Omen Operation (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

It wasn’t dark yet, but the sun was starting to set over the horizon and turned the sky into a palette of watercolors. Oranges melted into purples, and rose golds collided seamlessly with dark navy blues. It was beautiful. Brooklyn wanted nothing more than to climb into a tree and watch it while her friends cooked dinner over the fire. But that wasn’t an option. They’d had their rest, and now they needed to move.

Brooklyn had changed out of the dress Plum had leant her, but when she’d tried to give it back, Plum had insisted that it was a gift. Gabriel shoved the pair of decorative lace shorts she’d worn into the backpack, followed by a pink crop top, substituting both with jeans and a long sleeve shirt.

Cambria handed them the backpack while they laced up their boots. “I put fresh bandages and some of Plum’s ointment in there as well. Keep the jar airtight so it stays fresh.”

Porter smiled. “You’re a lifesaver.”

She winked down at him and looked out past the trees toward the cabin.

“You need to find Nicoli. He’ll never forgive me if I let you guys leave without saying a proper goodbye,” Cambria said.

Julian shrugged the backpack over his shoulders and adjusted the straps to fit snug.

Brooklyn shoved the only gun they had in the back of her pants and gave the camp a onceover to be sure they weren’t missing anything. “Okay, let’s go to the cabin, and then we’ll try to get a clear trail before nightfall.”

They made their way toward the cabin with Plum and Cambria guiding them. Plum held Gabriel’s hand the whole time, swinging it playfully and laughing about the short time they’d spent together. She was one of the sweetest people Brooklyn had ever met. It was a shame to have to say goodbye.

Cambria walked next to Brooklyn and didn’t say much but turned and gave her a once-over. “You’re strong. You know that?”

Brooklyn shrugged. “Not really. Not as strong as I should be.”

“Yeah, well, you’re strong enough.” Cambria hummed. “Came into a pretty dangerous pack and lay with them just fine.”

“We’re a lot alike, I guess.”

“You’re a lion among wolves, Brooklyn. It’s not that we’re alike at all—it’s that you’re more deadly.”

Brooklyn took in a deep breath and felt Porter bump gently into her shoulder. He was right next to her, listening to the entire conversation.

“You’ll always have a home with us,” Cambria concluded.

Brooklyn mustered up a thankful smile.

They walked in through the back door of the cabin. Cambria leaned over the edge of the cellar to call down to the boys. They’d already heard them coming. Freddie walked up the ladder so he could see them all.

“Hey, you guys taking off already?” Freddie asked.

Brooklyn had it all planned out. Everything she was going to say. The words were right there on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to speak. She wanted to say goodbye and be done with it. She opened her mouth, smiled, but as soon as she tried to speak, the sound of feet slapping the ground silenced her. She looked up at the back wall and held her breath. Her heart raced; her chest tightened.

The leaves that littered the forest floor were picked up and tumbled along the ground in the wake of several pairs of feet. They hit the earth sloppily and quickly, again and again. A group was running. Their breath was moist and clogged with blood. She could smell it, the sickness of it. The sourness left a taste like something fermented on her tongue.

They were too late.

Gabriel realized it too and shoved Plum toward the cellar. “Get in! Get down there now!”

Plum’s eyes narrowed. She resisted, squirming in Gabriel’s grasp. “What’s a matter with you! Lemme go!”

Julian was the first one outside and stared off into the woods in the direction of the noises.

“Cambria, get everyone inside. Lock the door. Do not come out until you don’t hear anything for at least an hour. Do you understand?” Brooklyn snapped, pushing Cambria toward the cellar as well.

“What’s happening?” Cambria squeaked.

“They found us. Just go. They don’t have any interest in you. Please, please, go.” Brooklyn was on the verge of tears.

The danger, the destruction, everything Brooklyn wanted to shield their new friends from, all of it had followed them.

Freddie ducked down, and Brooklyn heard him speaking quickly with Nicoli.

