by C. E. Black
Kaden ignored his friend’s protest and snatched his own bag from the floor. Throwing it on the bed next to Mason, he began rummaging inside, his movements fast and efficient. He pulled out the wrinkled map I’d seen him and Mason look at a dozen times. My gaze jumped from the folded paper he was pushing in my direction to his pleading stare.
Taking my hand, he pressed the map into my palm until my fist closed around the paper automatically. “This is a map of where we were headed. Go there. It should be safe. Or as safe as any place is, I guess.” Then he turned around to zip up his bag.
“Take it,” Kaden said when I hesitated. “I’ve memorized the way.” Then he gripped my shoulders and looked me dead in the eyes. “If it is safe, you stay there. I will do everything I can to follow. I promise.” I held his gaze a little longer, memorizing the way the tiny flecks of gold burst amidst the blue. He looked away first. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I can’t leave Mason.”
Placing my hand on his arm, I gave him a sad but understanding smile, then signed, “I would never ask you to.”
Then I turned to look at Mason. His face was a little rounder than Kaden’s, with higher cheekbones. It made him look perpetually happy. Even when sick. He watched us, his deep brown eyes more clear than I’d seen since we’d gotten to the rental cabin. “Go, Jane. We’ll be right behind you,” he croaked.
No one in the room believed the lie, but we all pretended it was true.
We’d been standing frozen in the moment, fear and sorrow thickening the air, but the voices outside were becoming louder. Time had run out.
“Hurry,” Kaden said to me, panic now setting in.
Backpack securely on my shoulders, I shoved the map into my pocket, then turned to him. My gaze flew over his face, taking in the sharp lines of his jaw, and the way his top lip pressed in more than the bottom when he was stressed. Like he was now.
“Bye, Jane,” he signed. Not see you soon, or I’ll be right behind you like they’d said before. No, this was goodbye for good. We all knew it.
Not knowing what to say, I turned away from him and rushed to Mason’s side. After kissing his lips, I pulled away quickly to press another lingering kiss to his forehead, telling him without words that I’d never forget him. Then I stood, and without a backward glance, I ran.
13
I didn’t run far.
“It’s for the best.”
The words were Kaden’s as I’d crawled out the bedroom window. I could only assume they were for Mason, but that hadn’t stopped the phrase from playing on repeat in my head ever since.
“It’s for the best.”
It was for the best. I couldn’t disagree.
“It’s for the best.”
Didn’t mean I didn’t hate him just a little for saying it out loud, though.
I slid to the ground and rested my head against the side of the cabin. I should have run. As soon as my feet had hit the ground, I should’ve taken off. Luckily, this side of the cabin butted up against an outcropping of trees and large boulders. Probably kept during construction to add a sense of privacy for vacationers. Whatever their reasoning for keeping it, it would be an advantage during my getaway. Especially with nothing but a steep drop on the back side of the building. However, I wasn’t ready to leave. Not yet. I had to know if Mason and Kaden were safe.
As voices drifted from beyond the cracked window above me, I listened carefully, ready and willing to fight if necessary. Unbeknownst to me, my presence wasn’t needed at all.
Kaden had gone out the front entrance, and at some point, had let the unfamiliar men inside the cabin. Not having heard the first part of the conversation, I was surprised when he’d brought them in to meet Mason. My shoulders tensed, worried they would kill him on sight. Yes, he was already dying, but Kaden would fight them and I doubted he’d win. I wasn’t sure yet how many there were. Still, the odds weren’t in his favor.
“As I told you,” Kaden said, “he’s very sick. We’re in no shape to fight.”
“And as I told you,” a deep, accented voice replied, “we are not here to cause trouble.” After a moment of silence, he asked, “Bitten?” The man’s tone held a surprising amount of sorrow for someone he’d never met.
“Yes.”
“If you need one of us to—”
“That won’t be necessary,” Kaden interrupted with a touch of anger.
