Far Series (Book 1): Far From Home

by Mary, Kate L.

  Before answering, I turned my focus to Kiaya, who was still sitting next to me on the couch. She shrugged, telling me she was thinking all the same things, and I let out a sigh.

  “So, I guess we’re a trio again,” I said, moving to stand.

  Devon grabbed my arm like he was going to help me, but I brushed him off. “I told you I don’t need your help.”

  “I seem to remember a moment when you very much needed my help.”

  “Not because you’re a man,” I snapped. “Because there was an undead creature on top of me.”

  “But I still helped.” He flashed me a smile that crawled under my skin, and not in a good way.

  I rolled my eyes. “Is this is how it’s going to be the whole drive back to Ohio?”

  “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Devon replied.

  It was Kiaya’s turn to sigh.

  He let out a small chuckle as he turned away, first aid kit in one hand and the metal chair leg in the other. “Stay behind me just in case. Hopefully, we’ll come across something more useful than this soon, but for the time being, it will have to do.”

  Kiaya and I exchanged a look once his back was turned. She rolled her eyes, and I mimicked her, then we followed Devon outside.

  10

  Kiaya jogged back to our motel room to get the gas cans and hose while Devon and I headed for the car closest to the office. It was a light blue Buick, probably a good fifteen years old, and seemed promising. Even better, there were no bodies inside. I wasn’t looking forward to opening some of these cars knowing people had died in them and been trapped in the hot sun for a few days. Even if they hadn’t turned into zombies yet, they were going to reek.

  Devon stopped beside the driver’s side door and lifted the metal chair leg, ready to slam it into the window, but I grabbed his arm to stop him.

  He looked back at me, a slightly irritated expression on his face. “What?”

  “Don’t you think we should try the doors first? It could be unlocked.”

  “Who leaves their car unlocked in a motel parking lot?” he asked, his frustration growing.

  This guy had a serious issue listening to other people.

  “Someone who’s sick and delirious and only wants to lie down,” I said, allowing my own annoyance out.

  He exhaled, but since he lowered the leg, I took it as a sign that my logic made sense to him.

  He tried the driver’s door, which wasn’t unlocked, while I moved around the car to check the other side. Keeping one hand pressed against the still throbbing cut, I tried the handle first in the back and then the front. When neither door budged, I looked over the car’s roof to where Devon stood.

  He shook his head, looking somewhat smug. “Locked.”

  It was the expression on his face, combined with the muscles, that got to me, and yet I still couldn’t figure out why. Of course, it didn’t help that he acted so superior all the time.

  “Fine.” I blew out a long breath, resisting the urge to grind my teeth. “You were right, but it didn’t hurt to check. We need to remember there are zombies out there. Making noise could draw them our way.”

  His smug expression faded as he looked around. “That’s actually a good point.”

  I lifted my eyebrows, mimicking his self-righteousness.

  He only shook his head in response.

  It was going to be a long few days of travel.

  “I’m going to break the window. You keep a lookout for any movement, okay?” he said, once again lifting the metal rod.

  “Okay.”

  Hand still pressed to my wound, I turned in a slow circle and scanned the area. Kiaya was headed our way, gas cans and hose in hand, and my back was to Devon when a crash sounded. I’d known it was coming, but I still jumped and barely bit back a yelp. The sound bounced off the surrounding buildings and came back to us more than once before finally fading, and by the time it had, my heart was pounding violently in my chest.

  Still, nothing moved.

  Kiaya jogged over, and she, too, looked like she’d almost jumped out of her skin. “There has to be a quieter way.”

  “Unless you want to go through the rooms and search belongings then take the time to match keys with cars, there isn’t,” Devon said.

  Kiaya and I exchanged a look but said nothing.

  No, we did not want to do that.

  Devon reached through the now missing window and unlocked the car, then yanked the door open. The tinkle of glass hitting the pavement followed as he brushed the seat off then slid in.

