Chapter 20: Nikki

 

I aimed at Nick the best I could and fired. I doubted I was even close, but he ducked and dove for cover. I’d thought Nick was dead, eaten by the flyers that day in my backyard, but Jason must have wasted someone else, because that bastard was still alive.

I aimed again, this time at Jason since he was closer, and missed again.

Damn it! I really needed to learn to shoot better. I was out of practice, and it showed.

I ducked behind the sandbags the survivors had piled along the edge of the roof, as the attackers fired back.

Another round of gunfire sounded from the windows below us as the asshats retreated. They did not shoot back this time. Probably because many were low on ammo, and we were hard to hit from their angle. The survivors had piled concrete blocks and sandbags at the edges of the roof to protect themselves. This place was ready for an attack.

I peeked over the sandbag and saw a few men on the ground. A few more limped away, holding their arm, leg, or stomach.

From what I’d overheard from them when I’d been there, not many people fought back. They often targeted much smaller groups, shot a few rounds as intimidation, and forced them to give up the goods.

“I think they’re running,” said the pregnant lady who’d spoken before.

I grinned at her, and she shot me a thumbs up. She was so brave to go through a pregnancy during the bugpocalypse, especially since the father didn’t seem to be around at all. He was probably one of the men this group had pushed out earlier this summer.

I was glad they’d gotten rid of the users and abusers in the group. I’d just met these folks, and they seemed like good people. I’d been meeting plenty of those lately. It must be to make up for being trapped with assholes for so long. Maybe karma was real, after all.

Koriv’n pulled me into his arms, and I tilted my head up and back to kiss what ever I could reach, which was his chin. “It felt good to tell them off,” I said. “I’m never going back.”

“I’d never let them take you. You’re stuck with me now.”

I took his hands off my body, and they released me easily. Nope, no bond. “Not yet.”

I stole a secret glance at the woman’s rounded belly. She had a support system here; these people cared. Maybe it wasn’t so bad.

Koriv’n wrapped his arms back around me, and again, I wondered if we’d find ourselves actually stuck together due to the mate bond this time.

We stood there and watched people exchange high fives around us. It felt good to help the survivors fight off those assholes.

“Don’t celebrate yet,” Roger warned. “We’ll need to watch our backs for a while. These guys don’t seem like the type to give up so soon.”

“They ambush hunters often. Do not forage alone; that makes you a target,” Koriv’n said from behind me. “Most ambushes happen in the afternoons, just before sunset. It is best to forage in the early mornings.”

I looked at the sky and at the setting sun. Huh, would you look at that?

“We’ll be careful.” Roger looked over the sandbags and sighed at the two bodies still on the ground. “I hate cleaning up."

“We’ll do it, boss.”

Roger scowled. “I’m not your boss. I’m not cut out to be a leader.”

“You totally led us through the attack. I’d say you’re the leader already.”

Roger had the look of utter horror on his face as he limped toward the stairs. “Damn it! I went to the hunter’s compound to fight the scourge so they’d stop volunteering me for the role.”

“I think you’ve been voluntold.” I put out an arm to help him down the stairs.

“Why do human groups have leaders?” Rayk’n asked. “Hunter groups do not. We make decisions together.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Roger agreed. “I don’t want to be a leader. I’m not built for that stress.”

“The ones who make good leaders never want the role, and the ones who want to lead are the worst for the job,” Meghan said.

“Maybe your first task as the boss is to assign more leaders to run various parts of the community,” Koriv’n said. “I’m sure Curtis would like to be in charge of the cows.”

Everyone laughed.

“I heard my name. What’s so funny?”

“Roger says you’re in charge of the cows from now on,” I replied.

“Oh yeah! I like cows.” He paused. “Wait? What? We’re getting cows?”

“I don’t know, Curtis. You’re in charge of that now,” Roger replied.

Lenny greeted us on the second floor. “I might as well move to the compound at this point. This is Sam. She’s the one who puts the machines together; I’m the one that tells them what to do.”

I’d expected Sam to be a guy, but instead, a leggy blonde, almost as tall as me, greeted us. Yay! I wouldn’t be the only tall woman at the compound anymore.

I shook her hand and was pleased to see Koriv’n only shook it and didn’t kiss it as he had mine. Rayk’n, however, did the full nine yards. He took her hand kissed it with a little bow.

“That was…unexpected,” Sam said awkwardly.

“I was practicing for when I meet my mate. Did I do it right?” Rayk’n asked.

Before she could reply, Roger spoke. “I got some bad news. One of our scientists is no longer willing to leave, after the attack. He wants to stay and protect everyone. He’s on the phone with Rajiv’k now to talk about sending him archive articles to decipher instead. So that just leaves Neil.” He introduced the man behind him.

Neil was a quiet man, and I never quite caught what his specialty was.

With the attack on the settlement repelled and our experts in tow, we headed out to our shuttles. When the door opened, Lenny balked at the solar panels piled high inside. Sam and Neil just gawked at the shuttles as the cloaking effect faded.

