Page 25 of 20% Blood 80%
The signal C sent to the map on my wristport flashed brighter as I reached the point of the clog. Strip lighting flickered in and out along either side of the corridor’s floor, the same way a misfiring circuit did.
Maybe after I removed the clog, I could fix—No. A temporary distraction to clear my head was totally reasonable. Not avoidance altogether. I’d never forgive myself for letting D’alton march straight into danger, risking his life when what he needed ran through my veins.
A skittering up ahead pulled me back to the present moment. What the hell could that be? As far as I knew, no one and nothing alive had survived this hellish prison. My heart rate kicked into high gear, and I fumbled along my belt for my flashlight. “C?”
“Yes, Sterling Peoples?”
“When was the last time you scannedthis floor?”
Almost dropping the flashlight, I pointed the beam down the corridor. Ahead on the gray carpet, a pile I couldn’t distinguish grabbed my attention.
“Level twenty-two has been shut down sincesporemageddon, as you call it. I’ve only been monitoring shut-down floors at a maintenance level. Would you like me to complete a full scan?”
“Yes, I’d fucking like you to complete a scan,” I snapped at her. With careful steps, I walked toward the unidentified lump.
“Mind your manners, Sterling Peoples. Scan in process.”
A rancid odor burned my nostrils. The stench strengthened as I reached the source. “Fuck!” I spun around, running back toward the hovertube.
Fresh shit!
My tool belt jostled as I increased my strides, and the flickering corridor lights shut down altogether. “Goddamn it!” The polluted air might have once belonged to dead bodies, but now the excrement of some fucking alien creature overpowered it. I hadn’t seen one damn body since arriving on this level.
“Sterling Peoples, are you safe?”
The alarm in C’s voice had me pumping my arms faster. “Yes!” Well, for now, anyway.
“Please exit and seal the floor. A winged corpse serpent has found its way into Thermal Station C.”
Winged?
I swept the flashlight across the ceiling and looked up.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I ducked.
A gargoyle-like creature with stone claws launched itself at me. I ducked and covered my face. Its claws raked over my arms. With a haunting, loon-like screech, it swooped away, dusting me with powder.
I dropped to my knees as dizziness swamped me.
“Sterling Peoples, my sensors register no sign of you exiting level twenty-two. I must insist on your immediate evacuation. Though they are shy creatures that feed on the dead, when startled they attack.”
Tell me something I don’t know.My eyes grew heavy, and weariness pulled me under.
“Winged corpse serpents live inside volcano cones—”
That’s how the little fucker survived theFires That Cleanse.
“—and have a quick-acting sleeping powder in their wings…”
No shit.
C’s voice filtered in and out of my consciousness. An image of D’alton shouting while a pile of pink sand buried him replaced her droning explanation. Why hadn’t I gone to him straight away? My vision faded. “C, tell D’alton not to…”
10
TheFiresThatCleansehad ruined this planet. What I could see of it, anyway. More prepared for the vicious frozen winds this time, I scanned the short distance in front of me through tinted goggles. Pink sand whipped through the air in every direction. If my boots weren’t planted firmly on the ground, I wouldn’t know up from down.
My heart certainly didn’t know up from down. Silver and I had grown so close over the last month that I’d thought we’d become friends. At least on his end. I’d sailed past friendship the first time we’d watched a movie together. A Boola friend would’ve shared their life source without a second thought. I longed for Silver’s blood, though drinking from him didn’t even compare to sharing blood with friends and family. Vibrant and rich, the liquid gold that ran through Silver’s veins came with the urge to pin him down and lick every inch of his body.
