by Sarra Cannon
His calf burned. Quickly, he threw the kickstand up on his bike and rolled up his jeans. Part of his skin had been ripped off, and he was bleeding.
He limped toward Parrish, but Crash and Karmen had already parked their bikes and rushed to her side by the time Noah got to her.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She pulled her helmet off and her long, black hair tumbled down her back. She was obviously a bit shaken.
Her black jeans were ripped to shreds, but her leg seemed perfectly fine.
“I don’t understand it. I could feel the pressure of the road scraping on my leg, but there’s not a single mark, and it doesn’t hurt. I should be in a lot of pain right now.”
“There's not even a scratch.” Crash examined her leg and shook his head. “How is that possible? With that kind of a fall, you should have a huge burn or a strawberry on your leg.”
“Her jeans must have kept her safe,” Karmen said with a shrug. “Cool. Looks like your bike is okay too. You got lucky.”
Parrish’s eyes were glued to his leg, though.
“Noah, what happened?”
She quickly stood up and rushed over to him.
“Noah, are you okay?”
He stared at the long stretch of burned skin on his own leg, still trying to understand what he’d just done.
Parrish came around beside him and then lifted a hand to cover her mouth. She ran to grab her first aid kit and brought it over to him.
“Sit down,” she said. “This is going to hurt for a second.”
He did as she asked and winced when she sprayed something cold on his leg.
“I don’t understand,” she said as she applied some ointment and wrapped his leg in a clean bandage. “How did you get hurt? Did you crash, too?”
His eyesight had gone back to normal, but his mind was still spinning. He wasn’t even sure how to explain to them what had just happened.
“I didn’t crash, but I saw it coming before it even happened,” he said, realizing again just how wrong he had been about his abilities. He wasn’t invincible at all.
Not when he was helping someone else.
He was going to have to be more careful from now on, but there was one thing he was glad about.
He reached up and ran a finger along Parrish’s cheek.
If he could see it coming, he could protect her and keep her from getting hurt.
“I think I just became your shield.”
Twenty
Parrish
Parrish Sorrows kept her eyes glued to the road for the rest of the trip.
She was lucky her bike hadn’t been too damaged to ride, but from the looks of it, Noah’s leg had suffered most of the injury intended for her.
And just how the hell had he done that? Listening to him talk about it, it sounded like he’d had some kind of premonition before it happened. Like he’d known it was coming.
That was new.
She wanted to hear him tell the story again, because she wanted to understand just what he’d done and how it worked, but they needed to keep moving. When they stopped for the night, she’d get him to tell her more.
Between the illness he’d drawn out of Stephen’s body and the injury today, Noah was looking a lot more vulnerable than any of them had originally thought. He’d seemed invincible, and for some reason, it really upset her to know that he wasn’t.
Of course, Noah seemed thrilled about it. He said he’d be able to shield her and save her life, but what did that mean for him? She didn’t want him getting hurt, either.
She needed to be more careful.
No more wrecks. All they had to do today was get to the coast, and they would be one step closer to finishing this.
Crash had been using Karmen’s old, shattered iPhone to navigate through the area. It still amazed her how easily he could connect his brain and energy up to a phone that had zero battery left and a network that was likely not in service anymore, but there he was.
He read the screen like the world was normal again, and Parrish suddenly wished for the weirdness of social media. She’d never been on it much, but she’d had a few friends on Discord and over on Instagram who she’d come to know pretty well, even though she’d never met them in real life.
Were any of those people even still alive?
And if they were, would she ever have a way to contact them again?
She couldn’t imagine a world where things were back to normal. Even if they got rid of the zombies, she had a feeling this world was changed forever.
As if to punctuate her thought, a massive, hundred-car pileup came into view just over the top of a hill. The groups like this were the worst, because there were always people trapped inside their cars. Most of them had either turned or been partially eaten by those who had.
The stench of places like this was almost more than she could bear, and she’d gotten used to carrying a scarf with her so she could wrap it around her nose and mouth whenever they got close to one.
It helped, even if it didn’t totally eliminate the smell, altogether.
They also needed to be careful when they were going through and around these large pile ups. Rotters were stuck in their cars, but there were always roamers, too.
Luckily, there weren’t any super zombies in their path. As long as they could steer clear of those guys for a while, they would be okay.
Parrish was still rattled by the ones she’d fought back at Tank’s.
She’d never expected the Dark One to attack the compound the way she had, but at least no one had been hurt. By the time they left, Stephen was doing better, too. It looked like he would make a full recovery.
So, all in all, they’d been extremely lucky.
Or was it more than just luck?
The Dark One could have killed them all if she’d wanted to. Parrish had no doubt about that. Before the others had arrived, she’d been completely incapacitated there for a while.
And yet, the Dark One let her live.
Supposedly to torture her even worse in the coming days, but something about that didn’t quite sit right with Parrish.
