Human Bait

Chapter 61: Beautiful

Darkness devoured the buzzing stormcloud of flies. I stumbled to a halt, blinking in the direction of the cafeteria door—or at least, where I thought the door was. I couldn't even see my fingers in front of my face.

I hoped to Ether that the lab experts and flies were as blind as I was. But even if they couldn't see, I felt sure they could hear my rasping breaths and smell my fear.

I waved my hand around where I thought the wall should be. My hand swept through empty air. Fuck, was I even facing the right direction?

Footsteps approached, and Rekkan's voice echoed through the dark. "Zaf?"

"Rekkan, watch out! There are flies and Implanted here!"

A lab expert barked a hollow laugh, and the buzz of flies grew louder. But somehow, Rekkan reached me before they did. His hand brushed my shoulder and then tugged me into his side.

Bright light flashed on my right, and someone scurried toward us. I recognized Serigg's pear-shaped figure, a fuzzy outline in the swaying beam of the flashlight in her hand. Behind her, light seeped through the crack in the door—a sight that filled with me both relief and terror. The same beacon that drew me would also draw the flies. And wherever light could seep through a crack, so could flies.

"Serigg, they are coming!" I said. "The Implanted and the flies!"

"I know! Get inside fast!"

Rekkan pushed me toward Serigg, and she snatched my wrist and jerked me toward the door. I stumbled through the entrance, and Rekkan shouldered through behind me. A dozen flashlights lit the dark cafeteria in an eerie, undulating glow. Hands pulled us away from the door and started to close it.

I swiveled back toward the entrance. "Wait! Serigg is still –"

But someone else was already on it. Mekkar shoved aside the hands to grab Serigg's arm. He yanked her inside, and she pitched forward into him. The door slammed shut behind her.

Mekkar's arms wrapped around Serigg, almost accidentally. Then his wide eyes locked on the top of her head, and his chest locked over a frozen breath... waiting for her to push him away.

She melted into him. He hugged her tighter.

My eyes found Rekkan, searching for signs of injury. "Lekk didn't hurt you? Or the hench people?"

Rekkan shook his head even as he examined me. "I killed the hench people before Ivogg shot me, and Lekk and Nezuli are dead now too."

Serigg and Mekkar separated to focus on Rekkan. "Ivogg shot you?" Mekkar squawked.

"With a tranquilizer." Rekkan's eyes didn't leave me. "Turns out he's the Head Chef. So you're ok, Zaf?"

I brushed the pink spot on his neck, scourging Ivogg's touch. "If you're fine, so am –"

"Dragons!" Pakket yelled.

The room took a collective breath as they noticed what Pakket saw first. Serigg and I were not the only ones who made it through the doorway. Flashlights flicked over the sight, illuminating a dozen black spots.

While the rest of the crowd shrank back, an unlikely hero hobbled forward. She clutched a plastic pink flyswatter in one hand and a dead squirrel in the other.

"Now's our moment to shine, ladies and gents," said Figgel. "Let's destroy these fuckers."

Mazamu followed close behind, twirling a yellow flyswatter like a baton. Next came several more of the oldest women and men in the Refuge, armed with flyswatters and grim determination.