They'd reached the woodlands south of Phalanx by nightfall. Akiva erected her elevated tent between three trees and six feet off the ground. She ensured that her food was secured in a tight bag that would hide the smell from nearby scavengers and she checked her Armpad. The screen had been cracked in the crash and power was running low. Sending a message to Phalanx or even Cavalry would deplete the battery and leave rescuers no way of tracking her. So Akiva set the device to support mode and hoped the continuous transmission of her location would last long enough for help to arrive or long enough for the two to reach home on their own. Thinking about rescue reminded Akiva about Vulture Six and the women onboard who died trying to save her.
Maira's pack didn't include camping equipment because the Valkyrie were expecting to return to Phalanx before nightfall. Akiva offered to share her tent but Maira ignored her. In fact, Maira hadn't said a word since they left the bodies of her sisters in the sand. She'd followed Akiva in silence with an eye towards the east for any signs of pursuit. They knew the infected would spill out of the old depot, the question was whether they would head towards Phalanx and Cavalry or south towards the coastline. She'd kicked the hornet's nest, and she'd be to blame if anyone was stung. Akiva tried not to dwell on it. She left Maira to her brooding and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Akiva awoke to the sound of heavy rain tapping on her tent. Rainfall was rare, but when it fell it was aggressive. She opened the tent seal and peered out into the darkness. Maira was leaning against a tree below, using a poncho and the tent as cover from the downpour. It was chilly and Akiva shivered as the warmth of her shelter drifted into the night.
"It's cold out there."
"Go to sleep, Akiva."
"Maira, get up here before you get sick," Akiva insisted. Maira gave no reply. "The Mothers won't sing your praise for being stubborn and dying of a cold... neither will your sisters sitting beside The Great Mother."
There was still no response. After a minute the tent shook as Maira scaled one of the anchoring trees. Akiva dropped the seal flap and made space. It was an awkward exercise as Maira tightroped over to the tent and half climbed, half shimmied her way inside. She'd left her wet clothes down below and her skin was freezing, clearly she had already been soaked through. The waste was sweltering hot during the day but could drop below freezing on particularly cold nights. Akiva offered Maira a towel to dry off and shared her blanket for warmth. They rested back to back as the rain drummed against their shelter.
"If you hate me so much, why did you beg them to save me," Akiva whispered as she tried to find sleep once again.
"The Mothers say we are the future of Phalanx. I couldn't leave our people's future to die," Maira responded.
Akiva nodded. She understood the importance of protecting the future. It was something the people of the old world ignored to their own demise.
"Besides, I never said I hate you."
"Then why did you stop talking to me," Akiva asked after a long pause. "Why did you move out?"
"You know why."
"No, I don't, May." Akiva didn't want to fight, not really, but she wanted answers.
"Stop calling me that."
"Why? I've always called you May."
"That was before."
"Before what?"
"Before you went to Cavalry!"
"What... I-"
"I told you how I felt about you, and you ran off to Cavalry for two months. No letters, no messages, nothing. You were just gone, Akiva. I may have moved out, but you left me."
Maira shivered. So did Akiva. The smaller woman turned so she was spooning the other. Maira stiffened and Akiva put her arm over her. The warmth they needed was fast in arriving. It felt comfortable. It felt natural. They shared heat and memories of happier days in silence until they both began to nod off.
"I was scared, Maira. I was afraid that you deserved better than me," Akiva said as sleep finally took hold. "And I was right."
Morning came with the feral howling of infected. Akiva jerked into wakefulness, and it was Maira's hand that kept her from jumping up. The Valkyrie unsheathed the knife she'd hidden in the towel and eased over to the tent seal. She opened the flap and stifled a cry when the torso of an infected walked into view. The hulk had to be at least eight feet tall, smaller than the hulk that brought down Vulture Six, but definitely one of the larger variants of the monsters. Maira glared at Akiva.
"I do deserve better," she breathed, in a voice so low that Akiva thought she merely imagined hearing it. "But I want you."