“Solar panels,” Neil finally said after pulling his jaw back up from the ground. “Power would be nice. And running water.”

“Then you’re in for a treat,” Lenny said. “But we can’t fit in the shuttles with these in here.”

“We’ll need to tow them behind us on land. No flying for us today,” Calvin explained.

“Tow them? On what?”

Rayk’n answered the question by rolling out a collapsible trailer from a compartment at the back of the shuttle, one I had no idea existed. After some man and hunter power, with Sam and Neil gawking again at how much the hunters could move in a hurry, we waved goodbye to Roger, Terrance, and Curtis and left for home. Neil and Calvin got in Rayk’n’s shuttle, and Lenny, Sam, and I piled into Koriv’n’s.

I couldn’t help but smile at the wonder on Sam’s face as Koriv’n triggered the life-sized video display on the walls.

“Wow! That’s so cool. And you can do this while flying?” Sam looked around her as she sat crossed-legged on the floor.

“You ever controlled one of our shuttles?” Koriv’n asked Lenny, holding up his controller. “This is to accelerate, this is to slow down, and this here is for directions.” He handed the shocked man the controller. “Don’t press anything else, and you won’t blow us up.”

“Hey! This thing’s like a video game controller. No wonder you guys got good at video games so fast.”

“Did you just say video games?” Poor Sam had barely gotten over the display, now she was learning we had video games. “No wonder Lenny’s so eager to go back.”

Koriv’n gave Lenny the pilot’s seat and came to sit next to me on the bed. The hunters’ shuttles were small, meant to house only one hunter. Other than the pilot’s seat, it was the sleeping nook or the floor.

I’d shoved Purrito, Fluffasaurus Rex, and our mussed-up blanket into the corner the moment I’d gotten into the shuttle. Sam never even noticed the sex-messed sheet; she was too in awe of the shuttle. And now Lenny was too distracted with driving.

Using a drone in the air to locate and avoid blocked streets, we started back toward home. Trouble found us not long after we left the survivor community. The drones picked up four vans closing in around us.

“Krux!”

With Lenny still driving with the external display, Koriv’n contacted Rayk’n through the shipboard communicator. Rayk’n’s face showed up on the screen, Calvin looking stern behind him.

“Are those our assholes again?”

It was dark now, but the drones sent back excellent footage. It showed one van, its headlights gleaming, speeding ahead to cut in through the next street.

“Krux! They are trying to force us to turn here”—Koriv’n highlighted the intersection on the map—“toward the blocked road. We’ll need to go faster to clear the intersection before they get there.”

“Done.”

Rayk’n floored his shuttle in front of us, and Lenny followed suit.

“Just like a video game,” Lenny repeated to himself.

I held onto Koriv’n as the shuttle lurched forward. The intersection approached, and I watched as a van sped down the street, coming toward us at a right angle. We cleared the intersection and sped away. They passed inches behind our trailer.

Fuck! That was close.

“This shuttle needs more seats and seat belts,” Calvin grumbled through the communication system.

Immediately, another van on the screen further ahead turned onto a street. If we kept at our speed, we would crash into them at the next intersection. With our cargo, the shuttles couldn’t travel much faster.

“Nikki, do they have ways to communicate with each other? That van knew exactly what happened and where to turn.”

“They used to have walkie-talkies, but they ran out of batteries or they couldn’t charge them.” Then I remembered the shuttle hull they’d brought back. “Could they have used the Xarc’n shuttle to charge them? Or switch out the batteries with Xarc’n ones?”

That was what Rajiv’k had done with the cell phones and tablets he’d found for the compound.

“They confiscated Lena and Evie’s phones!” That must be it, I realized.

“And my translator,” Koriv’n added.

“What’s the plan?” Lenny asked. “If we slow, they’ll force us to turn into the blocked street, and we’ll have to face them.”

“We can go faster, but at higher speeds we won’t be able to swerve in case of emergency with our load behind us,” Koriv’n said. “The road looks clear ahead besides that car parked on the shoulder. Stay on the other side of the road, and we should be fine.”

Rayk’n answered with an extremely human phrase that surprised me and reminded me of how these hunters had integrated with our culture: “Let’s floor it.”

Koriv’n leaned over to trigger the only safety harness on the ship, the one on the pilot’s chair.

“Thanks, man. Hang on tight.” Then Lenny put the pedal to the metal.

I held onto the mattress and Koriv’n to stop from flying back. Sam scampered over and held onto my legs, the only thing she could find to latch onto in the shuttle that wasn’t Lenny’s chair. Calvin was right; these shuttles needed more seats and seatbelts.

Rayk’n zoomed ahead of us, approaching the intersection. He got through with time to spare. I held my breath as we reached the junction; the enemy’s van hurtled down the cross street toward us at breakneck speed. The headlights were blinding as the vehicle bore down on us. We passed ahead of them, mere milliseconds ahead. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when the impact lifted me off the bed.

Suddenly weightless, I squeezed my eyes shut as I flew across the shuttle.