The Killin' Fields (Alexa's Travels Book 2) (5 page)

“Corbin didn’t believe those stories,” Paul refuted, for once remembering to speak lowly. “I don’t either.”

Alexa rotated a finger and her men got into the matching formation, leaving Paul to stand by himself.

“They’re all soldiers,” Edward noted. “Females in the nest?”

Alexa shrugged. “Or out hunting, fighting. Women are not required to hide in their holes anymore.”

It was one of those reminders that Alexa didn’t usually give, but her men had to be aware that females across the planet blamed them and every other walking nut-sack for the war. The days of women ruling and men ruing, had arrived.

The ants were clearly studying them right back and Paul, now alone, had no choice but to recognize that fact when the ants switched their formation in front of him. They became a simple pattern of lines and circles to form a word that all of them were exceedingly familiar with.

FOOD/

There was even an attempt to form the question mark at the end and Alexa clapped in praise that surprised her men.

“That’s so good! We killed this mole. Take it. Be well.” Alexa moved back as she kept talking. “Behind us is a fire. The house by it may survive and hold things for you.”

The ants were large, with rough pinchers and log antennae that searched the air. The two in the front of the V were connected at the abdomen, causing the soldier ants to appear ominous as they came forward to inspect the carcass.

“Just old, I think,” Alexa stated, proud of the way her men were holding their positions even though more of the soldier ants were now crawling by their boots. “The corn behind us was moldy. Nothing stays good in afterworld.”

A low but piercing cry came from the conjoined ants and the rest of their colony hurried toward the dead mole, chattering eagerly.

Alexa motioned her own group back to the road. The jaws on the ants were large and looked strong. She wasn’t sure if they would have trouble with the insects, but she suspected they’d be forgotten about if they got out of sight quickly. If they had to fight, their guns would be the only solution here and Alexa didn’t want that.

“That was interesting,” David commented as they got out of sight, thinking it had felt surreal.

“Yes,” Alexa agreed. “I think we stumbled upon a war that the moles have finally lost. Many fates will be decided over these next years. Mankind’s, as well.”

“You mean they’ll go extinct?” Paul asked from the rear with Edward.

“We just saw it,” Daniel said with a sneer. “Your kind have destroyed everything.”

“I’m not like them!” Paul argued, voice once again carrying.

“Paul?” Edward’s tone was deceptively kind.

“What?” Paul snapped.

“What did you do before the war? Before you became Mr. Stud?”

Paul flushed, mouth opening, closing, opening.

“Come on, Paul. What was your civilian job?”

“I didn’t have one,” he answered self-consciously. “I helped my…father before the war.”

“Helped with what?” Alexa added to the building wall against him.

Paul caved under the pressure. “Capture descendants. He liked my toys.”

“Toys?” Jacob asked, confused.

“The tracking darts are Paul’s baby,” Alexa told them without a hint of rancor in her voice. “They’ve always been able to knock us out, but being a descendant too, Paul was able to fill in the missing pieces and provide a way to track us after an encounter. It’s quite brilliant.”

“I thought you handled things like the breeders!” Mark snarled, automatically blaming Paul for that feeling of helplessness he’d gotten when Alexa had been darted and fallen.

“I told you I worked in several areas,” Paul muttered. “I followed orders.”

“Oh no, little man,” Edward sneered. “You don’t get to use that excuse. You had the knowledge to help your own kind and you betrayed them!”

“My father was my kind too!” Paul growled. “You make the choice when you’re eight years old and then come talk to me about picking the correct side.”

Surprised into silence, Edward found himself considering that scenario and coming up with exactly the ugly person in front of him. It was unsettling.

“Don’t talk to me,” Edward snarled.

“Pay attention!” Alexa snapped, tone suddenly wary.

“Shit!”

Jacob’s softly muttered expletive was followed by the sound of his gun leaving his holster.

“No noise!” Alexa snapped, pulling her longest knives from her belt as the shadow of the newest threat loomed over them. They’d run directly into something skulking towards them.

“Is that a…”

Edward sent his elbow into Paul’s jaw as he nodded, knocking the man down and nearly out.

The giant was disorienting. The feet the size of small sleds and the legs like saplings were intimidating. It was the width of three men and shamelessly shuffled through the corn with a cock that any of her fighters would have killed to possess. Alexa wasn’t impressed, only revolted at the sight.

The three rookies stood in shock as it charged toward their group.

Mark snatched his bow from over his shoulder and grabbed for an arrow, but missed. During his second attempt, the giant’s club swung down.

Mark grunted as Alexa slammed into him, knocking them out of range. “Roll!”

The kept rolling as the club followed them, thudding violently into the dirt where they’d been. Rows of stalks snapped under the chaos and crows cawed encouragement.

Alexa shoved Mark aside and ducked the swing. She darted forward as the scarred giant roared angrily and ran between his legs, slicing the backs of both ankles. The giant fell forward, roaring in rage.

The giant’s agony echoed over the killin’ fields and the cut off abruptly as Edward and Daniel slit its throat from each side. Blood sprayed in a wide geyser, splattering them all.

Paul opened his mouth to scream, already swiping at the red gore on his chest, and David knocked him to the ground with a rough elbow.

“Shut up!” David hissed furiously, spinning to see if there was another threat.

Alexa spent a moment listening, feeling the disappointed wind, and then waved her men into a tightly guarding perimeter. Paul, still on the ground, she ignored.

Alexa knelt in front of the giant, admiring the beautiful cuts her men had made. The worn collar of slavery that had been around the giant’s thick neck was in pieces at her feet and she took the largest of these, and placed it in a pocket of her cloak.

