by Jenny Allen
“Help!!! Please!!! They’re on drugs or something. Hit them in the legs! Crush them! They’re trying to kill me!” Lilith used her best damsel in distress voice. She hated getting anyone else involved, but she couldn’t swing a glitter wand, much less a baseball bat. She needed help. The vampire needed a human to save her.
Lilith gritted her teeth against the intense pain throbbing all the way down her arm to her fingertips. Of course, it had to be the same shoulder she had a bullet in. Lilith’s vision swam from the pain, bouts of dizziness threatening to pull her under as she fought to just focus on what was happening.
She watched as the loafers stepped closer to the zombies which didn’t seem to notice. The corpse with the partially collapsed head had his snarling face against the ground, his soulless eyes fixated on her. His arms were clawing their way closer. The Hispanic one hadn’t figured it out yet and was simply clawing at the pavement as if he was digging. Each pass of his fingers on the concrete sent splinters flying, grinding down the bones with that spine rattling sound.
“Damn druggy assholes!!!” The cabbie raised the bat out of sight and then Lilith heard a hard crack. The Hispanic zombie’s hands skidded out as he fell on his side. His head hit the pavement and Lilith could see that he matched his partner now, his head half caved in. Apparently, the cabbie had some deep seeded issues with drug users and was completely willing to kill someone on the word of a stranger. Not that she blamed him, New York was a dangerous city, especially for cab drivers.
The baseball bat rose out of sight again and Lilith started to feel that faint glimmer of hope again. Saved by a NY cabbie? Hell, she’d take it any day. He’d definitely earn himself one hell of a tip if she survived. Then the car jolted, rocking on its tires again, as something slammed into it like a freight train.
The undercarriage bounced hard against her broken arm. Her vision went black as pain exploded across her nerves, pulling another scream from her raw throat. Her stomach lurched violently with the intense agony, forcing everything left in her stomach out onto the pavement.
Once the dry heaves stopped, she realized someone was still screaming and then the blood-curdling sound abruptly stopped. Somehow, the way they stopped was more terrifying than the screams themselves.
Lilith watched as the baseball bat clattered to the ground, followed by the cabbie’s body and then finally, his severed head. No. Severed wasn’t the right word. That sounded too clean, too neat. A length of spine was still attached and the skin and muscle hung in a tattered mess of blood. The vertebrae slapped against the pavement, flopping as it finally rolled to a stop by the cab. A scream was frozen onto his dark face, eyes rolled up in pain. Lilith scrambled back as far as she dared, tears of pure terror stinging her eyes. They’d just torn his head right off his shoulders.
The burning tightness in her chest squeezed all the air from her lungs as her vision started to blur. She started wheezing and gagging as the hyperventilation took over. That’s when the true panic hit as she tried so hard to take just one breath, but her body rebelled.
Her eyes snagged on the cabbie’s arm which was resting right near her, palm up as if it was welcoming her to take what she needed. What was left of her conscious mind screamed in absolute horror, but her cartilage fangs were throbbing with her instinctual need.
She fought and struggled against the impulse as if there were physical bars caging her in. Her fingers scrambled against the pavement as the intense pain in her arm and chest threatened to pull her under. It felt like the SUV was crushing her, suffocating the life out of her body.
Lilith wheezed in a croaking attempt at a breath, her eyes fixed on the cabbie’s wrist, and then everything went dark.
Chapter 24
When Lilith opened her eyes, her cartilage fangs were buried so deep inside the dead cab driver’s wrist that her normal teeth pierced the skin. Her whole body felt unbelievably warm and she took slow, deep breaths that almost seemed pleasantly lethargic. For the first time in her life, she felt like a stranger in her own body, like she’d just lost the war to the demon inside her. It was lying there, lapping lazily at the warm blood like a contented monster, full after a meal. Deep inside the calm, she was horrified, revolted, sickened. The sharp contrast evaporated the euphoric feeling into pieces.
