That’s when I saw the first one.
The thing Robert knew my sister wouldn’t be able to handle seeing.
It was worse than the deformed easterner I had seen months ago in these very woods. I didn’t even know what to call the creature that sprang on top of the soldier, tackling him to the ground effortlessly, the soldier’s bones cracking and snapping as he fell like a tower of blocks knocked over by a vengeful child.
It wasn’t just that the creature was deformed. Appearance-wise he wasn’t much different from the deformed chosen ones we had stumbled across from the Eastern sector. Enormous in stature, the creature lacked any of the beauty that made up the design of the chosen ones flashed across the television screens of my childhood—lavish and grand promises that an age of innocence was about to begin. It had been anything but that. Forced into compounds. Girls used and abused to suit the council’s needs.
The beauty of the chosen ones was a lie. At least most of them. James’s outer beauty was nothing compared to the soul that lived inside of him—a soul he insisted he didn’t have.
But as the council became more and more sure they had properly subdued the naturals, they must have followed the lead of the eastern sector—mass producing killing machines to fight the war that continued to plague our borders, no longer caring about fooling naturals into believing these angelic, god-like humans were created to protect us.
The chosen one before me was an abomination. His skull was covered in ridges and bumps, sunken in places that made me feel like if I touched it, the entire head would cave in. His features were misshapen, haphazardly designed. Rushed. Grotesque. His head was covered in patches of long, stringy dark hair.
McNair’s words from the day we found the eastern creature slithered into my ears: They’re losing the war, and they need infantry. So they commissioned these things. Strong. Brutal. Easier for us naturals to kill because of their lack of abilities, but good for mass-producing.
No care was given to this creature’s appearance. He wasn’t designed to impress. He was designed to kill.
I began to pull myself up from the ground, knowing the only chance we had of surviving was to run, but Robert held me firmly in place. He gave a tight shake of his head.
The monster lifted his head back, howling into the night sky. That’s when I saw the teeth. I gasped. Razor sharp and uneven, they gleamed with saliva, chomping into the night air. I reached a trembling hand toward my sister, placing it over Lockwood’s, ensuring that she wouldn’t see what was about to happen next.
With a raspy, wet howl, the creature brought his teeth down onto the man’s neck. Nothing more than an effortless tug and the monster brought his head back up, ripping out the man’s throat. The man who had run toward danger to help us.
Blood splattered across the creature’s face, and as it landed on his lips, he licked at it hungrily. The taste of blood only increased his frenzy, and he brought his teeth back down onto the man’s body. I couldn’t watch anymore. I closed my eyes and pressed my head against the dirt.
“Their sight and hearing aren’t that great. If we just lay here and don’t move, he won’t see us,” Robert whispered to me.
“How many of them are there?” Lockwood asked.
“I reckon a dozen.”
“Couldn’t you take it out?” Lockwood asked, his voice hitching at the end. He had always been a farmer; he didn’t want to be a solider. He only became one to help his friends.
“I don’t want…” Robert’s voice trailed off. He didn’t want to leave us. He could have saved my father’s solider, but that meant leaving us vulnerable, attracting the other creatures with the noise. No matter what he was created for, he didn’t want to be a solider, either. He had wanted a wife and a child. He had wanted a family. Louisa and I were all he had left of that dream.
The pounding of my heart mixed with the noise of the fallen soldier’s muscles being ripped apart and devoured by the creature created by the council. This was no way for anyone to die.
“Tess!”
My head popped up. I couldn’t keep my eyes shut any longer. I knew that voice calling my name—it was Henry, and he was searching for me. Headed straight in the direction of the monster that wanted to feast on his insides.
“Robert!” I begged, pointing to Henry, who barreled toward us without a thought to his own safety. Unlike the others, Henry had always wanted this war.
Louisa shrieked. I whipped my head around to find a creature’s hand clamped around her ankle. In the quickest of seconds, Robert flipped himself around, crashing right into my sister’s attacker. Both chosen ones, devil and savior, fell to the ground, fists flying so fast and furious it was hard to make out whose limbs belonged to whom.