Page 125 of Monsters within Men
“I don’t understand why you have to do this. Don’t you want to remember him how he was? Some things are better left unseen.”
Vitt, supporting Noah’s left shoulder while Frankie took the right, paused to catch her breath. His leg, bound with Vitt’s belt acting as a makeshift tourniquet, throbbed with every step.
He inhaled deeply. “I was never able to do it for Khyan. Find him, after, I mean.”
“There was likely nothing to find.”
“I don’tknowthat though,” Noah snarled, flinching at the reaction his words caused. “I’ll never know. With him. With Zeke, at least I can put my mind to rest one way or another. We either find his body, or we dispatch the fledgling type he’s become. I just want his tags,” he said, appealing to her sentimental nature. “I just want to be able to tell Zaya exactly what happened.”
It worked: her gaze softened.
“At least let one of us do it if we find him,” said Frankie.
“Whenwe find him, I’m going to do it.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to imagine the task ahead of him if they found a type in Zeke’s place, his beautiful body mutated into a monster. But it was a task that was his to complete.
Vitt sighed and repositioned her grip on his body before they restarted their awkward, stumbling journey. They slid down muddy banks, crawled through brambly hedges, and climbed over icy trunks—all while battling heavy snowfall and angry, empty stomachs.
At the point where Noah thought he was going to have to insist the girls at least turn back and make for the barn—the others were surely worried by now and they hadn’t been able to turn back on any of their comms—Wolf barked three times, sniffing the air. He, at least, seemed to have recovered from his earlier injuries.
Frankie squeezed his arm with a shaking hand.
“You should stay here,” he said, but she shook her head.
It was way past dusk now, the light from their helmets providing the only illumination in the dark night. Would the batteries even last for the return journey? If he caused Frankie and Vitt’s deaths because of his own selfish mission…
The three of them pressed on, Wolf becoming more animated by the second. Abruptly, he stopped, sitting on his haunches with his tongue lolling out, staring at Noah like he wanted praise.
His impatience bubbled over. “Keep going, Wolf,” he commanded, but the dog remained still, sitting by the base of a large oak tree. Wolf looked up, yapping a happy bark. “Wolf, we don’t have time for—”
Frankie yelped, her helmet doing little to muffle the sound, and she dropped her grip on Noah. Her head tilted back, her light revealing the branches midway up the tree as she pointed.
“What?” he said, exasperated. There were no types nearby, judging by Wolf’s relaxed demeanour. He squinted through the snow to the dark shadows within the tree, which retained many of its leaves despite the season. Something moved within the boughs.
“Don’t come any closer,” the tree said.
Noah was dreaming.Surelyhe was dreaming. There was no way, no way in hell—
“Zeke?” shrieked Frankie.
“Stay away,” the voice called down, a hoarse croak.
Vitt whispered various obscenities under her breath, squeezing Noah towards her.
Noah’s dry mouth fought for words. “What are you doing up there?” he asked, as if Zeke were a cat he’d lost up a tree.
“I’m trying to get high enough to jump, but it’s too wet and slippery and cold so I…” He trailed off.
Noah tried to position his light to get a clear view of Zeke, but it proved difficult. Then Vitt dropped her grip on Noah, causing him to stumble. He swung around to find she’d unshouldered her rifle to train it towards Zeke’s voice.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, and pressed the top of the barrel downwards.
“You said youunmistakablysaw one bite him.”
“That was well over three hours ago,” said Frankie, her voice thick with confusion. “Zeke, how are you feeling?”
“I can’t feel anything,” Zeke said. “I’m completely numb. I managed to climb this high, then I froze.”