  “Looks like a quarter of a tank,” he called. Louder than necessary.

  My already swiftly beating heart pounded faster, and I looked around again. Nothing. We were surrounded by nothing. Still, I couldn’t settle down because it was an illusion. More zombies were out there. Somewhere.

  A second later, there was a pop and the gas tank was open.

  Kiaya moved to it, scanning the parking lot just like I was as she did.

  “I’m watching,” I assured her.

  She nodded twice then focused on the task of unscrewing the cap so she could feed the hose into the tank.

  I didn’t watch her work since I was on lookout duty, but I did hear the trickle of liquid only a few minutes later, and the sound was sweeter than the whispers of a lover.

  “It’s working!” she called excitedly.

  “Basic physics,” I said, risking a look her way so I could shoot her a grin.

  “I told you,” Kiaya said, a little laugh popping out with the words.

  My smile widened, and she looked up at me, returning it. It was one of the few moments since we’d met when I saw genuine emotion on her face, and it lit up her brown eyes, making them sparkle, and for the first time I didn’t think she’d benefit from a little eyeliner. She didn’t need it, not when she smiled like that.

  “Good job, Kiaya,” I said.

  “Thanks.”

  We looked at each other for a moment longer before I tore my gaze from her, turning my focus back to the parking lot and coming face to face with the zombie.

  It was a woman, her skin gray and loose, her eyes milky and her hands reaching for me as she lunged. I screamed and stumbled back, slamming into the car. Pain radiated through me, nearly blinding in its intensity, and for a moment I couldn’t focus. Then my vision cleared, and the rotten creature in front of me came into view once again. It snapped its teeth, and I jerked away, but I was backed up against the car with nowhere to go.

  Like I’d done with Kyle, my only option was to do everything I could to hold the thing back.

  “Rowan!” Kiaya screamed from my right while from behind me Devon yelled, “Shit! I’m coming!”

  The car shook, and the creature growled and tried harder to get at me. She didn’t make any progress, though, because only a few seconds later she was ripped away. I slumped to the ground, holding my throbbing back, blood seeping through the bandage and covering my hand while Devon shoved the zombie to the ground. She growled and tried to get up, but he stopped her by slamming his foot against her throat, keeping her down. Then he jammed the metal chair leg through her skull and into her brain, and she stopped moving.

  He ripped it free with a sickening squish and spun to face me, gasping. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded, then shook my head to let him know the thing hadn’t gotten me but I still wasn’t okay.

  “Let me see,” he said, kneeling next to me.

  I shifted, allowing him to get a look at my injury.

  He swore under his breath. “It’s bleeding like crazy.”

  “I know.” I swallowed when my head spun.

  Kiaya knelt on my other side, filling my nostrils with the scent of gasoline. She must have gotten some on her clothes because it was even stronger than the stink of death radiating off the body only two feet away from me.

  Devon focused on Kiaya. “She really needs stitches.”

  “What can we do?” she asked.

  “Get s
ome gas, get out of here, and get to a hospital,” he said.

  At the mention of a hospital, I couldn’t help thinking about my dad. About how busy he’d been, about all the infected people who’d come in even though there was no hope. How they’d all died and had probably turned…

  “Too dangerous,” I somehow managed to get out.

  “What?” Devon asked.

  “Think about how many people died in a hospital. It would be overrun.”

  He let out a long sigh but didn’t argue, then focused on Kiaya. “How’s the gas coming?”

  “The first can is a little more than half full,” she said. “A couple more cars, and hopefully we’ll have them both filled up. Then we can get out of here.”

  “Okay.” Devon stood, and this time when he grabbed my arm to help me up, I didn’t protest. “I want you to rest while we do this. Understand?”

  His blue eyes were deadly serious, and even if I hadn’t felt like crap, I wouldn’t have been able to argue with him.

  “Yeah, okay,” I said.