Maira jumped out of the tent and onto the monster's back, stabbing at his neck with sure strikes. The creature roared and stumbled out of view. Akiva was stunned, trying to process the moment, and then a support cable snapped and the tent was thrown sideways. She grabbed onto the sides of the tent as her bedding tumbled out of the seal flap. Dangling out of the opening, the tent shuttered dangerously. A second infected hung from a support cable. The rain had let up but the storm clouds still blocked out the sun, hindering the greatest weapon against the monsters. The creature's mouth opened, but instead of a tongue, a bundle of tentacles grabbed for Akiva. Panicked, she let go and fell to the ground. The infected followed, landing on his butt and not his feet. She ran for her pack, and he scuttled after her like a crab.
Akiva grabbed the bag from its hook, simultaneously unravelling the cables holding her tent aloft. The bundle of wet leather and vinyl fell on top of the monster. It brought her a moment to unzip the bag before the creature tackled her to the ground, tent and all. She struggled but the monster was too strong, his fingers digging into her unprotected skin with ease. He pressed her into the ground and howled, drool spilling from his mouth in a foam. He bit at her nose and she screamed as she squirmed to avoid his teeth. Akiva kicked the monster in the groin. Roaring in pain, it reeled back. She followed him with the climbing pick from her pack and jammed the tool through the top of his head. The creature fell over dead.
Akiva knew there was no time to waste, but she risked putting on her pants and trying to collect everything she could from her tangled tent. Most of her belongings were soaking wet from the fall into the muddy ground, but she couldn't afford to leave anything behind if she had a choice. Akiva retrieved her climbing pick and pulled her top down over her head.
"Kiva, run!" shouted Maira from somewhere deeper in the woods.
Akiva was scared, far from home, and wearing infected blood. She required little prompting. She tarried long enough to grab May's gear before she took off at a sprint. Quickly the sounds of rushing infected filled the woods. Grotesque forms were everywhere, but Akiva was no stranger to evading capture. She only wished she had taken time to put on her boots. The forest floor was wreaking havoc on her soles. She weaved around the monsters, ever moving west toward Phalanx. Drooling, grasping mutants grabbed for the young scavenger, but she was a rolling, dodging blur. Desperation and experience combined to make her one with the wind. Akiva sang to The Great Mother under her breath. The girl asked for divine blessing and protection, for the strength and speed to reach home.
She also begged the goddess for a second chance with Maira. Akiva thought about the red haired Valkyrie, the way she could sing entire songs with but a look, the way she could caress others with her laugh. Akiva had missed Maira's laugh the most. The scavenger ran, her heart full of hope that the Valkyrie was close behind.
An infected sprang out of the brush, violent pink tendrils lashing out of his pustules. Akiva ducked, the monster's tentacles tearing the branches from the tree beside her. With no space to maneuver she raised her climbing pick and braced herself. The infected closed the distance with a short hop. He howled in gleeful triumph, and lunged forward. Maira's fist hit him just under the jaw, sending him tumbling through the underbrush. The creature scrambled to its feet, and Maira fired into his face with the pilot's revolver. She was covered in blood and breathing heavy, gun smoking. Akiva, would have loved to admire Maira's striking profile, but the day was pregnant with the sounds of rampaging infected and the beginnings of another downpour.
"May, more are coming. We need to get to higher ground." Akiva looked around and spied an exposed wall with her mark written in large broad strokes. "I know where we are. This way!"
"I'm right behind you, Kiva." The Valkyrie squeezed Akiva's hand, and in that one gesture it was clear that The Great Mother had heard the scout's song. "Take us home!"
The two ran along a path that existed solely in Akiva's mind. Behind them followed a growing horde of slavering monsters. They burst out of the thick brush, abruptly coming to a wall of filthy glass and thick vines. An infected lumbered out of the wood and propelled himself towards them like an excited primate. Akiva took Maira's hand and jerked her south along the edge of the massive wall. The sharp and sudden turn left the monster no time to adjust his trajectory. Tentacles sprang from his arms as he sailed through the air and smashed into the wall. The ancient glass shattered, and the monster howled as he fell into the darkness beyond. His tendrils flailed frantically for a handhold, but failed and vanished within. The girls ran.
