Growling in frustration, Caleb flew toward the street, into the shadows, where he took human form. The demon in him wanted to blast the zombies into oblivion. But that would blow his cover and he’d already learned the hard way three years ago that his powers didn’t work on Nick.
If he exposed his powers and Nick saw them, there was no way to undo it. He’d be screwed and Nick would never trust him again. Of course, he could try the clumsy and inexact human method of memory loss by bashing Nick on the head.
…
It might work.
Or it might give him a concussion.
Worse, it might kil him.
And since Caleb’s survival hinged on his … best not to chance it.
So instead, he rushed into the al ey to help them, then drew up fast as he realized the girl with Nick wasn’t a girl after al .
She was a demon, too.
A Charonte demon, to be precise.
Oh Düsseldorf, this was getting complicated. He shielded his powers immediately. The problem with the Charonte, they were highly territorial and didn’t tolerate other demons in their domain. Ever. To them, if you weren’t Charonte, you were garbage, and al garbage should be eaten. Literal y. Slowly and with relish—or, more often than not, with barbecue sauce.
Since the Charonte were one of the most powerful branches of demon, it served him best to stay off her radar.
And menu.
But why she was with Nick and not attacking him, he had no idea. Charonte didn’t normal y associate with anyone unless, as previously noted, they were on the menu.
“Nick!” Caleb shouted as one of the zombies went for Nick’s neck. “Behind you!”
Nick turned around as he heard Caleb’s shout to see Brett Guidry, one of his classmates, coming at his back. Grateful Caleb had returned, he indicated Brett with his chin. “We’ve got to get these guys to Bubba’s. Anyone got a clue how to do it?”
Simi looked at him. “They gotta be breathing?”
“Yes,” Nick and Caleb said in unison.
“Wel , pooh.” Simi poked her lips out. “That just takes al the fun out of it.” She let out a dramatic sigh.
Nick was overwhelmed by the herculean task. How did three high school students get a dozen zombies to Bubba’s store without getting eaten?
Why didn’t I stay home?
Look on the bright side. …
Trouble was, he didn’t see a bright side.
I knew I should have taken up lumberjackery and not the one where you shoot snot out your nose or the other one he didn’t want to think about while fighting. ’Cause face it, both of those would be worthless right about now. Rather lumberjackery where you break Army of Darkness with a chainsaw al over the Deadites and send them into oblivion.
Or at least send them out of his sight.
The zombies closed in. Nick braced himself for more hand-to-hand (literal y, in his case) fighting.
Suddenly, Simi grabbed him and Caleb by their hands and ran with them to the corner. She hesitated under the street sign. “Where’s Bubba’s?”
Nick pointed down the street toward the store.
“Okay.” Simi released their hands. “You boys run on and I’l get them there right behind you.”
Nick shook his head as al the lessons his mom had taught him roared to the forefront. “That’s not right. I’m not about to leave a girl to be eaten by crazies.”
Caleb looked over his shoulder to where the zombies were closing in fast. “Folks, we stand here arguing and we’re going to die.” He grabbed Nick and pul ed him forward. “Let her be the bait. We need to get the doors open.” Nick would have fought him too, but Caleb’s grip was too fierce, leaving him no choice except to fol ow or lose his other arm.
They only got half a block before two more zombies stepped out of the darkness to attack them.
Nick cursed as he pul ed up short and kicked the first one back into the al ey. “How many of these are there?” Caleb shook his head. “I’m beginning to wonder if Madaug didn’t license the game to Sony or something. Where are al of them coming from? Raccoon City Cloning Farm? What is going on here?”
Nick stepped back to avoid being bitten. “We’re about to get our butts kicked. That’s what’s going on.” He scissor-kicked the zombie closest to him. Then he looked to see Simi leading the others closer. “I’m beginning to feel like Jim Bowie at the Alamo.”
Caleb knocked the zombie in front of him back. “Yeah, but we’re not going to die.”
I wish I could be so sure of that. ’Cause right now, things were not looking good for him and if he was a betting man, he’d be betting on the zombies.
Even so, Nick pushed his fear and panic down and kept moving toward the store, drawing the zombies along behind him while he continued to beat them off. Gah, if one more of them touched his wounded shoulder, he was going to forget the ban on kil ing them and go hog wild—chainsaw or not. “I real y don’t like being the dangling carrot.”
“Better than being the dead duck.” Caleb smacked the zombie closest to him.
He had a good point with that.
Nick was the first one to reach the store. He opened the door and cal ed for Bubba, Madaug, and Mark. “We got a group coming in. You might want to widen that room and be ready to lock it tight.”