As Emalee kept moving, aware the zombies were closing in on both sides, she stopped and looked at a promising set of crates. Unlike most of the cardboard boxes piled up randomly, there were three large wooden crates, side by side, and smaller wooden crates and cardboard boxes stacked on top.
This was the way to at least escape from this aisle. Maybe Emalee could walk across the boxes and back to the stairs. Maybe she’d be able to see where the boys had gone to and if they were in trouble.
She scrambled up the boxes, careful not to kick any over in her haste and fall back to the concrete floor. Not only could she bang her head or break an arm, but the zombies would get her.
Luckily the boxes weren’t too high and she was able to climb from one to another until she was at the top of a tall pile. She could see all around her and she didn’t like what she saw.
Parker was running through the aisles like a rat trapped in a maze, while Reading was nowhere in sight but she saw a lot of zombies shuffling around the area where he’d been.
Emalee started walking slowly across the boxes but when she stepped on the third cardboard box her foot went right into it and she came close to falling over the side.
She had to fall forward into the next box to keep her balance, which only put her face-first into the next box and through it.
Boxes of cereal exploded when she crashed into them, scattering sugary goodness everywhere.
“What are you doing up there?” Parker asked from two aisles over. He’d outrun the zombies and was standing with a smile on his face, watching as Emalee tried to right herself and stand.
Emalee scooped a handful of cereal and threw it in his direction. “Having breakfast. You?”
“I’m glad you have time to play. Have you seen my brother?”
Emalee shook her head.
“Make your way back to the stairs. I’ll meet you there. I need to find him,” Parker said and was off running again.
She tossed the box of damaged cereal over the side so she could keep moving. The row ended ahead and there was a wide aisle she’d need to get across.
Seven zombies were in the aisle and if she tried to climb down they’d get to her first.
Emalee wanted to scream for help but it would only draw more zombies to her.
“Look up,” Reading said, scaring her because he sounded so close.
She looked up to see a grinning Reading on the other catwalk that crossed about ten feet above her. It didn’t go anywhere near the stairs she was trying to get to but she traced it back to see it connected to the portion of the catwalk Reading had originally gone on. Maybe they could go to that part and get back to the stairs.
If she were ten feet tall.
“You need to come up here. Much nicer,” Reading said.
Emalee flapped her arms. “Still can’t fly.”
Reading looked really annoyed. “I’m trying to help you. Stop being such a brat.”
“I’d rather be eaten by zombies than have you rescue me.”
Reading shrugged his shoulders. “Fine with me. I was trying to be nice to you. If you’d rather be eaten…”
A zombie crashed against the boxes Emalee was standing on. Not hard enough to knock them over but enough to make her wonder how many it would take to topple the pile.
Emalee looked across the chasm to the next set of boxes. There was no way her little legs were going to carry her over the divide.
She looked back up at Reading. “What do I need to do? I hope you have a plan.”
“I do. Start piling more boxes. You can climb up and I’ll reach down and grab your arm. Pull you to safety,” he said.
“This had better not be a trick.”
Reading looked around. “There are more of them coming.”
Emalee reached down and lifted a box from the stack next to her, barely getting it on top of the box she’d been standing on.
“Don’t just make a big stack or you won’t be able to climb up,” Reading said.
“I know. What do you think I am?” Emalee said.
She saw a look wash over Reading’s face and she didn’t like it. He thought she was inferior because she wasn’t like him.
She kept working, dragging another box into place next to the last one.
The zombies were bumping the boxes below her and she tried not to think about losing her balance or stepping into another box.
“That’s good enough. Hurry,” Reading said as she forced another box over her head and into place.
Another shake from the zombies below.
Emalee climbed up and stood on the top box. She was still too low to reach the catwalk.
Reading swung a leg over the side and reached down, their fingers brushing.
“If we both stretch, I can grab you,” he said.
Emalee was up on her tippy toes. Her hand was stretched as far as she could go.
Reading leaned further over the side.
Emalee could feel his fingers on hers, sliding down to her wrist and gripping her. He had her up and off the boxes, her legs dangling in the air.
She was going to be rescued.
Reading had Emalee’s hand and he squeezed it.
“Hurry up. I’m slipping. Pull me up,” Emalee said.
Reading grinned. “It would really suck if I dropped you right now, wouldn’t it? You’d definitely fall to the ground and break a leg. The zombies would eat you.”
Emalee felt herself panicking as her grip began to slip.
Chapter Seventeen
Mason opened his eyes and Devon was inches away from his face, smiling.
“Uh, hey… Devon, right?”
Devon glanced over at Rihanna. “How does this troll know my name?”
“He’s not a troll. Be nice,” Rihanna said quietly.
“Oh, I get it. Rihanna has a boyfriend.” Devon stood and crossed his arms. “I say we feed the troll to the zombies.”
There were over a dozen other kids standing around Mason, all looking uneasy.
Mason sat up on his elbows but when he slid his feet to get up Devon shook his head.
“Stay down if you know what’s good for you,” Devon said.
