Brutal by T.A. Brock

Author:T.A. Brock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Published: 2014-10-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

DAYS PASSED, AND RAINA regained her strength. She spent most of her days satisfying her need for hydration, which she knew was a result of being recently deceased. Her first meal as a riser had been interesting. The thought of eating raw meat hadn’t been all too appealing, but when Leiv brought her into the kitchen and she smelled it with her new zombie senses, she found it irresistible. It was as if she hadn’t eaten in her whole life. Technically, she hadn’t. Her new life, that is.

When she wasn’t hydrating or eating, she was reading the book. Specifically the section Leiv had pointed out. It was lengthy, and much of it hard to understand, but she knew she had been—still was—Leiv’s Save. She’d also learned that there were two kinds of Saves: mated and familial. She wasn’t sure yet which one she was, but the idea that she might be a familial Save to Leiv made her blush with embarrassment. At how she’d thrown herself at him. How he’d reacted. But as much as she read, she couldn’t figure out which one she was.

Today, she was reading more about familial Saves.

Since female risers do not possess the bodily functions necessary to carry and therefore bear young, a substitution is made in the form of a familial Save, which can be assigned by the ancient ones. After forming the required attachments to the riser and making the necessary changes, the familial Save is taken into the riser’s tribe as their child. In some cases, an Oracle will assign two or more familial Saves to a female riser. In some cases, familial Saves may also be assigned to male risers.

Raina’s heart pounded so hard she could feel it in her eyelids. Female zombies couldn’t bear young. That meant she would never have a child, a baby to hold and call her own. She couldn’t remember any of her human life but somehow she knew, felt, that she’d always wanted to be a mother. Now, she would never have that chance.

Putting the book aside, she reached for her water. She held the glass but didn’t drink. Her mind was bouncing from feeling angry to distraught to panicked. Her reasons for feeling like this were a mystery. She didn’t even know until reading the passage that she would want children. How unfair that she’d been changed into something barren. Had she given her permission? She was afraid to know the answer. A person should have a choice in the matter.

Pain, hard and sharp, shot from her head to her toes. What was this?

Her vision was different. Everything that once had color was now shades of brown. Everything that was white was now yellow.

Agony. Terror overtook her as she realized she couldn’t move. The glass of water dropped, crashing loudly to the floor. Something was very wrong. She had to get Leiv.

Trying desperately to make her limbs move, she slipped in the water that had spilled. Her skin absorbed some and the pain lessened a fraction.

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