MINE! [New World Book 8] by C.L. Scholey Page B

I’m always hungry. I can’t eat because I can’t eat food. I can bring something to my lips but choke when I try and chew. As though my mouth doesn’t exist. My body is a shell that moves with no insides. You dragged me into this dimension before it was my time. I’m a fucking walking corpse,” Raymond said resting a woe filled glance at Becky. “He killed me. He turned me into a zombie.”
    “No,” Becky cried out, her heart ached for him. “A zombie is mindless. You are talking; there’s substance to you. There has to be something we can do.”
    “You are dead, little male,” Huck said, Becky was astounded with the compassion she heard in Huck’s tone, and Becky whispered Raymond’s name. “But you’re in two different dimensions—Raymond. The place where Earth-bound humans go and this planet. None of you can ever move on. The others are linked to Raymond somehow. Raymond remains connected to the planet. I’m not sure if you could even get on the shuttle, Raymond. If you can’t, it means none of you can. Jack doomed all of you.”
    “No, this is Ray’s fault, not mine,” Jack howled in a ghostly manner.
    Jack spun on Raymond. All five men advanced. Becky watched in horror as Jack took a swing at the smaller man and sent him crashing back.
    He made contact. She hadn’t been seeing things.
    “No,” she screamed and raced forward.
    Huck pulled her back and again sent her behind him. “My shield protects me. You’ll be pulled in and suffer the same fate as Raymond.”
    “They’re killing him,” she cried out.
    “He’s already dead,” Huck argued.
    “Then why is he crying in pain?”
    “I don’t know. He’s connected somehow, he can touch things which make him solid here and yet he’s in their dimension, too.”
    Raymond was doing his best to fend off his attackers.
    “Do something or I will .”
    “My shield protects me, but they’re in a different dimension,” Huck yelled. “Jack couldn’t touch me.”
    “Raymond is solid, sort of,” Becky cried out. “Jack can make contact, so can the others.”
    Huck grabbed Raymond by the arm and hauled him to his feet. With Huck’s taloned hand wrapped around Raymond, Jack swung a fist and connected to Huck’s shield. The man bellowed in agony. Huck let go of Raymond and swung. His claws went through Tom as he approached.
    “It’s Ray who is the connection,” Becky yelled.
    Huck grabbed Raymond’s arm again and lunged at Jack, swinging for his abdomen. The slice was true and Jack doubled over. He fell to the ground in surprise. Becky was right, Raymond was the connection to both dimensions; as long as Huck touched Raymond, he could connect with the others. Becky winced when Huck gripped Raymond to his chest, shoved a clawed foot into Tom’s belly and twisted. Her hand went to her mouth as Tom went down. It didn’t take long for Huck to rip the others to shreds. Only Raymond was left weeping on the ground when Huck released him. When he glanced up, his expression impaled Becky.
    “They can’t die. They’re already dead,” Raymond sobbed casting a glance toward the others. “They’ll come after me.”
    “They can’t kill you. Dead can’t kill dead,” Huck said.
    “No, but they can torture me endlessly. What do I do?”
    “Oh, God,” Becky whispered. She had a horrible thought. “Huck, can the cave claim them? Their despair to be written on the walls forever? They are headed in that direction.”
    “Does something pull you, Ray?” Huck asked.
    Raymond looked confused but he nodded. “Home, I was searching for home.”
    “Huck?” Becky asked.
    Huck nodded. “If they wander, they might be drawn to the cave, but they are part solid. If they draw others in their actions, as what happened to you with the couple in their recreation of their traumatic events, they would be able to pull a human or perhaps another entity in with them, forever.”
    “You can’t go to the cave, Raymond. Not ever. You’d spend eternity there,