Lilith shoved the arm away as if it was a rattlesnake poised to strike. As the moral disgust churned her stomach, she felt her small fangs fold back against the roof of her mouth. She wanted to feel puke, to expel the demon from her body, but her body simply wouldn’t allow it. It was happily sated, once again able to function and thrumming with vibrancy.
Her vision seemed sharper, the mind-numbing pain in her shoulder and arm was slightly muted. She could hear all the sounds of the city sharper than ever, even an oddly familiar melody that seemed to be about a block away. Unfortunately, the putrid stench of her enemies was even more overpowering.
Boney fingertips brushed against her skin just as the stench clicked in her mind. It was like being dunked in ice cold water, swallowing her guilty and mortified thoughts. She still had very real zombies trying to kill her and they’d almost succeeded while she was busy fighting a war with her inner demon. Logically, she knew there shouldn’t be any war, her body acted as it needed to in order to survive. Besides, the cabbie was already dead, she hadn’t hurt him. Unless you counted getting him involved in the first place. If she hadn’t rolled under his cab, if she’d just kept running… she’d be dead instead of him.
Lilith scrambled away from the grasping hands as her mind finally snapped into the sharp clarity of survival mode. She couldn’t stay under the cab. The zombies weren’t going to give up and sooner or later someone would notice that the driver wasn’t just pretending to have a severed head. They’d try to get involved, or call the cops, or start a riot. In short, more people would die.
She had to run, lead them away from the mass of innocent people. Thanks to her animalistic blackout, breathing wouldn’t be an issue anymore. Well, no more than usual. For the umpteenth time in the past few weeks, Lilith swore that she’d work on her cardio if the powers that be would just get her out of this alive.
All the zombies, there were four of them now, were on the same side of the cab. Apparently, combat strategy wasn’t high on the list of commands, or maybe it was a limitation of control. Maybe the puppet master could tell them what to do, but not how to do it. That would explain the bodies in the morgue, how the hearts were removed in such a rudimentary and direct way. If she was right, maybe it was a flaw she could use to her advantage.
Lilith scooted out from under the cab on the opposite side and scrambled to her feet as her entire left arm screamed in agony. The blood may have helped but she still had a dislocated shoulder with a bullet in it and a broken arm. Add that to the deep scratches, the muscle exhaustion and the likely concussion, and she was just running on pure pain. She used the surge of adrenaline to propel her through the street, dodging car doors swinging open as people tried to see what was going on.
She glanced over her shoulder to see all four of the deadly corpses chasing after her. They kept slamming into the car doors and stumbling backward or knocking each other into the parked cars. They were as coordinated as stampeding bulls in a liquor store. It was slowing them down, giving her the break she desperately needed.
Lilith’s vision swung back to the front just in time to swerve right to avoid another door. Her broken arm slammed into another car and she crumpled to the ground from the sudden burst of agony. Her vision swam, the world spinning on its axis as the sheer agony throbbed down her arm, making her stomach lurch. She leaned back against the car, gritting her teeth and waiting for it to subside to a tolerable level.
Screams sounded behind her, lots of screams. Guess it was pretty hard not to notice a cab driver missing his head in the middle of stopped traffic. In fact, she was amazed someone hadn’t actually seen it happen. She could just imagine the 911 call. On the plus side, if a witness called the cops, it would
probably be dismissed as a prank, at least for the first few calls. Eventually they’d send squad cars.
She stared down the space between the cars, watching the zombies getting closer as she caught her breath. She had to get back up, had to keep moving. She couldn’t give up now. Before she could move, hands grabbed her and Lilith screamed, trying to scramble backwards, but only succeeding in falling awkwardly against the ground.
“Lilith! It’s me.” Nicci’s Italian-New Yorker accent brought tears to her eyes. She carefully helped Lilith to her feet and grabbed her right hand. “We still have company. We gotta move. Can you run?”
