Ha, I thought. I’ll tear your throat out with my teeth. But it seemed best to feign fear, so I let a tremor run through my body and I didn’t offer a reply. Instead, I made plans. Sooner or later, he had to put down his weapon. He couldn’t rut on me with his rifle in one hand. At least, I didn’t think so.
Gary Miles was stupid. He took my submission for granted, as if he’d won. I let him take my weapons from my thighs. His fingers lingered, making want me want to vomit. I fought the urge, though doubtless if I did lose my food, he would take it as a further sign of weakness. I didn’t because I needed the energy. Once I killed him, I’d see if Stalker survived … and if so, then we’d go after Fade. If not, I would continue alone.
Silk’s voice whispered, You survived the Nassau run. You survived the long walk Topside. Gary Miles can’t conquer you, Huntress.
She was right. My love for Fade and my fierce anger would see me through. I might not be as strong as Gary Miles, but my brain was better. Quietly, I bowed my head, waiting for his instructions, and he liked it, from the scornful sound he made. Amused. Cocky. Oh, he’d regret it. He would.
“We might as well have some fun,” he murmured.
And then he dropped his rifle. Miles stepped closer, probably intending to do something horrible. There was no reason for him to be cautious. He’d never taken my training seriously because I didn’t drill with the men. I had fought Frank Wilson, but I didn’t remember Miles being there. So he didn’t know about my skill. He’d seen me fighting Freaks, of course, but they were nothing compared to the prowess of a human male.
To Miles, I was just a girl. Unarmed. Alone in the woods with a man who was bigger and more powerful. Right? Wrong. With a smile, I went for his eyes, gouging deep with my bare hands. Blinded, blood streaming, he roared and lashed out.
Too slow. I wasn’t there. Dancing around behind him, I kicked his leg, popping his knee out of socket. He screamed in anguish and dropped, unable to bear weight, but I wasn’t through. I took out his other leg at the ankle, aiming a blow with enough force to break the bone. The snap echoed, rousing a flutter of wings above us. With bleeding eyes, unable to run, he still punched the air, hoping to tell where I was by my movements. If he’d taken visual deprivation training, as I had, he might have a shot at connecting. I slammed a fist against his temple.
“How many girls have you hurt?” I demanded.
He gasped through the pain. “What’s it to you?”
“Because I want to tell them personally, after you’re dead.”
“I’ll kill you.”
“I don’t think so.” There was no point in further conversation. Silk had taught me to end fights before they could turn on me.
With a twist of rage, I felt sure he’d never give up their names, though I was sure there had been others. The broken ones didn’t stop hurting people; they fed on pain. So Miles had done it silently, in secret, and left his victims too ashamed to whisper of it. I wished I could comfort them somehow, but maybe his end would do that for me. Heart cold, I snagged my dagger and sank it into his heart. A cleaner death than he deserved.
I gazed down on his corpse, finding satisfaction in my fallen enemy. For this moment, the Huntress owned me. There was no softness in me and no mercy either. This day’s work pleased me fiercely.
Then I wiped my blade clean on his filthy pant leg. No respect for you, Miles. I’ll treat you like a Freak. When my fury subsided, I gathered his supplies and added them to mine. His rifle, I slung across my back. Though I wasn’t as proficient with it as some, it offered reassuring weight where my club once rested. It wasn’t tough to follow the path he’d left, dragging me as I struggled, so it shouldn’t be long until I reached the battle site. Before I got there, however, Stalker staggered from between two trees, his hands red with blood.
I caught him with both arms. In top form, he could have taken all six of those Freaks without breaking a sweat, but we had been roughing it for months, and he hadn’t slept any better than I had with Ellis and Miles lurking nearby. His breath came in great, ragged gulps, but I didn’t hear the wet, sucking sound that presaged a chest wound. He leaned his scarred cheek against my hair.
“I was coming to save you,” he said, his voice muffled.
That surprised a laugh out of me. “From Miles?”
Stalker managed a grin. “I should have known better.”
“How bad are you hurt?” Without waiting for the answer, I checked him, raising his shirt to look. He’d taken several slashes, and the one just below his ribs was deep enough to trouble me. “We need to clean that, or infection might set in and carry you off.”
“I think I’m insulted. I’ve had worse.”
“Don’t be a hero.”
His mouth twisted. “I think we both know that’s not me.”
“I have no complaints,” I said. “Let’s get somewhere I can patch you up.”
“There’s a lake about ten minutes from forest’s edge.”
“Can you make it?”
Stalker lifted one shoulder, though the careless motion clearly cost him. “I don’t see that I have a choice. We don’t have enough water to waste on cleaning.”
Since that was true, I didn’t debate the matter with him. I merely offered my shoulder when it became clear he had other wounds he hadn’t shown me. His right leg didn’t straighten fully; I had no idea why.
I didn’t ask what became of Ellis. When we pushed out of the forest for the second time, I found the grotesque remnants of their pitched battle. Blood hung heavy in the air, and I stepped over the man’s corpse, leading Stalker toward the lake. This would delay our pursuit of Fade even more, but I couldn’t rationalize letting one boy die over one who might not still even number among the living.
It was the hardest decision I ever made in my life.
Legion
So much water always amazed me.
Down below, we lived on a thin trickle and rationed it in case we ran out. Here lay an endless expanse of shining green, bounded by a field of gold on the far shore. The sun sloped down beyond the horizon, setting the sky on fire. I turned away, unable to bear so much brightness when I hid winter in my heart.
On the shore of this lake whose name I didn’t know, I stripped Stalker half naked and examined his wounds. Blood crusted the worst of them, jagged tears from Freak claws. No bites, fortunately, which tended to fester. Not surprisingly, their mouths were filthy. I tore my spare shirt into strips, dipped half of them into the lake, and washed him. It would be better if we built a fire, so I could boil the water, but time was running out. Every moment we delayed, Fade and Frank got farther away. Makeshift medicine had to do.