Mason was about to obey when he saw the look of disgust come over Rihanna. Was it because he’d given into Devon so quickly or because of what Devon was doing to embarrass him?
He didn’t know but he could feel himself begin to shake, a sure sign he was going to begin crying soon. That was only going to make matters worse.
Devon must’ve seen his lip quivering because he smiled.
“Aww, I upset the baby troll. I think he’s gonna cry. Everyone back up so you don’t get wet,” Devon said.
Mason hated that Devon thought he was better than he was because they were a little different.
Maybe I’m better than you, Mason thought and smiled.
“What are you smiling at, dummy?” Devon asked.
“Wow, Devon. That is really ignorant,” Rihanna said. “Let him go. He’s just trying to find his sister.”
“Is his sister also weird-looking and slow?”
“We’re not weird-looking and we’re not slow,” Mason said. He wanted to get up and get away. He needed to find Emalee and he was wasting time. “My sister needs me.”
Devon laughed. “She is as slow as you.”
“Please let him go,” Rihanna said.
Mason could see the rest of the people with them were getting really uncomfortable, glancing at one another but no one speaking up or stepping out to stop Devon.
“He’ll go when I say he goes. I’m the king around here,” Devon said.
“Leave him. He’s not worth it,” Rihanna said.
That stung Mason. He thought maybe she liked him but now he saw it was pity. He wasn’t ever going to be her boyfriend. He was going to be someone she felt sorry for and it made him even sadder.
“The baby is crying,” Devon pointed out.
Mason couldn’t help it. He wiped his eyes but he couldn’t stop cryin
g.
Devon was making fun of him to the others, who were laughing but not with much enthusiasm.
Why was Devon such a jerk? Mason thought and calmed down. There’s a reason he’s such a bully and I can find out.
Of course. He’d been so frightened by Devon and sad about Rihanna he’d forgotten what had gotten him this far: his powers. He could read Devon’s thoughts and see what was really going on in his head.
His mother had always told him not to do it and not to take advantage of someone but he knew this was the right time for it.
Mason got inside Devon’s thoughts easily. It wasn’t like Emalee, who could sense when he was doing it and had learned how to block it.
At first it was a jumble of images and people, which was common. Until Mason was really in-tune with the person he had to take his time learning how the person had his thoughts and memories assembled.
Devon raised his foot. Mason could see the anger in his eyes.
“I’m going to make you regret ever entering my kingdom,” Devon said. “You and your weird sister.”
There it was.
Mason smiled at Devon, who hesitated with his kick.
“I get it now. I see what your problem is,” Mason said.
Devon put down his foot and glanced at Rihanna, who stared at Mason.
“What are you talking about, you little monster?” Devon took a step forward and his fists were now ready to strike.
Mason knew he had to strike with his words, to stun Devon, before a physical attack began, which Mason knew he couldn’t win.
“I’m not the monster. You are,” Mason said. He got up on one knee and smiled. He needed to make sure once he said what needed to be said he’d be able to escape.
Devon was about to become a mortal enemy and Mason needed as much distance as possible from the other boy.
“You’re not going to talk me out of beating you, freak,” Devon said but without much conviction.
Mason could see he looked uncomfortable and maybe a bit scared.
“Tell all of your buddies how you wet your bed until you were ten. Why? Because you can’t read. You’re dyslexic. Instead of helping you, your parents were mean. They bullied you. Everyone at school laughed at you. Before all of this started, you had no real friends. You’re a loner who thinks intimidating others to do what you want is the new way to do things but it isn’t,” Mason said and slowly moved his other foot onto the ground, ready to spring.
A couple of the other kids murmured.
“That’s not true at all. You didn’t go to school with me,” Devon said. “You couldn’t know any of that.”
“You call me a freak to cover up your own feelings about being just like me, in your own way. We’re both different but I’ve embraced it. I’m special. You’re so afraid anyone will see you can’t read you’ll beat them up to make yourself feel better,” Mason said. “Everyone should be feeling sorry for you, not me.”
Mason was up and running before Devon or anyone else knew what had happened.
While he wasn’t the fastest kid, he was running on fear and adrenaline, the thought of what Devon would do if he caught him again getting his legs moving faster than ever.
As Mason ran to the nearest door and hit it with his shoulder, he glanced back to see the pursuers.
He couldn’t be sure but he thought Rihanna, still standing in place, was smiling.
It propelled him to get going, to find his sister and rescue her from the twins, and find somewhere that wasn’t as crazy.
A place with only zombies to deal with.
Chapter Eighteen
“Let her up or I will beat you up,” Parker yelled from a stack of boxes nearby. “I’m not kidding, Reading. Don’t test me or my powers.”
“Relax.” Reading yanked on Emalee’s hand and pulled her up, using his other hand to get her on the catwalk without dropping her. “No one can take a joke anymore.”
Emalee waited until she was on the catwalk and it was safe to stand on before she turned and punched Reading as hard as she could in the arm.
If it hurt, he wasn’t going to let her know. He smiled. “You punch like a girl.”
“I am a girl. I don’t like you. You’re not nice to me or my brother.”
