Page 13 of Hunter’s Valentine (Xarc’n Warriors)

“Stay with me.”

I blinked at the words, unsure if I’d heard him right.

“You mean tonight?” He must mean just for tonight .

“You are good with the shuttle’s blaster. Help me with my hunts. We will destroy the scourge together. It is an honorable life. You seem to enjoy my company, as well as my cock and my tongue. Do you not?”

Trust him to be blunt. But I couldn’t deny it. I did enjoy his company. And I most definitely enjoyed his cock and tongue. Then again, I couldn’t just abandon my plan to get to New Franklin, and shack up with Mur’k forever—

Why not? demanded a small voice in my head.

“If my performance was not to your liking, I can assure you it will improve as I learn your body. I can—”

“No! I mean, yes.” Shit. Of all the times to get tripped up on my words. “I mean, there’s no need to improve, even though I’m sure you would. But I can’t stay. I…”

I struggled to find the words to explain that I no longer had a home and needed to get to Franklin so I could make a new one there.

Why can’t you make a home with him in his shuttle ? asked the small voice again.

“You are traveling to New Franklin,” he said.

How did he know?

“I am.”

“Did your people send you there to spy on the other survivors? Or are you going to negotiate trade?”

I was at a loss for words. He thought I was either a spy or a diplomat? The ridiculousness of it had me breaking down into laughter.

“What is funny?” Mur’k did not look amused.

“Nothing,” I said between chuckles. “No one sent me to New Franklin to do anything. The rest of the bunker doesn’t even know where I’m going. It was my decision to leave. I didn’t see the point of staying if no one wanted me there anymore and thought I was useless.”

The anger that crossed Mur’k’s face surprised me.

“You are not useless.”

“Thank you. That means a lot. But if I were really capable, you wouldn’t have had to come rescue me again.”

“Capable does not mean invincible. Even hunters require rescues occasionally. I myself have called for backup many times.”

“Point taken.”

Then, because he genuinely seemed to care, I told him the whole story from the beginning. I told him about the prepper forum, joining the bunker, and how everyone was great to me until the baby was born and my services as a midwife were no longer required.

“I guess they don’t plan on having more children,” I finished up.

“But you are more than that. You are brave and quick-thinking. And you are a good hunter.

I raised my brow. “A good hunter? You said I ruined your hunt.”

“That was before. Your help with the flyers resulted in my best hunt to date on Earth. And I would have struggled against the centicreep without your assistance.”

“I guess we did make a pretty good team.”

“Affirmative. And that’s why you should stay with me. We will hunt together. We can be hunting partners.”

Oh. So that was the real reason he wanted me to stay: he wanted a hunting partner. The mind-blowing sex and good company were just a very convincing bonus. Still, it was tempting. It was a different life, and after being in the bunker for so long, I was ready for something new.

But I still needed to see what was at New Franklin first. What if there were pregnant women there who needed my help? Maybe after I got to New Franklin I’d ask him if he wanted to come visit. He’d mentioned trading with them, so he must spend time there.

Mur’k had viewed me as a liability at first, and I appreciated that he was able to change his mind. But as much as I had enjoyed shooting the flyers and thinking that I’d helped him immensely, I knew that I couldn’t put my life on hold for that.

Now, if we’d spent more time together and he was professing his undying love, that would be another situation altogether. As it was, though, he was looking for a hunting partner. And that wasn’t me. Not yet.

“I need to go to New Franklin.”

I couldn’t miss the disappointment that flitted temporarily across his golden eyes. His body language changed too, stiffening. The hurt of rejection transcended species, and I immediately felt horrible for turning him down.

I wanted to tell him that it wasn’t no forever, that he could come visit me in Franklin once I got set up, that we could go hunt then, but I couldn’t find the right words. Everything sounded so dumb, like I was making excuses.

He got up from the bed, the screen and the peaceful display of the alien meadow disappearing as he did.

“Where are you going?” I asked as he tied on his loincloth.

“To retrieve your items.”

Right. I’d almost forgotten about them and those poor people still stuck under his net.

He must have seen my thoughts on my face because he said, “Do not worry, they will not suffer long. I will return to take care of the infected after.”

“After what?” I asked.

“After I take you to New Franklin. It will be faster and safer.”

“Oh! Thank you.”

I was glad we were traveling together for a little while longer. I’d hate to part when things were still awkward. Maybe by the time we got to the settlement, I’d have found the right words.

Unfortunately, things between Mur’k and I were still strained by the time we got to New Franklin. I decided that I just had to spit it out, but he stomped out of the shuttle before I could speak to him. He’d left me with a man named Roger and disappeared to visit the hunters’ compound.

