Aftershocks: Ice Planet Barbarians: A Slice of Life Short Story Read Free Page A

and I can hear his tail flicking against the floor angrily. He’s mad at me—and hurt—but I need them to be safe.
    “I’m right behind you,” I promise him. Somehow I will be.
    With a snarl of frustration, he flings himself away, and I watch as he moves to the wall and begins to climb it with effortless ease. Rukhar’s wails grow stronger, and my body vibrates with anxiety. My need to be a mother and protect him wars with my need to tumble back to the floor and take a break from standing. I’m already exhausted, my legs strangely weak. But I can’t stay here.
    I watch as Rukh climbs, and as he disappears into the sunlight above, I get a flash of bare ass and a glimpse of his sac swinging between his legs as he climbs out. Naked? Wonder what happened there. The sight of it is enough to make me smile, though, and it rejuvenates me. I can do this. I need to be with them. Rukhar needs me desperately…and Rukh might need me even more than that.
    I take a shuffling step forward. Pain lances through my body, and I double over, which only causes more pain. Everything hurts. Everything. I’m starting to worry I might not be able to make it up the wall. Floor. Whatever.
    Rukh did it, I remind myself. He’s out there with your baby, waiting for you. You don’t have a choice.
    And I don’t, so I push forward another step. Then another. I make it to the wall and put my hands on it, feeling around for a handhold. There’s not much, but I manage to wedge my fingers into a crack and pull myself up. Just a little. The next handhold is even higher up, so I heave myself forward to reach it.
    My entire body protests. My head swims. The world goes black.

2
    GEORGIE
    I ’m worried about Vektal .
    It’s hard being the chief. And normally my mate handles everything with calm, with a fair gaze regardless of his personal feelings. Exiling Hassen? It weighed on him because he understood Hassen’s reasons. He understood the soul-crushing loneliness of wanting a mate. And Hassen was a friend. But an example had to be set for the tribe. I know it kept him awake many nights, worrying if he was destroying his friend. If the punishment was just. Being chief means he’s responsible for everyone. That in a time of crisis, they look to him to fix everything.
    And I don’t think this can be fixed.
    I look over at my mate, who’s busy tying what few goods we have onto a makeshift sled. Others are standing around in the early morning, trying to ignore the cold, or the ash that’s falling like snow. Nearby, Analay cries despite Ariana’s soothing of him.
    “Cover your mouth, little one,” I tell Talie as she pulls the leather bib off her face again. I replace it carefully, letting it hang off her nose so she can breathe, but it has to go on. I point at my own bib. “See? Like Mommy.”
    “Da da,” she tells me.
    “Not like da da,” I say. Vektal’s not wearing a mouth cover, even though I’ve suggested repeatedly that he should. I don’t like the thought of us sucking in all this ash. I also don’t know that a piece of leather over our mouths is going to do the trick, but we don’t have any other options. Talie ignores my request and tugs on the bib again, and I put it back. Again. It’s a game we’ve been playing all morning. I’m trying not to get upset at her, because she’s a baby. But my patience is strained thin and I’m just as worried as everyone else.
    We’re homeless. I look back at the wreck of what used to be the cave. It’s completely collapsed. The cave that everyone lived in. The cave that my daughter was born in. The cave that Vektal brought me to because it meant safety and family and home. It’s nothing now. And the shock I feel can’t be anything compared to the shock that the sa-khui must be feeling.
    At my side, Claire bursts into sudden, noisy tears.
    “Are you okay?” I ask, rubbing Talie’s back. She’s still at the age where if she sees someone crying, she starts to cry, too.
    “I don’t