Golden-white bolts of electricity flashed.
Stryker nodded and handed her the rope. Norah took it and placed it around her waist, her armpits, and followed the method the Cyborg had used until he turned his back on her and she handed the last bit of rope back to him. She pressed up against his back as he lashed her to his body.
The rope sat tight against her skin until she gave in with a sigh and released her grip from the tree and clutched him instead, her arms threading around his neck while he straddled the branch until her legs hooked around his waist.
It was quiet as she snuggled up against him, his heat penetrating her clothes, her skin, and her bones. A sizzling sensation ran through her.
Norah closed her eyes and buried her face at his neck.
“Don’t let go. This will be very…” he paused, “uncomfortable.” Stryker jumped before he finished speaking and before she could respond. Norah clung to him as the sensation of falling flooded her senses, only to jerk abruptly into the heavy clamor of landing.
Her legs tightened around his waist. With each jolt of movement her body jerked against his. It would have been pleasurable if she wasn’t terrible of falling.
The ropes kept her bound. It dug into her skin, leaving her even more chafed and raw under her clothes.
A grunt had her opening her eyes.
Norah felt the hard muscles under her body turn to steel until it felt like she was clinging to a rock. Something shifted under her groin, plates moved between her legs, pressing into the cleft between her legs, only to shift again into something smooth. The hip bones that caught her knees were no longer there, leaving only a rounded pillar of hard metal.
She couldn’t move enough to see below her. Stryker’s frame left her thoughts as he began the climb the trunk of a tree with only his hands.
Each twitch was the pull of his arms lifting them up an unclimbable surface with the tips of his fingers. It was impossible.
Impossible.
Norah prayed. She’d never been so spiritual in her life since the past few days. She didn’t believe in God. Not because she didn’t think he existed, but because the human race didn’t deserve to be noticed.
They continued to ascend the trunk with each rattling chunk of metal piercing the bark. Norah turned away from the rain and breathed in the male under her. She took in his warmth. Took in his heated scent, unusual with the alien life forms all around them.
Her body swung and the rope slithered from her body. Her butt hit the hard surface of the Giant. Her hands dropped down to steady herself as the Cyborg turned to her.
“The pods?” he asked, his head tilted.
The Giants, much like many trees on Earth, only had branches high up off the ground, thick and impenetrable, a coverage for the swamp-life and jungle landscape below. She could barely see the sky, a wave of leaves obscuring her view, along with the rain that scuttled over the canopy into makeshift waterfalls.
No ground. No sky.Norah stood up on the branch, nearly eight-feet wide, and saw the curved shape of the pod where the branches grew too thick and snapped across the middle into two, creating a dip. Eventually, the tree-pods would fall to the ground and make dens for the creatures below, and the seeds within would sprout saplings.
“Yes.” She smacked her lips. “Never been this far up but Robert,” she looked around her again, “Robert had pictures. These were one of the reasons the corporation I work for chose this location.” Norah hefted her pack. “Are we staying here?”
“Depends.” His eyes pinned her. “Should we expect company?”
Stryker’s eyes didn’t move, he didn’t breathe, he didn’t twitch. She almost forgot to respond when he stopped being human. Norah swallowed.
“Maybe. The things below, the eels, they can climb up to these heights.” She rummaged through her mind, trying to remember everything Dr. Euron had mentioned during their daily meetings. Her heart hurt knowing those meetings would never happen again. “There are bugs at this height, some are poisonous, I don’t recall their names but as long as we avoid being bitten we should be fine. They’re more afraid of us.”
Wind ripped the breath out of her. No. Stryker’s lack of movement did that. He was taller than her, faster than her, stronger than her. He was a predator and she felt frightened in his presence. More so as he continued to remain motionless.
She continued, “There are felines, those that resemble Earth’s larger cats. Many are predators, but they’re land dwellers.” Norah shook her head. “Few would have the ability to get into the pods. Flying carnivores, beaks, fangs, and all could be waiting out the storm. And then there are the snakes.”
He moved. She caught it. The wind-driven rain couldn’t hide it from her observation.
“Snakes?” he asked.
Norah licked her lips. “Most are water-based, from what I remember. Some, the longer ones, can climb the trees here. Those that prefer the bugs up above.” She watched as the Cyborg moved and dropped his pack, where it had hung limp and wet during their terrifying climb, and placed it between them. “We should be wary of them, we have a feast around us.” She lifted her gaze off of Stryker and eyed the tiny bugs taking refuge under the leaves around them. “Many are poisonous. We’ve made several antidotes but they’re...they’re on the ship now.” Norah followed suit and dropped her pack.
Everything is on that ship now. Everything but Robert’s corpse and me.Norah reached out and took the Cyborg’s hand.And him.
He squeezed. She kept them connected.
