“What’s going on here?” Jaxon asked Barry.

  “We’re consolidating the community…what the hell is going on with you?” Barry countered.

  Jaxon looked over his shoulder at the line of survivors following behind him.

  “That? It’s nothing. I went on a little trip to Wally World, and they had a rollback on starving and impoverished humans. I went ahead and grabbed all they had.” Jaxon winked at Barry as he stepped close to the big man. “Hey, I was supposed to bring back proof of slaying ten drol’ka, but I figured Druz would care more about the survivors than a bunch of eater heads. You think she’ll take witness testimonies?”

  Barry chuckled and squeezed Jaxon’s shoulder.

  “What?” Jaxon asked.

  “Nothing, Jaxon. You did good. You did really good. I don’t think you have to worry about Druz’ka Lanth. She’ll reset your killswitch, for sure!” Barry assured Jaxon.

  Jaxon smiled and turned to wave the survivors into the camp. He and Barry watched the line go by. When the last one strode by, Barry started walking behind them.

  “Barry. What is going on here? It looks like the entire community is here. Who is watching the perimeter?” Jaxon inquired.

  “We started tearing down all the structures scattered around the area. We are building homes and buildings here. Druz wants to keep everybody close.”

  “That makes sense, but the scouts need to be on the perimeter. They shouldn’t be helping here.”

  “Don’t worry about the perimeter. Some things have happened, and the perimeter is being patrolled.”

  “What things? Do you have any idea how many drol’ka are still out there? They’ve started looting the stores now! Not individually, but in structured units. We have to keep our guard up.” Jaxon warned.

  “I promise, we got it covered, besides…” Barry squinted as he glared at Jaxon, “When did you become so concerned about anybody else?”

  “For real! Who is keeping watch?”

  Barry started walking toward the camp. He invited Jaxon to join him with a wave of his hand.

  “Walk with me. I’ll explain everything.”

  —----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  “Ya’ll invited eaters to stay with us?” Jaxon couldn’t believe what Barry was telling him. “That’s like inviting wolves into the sheep pen!”

  “They call themselves Abstainers, and they don’t feed on blood—”

  “I’m sure that’s what they claimed, but there is no way—”

  “Druz gave them the same kill switch we have…only theirs only lasts twelve hours,” Barry explained.

  “Twelve hours!” Jaxon exclaimed

  “Yep. She has them on a short leash. They gotta check in at breakfast and dinner. They don’t even have time to run off and share our location. If they do, they’ll die before they can make much trouble.”

  “Alright, that makes me feel better.” Jaxon used a hand to block the flickering flames of the fire. He searched the area. “Where are they? Are they here, now?”

  “They don’t come to the camp. We told the survivors about the arrangement, but they aren’t the low-level drol’ka that blend in. Their presence would be too much for most of these people. They stay in the woods and keep watch. Druz goes and takes them food twice a day. That is when she resets their kill switches.”

  “Jaxon.”

  The two men turned at the sound of Cassandra’s voice.

  “Yeah?” Jaxon answered.

  “Druz’ka Lanth wants to speak with you. She is waiting in her cabin.”

  “Gotta go!” Jaxon told Barry as he stood.

  “Jaxon, all those people owe you their lives. They’re grateful for what you did, and so am I.”

  Jaxon didn’t speak, but he gave Barry a slight nod as he turned away.

  A scream broke through the camp, and the fiery-haired Marcus rushed into camp. He stumbled over a loose stack of split logs and crashed into Barry. The legs of Barry’s chair buckled under their weight, and they dropped to the dirt.

  Jaxon jumped toward them and yanked the drol’ka off Barry. He jerked Marcus around and drew back his fist. Marcus looked at Jaxon, and blood from many lacerations glistened in the flickering firelight.

  “They’re here…hhlaock hhlaock.” Marcus coughed up thick wads of bloody phlegm. “Lots of them…they…hhlaock…there is an OG. He was fast. Too fast. My broth…hhlaock hlaock…have you seen my…hhlaock hhlaock hhlaock…broth…hhloo hloo laaa…” his head rolled to the side, and a slight weeze escaped his throat as his chest deflated.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Another scream came from the far side of camp. A legless torso soared toward them, and embers danced into the air as it crashed into the fire.

