Horde (Enclave Series) (6 page)

When I came to Rex, I hesitated as I didn’t know him well and most of my interactions with him had come in the form of goading. He addressed my hesitation by hugging me gently. Close up, I could feel that he was shaking, barely putting a brave face on his wife’s loss.

So I gave him a job to distract him. “Watch over them for me. I’m holding you personally responsible for their welfare.”

“Noted,” Rex said sharply.

But his shoulders straightened when we parted. I could see he was thinking about his parents now and not Ruth. There would be time enough to mourn her in whatever way he saw fit. Not now. Not with fires blazing in the distance and the muted snarls of Freaks prowling the woods in search of survivors. I couldn’t remember when the stakes had been so high.

Soon enough, we split into three: scouting party, main group, and the rear guard. Fade, me, and five of Morgan’s best men, who ranged wildly in age, composed the rear. Dennis wasn’t much older than Fade or me, lean and nondescript, yet by the way he handled his rifle and knives, I could tell he was among the best. In contrast, all of Thornton’s hair had silvered, though his beard still bore traces of black. His dark eyes revealed a canny knowledge; strong shoulders and a broad back made him a greater threat. To me he looked like a grappler, a man who preferred brute force to finesse. I also recognized him as the man who had been assisting Morgan in Soldier’s Pond.

I guessed the third one, Spence, was five years or so older than me, short and wiry with shorn red hair. The first time I saw that shade, I was fascinated, as nobody down below had it. Now, I was only interested in how well Spence could fight, and his demeanor gave me no clue. He had a freckled, open-looking face, devoid of violence, yet Morgan had promised us the best. So I’d withhold judgment until I saw him in combat.

Morrow was the fourth. Thin and dark haired, he had a ready smile and a set of pipes slung across his back; you’d mistake him for a fool until you caught the glint in his eyes. Underestimating this man would be the last mistake you ever made, and I figured he couldn’t be more than two years older than Fade. Yet he gave the impression of experience.

The last member was named Tulliver, Tully for short. Her green eyes were keen, set deep in a strong face. She was almost as tall as Fade and older than anyone but Thornton, but her hair was still fair. Most intriguing, she wore an interesting weapon strapped to her back. I’d never seen anything like it. I glanced at Fade to see what he made of it, but he wasn’t paying attention to our recruits. Instead, he was staring at me like I was the last slice of cake on a plate, and somebody had told him he couldn’t have it.

After a flurry of farewells, Stalker headed out with the scouting party. Tegan set out with the Salvation survivors, Morgan leading the way. My family cast a final look in my direction, then they followed as well. This was a terrifying gambit, and we wouldn’t find out if it had succeeded until we reached Soldier’s Pond.

Carnage

“Morgan put me in charge,” Thornton said. “If anyone has a problem with that, you’d better speak up now so I can knock it out of you.”

Nobody made a sound.

“Good. Let’s move. Remember, we’re not trying to practice good woodcraft. We’re leaving a trail for them to follow. More than likely, we’ll see some combat before we get home.”

The word sent a pang through me. I’d just started feeling like I might belong in Salvation when Caroline Bigwater decided I was a plague sent from heaven, whatever that meant, and that the only way the town could be saved was by sacrificing me. For obvious reasons, I wasn’t on board with that plan, so I’d gone for help in accordance with her husband’s wishes. Now Salvation smoldered behind me, nothing but charred wood and piles of ash. I could trace this moment all the way back to the night the Freaks stole fire from the outpost; I’d known even then that the theft meant nothing good.

“I can’t wait.” Tully patted the giant knife strapped to her thigh, and from the shape of the sheath, it had a wicked curve, perfect for disemboweling Freaks. “Those Muties
better
bring an army because I’m pretty pissed off, after what they did here.”

“They were good neighbors,” Spence agreed.

I hesitated, then decided I wanted to get acquainted with the first female warrior I’d run into since coming Topside. “I’ve never seen that kind of weapon before.”

As greetings went, it was rough, but the woman’s face lit with enthusiasm. “It’s a crossbow. I’ve been shooting since I was younger than you. I make the quarrels myself.”

“She’s amazing,” Spence put in.