“Fair enough. We won’t bother you much longer. Like I said, we only wanted to introduce ourselves to put your minds at ease. We were searching for supplies. Not trouble.”
“That’s good to hear,” Kaden replied.
There was a moment of silence before a throat cleared. “Is there anyone else in your group?” The same man asked.
Kaden’s voice didn’t waver. “Nope. Just us.”
“Then I would offer you sanctuary. We have a couple of doctors that can look at your friend. Make him comfortable, at least.”
My brows lifted at the proposition.
“Naahir, right?” Kaden asked, his voice skeptical. “What’s the catch?”
“None,” Naahir answered. “It is a safe place. But to be honest, we need more people willing to search for supplies and defend our home. People like you.”
I snorted to myself. Right. Nowhere was safe. Who was this guy? And how could he think someone like Kaden would believe something so—
“We would be grateful.”
The reply was so quick, without a shred of hesitation, it caused the air in my lungs to still. I tuned out the rest of their discussion, my gaze fixated on the trees as I wrapped my arms around my middle and brought my knees up slowly.
Kaden’s easy acceptance of the man’s offer shouldn’t have hurt so much. They deserved to be helped, to find sanctuary. The logical part of my brain understood that Kaden had to be careful. I still wasn’t sure if those were the same men who’d been searching for me. And he would assume I was long gone by now. But the selfish part of me wondered how Kaden could move on so easily. Would he even look for me now?
I shook my head. Selfish, selfish thoughts. Mason was dying and all I could think about was my stupid heart.
Standing, I blew out a breath and pushed all the emotional bullshit away for another day. The good news was those men were not going to hurt Mason or Kaden. Instead, they were offering the men I cared for a safe place to stay.
I couldn’t bring myself to look in the window. However, I did give the small cabin a last glance before I left.
“It’s for the best.”
The anger I wanted to feel at the two men who’d dragged me out of my hiding spot, claiming we’d be safer together, and who had eventually left me alone miles away from home, just wouldn’t ignite. Maybe I would see Kaden again, maybe I wouldn’t. And Mason… I turned away from the cabin and the men inside who’d changed my life. I couldn’t think about Mason now. First, I had to survive. And to survive, I needed to leave.
It was for the best.
14
As the car coughed and sputtered to a final halt, I sat back against the worn leather seat with a sigh. As much as I’d wanted to turn tail and run home after I’d left the guys, I’d been smart enough to see the danger in that move. Besides, what had I really left behind? It might have been my hometown, but it hadn’t felt like home in a long time. So, with nowhere else to go, finding this supposedly perfect place he and Mason talked about had been a good an idea as any. Though, I’d had serious doubts Kaden would follow through on his promise to follow me.
Once I’d made the decision to start heading west, finding a working vehicle became the first priority. A bit of a challenge in the middle of nowhere. The few cars I’d run across were either out of gas or wouldn’t start. I hadn’t realized when I’d left my two travel companions how close we had actually been. According to their map, we could have been in Yellow Creek within two hours. If we’d had a car. Luckily, I’d found this rust bucket. I patted the cracked steering wheel. Though it puttered out too soon, ten to fifteen
miles on foot was better than eighty.
Though the wind felt like ice outside, the sun shone brightly, warming the inside of the car to sauna levels. I wasted no time getting out and saw the flesh eater immediately. It took a second for it to notice me. Once it did, it changed directions.
Leaning back into the car, I grabbed my machete before securing my bag on my shoulders. Then I ate up the space between me and the flesh eater, taking it down in one swing. The silence afterward was a relief.
There were no more walking corpses, however, there were two cars pulled off the road up ahead. However, after an hour of trying, neither were drivable. I did find an unopened bottle of water, so there was that.
I kept the machete in hand—I’d learned my lesson last time—and began walking. If I continued following the road I was on, I’d end up in a Robbinsville. I’d never been there, and I didn’t think it was a very large town. Just in case, though, I decided to skirt the edges. The larger the city the more flesh eaters or people I’d have to deal with.
