Everyone nodded in agreement.
Devon led the way, and before he’d even made it outside, I had the key fob out of my pocket and was pushing the button to open the back of the car. It beeped as the door rose, and the sound seemed loud in the silence. Too loud, I realized when I stepped outside. The dead had noticed and were headed our way.
“Must be what your lover arrived in,” Miller said, nodding to a huge truck parked less than fifteen feet from our vehicle.
“He’s not my lover.”
He only grunted.
“Let’s do this,” Devon called, shooting the corporal a warning look.
Miller moved to help even though his expression of contempt said he wasn’t happy about it.
“Here,” I grabbed Lisa’s arm before she could follow the two men and shoved the keys in her hand. “Put these in the ignition so we’re ready to go.”
Lisa nodded once and hurried off.
Kiaya had already headed to the front of the SUV, but I stayed at the back. The zombies that had started heading our way were a good distance off, but with five carts to unload, odds were good at least a couple would reach us before we could make our getaway.
Mentally, I pictured the inevitable conflict. The zombie would lunge toward me, and I’d step out of the way at the last second. I didn’t have a bat, so once I was behind the thing, I’d slam my foot against the back of its knee. It would go down, giving me the chance to get on top of it and—
I did a quick survey of the creature closest to me and cringed, thinking about how decayed it was. Very decayed. Gross.
Getting on top of it was going to be disgusting, but I’d do it, and once I had my knees on its back, the thing would be immobilized, giving me the perfect opportunity to shove the blade of my knife into the back of its skull and up into its brain.
It felt like a solid plan. So solid, in fact, that I didn’t alert Devon to the approaching zombie. Not even when it was less than six feet from me. I could do this. I needed to do this, and not just because I wanted to feel useful and contribute, but because this was the world we were living in now, and Devon or someone like him wouldn’t always be there to lend me a hand. I had to learn how to take these things out on my own.
I switched the knife to my left hand so I could wipe the sweat from my palm, then flexed my fingers in hopes of loosening my joints. Once the knife was in my right hand again, I planted my feet. The zombie was closer now, less than four feet away. Its steps were slow and unsteady, but it was determined, which was a strange thing to say about a creature that wasn’t really alive. How could it be so focused when it was dead? How could it want something so badly? It didn’t make sense. Not that any of this made sense. It was preposterous to think a person could die and come back, but the proof was in front of me in the form of two hundred pounds of rotting flesh.
I shuddered, trying not to focus on how gross this thing was. When it moaned, though, opening its mouth to allow me to see its black tongue and graying gums, a shudder of revulsion moved through me. I tried to focus on something else, but all that did was draw my attention to the zombie’s eyes. They were milky, the pale blue irises barely visible behind the film clouding its vision, but somehow still focused at the same time. Focused on me.
He lunged before I expected it, taking me off guard. I bounced back, though, and managed to duck under its arm and get out of reach. Ignoring the throbbing cut on my back, I spun so I was behind the thing just like I’d planned, feeling pretty good about myself. I could do this. I could take out a zombie without help from anyone else.
The zombie growled once I was out of sight, seeming almost angry that I’d outsmarted him.
“You’re dead,” I grumbled. “Of course, I’m smarter than you.”
He started to turn, but before he could, I slammed my foot against the back of his knee. Just like I’d imagined, he went down, stumbling once like he was trying to maintain his balance, then falling on his face. I pounced before he could even attempt to get up, the stitches in my cut pulling tight as my knees landed on his back. His body was squishy, his flesh as soft as it was foul-smelling, and my stomach lurched. Bile rose in my throat, and despite how repulsive the whole thing was, despite how bad this creature smelled or how spongy his skin was, I kept myself focused on the task. Time to kill this thing.
