I’d never had a real home of my own. We’d lived in an apartment when I was little, Zara and me and our mom, and it hadn’t been nice. Some of the foster homes had been better, at least when it came to the state of the building, but I’d never been in one where I felt like I was completely welcome. Had never felt like the people who’d been tasked with taking care of me thought I was a real person and not just a job. I didn’t understand completely what people like Rowan had lost, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t sad as I watched empty house after empty house fly by. The current state of the world was cruel, and whether I’d had anything like that or not, I couldn’t help mourning for the people who’d had to watch everyone they loved die. It must have been horrible. Even worse than never having anyone to begin with.
“Have you lived here your whole life?” Lisa asked Lane, breaking the silence hanging over us.
“Yeah.” Lane looked away from the road long enough to glance at the other woman, her head bobbing as she did. “Never lived anywhere else. Where are you from?”
She met my gaze in the rearview mirror to let me know the question was directed at me as well.
“I lived outside Atlanta,” Lisa said.
“Indianapolis area for me.”
“But you met in Texas?”
“That’s right,” I said. “Rowan and I were traveling together. We were going to college in Phoenix and met Devon along the way, then we picked up Hank in Amarillo.” I almost cringed when I thought about the teenager. “We met the others in Texas in a little town called Shamrock.”
“I can’t imagine having to travel across the country in the middle of all this,” Lane said. “It was scary enough just driving across town when we went to the school for the first time.”
“Honestly,” I said, “once we got out of Texas, we didn’t run into a lot of trouble. There’s a lot of open land between here and there, and not many people in most of those areas.”
“That’s lucky,” Lane replied.
“Yeah,” Lisa mumbled, but her focus was on the outside—or more accurately, on the pillar of smoke in the distance. “How long do you think we have before it reaches the school?”
“At the rate it’s been traveling, I’d say we’ll have to start thinking about clearing out in a couple days if it doesn’t rain.” Lane shook her head. “Good luck getting Gabe to discuss it, though. He’s dead set on the school, but I don’t know why. It’s fine for now, but let’s face it, it’s going to suck long term. There’s no privacy, and it isn’t exactly comfortable, and with no electricity, it’s going to be freezing in the winter and hot as balls in the summer. I mean, the building is old.”
Lisa tore her gaze from the window so she could glance back at me, a small smile on her face. “We’ll just sic Kiaya on him again.”
“Please,” I said. “He backed down for the time being, but I’m not crazy enough to think he’s going to change his antiquated ways that easily.”
We lapsed into silence as we reached the city limits. Here, the homes and businesses were closer together, meaning the zombie population was higher. They appeared in droves, drawn by the sound of the truck’s engine and stumbling from between houses, their arms up and grabbing at air as their mouths chomped in anticipation. A few were so fresh they barely looked dead despite their pale complexions, but others had started to decay. Most wore no shoes, some no pants. They were old and young, fat and thin, white and Asian and black and Hispanic, all of them moving together in a wave of decaying diversity as they dragged themselves forward. It was an unnerving sight. Worse than a scene from a horror movie because this wasn’t fake.
“I still can’t believe this is real,” Lisa murmured, her gaze once again focused on the window.
Lane said nothing, and she didn’t look away from the road. Zombies had wandered from between houses and were now in the street, stumbling toward us and forcing her to maneuver around them. She’d had to slow a little, too, although not enough that we were in any danger. Not yet, anyway. The experience in Amarillo when Rowan, Devon, and I were traveling was still fresh in my mind, and just the thought of getting swarmed by another horde that size had me sweating. Troy was a much smaller town, though, and I tried to tell myself we were going to be okay. With more and more zombies stumbling toward us by the minute, it was hard to remember.
I gripped the back of Lisa’s seat and leaned forward. “Don’t slow down too much. We got in a pretty sticky situation when we were driving through Amarillo and the dead swarmed. Almost didn’t make it out of there.”
