Strain of Vengeance (Bixby Series Book 3) Read online

“They’re here. The trucks are just down the hill.” Luke’s bellow is met with whoops and shouts of joy. Everyone is exhausted, mentally and physically. We’re so ready to get off our feet.

  I raise an arm in greeting to Polly as we draw closer. She waits at the front of the lead truck and flashes me her horsey smile in return. Lewis hovers at her side, his scowl in place as usual. I can see his disposition hasn’t changed any since the first time we met when he rescued us from the horde in Maple Haven, and then threatened to throw us from the truck. He’s still as sour as a lemon slice dipped in vinegar. But not even his frowning mug can dampen my mood. Our walk is finally over.

  I’m so intent on relieving my aching feet, I’m not prepared for the look of horror creasing Polly’s face or the gun barrel suddenly pointing my way.

  “What the hell, Polly?” I start, but then I feel it. The thrumming in the earth resonates in my aching bones all the way up to my teeth. The ground shifts slightly under my feet, as if there’s a herd of elephants heading our way. Or one fucking, massive horde.

  I pivot on my heel, a toxin of terror blazing through my veins.

  They emerge from the trees like ants evacuating a smoking anthill, filling up the fields at an alarming rate and running over each other in their frenzy to reach us. Leeches. Hundreds of them. Their combined gurgling saturates the morning air with its wet, sickly sound. The cold dread blooms in my belly and spreads like wildfire. We’re fucked.

  “Get in the trucks!”

  Polly’s bellow wakes me from my frozen stupor. Realization sets in for the others as well and panic replaces comprehension. Fear raw on their faces, they run screaming down the hill towards the trucks and Kip’s people.

  I search the panicked crowd for Sam and Amy. I find them pushing through the throng, heading my way. Sam’s fearful gaze locks with mine.

  “Get her to safety,” I yell over the screaming. Indecision mixes with the panic on his face.

  He wants nothing more than to fight at my side I know, but Amy won’t move without him. She comes first. We both know that. Her life depends on him right now.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” I call out.

  “You better,’ he yells back. He turns from me and joins with the crowd, his sister in tow.

  “Get everyone in the trucks,” Luke hurls the order at Jonesy and Cookie, and both jump into action at his command. “The rest of you with me. We need to keep these fuckers at bay long enough to buy the others time.”

  We spread out along the shoulder of the road, the trucks at our backs and flanking the field and woods giving birth to the beasties. I glance over at Polly, yelling at her above the chaos of panic. “Hope you guys brought plenty of ammo ‘cause we’re running on fumes here.”

  “I think ammo is the least of our worries,” she shouts. I follow her terrified gaze. She’s right. There’s no end in sight to the putrefied bodies hurtling our way. Shambling hordes of hungry horrors descending on us like locusts. So fucking many of them. Where the hell did they come from?

  “Everyone!” Luke’s bellow tears my attention away for a split second. “Once the others are off the road, run for a truck. Do not play hero, understood? Get yourselves to safety.”

  No one gets a chance to respond. The leeches are in range now, and gunfire explodes around me like I’ve just been slam dunked into a nest of angry hornets. I have no idea if Sam and Amy are safe. No idea if any of them are safe. There’s no time to process what’s happening on the road behind me. I focus on the leeches and the one thought in my head. Blow as many of these fucking assholes away as I can.

  A dark red soon stains the icy field. I gag a million times over as heads explode and bursts of gore and crimson mist the air. But still they keep coming.

  “I’m out,” Gordo yells just as a woman leaps from the deep grass of the field and up over the embankment. Her emaciated body hits the pavement with a sickening crack as her ankle snaps and the jagged bone rips through the skin, sticking sideways out of her blue shoe. It does nothing to slow her down, or the worm as it ejects from the torn, bloodied mouth. The teeth snap at Gordo and the kid ducks out of the woman’s clawed reach. I fire, but my hands are shaking so badly I miss the target. Instead, a bloody hole blooms in the thing’s shoulder, spraying fragments of blood and red tissue through the exit wound. The woman staggers off balance but keeps coming.

  “Fuck!” I scream and aim again as it rights itself and veers for me.