It wiggled under me as I put one hand on the back of its head, pushing it into the asphalt, and positioned my knife at the base of the skull. I was all ready to plunge it in when the zombie lurched under me. He was bigger than I was, heavier by a good hundred pounds, and I hadn’t anticipated how easily he’d be able to throw me off balance. The movement knocked me back, and I had to release his head so I could balance myself. I also had to bite back a hiss of pain. I wished this damn cut would heal faster.
I was still on him when he lurched again, bucking his body like a bull trying to rid itself of its rider. It wouldn’t be long before he managed to get free, and I had to act fast. Grinding my knees into his back harder, I once again used my left hand to shove his head into the pavement, then—before he had a chance to try to knock me off again—I drove the blade of my knife up into his skull.
His body went slack, and I sat back, letting out a sigh of relief. All of this had only taken a couple minutes, but it had felt to me like it was playing out in slow motion. Now, though, everything began to speed up again, returning to normal. More zombies were headed my way, and a quick glance toward Kiaya revealed others coming for her. At the back of the truck, Devon, Lisa, and Miller were still loading our supplies, and while they’d made good progress, one whole cart was still full.
I was going to have to do that again.
“You good?” Devon called.
He seemed to have half his focus on me as he carried two cases of water to the Suburban.
“Never better,” I replied as I reached back to rub the throbbing cut.
I could think of a million times I’d been better. In fact, almost every moment of my life up to this point had been better than this. That was how crazy the world had gotten.
Refocusing my attention, I flexed my fingers on the knife as I dragged myself to my feet, all the while gauging the distance between the other zombies and me. Two, maybe three more would make it to where I stood before the car was loaded, the closest one being fifteen feet away at most. It was a lumbering woman in a stained pair of gray sweats and an oversized t-shirt that proudly displayed our zip code—45373. She was rail thin and a little shorter than I was, and I felt confident I would be able to take her out. Unlike the zombie at her back.
This one was male, possibly a teenager. He wasn’t as bulky as the zombie I’d just killed, but he was tall. Really tall. So tall there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d be able to get a knife in his skull unless I knocked him down. Not without a ladder, anyway.
My attention was drawn to the female zombie when she groaned, and I twisted to face her as she reached for me, her hands clawing at air. She chomped her rotting teeth, and a gurgling sound came from her throat. It was an inhuman noise, and nearly as disturbing as seeing her gray, almost black tongue jut from her mouth. A fly buzzed around her head, landing on her cheek, and I fought back a gag as it crawled up her nose. She was still moving toward me, but the disappearance of that bug had disturbed me so much that I found my gaze transfixed on her face, waiting for it to emerge. There was a shadow of movement at her nostril, but still it didn’t appear. My own nose tingled. Sympathy itching. I wiggled it but didn’t bother trying to scratch the uncomfortable feeling away. She was too close now. I needed to stay focused. I needed to be ready.
I sucked in a few deep breaths, pulling the oxygen into my lungs and focusing on them expanding, hoping to calm my nerves. It was probably foolish to think I could force myself to calm down, especially when faced with something so horrifying and grotesque, but it made me feel better to pretend I could.
The zombie moved closer, inch by horrible inch, and then I was within reaching distance. Her hands ha
d started clawing harder, her fingers curling as she tried to grab me. I leaned back, narrowly missing the tips of her fingers, then repeated what I’d done the last time by ducking under her arm and moving around her. My heart was beating out a rhythm that echoed in my ears, but I was behind her and ready, and even better, I was confident I could do this.
I slammed my foot into the back of her knee, and just like the other zombie, she went down. I dropped on top of her, my knees in the small of her back, and this time I was ready when she jerked and bucked. She was significantly smaller than the other zombie, and there wasn’t as much power behind her movements, meaning in seconds I had her face shoved against the ground and had jammed the blade of my knife up into her brain.
She stopped moving, and I pulled my weapon free, barely pausing before I was on my feet once again and facing the next zombie.