Lane glanced back at me, frowning. “They’re dead. Couldn’t you just drive over them?”
“Yeah, sure, until there are hundreds of them surrounding your car.”
Her eyes doubled in size. “Hundreds?”
“Like I said, it was a close call.”
The truck’s engine revved when Lane pressed down on the gas. “No, thanks.”
I clung to the seat harder as she swerved to the right, easily going around two zombies that were barely dressed. She jerked the wheel hard to the left, and the tires squealed against the pavement, and I had to dig my nails into the leather seat to keep from slamming into the window. I hadn’t put on my seatbelt since there were no other cars on the road, and at the moment, I was regretting that decision.
Once Lane had righted the truck, I scooted back, grappling for the seatbelt, my gaze focused on the road. There were dozens of zombies in front of us now, but luckily, they were spread out—nothing like they’d been in Amarillo—and going around them wouldn’t be tough.
I’d just gotten the belt buckled when Lane swerved to the right again, and it pulled tight across my chest, preventing me from going anywhere. Lisa swore, but I didn’t see why until a loud thud echoed through the car, and the zombie we’d been unable to avoid went down. Thick, black blood sprayed across the hood of the truck, and a second later, the tires thumped over the body. I cringed at the sickening crack of bone, and even though I didn’t want to see what had become of the zombie, I found myself glancing out the back window. I wasn’t sure if it was out of some sick fascination or the need to know if the thing was down for good, but my stomach rolled at the sight of the thing pulling itself after us. It looked like the tires had only driven over its legs, which were dragging behind it, now nothing but a mangled mess of black blood and rotten flesh.
I swallowed the foul-tasting bile that rose in my throat and turned back to face the front.
“How much farther to the gym?” Lisa asked.
She was gripping the oh shit bar, her knuckles white as Lane swerved yet again.
“Not much farther.” Lane swore under her breath and jerked the wheel hard to the right. “A few more miles. Thankfully, it’s in a less congested area.”
“Thank God for small blessings,” Lisa muttered.
We reached an intersection that veered off to the left, heading toward what appeared to be the downtown area, as well as to the right. Lane turned that way, barely slowing, and the tires once again squealed across the pavement. With the road in front of us now mostly clear, Lane hit the gas, causing Lisa to let out a little yelp of surprise as we sped up. Soon, we’d left the majority of the dead behind, and I was able to relax a little. Not completely. I was pretty sure that would never happen again.
“It’s just a little farther,” Lane said, her gaze moving to the rearview mirror. Like me, some of the tension had eased from her body now that we were away from the bulk of the dead, but she was still gripping the steering wheel with two hands. “I think I’ll take the interstate back. It will take longer, but there will be less congestion.”
“Good idea,” Lisa said. “I have no desire to go through that again.”
I scooted forward as much as the seatbelt would allow when Lane slowed the truck a few minutes later, turning down a road that was between an auto parts store and a small shopping center that featured a diner called the Trojan Horse, a Karate school, and a pawn shop. A few feet farther, the road curved to the righ
t behind the building, and a gymnastics school came into view. There was a sign above the door that simply said Gym.
“This is it,” Lisa said, pulling into the empty parking lot. “If Heath wants to make contact, this is where he’ll come.”
“It’s a little far from the school for the radios to work properly,” Lisa said, frowning.
“I already wrote a note.” Lane stopped the truck in front of the door and put it in park but didn’t turn the engine off. “I told him to go to the neighborhood we used to live in. It’s close enough to the school that we should be able to make contact, but not too close. Hopefully, he’ll think we set up shop somewhere in that area.”
She swiped a piece of paper up off the seat and held it out, and I scanned the words scrawled across it in messy script.
Heath –
Take the radio to our old neighborhood and tune to channel 4. We’ll be waiting to discuss what happens next.
Lane
“Short and to the point. I like it.”
“No reason to beat around the bush.” Her expression clouded over. “Hopefully, he doesn’t demand too much, although I’m not very optimistic. He’s the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever met. I mean, what he put me through during the divorce was just—” She shook her head, apparently at a loss for words.
