The Dying of the Light (Book 3): Beginning (27 page)

Eden Blake shivered and ran her hands through her hair, then squeezed it again as she tried to wring as much water out of it as she could. Just over three weeks in the woods and only the second time she’d taken a “bath” in the river—really, just dunked herself while fishing. Smelling nice wasn’t as important as not freezing to death, and that water was fucking
cold
.

She took stock of her situation, as she did each day at noon. She’d just caught a fish, and she could forage for food when the rations ran out or the fish weren’t running. She’d already had a good meal from a brace of rabbits she’d caught. There was plenty of ammo, but she was running low on water pills and she didn’t relish boiling everything before drinking it.

Once she’d established her camp and could see something beyond the next few hours, Eden had cried herself to sleep the next few nights. The pain and loneliness of knowing she’d never see her parents or baby brother again was almost more than she could bear. Especially George Jr, who was right at the age where he was still looking up to her but smart enough to know how to be cool about most things.

She’d originally thought that she was no good for people and needed to stay away. She’d only caused them harm so far, and to keep them from further hurt, she would leave them alone.

There was a certain logic to that, but as she’d spent these days and nights away from everyone, she’d also come to realize that she probably could have helped them. If she’d been a little less self-centered, a little more of a team player. But how do you just go back? How do you apologize to everyone you’ve ever known? What was the answer? Where was the fix?

Still, all things considered, she wasn’t too bad off. The few regular walkers in the area had gone down easy, and she’d rigged some basic alarms for any that might approach. Any soldiers that came across them would see the tripwires and could just step right over. But walkers or runners would set ‘em off, and that was good enough.

Except for the Driebachs. She’d stayed silent and cold for several nights when she’d first arrived. There’d been no sign of the monsters when she arrived, but it didn’t take long for them to make their presence known.

Wild animals generally consumed their prey whole. They didn’t normally pick the meat off the bones. After the first few kills she’d found, Eden realized what was going on and began tracking their movements. If she was right, they’d have circled back by now to her west, looking for more animals or unlucky ExForce personnel.

She wasn’t about to let that happen. Even if she wasn’t a part of their military anymore, she could still do something to protect them. Besides, she hated the things. One less Driebach in the world was worth a little recon.

Eden wrapped her hair in an extra shirt and squeezed hard again. A little more water this time, but it was mostly dry, and that would have to do. She spread the shirt out on a rock to let it dry and then grabbed her pack and rifle.

The trip westward to where she thought the Driebachs would be was hard, with rough terrain and lots of blind alleys and backtracking. It took her longer than it should have to make it to the rendezvous point. She stayed low and climbed a tall outcropping of rock for a better angle and was not at all surprised to see several Driebachs gathered around a firepit.

Since when did Driebachs cook their food? This was all wrong, but there they were all the same. And she could just hear them talking, though she couldn’t make it out clearly. As if Driebachs weren’t bad enough, she could tell they were discussing something. She pulled out her binocs, but her talent for lip-reading was useless when the targets had no lips to begin with. If only she’d been able to take a radio mic with her for long-distance surveillance.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda. She had what she had, and she’d have to make do. Even with her skills, she couldn’t take out three at once. And who knew if there were more out there, just waiting for her to slip up and fall right into their clutches?

No, she’d have to wait, wait for her chance to catch one alone. She crept closer, desperate to hear something, anything. Finally, one of them spoke, her voice deeper than the others, and it carried a little farther. In this case, right to the waiting Eden Blake. Unfortunately, she still had no idea what they were saying.

“
Eímai kourasménos apó ta kounélia kai skíouroi. Thélo to kréas. Pragmatikó kréas. Gýro apó-tin-dýo-podión perpatímatos kréas
!” There was a general chorus of assent, but no one else spoke, so she continued. “
Emeís prépei na epitethoún se éna peripolikó.
”

A new voice spoke out of the shadows to her right, and Eden froze, as she was trained. This one was deeper still, masculine, and rasped through its ruined throat so badly, Eden couldn’t even distinguish individual words—not that she would’ve understood them anyway.