  “I’m going to open the gate to the pool, and you’re going to lie down on one of the lounge chairs. You’ll be fenced in there and safe, and Kiaya and I will be able to focus on getting gas.” He looked from me to Kiaya. “Sound like a plan?”

  “Yeah,” we said in unison.

  “Good,” Devon replied.

  Despite the fact that he irritated the crap out of me most of the time, there was something about the authoritative way he took over that almost would have made me smile if things weren’t so tense.

  We were headed across the parking lot to the pool when something banged to our left. Devon moved, stepping in front of me while raising the chair leg, his entire body stiff and tense, and for a moment, none of us spoke. My hand was pressed against my still bleeding back, and it felt like my heart was lodged in my throat as I scanned the parking lot. Nothing was in sight, but after being jumped by yet another undead person, I couldn’t relax. We all knew we were eventually going to run into more.

  “I don’t see anything,” Kiaya whispered.

  Devon’s head bobbed, but he didn’t speak.

  Another thud cut through the silence.

  Something caught my eye, and I lifted my free hand to my forehead, trying to shield my eyes from the bright sun. That was when I spotted it. The gray sedan I’d passed the day before with the dead guy behind the wheel. He was moving now, crawling around the inside of the car and banging against the window as he tried to get out.

  “There,” I said, pointing to the car. “There’s a zombie inside.”

  Devon let out a breath that sounded relieved, but his shoulders didn’t relax. “He’s not going to be the only one. Hopefully, they can’t open doors.”

  “Is that even possible?” Kiaya asked. “I mean, they’re dead. How could they open doors?”

  Devon turned to face us. “How can they be walking around?” He shrugged. “At this point, I’m going to assume anything is possible.”

  Kiaya and I traded a look, but neither of us responded.

  Another thud sounded, this time from the other side of the parking lot, and Devon pressed his lips together. He didn’t look toward the noise, but instead focused on the metal rod in his hand.

  “We have to find some better weapons,” he said, almost to himself.

  With the way he was holding the chair leg, his expression serious and his stance defensive, he looked like a cop, and I found myself suddenly able to picture him in uniform. He fit the part, and not just because he was so muscular. He was brooding and severe looking when he didn’t smile. I bet he was intimidating, and I knew just from the little bit we’d interacted how capable he was.

  Maybe running into him had been a stroke of luck after all.

  “What about the police station?” I suggested, the image of Devon apprehending bad guys fresh in my mind. “There has to be one here, right?”

  Devon nodded, his expression thoughtful. “It’s a small town, but it’s possible. They wouldn’t have a lot, but even one gun would be better than this.” He shook his head at the chair leg like it had disappointed him.

  “We need three,” I pointed out, giving him a challenging look.

  His already exaggerated frown deepened. “Can you shoot?”

  “I don’t know how, no, but I can actually be taught to do things,” I shot back. “Of course you would think a woman couldn’t do something like that.”

  Devon’s eyebrows lifted. “A woman, yes. You? No.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped, glaring up at him.

  His lips twitched like he was trying to hold in a grin, and it made me want to claw his eyes out—too bad I’d practically gnawed my nails down to nothing.

  Kiaya stepped between us. “Enough.” She turned to face me. “Go sit down.” She focused on Devon. “Next car.”

  I scowled but did as I was told. Mainly because my back was throbbing and the bandage was now damp, telling me I was bleeding all over the place. As much as I hated thinking about it, we were going to have to find a way to get me stitched up.

  Maybe a craft store?

  Even a mini sewing kit might work. It was something I hadn’t thought about when we were at the gas station yesterday, but as I headed to the fenced in area in the center of the parking lot, I found myself mentally retracing my steps through the store as I tried to remember if I’d seen something like that. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember, but that didn’t stop me from thinking about it as I took a seat on one of the chairs.