  Barry rolled off the crumpled chair and pushed himself to his feet. He yelled for Jaxon to protect the people, but Jaxon was already disappearing into the shadows. Cassandra vaulted over the fire and ran in the direction the body came from. Another scream sounded behind Barry, and he turned to see a monstrous-looking drol’ka crushing the skulls of two women together.

  The creature towered over the screaming survivors who fled before it. An older man tripped on a rock, and the drol’ka snatched him before he reached the ground. The man kicked and clawed as the Drol’ka Choth’Den held him over its head. The man managed to land a kick across the drol’ka’s face. The only effect it had was to cause the drol’ka to slam the man against the rock-strewn ground. There was a simultaneous crack and pop as the man’s head cracked against a large stone, and his neck and collarbone snapped.

  The drol’ka lifted his head skyward, and he released a blissful shriek of jubilation. The camp was in pandemonium as survivors were chased by numerous drol’ka attackers. Barry sprinted toward a young child who was being taunted by a drol’ka. The child sobbed as he backpedaled with his hands held out toward the drol’ka. The drol’ka, looking more human than Drol’ka Choth, noticed Barry’s rapid approach. He lunged forward and drove his knee into the child’s stomach. The blow launched the child backward against a nearby tree. The tiny form slid to the ground and left a trail of blood streaking the dimly lit trunk.

  “NOOOOOOOOO!” Barry rushed the drol’ka. He didn’t have his cleaver. Barry didn’t need it. He was ready to rip the drol’ka apart with his bare hands.

  The drol’ka squared up and prepared to clash, but he did not understand the powerful fury the approaching human wielded. Barry closed the gap in two powerful strides. The drol’ka had just a moment to ponder the speed Barry possessed before the palm of Barry’s open hand blasted into the side of his head. The drol’ka somersaulted sideways and slammed into the side of a passing drol’ka.

  Barry became aware of the berserker rage that was consuming him. He remembered the prison and reflexively tried to push it away. His resolve only lasted as long as it took him to witness a nearby woman being driven to the ground by the raking claw of a drol’ka. Her agonized scream ripped away Barry’s apprehension at giving in to his fury.

  “NOOOOOOOOOOO,” Barry screamed again, before he snatched up an unsplit log.

  Another foolish drol’ka failed to see Barry as anything but another easy target. It rushed at him from the side and opened its ghastly maw to bite. Barry twisted around and knifed his straight-fingered hand into the cavernous mouth. His crimson-soaked fingers erupted out of the back of the drol’ka’s head. With a squelch, Barry twisted his hand upward. He dropped the log, grabbed the drol’ka’s shoulder with his free hand, and curled his right arm upward. Bone cracked and ligaments popped as Barry ripped the skull away from the neck and mandible. He hurled the half-head at a passing drol’ka. The creature managed to dodge the gruesome projectile, but it couldn’t avoid the onslaught of Barry’s clubbing blows.

  Barry’s hammer-fisted blows drove the drol’ka to the ground. He didn’t need to be precise with his strikes. Wherever his fists connected, bones and flesh gave way. His frenzy was halted by the loud boom of a shotgun. Barry spun around and found a drol’ka standing behind him. It robotically fingered at a massive hole in its chest. The drol’ka lifted its head, stared blankly at Barry, then wilted to the ground. It fell and revealed Jaxon holding a pump shotgun.

  Barry growled and sprinted toward the nearest drol’ka. It heard his primal growl and turned to meet him. Another shotgun blast and the drol’ka’s face disintegrated just before Barry reached it. Barry ignored the fallen adversary and bounded off to find his next target. He spotted a group of three drol’kas that were ripping at a prone human. They were distracted by their sport and were unaware of his approach. Something flew between Barry and the drol’ka. His war cleaver sparked as its steel blade clanged against an exposed rock. Barry glanced to the side and saw Cass darting away. He picked up the cleaver and waded into the small pack of eaters.