  Too close. Can’t make the shot. Almost on top of me now, I swing the stock of my rifle into the leech’s jaw. It’s head snaps and it rears back. I smash the weapon into its face a second time. It staggers, and I keep battering at it again and again until its face is a bloody pulp of flesh. Coppery wetness speckles my face and lips. Wiping the blood from my eyes with my sleeve, I yell at Gordo over the staccato of gunfire.

  “Get to a truck.”

  He moves fast. He doesn’t argue. Without a weapon, he’s a liability.

  I aim for my next target, no time to check and see if Gordon made it, but the hollow click echoes back at me. I’m empty, too. Throwing the gun aside, I pull my knives and take a stand. I know Luke told us not to play hero, but I can’t desert them. I’m better with the knives, anyway.

  “Guys come on!”

  Sam appears at my side, and I whirl on him with wild eyes. He grabs my hand, pulling the knife down to my waist.

  “Amy?” I cry.

  “She’s safe. We gotta go”

  I glance back over my shoulder. Two of the trucks filled with our people are already on the move, the third rolling slowly as Lewis waves at us frantically from the driver’s side of the cab, telling us in no uncertain terms to move our asses or miss our ride.

  “Luke,” I yell, pointing to the truck once I get his attention.

  “Fall back,” he orders, and we bust our asses toward the last truck.

  Morley and Jonesy stand on either side of the open tailgate, hands outstretched, urging us to run faster, but I can’t hear them over the blood pounding in my ears. I don’t know if the others are behind me, or how close the leeches are. I focus on the faces of the people in the truck bed, memories of being throttled by the last fucking leech that chased me down invading my head. Panic makes my vision go blurry as the truck appears to spurt ahead. Is Lewis pulling away? Fuck no. He can’t leave us behind. I can’t be caught again. These bastards are out for blood. I won’t survive the next encounter with one. None of us will.

  Adrenaline shoots through me and I lunge forward, my lungs burning and my chest heaving. I reach out, latching onto Jonesy’s hand. He tugs hard, and my body flies over the tailgate and past him as I fall and skin my knees on the truck bed. I roll to my feet, reaching out to help pull Polly to safety. Robyn and Mike are dragged in next, with Dom and Badger right on their heels. I get knocked sideways as Dom nearly barrels me over. Pushing him out of my way, I search the tailgate for the familiar two faces. They’re still outside with the horde.

  The truck spurts ahead again, and I grab onto Polly, screaming into her face as I watch Luke and Sam struggling to catch up, the leeches breathing down their necks.

  “What the fuck is he doing? We don’t have everyone yet.”

  “We need to go,” Polly answers. “They’re catching up.”

  “No. Lewis, slow down.” I try to yell over the noise, but my command gets ripped away by the wind. I scream louder, reaching with my hands toward the two men running for their lives.

  “Come on. Run!”

  Sam spurts ahead, arm outstretched, and latches onto Morley’s forearm. Badger hooks Sam’s other wrist, and I sigh in relief as they both yank him up over the tailgate and into the truck.

  My relief is short lived. I cover my mouth with my hand, trying to stifle the scream on my lips. Luke lags as a leech advances on him so close it’s practically on his back. The carnivorous worm explodes out, diving for his neck. Luke jerks in response as the blade-like teeth narrowly miss his jugular and dig into his jacket.


  “Does anyone still have ammo?” My shriek is pure panic. “Someone take that bastard down now!”

  I don’t know who the savior is, but the thing at Luke’s back jerks abruptly as if its hit a brick wall. Half of its head is blown away, and it somersaults and falls beneath the feet of the others behind it, taking down a few with it in its tumble and giving Luke a little leeway.

  Come on, dammit!

  I reach out with Jonesy, willing Luke to run faster. He’s so close I can see the sheen of sweat covering his face and the frantic whites of his eyes.

  Just a little farther.

  His fingers graze mine.

  “Faster,” I scream, practically begging him to move. Determination creases his face as he lunges for us. I cry out in relief as his hand finally grips mine. Jonesy wraps his meaty fist around Luke’s forearm, and we pull as he leaps for the tailgate. He lands on the icy metal with a heavy thud, his legs still dangling over the side. I can already feel him slipping from my grasp.

  “Hang on.”

