Bite by K.S. Merbeth

Author:K.S. Merbeth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic, Fiction / Dystopian, Fiction / Action & Adventure
Publisher: Orbit
Published: 2016-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

From there, it doesn’t take much time to reach the top. Soon enough we find a road and we’re back on track as if the ordeal with the Queen never happened.

As the heat of the day sets in, the sun soaks up the moisture from my clothes and body—all except for my boots. My feet still feel damp and clammy while the rest of me is way too hot. My feet squish noisily with every step, painfully loud in the near silence. I feel more and more ridiculous, though nobody says anything. Everyone seems subdued, or maybe just exhausted. Pretty Boy walks with his head down and his shoulders slumped, Tank is lagging behind as usual, and Dolly stays a few yards ahead and doesn’t say a word. I want to speak to her, but I have no idea what to say. The atmosphere is grim; even Wolf is dragging his feet.

“So what’s the plan, then?” I ask eventually, unable to take the dreary silence any longer.

“Same as before,” Wolf says. “This Saint asshole’s got Lord knows how many sharks locked up already, and we sure as hell ain’t gonna join them. So we find that radio tower and explode the shit out of it.” He says it matter-of-factly, without his usual excitement.

“Really?” Pretty Boy asks, lifting his head. “How the hell are we supposed to do that?”

“In the usual way, dumbass. With explosives.”

“Wolf, we don’t have any explosives.”

“So we get some.”

“Oh? Just like that? We can’t use the Queen anymore.”

“This is the fucking wastelands, Pretty Boy, everyone has explosives. We just need to find a town.”

“A town that will know we’re coming, thanks to that broadcast.”

“Shit, you’re right.” Wolf pauses for a second. “Guess we’ll need disguises, then.”

“Disguises?” I ask. “Does that actually work?”

“’Course it does. This one time, we dressed Pretty Boy up as a girl and—”

“I am not doing that again. No way.”

“It worked way too well,” Tank says, looking disturbed.

“Yeah, it did. He looked more like a girl than you do, Kid.”

Somehow, I don’t find that hard to believe.

“Actually, that could work. We dress Kid up as a girl,” Wolf says, face lighting like he just came up with something brilliant.

“Uh, Wolf, I am a girl.”

“Yeah, but hardly. It still counts as a disguise.”

“What, so we send Kid in as a scout? You really think that’s a good idea?” Tank asks. He says it without malice, but it stings a little.

“Yeah. Kid and Pretty Boy.”

Pretty Boy and I glance at each other simultaneously. He looks away first. I try not to let my mind wander. It makes me feel sick to think about last night, and there’s something hard and bitter inside me that grows with every reminder.

“She’ll fuck it up,” Pretty Boy says bluntly.

“We ain’t got any other options,” Wolf says. “I’m too easy to recognize, Tank is too scary, and Dolly is too… you know.”

“She’ll fuck it up,” he repeats.

“Shut up. That’s my decision and we’re sticking with it.”

I glance at Pretty Boy again to find him adamantly avoiding my gaze, his jaw set.

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