Like Hearts, Like Souls

She didn't trust a single one of these people, and she could tell they didn't trust her. They'd only banded together to make it through the city forest in one piece, but she'd be surprised if they made it with their lives. Even though they couldn't see them, she could sense the creatures lurking around every shadowy corner, patiently waiting.

They were always waiting, always watching. They weren't the mindless creatures everyone thought in the beginning, they could plan just as well as the humans could. You had to love scientific experimentation, they'd finally created something they couldn't control, and it came back to bite everyone in the ass, literally. As it was, she could already tell the stalking game had begun, even if the others hadn't realized it yet. They were still arrogant, they still believed these creatures were just that, creatures.

It worked to her advantage; it always did.

Her eyes took in the group of twelve travelers, including herself, all ranging from her young age of twenty-three to late fifties. They would be the first to go, they always were. Not because they were slow, no, but because they believed they could kill them with a single shot to the chest like a deer or bear. They wouldn’t learn the heart to the creature laid not in the chest but in the head. It wouldn’t matter anyway; the head was basically steel to protect it. Bioengineering at its finest.

“What’s that?” She glanced up, startled she’d let someone sneak up on her, but she smiled warmly at them. She was willing to let all the men, all nine of them, think she was a ditzy blond like she portrayed.

“What’s what?”

The man in front of her was in his thirties, so he’d been in his early twenties when the creatures took over nearly fifteen years ago. Men like him tended to gravitate towards girls like her, since there were so few. Her kind didn’t last long in the beginning, only bigger boy children had survived. She could use the way his eyes roamed her, but she’d have to be careful. The last thing she needed was a tag along puppy while dodging the demented creatures.

“That thing you’re playing with, around your neck?” he asked, motioning towards where her hand was unconsciously playing with the chain up against her neck.

She paused, her mind going back to the memories of her past, memories she’d rather forget, but she smiled and answered him. “A locket.” She pulled it out of her scarf, letting him see the silver heart shaped piece of jewelry. “I’ve had it for many years.”

“Everyone needs something from their childhood,” he mused, but all she did was keep the smile on her face, her brown eyes boring into his. “We’re about to move out, are you ready?”

“Of course.” There was no point in stating she’d been ready since the sun crested over the trees and the broken down buildings. “Shall we?”

He studied her, obviously seeing something she couldn’t pinpoint. There was no longer that glint in his eyes that told her he was studying her body, now he was studying her intentions. She’d learned that look long ago, and she knew how to maneuver around it. As long as this man kept silent, she’d make it out with most of her skin intact while only their souls made it out.

As they began moving through the overgrown streets, which held far too many things that could trip her, she could feel the dozens, if not hundreds of eyes watching them. Waiting for one of them to stray far enough from the others. Learning their habits. Catching each little thing that could help them capture their prized food source.

She had studied them from the beginning, just as they studied humans. At this point, it seemed like a game between them and her as to who would win in the end. She knew it was them, and so did they, but she pretended she was winning, and they let her. They had for the last six city forests she’d crossed with travelers. She knew they were playing with her, they liked playing with their food. She liked to watch as people who prized themselves on surviving fell into the depths of darkness these creatures provided.

She spotted the first to be taken only hours before he was snatched, the creature not even having to show its hairy snout to do so. The man was in his late forties and was dressed in jeans and plaid, but he was packed with weapons. She would give him that at least, but he was cocky. She could see it in the way he walked and the way he handled the duties of the camps they set up and took down every day. He didn’t believe they could touch him.

The scream that tore through the air that night as the stars lite up the sky sent bliss streaming through her body.

The hunt had begun, and no one really understood but her.

Watching the panic in the morning made her think back on the times this had happened when she was a child. The panic was almost calming to her nerves, it was routine to this kind of adventure even if it meant death and blood. It no longer bothered her, in fact, it meant she survived because the death wasn’t hers, even if the blood might be.

Something struck her as odd as they walked that day. While the remaining travelers should be skittish, jumpy, and paranoid, the man she’d talked to yesterday was perfectly calm. Almost as if he was expecting this as well. It struck a chord in her, that someone else in this group seemed to know the secrets. It meant this man had studied them as long as she had, and he had the added years from before the darkened times to aid him. Instead of fear, she was thrilled, because now she no longer only wondered who would be taken next, but whether this man would beat her at her own game.

