborne. I know exactly what you are. You were trying to get up to the railway, let’s go.”
Now she was really confused. Bloodborne? What the hell was that? But when he’d said the words, her mind immediately accepted them as true. Almost as if she’d heard them somewhere. Sometime.
Phyr moved with stealth and speed as he pulled something from his side and shot it into the wall of the railway bridge. He tugged to ensure it was strong enough before turning back to Nadya.
“It’s strong enough to hold the both of us. Hold tight.”
Nadya’s arms went around his neck. Phyr adjusted his gear and weapons, his hands going to his belt where he buckled something and held her around her waist, pulling her into his arms.
“Don’t let go.”
Nadya nodded. They sailed through the air. Her stomach bottomed out and her breath was sucked from her chest as they went up and over, landing rather harshly onto the tracks.
“How did you—?”
“C-Tech. Now, are you going to tell me why you took off like that?”
“I need to see if my sister and mother are okay.”
“You mean your fake family? Attia has them if she’s looking for you. She’ll use them as leverage to get you. There’s no telling if they’re going to be okay.”
“Well, that’s not good enough. I need assurances.”
“Diamond has a plan. He always does. I’m sure he was going to still put on the auction and offer you up to the highest bidder, hoping Attia would show.”
Possibly, but Attia would attack. Dominika wasn’t strong like her. The girl still laughed and tried to make the best out of her day. Even when their day had been shitty, Nika would sing.
“I need to get to them.”
“What were you going to do when you caught up with Attia? How were you going to get them out? Exactly what is your plan?”
There was no plan. Nadya’s only thoughts had been of the two females she’d promised to protect.
“Yeah, I can see from the look on your face just how your plan was no plan at all.”
“It’s my family,” was all she could say.
“Well, it’s good to have one of those. It doesn’t do them any good if you get killed in the process of saving them, though. Then it would have all been for nothing. You don’t look like the type of girl who’d make rash decisions. “
“So, what? I go back to Diamond?”
Phyr eyed her curiously. Looking inside his pack, he pulled out a bag with food in it.
“I didn’t say that either. The bastard is awfully stingy with you. I see the appeal. You’re Raema. I won’t let you be auctioned off. You’re a fighter, it’s in your blood. There’s another way. I have a proposition for you.”
Another proposal? Everyone wanted to offer her something but were never willing to give.
“Here, eat this. We’ll talk about my idea as soon as we find suitable shelter.”
The track they were on was in good shape for the most part. She couldn’t see any buildings close by that they could go to. The ones they passed were covered in vines. She’d use the time she had to figure out what her next move was. Phyr said nothing as he walked beside her.
“Tell me about your people,” Nadya asked.
“You mean our people?”
“I don’t know that to be true,” she replied with an eyebrow raise.
“Oh, it’s true. I’ll prove it if you agree to my proposition.”
“I don’t think that’s fair. No more deals.”
“You’re thinking way too hard.” Phyr looked at her and shook his head.
“There’s nothing hard about using your mind,” she shot back.
“Says the girl who put her cookie up for sale.”
Nadya whirled on Phyr.
“I didn’t have a choice. It was either the Quarry or Attia.”
“Still, shit went bad. You shouldn’t have deserted your people.”
“I didn’t desert anyone. I woke up in a pool of my own blood with no memory.”
Phyr changed the subject. Didn’t respond to her comment. As if he had no kind of thought about it whatsoever. It was as if the entire conversation were a discussion on what the difference was between Dark Water and Wave. There was no voice inflection, nothing. And he was completely oblivious to her outburst. He went from giving a care to not giving a care. How did people do that? Just avoid anything that would evoke an emotion. It was like he just shut down, and went a different direction.
“If you think for one moment Lavarious is going to allow you out of the deal the two of you made, you’re sick in the head. I like you, and like I said, I have a proposition for you. One Diamond may agree to.”
“Don’t care. I have to try and find Attia.”
“You should have stayed with the group. Attia is on her way to the Quarry and she’s coming with your sister. And hopefully your mom. You leaving only delayed what’s coming.”
“My mom’s dead.” She didn’t want to say it out loud, but she knew it to be true. Anna would slow them down. Attia would have done her in the first chance she got.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do!” The scream was loud, piercing. If she’d known what was waiting for them beneath the subway bridge, she might have kept quiet. These new feelings were getting the best of her. Her inability to remember—to know—making her frustrated.
There was nothing at first, no inclination whatsoever that there were others watching, waiting for the chance to strike. It was Phyr who realized they were in danger. His arm snapped out, halting her movement at the same time he whispered, “We’re not alone.”