“Go!”

Cambria took Plum and hustled into the cellar.

Brooklyn grabbed the edge of the door and tilted it closed. She glanced between them, their eyes wide from the bottom of the stairs. Nicoli looked up at her, concerned and confused. Cambria’s arms wrapped tight around Plum.

“Stay alive, girl,” Cambria said.

Brooklyn closed to door over them.

The Surros moved fast, feet pounding the ground. Their breathing was accompanied by loud grunts and hollow growls. They sounded like a herd of rabid animals. Just before their silhouettes could be picked out among the trees, Brooklyn heard the first wave of ear-splitting screeches, warped and carnal.

As they took off toward the river, Brooklyn fished the gun out of the back of her pants and shoved it at Porter. “Take this.”

“You should hold on to it,” he said as he hopped over a large rock.

“I don’t need it, remember?” Brooklyn slammed it into his chest.

Porter winced but grabbed hold of the pistol and held on to it tightly.

The Surros were just behind them. Brooklyn could hear the wetness of their breath and the cracking of their bones as they closed in. There was no way to outrun them, not with Porter being hurt, and there were too many of them to fight. Their options had dwindled.

Gabriel spun around suddenly and took Brooklyn off guard as she sprinted back toward the group of Surros. She bared her teeth and yelled over her shoulder, “We have to pick some off before we can ditch them!”

Brooklyn admired her fearlessness.

Ten Surros were running toward them. They spat and snarled, clanked their teeth and tried to grab at them with long, bony fingers.

The sunlight faded, and the shadow of night dropped down over them. Brooklyn gave in to her senses, allowed her eyes to adjust and her ears to tune in to the vibrations around her. It felt like the world was rotating in slow motion, every precise movement, every instinctual dip or dodge. It all came to her as easily as breathing. Her fingers flexed, the muscles in her legs hummed. Her body wanted to move, and somewhere in the back of her mind, a primal part of her fed off the urge to fight.

A Surro, large and masculine with black blood oozing from its mouth, reached for Brooklyn, but she spun effortlessly and snatched its arm. She twisted, hurling the heavy body across her back before she sent her boot down into its face. Her heel crushed the bridge of its nose, leaving a wide, gaping cavern in its place.

Gabriel was messy. Her movements flowed together in time with each oncoming Surro, but that didn’t mean she was executing the combat the right way. It wasn’t an act of survival for her; it was a challenge. A test. Her lips turned up crudely. She laughed when a Surro gagged and gasped for air as she tightened her grip around its throat. She reveled in their death, teeth bared in a grin, eyes narrowed.

“Brooklyn! Behind you!” Porter yelled, firing a bullet into the chest of a Surro coming up on her flank.

The sound of the bullet cut through the air. The smell of bloodstained soil mixed with hot metal and charcoal.

Julian was busy with two others. He spun around, dodging the tangle of arms that tried to grab him. It seemed like no matter how many they took down the Surros just kept coming.

“We have to run!” Julian shouted as he tossed one of the smaller Surros against a tree, sweeping the legs out from underneath another.

“Go!” Gabriel yelled as she jumped up and bounced off a tree, kicking one of the Surros straight in the cheek. “I’ll hold them off!”

Brooklyn pushed another Surro back with both her palms and dodged the prying, nasty hands of one on her left side. They were surrounding them, slowly but surely. Julian was right—they had to run.

Brooklyn felt Julian’s shoulder brush against hers as they tried to back up, taking careful steps backward toward the river. Porter was being wise with his use of the bullets. He cracked the gun down over a Surros skull that reached for him and kicked another out of the way.

“Get in the water!” Porter said quickly as if he’d had some sort of revelation. “They might not follow! The river could confuse them!”

Julian leapt in front of Porter and backed up toward the river banks. The ten Surrogates that they’d been dealing with had multiplied, and no matter how hard they fought, it seemed impossible to make any progress. They were more lethal, but the Surros were like ants, swarming around them. Soon, they’d be overpowered, and Brooklyn wasn’t ready to give up even if not giving up meant running.