I’d come to that conclusion myself, but before I could ask about the quarrels, which I took to mean the projectiles in the container on her back, Thornton snapped, “Enough. Let’s move.”

As I fell into formation beside Fade, I refused to think about the hunting party—one hundred Freaks, Stalker had said—and though my math skills weren’t the best, even I could figure that those were bad odds. The horde was way bigger, a number so huge I lacked the skill to calculate it. If you added up all the souls in Salvation, plus those who lived in Soldier’s Pond, I didn’t think you’d end up with that many humans total, let alone ones who could fight.

The first Freak hunting party found us some distance from the Salvation ruins. I counted more than twenty in the split second I had to assess our foe before the carnage began. As they charged us from behind, Tully whirled and drew the strange weapon on her back. She was fast with it, releasing four projectiles, one right after the other. Three Freaks died. She was a good shot, particularly in uncertain light on moving targets. Then they were on us, a mass of snarling monsters. I slashed with grim determination, my knives a blur in my hands. Like the old days, Fade fought at my back and he was death itself, dispatching the Freaks with complete efficiency.

The others battled around us; as I’d thought, Thornton was a brawler. He lashed out with weighted fists, smashed his way through three Freaks before I realized he was crushing their skulls with brute force. That roused my admiration even as Spence waded in at Tully’s side. The redhead used shooting irons even close-up, a fighting style I’d never seen before. He was adept at knocking a Freak back with the butt, then he shot it in the chest at close range, and he used elbows and feet to boot. As for Morrow, he favored a slender blade, longer than any dagger I’d ever seen. He was elegant and willowy as he fought, his face a study in concentration. Dennis used shorter knives and he guarded Morrow’s flank; I could tell they had fought together for a while, which spoke to how good Dennis was despite his age.

Two Freaks rushed me. Fade took the one on the left with a vicious jab through the neck, and his blow contained enough ferocity that he nearly took off its head. I dodged low and wheeled around to cut the creature across the back of the knees. It went down and I finished it with cold steel straight through the heart. The clearing reeked of blood, the grass damp with dew and worse, slick underfoot. I slid toward another, as Thornton was surrounded, and I didn’t like his chances. No matter his strength, he still needed help.

Tully and Spence seemed to be all right. So were Morrow and Dennis. I stabbed a Freak in the spine, and was rewarded with an unearthly shriek of pain. The monster whirled, slashing with blood-tipped claws, but when I danced back, it couldn’t follow. I had paralyzed it with that cut and Thornton finished the beast with a heavy stomp of his boot. Two Freaks tried to run, which unnerved me. What did they intend? Survival or something more, like carrying a message? Tully shot one in the back, the sleek shaft of the missile lodged in its hide. Spence took the other in a clean kill, but the noise made me wonder how soon we’d see more of these.

There were bodies everywhere, so much death. The corpses lay in pairs and triads, bones protruding, thickening blood pooled around fatal wounds. I couldn’t forget that I’d seen these creatures going about their lives, much as human beings did—eating and chattering to each other. There had been no savagery in that Freak village, no monsters attacking one another. That lent another layer of menace to their enmity; they no longer killed indiscriminately out of endless hunger, which meant this was more than conflict over territory.

This was war.

“Everyone in one piece?” Thornton demanded.

I took stock in a glance. We were all lightly wounded, scrapes and bites here and there, but nothing serious or life-threatening. Dennis bound up a slash on his arm with calm competence. The rest of us could go without treatment until we hit Soldier’s Pond.

“Good enough,” Morrow said.

Thornton made a
get-going
gesture. “Then let’s move out. We don’t want to be here when another hunting party finds the corpses. They’ll take it personal.”

Which made me think Thornton knew about the change in Freak behavior. Maybe the colonel had shared some of her theories and observations with him. Our leader didn’t look interested in entertaining questions, however, and that made me miss Longshot even more. This wasn’t the time to try to figure things out, though. Too much rode on our diversion—too many innocent lives—for me to get distracted.

Unlike the progress to Salvation, we were noisy. Since it was our goal to attract hostiles and keep them from stumbling on the injured refugees, I stomped my feet like an angry child. With a puckish grin, Morrow got out his pipes. Thornton sighed over that, but he nodded his approval, then a merry melody echoed across the field. If the lilting tune didn’t draw more Freaks down on us, then they simply weren’t roving the area.

