Deliquesce

Chapter 22: Freeze

Warnings: Lots and lots of violence and people doing things they should probably not do

A/N: Here I go again, uploading a few chapters in one go and disappearing for months. Don't hate me pls.

It felt like a thousand needles of ice grazing past my face, harsh bursts of wind whipping through my hair.

It felt like freedom.

The snow beneath us flew up in all directions as the wheels tore through it's serene surface, and I clung to him as if my life depended on it. No, my life really did depend on it. If I were to let go, I would be off the bike before I had time to scream.

"Keep going straight until you hit the field." I screamed, eyes still screwed shut. "Once you get there, just drive until you get to the end of the field. Straight pretty much. After that, go left until you hit a road."

"Gotcha." He called back. I pressed my forehead against his back, clinging onto him so tightly I wondered if it hurt. He just kept driving, every so often I would hear the engine getting louder and the wind getting rougher and knew that we, impossibly, were going even faster. Within minutes, I heard a delighted giggle. Or, I felt it. A deep vibration that resonated through his body. I remembered the first night we spent together, how I rested my head against his bare chest. I remember his voice, the way it felt. Deep vibrations that sent shivers down my neck. And the laugh. There was something very intimate about being able to feel someone's laugh as opposed to simply hearing it.

"Ember, open your eyes."

I shook my head against his back. "I'll fall off."

"You won't fall off. It's pretty. Please? Pretty please?" His voice was full of joy, something that I had so rarely had to opportunity to experience. I wonder how long it had been since he'd left the factory. I opened my eyes to the deep plum velvet of his coat. Tentatively, I lifted my forehead up until I could see.

It was white. All around us. Blindingly white. It was like this as I walked through the field, but flying through it was a whole other experience, as the snow flew up and showered around us. A laugh bubbled up from my lips.

"This is amazing." I exclaimed through panicked breaths.

We stopped at the edge of the field with an abrupt lurch.

"We'll walk the rest. Too much sound will attract unwanted attention."

I nodded.

"Hell. That was something."

"Was it ever! I missed that old thing. Haven't had the chance to ride it for years." We jumped off the bike and walked to the road.

"It's close by. 10 minutes, maybe. Just follow this road up, turn right, keep going, and turn left. Then you're there. Do you think we should jog or something?" I asked.

"Are you good at running? We should have a race, maybe."

With that, he took off in sort of a lame, fast jog. I went after him with an even lamer fast jog, but it didn't matter much. We just needed to be fast.

We went up to the turning point, and he gestured for me to keep it low. We walked close to the walls until it was time to turn left again.

Wonka peaked his head around the corner.

"Can you see it?" I whispered.

"Not much. I can see a bit of a barrier. Too much snow."

"Okay. It's just up there. There are a few people on the barrier, armed. There may be more. By now they would have realised two of their men have gone missing, they might send in reinforcements. Maybe there's some patrolling out here, but I'm not sure. What's the plan?"

"Simple. We go in quietly, and take them screaming."

"That's a bit…"

"My apologies, but I don't have sympathy for living cannibals. I have a bit more for the dead ones, at least they don't know what they're doing. And, well, after what happened to you, I have a bit of steam to blow off."

I swallowed hard. His voice was playful, but there were always secret undertones of something. He never spoke in a way that portrayed what he really felt. This one was dark. We moved around the corner slowly, keeping low behind the cars and crates that were conveniently strewn messily around the place. As we got closer, the barricade became clearer. I counted six people. Three of them had guns that I could see, but I wasn't sure about the others.

"Six. Three with guns." I whispered.

"No problemo." We moved forward until we were only about 15 meters from the barricade, crouched down behind a car.

"Watch this." Wonka giggled, reached into his pocket and pulled out the bags of candy. He gave a mischievous grin, twisted round and threw them.

I heard a muted burst, followed by sizzling. I popped my head up and saw clouds of mist rising up from where he threw them. No screams, but I heard a few moans. Weird. I guessed it had some sort of dazing effect. Before I could react properly, he was up and running towards the barricade. I ran after him, didn't know what else to do. He went straight into the mist. Was that safe?

I hoisted myself up onto the barricade, and in the few seconds it took me to do that, the mist had cleared. A man dropped to the floor, and I heard a few stunned cries. Wonka pulled the knife out of the man and turned around to the others, who were reaching for their weapons. Before they could even touch theirs, one of those big guns slung around his shoulder was blasting out bullets. I pulled the pistol out of my jacket and aimed it at one of the men that had their back to me, the one that was aiming at Wonka. I pulled the trigger, and it hit him in the arm but he didn't go down. He screamed though, so I guess it wasn't a complete waste of a bullet. I pulled again and he crumpled. A woman came running up to me, knife out, a snarl on her face. I ducked and kicked her knees and she tripped, but her knife flashed out and slashed through my trousers. I felt a little sting, but it wasn't deep. She was up again on her feet and I dodged another slash. I had the gun in my hand. But she was so close. I could see her face.

But then I realised that those people had seen each of my friends' faces, seen the terror in their eyes and smirked knowing what they would soon do to them.

I pulled the trigger and she fell.

This world was dying. We weren't a breed of heroes. But we sure as hell weren't a breed of fucked up savages. I would hate myself later, but not as much as I would if I sat back and did nothing.

I looked over to Wonka, saw his knives flashing through the air. He was fast, vicious. And I was surprised. He was like Hunter and Valeriya combined. I saw a man come up behind him, but shot him down before he could get close to Wonka. Two more slashes, and they were done.

"Holy fuck." I said. "You're good."

"Much appreciated. Now then. Wanna know something funny? I don't know if you noticed this, but if you look to our left, there are more people coming. Quite a lot of them, actually. Like, a lot a lot. Isn't that neat? I'm going to set up a few harmless but grand explosions to draw all of them out here, but first I want you to climb down and find everyone. I'm going to fight them, give them a bit of a distraction while you do that. 'Kay?"

"What? You're not coming? We can take them together."

"Ember, look."

I looked to my left. There were a lot of people coming. Fast.

"We can't take them all. If we both die, then who's gonna save them?"

"No, we can't." I agreed reluctantly, a sickening feeling rising in my throat as I realised his plan.

"Go and get them."

"I don't want to leave you here."

"I'll be fine. Don't sacrifice your friends for me again, please."

Tears welled up and I nodded, about to turn away before he put a hand on my arm. "I love you."

I froze. "Make it through this, and I'll give you a reply." I jumped down off the barrier, and I heard something explode a little bit away.