The Prey by Andrew Fukuda Read Free Book Online

word she kept uttering,” Crimson Lips says.
    “Who?” I say, stepping back toward her. And already, I know.
    “Closer,” Crimson Lips says, her voice lower, huskier. “Come closer, Gene.”
    Sissy pulls at my arm. “No, Gene! It’s just trying to delay us. There might be others on their way.”
    Crimson Lips’s eyes fasten on mine. “The girl you left behind at the Heper Institute,” she says, her head slanting lopsidedly. “When it was finally over, she kept murmuring Gene, Gene, Gene .”
    Blood drains from my face. When it was finally over . I blink hard, the earth reels on its axis—
    Sissy smacks me in the face. “We have to leave. Now!” And she is pulling me along by the arm, forcing me to run with her.
    Crimson Lips’s screams follow us all the way to the boat. The boys have flung off all three grappling hooks but the boat is still being held up by the harpoon rope. We follow the line and locate the harpoon gun, anchored between two boulders.
    “Help me, Gene,” she says. “Hey, snap out of it, what’s the matter with you?” She starts kicking the harpoon gun on one side, hoping to upend it slantways between the boulders.
    From the deck of the boat, David is yelling at us. “The hunter’s coming back!”
    That’s all the incentive she needs. She delivers a powerful kick, dislodging the harpoon from horizontal to vertical. It disappears between the crack.
    We leap into the river, swim after the boat. The sting of the cold water snaps me out of my daze, and I swim hard, stroking and kicking with fury. The boys pull us up, and we flop onto the deck, unable to do more than gaze at the stars above; they are so stationary, it hardly seems like we’re moving at all. Only by the fading screams of the hunter do I know we are once more on the move.
    Epap comes to, groaning aloud. The boys rush over to him, but I’m already up on my feet, pushing them aside.
    “Stay away from him, don’t touch him!” I say.
    “What’s the matter?” Sissy says.
    “He might be infected. He might be turning.”
    By their blank stares, I know they have no idea what I’m talking about. “He got hit on the head by one of the grappling hooks. Those hooks were covered with their saliva.” I lean Epap gently back down to the deck, start carefully checking his vitals. “One measly droplet of their saliva gets into you, and you’ll turn. Transform. You’ll become one of them.”
    Their eyes swing nervously over to Epap. He’s staring at me, eyes agog with fear and bewilderment.
    “You haven’t heard of it because turnings are very rare. Most of the time, we don’t survive attacks, we just get devoured.”
    “How long is this … turning process?” Sissy asks, worry etched into her face.
    “It’s quick. Ranging anywhere from a couple of minutes to several hours. It depends on how much saliva was passed. If you’re infected by the saliva of more than one person, the whole process is exponentially speeded up.” I examine Epap’s skin, looking for any cuts or gashes. “I think you’re okay, Epap. You’re not showing any symptoms. They always appear immediately.”
    “Like?” he asks nervously.
    “Cold skin, shivering, profuse sweating, rapid heartbeats. But you’re fine. You lucked out.”
    Ben throws himself at Epap, hugging him.
    “Stay away from me,” Epap says, sitting up. “We don’t know for sure if I’m safe.”
    “You’re fine,” I say. And the boys rush him, knocking him back down. In the midst of their tangle of arms, I see Epap’s face break into a smile. An arm shoots out from the pile—Jacob’s arm?—and grabs my hand. Before I know it, I’m pulled in, my body flung into the tent of their sobs of relief.
    *   *   *
    The boat pitches forward, gaining speed in the fast current. In front of us, the hulking silhouette of the eastern mountains looms ever closer.

 
    5
    H OURS LATER, I’M still awake. I move to the stern, away from their loud snores in the cabin and from