Ramps had been erected along the wall leading up and up to the summit of the old structure. It was a hundred feet of zigzagging wooden planks fastened with rope and nails. Akiva knew what waited for them at the top and to her it seemed the lesser of two evils. They were scaling the third ramp when a dozen infected hit the wooden lattice. The weathered construct shook dangerously as mutants rushed up the ramps and climbed the sides. They were relentless in their single minded pursuit, their bodies hungry for flesh. Akiva screamed as an infected sprinted around a turn and grabbed for her feet. He missed but his weight jarred the wooden planks of the ramp and for a moment it seemed that the entire construction might crumble. Maira shot him in the chest and he stumbled back and over the railing, falling to the forest floor below. Akiva pulled her along. He was one of dozens, and there was still a ways to go.
Like spiders, the infected piled onto the web that was the wooden rampway and climbed after the girls. Their hoots and howls, and the scent of blood drew more from miles. She looked to the sky, hoping to see signs of the sun hiding behind the storm clouds, but though the rain had once again abated there was still no hint of that glorious light. Akiva ignored the pain in her torn feet, never slowing her pace. The sun would not save them, so it was up to them to prove their worth to The Great Mother. The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the diligent are fully satisfied. If they wanted the goddess's help, they would need to help themselves.
The pair reached the top with the closest monster still two flights below them. Akiva paused to take a much needed breath.
"What in the world?" Maira exclaimed. Even with the drooling horde behind them she couldn't help but admire the view.
The summit was a flat plateau spanning a few hundred feet on each side, creating a square garden of tomatoes and peppers. Roped off and well tended, it was the type of thing one didn't expect to see in the waste. The garden was a thing of beauty, but there was no time to gawk. Akiva tugged on Maira's arm and ran for the opposite end of the garden. They maneuvered through rows of vegetables ripe for the picking. Behind them howled the infected as the swarming monsters crested the top. Akiva regretted leading them to a place of growth and nature, but she needed a distraction.
They reached the bridge and Maira jerked to a halt. She spun around to face the coming creatures. Akiva looked at the totem standing beside the bridge. Skulls stacked ten high upon a stake. A banner emblazoned with a yellow circle crossed by sword and rifle. Reavers of The Yellow Sun. They were bandits, killers, and slavers. The sworn enemies of Phalanx. They were also farmers and the occasional traders, but that wouldn't matter to a Valkyrie.
"May, we have to go!" Akiva said. She watched as the infected swept over the crops like locust eating harvest, vine, and root with ravenous efficiency.
"If I have to choose between reavers and infected, I'll take my chances with the infected. They'll rape me, and tear me apart and that will be that. I'm not interested in a slow death."
"I'm not interested in death at all. Come on!"
Maira raised the pistol and sighted down the barrel at the closest monster.
"Do you love me?"
"I do," May snapped.
"Then trust me. We will be okay."
May glanced at Akiva from the corner of her eye. "Fine!" she shouted. She pushed Akiva toward the first plank. "Go, I'm right behind you."
"You'd better be."
Akiva started across, the bridge swaying gently at her insistence. She took ten steps and turned around. Maira was right behind her, the Valkyrie's attention focused on the garden and the pest who were reducing it to dust. Akiva continued across, dividing her attention between surefooting and the woman behind her. A gust of wind played across the bridge causing the wooden planks to dance to its tune. Akiva looked down, despite knowing better, and her head spun at the vastness below. The summit garden sat on the edge of a grand canyon deep enough to fit three such buildings. At its base stretched a wooded expanse full of feral beast every bit as dangerous as the infected. Between the distant trees and the girls was a flimsy wood and rope bridge, and open space.
A shot rang out, snatching her attention back from the void. She looked to Maira, but the redheaded Valkyrie's focus was on the other end of the bridge. A sniper jacked another round into her rifle and fired across the expanse, and an infected fell to his death. Another shooter joined her from the concealment of the bushes. Then another, and another. Miara pushed Akiva down as the morning air filled with the sounds of gunfire. Infected spilled into view, some falling to their deaths in their eagerness to get to the women.
