AWAKENING

He took no pleasure in killing. Whenever he did so, it was out of a need to survive; not some sick pleasure garnered from hearing men choke on their own blood. With lips curled into a grimace, Mattias tossed the dying man away from himself and toward the partially turned around Lev. Shouts of alarm and rage flooded his senses, but the army vet drowned it all out. 

Chaos exploded around them; even so, Cifer remained on his knees, staring with that disconcerting vacantness. The creature shrieked, its tongue flailing wildly in the air from that ear-splitting assault. Legs crouched just enough that he could roll out of its way as the ugly bastard leapt from the ceiling towards him. 

The nearest couch to his left became something of a springboard that he used to avoid one of the men's swiping mitts. Yet the sound of weapons clocking made him realize he needed to pick his battles. Either he fights men with long-ranged weapons, or he takes his chances with the freak.

Matt was taking his chances with the freak. Boots stepped in warm, metallic crimson, splattering it all over the expensive carpet as the enormous creature struggled to turn itself around and follow Matt inside a confined space. 

The veins in Lev's chunky neck popped and strained. "Knock him out!" 

"Get the fuck up, you dick!"

Matt grabbed a sofa seat, shouting with exertion as he used his designer baby strength to rip it off its loose bolts and throw it in front of the guys who'd pointed their weapons at him. 

"The fucking tranquilizers, before that thing—"

Matt's hand landed on Cifer's shoulder, balling itself up into his fur coat as he wrenched the fucker onto his feet. "I said get the fuck up, Cifer!"

Nothing. Not even a twitch. This son of a bitch always gets up in arms about Matt calling him Cifer, so when it fell flat, Mattias cursed wildly. Force was his friend, so as Cifer shifted unsteadily to his feet, the dark-haired alpha took off running. The brute found his stride—awkward though it might be—just as that thing launched itself toward them again. 

"Boss, what do we—"

"Shoot him!"

"But, Master Bogdanov—"

"Can take a fucking nap for all I care!"

Well, they weren't wrong. He could use the hulking blond man as a shield. Shit, he could have shoved Cifer in that creature's path. Instead, it crashed through the men in the way and ended up getting tangled in a loveseat. If that thing killed the traitor, it would save Mattias the trouble of doing so himself. 

But when a man got in close with a tranquilizer gun and pointed it at Cifer's thigh, Matt lept back into action. Positions swapped with the practiced grace of either a dancer or a man trained in the art of death. He gripped Cifer's shoulders, pivoting them around and using that barbarian's body to keep up his momentum. 

A flash of metal was all anyone saw before that gun fell from the man's sliced open wrist. Mattias caught it as it fell, flipping it around by tossing it into the air and catching it through the spray of blood. The man stumbled back and fell onto a seat, clutching his wrist closed for dear life. As the pissed off alpha lifted the barrel to point at the nearest armed guard, his body decided now was a good time to remind him of something important. 

Matt wasn't a nimble, healthy teenage boy anymore. He was dying from the Rot, and his vision swam. Pulling the trigger accidentally, he fired a dart off into what he thought was merely a mirage of a person, but it turned out to be the creature. It had untangled its mess of limbs and headed straight for Matt. 

The dart thunked into its squishy, disgusting flesh just as it tackled Matt to the ground. 

"Fuck!"

Sacrifices had to be made; the alpha didn't bother trying to catch himself. He would have dropped his weapons. And right now, those were his only two lifelines. His head smashed against the floor, stunning him enough that he couldn't try to weasel away while he still had the chance.

"Don't kill him, do you hear me? Don't you dare!"

Was Lev still shouting? Note to self, if he got out of this shit alive, he'd have to find a way to get that scumfuck alone in a tight space. Just for a talk. He only wanted to talk to him. 

Wet, slick and gag inducing, the creature used its multitudinous limbs to land atop Matt and pin his body down. Just then, he dry heaved off to the side as soon as he located the source of that awful smell—no doubt about it, it was Franken Ugly over here. It reeked. Those human shaped hands from random directions around its body grabbed at Mattias, feeling him up in ways that made him yelp and desperately try to kick it off. 

"Don't fuck him, either!"

Mattias' muscles visibly fought against the monstrous weight of the horror pinning him to the luxury carpet floor.

"Why is that even an option to begin with?!"

No, wait. He changed his mind. Any desire to know fled his system in an instant when that wet, rancid tongue slithered across his face. The thing leaned in close—too close. Mattias could see the shriveled skin inside its sunken eye sockets—and for a moment, he thought it might be over. 

