Page 42 of Ruined Omega

At midday, we stop to rest in the shelter of a stone outcropping. Hines needs to rest her legs and refuel. I give her some pemmican—dried meat and berries—which she devours hungrily. There is a little freshwater spring trickling from the rocks as well, and Baen collects some water for her to drink.

After her little meal, I notice her wince briefly and clutch her lower abdomen.

At first I think it is something wrong with the food. But afterward, I see her remove her pill bottle and swallow another of the little blue pills. A minute later, she frowns, and immediately takes a second pill. She tries to do it sneakily, but I notice.

Baen notices this too, and we pass a silent glance of communication.

Hines’s omega transformation is returning, and with it her heat. As long as she has her supply of pills, she can stave off that transformation. But the deeper we go into the Zone, the stronger the power of the Source becomes. Does this mean she’ll need to take a greater quantity of medicine as we progress on our journey?

How long will it be until she runs out of pills?

That’s a bridge we’ll just have to cross when we come to it.

For now, we keep going. Keep moving forward toward the ruins at the center of the Zone.

After our short rest and meal, we set out once more along the road, me shielding Hines from the weather and Baen running ahead, making sure the way is safe.

After a few more hours of trekking, a thin dark line appears on the horizon, and my heart rises with a sense of relief.

The forest.

That means we’re getting close to a place where we can take shelter from the coming second wave of storms. The thunderheads in the east have grown, and now they are looming ominously, but we should be able to beat them.

Suddenly, Baen pauses ahead of us as he tops a rise in the road.

He raises a clenched fist, signalling for us to halt. I place a hand on Hines’s shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

“What is it?” Her wide, frightened eyes dart back and forth between me and Baen.

I lift my head and sniff, testing the air. It takes me a moment, and a great deal of concentration, but it’s there all right—the scent of Farlanders.

The Farlanders are so called because they live out here in the wilderness, away from the central ruins. They are the ancestors of criminals who were expelled from the Central Ruins Tribe a few generations ago. They are vile, inbred creatures with no honor and a hunger for cruelty.

The short hairs bristle on the back of my neck. My muscles tense out of pure reflex.

“Tal?” Hines whines.

I slash a finger across my lips, signalling for her to be silent. She obeys, but I can see a million questions churning behind her eyes.

Now is not the time for discussion, however.

Moving swiftly and silently, Baen comes running back to us.

“Farlanders,” he whispers.

“Yes, I smelled them too. Did you see them?”

Baen nods. “Yes a half dozen Alphas.” He pauses for a beat. “And an omega.”

“A Farlander omega?” I ask in astonishment.

Baen nods again. “I think so.”

That is strange indeed. Farlander omegas are rarely seen outside of their camps. It is well known that the Farlanders mistreat their females, keeping them locked away in cages, used as slaves for mating. Once they have outlived their usefulness for breeding, then they are used for meat.

It is a cruel, hellish existence.

But what could a Farlander omega be doing out here in the open? Did she escape? It seems impossible.