The bridge rocked as an infected crawled towards them. Tentacles fanned out from his back, and his tongue slithered out of his mouth. A bullet hit him in the shoulder, but went ignored by the snarling monster. A woman shouted at the pair, beckoning for them to cross. She wore a grey niqab over her face and a thin black abaya. She called to the girls while the original sniper screamed in her ear. Akiva, and Maira rushed to the woman with a mounting number of infected piling onto the bridge behind them.
A plank splintered as Akiva stepped and for a moment she was falling. Strong hands caught her and the scout was able to regain her footing. Her heart raced and her foot ached. Attempts to use the foot nearly pitched the scout over the side, and in the end May half carried her across. A trail of bloody footprints marked their passage.
"Goddess praise you, stranger," Akiva said to the covered woman.
"Move out of the way," the woman replied, wiping the smile off of the girl's face.
She produced a machete from the folds of her garments. Maira raised the revolver, but the woman stepped past them and set upon the suspension ropes of the bridge with fierce hacks. Seconds before the first infected would have reached their side the bridge collapsed taking planks, rope, and monsters down to the canyon bottom. The creatures howled and cried, the shooters responded with increased volleys.
Maira guided Akiva away from the women. May's eyes darted from left to right, looking for signs of attack and avenues of escape. She was afraid. Akiva understood. There was no love between Valkyrie and Reavers.
"Let's go, ladies!" shouted the woman with the machete.
The shooting finally stopped as the six snipers rallied around the woman. They were all covered from head to toe. Most were dressed like the grey woman, save for two. One was wrapped in bandages, exposing only her eyes and fingers to any observer. The other wore a poncho and a wide brimmed hat that cast her face in shadow. Seven pairs of eyes studied Akiva and Maira. Their expressions were difficult to gauge, but the majority were hostile.
"The Lioness will want them brought before her," said the woman in the grey niqab.
"It's good to see you again, Field Mouse, but you were warned to never come back here. No?"
A chill ran down Akiva's spine. She turned to the woman in the wide brimmed hat. The scavenger recognized the voice. It was Latisha, daughter of The Lioness. A woman Akiva has hoped she would never see again.
They'd reached the woodlands south of Phalanx by nightfall. Akiva erected her elevated tent between three trees, and six feet off the ground. She ensured that her food was secured in a tight bag that would hide the smell from nearby scavengers, and she checked her Armpad. The screen had been cracked in the crash and power was running low. Sending a message to Phalanx or even Cavalry would deplete the battery and leave rescuers no way of tracking her. So Akiva set the device to support mode and hoped the continuous transmission of her location would last long enough for help to arrive or long enough for the two to reach home on their own. Thinking about rescue reminded Akiva about Vulture Six and the women onboard who died trying to save her.
Maira's pack didn't include camping equipment because the Valkyrie were expecting to return to Phalanx before nightfall. Akiva offered to share her tent but Maira ignored her. In fact Maira hadn't said a word since they left the bodies of her sisters in the sand. She'd followed Akiva in silence with an eye towards the east for any signs of pursuit. They knew the infected would spill out of the old depot, the question was whether they would head towards Phalanx and Cavalry or south towards the coastline. She'd kicked the hornet's nest, and she'd be to blame if anyone was stung. Akiva tried not to dwell on it. She left Maira to her brooding and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Akiva awoke to the sound of heavy rain tapping on her tent. Rainfall was rare, but when it fell it was aggressive. She opened the tent seal and peered out into the darkness. Maira was leaning against a tree below, using a poncho and the tent as cover from the downpour. It was chilly and Akiva shivered as the warmth of her shelter drifted into the night.
"It's cold out there."
"Go to sleep, Akiva."
"Maira, get up here before you get sick," Akiva insisted. Maira gave no reply. "The Mothers won't sing your praise for being stubborn and dying of a cold... neither will your sisters sitting beside The Great Mother."
There was still no response. After a minute the tent shook as Maira scaled one of the anchoring trees. Akiva dropped the seal flap and made space. It was an awkward exercise as Maira tightroped over to the tent and half climbed, half shimmied her way inside. She'd left her wet clothes down below and her skin was freezing, clearly she had already been soaked through. The waste was sweltering hot during the day but could drop below freezing on particularly cold nights. Akiva offered Maira a towel to dry off and shared her blanket for warmth. They rested back to back as the rain drummed against their shelter.
