Fireteam Delta by J. Halpin (ebook reader that looks like a book txt) 📕

both. Or I think I did.” She gestured to the jars of strange, meaty shapes.

“Wait . . .” Summers started. “How did you pay for those?”

“Traded about thirty rounds for it. Told him it was a cure for, uh . . .” Cortez glanced away. “Bedroom problems.” She must have seen Summers’ expression. “Relax, it won’t kill them. Hell, the confidence boost might even fix it. Guy thought the casing was fancy packaging.”

“And that . . . worked?” Summers watched the woman with a mix of confusion, horror, and a little bit of admiration. He turned to Orvar, speaking Nos. “Did he believe her?”

“I’m not sure.” Orvar said. “But I believe he thinks he can convince others of it.”

“See? No harm done. Got some pills for the boat ride out of the deal, too. For nausea, I mean.” Cortez gave him a weak smile, but she still looked at him with an odd expression.

“That’s great.”

In the distance, he could see Nowak and his group dragging something that looked like a giant lizard in a cart behind them. He took a deep breath.

“I really appreciate everything you guys are doing for me. Seriously.” Summers did his best to sound sincere. He was, but his next question worried him too much to really put feeling into his words. “So . . . you have any idea what this thing looked like?”

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

“Yup, this is as bad as it gets.” Summers looked down at the claws on his hand, and small, bony protrusions on his back. “Well, screw it. If it’s this or brain damage, bring it on.”

It had only taken a handful of hours for the changes to start. Summers wasn’t a vain man, but on a scale of one to ten, he was almost certainly a monstrosity the likes of which would be run out of town with pitchforks. If pitchforks were a thing here.

“Think we should test the lizard?” Nowak looked to Summers.

“Sure.” Summers held out a hand as Nowak produced a knife. Most of the day had passed since he’d eaten—or rather, choked down—what his friends had brought him.

Nowak cut a clean line on Summers’ forearm, but it took him three tries. That at least confirmed that he was tougher than he used to be.

Black blood leaked freely from the cut, but after a handful of minutes, it stopped.

Useful, at least.

The others still looked at him with worried eyes. He didn’t blame them, given his appearance. Somehow, the mishmash of creatures had left him looking almost demonic.

“All right. One last test.” Summers looked up to the sky as he got up. It was getting dark. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”

 <<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

Asle sat in silence, Synel in a hammock beside her. She’d tried to sleep, but it had eluded her for most of the night. Every bit of movement she heard from outside woke her.

It was almost dawn now, so she was sure they’d have an answer soon. She’d racked her brain trying to think of anything else that might help. Given what little she knew of monsters, that wasn’t much.

It wasn’t long before she heard something shift in the next cabin over. Synel sat upright almost immediately, startling Asle for a moment.

The woman made no move to speak. Instead, she walked to the doorway, looking out into the hall.

They only heard a single word from the next cabin, even as the shuffle of bodies stirring became apparent.

“Fuck.”

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

Summers sat in front of the large market, thinking. The others had followed him, Synel and Asle at his side. He’d changed to his old balaclava and a cloak, mostly to hide his new face.

None of it had worked. He’d spent most of the morning writing in his journal, trying to retain some small piece of his past. Thankfully, he still hadn’t lost any of his friends. But that seemed to only be a matter of time, if what Nowak said of Adams was true.

“I’m certainly no expert on exotic creatures,” Synel prompted. “I can reach out to some contacts, see if there is something I missed.”

“We can stay in the city as long as we have to,” Nowak agreed. “Not like we got a timer on this thing.”

“Look, guys. I appreciate it, but . . .” Summers stared at the market.

He had trouble believing there was anything out there that could save him at this point.

No, he couldn’t think like that. Something still rattled around in his head, telling him not to give up until the bitter end. The memory smelled like disinfectant and phenol, but he knew it was important. That hadn’t been taken away from him. At least, not yet.

Summers took a deep breath.

In an instant, he could smell the distinct, rotten-barbecue smell he’d noticed the day before, the same half-burned insects displayed in front of the stand.

He could still picture their first steps into this world. The odd, shambling imitations of the dead walking around, controlled by whatever the hell was inside them.

Actually, now that he thought about it, it was a lot like the hamr. It had taken the dead, too, and just used parts of them for its own means.

In fact, that was all the hamr really was, as far as he could tell. Dead flesh.

If that was true . . .

“Asle . . .” Summers looked to the girl. “The, uh . . . the skeen.” He gestured to the stall. “Do you know how they work?”

Chapter 34: Devil Within

Summers sat below deck, watching one of the still living skeen in front of him. It had burrowed into the rest of the large lizard Nowak’s group had brought back. Most of its chest had been carved out, salted, and left aside for rations, but he figured it was whole enough