Ascension by Bailey Bradford (desktop ebook reader txt) 📕

people? He didn’t think so, but they were poisonous. Possibly not to him, but even if the venom didn’t do him in, he’d die of fright if one bit him—or drown in the puddle of piss he made.

“B-back,” he stuttered, and when his breath hit the scorpions—or maybe just the sound of his voice did it—they sure seemed to wave entirely too many legs at him.

Gideon took that to mean the nasty shits were signaling a charge. His screech of utter horror made his own ears ring and his head throb. It also broke him out of his frozen trance. He shrieked nonstop as he first scrambled to his feet then ran.

Whether it was his imagination or not, he saw things moving all over the ground. Gideon couldn’t shut up, couldn’t force his panic and fear to stay down past his throat.

He ran, but glanced back. Another lightning bolt of horror hit him when he saw the huge fire behind him. Apparently, the car had set a field on fire. Now he’d be in deep shit for arson or something like that.

“Shit!” And no man of his height—six-four, thank you very much—and weight—two-twenty, almost all muscle—should sound like a terrified five-year-old girl trying to say bad words.

Gideon turned back around and resumed running, hoping and fearing that he was stomping on scorpions every time his feet hit the ground. He didn’t know where he was running to, only that he didn’t want to get in trouble for the fire, and he didn’t want the creepy critters to get him.

He considered shifting, but there was the duffle bag that held all his earthly belongings. If he had someone there to strap the bag onto him, he’d have been fine, but he wasn’t leaving his few possessions behind.

So he stuck to human form. It was probably for the best. He was in Texas, after all. Everyone had guns, arsenals, and if anyone spotted a brown bear running past, they’d turn him into one of those stupid rugs in no time at all.

Plus, there’d be a lot of questions about why there was a grizzly bear in Texas. Not that he’d have to answer any such questions. He’d just be dead and keeping the dust off some bastard’s floor.

A bear, running from scorpions… Mutant scorpions. Fucking mutant scorpions. Unless they were supposed to have that many parts and—“Oh, whatever!”

If he survived the night and if he ever had kids and grandkids and so on, this was not the kind of story he’d be sharing with any of them.

Gideon’s night vision wasn’t all that great, not better than a regular ol’ human’s would be. He was a special shifter like that, his senses all but parallel with any regular person’s. It was part of why he was on his own.

He wasn’t going to think about the other reasons he’d been driving across Texas, heading from North Carolina to he didn’t even know where. Not Texas. That hadn’t been his end destination. It was too hot there, and already he was soaked in sweat. It had to be at least eighty degrees, and that was just wrong for three in the morning.

The moonlight was a boon once he was farther away from the fire. Gideon was quickly getting winded, not having been in the best shape to begin with. Maybe he was a tad softer in the belly than he’d thought. He’d put on a little winter reserve weight, and it was showing in how easily he was physically exerted.

After what had to be close to half an hour, he slowed down to walk. He really was in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t a house or electrical light to be seen in the distance, no matter which way he turned.

There were, however, so many stars in the sky that he could spend eternity trying to count them. Off to the east, he could see the red and orange flares of the fire still licking up and up, as if they’d scorch the stars themselves.

The fire was just as terrifying as the scorpions had been. Gideon found himself jogging along instead of walking, no longer interested in staring at the stars and the beautiful sky.

Despite the distance he’d come, he could smell smoke. That inner core of him roared, fearful of being surrounded by those hellish flames. There wasn’t a creature on the planet other than man himself, that didn’t have a powerful, natural fear of fire.

And even a shifter in its human form still felt the terror his or her beast did.

Gideon’s heart pounded so hard he thought he could hear it. His pulse was racing, his lungs burning, chest heaving, legs cramping by the time he slowed down again.

After he had calmed somewhat, he continued walking. There was nothing around, not homes or businesses. He felt like he’d landed in the middle of a deserted planet and was utterly alone.

The feeling stayed with him as he kept plodding on, losing track of time. Eventually he became aware of the sky lightening.

The sun was just beginning to rise, washing the area in blooming colors of orange, pinks, yellows and purples. Mountains remained dark shapes in the foreground.

Finally, he dared to peek toward the east. Gideon saw no trace of smoke or anything else to clue him in on what had happened after he’d left the car. Judging by the landscape around him, he assumed he’d wound up in the desert-part of Texas. There were no trees nearby, no grass or gently rolling hills. He racked his brain and remembered seeing a sign for Sonora. That had been on I-10 and he’d taken an off-road from there.

Unfortunately, his map had been in the car. What he did know now was he’d run west, though he couldn’t be sure. Another reason he was on his own. He had a shitty sense of direction, which wasn’t conducive to surviving in his shifted form. All in all, he made a bad bear and a not so great human.

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