The settlement of New New Franklin—yes, it officially had two new’s, though it was usually shortened to one—was situated in an industrial zone on the outskirts of the town of Franklin. There were covered pathways linking the buildings, and bridges connecting the rooftops. There were also several greenhouses, and from Mur’k’s shuttle, I’d noticed several fenced-in fields too. This was a community squarely focused on long-term survival and not just relying on everything they’d saved up before the collapse.

The nest at the center of town was hard to miss; from the shuttle, I’d seen the white tendrils of mycelium from the bugs’ fungus stretching out for several city blocks. Mur’k had explained that it was considered a medium-sized nest, while the one by my bunker had been a tiny one, big enough to be marked on a map but not large enough to merit a dedicated hunter group. Minor nests came and went, being destroyed by hunters only to be replaced the next year by migrating scourge from bigger nests like New Franklin’s.

This was why hunters got together in the summer to fight the swarms together—to reduce the number of scourge that could make it out to build new nests. The disappearance of small and medium-sized nests was the first sign that they were winning the war on any given planet.

The hunters and humans here worked together to eradicate the nest. I already knew that from Jack’s radio show. Roger, it turned out, was this group’s human leader. I didn’t know who I’d expected to be New Franklin’s leader, but it definitely wasn’t someone with piercings and an overgrown mohawk flopped over to the side, sporting a t-shirt from a band I’d never heard of. But if he was good at what he did, who was I to judge? He was friendly and didn’t set off any of my alarms. So, I told him my story.

“I heard on Staying Alive that Jack’s wife is pregnant, and I thought maybe my expertise would be useful here,” I finished.

That had Roger grinning from ear to ear, a genuine smile that had me smiling too.

“She sure is. And she isn’t the only one. We’ve got lots of new lives about to start here, and we’ll need all hands on deck. Let me call Jack over, and you can meet him.”

To my surprise, he brought out a cell phone. Not a walkie-talkie, but an honest-to-goodness smartphone. How was his phone still working? The only thing my phone was good for now was as a paperweight. We used walkie-talkies in the bunker, and on the few occasions we went out as a group.

Jack wasn’t anything like I’d expected, either. From his velvety, smooth radio host voice, I’d thought he would be a lot older. He looked barely out of college, though the last two years had put some age on his face, like it had everyone else. But any doubt I had was erased the second he spoke. I’d have recognized that voice anywhere.

“Everyone will be excited to meet you,” he said. “We don’t get many new members. Come on, I’ll show you around, and then you can meet my wife, Stacey.”

I glanced back at Roger. “Wait. That’s it? You’re letting me in? You don’t even know me. What if I’m a spy or something?” And that had me thinking of Mur’k again.

Roger grinned. “Mur’k alerted us that you were traveling here. Your story matches his. It’s all good. He also said you were great with the shuttle’s blaster. We always need another good shot. Welcome to New New Franklin.”

Mur’k put in a good word for me? That was nice of him. Now that I knew I had a future here, I wondered if I could convince him to visit me sometime. I wouldn’t mind helping him on his hunts occasionally when things were slow here. Who knows, maybe we could spend some more time in his sleeping nook. Yes please!

“All righty, then,” I said with a smile. “Give me the grand tour.”

It turned out that we had been speaking in the “main survivor building,” so named because most of the original New Franklin group of survivors lived here. It was a sturdy, two-story affair that had once boasted small offices on the second floor and larger businesses below.

The hunters’ compound was several buildings over. It was where Xarc’n warriors assigned to this nest had first set up camp. The humans had joined them after the original New Franklin settlement was overrun by bugs, which was when they’d changed the name to New New Franklin.

As Jack showed me around, I met more people than I could possibly keep straight, including, as Roger had mentioned, quite a few pregnant women who were more than happy to see me. But it was hard to focus and try to remember everyone’s name when all I could think about was Mur’k. I was secretly excited when Jack took me over to the hunters’ compound.

“Stacey and I actually live here with the hunters,” Jack said. “I was one of the originals who joined them before the main group did.”

He explained that most of the hunters were out fighting the scourge, but I got to meet Rajiv’k and his mate, Natalie.

“You’re the one Mur’k brought in!” Natalie said with a bright smile. “He came to trade some electronic parts he found.”

I perked up when I heard his name.

“Where is he now?” I asked after the introductions.

“Oh, he left. Something about helping a hunters’ group on the East Coast. That guy’s always moving. Said he’ll visit again before the summer swarms.”

My heart plummeted. He hadn’t even stayed long enough to say goodbye.