on top of it and gazed out.
Maura and I waited tensely as he looked around.
“Nope,” he said. “There’s still one hovering near this area… Oh, wait, and there’s another one, too.”
Crap . I balled my sweating hands. Were they really going to go away anytime soon? I have to get out of this city. How long would it be before they started sweeping the buildings looking for me? Would they really go that far? Suddenly, staying put didn’t seem like a good idea at all.
“Okay, maybe we should just keep moving,” Orlando said. He returned to the floor and looked from me to his sister, who was scowling. “We got an unlucky start,” he said. “But I don’t think waiting is going to make any difference. For all we know, things could just get worse.”
Maura pursed her lips, making no attempt to hide her disdain, but said nothing.
So we left the janitor’s room. Thankfully, we didn’t come across any more Bloodless on our way down to the ground floor. I hoped we’d had our share of them for at least the next hour. My nerves were still quivering from the monsters.
We moved to the entrance of the building and stepped out into the wet street. Thankfully it appeared to be empty.
“So now which way?” I asked in a whisper.
“The river,” Orlando replied beneath his breath. “Traveling along the river is the best way to remain safe from Bloodless because they can’t stand whatever it’s been contaminated with.”
The river. “That runs so close to IBSI’s headquarters though,” I murmured.
“Part of it does,” Orlando said, “but that part isn’t where we keep our raft. So we won’t need to pass their base.”
Orlando took a right turn. Maura and I quickly followed behind him as he began heading down the street. All three of us gazed around, alert like animals for the presence of our numerous predators.
The slicing of helicopter blades in the sky was disconcertingly loud. The hunters were still close. We tried to keep out of view as much as we could, sticking close to the buildings and moving beneath ledges.
“How much longer until the river?” I couldn’t help but ask. It felt like we had been traveling for about an hour, though I doubted it had been more than ten minutes.
“We’re not far. Another five minutes or so,” Orlando replied.
“Oh, no,” Maura hissed, pointing up the street. “Bloodless.”
Indeed there were. I spotted a whole crowd of them, huddled in a circle and apparently piling on top of something. A meal, I assumed.
“We’ll have to take a detour now,” Orlando said, frustrated.
We tried to back away unnoticed, but that was a futile attempt. Some of the creatures had already noticed us. They tore away from whatever they were ravaging up the road and began loping toward us. I didn’t need to use my flames this time, though. Orlando was prepared enough. He sent the blade-wheel hurtling toward them, and it spliced them before they could reach within twelve feet of us.
We hurried onward before more Bloodless could decide to have a go at us. We slipped down a narrow, winding alleyway and reappeared on the other side, onto another wide street. This one clearly had once been posh. It was lined with expensive designer shops and restaurants with prestigious names. There was also an old hotel whose windows were smashed in, its rotating doorway mangled.
We raced to the end of this road and onto the road parallel to it. Here, to my relief, I spotted water. A dark, murky river. A barrier had been erected, lining the river’s edge. The three of us climbed over it and touched down in squelching mud.
Orlando pointed toward a wide, steel bridge, a little further up. “We left our raft just beneath that,” he explained.
We fought our way through the muddy, narrow bank until we reached the shelter of the bridge. As I eyed the contraption that was leaning against the bridge’s wall, I could very well see why Orlando had said that it would be generous to call it a boat. It
Maura and I waited tensely as he looked around.
“Nope,” he said. “There’s still one hovering near this area… Oh, wait, and there’s another one, too.”
Crap . I balled my sweating hands. Were they really going to go away anytime soon? I have to get out of this city. How long would it be before they started sweeping the buildings looking for me? Would they really go that far? Suddenly, staying put didn’t seem like a good idea at all.
“Okay, maybe we should just keep moving,” Orlando said. He returned to the floor and looked from me to his sister, who was scowling. “We got an unlucky start,” he said. “But I don’t think waiting is going to make any difference. For all we know, things could just get worse.”
Maura pursed her lips, making no attempt to hide her disdain, but said nothing.
So we left the janitor’s room. Thankfully, we didn’t come across any more Bloodless on our way down to the ground floor. I hoped we’d had our share of them for at least the next hour. My nerves were still quivering from the monsters.
We moved to the entrance of the building and stepped out into the wet street. Thankfully it appeared to be empty.
“So now which way?” I asked in a whisper.
“The river,” Orlando replied beneath his breath. “Traveling along the river is the best way to remain safe from Bloodless because they can’t stand whatever it’s been contaminated with.”
The river. “That runs so close to IBSI’s headquarters though,” I murmured.
“Part of it does,” Orlando said, “but that part isn’t where we keep our raft. So we won’t need to pass their base.”
Orlando took a right turn. Maura and I quickly followed behind him as he began heading down the street. All three of us gazed around, alert like animals for the presence of our numerous predators.
The slicing of helicopter blades in the sky was disconcertingly loud. The hunters were still close. We tried to keep out of view as much as we could, sticking close to the buildings and moving beneath ledges.
“How much longer until the river?” I couldn’t help but ask. It felt like we had been traveling for about an hour, though I doubted it had been more than ten minutes.
“We’re not far. Another five minutes or so,” Orlando replied.
“Oh, no,” Maura hissed, pointing up the street. “Bloodless.”
Indeed there were. I spotted a whole crowd of them, huddled in a circle and apparently piling on top of something. A meal, I assumed.
“We’ll have to take a detour now,” Orlando said, frustrated.
We tried to back away unnoticed, but that was a futile attempt. Some of the creatures had already noticed us. They tore away from whatever they were ravaging up the road and began loping toward us. I didn’t need to use my flames this time, though. Orlando was prepared enough. He sent the blade-wheel hurtling toward them, and it spliced them before they could reach within twelve feet of us.
We hurried onward before more Bloodless could decide to have a go at us. We slipped down a narrow, winding alleyway and reappeared on the other side, onto another wide street. This one clearly had once been posh. It was lined with expensive designer shops and restaurants with prestigious names. There was also an old hotel whose windows were smashed in, its rotating doorway mangled.
We raced to the end of this road and onto the road parallel to it. Here, to my relief, I spotted water. A dark, murky river. A barrier had been erected, lining the river’s edge. The three of us climbed over it and touched down in squelching mud.
Orlando pointed toward a wide, steel bridge, a little further up. “We left our raft just beneath that,” he explained.
We fought our way through the muddy, narrow bank until we reached the shelter of the bridge. As I eyed the contraption that was leaning against the bridge’s wall, I could very well see why Orlando had said that it would be generous to call it a boat. It
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