Alexa had Daniel kneel down and boost her onto his shoulders for a higher vantage point to look from, but there was only what she expected at this point into their journey-corn.

She slid down. “If more of those come, we’ll hear it this time. Let’s go.”

Still not understanding that his opinion wasn’t wanted, Paul started to protest and Mark slapped a bloody hand over his mouth. “Don’t.”

Paul nodded hurriedly, and Mark shoved him into the lead. “Take point so we can get away while the other monsters grab you.”

Paul inched forward, terrified, and Alexa allowed the treatment. Having Paul along was exactly what she’d feared it would be-chaos-and it was much too late to turn back now.

3

“She’s here.”

“Good. I’m tired of waiting to kill her.”

“Surprised that order came down.”

“Yeah, well, she did wipe out both of Corbin’s squads. Not exactly a text-book case.”

The men gathered their things from the wooden platform they’d built in the corn when they’d arrived a week ago.

“She’s slow right?

“Yeah. It’s the Rabbit. We timed it right. He slowed her down.”

“All he ever did to Corbin, either.”

The three soldiers had been hired guns for so long that they no longer bothered to pretend they were fighting for the government’s right to rule. They’d brought in hundreds of captives for various reasons, but it was still rare to receive a kill on sight order.

“We’ll track her from here tonight. Even in the corn, there’ll be signs, maybe sounds as they fight the evil shit living in this hell-hole.”

They hadn’t been sure about hearing her, but not long after the single gunshot, they’d heard the roar of a giant and the upset cried of birds. One more sight or sound would be a confirmation that it was indeed Alexa (no one else would survive repeated attacks in hours and keep going) and also give them a definite location.

The three men had been sent out on run after run since the war, collecting those wanted by the government. Once they got the needed details, they didn’t even bother reading the rest anymore. Descendants, murderers, rebel leaders-they’d been sent after some of the worst people they’d ever known, but not one of them had been female. Alexa would be the first woman they’d ever taken this way and that challenge, along with the boost in reputation, had been enough to keep them waiting as long as it took.

The trio finished gathering their things and then settled onto the platform to wait for the next noise. If none came, they would leave at dawn and try to track down the remains of whomever it had been. Base had said to be certain and they intended to be.

“Ambush odds?”

“Low. We’ve been here too long, haven’t made a noise in days.”

“But the gifts—”

“She may feel something if she gets close to where we are, but as long as we stay down and still, we’re good. Now shut up. We don’t want to blow this, right?”

There was silence in response. This would be the biggest job they’d ever pulled off, one to make a person’s career or at least get them bumped to a better environment. No mistakes would be allowed or excused.

“Over there.”

Smoke was slowly winding up from a place in the distant corn to the south, and the three men rose. It was time to go.

4

Their camp hadn’t been disturbed. The giant had been drawn to the sound of them running toward Alexa, and they all quickly cleaned up. The smell of the giant’s blood was so sickeningly sweet that it was nauseating.

Once finished, they resumed what they’d been doing before, only this time they all kept track of Paul to make sure he was being quiet. It was necessary. Alexa was sure that their location had already been figured out. Come morning, they’d probably have company.

“When should we expect them?” Edward asked lowly, stirring a pot of rice and beans.

“Not tonight,” Alexa answered, pleased with him. “They’ll watch first, maybe wait until tomorrow. It’s the way slow-thinkers are.”

“What’s a slow-thinker?” Paul asked, earning frowns for missing the obvious answer.

“You’re kind,” Jacob pointed out. “Those who can’t remember the rules, let alone come up with ideas of their own.”

“I don’t get it,” Paul complained softer.

“Slow-thinkers never do anything differently, but still expect a change,” David stated from his post. “They follow the book and die out in the real world.”

“Not everyone can be a hero,” Paul protested.

“Yes, they can.” Alexa’s hard tone sent silence through her group and she signaled for the meal to be served.

Alexa listened to the new sound of paws padding outside their fire-line, but didn’t feel enough hate coming from the predators to worry over it yet. Nature here seemed to be as sparse as people were and she’d shown she would kill. If the vibes changed, so would her actions.

“We will reach a weigh station tomorrow. There may be other travelers there.” Alexa gestured for Edward to explain so she take a bite.

“There are groups sometimes. People gather and wait,” he told them. “When there’s enough, they try to cross a dangerous area. It’s called a group defense.”

“They’ll need our caliber and want to hire us. That is not allowed,” Alexa ordered.

“We offer, right?” Jacob inquired.

“Yes, if we feel they deserve such an honor, but we are already on a quest. It would take a lot to detour me from our current mission.”

“And that is?” Paul asked distractedly, trying to keep up with the conversation as he waited for his share of the food.

“To survive, of course,” Alexa answered. “Fate has set our path through Nebraska. We will not go around.”

“Is there another problem here?” Mark asked intuitively. “Beyond the killing fields?”

“There is more than one,” Alexa told him. “The biggest we’ll face is the house in the corn.”

The ominous silence after those words told Alexa they’d heard the rumors.

Edward caught the subtle gestures of his fellow teammates and cleared his throat. “You’d have us challenge the master of the house?”

Alexa scooped another bite before answering, tone brutal. “No, my pets. I’d have you kill the master of the house and burn that evil residence to the ground.”

Each man there found an immediate desire to give her both of those things, but Edward was the only one who felt comfortable expressing that emotion to her.

“Then that’s what you shall have, Lady.”