Page 31 of The General’s Captive (The Rift #1)

“ A lex!”

For once, my name was being shouted and it wasn’t what woke me. Because I was already up on my feet when Riley burst in the room. And he didn’t need to say anything for me to know what The General had said was true.

They had found me.

“We have to go!” Riley said as I ran to him, but a single look to the wall told me all I needed to know. That I had likely led him here, like the fucking fool I was! A fool thinking I could take back control of the situation.

But then, why did he warn me? Again, I couldn’t make sense of The General’s actions, nor could I get the worry from his face out of my mind. So, I took Riley’s hand and we ran into the chaos, for the second time in only days.

“We have to get everyone to the train!” he shouted over the screams of terror.

I watched as soldiers and civilians all flooded out of the common rooms as the Myths weren’t attacking at night like they usually did. Just like when they had hit us at the base, doing so just before sunset.

Which meant only half of the people were on the train already in their dorms, the rest were dotted around the Train Yard.

The sound of the train blaring its horn was enough to alert everyone, which was why everyone went running.

And not a moment too soon, as Myths ran toward us.

Those closest to us taking out any civilian in their path, ripping them apart like dogs with stuffed toys.

This was my fault.

Everything The General and I had discussed had just given him the opportunity to discover where we were hiding! I was a fucking fool to think that I could trust him! That absolute bastard.

“Riley, the kids!” I shouted over the madness, both of us trying to get to where we could see the few who were without their parents.

I reached for a little girl called Tammy, who was crying into her stuffed doll.

Now clinging onto me as I ran for the train, that I only hoped was ready to set into motion.

We raced against the horror behind us before we were snatched from life as Myths pounced on others, landing their claws in deep.

The demented neigh of what I assumed was a mutilated centaur echoed through the yard from the direction that Tammy had come from moments before.

We turned in unison at the sound of screaming that followed, but nothing appeared.

Then suddenly, coming around the corner, were five children racing toward us, the Harpies coming in hard and fast. So, without hesitation, I handed the little girl over to another soldier who was without his gun.

“Take her!” I shouted before pointing to the sky.

“Riley, the Harpies! Get them to sound the train horn and don’t stop, it should slow them down to give the kids a chance!

” I shouted over the chaos as gun fire rained toward them from the soldiers that tried to keep them back as long as possible.

Each one risking their lives to save the others, giving them a chance.

“On it!” Riley shouted back, before raising his weapon and firing at the Myths.

The Class two’s went down easily enough, but it was the heavy hitters that we all worried about.

As for what came from above, I didn’t have to question whether he had done as I had asked.

Because before long, I heard the sound and quickly saw the effect it had on the Harpies for myself.

The harpies now all spiraling down, unable to concentrate on flight as they landed hard on the ground.

I watched Tiff running as fast as she could, with the smallest of the kids in her arms, and a gun in her hand ready to shoot any who got close. All the kids shared the same red-rimmed eyes that were wide with terror, each screaming with the look of pure dread that cut skin deep.

As we reached them, another neigh pierced the air and something crashed into the wall, thrown from around the corner the children had come from.

Tiles smashed to the floor and the creature that followed landed with a thud.

A Spiked Ugly now lay dead, as if something unseen had been fighting on our side. But I didn’t have long to question it.

“Run, Alex. Run!” Riley’s shout bringing me back to the pandemonium. The chaos that could have been avoided if I hadn’t allowed the dreams with The General to continue. But now was not the time to berate myself for my fucked-up decisions.

We had to get everyone to that fucking train!

I quickly snatched up another child who was obviously struggling to keep up, running behind the rest of them as Tiff and I continued to cut the distance between us and their chance at safety.

The other adults came to help, parents frantic and crying thinking all had been lost. The mixture of relief and terror easy to see.

“Holy fuck, what the fuck is that!?” Tiff asked, after I had handed over the child I was carrying to his grateful mother. A little boy who was sobbing uncontrollably and I didn’t blame him, especially when he had been forced to see what was coming from over my shoulder.

I looked back and saw the vilest, most terrifying creature I had ever laid eyes on.

A horse-like beast was galloping toward us, dark mist swirling around rapidly.

It had no fur, nor skin. Only muscles, veins, and bones.

Veins that pumped what looked like congealed black blood around its body as its powerful legs brought it closer.

Its skeletal head was laced with rotting flesh that rocked to the rhythm of its gallop.

Its eyes burning bright, blazing like hot coals from the darkness of its orbital cavities.

And as for the creature on its back, this resembled a human but like its steed, it was devoid of flesh.

It looked like one of the fucking horsemen of the apocalypse.

The one that represented famine or disease.

Those same hot coals as its deathly steed burned with hatred as it looked at us like vermin to be exterminated.

Eyes that were centered solely on our deaths were positioned in its disproportionally large head and filled me with pure dread.