I saw the high school in the distance and shuddered at the memory of my last school experience. I could have used more supplies, but I couldn’t bring myself to check there. Eventually, I did run across a convenience store. Not much was left, but I was able to find a couple more bottles of water and a few snacks. I also found duct tape and nylon rope. I grabbed both as well as the matches and the few lighters that were left up by the registers.
I made one last round to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, ignoring the clicking teeth and thumping of hands that came from behind the walk-in refrigerator. As soon as I’d entered the store, I’d noticed them. They were trapped, though, and didn’t pose a threat. However, if I’d taken care of them, I might have heard the sounds coming from outside sooner.
Once done with my search, I was ready to get going. There were a few cars out in the parking lot I wanted to try cranking up. Maybe I’d get lucky.
As I moved to the exit door, something big and covered in fur jumped up, slamming into the glass. I fell backward on my ass, sliding on the linoleum a couple of feet before I realized what it had been.
The German Shephard’s paws pressed against the door, his nails leaving white scratches on the glass as he barked and growled at me from the other side of the door. The flesh eaters in the walk-in went nuts. Their hands banged against the glass doors faster and harder, their teeth chattering grotesquely.
Standing on shaky legs, I picked up the machete I’d accidentally dropped when I fell, then I slapped the glass, hoping the dog would back away. Instead, he snarled, licking his lips as slobber dripped from his jowls. Then his barking became more erratic as he pushed against the door over and over again, his teeth clattering against the glass. I took one step backward then another. I wasn’t leaving through that door.
Just as I was about to turn around to find the back exit, I was thrown onto the floor face down. Pain exploded across my cheek as it slammed against the hard linoleum, and I swear my vision receded. Still, I fought the flesh eater as it snapped his jaws at the back of my head. My elbow connected with its shoulder, pushing it half off of me. Enough that I was able to flip onto my back, but I wasn’t able to get completely out from under it. The flesh eaters were nothing but rotten corpses that couldn’t move faster than a crawl, yet somehow they were supernaturally strong.
I wrapped my hand around its throat, using all of my strength to keep its snapping teeth from finding flesh. In my peripheral vision, I saw the machete that I’d dropped again and reached for the knife, but my fingers only brushed against the handle. I wasn’t close enough. And during all of this, the noise inside the small convenient store became deafening. The flesh eaters in the walk-in refrigerator were so loud now they drowned out the barking dog.
The thing on top of me snapped again, and this time a chunk of my hair got caught in his teeth. I reared back, my head slamming into the hard floor. Stupid, stupid move. Spots danced before my eyes and my limbs tingled with the first signs that I might pass out.
I heard the muffled sound of a crash just before glass rained down on top of me. My first thought was that whatever it was meant I was in trouble. But between one frightened heartbeat and the next, the flesh eater on top of me was ripped away.
As soon as its weight lifted, I scooted back, my eyes widening. It had been the dog that had broken through the glass, and he was making a snack out of the flesh eater. Gagging a little, I turned away just as the walk-in’s doors cracked then shattered, letting loose a group of ten or more walking corpses into the main part of the store.
Scrambling to my feet, I wobbled as I tried to gain my balance. I was dizzy, and my vision wasn’t so clear, but there was no time to wait. The store was small. Extremely small. And those flesh eaters were only a couple of body lengths away.
I snatched up the machete and staggered towards the door. Gripping the edge, I climbed through the hole the dog had made, wincing as shards of glass dug into my palm. I ignored the pain to look back at my savior. The German Shephard had finished with the flesh eater but I didn’t look to see what or how much was left. Instead, I sent him a silent thank you as he let out a growl and leaped at the group that was converging on me.
I collapsed through the door with a grunt, my palms scraping the rough pavement as I staggered to my feet. The dog yelped behind me. Just as I expected, there were too many of them. I had a bad feeling he wasn’t going to make it.