God, he was huge. The sun was behind him, making me squint and obscuring his face from view, but the stench radiating off him burned my nostrils when I inhaled. Breathing through my mouth didn’t give me much relief, but I did it anyway. He stumbled when he tried to move faster, excited by how close I now was, and I planted my feet. Ready.
Since his arms were so long and his reach so much greater, I didn’t wait as long this time before ducking down and darting behind him. He swung his hand at me as I scrambled by, and I had to bite back a yelp when it brushed the top of my head. Every move made the healing cut on my back pulse painfully and my heart beat faster, making it feel like an earthquake had started in my body and was now radiating through my limbs, but I was behind him now and in position. I had him right where I wanted him. I could do this.
I kicked at the back of his leg just like I’d done with the others, and he stumbled. He didn’t go down, though, and I let out a string of curses. He was so tall, and I must not have aimed high enough. It was a foolish mistake and one that could cost me dearly if I didn’t correct it. And fast.
He’d started to turn when I kicked him again, higher this time and with more force, hoping that even if I didn’t hit the spot exactly, it would still be enough to send him to the ground. It did, but to my shock, he actually caught himself, landing on his hands and knees. I hadn’t thought these things would have enough coordination to do that, but apparently, I’d been wrong.
He didn’t try to get back up, but instead scurried toward me on his hands and knees, growling and snarling. It was exactly like something out of a horror movie, and instead of slamming my knife into his head the way I should have, I found myself stumbling away, too horrified to react properly.
There was a moan behind me, and I twisted sideways so I could see how close the next zombie was while keeping the other in my line of sight. More of the dead were on their way, a good fifteen feet of space separating us. I had to act. Now.
The zombie on the ground growled again, and I focused on him. I slammed my foot into his face, cringing when a crack followed. Black blood oozed from his now broken nose, running over his mouth and chin. He was still down, one hand reaching for me as he chomped at air, his mangled nose making the sight doubly repulsive.
“Rowan!” Devon called, drawing my attention from the thing in front of me to him.
The carts were empty, and he was heading my way. Lisa stood beside the driver’s door, but Miller had already gotten into the passenger seat. Kiaya had reached the car as well and stood beside it, the back door open as she stared at me.
It was time to get the hell out of here.
I refocused my attention on the zombie in front of me and instantly came to a decision. The goal had been to keep him away from the others so they could load the car, and I’d succeeded. Which meant I could leave.
“See you,” I said, darting past the zombie as he reached for me.
His fingers brushed my leg, and I shuddered, but I wasn’t close enough that he managed to get a grip on me. I met up with Devon a few steps later, and he reached for me, grabbing my wrist as his gaze darted past me to the advancing dead.
“Let’s go,” I said, pulling him with me as we headed for the car.
He hesitated, but only for a second, then he was moving past me, still holding on to my arm as he practically dragged me to the car.
Kiaya jumped in, leaving the door open, and I dove in behind her. Devon was in a second later, and the door slammed, and even though he shouted for Lisa to drive, it wasn’t necessary. She hit the gas at almost the same instant his door clicked shut.
I was gasping for breath as I smiled at Devon.
“You okay?” His expression was serious when he looked me over. “That took longer than I wanted. Sorry.”
I patted his leg. “I’m okay.”
Devon nodded, still breathing heavily like he, too, was trying to catch his breath.
I’d driven to the store since I was the only one familiar with the area, and even though we didn’t have far to go, I wasn’t sure if Lisa knew the way back.
I leaned forward, sticking my face between the two front seats. “You know where you’re going?”
She glanced back at me and gave a quick nod. “I have a pretty good sense of direction.”
“Okay,” I replied, sitting back. “Just let me know if you get turned around.”
“Will do.”
Miller twisted in his seat. ““So, I guess there’s no point in unloading once we get back. Since we’re headed off to join the A-Team the day after tomorrow, I mean.”
“We haven’t made any final decisions yet,” Devon said, “but no. At least not at the moment.”