Lilith merely nodded and then they were both sprinting through the stopped traffic. “Where’s… Cohen?” Lilith finally huffed the question between heavy breaths as they sped toward the sidewalk again.
“We got separated. I didn’t see…” Nicci didn’t even sound winded. Yeah. Lilith definitely needed to step up the cardio workouts, especially if the current trend of life threatening catastrophes continued. When did this become the normal? How was she already so calm about her life becoming a living nightmare?
“When I couldn’t find him, I circled back to try and find you. I heard screams and followed them. Then I saw you tearing ass down the street.” She hadn’t seen him get jumped by the limb-tearing corpses which was a good sign. If there was one person she could bank on surviving just about anything, it was Cohen. He was like a cockroach, too self-centered and cocky to die.
“We need to get…out of here. There’s more…in the crowd.” Lilith was panting for breath and she definitely couldn’t blame it on needing blood this time.
As if her thoughts were suddenly being brought to life, Lilith’s eyes widened at a line of people across the street just standing there. The other runners were streaming around them, but each time someone bumped into them, the human line stood fast, eyes straight ahead. She looked back to the street, hoping they could just run back into the cars, but the four from the cab had caught up and were running parallel now, ready to cut them off.
Lilith looked over her shoulder. Maybe they could just backtrack, but her eyes caught on several faces with the same dead, milky eyes. Sure they could be contacts, but was she willing to risk her life on it? Nicci’s? As she looked forward at the line of corpses across the street it hit her. They were being herded.
She realized that’s what must have happened to the two thieves in New Haven. Haverty hadn’t led them to a predetermined location, they’d been herded into the perfect ambush spot and then… That’s why Haverty had been so freaked out. The fake he dropped may have distracted them long enough for Haverty to get away, but the others had been herded to their deaths like squealing pigs. He’d seen it happen. Well, she knew how that story ended and she had no desire to star in the sequel. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like they were giving them any choice.
“This way!” Nicci swerved down the side street, exactly where the puppet master wanted them to go. Lilith had to follow. She didn’t have another viable option and she sure as hell couldn’t just leave Nicci to die even if she’d had one.
As soon as they rounded the corner, Lilith’s heart sank. It wasn’t a side street, it was another dead end alley with a ten foot tall brick wall staring them down like a monolithic giant. Lilith gritted her teeth, fierce determination burning in her belly. The adrenaline was pounding through her body, her mind clearly focused on just one thing: survival.
Lilith and Nicci scrambled around the alley looking for something, anything. There were no fire escapes, but there were a couple doors. Lilith headed for the one on the right while Nicci took the opposite door. Locked. Lilith dug in and shoved against the metal door with her good shoulder but it didn’t so much as budge. She shouldn’t be surprised. This was New York City after all. The door probably had four deadbolts and a security rod.
Lilith turned around, analyzing every inch for some way to escape. That’s when footsteps began to echo off the brick walls. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose as she slowly swung her gaze to the source. There were a dozen or more corpses crowding into the mouth of the alley, blocking the only way out. They stopped there, acting as a wall of dead flesh, their milky eyes staring straight ahead.
“What are they doing?” Nicci’s brow furrowed in complete confusion as she wandered over to Lilith.
“They’re…waiting.” But what the hell were they waiting for? The knot of dread burned in her stomach as she watched the decaying bodies standing so perfectly still, like a line of gruesome scarecrows at a haunted house.
“Shit. I don’t wanna know what the hell they’re waiting for. It can’t be anything good. We need to get out of here. I doubt anyone’s gonna call the cops for us or come to our rescue.”
Call. She could call Cohen’s burner phone, get him to call Luminita and bring in backup. It wasn’t a great plan, but the corpses were just standing there. It was something.
Lilith dug in her pocket for her phone and her heart stopped in her chest. She frantically patted all her pockets before squeezing her eyes closed, barely holding back a roar of pure frustration.