She wanted to talk it through with the others, but it was way too difficult to talk on these bikes. They were too spread out, and the wind and road noise were just too loud. When they got settled somewhere for the night, though, she wanted to bring it up.
For now, she kept her attention on the road.
What had seemed like a smooth and easy start had quickly turned into a nightmare trip.
Hundred-car pile ups that required an hour or more of detour just to get around, even on motorcycles, small hordes of rotters they couldn’t avoid no matter how hard they tried, and at one point, even a small band of survivors that needed their help.
When they finally made it to the beach-side town where Crash had decided to stop, the sun was already beginning to set. So much for her hopes of getting there in just a few hours and heading into the city today. There was no way they were going to New York City after dark.
Crash had said this town would likely be deserted, and he was right. The town was pretty small, so the low population before the virus seemed to also mean low zombie population post-virus.
The group pulled their bikes over to the side of the road to figure out what they would do for the night.
“What do you think?” Parrish asked, looking mostly to Crash.
He’d been the one to navigate so far, and she trusted his opinion on what was best.
“If we’d gotten here earlier, I was going to suggest scoping out the boats and finding one big enough to hang out in for the night.” He looked around and then shook his head. “It’s already getting dark, though. I don’t think we have enough time to search for the perfect one and make sure we have enough supplies for the night. Much less find working bathrooms and such.”
Karmen cleared her throat, and Parrish looked at her, wondering what annoying opinion or complaint she was going to share this time.
“I know
my ideas are not always the most popular ones, but here’s how I see it,” she began. “Just down this road, I saw some beachfront mansions. I’m talking about ten-million-dollar, we-could-never-have-owned-a-house-like-this-in-our-dreams, kind of houses. And I’m guessing the owners of these homes are either deceased or moved on by now for the most part. I was just thinking that since we might all die tomorrow, it would be nice to live a single night in luxury and peace.”
Parrish wanted to agree with her, because the sound of a gorgeous, luxury mansion on the beach with a really nice bed sounded amazing. But at the same time, there were dangers in a big house.
She opened her mouth to protest, but Karmen held up a hand first.
“Don’t even tell me the houses are too big or too dangerous,” Karmen said. “You’re the one leading us all into the city of death, so I don’t want to hear it.”
Noah tried to hide a smile, and Parrish smacked his arm.
“What?” he said, laughing. “She’s got a point.”
“Come on,” Karmen said in a pleading, sing-song voice. “This is my one last wish. I'm begging you.”
Parrish looked to Crash, and he shrugged.
“It’s safer to get inside than be out here in the dark trying to make a decision,” he said. “We can go in together and clear it out, block the doors, and do what we need to do.”
Parrish sighed. “Okay, Karmen. Take your pick. We’ll follow you.”
Karmen’s eyes widened, and she clapped her hands together, raising her shoulders. “I can’t believe we’re actually going to do what I want to do. This is so awesome! Follow me. I know just the one.”
She led them to a large, modern home with floor-to-ceiling windows all the way around and some kind of fancy modern arch at the top. At least they could basically see through the house, so it was easy to tell there was no one home.
It looked to be deserted but clean.
Like most cities they’d passed through, the power seemed to be permanently off, but with Crash in their group, that didn’t matter as much as it could have.
They didn’t want him lighting up this house like a Christmas tree and announcing their presence, but they also didn’t want a small horde sneaking up on them.
While Crash and Karmen searched through the garage and the downstairs rooms, Noah and Parrish went through the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs, just in case.
From the looks of it, no one had even squatted here or looted this place. It was completely clean and organized, which felt strangely unsettling to Parrish.
It was too much like normal life for her taste. She didn’t want to be reminded of how things used to be, but Karmen was right. It was a beautiful, wildest-dreams kind of house.
Parrish led the way, her sword raised with a soft blue light emanating from the blade. Noah had a gun in each hand, both new and courtesy of Tank’s armory.
“Did you ever dream you’d be such a natural with a gun?” Parrish asked.
“I never had any desire to shoot a gun in my life before this, but now it feels like I might as well have grown up with a pistol in my hand,” he said. “It’s weird.”
“Weird is the new black,” she said, laughing. “Nothing's going to be normal ever again.”
“I suppose not, but there are perks to this new life, too,” Noah said, giving her a look that made her cheeks warm.
He took out a flashlight and shone it into one of the bedrooms. When they were sure it was clear, he shut the door and moved on to the next room.
“Wow, look at the view from this room,” she said when he opened the door.
This was obviously the master suite, and whoever had built this house pulled out all the stops.
Iron chandelier, a large canopied king-size bed, and a limitless view of the Atlantic from the large balcony.
While Noah checked for zombies, she stepped outside to take in the view of the beautiful sunset.
For as far as she could see, there were no rotters in sight. Just waves and sand. It was so peaceful, it nearly took her breath away.
