Human Bait

Chapter 6: The Overcooked

The first Overcooked staggered out from between the trees like the first drops of rain. One. Another. A few at once.

Then downpour.

The space between the trees darkened with bodies, a wall of movement like an anthill. My heart knocked around inside my rib cage, and each freezing breath battered my lungs and shredded my throat. Though mines surrounded me, I yanked at the ropes binding my wrists.

Too many. There were too many. How many mines were in this field? Surely not enough. And where the fuck was Recluse? Had he already left?

I scanned the side of the field where I had last seen him. For a moment, I thought I caught sight of him—standing dead still in the middle of the swarm of Overcooked. Then I blinked, and he disappeared.

The first Overcooked reached the swamp.

And the symphony began.

The bodies splintered apart a split-second before each boom, detached hands flapping overhead and torsos squirming in a final dance. A split-second after the mines detonated, the heads exploded, a crackling afterthought like the sizzle following the crash of a cymbal. The first few Overcooked combusted at the edge of the field. The next came closer.

And closer.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Boom, boom, boom. I jerked against the ropes binding me to the pole, succeeding only in tightening the bonds. As blood trickled down my wrists, I squeezed my eyes shut and transported away.

Father towered above me, face twisted in a frown. From my eight-year-old perspective, he looked enormous. Unstoppable. And he held a weapon that terrified me even more than his usual devices. A single needle, hovering near the colorful balloons.

She's not coming, Zafaru.

Tears clogged my throat, blurring my response. She'll come, I know it! I wrote a nice invitation. This will be her best birthday...

The needle began popping the balloons. Boom, boom...

No, stop. She'll come, and she'll love them. Please, stop.

Bam, bam, bam. Balloons all gone.

No! You ruined it, Dad. Now she'll never come home.

He flashed me a twitching smile. She didn't leave because of me, Zafaru. She left because of you.

A boom even closer than the others ricocheted in my ear canals, and my eyes shot open. All around me, hissing humans reduced to beasts careened side to side as they pushed inward, sunken eyes fastened to me and mouths chomping at empty air in anticipation. Mines exploded in a bright flash of shimmering snow, tearing the Infected into pieces again and again.

Until one got through.

I watched the once-a-man tear toward me, hips snapping left and right and shoulders lurching forward with each step. His mouth yawned wide with each howl, although my abused ears no longer registered the sound. Ether, I didn't want to go this way, strung up like meat to be devoured... with Recluse speeding away on his motorcycle laughing.

The approaching Infected reeled sideways before I could process the bang. As the body tumbled down in disjointed movements, a bullet pierced another approaching Infected. I cast a glance at the side of the pit and saw Recluse, rifle raised in both hands. Why did the Infected not chase him? But at that moment, the relief flooding my chest overrode all ability to consider further.

He had stayed. He wasn't going to let me die.

Moments later, it was over. The body-strewn field lay silent, apart from the screeching ring in my ears. I flexed my wrists, encouraged by the ease of movement. I could still climb... if it weren't for the gunshot wound in my calf and the ropes trapping me in the middle of a minefield.