  While Jonesy and I tug with all our might on Luke’s right arm, Sam grabs Luke’s left and helps pull him in. We finally land him on the truck bed like some damn fish dangling on a hook.

  There’s no time to celebrate the rescue. The leeches catch up to the truck, banging into the sides and bouncing off like rubber balls. Their frenzied behavior is unsettling. It’s like they’re more desperate than usual to get at us and will do whatever it takes to fulfil their directive. Sam’s words of us being hunted fill my brain, and the chill racking me has nothing to do with the ice melting down my neck.

  “Hang on,” Lewis screams back at us from the open window as he chucks the truck into high gear. We brace ourselves as the truck bolts forward.

  “That was crazy as hell,” Jonesy grins at us from the tailgate as we speed away, his bald head glistening with melting snow. “But we fucking made it.”

  The leech appears from nowhere, landing on the tailgate with a thump. The parasite ejects from the bloody maw like a whip and aims for Jonesy’s throat. His grin shifts from relief to terror as the teeth cut deep into the hollow of his neck. The damn thing tips its head back in victory as Jonesy’s shriek of pain blends with our own screams.

  Before any of us can react Morley’s axe whips down, slicing the connection and sending up a shower of blood. The tentacle feasting on Jonesy is severed from the leech’s mouth. Red rain splatters from the axe, blending with the snow glistening on the bald head as Jonesy falls back against the side of the truck bed, the lifeless gray worm still attached to his neck.

  The leech totters dangerously on the edge of the tailgate, blood gushing from the severed appendage hanging from its mouth. Morley lifts a foot in disgust to kick it over the edge, but in a shocking move, it fastens its two arms around the man’s leg and pulls him with it as it falls.

  “No!” I scream as Sam and I leap at the same time, trying to grab Morley’s arms. He flips as he falls, grabbing for the tailgate, but his hands fail to grasp hold. My fingers circle his wrist as Sam manages to snag his sleeve.

  “Hold on, Morley.” I fall back on my ass and dig my heels into the tailgate, but I start slipping on the ice. Hands seize my shoulders, trying to keep both me and Morley inside the truck.

  Morley’s eyes, filled with acceptance, connect with mine. “Take care of them,” he says before his wrist slips out of my hand. His fingers graze mine as his sleeve rips out of Sam’s grip. He vanishes over the back of the truck.

  I’m still grasping at the empty space Morley just filled as he and the leech hit the ground hard. They bounce on the highway a couple of times before disappearing under the avalanche of predators. Haunted by the horror all we can do is watch helplessly as he’s torn from limb to limb, his screams and blood saturating the air.

  Chapter Eleven

  Luke is the first to move. Discarding his jacket, he rips off his outer T-shirt and kneels beside Jonesy who’s tugging at the dead thing hanging from his neck.

  “Jonesy don’t pull it out, man. It’ll do more damage. There’s a doc at the farm. Just hold on until we get there.”

  He bundles his T-shirt against Jonesy’s neck, covering the bloody wound. Jonesy nods and lifts his meaty hand to hold the shirt in place. At least he understands and isn’t in complete shock. Unlike the rest of us.

  “What the fuck just happened?” Gordo whispers from behind me, his fingers still digging into my shoulders. I realize he’s been the one holding me back from slipping out of the truck along with Morley. I pat his hand in thanks.

  “It’s okay, kid. You can let go now.”

  He loosens his grip. I wince, knowing there’s going to be bruises tomorrow. But at least I’m still in one piece. Not like poor Morley.

  I push myself back, still on my ass, so I’m looking Gordon in the eye. He stares back, the freckles popping from his pale skin.

  “What the hell was that, Bix? I ain’t ever seen leeches act like that. The way they tore Morley apart…” He gulps hard, blinking at me.

  I wipe a hand over my cheek and swallow my revulsion. “I really don’t know.”

  His gaze flits to Sam. “Sam? You got an answer? Is this what you meant when you said last night they wanted us dead? ‘Cause those bastards back there,” Gordo says, pointing to the horde still off in the distance. “They wanted us dead. Not as food. D-E-A-D.”

  I groan and roll my eyes. No, kid. Now is so not the time to say that. I hope everyone’s still in too much shock to pay any mind to Gordon, but of course, Dom, the voice of reason, overhears.