"If you hate me so much, why did you beg them to save me," Akiva whispered as she tried to find sleep once again.
"The Mothers say we are the future of Phalanx. I couldn't leave our people's future to die," Maira responded. Akiva nodded. She understood the importance of protecting the future. It was something the people of the old world ignored to their own demise. "Besides, I never said I hate you."
"Then why did you stop talking to me," Akiva asked after a long pause. "Why did you move out?"
"You know why."
"No, I don't, May." Akiva didn't want to fight, not really, but she wanted answers.
"Stop calling me that."
"Why? I've always called you May."
"That was before."
"Before what?"
"Before you went to Cavalry!"
"What... I-"
"I told you how I felt about you, and you ran off to Cavalry for two months. No letters, no messages, nothing. You were just gone, Akiva. I may have moved out, but you left me."
Maira was shivering. So was Akiva. The smaller woman turned so that she was spooning the other. Maira stiffened, and Akiva put her arm over her. The warmth they needed was fast in arriving. It felt comfortable, and it felt natural. They shared heat and memories of happier days in silence until they both began to nod off.
"I was scared, Maira. I was afraid that you deserved better than me," Akiva said as sleep finally took hold. "And I was right."
Morning came with the feral howling of infected. Akiva jerked into wakefulness, and it was Maira's hand that kept her from jumping up. The Valkyrie unsheathed the knife she'd hidden in the towel and eased over to the tent seal. She opened the flap and stifled a cry when the torso of an infected walked into view. The hulk had to be at least eight feet tall, smaller than the hulk that brought down Vulture Six, but definitely one of the larger variants of the monsters. Maira glared at Akiva.
"I do deserve better," she breathed in a voice so low that Akiva thought she merely imagined hearing it. "But I want you."
Maira jumped out of the tent and onto the monster's back, stabbing at his neck with sure strikes. The creature roared and stumbled out of view. Akiva was stunned, trying to process the moment, and then a support cable snapped and the tent was thrown sideways. She grabbed onto the sides of the tent as her bedding tumbled out of the seal flap. She was dangling out of the opening when the tent shuttered dangerously. A second infected hung from a support cable. The rain had let up but the storm clouds still blocked out the sun, hindering the greatest weapon against the monsters. The creature's mouth opened, but instead of a tongue, a bundle of tentacles grabbed for Akiva. Panicked, she let go and fell to the ground. The infected followed, landing on his butt and not his feet. She ran for her pack, and he scuttled after her like a crab.
Akiva grabbed the bag from its hook, simultaneously unravelling the cables holding her tent aloft. The bundle of wet leather and vinyl fell on top of the monster. It bought her a moment to unzip the bag before the creature tackled her to the ground, tent and all. She struggled but the monster was too strong, his fingers digging into her unprotected skin with ease. He pressed her into the ground and howled, drool spilling from his mouth in a foam. He bit at her nose and she screamed as she squirmed to avoid his teeth. Akiva kicked the monster in the groin. Roaring in pain, it reeled back. She followed him with the climbing pick from her pack and jammed the tool through the top of his head. The creature fell over dead.
Akiva knew there was no time to waste, but she risked putting on her pants and trying to collect everything she could from her tangled tent. Most of her belongings were soaking wet from the fall into the muddy ground, but she couldn't afford to leave anything behind if she had a choice. Akiva retrieved her climbing pick and pulled her top down over her head.
"Kiva, run!" shouted Maira from somewhere deeper in the woods.
Akiva was scared, far from home, and wearing infected blood. She required little prompting. She tarried long enough to grab May's gear before she took off at a sprint. Quickly the sounds of rushing infected filled the woods. Grotesque forms were everywhere, but Akiva was no stranger to evading capture. She only wished she had taken time to put on her boots. The forest floor was wreaking havoc on her soles. She weaved around the monsters, ever moving west toward Phalanx. Drooling, grasping mutants grabbed for the young scavenger, but she was a rolling, dodging blur. Desperation and experience combined to make her one with the wind. Akiva sang to The Great Mother under her breath. The girl asked for divine blessing and protection, for the strength and speed to reach home.
