“Leave it alone, Jake.” Tom tapped his wrist. “I’m gone in forty-five seconds.”
Before Jake could protest, something else grabbed his attention. Staring at the small hill in front of him, he could hear it was coming from the other side. A slow and deliberate scratch. Imagining a black fingernail, diamond tough, Jake saw it running over dry concrete. Each stroke sent a shiver snaking down his spine.
Unable to control his shaking legs, Jake continued to stare, expecting something to appear. A hollow face. Blackened skin. A charred and forked tongue tasting the air, licking cracked lips. Sharp teeth that craved soft flesh. Goosebumps raised all over his body, and he stepped back.
“Hurry up!”
Glancing over his shoulder, Jake saw Tom’s face slack with fear as he too stared in the direction of the sound. There was something there for sure.
Backing away again, Jake returned his focus to the hill. “What is it, Tom? What can you see?”
“Thirty seconds, Jake.” There was a quiver in his voice that wasn’t there before.
A lump of brick slipped beneath Jake’s foot, spiking his pulse as his arms windmilled. Managing to stay upright, he gasped for breath. “Can you see them, Tom?”
“See who?”
Tom was the worst liar. “You can, can’t you? What do they look like?” Gulping an earthy mouthful of dust, Jake continued stepping back. “How many of them?”
The scratching got louder.
“What are you talking about? You’re imagining things, Jake. Just fucking hurry up. Jesus, how many times do I have to say it? I’m worried that a Rixon—”
Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip.
There was no way he was falling for that again. Jake turned to look at the fox.
But it wasn’t a fox.
Rising up behind Tom like some monster from a lagoon, a large Rixon-Bot cast the tall man in shadow.
Cowing beneath it, Tom flinched as it flew past him.
It was in front of Jake in a blink. With an itch burning in his gritty throat, Jake swallowed back the need to cough.
The meter-long machine hovered just centimeters away. It was black like the headset. Blood red letters were embossed down its side. RIXON. It drew closer. The chill of its cold metal shell radiated from its heavy body. Jake shivered. His lungs tightened. Stars swam in his vision. His heart throbbed in his neck.
The machine’s lens was about the size of a dinner plate. It reflected everything back at Jake. His wide eyes. His gawping mouth. His dilated pupils. It revealed nothing of the machine other than cold detachment. Jake’s life wasn’t important.
Swallowing twice in quick succession did nothing to ease his need to cough. Would it startle the machine? Could you startle a machine? The sudden sound could be perceived as a threat. He couldn’t chance it.
The Bot remained still, the mini helicopter blade whirring to keep it stationary. The smell of oil filled the air. Jake’s stuttered breath turned to condensation on the lens. Darkness shifted behind the glass. A decision was being made. Thumb up or down? The shiny Gatling guns hung beneath it. They were level with Jake’s soft stomach.
Breathe, Jake.
When the Bot flew backwards, Jake shook. The hot bullets would tear through him like needles through wet tissue. Jake closed his eyes, and the sting of warm urine ran down his thigh. Please make it quick.
Opening his eyes again, Jake saw the Bot fly at him. Ducking at the last moment, it sailed straight over his head. The gust of wind blew his hair from his face. Half an inch lower and… He couldn’t think about it.
Spinning around, he stepped back, tripped and fell. Landing on a large lump of concrete, Jake yelped as nauseating pain burned through his lower back. The machine spun to face him again.
Instead of attacking, the Rixon-Bot watched Jake but didn’t move. Maybe it wasn’t bothered. Maybe Jake was right. He hadn’t touched their property. Why would it want him?
The machine turned away again and hovered over the headset. A small hook extended from its bottom. It curled around one of the straps and lifted it from the ground. The black helmet swayed beneath it in the wind.
Despite the very real threat to his life, Jake still wanted the headset.
As the Bot rose out of the crater, the headset was tossed and flipped by the elements. Hovering for a second, the Bot then accelerated away, taking Rixon’s property with it.
With puffed cheeks, Jake released a long stream of air before falling into a coughing fit.
After a minute or two, Jake looked up at his friend and laughed. “Wow, I thought I was done for.”
Tom was staring over the brow of the hill where the scratching had been coming from. The skin on his previously white face had turned translucent.
When Jake tried to move, an acute agony stretched up his back, restricting his already tight lungs. “Tom,” he wheezed. Holding a hand out to his friend, he added, “Help me out.”
The tall man didn’t move.
“Come on, Tom.”
Then he heard the scratching again. Maybe it was always there. Clicky nails. Scuttling feet. There was more than one of them. The things had waited for Rixon to leave. The leftovers were theirs.
Forgetting his pain, Jake jumped up. Scrabbling to get away, he fell forwards into the hill. Using both his arms and legs, he pulled at the rubble to get out of the crater. The awkward movement threatened to crick his back. His limbs burned as the ground shifted.
The sound of feet chased him. Clickety-click.
Don’t look around. Focus on Tom.
Slipping back down the hill, Jake kept his eyes up. Don’t look around. Focus on Tom. It didn’t help that Tom was fixed on what was occurring behind, his mouth wide in a silent scream.
Gasping to fill his lungs, stars flashed in Jake’s vision. The glasses did nothing to stop his eyes streaming. It reduced Tom to a blur but didn’t mask his limp horror.
Digging deeper, Jake pushed on.
When Jake finally fell over the top of the hill, his pulse swelled in his eyeballs and sweat ran down his face. Seconds later a sharp pain bit into his shoulder. “Ow!” Looking up, Jake saw that Tom had a hold of him.
“Don’t look around,” Tom said through gritted teeth. His eyes were wide. “Let’s go.”
The dusty air didn’t seem capable of supplying enough oxygen for Jake’s getaway, but Tom wasn’t one to exaggerate. He’d have to cope. With nausea boiling in his guts, Jake followed on the heels of his departing friend.
The clickety-click behind them quietened, and as much as Jake wanted to turn around, he didn’t. What mattered was that they weren’t giving chase.
Jake then heard a wet squelching like pigs feeding.
That was why they never found any corpses.
She swallowed the thick lump of meat. It was bland. Salty.
Jake had escaped Rixon’s wrath today. If it wasn’t for Tom, he would have turned around. He would have seen them. Would he have surrendered there and then? Would he have lost the strength in his legs as well as the excrement in his bowels? Would that have been the end?
The questions were pointless. She chewed the grey meat and watched on. Those around her were too preoccupied to notice Jake. That was good. Jake was hers.
Chapter Three
Moving at a quicker pace than usual, Jake slipped on a lump of rubble, a spike of panic gripping him as he anticipated the crack of his ankle. It never came. Staring into the oncoming wind, his eyes protected for the first time, Jake could just about see his friend. Cupping his mouth, Jake called after him as he disappeared into the dust storm ahead. “Tom! Wait up, man.” The weather chewed his words up and spat them back in his face with a side helping of grit.