The new Driebach threw a bundle into the circle of firelight, and with her binocs, Eden could see that it was a human. Dressed in rags, the man was dirty and looked ill, with a sunken face and patches of hair falling out. She wondered where he’d been hiding, not that it mattered. Not now. The cringing wretch wasn’t AEGIS, and she could do nothing but watch helplessly as the circle of evil fell upon the poor man with fervent, deliberate efficiency.

She used the sounds they made to cover her retreat and didn’t let herself react until she was already back at her campsite. She couldn’t hold back anymore and puked up her breakfast, though she had retained her survival instincts and used a pot that she’d just cleaned that morning to avoid soiling the campsite.

Eden didn’t want to move again, not so soon. She’d only been here three days.

After rinsing out the pot once more and coming back to camp, Eden collapsed against one of the rock walls under her makeshift shelter. She watched her hands as they shook with repressed emotion. Anger, fear, hatred, and more were all raging inside her, wanting to let themselves out and wanting a Driebach as the target.

Eden shook her head at her own thoughts and wishes. Now was not the time. She needed to prepare some more before venturing out to face the monsters. Doing it now would be almost certain death. No, she needed more intel. She needed to track them some more.

Fortunately, she excelled at tracking. And once she knew where their lair was, where they stayed, and where they avoided staying, it would be war. Eden might not be welcome back at the base, but she could at least take out this threat to them while she was out here.

She could at least be good for something.

Eden looked westward. “I’m coming for you,” she whispered.

Expeditionary Force HQ
Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Tacoma, Washington

“One more time, Lieutenant. I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Colonel, I believe that whomever is ghosting these Driebachs has ExForce training, sir.” Lieutenant Luis Marquez sat across from his commander, Colonel Gaines, and pointed to the map again. “All of the corpses have been found in a more-or-less straight line due east of us, which suggests someone coming from or going to the base. Since the first corpses were found closest to us, I’m guessing they’re headed away.”

“That’s not necessari—”

“There are several other indicators, too, sir,” Marquez said as he sat back in the chair. “The kills have all been methodical and precise and used weapons exactly the same as our own. They’ve all been killed with combat knives or .40-caliber rounds, all head shots or stabs. I know how we kill, sir, and this is one of us.”

Gaines turned in his chair to look eastward toward Mount Rainier and the forest. “You think it’s her, don’t you,” he said, more of a statement than a question.

“Who knows for sure, sir. But it would make sense. She was one of the best, Colonel, and we’ve never found her body. And if anyone could sneak up on not just one or two but eleven Driebachs, it would be her. Plus, they’ve been left for us, easy to find, almost gift-wrapped. People are talking, sir, they’re saying it’s her come back from the dead as some sort of vengeance demon or something.”

Gaines snorted. “People are idiots. Let them talk, just makes them more scared of these things, which is good. Just Driebachs?”

“No, sir. There have been plenty of walkers killed too, but some of those were by the Driebachs themselves.”

“How do you know?”

“They were torn apart, sir. Brute force, and there’s been nothing in the area strong enough to do that for twenty years.”

Gaines said nothing, just continued to stare out the window.

“Sir, should I tell—”

“You will keep your mouth shut, Lieutenant,” Gaines said, his eyes snapping back to the lieutenant’s. “Is that clear?”

Marquez nodded. “Uh, yes, sir.”

“No sense in riling them up if it ain’t her, is there? No, best stay quiet for now.” Gaines looked back out the window. “And double the guards. If there are that many of these fuckers running around, we need to be on our guard.”

“Yes, sir.”

Mount Rainier National Park

Eden hadn’t seen any more signs of the Driebach pack leader, the one she thought of as “Alpha,” but the others had made enough of a trail for Foretti to follow without a map or flashlight. She crouched above a small dip in the rocks, sure that the one she was tracking tonight wouldn’t have seen, smelled, or heard her. She was a ghost, floating through the night and taking out her prey with nary a whisper.

