The Cavalry is Dead

The thing nobody told you, Jax thought, was that being attacked by giant hornets really put a damper on the day.

They trudged in silence. Craggy earth gave to luscious green forest, a riot of orange-eyed pansies and skeleton flowers. Romes marched at the front, slashing trees apart with a bloodied knife. Xander followed in ashen silence, rubbing at his bandaged shoulder, while Asa snuck Bibi scraps of bacon whenever he thought Jax wasn't looking. Which was, Jax reflected, probably a form of cannibalism. But that was a conversation for another day.

"Is it just me," Asa said finally, "or does anyone else have monster guts in their underwear?"

Jax looked up. "That's just you."

"No," Xander said. "I do, too."

Asa looked satisfied. "Wonderful."

"Although," Xander continued, "it's technically a form of mucus. The male hornets are closely related to the gastropod species, and they produce large amounts of mucus in their testes—"

Asa groaned. "Please stop talking about hornets' ball sacks. You'll put me off lunch."

Romes hacked apart a tree branch. "Nothing puts you off lunch."

"I'm just saying," Xander said. "It's really fascinating, the way that the insects utilize complex carbohydrates to produce a specific type of..."

Jax sped up. Romes kept her gaze ahead, slashing through overhanging branches as if they were silken spiderwebs. She doubled her pace, and Jax had to half-jog to keep up, ignoring the twinge in his knee.

"You were brilliant back there," Jax offered.

Her mouth tightened. "I should have been faster. Xander got stung."

"You saved our lives."

"Well," Romes said. "That remains to be seen."

Jax swallowed. "Romes."

"Yes?"

"When we save the world—"

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't get ahead of yourself."

"Okay," Jax said. "Fine. But if we do save it, then come live with me instead. There's a loft above my flower shop. We can renovate it and be..." His cheeks grew hot. "Roommates. Or whatever. What do you think?"

Romes cut through another branch. Her shirt slipped, revealing a faint yellow bruise on her collarbone. Seeing Jax looking, Romes yanked her top back into place.

"I think," Romes said, "that you have dirt on your nose."

Jax's hand leapt to his face. Bugger. She was right. "Romes..."

"Not now," Romes said. "Please."

Her voice was tired. Dried blood speckled her face, and her dark hair was falling out of her ponytail. But she looked beautiful, Jax thought; if her face was the last thing he saw at the end of the world, then maybe that was okay.

He bumped her shoulder. "Just think about it, alright?"

"Oi!" Asa called.

They paused. Xander was mopping his forehead with a red bandana while Bibi fluttered near his ankles, happily snuffling for fallen chestnuts. And Asa, Jax noted with rising incredulity, appeared to be... sniffing.

"Does anyone else smell cake?" Asa asked.

Jax shook his head. "You're hallucinating."

"No," Asa said, "I can really smell it. It's like those little blueberry tarts that fellow with the mustache gave us—"