  The first drol’ka found an easy death. Its head rolled off its shoulders as the cleaver sliced through its neck. The second one managed to get its hand up and grab the cleaver’s handle before Barry could start his swing. The drol’ka opened its mouth wide and roared defiantly as it tried to rip the cleaver away, but Barry’s free hand shot out and grabbed hold of its lower jaw. With a mighty yank, Barry jerked the drol’ka forward. It screamed as its jaw dislocated, but the sound ceased after Barry drove his knee into its solar plexus. Barry let it fall to the ground, then he stomped on the base of its neck.

  The final drol’ka was smart enough to flee. Barry lurched forward to grab at it, but he slipped on the newly formed pool of blood that leaked from the decapitated drol’ka. He drove the handle of the cleaver into the ground to catch himself. Just as he began to rise, another shotgun blast boomed, and the fleeing drol’ka’s arms and head were thrown backward. It fell to its knees before pitching over.

  Cass blurred across his field of view, and Barry watched her slide between a drol’ka’s legs. With a knife in each hand, she stabbed to the sides and severed both of its Achilles tendons. It shrieked as it dropped to its knees. Cass sprang to her feet and twisted back to face it. She unleashed a series of deep stabs into its chest and neck, before springing after her next kill.

  Men, women, and children screamed as they fled from one drol’ka to the next. Dead bodies littered the area, and most were human. Doyle and Joel were standing side-by-side trying to get shots off with ARs, but there were too many non-drol’kas wildly running about. Joel managed to get a round off, but the round only managed to graze its thigh. It spun on the duo and snagged a man caught running between them. Using the terrified man as a shield, it slowly stalked toward them.

  Barry was worried for his friends and made a mad dash toward the advancing drol’ka. Not wanting to harm the captive man, Barry ran in from the side, reached around the drol’ka’s shoulder, and dug his fingers around the drol’ka’s windpipe. He squeezed as hard as he could and crushed the drol’ka’s throat before snapping his arm back. The man fell to the ground, and Barry cast away the chunk of trachea in his hand.

  “HIDE!”

  Doyle, even with his augments, didn’t require much coercion to flee from danger. Joel, however, began to argue with Barry’s command

  “NOW!” Barry yelled.

  Doyle pulled Joel away, and Barry watched them until they disappeared into the dark forest. An inhuman growl sounded behind him. Barry spun around and saw the enormous Drol’ka Choth’Den looming over Druz’ka Lanth. She stood before it stoically. Even as the monstrosity leaned forward and roared in her face, Druz did not move. She showed no signs of distress. The roar abated, and the drol’ka stood straight. Druz lifted her arms to the sides and lifted her head to the sky. The drol’ka stepped forward and opened his maw. Leaning forward, the drol’ka looked like it was about to bite a chunk from Druz’ka Lanth’s neck. It halted an inch from her flesh and stayed there. It sniffed at her skin and its eyes rolled rapturously. Barry’s legs pumped as he strained to get to her in time. It sniffed again, then pulled away from her. The Drol’ka Choth’Den put its forehead to hers and screamed in her face. It screamed a second time, then backed away and leered at her.

  Without warning, the massive figure sprang to its left and pounced on an unsuspecting woman. Druz lowered her head to the side and calmly watched as the Drol’ka Choth’Den opened its mouth and ripped into the woman’s neck. The woman wailed in agony as the monster guzzled the flowing blood. It lifted its mouth from the wound, rolled its head toward Druz’ka Lanth, and smiled. The Drol’ka Choth’Den and the Kai’den looked at each other for a moment before the drol’ka ravenous tore into the woman’s abdomen. Druz turned and calmly walked away.

  Barry stopped running and froze in place. He couldn’t understand what he had just witnessed. He didn’t understand why Druz didn’t defend herself or the slaughtered woman. Why would she offer herself to that monster? Why wouldn’t she fight for herself or the humans she claimed to protect?

  Druz’ka Lanth walked by Barry, and they made eye contact. She stopped, shoulder to shoulder with Barry. She did not look at him.

  “You have questions. I expect you would. Please, kill that one, and I’ll explain everything.”

  Barry didn’t respond.

  “He is over half Drol’ka Choth’Den. If you cannot…the others don’t stand a chance.”

  The indifference in her tone sent a shiver down Barry’s spine. Druz silently walked away and left Barry staring at the feeding Drol’ka Choth’Den.