Page 31

I drop off Vektal’s back and nudge ahead, taking the lead. The breeze is picking up, so I swaddle the furs closer about my face and climb up the ramp. The hole is covered by the tarp, so I tug it up.

A snowball immediately hits me in the face.

I sputter, wincing and staggering backward. It’s nailed me right on the nose, and my face throbs, my eyes stinging.

“Back the fuck off!” A voice yells. Another snowball lobs in my direction, and I duck it.

Vektal gives a furious cry, pulling me behind him, rage lighting his eyes. As I watch, he pulls two bladed, carved short swords from his vest.

“Wait,” I yell. “Guys, it’s me! Georgie!”

Silence.

“Georgie?” A voice cries. It sounds like Liz. “You’re alive?”

“I am,” I yell back. “Fuck off with the snowballs!”

“What’s with the lion, Georgie?” someone else yells up. “Call it off!”

“It’s not a lion. It’s a native, and it’s my friend. His name is Vektal.” I pat Vektal’s arm, trying to soothe him since he still looks as if he wants to crawl inside and murder everyone. “It’s okay, big guy. Really.” I’m so relieved at finding the others alive that I could blubber big, ugly tears of joy.

I try to move forward, only to have Vektal block me again. I give him an exasperated look. “Really. It’s fine. These are my people. Humans.”

“Humans,” he repeats and points at his fingers.

“That’s right.”

Grudgingly, he moves aside, and I push the tarp away and duck, just in case another snowball comes flying my way. When nothing does, I peek in.

Five ragged girls stare up at me, faces dirty. Liz, Kira, Megan, Tiffany, and Josie are all still alive, though they look like hell. Their eyes are hollow, their hair is lank, and they shiver as they stare up at me.

I think they’re all beautiful. I’m so happy to see them that I burst into tears. “Hi,” I sob out.

“Georgie?” Vektal asks. His hands go to my back, his touch possessive.

I turn and pat him, trying not to blubber and failing miserably. “Help me down?”

My wrist is still crap, but Vektal is strong. He helps lower me into the hold just enough that I can grab onto some of the wreckage. I climb down awkwardly, falling forward when I get close to the floor. Then the five girls are grabbing me, hauling me against them in big, smelly hugs.

“You guys smell awful,” I say between sobs and hug each one. Liz is grinning wide, but Josie seems listless, her delicate figure practically skeletal. Tiffany’s blubbering as much as I am, and both Megan and Kira are quiet. “Here,” I say, stripping the furs off my body. “Please. Take these. You guys have to be freezing.”

They grab the furs with greedy hands, and I don’t even mind. I strip them off, happy to hear their moans of pleasure as they get their first warm clothing in days.

“We thought you were dead,” Tiffany says. “You never came back.”

“I got held up. Are you guys okay?” I ask as they snuggle in the blankets. Kira’s wearing Vektal’s traveling cloak, and Liz and Megan are huddling together under one fur, Josie and Tiffany under the other. They’re standing and alert, so that’s good.

Megan sniffs and then sneezes. The others grimace. Liz rubs her forehead, and she’s clearly exhausted. “We’re hanging in there,” Liz says. “Food’s almost gone. Water, too. But—”

Something big and heavy thumps behind me, shaking the entire cargo hold. Everyone’s eyes go wide as they scatter, retreating.

I turn and see Vektal shaking a bit of snow off of his leather boots. His nostrils flare with the stench of unwashed bodies and human waste, and then his gaze fixes on me. He frowns at the realization that I’ve given away all my furs.

“It’s okay,” I tell him, moving to his side. I pat his big chest, trying to soothe him with small touches. “Vektal, these are my people.”

“He understands you?” Liz asks in a small voice.

“Well, only little bits and pieces,” I say, watching him. I don’t think he’s going to greet the others with oral sex, but you never know.