  My gaze followed Kiaya and Devon’s progress as they made their way from car to car while I mentally compiled a list of items I hadn’t even considered needing before now. A sewing kit was only one of the dozens of little things that could come in handy while we were on the road, and I was sure I was overlooking other major items.

  Across the parking lot, Devon stood guard above Kiaya as she worked with the cars. Inserting the tube into the gas tank then the can, then waiting for the fuel to trickle out. They seemed to be picky when it came to which cars they chose, and I could only assume it had to do with what was inside. In a few of the ones they skipped, I caught sight of movement, but in most I couldn’t see anything from where I sat. Still, I knew there were either bodies inside or the undead.

  An involuntary shudder shook my body at the thought.

  After the fourth car, Kiaya stood and said something to Devon, who nodded. He looked around before responding, and a second later she was lugging the cans off the ground while he took off, headed my way.

  I stood, my hand pressed against my throbbing back, and headed for the gate.

  “What is it?” I asked when he was close enough I didn’t have to yell.

  “Keys,” he huffed. “Both cans are full, and we want to fill your car up so we can try to get some more.”

  “Good idea,” I said, shoving my hand in my pocket.

  I passed him the car keys, and he gave me a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes, which were hard with concern. “How you doing?”

  “I think you were right. I need stitches.” I looked past him to my car where Kiaya stood waiting. “I was thinking maybe we could find a small travel sewing kit or something? That way we won’t have to go anywhere near a hospital.”

  When I looked back, Devon was nodding appreciatively. “Good idea.”

  “I guess I’m useful for something,” I said, his earlier comment still fresh in my mind.

  He’d started to turn away but stopped at my words and frowned. “That’s not what I meant, you know.”

  As if I believed that. He’d seen me break down the other night, saw me sobbing, and because of it, he automatically assumed I was fragile and worthless, and it pissed me off. No, I wasn’t prepared for this, and I hadn’t needed to work hard for much of anything in my life up to this point, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t learn. Hadn’t I proven myself capable and resourceful so far? He hadn’t walked through town gathering supplies, Kiay
a and I had. Yes, he’d had to save me from zombies, but Kiaya had been right, I’d held my own. It wasn’t fair of him to assume I was worthless without taking the time to get to know me.

  “Whatever.” I waved toward my car instead of saying any of that out loud. “Let’s finish this so we can get on the road.”

  Devon frowned like he wanted to say more, but instead nodded and headed off.

  I didn’t go back to sitting, but stood by the gate and watched as they poured the gas into my car before heading for the next.

  They skipped the one parked beside mine—the gray sedan—but stopped at the next one. Kiaya went around the car while Devon moved to the driver’s side, and he’d just pulled a door open when movement at his back grabbed my attention.

  I blinked and shook my head. My eyes had to be playing tricks on me, because there was no way one of the sedan’s doors had just swung open. I blinked again, but nothing changed, and I watched in dumbfounded horror as the dead man pulled himself from the car.

  Had he opened the door? How? Did that mean all zombies could open doors?

  Questions thundered through my head as my gaze darted around, doing a quick scan of the motel rooms and cars just to reassure myself none of the other dead had gotten free. Once I was sure nothing else was about to bear down on Kiaya and Devon, I refocused my attention. By then the zombie was on the move, heading around the car to where Devon stood with his back to the creature. He was distracted, focused on the car’s contents and totally unaware of what was going on around him.

  “Devon!” I screamed.

  He spun around as my voice bounced off the walls, echoing around us. Distracted from his current target by my shout, the zombie changed course and headed my way. Devon had spotted him by then, but he seemed too shocked by the creature’s sudden appearance to move at first. He looked around, either trying to figure out where the thing had come from or checking to make sure there weren’t any others, and I could tell when he noticed the sedan’s open door, because his eyes widened.

  He was already on the move when his gaze snapped to me a few seconds later, and he’d only taken two steps when he lifted his hand. This time it wasn’t the metal chair leg he was holding, but a gun.