Like “Beta Female” down amongst those rocks eating whatever poor woodland creature she’d caught this time. The remains of a fire made details of her shadowy figure impossible to determine, but the Hunter didn’t care about those anyway.

Eden raised her mask and pulled her hood a little tighter. She felt the weight of the rifle on her back but wanted to keep that ammo as long as possible. Besides, she’d taken out bigger badasses than this before with just her knife.

She hefted the knife in her right hand and tested its weight, as always. She could probably hit the Driebach in the head from here, but there was no sense in taking chances, especially when she had gone unnoticed so far.

Careful to remain silent, Eden crept forward, eyes on both her target and the ground to insure no loose rocks gave her away. The fading twilight also helped, and the crunch and smack of Beta Female’s meal covered any slight noises.

Just as she got within striking range, the creature sighed. “
Boreí den boreí na teleiósei akómi kai éna gévma
…”

More of that language Eden didn’t know. The Driebach glanced over her shoulder straight at Eden. The Hunter was frozen, motionless, locked in an inexplicable moment.

The Driebach put down the remains of its meal and gestured to the other side of the fire it had built. “
Ela kai na kathísei. Íthela mia mikrí synomilía me deípno
,” it said. When the Hunter didn’t move, it continued in English. “Come and sit. Let us talk.”

Eden blinked and came out of her stasis. She held the knife ready and looked around for the trap. Beta Female was the bait, and she was about to get hit from behind… except there was no one there.

“There is no one else here, Hunter. Just you and I.”

Eden shook her head, still unsure of what she was seeing and hearing and trying to make sure this wasn’t just some weird dream. She crept forward, putting her back to a stone outcrop and the dying fire between herself and the Driebach.

Beta Female, as Eden called her, was, or had been, young, a little older than Eden herself when she was turned. The creature was short but average in build. What remained of her skin was dark, almost olive colored, and the eyes that looked at the Hunter from within a sea of raven-black hair were a startling green. Eden had no doubt that despite its small stature, the Driebach could move as fast or faster than herself, however, and she drew her pistol just in case.

A .40-caliber bullet would stop most anything, Driebach or not.

“You are the one hunting us.” It wasn’t a question.

Eden could detect a trace of accent she wasn’t familiar with, which made sense given the unknown language it had been speaking. The whole situation was so surreal that she wondered if she was dreaming. “Yes.”

“You chose not to kill me,” the creature said.

“I can’t honestly say why.”

“You are experiencing much doubt right now. This will be the least of your concerns.” The creature tilted her head to one side. “Where are my manners? My name is—was—Sariva Christoforou.” The creature looked at the Hunter. “And you are Eden Blake.”

“How could you possibly—”

“We know much about you.”

“This is weird.”

“I imagine so.”

“Why are you alone?”

“I was to be the bait to trap you—” Sariva held up a hand as Eden jumped up. “There is no one else here. We decided on a different plan.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“It makes no difference if you do or do not believe me. There is no one else here.”

Eden sat back again. Either the monster was telling the truth and no others were out there waiting and Eden could take her, or she was lying and Eden was already dead. In either case, she might as well warm herself by the fire, especially since she hadn’t built one of her own in days to avoid drawing attention.

“So why the chit-chat?” Eden asked. “Why not just kill me?”

“Because you could be useful.”

Eden snorted. “If you think I’m going to help—”

“Oh, perhaps not willingly, not at first. But you will help.”

“Listen, monster—”

Sariva jumped up but didn’t move toward Eden. “
Anaidís lígo skýla
!
An den sas chreiazómaste sti zoí mou tha tróne tin kardiá sas enó échete parakolouthísei
!” It closed its eyes and counted to five—something Eden had seen her parents do enough times while raising their children that she would recognize it anywhere.

“You will help us, whether you want to or not.”

“No way in hell.”

Sariva returned to her seat. “Tell me something. Why are you out here?”

Eden shifted on her improvised seat. “I just am.”