Kid recalled when they had first been wandering the wilderness together—their hatred toward one another, but then how they submitted to their lust for each other’s bodies…and then how their hearts had warmed toward one another…to friends and allies…to the lovers they had become. He recalled his worries about how fast he’d fallen for Trey. He thought he was losing his mind over an immortal…because who the fuck wouldn’t have thought he was hot…and that sex…it was all so intense…more than anything else Kid had ever experienced. He remembered how worried he’d been about those feelings, and how relieved when he learned Trey felt the same way.
When they returned to the van, Aerysn pulled the pump from the gas tank and hooked it back on the dispenser before approaching them. Trey, seemingly out of instinct, put his arm around Kid and pulled him back, like he was trying to protect him from Aerysn.
“Trey,” Kid said. “I was just in an immortal prison, surrounded by bastard immortals, and survived because of Aerysn. You need to chill the fuck out.”
Trey growled, though it wasn’t the sexy growl he’d made in the store, but a threatening one. On one hand, Kid appreciated it, but regardless of how overprotective Trey was feeling around Aerysn, Kid knew he was someone they could trust.
“I don’t know how you put up with him,” Aerysn told Kid.
“Eh, I haven’t had enough time to really get annoyed with it yet,” Kid said, slightly joking, but more serious than he wished he was. They hadn’t had enough time, and considering the apocalypse was upon them, he wasn’t sure they ever would.
“I’m sorry, Kid,” Treycore said. “But I’m not going to pretend I’m convinced of this guy and his motives.”
“That’s fine,” Aerysn said. “I’m sure you’ll feel better once we find your friend Kinzer. Now, we’re going to head up to I-25, and then we’ll take the next route onto I-90 and make our way to Washington that way. We’ll find a place to shack up while we’re there, before we head to this tower my contact told me about.”
“And your contact will have this weapon?” Treycore asked.
“Yes. He and Kinzer will be bringing it with them.”
“If they make it,” Treycore added.
“Now’s not the time to be a pessimist,” Kid said. Although, he had his own doubts. Even about the weapon that Kinzer and Aerysn’s contact had with them. Kid didn’t know too much about immortal wars, but he figured one weapon wasn’t going to guarantee their success.
“I’ll drive for a bit,” Treycore said.
He and Kid split up as they headed to either side of the car.
As Kid grabbed the door handle, he heard something—an odd sound unlike anything he’d ever heard before.
An animal? Maybe a dog?
Across the street, what looked like a wolf emerged from behind a thick growth of shrubbery. It wasn’t a wolf, but some giant, hairless wolf-like creature with coal-black flesh and long black claws that grew from its paws and curled at the ends. Its sapphire eyes glowed even in the daylight. The monster opened its jaws wide, wider than it should have been able to, and the sound that had caught Kid’s attention intensified.
“What the fuck?” Trey said, his own gaze on the beast.
“It’s one of the grundars,” Aerysn said.
“The what?” Trey asked.
“That’s what we in Siege call the monsters.” Aerysn glanced around uneasily, as though he was waiting for an army of these things to surround them, when Kid noticed another similar sound. He turned and saw one moving toward the gas station from the side. And then he turned back to the one across the street. It opened its mouth wide before releasing a screeching sound. The creature didn’t move, though. Just stayed in place.
Kid heard something in the distance, more of those sounds, and they came from behind him. He turned and heard crashing sounds coming from inside the gas station. The windows at the front shattered before one of the grundars landed outside, opening its mouth wide as it surveyed the parking lot. Kid could see several more of the beasts inside the station.
As he whirled around, he saw the one across the street coming for him, Kid started to run, then felt Treycore wrap his arms around him, and they were lifted off the ground. He looked over his shoulder and saw Aerysn had Treycore and was carrying them into the air.
“I’m going to get us high enough that I can release you and you can glide to a safe distance,” Aerysn said.
As Kid looked down, he was glad Aerysn had quickly flown them to safety because there were maybe fifty of the beasts racing from the desert toward the gas station.
“How many of these things are there?”
“Probably tens of thousands now,” Aerysn said, grunting as he struggled to keep them both in flight, “but in a matter of a week, there’ll be millions, ravaging the entire earth until they annihilate all life.”
Kid gazed down at the monsters that overtook the gas station, tearing it apart in teams. The patrons screamed as the beasts made their blood splatter and raided the cars around them.
When they reached a high altitude, Treycore spread his wings and Aerysn released him, allowing him to glide over the creatures, through the desert. Trey held Kid close, wrapping his legs around Kid’s, and Kid enjoyed the feeling of being that close to Trey. If it was the end of the world, at least they were together.
