Unsurprisingly, Figgel recovered first. "Well, the air in here is worse than a shitter. Let's get the children out, shall we?"
The huddled refugees exchanged glances and hushed murmurs. Then Miss Too-Fluffy led the way toward the lowest vent and began to shove a table toward the closest one.
Apart from her excessive fluffiness, she was perhaps alright.
Others soon joined her in creating a platform of tables, and the largest people in the room stepped onto the seats and then sank to their hands and knees on the highest platform. Others climbed over them, stacking toward the ceiling. The rest circled the growing mound.
Only Serigg and Rekkan remained by the door. Serigg's shoulders shook with sobs, but Rekkan just stared at the door with a faint frown.
When Fennikk approached the base of the table-and-human pyramid, Rekkan snapped out of his trance. He strode toward the small girl to offer her an open palm.
"You can do this," he told her.
She considered the offered support. Eyed the pile she needed to climb. And fistbumped his hand.
"I know," she replied.
Rekkan and Nikkla spotted Fennikk as she clambered up the tables and then the hill of bodies. The hill grimaced as she kneed spines, elbowed heads, and clutched hair in her ascent.
At the top of the pile, the distance to the vents remained a bit too far for her reach. Nikkla, Rekkan, and I all sucked breath as Fennikk measured the distance.
She leaped.
Grasping the metal edge, she pulled herself up and squirmed out of sight. Seconds later, two hands reached down, one flesh and one bionic.
"Who's next?" Fennikk called.
Rekkan's face broke into a grin. Fuck, the pride there. My non-existent uterus felt just about ready for birthing.
Applause scattered the room and steamrolled into a thunder. Hearing the encouragement, the rest of the children hurried toward the human mound. Other adults crowded around to spot the rest of the children as they climbed.
The enthusiasm in the room was contagious. I could almost believe Fennikk was truly super and that she could easily save us all. But I knew the truth—the air was rapidly approaching unbreathable, and even if all the children made it out, few heroes were left above.
Pakket ventured a few steps toward Figgel, smiling tentatively. She plopped to the ground to swat an already dead fly. His brow furrowed, and he turned toward the climb alone.
I approached the tiny boy. "I'll help you, Pakket."
"That's alright," he said. "I'm used to being alone. I know nobody wants me."
An exhale drew my attention to Rekkan, who stood several feet away, eyes pinned to the boy. He looked as though he had been socked in the gut. When Pakket started toward the mountain of bodies, I hurried forward to spot him, but Rekkan beat me there.
I slid into place beside Rekkan, providing an unnecessary second spotter for the uncoordinated but very light climber who held my man's attention.
When Kazap shoved past the smaller boy, Rekkan shot him a glare – a glare Kazap ignored as easily as he ignored all of my climbing advice. A bit higher up, Kazap began to fumble. His parents and I rushed to steady him. He continued, unbothered, but the three of us exchanged nervous glances.
"Be careful, Kazap," one parent pleaded, their eyes wide.
While the three of us stopped Kazap from killing himself, Razalu stepped onto the highest back and rolled up to her feet to grab Fennikk's hands. Fennikk scooched back in the vent to tug Razalu in. Then the two maneuvered around inside the metal constraints until both could hang their hands over the edge.
YOU ARE READING
Human Bait
Horror"It's true what they say about you, isn't it? You really did sip tea and smile as you watched humanity fall apart." "Nope," he said. "I sipped whiskey." Eight years into the Infection, a spunky idealist convinces a hardened recluse to help him save...
