“Oh, I will,” she promised as she hefted George higher up in her arms. The axe she still carried along with her little brother was pressed flat against George’s back.
They picked their way out of the store, avoiding the corpses and went out onto the street. There was blood on the asphalt, but no bodies. Jace squinted behind his sunglasses as his light-sensitive eyes watered. But he saw that the needle-like ship was still there. It smoked. The gangway was down.
If anyone was brought inside there, it is too late for them, Jace. Concentrate on those you can save, Gehenna told him.
What do you mean?
The Khul infect the people they take with larvae who nest inside the bodies and then eat their way out when they’re ready to hatch. They place the infected in pools of a liquid that softens flesh and bone to make this process easier, Gehenna explained almost briskly. They are able to absorb a species’ traits this way and also what an individual knows.
That’s--that’s horrible, Jace said as he swallowed down the bile that rose in his throat.
Doubly so, because the people are alive throughout this process, she stated flatly.
Oh, God… I can’t let them get anyone else! Jace cried. A wash of fear and uncertainty went through him again. His palms sweated more heavily and he had to wipe them on his pants. He was insane to take Sami and George towards more of these things. He could barely handle a register and now he was going to go into battle with giant insects? Are you sure there’s no way to call the soldiers back? Maybe I can call my parents--
The phones are being jammed. Human technology is nothing compared to the Khul’s. Even what humanity has gleaned from the Altaeth is not yet enough to defeat them, she told him.
People have really gotten the raw end of the deal if I’m their only hope, Jace told her.
Jace, you’ve been training for over a decade to fight the Khul, she said with a firmness that had his back straightening. You’re not fully ready yet, but… well, you can do this. Just let your body react to the situation. Don’t overthink.
Jace wanted to believe her. But all of his life he had been fragile, brittle, unable to do the simplest things that most people could, but now he was supposed to act all space marine? On its face it was ridiculous. He could almost hear his father saying, “Champ, I love you, but you’re not really cut out for this. It takes training and you just don’t have that.”
But you do have that, Jace, Gehenna insisted. Though you cannot remember all your dreams with me, I assure you that you have been training extensively for over a decade. Believe in yourself. Or believe in me, if you can’t quite believe in yourself yet.
I have to keep Sami and George safe, he said.
You will. You’re the only one who can. I know you can do this, she told him.
He held onto how easily he had shot that Omull. He hadn’t been thinking and the shots had gone perfectly. So that’s all he had to do now. Not think.
How hard can that be? He laughed mirthlessly to himself.
Jace hustled down the block in the direction where Walter had headed. The laundry where Mrs. Lo--a sweet elderly lady with a dumpling face--was usually behind the counter had its windows broken too. Jace saw a splash of blood along the front of the counter and a smear along the floor as if someone had been dragged out. He wondered if he would ever see Mrs. Lo again.
“Sami, have George close his eyes,” he said over his shoulder as he felt the color leave his own cheeks.
She saw where he was looking and she quickly turned her body so her little brother wouldn’t see. “George, we’re going to play a game, okay? But you need to keep your eyes shut.”
“Okay,” George said around the fingers he was sucking in his mouth.
Jace reached the corner and turned it before backpedalling. He held up a hand to Sami and she skidded to a halt right behind him. Walter’s house was just down the street. In that brief moment that he had glimpsed the house, he had seen that there were three Omull and a Cetix in the yard.
“What is it?” Sami whispered.
“Three of them. In Walter’s yard. I think everyone was inside already when they landed,” Jace answered.
Again, he wiped his hands on his pants to dry them. He closed his eyes and breathed. His heart was triphammering in his chest. He felt the bitter taste of adrenaline on his tongue. Auras were flaring uncontrollably and the trilling of the tinnitus was back as a constant background noise.
I can do this, Jace told himself.
You can, Gehenna told him. You were born to do this, Jace.
Jace’s heart rate slowed. His breathing evened out. His head still throbbed. His ears still rang. When he opened his eyes, he still saw auras, but he felt calmer. There was this cold place inside of him that was prepared for this. He let go and allowed himself to simply act.
Jace pressed himself against the building and peered around the corner again. The front bay window had fancy white wrought iron bars on it, which likely was what had stopped the Khul from simply breaking the glass like they had at the Con-Ve and the laundry. The curtains were drawn, but Jace saw them twitch as someone looked out. The nearest Omull raced over to the window. It popped two of the Happy Birthday helium balloons on its way. Some of the bright birthday streamers wrapped around the Omull’s back and it wore the streamer like an obscene sash.
One of the tentacles on the back of its neck whirled towards the window, slipped between the bars and hit the glass with a wet smack. Jace heard muffled cries from inside the house. That just excited the Khul more and they started to systematically go after the house’s soft spots. The doors. The windows.