  “What do you mean by what ‘Sam said last night’? Do you and Bix know something you didn’t tell us? Again?” He glares at me, but I refuse to take the bait.

  Instead, I glance at Luke as he shrugs back into his jacket, looking for his lead on how to handle this. He stares around at everyone in the truck bed. It’s filled with mostly our people and Kip’s people. None of the children were put into this truck or any of Morley’s crew. They, at least, were spared the sight of what we just experienced. He nods to himself, his decision made.

  “Last night, Sam told us something new. Most of you are already aware of his connection to the leeches. For those of you that aren’t, Sam can detect the queen leeches when they are near and sometimes hears them in his head.” He ignores the uneasy murmuring that starts up at this juicy tidbit. I’m thankful he leaves out the part about Sam being controlled by them. “Lately, he’s been having images of a leech in charge, one that appears to be in control of all the others. This top gun is aware of us. It knows we’ve killed its kind and has ordered its minions to take us down. Appears the hunters have now become the hunted.”

  I ease to my feet and move closer to Sam, fearing how this confession is going to be received. Our people we can possibly keep in line but Kip’s people? I have no idea how they’ll react to this.

  Dom apparently elects himself official leader and mouths off again. “I hate to sound like a fucking broken record, but you didn’t think to tell the rest of us about dickwad’s more lovable connection to those things? Maybe being hunted is something we all should have been made aware of?”

  “I agree.” Cookie crosses her arms over her chest and stares down her nose at Sam like she expects him to suddenly sprout horns.

  Luke’s jaw hardens. “We didn’t know if what he was experiencing was even true. Since he took out those two down in the subway his head’s been messed up. Could have been just a bad dream or stress. We don’t fucking know, and I didn’t want to worry any of you until we got to the safety of the farm.”

  “Well, guess what, gigantor? It’s fucking true. Like the redhead idiot said, those things were not just looking to feed. They were looking to shred us like they did with that poor bastard.” Dom is practically snarling as he stares at Sam, flexing his fingers at his side like he’s wishing there was a trigger to pull. “And what about his so-called connection with them? Thought he was some fucking form of leech detector. Why didn’t he see them c
oming? Why didn’t he warn us? For all we know, he was the beacon that brought them to us, just like the subway. He could have gotten us all killed.”

  “How many times I gotta tell you? It wasn’t me. And I can’t detect the regular leeches, just the hybrids,” Sam snaps.

  “Yeah, sure. Just the hybrids,” Dom mocks. “How convenient. Like I expect you to own up to any of this.”

  Sam’s face darkens with anger. “I said it wasn’t me. I’d know if it was. I have nothing to own up to.”

  “I think we should toss you over the side and see if your alien buddies will rip you up like the other guy.” Dom holds onto the bare, metal bars above his head as he steps our way.

  I do the same, holding myself in place with one hand on the bar above my head while the other hand rests on the knife at my hip.

  “Back the fuck off.”

  “You trying to convince me to toss you out with him?” Dom sneers at me. “’Cause it sure as hell won’t take much convincing.”

  “Stand down. All of you.”

  Luke’s order snaps through the truck bed like a whip. Dom’s gaze flits from us to Luke, a slight twinge of indecision cracking through his antagonism. I know he’s angry and scared and taking it out on Sam, but the last time he pissed Luke off he got a knuckle sandwich in return. I also know he doesn’t want to suffer that humiliation again. He snaps his lips shut and comes no closer.

  Luke stares around at the faces in the truck bed, reading the mood. His gaze hardens, like he knows he needs to take control quickly.

  “We’re all aware that attack was different and totally out of line from what we’re used to. That many leeches together and all at once was organized and precise. It collaborates Sam’s story of a super mind in control, but I, for one, believe him when he says he didn’t bring them here. He would never bring harm to his sister or any of you, for that matter. He fucking saved us in the subway, in case any of you have forgotten.” He turns his stare on Dom. “From where I stand, he’s our biggest asset right now. He can warn us when we’re about to be attacked from hybrids. And if what he says is true and he has access to the one in control, then that can turn the tides. But if we’re going to question each other and go at each other’s throats, then we don’t stand a chance. We need to work together. We need to stand unified against our enemy, or they’ve already won.”