Revenant's Kiss | ONC 2022 Shortlister ✓

F O U R

A beam of light lingered over my face, searing pain through my eyes as I opened them up to find the setting sun scattering its rays along my body. I couldn't focus, and every breath sent a flash of a deep ache through my abdomen. My mind was hazy, clouded by the draining tiredness encompassing my being.

What was I doing here, outside the QZ?

Biting my lip, I stared up at the orange-streaked sky and tried to think despite the headache ravaging my mind. A few puffy clouds floated around in the gentle breeze and reminded me of counting sheep as a little girl. Those had been the good old days, before the infection and the chaos the government caused with their stupid fucking project. Before I threw myself at any man who would have me to drown out the pain of losing Jonathan just months into our marriage. Before I became a hardened soldier who wasn't afraid to kill anyone or anything and gained my own squad.

My squad!

I sat up so quickly my head reeled and I swallowed against the lump of nausea forming in my throat. It was all coming back to me. I had a squad, and we were overrun during a mission to secure a helicopter which ended up crashing on us. That was the reason for me being here and, judging by the sun's position, I'd been out for some time.

Wiping my eyes with one hand to rid myself of the blurriness, I held myself up with the other. A wince breached my lips as the movement caused a sharp throb to bloom in my side like a prickly flower, and I leaned back a little to alleviate the pressure. One glance down at myself was all it took to see the all-too-obvious issue.

A twisted bar of metal that looked like it had once been a part of the helicopter's landing gear protruded from my right side an inch or so above my pelvis. Blood, both dried and fresh, stained the metal and my shirt in dark red blotches.

Lifting my gaze from myself, I cut my eyes to the side to see Ricardo didn't fare as well as I did. His head was little more than mush, with a bloody soup dotted with brain matter situated on the ground where his face should've been.

The sight made my stomach churn and I fought the feeling of it turning upside down. The last thing I needed was to upchuck and set the injury in an even more difficult situation than it already was. The gruesome fact remained I would have to pull the bar out since there was no way I could survive any sort of attack with seven inches of metal sticking out of me.

As I wrapped my fingers around the slick coolness of the shrapnel, I cast a glance heavenward. Once this was out, there was no going back. I would have to stop the bleeding or risk losing too much blood. Breathing half a prayer out, I gripped the metal as tight as I could and gave it a swift jerk upward.

A whimpered cry escaped from me as half the object slid from my body. Try as I might, I couldn't keep the soft sounds of pain from forming in my chest as the flesh around the metal pulsed in agony. Gasping and gritting my teeth, I pulled as hard as I could and felt it slip free of my abdomen.

My chest heaved and I looked at the bloody rod clutched in my hand. It was out, and I really felt it. My head pounded and everything spun for a moment before settling and I forced myself up, crying out softly as I gripped my side and stumbled to my feet.

The first thing I needed was a weapon, and then I would search out my squad to see if any of them remained. Sometime after that, I would tend to myself if I had the opportunity. Right now my squad was top priority.

A glint to my left caught my eye and I hobbled forward to spot my pistol laying there on the cracked landing strip. With an intake of breath, I tentatively leaned over and scooped it up. A sense of safety instantly filled my body at having a gun in my hand and, as I surveyed the bodies strewn around and the crushed helo, I thanked God no revenants were around.

I knew Miller was gone, and Ricardo too. The only ones I needed to search out were Azrael and Donte, and they were somewhere out here. They had to be.

Every step jolted my injury, and the sticky warmth flowing over my hand reminded me I was on borrowed time. One look at the dented and nearly unrecognizable helo was enough to know there were no survivors. It looked much like a squashed tin can, and in order to survive something like that you would have to be superman or some sort of immortal.

My foot stubbed against something and I stumbled forward, cursing in pain as I landed on my hands and knees. If I hadn't been so caught up in the sights this could've been avoided, but here I was subdued like an injured animal.

I scoffed. No, I wasn't even going to let myself go there. Not today.

I glanced behind me to see what I tripped on and hope raised its head in this bleak situation. A red and white medkit lay between the crumbled concrete. Although one corner was busted, it still had all of its contents. I couldn't be more grateful as I pushed it into my pocket, standing up with more energy than I had previously.

Now, to find Azrael and Dante.

It only took a moment of searching through the headless bodies of the revenants we downed to spot the remnants of my crew. Their bodies were sprawled out, partially mangled and riddled with shrapnel as were the two infected they had been battling before shit hit the fan.

Donte lay on his stomach, the back of his chest ripped open for all the world to see. A few flies buzzed lazily around his shredded insides and I couldn't look at it any longer, glancing away as the acidic taste of bile rose inside me.

Forcing my thoughts away from the carnage of Donte, I let my attention rest on Azrael. His face was covered in cuts and more pale than I'd ever seen it before. I would've thought him dead, but the subtle rise and fall of his ribcage sparked a twinge of excitement in me.

I knelt beside him, gently curving my hand around his shoulder. "Az, hey, you with me?"

He opened his eyes, and I flinched as they stared at me with a savage yellow hue. His chest expanded as he took in a deep breath before a growl rumbled through him and he launched himself forward, knocking me onto my back.

I yelped in agony of two different kinds as the unforgiving ground of the landing zone hit my spine. My arms tingled at the impact but all I could feel was the overwhelming torment threatening to explode my heart. Azrael's claws scratched at my arms and chest, but I held him back and ignored the flesh he was tearing. In one thoughtless movement, I lifted the pistol to the side of his snarling face.

Once again, I pulled the trigger on someone I loved. One more time, the heated splatter of my lover's blood sprayed my face as the bullet ripped through his brain. Yet another day, I was left alone and hurting with no one to cling to.

I swallowed back a sob, laying there against the ground with Azrael's torn and bleeding body on top of mine. Too many memories I would rather forget swirled in my mind as I struggled to push past this and leave the decimation of this LZ.

But I couldn't. Not right now, not when everyone I allowed myself to care about was dead here on the very ground I remained alive on.

A blood-curdling howl split through my anguish like a double-edged sword, and I froze. The hairs on my arms rose and I held my breath as the unsteady steps and muted grunts of a revenant grew ever near.

It paused somewhere behind me, and I pressed my head against the asphalt and prayed the dead bodies would cover my scent.