The phone must have fallen out of her pocket while she was rolling around under the cab. It was the sole line of communication with Cohen. Hell, it was also the only way Chance could contact her and vice versa. If he got her message and couldn’t reach her on the phone, he’d haul ass back here…right into a damn trap. How could she have been so damn stupid.
“Here, give me a boost and I’ll pull you over.” Nicci turned to study the monstrous wall lording over them, completely unintimidated by the fact that it was nearly twice as tall as she was.
“I can’t…I’m pretty sure my arm is broken.” Lilith replied absently as she continued to scan the alley keenly, her analytical brain firmly in control.
“There’s some loose bricks five feet up…if I can just get up high enough…”
Unfortunately, the only thing in the alley was a dumpster halfway down, shoved up against the wall. The rusting hulk looked fused to the pavement from age, but they had to try.
“Come on, give me a hand.” Lilith ran for the dumpster and Nicci was hot on her heels, quickly picking up on the idea. Lilith shoved her good shoulder against the cold metal as Nicci pushed her whole body against it. The metallic groan echoed against the walls like the death cry of an old dinosaur. Lilith’s tight muscles pulled against her injured arm. The sharp pain thrummed down her nerves, pulling a scream from her lips, but she turned it into a ferocious roar and threw everything she had at the hulking beast.
Finally, the dumpster lurched forward, creaking and moaning. A surge of hope flooded her senses like a rush of cool water as they struggled to keep the momentum. After a couple feet, the metal beast came to an abrupt stop. They both shoved hard, sneakers sliding across the crumbling pavement, but it wasn’t budging. Nicci backed up and took a running start, slamming her tiny body against the metal with all the fury of a Valkyrie but it was to no avail.
The dumpster stood perfectly still, as the sound of her body slam echoed down the alley. Nicci just slid down the peeling paint, landing on the ground in tears. She was one of those tiny, petite woman determined to never let her size hold her back, and it was devastating to her when it did, especially when the stakes were so high.
Lilith looked down the alley toward the street at the line of undead puppets. They were still standing there, blank looks on their faces, completely motionless. Somehow, the sight was scarier than seeing them tearing limbs off anonymous henchmen. They may be vacant vessels commanded by some mysterious puppet master, but the way they just stood there made her feel like a rat in a maze. They were like a blazing neon sign flashing ‘you’re wasting your time…tick tock.’ It made her feel like a firefly in a jar, beating against the impenetrable glass walls until it died. To hell with that. She wasn’t giving up, not now, not after everything.
“It has to be stuck on something. Come on, Nicci. Help me out.” Lilith scrambled around to the front
, dropping to her knees. The crumbled pavement bit into her knees and her shoulder screamed with the jolt. She ignored them both and reached for the front wheel closest to her with her good hand. Her fingertips brushed away chunks of asphalt as Nicci hurried to do the same.
“It’s no use. This whole alley is a damn mess of rubble.” Nicci sat back on her heels and slammed her fists against the metal, making the whole dumpster groan again. “We can’t get enough momentum to force it over all this.”
Before Lilith could say anything, the sound of footsteps echoed again. Lilith craned her neck around the dumpster to see the zombies separating, clearing a path for one person. A throaty melody weighed heavy in the air with a palpable sense of unease. It reminded Lilith of some sort of funeral dirge, but it felt like a thousand tiny thorns pricking her skin. Peisinoe? Could she control more than just men? No. It wasn’t her high, melodic voice. This one was lower, more guttural, almost more of a tribal chant now.
Shocking recognition slapped Lilith in the face as a single figure emerged from the line of rotting corpses, full lips parted in a terrifying chant. “No fucking way.” Lilith didn’t even realize she’d whispered the words out loud until Nicci glanced in her direction completely confused.
“You know her?”
Lilith absently shook her head, her eyes glued on the woman as the dead flesh surged around her like a flock of loyal sheep. It was like watching the pied piper of corpses. “No, but I definitely remember seeing her.”