She also begged the goddess for a second chance with Maira. Akiva thought about the red haired Valkyrie, the way she could sing entire songs with but a look, the way she could caress others with her laugh. Akiva had missed Maira's laugh the most. The scavenger ran, her heart full of hope that the Valkyrie was close behind.
An infected sprang out of the brush, violent pink tendrils lashing out of his pustules. Akiva ducked, the monster's tentacles tearing the branches from the tree beside her. With no space to maneuver she raised her climbing pick and braced herself. The infected closed the distance with a short hop. He howled in gleeful triumph, and lunged forward. Maira's fist hit him just under the jaw, sending him tumbling through the underbrush. The creature scrambled to its feet, and Maira fired into his face with the pilot's revolver. She was covered in blood and breathing heavy, gun smoking. Akiva, would have loved to admire Maira's striking profile, but the day was pregnant with the sounds of rampaging infected and the beginnings of another downpour.
"May, more are coming. We need to get to higher ground." Akiva looked around and spied an exposed wall with her mark written in large broad strokes. "I know where we are. This way!"
"I'm right behind you, Kiva." The Valkyrie squeezed of Akiva's hand, and in that one gesture it was clear that The Great Mother had heard the scout's song. "Take us home!"
The two ran along a path that existed solely in Akiva's mind. Behind them followed a growing horde of slavering monsters. They burst out of the thick brush, and came abruptly to a wall of filthy glass and thick vines. An infected lumbered out of the wood and propelled himself towards them like an excited primate. Akiva took Maira's hand and jerked her south along the edge of the massive wall. The sharp and sudden turn left the monster no time to adjust his trajectory. Tentacles sprang from his arms as he sailed through the air and smashed into the wall. The ancient glass shattered, and the monster howled as he fell into the darkness beyond. His tendrils flailed frantically for a handhold, but failed and vanished within. The girls ran.
Ramps had been erected along the wall leading up and up to the summit of the old structure. It was a hundred feet of zigzagging wooden planks fastened with rope and nails. Akiva knew what waited for them at the top, and to her it seemed the lesser of two evils. They were scaling the third ramp when a dozen infected hit the wooden lattice. The weathered construct shook dangerously as mutants rushed up the ramps and climbed the sides. They were relentless in their single minded pursuit, their bodies hungry for flesh. Akiva screamed as an infected sprinted around a turn and grabbed for her feet. He missed but his weight jarred the wooden planks of the ramp and for a moment it seemed that the entire construction might crumble. Maira shot him in the chest and he stumbled back and over the railing, falling to the forest floor below. Akiva pulled her along. He was one of dozens, and there was still a ways to go.
Like spiders, the infected piled onto the web that was the wooden rampway and climbed after the girls. Their hoots and howls, and the scent of blood drew more from miles. She looked to the sky, hoping to see signs of the sun hiding behind the storm clouds, but though the rain had once again abated there was still no hint of that glorious light. Akiva ignored the pain in her torn feet, and never slowed her pace. The sun would not save them, so it was up to them to prove their worth to The Great Mother. The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the diligent are fully satisfied. If they wanted the goddess's help, they would need to help themselves.
The pair reached the top with the closest monster still two flights below them. Akiva paused to take a much needed breath.
"What in the world?" Maira exclaimed. Even with the drooling horde behind them she could help but admire the view.
The summit was a flat plateau that spanned a few hundred feet on each side creating a square garden of tomatoes and peppers. Roped off and well tended, it was the type of thing one didn't expect to see in the waste. The garden was a thing of beauty, but there was no time to gawk. Akiva tugged on Maira's arm and ran for the opposite end of the garden. They maneuvered through rows of vegetables ripe for the picking. Behind them howled the infected as the swarming monsters crested the top. Akiva regretted leading them to a place of growth and nature, but she needed a distraction.
