But Nick could hear the truth in that gruff tone. Tough or not, it only took one hit to end a life, and that was what they were al keeping in mind as they headed out.
“So, Alex?” Bubba asked. “How you going to track?” Alex held up a smal handheld device. “GPS.” He turned around in the seat to wink at Caleb and Nick.
Bubba wasn’t so easily fooled. “How are you getting coordinates?”
“Madaug’s cel phone.”
“Ah, okay. Just tel me where to go.”
Alex gave a sly grin as if he was holding back. After a second, he closed his eyes and Nick could tel he was using some kind of preternatural powers to seek out Madaug and his family.
While he did that, Bubba turned on the radio, which was playing an emergency broadcast signal that was fol owed by a newscaster tel ing them the mayor was issuing a citywide curfew due to a vicious outbreak of severe flu.
Caleb scoffed. “I told you they’d blame this on a disease.” Bubba turned left down Canal. “They don’t want people to start panicking. For once I can’t blame them. The more people on the street, the more vics in the morgue.” The newscaster continued. “The police are implementing a citywide curfew. Al residents are urged to stay in while they secure the Quarter. Anyone found outside wil be arrested.”
“And al zombies wil be shot,” Nick added with a laugh.
“Should we head back?” Alex asked.
Bubba shrugged. “That’s what common sense would say.
What do you think?”
Nick leaned back in his seat. “Far be it from me to ever let my common sense get in the way of my stupidity. I say we press on. Caleb?”
He flashed a cheesy grin. “What’s an arrest record anyway?
Me, Alex, and Nick are minors.”
“To infinity then.”
Nick frowned at Bubba’s words. “What’s that mean?”
“It’s something my dad used to say when I was a kid. To infinity, meaning you’d see something through to the end.” Nick didn’t get it. “Infinity is never-ending.”
“That’s right, which means you keep going and going no matter what happens or what obstacles you meet. Over, under, around, or through. There’s always a way. And if you have to chase something to infinity, strap on your big-boy pants, hiking boots, and go.”
Nick opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, something slammed into the SUV. One minute, they were fine.
The next, they were spinning out of control.
CHAPTER 17
Nick’s head slammed into the glass so hard, he saw stars as the SUV rol ed over and over, careening out of control. It felt like it was never going to stop, and it didn’t until something catapulted them against the concrete wal of the I-10
overpass. They hit it so hard, he was amazed it didn’t snap the truck in half.
Groaning, Nick saw Bubba lying unconscious, pinned between the steering wheel and seat. His brow was split and blood trickled down his face, dripping onto his shirt. Alex was breathing like a woman in labor as he tried to open his door.
He was covered in blood with a split lip and swel ing eye. But the most shocking was Caleb, who’d lost his human appearance entirely.
Whoa, not only was his skin red, but it glowed in the faint light. And those serpentine eyes with their diamond-shaped pupils were off the creepy weird chart.
Nick tried to move. But raw pain pounded through him, making it hard to breathe while Caleb tried to unbuckle his seat belt. One of his hands looked like it might be broken.
Even so, Caleb didn’t let it deter him at al .
“Alex?” Caleb said, his voice reverberating with a deep accent. “We’re under attack. Can you get out?” Alex made the sound of an angry grizzly. “Something has my powers locked. I can’t do squat, not even undo my seat belt. Are your powers working?”
“No. I can’t even hold my human form.”
Al of a sudden Nick smel ed the pungent stench of sulphur and death.
Caleb cursed as he started kicking the side window. As soon as the glass was out, he grabbed Nick and shoved him through the opening he’d made. Nick hissed as agony erupted down his shoulder and arm from the manhandling.
Dang, it hurt.
Caleb climbed out and grabbed his good arm. Dragging him along behind him, Caleb was speaking in a language that Nick couldn’t understand.
“Dude, I don’t think we’re supposed to be moving until the medics get here after a wreck like that. I think I broke something. We could sever our spines or something.”
“You’re about to break a lot more than your spine.” Caleb turned and looked up over their heads. Cursing, he grabbed Nick and shoved him into a drainage pipe. “Don’t move, and breathe only if you have to.”
What kind of stupid comment was that?
Nick started to argue until he saw what had Caleb so worried. These were …
Flying monkeys?
You wish. ’Cause instead of being cute little blue things in weird suits and hats, the things after them were huge, ugly creatures that turned his stomach. With bald heads, talons, and Shar-Pei-like skin, they gave foul a whole new meaning.