[Longlisted!] -Ghosts of Galena- [#Wattys2018]

Thwarted

"Is he bit?" Con's voice interrupts the moment of realization.

"Nah," says the boy who'd tossed King on the ground. "He had so much stuff on, the Dead Ones couldn't even find a place to sink their teeth in."

I think that was probably the idea. Given the fact that he can't hear, it's not like King could hear a zombie coming. I don't imagine it's very easy to see out of all that armor, but I guess if you just cover yourself head-to-toe in something harder than teeth, well, you kinda cover all the bases, too.

For his part, King keeps his eyes on Ree, making awkward gestures with his heavily-gloved hands and trying desperately to get her to understand something. She's shaking her head, at a loss, and shooting me the occasional panicked glance, because she knows he's trying to say something, but she doesn't know what.

"Wee!" It's her name, but it's like he can't even quite form that single, simple word. He keeps repeating it, though, every time her attention strays. "Wee!"

"I don't understand," she tells him, then louder, "I don't understand!"

King's hands clamp down on hers, pulling her to him as he tries to stand, dragging them both to their feet. Anxiety drops into my belly, landing like the hard pit of a peach, and when I step forward and snatch Ree back, she lets out a surprised bleat, stumbling against me.

"Well," Con lets his eyes wander over King's unconventional getup. "If he ain't bit yet, he will be soon." He turns his head then, to issue the edict, "Open the gates."

"What? No!" The words tumble out of me before I realize it. "You can't just throw him out there to be eaten!"

Con's mouth twitches up at the corners, like he'd take extreme pleasure in doing just that. "Watch me."

As if sensing the tension, King spins in a slow circle, his eyes wary and mistrusting, darting from face to face as if he's trying to discern parts of the conversation. He must glean something from the expressions on our faces, from the way we're nearly shouting at one another, because I can see the panic rising. He looks like a cornered animal, all skittish and ready to snap at the first person who puts a hand out. I can only imagine how confused he must be, particularly if he was put through the same ordeal as us.

"King is a person," Ree tells Con, her voice low and deadly. "What kind of monster are you?"

Something in Con's expression breaks, then hardens up again, solidifying into a resolve so palpable that I can feel it. We're making the situation worse with our protests, because he's already dead-set against us. I shot Con's brother in the eye, and if he doesn't die from infection, he'll never see out of it again... barring some miracle... and as far as Con himself is concerned, Ree is my little brother, and a means to a retaliation I know will come.

He's not the kind of person to let bygones be bygones.

"Strip him."

The command snaps like the crack of a whip and there's a sudden flurry of movement. Con's minions leap to do his bidding, grasping hold of King's arms and pulling, yanking off the leather armguards and metal-mesh gloves before comprehension fully sets in. King himself makes noises of protest, thick, scared sounds that might have been no! or stop! if he had the capability to fully form the words. Ree launches herself at the boys, at Con who's intent on tearing the chest piece from King's torso. Her small fists draw back and she hits one boy, barely even ringing his bell.

"Get! Off!" Her voice is raw, angry, and impotent, because one of them just puts a hand to her forehead and shoves, sending her backward a few steps before she lobbies another attack. "Stop it!"