Bone Dust & Beginnings (Alexa's Travels Book 1) Read online

It jerked him off the edge and out of reach.

  Alexa’s arms bulged with straining muscles as she guided the falling man to the ledge below her.

  Edward caught himself, remembered to breathe.

  "Ready?"

  He nodded, his heart not quite steady, and braced as she jumped again.

  It was exhausting work, but very effective. Fifteen minutes later, they were around the side of the granite cliff. It would take weeks for the hungry reptiles to get through the mountain and at least two days to go around.

  Alexa began to move them downward, body draped in a fine sheen of sweat. Corbin and his henchmen wouldn’t be able to see smoke from a fire, either, thanks to the mountain blocking their view. She would be able to sleep.

  Edward was glad to see flat ground gradually moving closer. His arms were on fire, back and neck screaming. Alexa had to be feeling the same or worse, but the horseman didn't hesitate to jump and let her swing him. She was in the lead now.

  2

  Alexa and Edward sat side by side in front of a small fire, freshly washed and fed. Mugs in hand, they leaned against the stone cliff and watched the odd slowness of nighttime in Afterworld surround them.

  They’d hunted together, using knives, and Edward hoped he’d pleased her with his talents there. The rabbit hadn’t been a real test, but it had been a neat kill.

  Edward studied the purple sky, the layer of thick grit that never seemed to dissipate. Somewhere up there, was a space station…with the bodies of those who’d been there when the War came. Had they run out of water or air first?

  It was a morbid thought, and Edward struggled to ignore the old feeling of rage. Those who’d destroyed the world hadn’t been punished. That still sat wrong with him.

  Alexa listened to the sounds of the night. The wind was restless, upset, and showers of blackened leaves rained own on them steadily. Nature hadn’t liked helping her escape.

  Edward broke the silence reluctantly, “Was it the redhead who shot you?”

  Alexa glanced over. It was only fair he gained some idea of who their hunters would be, what they were capable of to attain their goals.

  “Regan, yes.”

  “Why?” Edward couldn’t find a reason to kill a female. Take them hostage, yes, but killing instead of selling them? It was unusual for Afterworld.

  “I escaped...” Alexa’s voice faded into a low mutter as she took two pouches from her cloak pocket. “And was found.”

  Sure of the next question, she gave him a tolerant nod. “As we smoke.”

  Her fingers began to twist the tobacco, and the night around them seemed to slow even further.

  “I spent two months hiding underground, evading patrols. The first time I came up, Regan was waiting.”

  Edward listened intently as she told him of her battle for survival in the Wastelands.

  Then

  She'd stayed below ground as long as she could.

  And it wasn't a surprise that there was someone waiting topside for her. Only who it was, caused concern. After letting her escape, Regan should have been punished, not sent out to collect her. Maybe it was an awful coincidence... except it didn't feel that way.

  Alexa slowly pushed the cover aside, other hand ready and willing, but barely able. She’d regained little strength during her months of hiding. Her kind was not meant to be alone for many reasons.

  Regan tensed, sensing more than seeing movement. He'd been here for a week, instinct guiding him. That skill had allowed him to pick up his victims trail time after time. Here and now, it had led him to Alexa.

  Her escape had forced big changes at the compound, including the transfer of a large number of the Descendants. His own part in it hadn't been discovered... but had lingered just the same. It was one of those moments he'd do anything to change…

  The cover moved.

  Regan's hand tightened on the rifle. On the other side of the hole, four men waited for his call. They'd been relaxed a minute ago, but he'd chosen these men for their brains, not their brawn. Slowly, he motioned for them to get ready… and they did.

  Regan planned to dart her and take her back to Commander Corbin. He had volunteered for this duty for many reasons, but payback wasn’t the top of the list - earning marks with the boss was. If he became one of the favored, he would be free to kill while guarding the sessions. He’d strangled normal survivors and found no thrill in it any longer. Someone with power, though, a Descendant…

  The waves of menace coming her way were impossible to miss, and Alexa closed the lid. In desperate need or not, she couldn’t go up there yet. She could wait for the cover of darkness, and hopefully, there would be a layer of fog. She had two other exits, but they were both a mile away in different directions and her weakened condition wouldn’t allow it. She needed to go topside and use her remaining energy on a meal. Unless she stole some of what she needed…

  Alexa carefully found a corner and slid down against the wall, one of her Colts in hand. The other claw-like talons were against the earth, drawing on a third option she had employed many times, but never from this source - if the enemy was out of reach, simply convince (or force) someone else to strike them in your place.

  Regan scowled in frustration as the lid slid closed. She knew they were here. Would she run for a different hole or wait for the right moment to fight?

  The evil guard grinned, thinking of the glimpse he’d gotten. Emaciated and clumsy in weakness, he’d barely missed having enough time to load a dart before she’d dropped into a hole. The shock of seeing her out in the open gathering water had cost him precious seconds she’d used to vanish.

  He hadn’t been sure if she’d spotted him or not, but that was a given now. However, her kind needed energy and she clearly hadn’t had time to search for any while the government trucks rolled in and out. After her escape, the big bunker had ordered most of the Descendants transferred to other locations, and the traffic had been steady - enough to keep Alexa in hiding. What had she been living off of underground? Raw, whatever it was, because smoke drew quick attention. It meant people or trouble, and there hadn’t been any reports of either.