“How long were you married?” Lisa asked.
“Seven years. I thought we were happy, too.” She let out a snort that didn’t hide the pain in her voice. “Literally a week before I found out he was cheating on me, he put this big, sappy post on Facebook talking about how lucky he was to have such an amazing wife. Turns out he’d been screwing Anie for months.”
“Relationships are complicated.” I wasn’t exactly sure what else to say. I’d dated, but nothing serious and definitely nothing that had gotten me anywhere close to marriage.
“Especially when you’re married to a narcissistic prick.” She paused, her expression still sour, but thoughtful, too. “I guess he was always that way, I just didn’t notice the signs before. I mean, we were so young when we got married, and I was desperate to get out of my house.” Her gaze darted toward us. “I didn’t exactly have a great home life. Let’s just say my mom’s boyfriend didn’t really like keeping his hands to himself.”
“God,” Lisa muttered.
“Yeah,” Lane replied with a snort. “Anyway, Heath was like my hero, my savior, and I was so grateful to him for getting me away from my house that I let him call all the shots. Like with everyone, though, we both changed over time. I matured and started to really figure out who I was for the first time in my life, and I wanted to have more of a say in what went on. Heath didn’t like it, but he let it happen. I think now he was just trying to humor me in hopes that he’d eventually get his control back. He never did, which was probably why he liked Anie so much.” Lane rolled her eyes until only the whites were visible. “Talk about a dumb blonde. She’d do whatever she was told. Like a dog or something.”
“I guess it was a blessing,” Lisa said. “I know I felt that way about my own husband after the pain and rejection wore off. I actually sent his dumbass girlfriend a thank you card.”
Lane let out a snort. “I wish I’d thought of doing that with Anie. She definitely did me a favor.” She waved the note in the air. “Anyway, I guess we should get down to business. Who wants to do the honors? I can stay here with the truck running just in case.”
Lisa took the note since she already had the radio and looked back at me. “You want to go with me for backup?”
“Yeah.” I focused on Lane. “Where should we put the stuff?”
“Front desk. You can’t miss it, which means even a moron like Heath will be able to find it.”
“Okay.” I undid my seatbelt and scooted to the door, taking a deep breath as I looked around. There was a figure in the distance, stumbling through an overgrown field, but nothing else. “We should be able to get in and out fast.”
“The place is clear,” Lane said, “and the door unlocked, so you shouldn’t run into any trouble.”
Like me, Lisa was scanning the area, and despite Lane’s assurance and the fact that nothing was around, she looked tense.
“In and out,” she said.
“Yup.” I took a deep breath and shoved the door open.
Lisa was out of the truck two seconds after me, both of us leaving our doors open for a faster getaway. I took the lead since she was carrying the note and radio, my gun out and my gaze darting around as I crossed the two feet of space separating the truck from the front door. The day was silent and felt empty, the only sounds the rustling of leaves and the occasional squawk from a bird. So quiet, in fact, that when the bark from a faraway dog broke the silence, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Hopefully, wherever the pooch was, he was safe.
Like Lane had said, the front door opened with no problem, the chime of a bell hanging overhead announcing our arrival to the empty building. I stepped inside, pausing despite Lane’s assurances, and sucked in a deep breath through my nose. The faint scent of dust clung to the air, mingling with the stink of sweat I always associated with gyms, but nothing else.
“There,” Lisa said, passing me as she crossed to the front desk.
Lane had been right about us not being able to miss it, and once Lisa set the radio on the counter, propping the note against a coffee mug, I knew there was no way Heath would come here and not notice it.
We were on our way back out to the truck less than three minutes after leaving it, the lone zombie I’d spotted still a good distance off, and what felt like seconds later I was once again buckled up. Lane threw the truck into drive and hit the gas, then we were veering out of the parking lot and back to the main road.