It was like the world had no idea it was dying.
“Isn't this beautiful?”
Noah came to stand beside her, leaning on the railing as they watched the waves crash against the shore.
“You're beautiful,” he said.
She was about to tell him that was the cheesiest transition she’d ever heard in her life, but when she glanced over at him, the expression in his eyes made her knees weak.
She’d never imagined herself as the kind of girl who wanted a guy to bring out the romance, but here she was, practically swooning.
He reached for her hand and pulled her closer, causing her heart to beat faster.
How many lifetimes had they found each other? How many years had they spent together over all this time?
And how much more time would they have?
Was it too much to pray that when this was all over, they could have just one more lifetime together? One last chance to get it right and to have peace?
Her eyes fluttered closed as his lips dipped toward hers, but just before they kissed, a gunshot sounded downstairs.
Without hesitation, they both drew their weapons and ran.
Twenty-One
Karmen
Karmen screamed and turned away as the rotter’s body fell to the floor, its dark blood oozing across the hardwoods.
“That was a close one,” Crash said, lowering his gun. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, her heart racing. She’d been stupid, stepping into the massive closet without checking it for rotters first.
The house had been completely empty so far, and she’d just assumed no one was home. Besides, what kind of person locked themselves in the closet?
Maybe someone else had locked this woman in the closet when she’d turned. There was no way to know now, but if it hadn’t been for Crash, Karmen might have been rotter food just then.
He never seemed to be too far away these days, and she’d never been more grateful.
“Thank you for that,” she said, touching his arm.
His eyes widened slightly at her touch, and she’d have been lying if she said his expression hadn’t just sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
She kind of wanted to see where things might go between them, but when Noah and Parrish appeared in the doorway to the bedroom, she quickly took her hand off Crash’s arm.
She wasn’t exactly sure why, except that she didn’t think she was ready for the whole world to know how she was feeling for the guy.
And right now, her whole world was standing in this room.
“What happened?”
“Everything okay?” Noah asked.
“We’re fine,” Crash said. “Just a rotter trapped in the closet. It jumped out at us.”
“Well, the sound of that gunshot should bring any others out if they’re in here,” Parrish said. “From the looks of it, though, this whole neighborhood is pretty quiet.”
Karmen shifted uncomfortably.
“That’s not exactly a good thing,” she said. “The trip to the hospital. The trip back to the compound yesterday. Everything was quiet and look what happened. There might be a huge horde gathering just down the street, waiting to attack as soon as we let our guard down.”
Noah nodded. “Good point. So, how do we protect ourselves?””
“Well, seeing how we picked a house with nothing but windows everywhere, it’s going to be hard to set up much of a defense, but at least we’ll be able to see them coming,” Parrish said.
That was actually the reason Karmen had picked this house in the first place, besides the fact that it was absolutely gorgeous and modern.
No amount of furniture pushed in front of a door was going to barricade them or keep them safe if a horde was waiting to attack, but if they could clearly see what was all around them, they’d at least avoid being surprised when it happened.
Or at least that was her theory.
S
omeone was going to have to stay up and keep watch, though, and she hoped it wasn’t her. She was so tired, she was afraid she might fall asleep standing up.
“Did you clear the upstairs?” she asked. “Is there anything else we need to do tonight? Or can we get some rest?”
“After we eat,” Crash said.
“And after we try again to contact the fifth and my sister,” Parrish said.
Karmen sighed.
She was pretty hungry, but nothing compared to how exhausted she felt. Part of that probably had to do with just how scared she was about the idea of actually going into New York City.
They’d been talking about it ever since before they left their neighborhood back in Virginia, but being out here on the coast like this, a simple boat-ride away, made it all too real.
“We should talk about our plan, too,” Parrish said. “And about where our current abilities are.”
“What do you mean?” Crash asked as they all headed back into the main room of the house.
“I mean, what’s changed since we first made contact with the fifth,” Parrish said. “All our powers have grown some or shifted, haven’t they? Karmen, how did you figure out you could turn those rotters to our side? That was awesome, by the way.”
Karmen blushed, and then tried to hide it by looking out toward the sea.
Man, it was beautiful here.
It was a shame the sun was setting, because she would have killed for an hour out on that beach. To her delight, there was a beautiful pool out back, though. She wondered if she could talk Crash into a swim.
“Karmen?” Parrish asked.
She cleared her throat, bringing her attention back to the conversation and doing everything she could to stop thinking about a late-night swim with the guy standing next to her.
“Oh, well, you know I’ve been able to put my own will or my own thoughts into someone else’s head in the past, right? Like if I wanted someone to stop coming toward me or to move over, I could put that thought or suggestion into their mind,” she said. “But when I was standing up on the roof with that guard and I first saw the horde coming, I realized I was also able to hear his thoughts.”