  Regan grinned, feeling more confident. She would wait for dark and come up with the intention of killing, but he’ would have a nice surprise in place for her instead. The thought of going in to ferret her out never crossed his mind. Underworld was lethal by itself. Add in Alexa, even unarmed, and the odds of coming back up shrank to zero.

  Moving slowly, Regan waved at his men to back off and meet up half a mile to the south. They would still be able to see her cubbyhole with the binoculars, but she wouldn’t be able to hear their plans or movements. When you dealt with a Descendant, Corbin said it was best to be as meticulous as possible, and while Regan knew he couldn’t be perfect, he had every intentions of winning this battle. He was taking her back… and dead was acceptable.

  Meeting up with the sixth man guarding their transportation, the recon team gathered around the dingy green hardback, working out a plan.

  Under their feet, Alexa did the same.

  4

  North of them, the Spirit of Nature was dozing. When winter came, she would expend her stores of furious wrath, but in the harvest time, Nature like to rest. It was a reward for the hard work of the reproductive season… and of gathering.

  Her army was growing relentlessly. In less than two years, the last of mankind would be exterminated from shores around the world. The southern lands would be the final holdouts, but without the Alpha, a Beta, and a few others, human’s had no chance of winning the war they’d begun.

  Even if all those needed were to find each other - something the Mother would never allow - they would still have to travel to where she dwelled. It was the only place to close the gates, the only soil where the Spirit could also be the flesh – where she could be challenged and possibly even defeated. Should such a group make it to her shores, Nature would still be a formidable opponent, with legions of faithful followers for the fight. Sh
e enjoyed watching humans kill each other... helping it along.

  “Warning…”

  Drawn into alertness, the Mother marked the feeling of a Descendant, and forced herself to start waking early. Someone was gathering energy from the dirt… taking what wasn’t theirs!

  Nature’s fury rose quicker than her alertness, and she retaliated without thought or pause.

  5

  As soon as the ground began to shake, Alexa was on her feet and moving for the cover. Being buried wasn’t in her plans, only a much-needed distraction and a small bit of energy to start her next bid for freedom on.

  Gun in hand, she shoved the lid over and hoisted herself into the daylight. All she had to do was get out of sight during the chaos.

  The tremor raced through the ground like a bomb blast directed right at them, and the guards were caught unaware. The earth under their boots split, cracking violently in protest.

  “Stay still!” Regan shouted.

  The men ran instead, jumping gaps that opened as a loud roar rattled their heads. So much for them having brains…

  “There she is!”

  Regan turned too late to stop his second in command from being shot in the head before he could lower the hand he had been pointing at her with. Regan fired toward the shadow fleeing through the shower of falling leaves. Damn quake!

  Regan fired again and had a moment’s satisfaction when the shadow filched, stumbled. He’d hit her!

  To his frustration, she took of running, telling him it wasn’t a serious injury.

  The tremor’s strength increased noticeably, and the ground split open near where she’d emerged. Finding her gone, the roar grew almost intolerable.

  The tremor was also hunting Alexa, and the grinding of earth shifted toward where she’d vanished.

  “Come on!” Regan’s shout was distorted but understandable, and the small team of men gave chase.

  Taking advantage of the violent shaking, Alexa hefted herself into the first branch of a thick tree, gasping. She was almost out of energy, out of time…

  A guard darted under her without looking up… then another. In seconds, this tree would be uprooted.

  The ground behind them was splitting open in a wide, ear-piercing rip that Alexa was sure was being guided by the tree she’d chosen. Its panicked pleas for mercy were vibrating through her head like a bell.

  A third soldier ran under the tree as the earth pounded closer.

  Regan neared her location…

  Alexa tensed…

  As if in response, the ground stilled…

  The trio ahead didn’t go far. “Fall back!”

  “Find a track!”

  Nature hunted silently, determined to recover the energy that had been stolen…

  Regan felt Alexa’s glare, turning, arm rising…

  Alexa dropped onto Regan’s back, arms snaking around his throat. Her lips melded to his skin, drawing hard and leaving traces of her recent theft…

  Energy flooded her throat at the exchange, sinking into her like water through dirt.

  “Not again!” Regan slung her hot weight to the ground, finger tightening on the trigger. Dead was acceptable…

  Alexa was helpless as his energy flew through her body, unable to move until it recharged her. All he had to do was fire and the quest was over. If Nature didn’t take the bait now, it was all for naught.

  “Please forgive me, Father…”

  Regan leered, mouth opening…

  “Look out!”

  Behind the evil man, the tree was shoved out of the ground. Tilting backwards as fell, the earth split open, and thick roots rose under Regan’s feet, making him stumble backward. The shifting tangles of dirt snared his ankles, seeming to jerk him off his feet.

  Regan slapped the ground with his face…

  Dead roots slithered eagerly his way…

  Alexa immediately darted for cover. Even in her vulnerable condition, she was behind the dead trees and out of sight seconds later.