She didn’t go back the way we’d come, but instead turned left.
“You know Heath pretty well,” Lisa said as we drove. “How long do you think it will take him to come looking for us?”
“Not today.” Lane turned her head, watching a shambling figure as she passed it. “But not long. Tomorrow, maybe the day after. He’s not super impulsive, but he’s not patient either.”
“We just have to hope he’s willing to play ball.”
“He won’t make a trade for anything less than a shit ton of weapons, especially if you’re asking for a doctor in addition to your friend.”
“We can’t give him our guns,” Lisa said.
“I’m not sure we’re going to have much of a choice when it comes down to it,” I said, “despite what Gabe and Devon think. Heath is holding all the cards.”
Lisa sighed while Lane said nothing, telling me they didn’t disagree.
A few minutes after leaving the parking lot, Lane slowed the truck and turned, taking the ramp marked Interstate 75 North, and the fire once again came into view, the black plume of smoke seemingly twice as big as before.
“It’s windy today,” Lisa said. “It’s pushing the fire farther.”
“I wasn’t thinking about the fire when I went this way,” Lane said, her hands wringing the steering wheel. “We’ll have to pass the exit I would normally take and go up one, which means driving past Walmart and all the stores in that area. Could get dangerous.”
“Great,” Lisa muttered.
“We’ll be okay,” I said, my gaze on the fire as we drew closer.
I’d only seen it from a distance before, and it had been too far away to really appreciate how much had already burned and how much more could go up in flames. Fields to our left had been scorched black and houses burnt to the ground, and to make matters worse, the flames were licking at the road, which was the only thing keeping the fire from spreading farther east. If it got much windier, the flames could jump the interstate and eventually spread through the whole town.
Lane slowed the truck as we approached, but only a little. She was staring at the fire burning alongside the road.
“It’s going to take the whole town out.” She hit the gas, and we accelerated.
“All we need
is one decent rain,” Lisa assured her.
“Fat chance of that happening,” Lane replied. “It’s been drier this year than I can ever remember it being in Ohio.”
To that, neither one of us replied.
Another exit appeared only a couple miles up, and Lane slowed as she neared it. The Meijer sign told me this was the same area we’d been to the other day, but we must have approached the store from the other direction, because nothing looked familiar. There was a Goodwill to the right, and some fast food places beyond that, while to our left more stores loomed. A sign for Walmart was just up the road, and I suddenly remembered Rowan telling us it was down the street when we were loading up on supplies at Meijer.
We passed it, as well as a Kohl’s and some other stores and restaurants, and finally Meijer came into view, and the area began to look more familiar. So familiar that I didn’t expect to run into trouble, which was why I let out a shriek when the truck’s tires thumped over something in the road and exploded—the front two followed by the back two a second later.
“Shit,” Lane shouted.
She’d been going too fast and was totally unprepared. The truck skidded to the right, and she tried to correct our trajectory, jerking the steering wheel hard in the other direction, but that caused the vehicle to go out of control. Our now flat tires squealed, and the truck spun, and then we were teetering to the side, toppling over. That was when the air bags exploded from their hiding places, filling the cab in a violent burst. A metallic crunch came next, followed by the clatter of shattering glass. We were surrounded by white bags when it rained down around us, and someone, Lisa or Lane or maybe even myself, screamed.
It seemed to take both forever and no time at all for us to come to a stop, and immediately the air bags began to deflate. The truck was on its side, the driver’s side up, and I was dangling in midair, held in place by the seatbelt I almost hadn’t put on. My body throbbed, and my ears were ringing, and a warm trickle of blood ran down the side of my face. The scent of gas and smoke filled my nostrils, and everywhere I looked, glass shimmered in the sunshine. Lisa and Lane were in the front, also held in place by seatbelts, and I said a silent prayer of thanks that we’d all decided to wear them. Who knew what would have happened if we hadn’t?
Far Series | Book 3 | Far From Lost Page 9
