Revenant's Kiss | ONC 2022 Shortlister ✓

T H R E E

Shrill growls and echoing throaty cries reached my hearing and I leveled the AK-47 at the crumbling remains of a brick house. It was too dark inside to see through the shattered windows, but something was definitely in there. The continuous noises proved it.

"The fuck is that?" Azrael questioned quietly, stopping beside me with his machine gun at the ready.

Shifting to my other foot for a moment, I glanced around at my squad as they flanked me. I had no idea what was in there, but we needed to pass through either way. "I don't know," I admitted. "Miller, Donte, check it out."

Both of them nodded and I watched as they quietly picked their way around the strewn bricks and through the wide open front door.

Azreal lowered his gun a little as he relaxed beside me. "Do you think it's a wounded revenant?"

I shook my head and listened to the gruesome noises. The darkness inside the house swallowed the shapes of my men and I hoped they would be alright in there. Tilting my head to look over at Azrael, I bit the inside of my lip. "No. It sounds like there are two distinct voices, so—"

"D, you need to come see this," my walkie squawked out with Donte's voice.

I unclipped the walkie from my pocket and brought it to my lips. "On my way."

Stepping over the scattered bricks and other debris, I walked through the doorway and followed the grunts and whimpers with Azrael covering my six. I eased around a corner carefully so I wouldn't stumble over something in the semi-darkness. The noises of the infected filled my ears and I paused in the doorway at the sight before me, causing Azrael to bump into me at my sudden stop.

Only a stone's throw beside Donte and Miller were two revenants getting busy on the floor in the messy kitchen. Their movements were rough and uncoordinated, something a normal human probably wouldn't enjoy in the least.

Tess was right. The males were amped up with the urge to reproduce, and we were unlucky enough to run into a mating pair.

My stomach cramped in disgust and I signalled for the boys to take them out.

Silent bullets flew from the barrels of Miller and Donte's guns with a brief burst of light, riddling the revenants with lead. Blood splattered across the floor and onto the wall like crimson rain. It dripped down the peeling cabinet drawers and onto the floor like the soft splat of raindrops.

The corpses were still and I knew they were finished, but I walked over and nudged them with my gun. There was no movement, no sounds. They were gone. Many would think it was cruel, overkill, but I wanted to make sure those things were dead. I wasn't about to turn my back without knowing they wouldn't attack the moment I did so.

Donte pushed his fingers through his short, woolly curls. "I didn't know those fuckers mated."

"You do now," I quipped, pulling a sweat-dampened lock of hair from my cheek and pushing it behind my ear. "Good thing the females are barren. The few that ain't end up miscarrying."

"Mierda," Ricardo cursed out in a wince while we passed through the house. "This might sound bad, but I'm glad it's like that."

"The only thing I hear is our boss lady sounding like a certain medic friend of ours," Miller teased, the blue in his eyes shining with mischief.

"Oh hush." I snorted, hopping out of the window and into the high grass of the unkempt backyard. My pulse picked up as just ahead, amidst the rubble and destruction of toppled businesses and homes, lay the landing zone we were to secure. It took a good bit of time to get here, and I flicked my wrist to draw my squad's attention to it. "Look at that, boys. We're almost there."