There was a noise, definitely a voice, too low to make out.
“Bastard!” The flora parted and Maddy appeared, in a borrowed militia exoskin and a fit of rage that, upon seeing me, became a smile. I preferred the rage. “There you are,” she said, sickly sweet, and went for the kill shot.
I dropped, clutching the part of a man’s anatomy that should never know the full force of a kick from a prosthetic leg that could amplify itself to double speed.
“I think you busted one of my balls,” I whimpered. The pain surged, piercing, sending me straight to my side because my knees couldn’t hold me.
“I hope I did,” she said with the same foot that assaulted me planted on my side. “You took off your commlink.”
“How… did you know that?”
And why did she care?
“Captain Malik had to tell Elado that he was taking the militia team in search of an idiot crew member who left the compound without permission, a flamethrower, his exoskin, and his fucking commlink, the one thing that could tell us where he went, you worthless piece of shit!”
Taking a deep breath and willing the pain to subside, which never worked, I said, “I needed to clear my head.”
“Alone on an alien planet surrounded by flora that want you as their next meal? You’re dumber than you were when you were a teenager, and that is somehow impressive.”
“I do recall that you made me in charge of all our finances because you could hardly count past ten.”
She leaned down to yank me onto my knees, where her grip tightened around my collar. “Did you dare to think just because you put on some muscle that I could not kill you right here and now? You’ve seen me gut a man. Did it look like fun?”
“Not for him.” I choked when she squeezed the collar tighter, then smirked. “Maddy, I fear I must tell you that choking is a kink of mine, so this is a little awkward for me.”
“I am going to kill you and feed you to the flora, you sick bastard.”
Roys stumbled out of the same flora, breathless and with his expression stern. He spotted us, concern etched over his features that shouldn’t be there. I was a hassle, and he should have shown it. Then he was annoyed, and my heart settled.
“You found him. Good.” Roys sent out a message, paling when Maddy brought out a laser blade.
“No, we found his carcass. Turn away. You don’t want to see this,” she said.
Any pain I felt dulled in the face of her threat. I grabbed her hand still clinging to my shirt. “We can talk about this rationally.”
“Fuck that and die already.” She brought up her arm, and I shrieked.
Roys stepped between us, forcing Maddy to release me. I scrambled behind him, kneeling, and I wasn’t even taking the opportunity to admire his ass. I clung to his belt and peeked around at the murderous asshole pointing that blade at me.
“Let’s calm down. We found him. He’s clearly fine,” said Roys, hands outstretched in defense.
“I was fine until this psycho tried to kill me!” I interrupted.
“Keep talking and I will show you psycho,” she snarled, and I swear a piece of foam flew out of her mouth.
“See? She’s rabid. Put her down and be done with it.”
Their commlinks blared. Roys checked while Maddy tried circling to get an opening. I used my hold on his belt to maneuver him around, keeping him as a meaty shield to her rage.
“Everyone is heading back. Unless you want to explain to Elado why the man we previously found alive is returning to the habitat dead, then I suggest you put that blade away.” Roys grunted when I moved him again to maintain my favorable position.
Maddy groaned, glared, and finally relented, though not before pointing the blade at me alongside a warning. “Take that commlink off again and I will castrate you.”
With that, she went into the forest. I had no idea what transpired or why my chest felt so warm. She tried to murder me, and I was grateful. Confused beyond belief, but grateful.
Roys watched her silhouette disappear among the brush. “I see the family resemblance.”
“Bullshit, she’s psychotic. She threatened to castrate me,” I grumbled while never looking away from the flora. She may jump out at any moment to stab me.