Brooklyn stood up on her tiptoes, scanning the area. She couldn’t leave without Gabriel and ran back out to find her. She twisted and spun around the broken bodies of every Surro that tried to grab her. She slid across the damp grass and lifted her leg high in the air, kicking one backward. She used the darkness to her advantage and grabbed a sharp rock from beside a tree, slicing into two pale arms that tried to wrap around her midsection.

Gabriel was only a few feet away, fighting like it was a dance. She was right there, just within reach. Brooklyn opened her mouth to yell, but the crack of a shotgun broke through the misty air, distracting her.

Plum’s petite body shook, but her hands were wrapped tight around the double-barreled gun. It looked much too big to be held by such a small woman. Tears ran down her cheeks. She wretched, gagging at the sight of the Surrogates. Brooklyn never wanted this; she never wanted any of her new friends to see the nightmarish creatures that’d been hunting them. Plum fired another shot at a group of Surros who were running out of the trees, and she sniffled, trying to catch her breath.

“Plum! Get the hell out of here now!” Gabriel yelled desperately. She ran forward while Plum struggled to reload the shotgun.

Brooklyn tried to follow, but two damp hands clutched her arm and swung her around. The Surro attacking her was quick, snapping from left to right as she tried to squirm away. It mumbled her name under its breath again and again. Greasy black hair was plastered down the blocks of its protruding spine.

Brooklyn lost sight of them just as Gabriel pushed Plum away

“Go back!” Gabriel shouted.

Plum cried and choked as she tried to catch her breath. “I ain’t leavin’ you guys!”

“You have to go!” Gabriel said, turning to shove another Surro away.

The distant call of Plum’s name echoed through the woods. Nicoli and Cambria were searching for her, and if they didn’t get her to go back soon, the entire group would be exposed. It was exactly what Brooklyn wanted to avoid. It wasn’t Plum’s battle, and she shouldn’t have been fighting it.

“What are these damn things?” Plum sobbed as she swung the shotgun at a Surro running toward them.

It caught the barrel in its hand and ripped it from her grasp, tossing the weapon far out into the woods. Plum’s eyes went wide, and she stumbled to get away, hiding behind Gabriel, who once again demanded that she go back to camp.

Brooklyn broke free from the Surro’s grasp and looked back to find Porter and Julian holding their ground at the riverbanks. She turned and sprinted toward Gabriel and Plum. Her head was clouded with the thought of their forest friends, the ones who had saved Porter’s life, losing their own.

Gabriel was close by, fighting as hard as ever. She snapped a Surros neck like it was a wishbone, gouged at their throats with her nails like she was just as wild as they were. Her emotions showed in the way she killed them, brutally, cruelly. Gabriel was sending a message to whoever was watching, and whatever it was she wanted to say was spelled out in black blood on the forest floor. The thought tickled the back of Brooklyn’s mind that maybe Gabriel enjoyed killing.

When Brooklyn finally got close enough to reach Plum, she dragged her out of the fray and pointed toward the camp. “You need to go right now. Go and stay in the cabin!”

“What’s goin’ on? How are you movin’ so fast?”

Brooklyn snarled fiercely. “Run, Plum!”

Plum shook her head, lips trembling as she whispered, “I’m sorry,” turned on her heels, and ran.

The shrieking from the Surros grew louder and more frantic. They were scrabbling toward Brooklyn with bloodshot eyes.

There wasn’t a way out. Not to her left or to her right. She heard the gurgle of one breathing behind her, the rotten smell of another on her left. Brooklyn stood on her tiptoes, glancing at Porter and Julian a few yards away. They both yelled to her, blind from the bodies of Surros that surrounded them. Porter stood on his tiptoes, trying to find her while Julian continued to fight off the straggling Surros that had pushed them against the river bank.