Havermouth, A few days after the storm“I’ll take her,” the man washing the dishes volunteered, turning with his hands still covered in soap suds. “I need to go to Compound B anyway. Feeding time.”“Thank you, Toby,” Father Isaiah nodded. “Fortuitous timing.”Toby dried his hands off on a tea towel and crossed to take Lyric by the elbow.“Be careful with her,” the passenger said to him. “She’s feisty.”“She’ll behave,” Toby said firmly. “Come on, Susan.”He encouraged her out of the cottage and across the vegetable garden. “You are lucky,” he said under his breath. “I thought for a moment that he was going to have Sparrow interrogate you, from the way he was talking.”“I doubt that I would have enjoyed that,” she replied. They approached yet another black 4WD. “You guys sure went with variety, didn’t you?” She commented sarcastically. He opened the front passenger door and lifted her in before rounding the car to the driver’s side. “How do you know which car is yours when they all loo
Havermouth, A few days after the stormToby knocked on the door of Compound A and blew out a breath when there wasn’t a response. “Fucking arseholes,” he muttered before pounding harder with the ham of his hand.An intercom near the door scratched into life. A scream echoed through the speaker standing the hair on Lyric’s arms on end. “What?” A man asked, his voice distorted by his proximity to the microphone in an effort to be heard over the screaming.“What the fuck…? Ergh,” Toby huffed out irritably. “Father Isaiah wants the girl secured here until he’s finished his phone call.”“We’re busy.”“Father Isaiah,” Toby repeated with emphasis. “He’s at Compound B. If you want me to take her back there, you can deal with the fallout.” There was a click and Toby nodded. “Smart move.” He waited until the speaker went silent, his hand on the door handle. “Just keep to yourself,” he recommended to her. “Don’t do anything stupid.”“Sure,” she replied wondering what precisely they were about to
Havermouth, A few days after the stormCap on or cap off? Lyric wondered as she gripped the ball-point pen in her fist. She stood on the other side of the plastic strips, tracking the movements of the man mopping the floors, waiting for her moment. Cap on she decided.She took a deep breath. She had killed Chris and Lee, she told herself sternly. She could do this. The man on the other side of the plastic strips was not a good man. He had participated in the torture of the red-haired woman, and probably others before her and then gone on to whistle merrily as he cleaned up her blood. He deserved to die.When his back was to the plastic strips, she leaped through them, wrapping her legs around his waist, and arm around his shoulders, and stabbed the pen, pointed lid first, into his neck. She hit his jawbone, and he screamed. The mop struck the ground, released from his hands as he raised them, clawing at her in an effort to defend himself. She tried again, and this time the pen sank in
Havermouth, A few days after the storm“How do you end up working for a secret military, anyway?” Lyric asked Toby.“We should travel slower, Lyric,” Niarthen commented from the back seat.“We hit a zombie,” Lyric explained to Toby. “He’s nervous about cars. But he is right, you are speeding.”“There is no one on these roads,” Toby replied with a slight roll of his eyes. “Other than us. We’ve shut down the entire area. As to how… My dad knows someone. Dad’s big on the whole humans are superior thing and annihilate the abominations…” He trailed off as if remembering he had two people fitting that description in the back seat. “So, I wanted to leave the army, and the Order was recruiting.”“There was no one on the other roads except the zombie,” Lyric commented.“Fine,” Toby slowed to the speed limit. “Happy?”“Not really,” Niarthen said under his breath.“What is going to happen, Toby?” Lyric asked him. He seemed to be willing to talk, almost relaxing into it the further they got away
Havermouth, A few days after the storm“Lyric,” Niarthen said softly. “We should do as he says.”“No,” she protested, her stomach churning with dread. “You saw what they do to people, Niarthen. I won’t let them do that to you.”“They will shoot,” Toby told her. “Please. Trust me, Lyric. This is for the best.”“How?” She demanded. “How is this for the best, Toby? These people are monsters. They torture other people. How is this the best for any of us?”“As long as we live, there is hope,” Niarthen decided and reached for the doorhandle. “As long as we live, mia persuma inillium, the chance exists to once again escape. And next time,” his eyes narrowed at Toby, and Toby swallowed hard. “We will kill this one if he again interferes.”Niarthen opened the door and stepped out of the car slowly.“Shit,” Lyric hastened to put the safety on the gun and left it on the seat as she got out. “Don’t hurt him,” she called out in protest as Niarthen was surrounded, forced down onto the ground, and h
Havermouth, A few days after the stormNot that bad, Lyric thought sourly two hours later as she pulled on her clothing with shaking hands. That was a fucking lie. The medic had treated her like a fucking dog, worse than a fucking dog, she amended to herself, because at least vets liked dogs. The man did not like women. He had spoken only to Dove, and only then reluctantly, and had uttered orders that Dove had repeated to Lyric, her voice stern but her eyes pleading with Lyric to comply.He had taken several vials of blood, and then ordered her to urinate, tapping his nails against the tabletop impatiently whilst she had stood and looked at the metal bed pan in disbelief.“Pee,” Dove had told her.“I can’t just fucking pee on demand. I’m not a fucking tap,” Lyric had retorted.“Please try,” Dove had mouthed the words.“Fuck. Privacy? No,” Lyric had grimaced. Of course, there would be no privacy. They expected her to squat and pee in front of them both, and damn it she had because know
Havermouth, A few days after the stormAs soon as the soldier was gone, Lyric threw her arms around Niarthen and buried her face into his chest. He wrapped himself around her, burying his face into her hair, and held her for a long moment before starting to stroke his hands up and down her back soothingly. “What has happened, mia persuma inillium?” He murmured. “What has upset you?”Lyric closed her eyes. The feel of his solid body against her, the warmth of him, and the scent of his skin centered her and renewed her purpose. She shook her head. “I am fine,” she lied and eased away from the embrace.He caught her chin between his fingers, searching her eyes with his own, until he was reassured and nodded releasing her. “I am sorry that they did not set you free,” he said. “Now we must find our way out together.”“Yes,” with renewed determination, Lyric began to search the cage for weaknesses. “We will get out of here,” she told him over her shoulder as she moved to the front of the ca
Havermouth, A few days after the stormThe explosions continued, filling the sky with smoke and ash so that it drifted down and coated the car, the street, and the pretty little cottage gardens like snow. The smell was how Lyric thought the end of the world would smell like. No average wood fire – the smoke had shadows of burnt plastic, melted metal, and roasted flesh.Several of the streets showed signs of some dramatic event having occurred, with upturned 4WDs, others abandoned, doors open as if the occupants had fled, and puddles of blood. Shell casings glittered amongst the ash like buried treasure.“War,” Niarthen observed grimly. “The local supernatural communities must be fighting back against the humans.”“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but not all humans, Niarthen,” Lyric corrected. “The civilians have nothing to do with this. They’re as caught up in it as we are.”“Enough humans permitted them to build this power. They failed to see the monster that grew within them,