Mack 'n' Me: The Wolves of Alpha 9 by C.M. Simpson (top ebook reader txt) 📕

“Well, fuck,” Tens said. “Get back to running, Cutter, or you’re lunch.”

Lunch, huh? Well, wasn’t this like the old times we’d had on K’Kavor.

“You have no idea.”

And I didn’t want one, either. I quit backpedaling, and turned around—just in time to catch a glimpse of movement further down the crevice. Funnily enough, those shapes were human. I wondered if I could be that lucky, but didn’t stand in one place while I did it. Friendly or not, humans were something I could actually deal with.

If they decided to help, or just let me pass, then great, but if they decided to try and take a piece of me? Well, that was fine, too, even if I wouldn’t be sticking around to play with them. They’d be going down just as hard and fast as I could make it happen. Who knew how long, Mr. Blurry Legs and Attitude was going to occupy the ants?

More stinky stuff squashed underfoot, and I really hoped it washed off and wasn’t corrosive. I liked these boots, dammit! A rock rolled underfoot, and I rode the shift, even as I sprung off it. That had been close, and I really didn’t want to be turning an ankle, or falling on my face, right now.

A screech echoed out behind me, but I didn’t look back. The screech was followed by a several others, all sounding like they came from different parts of the crevice wall. Also behind me. That was a good thing. I ran, my feet sliding and skittering over the rough terrain, my fist wrapped around the blaster’s grip.

It made it awkward to run, but I wasn’t going to be caught without it in my hands and ready. The next thing to try eating me was going to find itself rapidly dead. The humans, on the other hand...

“Don’t shoot first,” Case said, as if I needed to be told... Actually, she might have had a point, there.

I kept the weapon angled away from the oncoming humans, except for when I had to shift my arms to help keep my balance, and I kept running towards them. It took me a few meters to realize they were running towards me, too—and they didn’t seem the least bit fazed by the blaster I was holding. Behind me, the screeches were accompanied by clicks, and high-pitched squeaks that rang through the tunnel. The sound of claws scrabbling over rock was a constant, rattling shuffle in the background, but at least it didn’t sound like it was getting any louder.

I kept an eye on the incoming humans, and an ear on the battle raging behind me. It sounded like the creature from the hole wasn’t alone, and that the ants had their claws full. I figured I’d put as much distance as I could between us, and hope the ants found multi-legged-aggressor bugs an acceptable hunting outcome.

The humans ran past me, and then stopped. When I looked back, I could see them pouring something from the flasks pulled from their waist belts, onto the ground between them and the fight raging further back. I kept running. None of them looked like the woman I was looking for, and none of them were trying to do me harm. That was a novelty in, and of, itself.

I might have stopped to see who they were, but I figured the bug fight wasn’t going to last forever, and I didn’t want to find out what the victors would do to any stray humans who stuck around. This might have been a good plan, if the stray humans who’d arrived had had any intention of letting me go off on my own.

The ones that were following the first rank, turned and followed me. One reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to one side of the crevice, and down another tunnel I hadn’t seen. This one was a bit wider than the hole I’d been going to hide in—and it didn’t seem to be occupied by anything more than the people rescuing me. It also got me out of sight of the battle, which was a good thing.

“This way,” he yelled, letting go of my arm, and running slightly ahead like he expected me to follow.

It seemed like a good option, so, of course I went after him. After all, he knew the tunnels and I didn’t. It also crossed my mind that I could stop following Barangail’s dodgy tracker, and just ask if anyone had seen the concubine. I wondered if Case and Tens had found a name for her, yet.

“Celia,” Case said, “but I don’t think you should go asking after her just yet. We don’t know why these people were in the tunnel to start with. They might have been waiting for someone, and I doubt it was you.”

I hated it when Case was right, but that still didn’t mean I could try a different direction. There was still a bunch of angry ants and antsy aggro bugs somewhere behind me, and I was nowhere near far enough away from to be sure they wouldn’t track me down. I figured I’d follow the humans for a bit, and then maybe break away and head out on my own until I found a quiet place where I could reacquire the bracelet’s tracking signal.

“Don’t worry about that, yet,” Tens said. “It looks like you’re running in the right direction, so you’re not going to lose a lot of time getting back on track.”

If I hadn’t been focusing on keeping my feet and keeping sight of my guide, I might have sworn a blue streak. As it was, I didn’t even have time to think a blue streak. The ground in this tunnel was just as uneven as the ground in the last one, although I was no longer kicking over squishy stink bombs. It took another few minutes to register we were going downwards.

I worried about how long Case and Tens would be able to maintain their connection. We hit