  Behind her, gunfire and screams filled the air. It was a common sound in Afterworld.

  Now

  Alexa didn’t need to look at Edward to know he was finding her story a bit incredible. She didn’t disabuse him of the notion. In two days time, he would see for himself.

  Without another word, she slid down into her bedroll and closed her eyes.

  Edward watched her for a long moment, suspecting encounters like that might mark their quest. He could only hope he would be able to react through the shock.

  7

  “Should we bury them?”

  The Commander’s harsh, one-eyed glare was answer enough, and the lower-ranking man took a step back. Garbed in dark clothes and deadly gear, Corbin’s most outstanding feature was his missing eye. He kept a patch over it, but the sense of menace it delivered was thick.

  “Burn it.”

  They’d come (late) to aid Regan in recapturing the woman and found his body instead. Regan’s skills as an interrogator would be missed, but not his clumsiness. He liked to kill, but wasn’t very good at it. It was better that he wasn’t around anymore to expose what really took place on the bottom floors of the compound.

  Corbin studied the abandoned shacks and tents around them as the order was carried out. This was the first actual sighting of their prey in months. Alexa had been careful to stay on the move after the tracking venom had cleared out of her system. Before that, she’d been traceable but unattainable due to her preference for being underground.

  Regan’s call had been unexpected, though the loss of him and two squads wasn’t. When challenging someone like Alexa, four teams of men were required, sometimes more. Corbin had been glad to see he’d chosen to try and lost. Corbin didn’t want Alexa recaptured, though the big bunker would never know it.

  The bodies flamed up brilliantly with a little chemical help, and the soldiers moved back to avoid the flying debris. When their commander motioned toward the rest of the abandoned town, his men obeyed. They had no problem with setting fires. It was one of the perks of being topside - no one cared if it burned.

  “Where has she gone?” Corbin demanded of the short, hunched-over man at his side. If she had left with someone, - and their slow-packing informant had fearfully told them that was the case - then she’d begun the quest. With that proof, Corbin would be able to negotiate a different sort of future for Alexa with his superiors, one that didn’t involve killing her. At least, not yet.

  “Can’t you get anything, Rabbit?”

  Rab shook his head. The screen in his hand showed only static. “It wore off. The tracker juice only lasts a few weeks… and you know that,” Rab tacked on quietly.

  He didn’t want to draw fire, but was unable to pass up the opportunity to call Corbin on something. He was only alive at the Commander’s whims, but it did little to stem the hatred of captivity. Rab had been raised in the complex, trained to work in the labs. He’d spent the last twenty years developing technology for the government that was holding him hostage.

  “Yes, I do.” Corbin glared back.

  He was very aware of the scientist’s talents, but he despised the gifted weakling for caving to servitude. Still, it had its uses to have a genius on the team. Rab had the blond hair and blue eyes of the DNA marker, but both were mussed, not quite in line with the other scientists. Those few he had contact with were sure to behave carefully, fearing he was Corbin’s eyes and ears…. and he was.

  “How about a guess?”

  Rab hesitated. Corbin was tall and imposing, with a quick fist and an even quicker cover-up when one of his favorite men got into trouble. Rab wasn’t one of those, though he frequently wished he were.

  Due to the War, Corbin’s brutal research was mostly unhampered by outside authority. He ran his complex as he saw fit, and only the annual visit brought outsiders from the big government bunker. Four times a year, he also had to send reports and specimens, but those went with a flunky. Until the escape, neither Corbin nor any of his closest
men had been topside in two years. If he made the man angry enough, Corbin would kill him… or leave him out here in this ugly wilderness.

  “To gather the rest of her crew?” Rab finally answered.

  “Then they’ll bring Adrian back, and come for the others.” Corbin confirmed.

  Rab agreed reluctantly. “She knows the kids are still being held, even if it’s not in the same bunker.”

  Corbin’s new personal man stepped closer, tone curious. Shane had never met those he was guarding - had been surprised to get the orders. “Why don’t they use their gifts to escape?”

  Rab spoke up quickly. “Because of the bond. They’re connected through the DNA marker. None of them are strong enough to walk away from the others. That’s why they’re so lightly guarded.”

  “What about this one?” Shane questioned respectfully, not returning the scientist’s curious look. “She left them all and didn’t look back.”

  The woman had looked back, but Rab didn’t correct the well-built man. “She’s not like the others.

  “She is an Alpha.” Corbin stated, thinking thee was only one stronger than her that they’d ever discovered. It was really no surprise that those in charge wanted her dead. She and her infamous father were threats. “They follow her.”

  The Commander moved toward the jeeps, thinking even Alexa had been unable to completely resist the pull. She had come back once, right after her escape, and found only an empty compound. She’d shown up alone, but Corbin had little doubt she would have been successful had the children still been inside.

  “Back to the compound to deliver your report?” Rab asked eagerly, sliding behind the wheel. They were setup in the mountains this time, and he felt very safe inside those granite walls.

  “Send it in this time, use Shane.” Corbin started taking maps from his folder. “We’re not going back.”

  Rab didn’t like the tone in the Commander’s voice. “Until we find her, right?”