Page 32 of Expose Me

I summoned a zap and threw it at the back of a Vuulectian. His back arched and he sank to his knees, trying to reach the thing awkwardly. I summoned another as I ran towards them. Zey yanked the zap out of the first one’s back as he kicked another in the stomach, sending him stumbling towards me. I stabbed him in the side of the head, and he went down. The head thing seemed to work best, and I was sticking to it. Zey used the zap he had to incapacitate the other two.

“Run,” I rushed out, panting.

He shook his head. “They’re all around.”

"Why aren’t they coming for us?” I peeked around the forklift as Zey did the same on the other side. Vuulectians were all around, some still unconscious, some slowly getting back up and helping their buddies. The rain continued to fall, providing them with a constant stream of recharge juice.

It was a good opportunity to escape. Why was Zey not listening to me?

I caught a glimpse of movement in the light of the flashlight, and it clicked into place. The ones who were still unhurt, or who had recovered, were using the piles of trash as cover, trying to get to us stealthily.

I started summoning zaps, as many as I could, handing them to Zey and tucking them into my pockets and waistband. We moved so we were back-to-back. My chest heaved and my muscles screamed in protest. I had no idea what we could possibly do to get out of this, but I was so far past the point of problem solving. I was acting on pure instinct, ready to fight until I couldn’t any longer.

When they made their move, it was fast and synchronized. They swarmed us from all sides. Zey and I fought like caged animals, throwing zaps and punches and kicks, but it was only a matter of minutes before we were overwhelmed and separated.

They tackled Zey to the ground, and the Onuei went flying through the air. It landed in front of the flashlight, looking like a useless piece of junk as chaos reigned all around. With a renewed burst of determination, Zey managed to break free.

A Vuulectian came at me, and I used my last zap to bring him down. I didn’t see the other one coming. It rushed me from the darkness, and pain exploded in my thigh. Bastard had stabbed me with a broken pipe.

I screamed, the guttural sound cutting through the silence, drowning out the sound of rain pelting the sodden ground.

Chapter10

All the Vuulectians froze for a beat and looked in my direction, and I realized none of them had made any noise this whole time.

My eyes fixed on Zey, and it felt like time slowed for a brief moment as I fell, my leg no longer able to hold my weight. He took in what was happening to me, everyone else’s momentary distraction. I may have caught a brief look of uncertainty in his gaze, but I was pretty sure it was just my desperation that conjured it.

He lunged for the Onuei, leaving me at the mercy of one of his buddies. The broken pipe came down on my head, and I dropped. When my face landed in the water-logged gravel, I stayed down. The pipe clattered to the ground next to me, my assailant apparently having decided I was no longer a threat.

My vision wavered. All the Vuulectians were after Zey now. Served him right for not even trying to help me. Stupid shapeshifting shithead.

I was so done with all of this crap.

My eyes landed on a portable spotlight nearby, and I pushed myself up. It was one of those big lights on wheels, at least eight feet tall. I dragged myself over to it, my leg screaming in protest. I gritted my teeth against the pain and pulled myself up by sheer force of will. I had to make sure the rubber soles of my boots were planted on the ground.

Putting all my weight on my good leg, I found the switch and turned the thing on. It was so bright in the darkness it hurt my eyes.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards me. I wasn’t sure where Zey was, but he could fry with the rest of them for all I cared.

I was sure I looked maniacal as I grinned at them. With one hand I gave them all the middle finger, and with the other I summoned a gun. I shot at the light where it was joined to the base. Those things were designed not to tip, so I fired shot after shot until it separated from the base and started to teeter. The light flickered. I gave it a shove with my shoulder, and it crashed into the water-logged ground. The spotlight went out, and sparks went flying as electricity zapped through the water.

All the Vuulectians stiffened and fell, twitching on the ground as the current passed through the water. I slumped against a pile of timber, careful to avoid anything metal.

“I think you got them all.” Zey’s voice cut through the relative silence. “You can turn it off now.”

“Not all of them!” I yelled back. “You’re still standing.”

I couldn’t see him. Wherever he was hiding from the electric current, he sounded close, but he was obscured by the garbage and the darkness. The sound of the rain was the only thing I could hear now, that and my own labored breathing.

“Sky?” Zey sounded uncertain. “You’re going to kill them if you don’t turn that off soon.”

I huffed and reached down, flipping the switch off. The hum of electricity died.

“What do you care?” It would make our lives easier if they all died, but I didn’t really want to add ‘mass murderer’ to my growing list of unsavory titles.

There was a splash in the distance and then the crunch of gravel under feet. Zey came around from behind a pile of tires.

“Because life is sacred,” he said. “They may be going against what is good and right about our people and our way of life, but they are still Vuulectians, still living beings. We do not kill.”

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