They reached the bridge and Maira jerked to a halt. She spun around to face the coming creatures. Akiva looked at the totem standing beside the bridge. Skulls stacked ten high upon a stake. A banner emblazoned with a yellow sun crossed by sword and rifle. Reavers of The Yellow Sun. They were bandits, killers, and slavers. The sworn enemies of Phalanx. They were also farmers and the occasional traders, but that wouldn't matter to a Valkyrie.
"May, we have to go!" Akiva said. She watched as the infected swept over the crops like locust eating harvest, vine, and root with ravenous efficiency.
"If I have to choose between reavers and infected, I'll take my chances with the infected. They'll rape me, and tear me apart and that will be that. I'm not interested in a slow death."
"I'm not interested in death at all. Come on!"
Maira raised the pistol and sighted down the barrel at the closest monster.
"Do you love me?"
"I do," May snapped.
"Then trust me. We will be okay."
May glanced at Akiva from the corner of her eye. "Fine!" she shouted. She pushed Akiva toward the first plank. "Go, I'm right behind you."
"You'd better be."
Akiva started across, the bridge swaying gently at her insistence. She took ten steps and turned around. Maira was right behind her, the Valkyrie's attention focused on the garden and the pest that were reducing it to dust. Akiva continued across, dividing her attention between surefooting and the woman behind her. A gust of wind played across the bridge causing the wooden planks to dance to its tune. Akiva looked down despite knowing better, and her head spun at the vastness below. The summit garden sat on the edge of a grand canyon deep enough to fit three such buildings. At its base stretched a wooded expanse full of feral beast every bit as dangerous as the infected. Between the distant trees and the girls was a flimsy wood and rope bridge, and open space.
A shot rang out, snatching her attention back from the void. She looked to Maira, but the redheaded Valkyrie's focus was on the the other end of the bridge. A sniper jacked another round into her rifle and fired across the expanse, and an infected fell to his death. Another shooter joined her from the concealment of the bushes. Then another, and another. Miara pushed Akiva down as the morning air filled with the sounds of gunfire. Infected spilled into view, some falling to their deaths in their eagerness to get to the women.
The bridge rocked as an infected crawled towards them. Tentacles fanned out from his back, and his tongue slithered out of his mouth. A bullet hit him in the shoulder, but went ignored by the snarling monster. A woman shouted at the pair, beckoning for them to cross. She wore a grey niqab over her face and a thin black abaya. She called to the girls while the original sniper screamed in her ear. Akiva, and Maira rushed to the woman with a mounting number of infected piling onto the bridge behind them.
A plank splintered as Akiva stepped and for a moment she was falling. Strong hands caught her and the scout was able to regain her footing. Her heart raced and her foot ached. Attempts to use the foot nearly pitched the scout over the side, and in the end May half carried her across. A trail of bloody footprints marked their passage.
"Goddess praise you, stranger," Akiva said to the covered woman.
"Move out of the way," the woman replied, wiping the smile off of the girl's face.
She produced a machete from the folds of her garments. Maira raised the revolver, but the woman stepped past them and set upon the suspension ropes of the bridge with fierce hacks. Seconds before the first infected would have reached their side the bridge collapsed taking planks, rope, and monsters down to the canyon bottom. The creatures howled and cried, the shooters responded with increased volleys.
Maira guided Akiva away from the women. May's eyes darted from left to right, looking for signs of attack and avenues of escape. She was afraid. Akiva understood. There was no love between Valkyrie and Reavers.
"Let's go, ladies!" shouted the woman with the machete.
The shooting finally stopped as the six snipers rallied around the woman. They were all covered from head to toe. Most were dressed like the grey woman, save for two. One was wrapped in bandages, exposing only her eyes and fingers to an observer. The other wore a poncho and a wide brimmed hat that cast her face in shadow. Seven pairs of eyes studied Akiva and Maira. Their expressions were difficult to gauge, but the majority were hostile.
"The Lioness will want them brought before her," said the woman in the grey niqab.
"It's good to see you again, Field Mouse, but you were warned to never come back here. No?"
A chill ran down Akiva's spine. She turned to the woman in the wide brimmed hat. The scavenger recognized the voice. It was Latisha, daughter of The Lioness. A woman Akiva has hoped she would never see again.