I drifted off to sleep for a moment; that could have been a minute or maybe more because, next thing I knew, Liam had a concerned look on his face and was shaking me awake.
“Well, this is embarrassing,” I said, rubbing my eyes, “falling asleep on the job.”
“Shh,” he said, quietly, his eyes darting around the trees. “They’re out there.”
“Who?” I whispered back, reaching for the gun in my lap and the knife tucked into my boot.
“Awakened.”
I sat up straighter, my own eyes scanning the surroundings. I strained my ears listening for it and felt my heart jump into my throat when I heard it. It was low, barely audible, but I could hear the hoarse breaths coming from a distance away. “Oh god,” I breathed.
“Zoey. Zoey, my family needs their weapons,” Liam said urgently. I hesitated for a moment, casting a glance at my dad, asleep on the ground. “Please.”
I handed him the keys to the car. “Get them quietly. You try to shoot me, I swear to god I will blow your brains out.”
Despite the situation, Liam chuckled lightly. “Sounds about right. Wake everyone up.”
I crept around the campsite, my ear cocked in the direction of the approaching Awakened. It sounded like they were moving slowly, which meant they were probably unaware that there were people in front of them. I woke my dad and Ash up first, whispering quickly. They woke immediately, grabbing their own weapons before waking Memphis and Julia. By this time, Liam had come back and was passing their weapons around.”
The six of us stood poised, waiting in the silence for them to appear. My gun was clutched tight in my right hand and my knife in my left. I bounced from one foot to the other, anxious and ready.
THEY CAME IN THROUGH THE trees, a pack of about a dozen. They stopped suddenly at the sight of us; I had been right when I had guessed about them not knowing we were there. Almost in unison, they crouched, prepared to fight.
“Leave us be,” my dad called out to them, his gun raised. “Move on, and we won’t hurt you.”
A loud barking laugh came from a large man near the middle of the group. His teeth shone from between his pale blue lips, and I resisted the urge to throw up. I would never get over the sight of those animal-like teeth. “I don’t think that would be in our best interest,” he spoke, his voice filling the clearing. “We’ve traveled a long way, and we are so so very hungry.”
The girl next to him whined loudly, like an animal poised and ready to attack. The hairs on my arms stood up at the sound.
“Easy, Cara,” the man said. “We need to share amongst everyone in the group.”
“I’m so hungry,” she said, her voice like fingernails on a chalkboard. I glanced around me and saw that I wasn’t the only one affected by her. Her black eyes stared unwavering at us, her tongue peeking out to lick her dry lips. “Let me go.”
The man sighed as if bored. “If you must.” He flipped his hand lazily, and as one, they came barreling at us.
I shot the first man that came toward me, missing his head, catching him in the shoulder blade. He went down, but was already struggling to stand up by the time I raced to him. I aimed a kick at his head, and sent spiraling back. I ducked in time to miss the arms of the girl who had whined earlier. I punched her in the face, aiming the gun straight at her head. She went down with a thump, blood pooling around her head.
I had no time to think of that though before turning back to my original opponent. He had recovered and tackled me to the ground, his strength unbelievable. I struggled for a moment, my gun slipping out of my hand and sliding across the ground. His mouth came closer to me, his breath hot and smelling vaguely icy on my face. With his teeth bared, he moaned with pleasure.
“I can smell your blood,” he said, grazing his lips across my cheek. “It smells so good. Just one small bite, one teensy little bite. I promise I won’t kill you. I’m just so hungry.”
I leaned forward and head-butted him, sending him howling back in pain. I took that opportunity to swing up at him with my fists, catching him in the jaw. His whines became more pronounced, and I reached up and around him, stabbing my knife deep into the back of his neck. I watched as his black eyes went wide. I raised my eye shaking fingers to his neck, but I didn’t even know if they had a pulse. I pushed his body up as I dragged myself from underneath him.
“Zoey,” Ash said, rushing over and offering me a hand up. I took it, and he hoisted me up. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Ash!” He spun around and immediately was caught, strong blue arms wrapped his chest pulling him away. I scrambled for my gun and aimed it at the Awakened. I hesitated; my arm was still shaky, and I didn’t want to hit Ash. “Let him go!” I shouted.