The long limbs of the human hung down its side, swaying with the horse’s rhythm.

It clicked its long, jagged claws, its hands and feet similar to that of a crab snapping out its warning. As the horse bucked in temper, I let out a gasp of horror seeing that the human’s gaunt torso was completely connected to the horses by muscle. Forever entwined in its rotting misery.

Even the veins that held the black blood linked the horse and the human.

Which was when I saw who it was chasing!

We had missed a child, the one from earlier today, Jesse.

The little boy who was now crying in terror, tripping on exhausted legs, hitting the floor hard and letting out a wail of pain.

A sound that snapped me out of the fear that had me momentarily frozen to the spot.

I ran forward just as Riley started to overtake me, quickly lifting the fallen child up by the waistband of his jeans before throwing him up into his arms.

“RILEY!” I screamed when I saw the demonic horse getting closer, when suddenly another civilian burst from one of the outbuildings too late to be saved.

Yet his rash actions unknowingly saved Riley and the child he held as the Myth intercepted the unfortunate person first, tearing into him, his life ending in the most gruesome of ways.

The flesh around the poor civilian’s lips strained before ripping off into the mouth of the horse, the clawed hands and feet of the human scraping through his torso, pulling on his organs and slurping his intestines like hellish nectar.

It was sickening and turned my stomach. But I didn’t have the time to heave.

I also was forced to ignore the horde of Myths headed our way, gaining on us, and focused on all the people running, handing the kids over to the open doors of the train cars.

People on board were pulling the adults still running up and into the train as it began to pull away.

Thankfully, Tiffany disappeared with them, before she came back hanging out the door calling for Riley and me. The train was going slow enough for us to catch up, but barely. And with one look back now, I knew it was too late for us.

They were too close.

All I could pray for was a quick death for the three of us remaining.

The poor child in Riley’s arms clung on for dear life, no doubt putting all his faith in the adult carrying him through this Hell. Riley’s look mirrored my own. A mask of pain and sorrow morphed his handsome features, and we spoke without words.

This was the end of the road.

That fucking horse was back, being the fastest Myth out of them all, and I was without a single weapon to fight them. All my tricks and knowledge were fucking useless now.

Because Riley was too close to them, and even though I knew the last thing I wanted to see in my life was the man I loved ending up with the same fate as its first victim, I couldn’t look away. So, my eyes locked to his.

And I wanted him to know how I felt as I mouthed my goodbye in the form of my heart.

‘I love you.’

Straight after this, my eyes went wide and not just at the sight of that fucking horse lunging for him, but it was the flash of golds and whites that suddenly hammered into the side of it. The force knocked it off its feet and it went crashing into one of the side buildings.

It had saved them.

Another Myth.

One of The General’s.

And it wasn’t the only one, as my eyes widened the second I saw the army behind the dark ones, now taking them out one by one… and with startling ease at that.

I couldn’t understand it. Had he feared for my death that much that he had marched his personal army in to save us? I was astounded.

“GET ON THE TRAIN!” Riley roared at me, as I was closest to the back of the last train cars with the doors open.

People that cared for us were at the ready to grab us so I reached out, grabbing hold of Volkov’s outstretched arm before he pulled me in. Then I turned, quickly seeing Riley pushing it with all he had, making sure to get the little boy inside.

“That’s it! Nearly there, come on!” I shouted as he held out the kid so Volkov could get him, meaning I could concentrate on getting Riley. So, with the kid inside, I shouted out to Riley.

“Come on!”

He ran and ran but with the train now picking up speed, it looked fucking impossible!

“No! Get him to stop the train!” I shouted, tears running down my cheeks as the Myths continued the chase behind him.

“No, don’t give up! I told you, tell him to stop the fucking train!” I screamed, but no one was fucking listening to me!

“No, don’t stop… Get out of here!” Riley shouted back, making me cry out a hopeless sound.

“I am not leaving you!” I shouted back, but his running slowed, putting more distance between us, and I readied myself to jump out.

“STOP! Don’t do it… Please!” he begged, which was when I was grabbed from behind by Tiff, making me fight against her, trying to get out of the train car the second Riley’s legs finally gave out, making me scream.

“NO!”

But the last thing I saw was Riley raising his head and whispering the same words back to me that I had mouthed only moments ago.

‘I love you.’

His goodbye.

I cried out, hanging on to the side of the door as Tiff kept her arms around me from behind and, in my heartbreak, I no longer had the strength to fight her.

I was forced to watch as The General’s army started to surround him. But the second he was hidden from view, my eyes narrowed in on the one who had his fate in his hands.

The General now sat atop a huge black steed. His eyes on me as he watched me do the thing he vowed I couldn’t do…

Escape him.

But as for my heartbreak… Well…

There was no escaping that.