It was an odd procession through the woods. By the music that accompanied us, one could be forgiven for thinking it was a party and not the most dire of circumstances. I kept my weapons handy, listening at each crack of branches, each rustle of tall grass, but if the monsters were following us, they wouldn’t be subtle about it, surely. They had the numerical advantage and didn’t need to practice stealth or woodcraft.

Unless they’re following you to Soldier’s Pond.

Fade and I had thought that was why they didn’t attack the outpost initially; they were waiting for us to lead them to more humans. The silence as we moved along the river unnerved me. Distant trees swayed in the light breeze, limbs shifting like skeletal fingers. Each step I took I expected the horde to descend on us, but it wasn’t fear I felt so much as anticipation. Here, I was in my element, protecting those who needed me. Down below, I never expected to live long. As long as I went down fighting, I could be content.

We marched into the morning; as the sunlight brightened, Morrow played on. Soon enough his pipes drew down the next wave of monsters. They heard it from across the river, shallow enough to ford, and came loping across wet stones with fangs bared and claws extended. Tully drew her crossbow and loosed a quarrel to nail the closest one in the chest. I couldn’t hear the impact over the rush of the water, but the creature went down and the current bore it away, the water frothing pink as it carried the body over the rocks.

When the rest drew closer, Spence unloaded, shooting first with one gun, then the other. He dropped two, then Tully killed her second and third. By my count, that left ten, a smaller band than we’d faced before.
There’s a group of one hundred hunting us. Or maybe not.
It was possible they’d split up to cover more ground.

Please let the others have gotten away from Salvation.

Then there was no time for such thoughts. The monsters rushed up the riverbank and the battle was joined. I lashed out with my blades in crossing strikes that opened the Freak’s torso. Blood spattered from Spence’s next shot, and Morrow fought beside Dennis, his longer reach repelling the creatures from the younger man’s back. They were all fierce and solid fighters, worthy to be Hunters. Fade was savage in his determination, his movements so graceful they looked like dancing. As he wheeled, I waded in, and we traded blocks and parries, slices and slashes with a natural elegance that moved me to my core.

All’s not lost. We still have this.

With anyone else, I would have feared a misplaced blade, but Fade always knew precisely where I was. I never flinched, even when his dagger cut through the air, narrowly missing my arm and embedded in the Freak lunging toward me. He twisted the blade to widen the wound, and the strange stink hung heavy in the air, overwhelming the clean spray of the river and the crushed green scent of grass trampled underfoot. The birds were quiet in the reeds, and I heard no insects chirping, only the roar of my heart as I defended with all my skill.

A second wave hit us as we battled the first. Ten was easy; twenty became chaotic. Spence fired ferociously, keeping them off Tully, and Morrow’s blade sliced through a beast charging straight at Dennis. Two more pushed through his guard, and I raised my knife to throw it.
Too slow.
Dennis went down beneath their combined weight, and by the time Morrow and I finished them, he was clutching his torn stomach, blood burbling out of his mouth.

The rest of us surrounded our injured cohort in a protective circle. I fought near Fade and Morrow, determinedly cutting down the monsters as they charged. Likely it was exhaustion, but the numbers seemed endless. My motions became clumsy as I blocked, letting a Freak push me back a step. Fortunately the others were enraged by their comrade’s condition, and they fought like a hundred men.

Thornton broke the last one’s neck and then kicked it for good measure. Breathing hard, I went down to the water to rinse my blades and then my hands. I wished Tegan was here. Maybe she could help Dennis.

“How bad is it?” I asked, kneeling beside Morrow.

“He won’t make it.” There was an awful finality in his voice.

Thornton dropped to his knees. “How do you want to play it, son?”

For a few seconds, I thought he was talking to Morrow, but the older man gazed down at Dennis, their eyes locked. “Make it quick, Pa.”

“Aye,” Thornton said.

In a dreadful, tender gesture, he scooped Dennis into his arms and carried him to the river. There, he held the boy’s head in the water until he stopped struggling. When Thornton drew up the body, it was all limp limbs and bloody shirt. The older man’s expression, as he cradled the young one, hurt me to witness, so I looked away.