“What do you mean, we haven’t made a decision?” Lisa looked back at us, using the rearview mirror, and her gaze darted from Devon to me. “I thought it sounded like a good idea. They’re stocked up, and not just on supplies. Plus, there’s safety in numbers. Right?”
“I just think we need to talk about it as a group,” Devon replied.
He avoided looking directly at me.
“We can’t let my history with Doug dictate what we do,” I said, even though it pained me. “First of all, that was years ago. Secondly, we need to look at the big picture and decide what’s best for the entire group.”
I hadn’t known Devon was tense until his body relaxed. “I agree. But I also think we need to make an educated decision.”
“How do we do that?” Miller asked, and for once he didn’t seem pissed off that he had to defer to Devon. More curious.
“That’s something we’ll need to decide as a group, which includes Buck.”
“Hopefully, he isn’t drunk,” I muttered.
We’d been gone for over two hours, and even though I trusted Buck so far, I didn’t know how deeply his addiction went and what he might have done while we were gone. Hopefully, he took this opportunity to prove he was reliable.
Kiaya leaned forward so she could look around me, focusing on Devon. “Have you talked to him yet?”
“Buck?” Devon asked, even though he knew who she was referring to. “No.” He sighed and shook his head. “I know I need to, but I’ve been putting it off.”
“Do you think it’s a problem?” I asked, focusing on him.
I’d been so preoccupied with my own emotional baggage since arriving that I wasn’t sure I was a good judge. Yes, he’d had a glass in his hand almost non-stop since arriving here, but he hadn’t seemed drunk. Not even once.
Devon blew out a long breath as he thought about it. “I’m not sure. Maybe he’s just adjusting. Coping. God knows we’ve all been through hell the last few days. Then again, it could be a real problem, and if it is, we want to know before it ends up getting someone hurt. Or killed.”
Lisa slowed so she could turn right, then looked over her shoulder at us. “He seems pretty put-together to me.”
“You can be high functioning and still be an alcoholic,” Miller said.
All eyes turned on him, telling me I wasn’t the only one who was shocked that he’d decided to weigh in.
“You have a good point,” Devon said.
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Now it was Miller’s turn to be surprised.
“Don’t look so shocked,” Devon replied. “No one’s going to treat you like you’re a nuisance if you actually contribute.”
The corporal snorted and turned around to face the front.
“I’ll talk to him about it tonight,” Devon said, ignoring him. “I’m not looking forward to it, but it has to be done before we head off to join another group.”
“And if we find out it’s a real problem?” Kiaya asked, eyeing him. “Do we tell this other group, or do we keep it between us?”
The only response she got to that question was a frown.
By telling them, we ran the risk of them not letting Buck in, and if he was a high functioning alcoholic and could still contribute, I didn’t see a reason to make a big deal of it. But if he wasn’t, he could put a lot of people in danger, and keeping it to ourselves would mean we would be just as at fault as he was if something bad happened.
As if thinking the same thing, Devon let out a long sigh. “We’ll have to play it by ear.”
No one argued. Not even Miller.
I crossed my fingers as Lisa pulled back into my neighborhood, hoping against hope I’d done a good job of leading the dead away from my house when we left a few hours ago. The first couple streets we passed seemed to be deserted, and while it was still strange to see everything looking so empty, it was ten times more bizarre when movement finally caught my eye and I turned to find a zombie stumbling across a yard, headed our way. It was a little girl of about seven wearing pajamas, the top pink and featuring a cartoon mermaid, the pants striped and filthy. She looked so lonely. So abandoned.
It was heartbreaking.
I looked away, focusing on the road in front of us and not the dead we passed. The kids were bad, but actually recognizing some of the rotten faces was a million times more devastating. It made me wish I’d never made it home to Troy. What was the point, anyway? I’d come back for my mom, but she was dead, and my dad most likely was as well, and my house wasn’t safe. We should have gone somewhere else. Anywhere else.
Far Series | Book 2 | Far From Safe Page 18