The first flesh eater to fall through the door met my machete head first. I pushed his body to the side just as another followed. Realizing this was the perfect way to get rid of them and help my new furry hero, I stood to the side, knife ready as they came through the door. Then the clicking sound behind me registered and I turned in horror to see a horde of flesh eaters coming our way.
A soft whoosh of air next to my ear had me spinning around. The feather end of the arrow stuck straight out of the forehead of the flesh eater that had been right behind me. On the other side of the parking lot, the archer readied her next shot, pointing it directly at me. I ducked just as the arrow whizzed over my head and struck the next walking corpse.
I couldn’t help staring. The girl looked smaller than me, and couldn’t have been more than sixteen, yet she yielded that bow and arrow as if she’d been trained her whole life. She would have looked bad ass with her black leather jacket and ripped jeans if she weren’t back dropped by a pale blue minivan.
This was the one who’d saved me? Twice? My eyes narrowed. There were a lot of miles between here and our last encounter.
“Come on!” The girl shouted in a voice deeper than I’d expected. “I don’t have enough arrows to get ’em all.”
She slid opened the back door of the van, then gave a sharp whistle. “Poco, come!” The German Shephard leaped through the door, his brown coat soaked through with blood. Though as he trotted to his owner without so much as a limp, meant he was unharmed.
So, the dog belonged to the archer. Somehow, that alone eased some of my concerns, though I wasn’t sure why.
Squinting, the girl put a hand to her forehead to block the sun. “Are you coming or are you planning to become dinner?”
A quick glance told me the horde was fast approaching. I took out the last flesh eater stumbling through the door behind me, then turned to follow the girl. The chances that she’d saved my life just to kill me were slim to none. Or so I hoped.
15
Once we’d gotten far enough away, the girl insisted we stop to take care of my injury. I hadn’t even felt the cuts in my hand until she mentioned them, then they stung like a bitch. Thankfully, the cut hadn’t been too deep, just a bleeder.
While she poured bottled water over the wound I listened as she prattled on about how much trouble I was. As if she were my keeper. Though my response should have been anger, I couldn’t help but smirk. She reminded me of Mason.
The girl dug through her bag until she found what she was looking for with an “Ah ha!” Then she ripped a strip of f
abric from a worn t-shirt and wrapped it around my hand.
“That should do it,” she said.
Parked on the shoulder, we sat on the ground next to the van. The dog laid down a few feet from us, stretched out on the ground beneath a ray of sunlight. As he let loose one of those big sighs dogs do that either means they’re put out or content, I grinned. I was betting on the latter.
“His name’s Poco,” she said, though I already knew that. Poco’s ears twitched, but he didn’t look up. “It’s short for Apocalypse.”
When I looked at her, she shrugged. “Isn’t that what this is? Anyway, I found him a few weeks ago. Or more like he found me. Saved me from a group of those things. Flesh eaters,” she sneered. “That’s what the news called ’em. I hate that name. He can’t be turned, ya know.” I didn’t know that, but she didn’t seem to care if I answered or not “He’s been bitten a few times fighting ’em,” she continued.
Not that the conversation wasn’t fascinating, but I’d been on edge since we’d left the convenience store. I needed answers. “You shot that man.” Though I’d signed carefully, I still winced as the movements pulled at my wound.
She gave me an apologetic look. “I have no idea what you said. Sorry. Oh, wait!” Jumping to her feet, she went to rummage around inside the van, coming back with a small notebook and pen.
“Found these in the glove box. Knew they’d be useful,” she said as she handed them to me.
The notebook was unused and the pen worked after a quick scribble, then I wrote down my question. She watched, nodding.
“Yeah, I shot him,” she answered without remorse.
She read my next question and sighed. Picking up a piece of gravel, she rolled it between her fingers before throwing it away. “I followed you.”
But how? I hadn’t seen another vehicle on the road.
Reading my mind, she grinned shyly. “You didn’t even see me, did you? I stayed back far enough so you wouldn’t. Though I admit, I lost you. If you hadn’t broken down, it would have been hell finding you again.”