She hated to say he spotted who would go next before she did. She’d been so in her own thoughts she’d missed the morning and lunch rituals that would tell her. It would be two of them, a pair of twins that went everywhere together, about his age, but they looked like surfers. They had the attitudes of surfers if she remembered correctly, not really worrying what would happen, just going with the flow.

It really seemed to work out for them. It was right before dinner when they disappeared, only to never reappear. The only thing we heard of them was the sickening crunch of bone breaking through skin as the creatures created more fear among the other travelers. When she looked in his direction, she saw a small smile on his face, which he turned to her when he realized she was looking. Again, she was playing with the locket, but the smile she gave him was almost genuine in its warmth, and completely genuine in its measure and calculations. He only chuckled and motioned with his head for her to watch.

The seven before them were staring in the direction the surfer twins had gone. All were pale, the two older females clutching at their husbands for comfort. The three men who were between her age and his looked murderous, but only two looked like they’d do something stupid.

They lived up to it around midnight, as the night watch switched, and went into the darkness. No one had really fallen asleep, but she had slept a bit while close to him, feeling a little safety for the moment. She knew he wouldn’t try to kill her, at least not until they were nearing the end, which wouldn’t be until mid-day, day after next. She’d been awake to watch them go into the darkness with the guns, but she just sighed, knowing it would end the same, it always did.

Gun shots rang through the air making them all jump, but she stayed on the ground where she knew she wouldn’t be hit with a stray bullet. He stayed with her, having the same thought, but she could hear his deep chuckle when they heard the screaming start. One of them stopped suddenly accompanied with the sound of a sickening squish, making me smile. They’d crushed his head, and from the sound of the other man, they’d bitten his head off.

“Five left,” he purred in her ear, and she couldn’t help but grin at him.

The next day, they all got going in silence, everyone well aware they were being stalked now. She could taste the fear in the air, but said nothing, staying close to him. He didn’t seem perturbed about it, but the others seemed to understand something was going on between them. Though they hadn’t killed anyone, they knew how to work the situation so they would live.

“You’ve been playing with that necklace an awful lot,” one of the older men grouched at dinner that night, making her look up in confusion.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“How’d you get it?”

She could feel his eyes on her, his own curiosity heavy in the air. “It was my mother’s, then my sister’s. They both died long ago.”

The man’s eyes narrowed at her, but he couldn’t say anything. Everyone could tell there was more to the story, but they wouldn’t pry. She was young after all, she’d been affected by this more then any of them had. She’d grown up with this as her reality.

That morning, the heaviness was in the air. and she couldn’t help the maniacal grin on her face as she got ready. With five of them still alive, beside her and him, she’d have to end it to appease those creatures. She glanced at him and saw him deep in thought, probably about the same thing. It was then she came to the decision she’d been dancing around for the last few days.

“How shall we do it?” she whispered into his ear, catching him off guard.

He gathered himself easily enough and stared at her, a calculating glint in his eyes. It took a long few minutes before he smiled at her, his grin matching her own demented one. “They rather like blood and organs.”

“I sharpened my machete before joining,” she purred, making him chuckle as he stared into her brown eyes, his blue ones glowing with intensity. “All at once, or pick them off as we go?”

“As we go, of course.” He paused. “How do I know you won’t turn on me?”

“You don’t,” she said, her voice firm. She smiled at him, the first truly genuine smile he’d ever seen. “I don’t know you won’t turn on me, but it’s a calculated risk.”

He nodded and then looked at the locket. “What’s the true story behind that? You never call it your locket.”

Her smile turned deadly and her eyes hard. “That’s because it’s a reminder. My mother tried to feed us to those creatures, but my sister wouldn’t allow it. Called her a monster and turned on her. The creatures left it. Two years later, my sister turned on me. Said I was a burden, and I would be better as creature chow.” She barred her teeth. “The creatures left me the locket as a reminder. No one’s above betrayal.”

“Colten.” He held out his hand, showing a family ring on one of his fingers, covered in dried blood. “All you can trust are facts, and survival.”

“Devon.” She took his hand and shook it firmly, the smile still on her lips. “Now, I believe we have a massacre to plan, Colten.”

“Woman after my heart.”