Reading threw up his hands. “I haven’t even seen your brother in days. How can I be mean to him?”
“You know what I mean,” Emalee said and started to walk back to the stairs so she could get back to the safety of the room. She was done trying to help and done facing zombies.
She took her time and tried not to let Reading see he’d shaken her. She had really thought he was going to drop her to the floor, where she might break her neck or the zombies would pounce.
He’s such a jerk, she thought. How can two boys look exactly alike but act totally different?
Emalee heard Reading cry out behind her.
“Why’d you punch me so hard?” Reading asked.
“Because sometimes you can be a real jerk. You owe her an apology,” Parker said.
“I’m not going to do it.”
Emalee turned back and looked at the two boys. Parker was about to punch his brother again. “I don’t want him to say another word to me. He can keep his fake apology if it ever comes. You beating him up to do it isn’t what I want. I just need to find my brother and get away from you because you’re so mean.”
“I wasn’t going to say I was sorry anyway,” Reading said.
The zombies underneath the catwalk were stirred up and banging into the crates.
“We should go back into the room and get out of sight. They’re drawing more in,” Parker said, pointing at an open doorway across the warehouse, where more zombies were entering.
“Grab a couple of boxes. I’m hungry,” Reading said.
Emalee wanted to argue just to argue but she was also really hungry. She lifted one of the boxes from the top of the piles they’d made next to the stairs as she passed.
They took turns in silence gathering as many of the boxes as they could reach before shutting the door to the upstairs.
“What are these things?” Reading asked as he opened a box.
Emalee took one of the cans from Reading and smiled. “Salsa. I don’t think it’s still good to eat but if we had a bag of tortilla chips I’d take a chance.”
Parker laughed. “Then let’s open everything and see if we can have a party.”
They found odds and ends of food, mostly bigger bags or larger cans for restaurant use.
“I’ve always wanted a huge can of chocolate pudding,” Parker said and pulled one from a box. “There’s three more, too. Mom would be so mad if she knew I was about to eat an entire can.”
“You’ll get sick,” Emalee said but licked her lips because she wanted pudding, too.
“I hope I have the worst stomach ache ever. It will still be worth it,” Parker said with a smile.
“I wonder if these peanuts are still good,” Reading said and opened a can. He scooped a handful and shoved them in his mouth.
Emalee watched as he chewed. “Are they stale?”
Reading nodded and kept chewing.
She turned back to the boxes and opened the next one. It was filled with large bottles of barbeque sauce. “So far I’m finding condiments. I hope I don’t find mustard. I hate mustard.”
“We’ll need it for our hot dogs,” Reading said, wiping his mouth. “You want some? They’re not that stale.”
Emalee didn’t know if they were awful and he was trying to trick her so she waved him off.
“What hot dogs are you talking about?” Parker asked.
His brother shrugged. “I’m just saying, if we find a box full of them, mustard would be nice. Some ketchup, too.”
“We’re not going to find a box of hot dogs. They’d be mushy and gross by now. Sometimes you don’t think,” Parker said.
“Once the zombies forget about us and start wandering again we’ll make another run and see if we can get real food.
There’s gotta be bags of rice or spaghetti. All we need is some boiling water and a pot to put it in,” Reading said.
“You’ve never made spaghetti.” Parker shook his head.
Reading put his hands on his hips. “I’ll read the box like mom always did. It can’t be that hard.”
“I can make it. I cook all the time,” Emalee said.
“I’m not eating anything you make,” Reading said.
Parker punched his brother in the arm and the two boys began to argue.
Emalee wanted to punch him, too, but she was afraid he’d fight back. Reading was definitely the kind of person to hit a girl.
She went to the far corner but there was no escape from their bickering. She didn’t even care what they were fighting about.
Emalee missed arguing with Mason. They could go at it for hours until they were both too tired to talk. Then they’d bury the hatchet with a handshake and a sandwich.
“You’re being too loud. The zombies won’t go away,” Emalee said but she didn’t know if they heard over their own voices.
Emalee stared out the dirty window, wishing all the zombies weren’t down there so she could take a walk and clear her mind. She needed to be alone right now…
At first she couldn’t believe her eyes.
Mason ran right down the middle of the road between the two buildings, dodging zombies and looking scared.
She saw why when a pack of kids rounded the corner and began chasing Mason.
At first she couldn’t scream, her voice silent as only a croak escaped her lips. She began slapping the window.
“What are you doing? You’ll let the zombies know we’re here,” Reading said.
“Mason,” she managed.
Parker came over to look out the window. He smiled.
“What is it?” Reading asked.
“Her brother. He’s alive… for now. We need to go rescue him,” Parker said.
Reading shook his head. “I’m not fighting zombies for him.”
“It’s not only zombies. There’s a group of kids trying to catch him… led by Devon,” Parker said.
“Devon? Why didn’t you tell me? Let’s go finish what we started with him,” Reading said. He turned to Emalee. “Who knows, we might even rescue your brother while we’re at it. I can’t wait to get my hands on Devon again.”
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