Then it lost its grip before tilting sideways, and he remembered he'd shot it with a tranq earlier. The infuriated alpha sucked in a deep breath to try to help mitigate the dizziness of doing too much physical activity in a brief span of time. Savagely, he planted his boot into its belly and kicked it with all his might; the thing wavered, its many hands losing their grip on his body just enough for Matt to roll out from under it. 

"Stop him!"

"Cifer!" nothing. Still nothing. 

Matt fought through the nausea and dizziness that threatened to keep him down as he forced himself onto his hands and knees. Why the fuck was the other man standing there like some kind of pretty, living alpha sex doll? 

Wait, no. That's not a good way to put it. Whatever! Matt struggled to his feet, careening sideways without intending to. In doing so, he unintentionally avoided a tranquilizer dart that whizzed past his shoulder and planted itself into a cashmere, navy blue and gold, marble print pillow. 

Fwumpf! 

Feet tripped over themselves as he rushed back to Cifer's side, stuffed the combat knife into the hem of his pants and balled another fist into that man's expensive fur. This time, he had created something of an opening for them, so he took the opportunity and made a break for the nearest exit further towards the back of the train.

And he took Cifer's dead weight ass with him. 

With the creature off balance and fighting against the desire to sleep, they had a clear path to the exit. Men yelled and cursed as they attempted to avoid the off-kilter thing, unable to advance enough to get a clear shot or stop Matt from crashing into the door with Cifer. 

Dizzy as he was, he barely opened it, shoved Cifer through first, then slammed it behind him and turned the massive latch to lock it. But a metal latch was about as good as using a wet noodle to stop one of those monsters, let alone any of the men. They may not have used their momentum so far, but they still might have been supes merely holding back. 

He continued to drag Cifer through the walkway that would connect to the next compartment. The door flew open and, much to his surprise, no one was in the next luxury car. It looked like some kind of food and bar space, so all the staff members being gone only increased his suspicions that something was wrong with this train right now. 

Mattias grunted as his muscles bulged and head spun. "God, you're heavy, you rat bastard!" 

Shoving Cifer around was making him feel even sicker, but there wasn't any time. They got halfway through the car when the entire thing shook with the sheer force of something nasty colliding with that latched compartment door. The train rattled, but it didn't groan. Not a fucking peep. Chest heaving, Mattias kept going until they reached the next compartment, latching the door just the same. 

Once again, something made the glasses and the kitchenware in what looked to be the food prep compartment tremble so hard, some shattered. Matt couldn't help it; he stole a few desperate moments to catch his breath and steady his gait before continuing on. 

This repeated three more times before two key factors occurred; first, they entered the cargo hold, which meant they were running out of train. Second, Matt couldn't keep going. The man fell to his knees, finally succumbing to the weakness that was his body rotting from the inside out. Desperate gulps of air weren't even enough to soothe his dizzy spell. He slumped against one of Cifer's legs, vision blackening around the edges. 

Hazy eyes screwed themselves shut. The compartment shook. That thing was at the door. 

"... Why aren't you…?" 

He'd pissed Cifer off so many times by now; it was a mystery about why he hadn't bothered losing his shit. What the fuck would it take to get him to wake the fuck up? 

Matt laughed out an ugly, barking sound. 

"If you get us out of this, I'll blow you again. No, I'll do whatever you want. Just… quit being a useless, freaky zombie already."

Nothing. Another collision. The train shook harder, and that smell got stronger again. 

"How'd you snap out of it the first time?" 

Not that Cifer would tell him. Talking to himself somehow helped, despite the poor conversation. Or maybe it didn't. Think, Mattias. You know this shit. You're just overwhelmed, exhausted and on the verge of passing the fuck out.

It was nagging him. On the tip of his tongue. 

Another violent shake of the train car—but this one was so terrible he swore everything tilted a little to the side before it righted itself again. 

What happened when they landed again? The moment Cifer stopped being a robot the first time? Lord, help him. Matt's brain felt like jelly—

The door exploded off its hinges as the creature shoved all its ugly arms in first, needing to extend them out like a spider exiting a small hole just to squeeze itself through. 

What the fuck was it, again? Hadn't Lev said something to Cifer? Wasn't it….? 

His breath caught in his chest as his spare hand lifted to grip the fabric of Cifer's pants near the big bastard's inner thigh. That's right. Matt remembered now. The creature had half its body shoved into the small crate and luggage-filled space by the time Mattias could slur out what he hoped were the magic Russian words.

"Act normal!"

The inhale Cifer performed was so painfully visceral that Matt could feel his own throat tightening. Cifer arched his back and let out an unearthly cry. 

For once, Matt didn't feel the usual dread that accompanied Cifer's abyssal roar. No, the only thing he experienced in the moment was the sheer, indescribable relief coursing through his veins and shooting up his spine.