Laurie was right behind me and together we started to climb up into the green canopy, putting a barrier between us and the circling Creepers below.
We came to a stop on a high branch overlooking the clearing, and started our search for Alicia.
I caught sight of something that might have been silvery hair and leaned out to get a better look. I moved onto my toes, reaching as far as I dared. A sudden gust of wind blew through the treetops making the branch beneath my feet sway violently and I lost my balance.
My hands flew out and I grabbed a small twig which couldn't hold my weight and snapped, the sharp end digging into my palm. My arms spun wildly before I fell heavily onto the branch below, sending a scattering of debris tumbling down to the ground.
I wrapped my arms and legs around the thick limb and the bark scraped my cheek. I held my breath and opened my eyes to peer down into the clearing.
A Creeper stopped in his tracks and looked at the pile of leaves and twigs that I’d dislodged. He turned and slowly looked up at the tree where I shrank into the branch, hoping he couldn't see me.
I trembled as the Creeper stepped closer to the tree and crushed the fallen leaves under his filthy bare foot.
He inched closer, gazing up with sharp eyes, looking between the leaves surrounding me, hunting for a prey that he was moments from discovering. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move at all. All I could do was wait to be found, knowing what that would mean.
A cry went up across the clearing and was quickly joined by another and another. The Creeper below me turned and scurried towards the sound.
I stood slowly, my hands still shaking, and moved back along the branch where Coal and Laurie were hiding by the colossal trunk.
Coal reached for me and pulled me against him as I closed the gap between us. I buried my face against his chest for a moment before turning back to see what had distracted the Creepers.
They’d formed a circle on the other side of the truck and were scrabbling to get into the middle of it. A large, square jawed female was shoved out, clutching at a bleeding wound in her stomach. Soon another, this one a small male, possibly even a child, fell aside with a gash on his shoulder. The excited cries turned to howls of rage as the Creepers piled together and more and more wounded appeared.
A very human scream of frustration broke through the noise as the Creepers drew back and hovered around the clearing again, shifting from foot to foot.
The huge male from the bridge, with his greasy curtain of black hair, stepped from the middle of the remaining Creepers in the circle, dragging something behind him.
"Come out now, or we kill her!" he shouted, glaring around the clearing and dragging a body forward through the dirt.
His hand was full of long silvery hair and he used it to drag
a girl forward through the dirt. Alicia.
Alicia screamed a torrent of abuse at the beast of a man and he laughed, shaking her by her hair and pressing her own machete to her throat.
“Come for your woman!" he cried, dragging her around in a circle as she kicked at the mud to keep the sharp blade from cutting into her neck. “Or I’ll cut off her head!”
“It's me they want," Coal whispered, pulling his knives from his belt and pressing them into my hands. "Stay here."
“They want all of us," I protested but he was already shaking his head.
"No, in their society men are in charge. I'm your King as far as they see it. You're only useful to help him get to me." He raised a hand and ran his fingers down the side of my face, leaving a burning trail in their wake.
“There has to be another way," I said in a small voice.
"This is it. You two need to stay here and be ready, use those knives and your guns to pick off the surrounding Creepers when the time is right."
“Won't they just kill her once they have you?"
“I'm hoping I can get her out of their reach long enough for the fighting to begin, that's when you strike."
“Please-" I grabbed his hand as he turned to leave.
"I have to go." He looked at me steadily and without fear, but I trembled at the thought of him in danger. I released his hand and he moved along the branch away from me.
“Don't worry," he said, looking back over his shoulder at me. "I don't intend to die today."
He gave me a cocky grin before turning away and jumping, grabbing hold of another branch and using it to swing himself down. He let go and landed in a crouch in front of the Creeper King who was holding Alicia.