“—River and Milla in the van with Justin.”
“And me.” Where Milla goes, I go.
Cole nods. “The rest of us will leave our bodies here and head to the cemetery on foot. We need to make sure Rebecca and her agents aren’t hiding nearby. River, when he arrives, will be in charge. I expect you to obey his orders as if they come directly from me. And remember, the goal is to capture zombies in one piece.”
“But two halves will be accepted,” Gavin says.
Chuckles sweep the room.
River spends a good chunk of time explaining his plan. Namely, he and Milla will bag and tag the captives. I don’t like it, I don’t like it at all, but protesting would embarrass Milla so I remain quiet. For now.
“All right.” Cole nods. “Let’s do this.”
I climb into the back of the van and help Milla do the same. Justin takes the wheel and River the front passenger seat. Cole, Ali, Gavin, Jaclyn, Love and Chance leave their bodies behind, as ordered, and take off on foot.
As we speed down the road, I peer out the window. The moon is a hook. How fun would it be to hang a tire swing from it? The stars are absent, and there are only two clouds in the sky. The one shaped like a fluffy bunny, and the one shaped like a tombstone.
“When I’m a witness—” I begin.
“Finger crossed that doesn’t happen anytime soon,” Milla interjects.
“Like these zombies will get the best of me. Woman, you’ve met me, right?”
She flips me off.
“Anyway.” I tweak her nose, a new, favorite habit. “I’m going to shape a cloud into a penis.”
“Of course you are. Because you’re the most mature person I know.”
“Okay, what would you shape, Miss Prim and Proper?”
“An angel. Giving people the finger.”
I chuckle.
We arrive at Shady Elms and discover the others are still searching the parking lot, surrounding streets and forest for any sign of Rebecca’s agents. When they finish, declaring we’re in the clear, we approach the cemetery’s perimeter. Zombies are indeed out tonight. There are too many to count, a sea of rotted spirits that seems to stretch for miles.
None of the zombies are able to step past the Blood Lines we poured soon after our last battle, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to push past the invisible wall.
“Don’t you see,” Milla says, pointing. “The same zombies. Look there, there and there. And there! Four versions of the same zombie.”
Ali’s eyes go wide. “But...that’s impossible. Right?”
“Rebecca.” Gavin says the name the same way anyone else would say cancer. “Every human has one spirit. Just one. Are these...I don’t know...clones?”
“We’ll find out.” Cole looks to River. “You’re up.”
Frosty takes my hand and gives a comforting squeeze. I’m irritated with him for even thinking about sedating me and leaving me behind, but I’m also amazed by the concern he keeps showing for me. Plus, I’m worried about him and River—about everyone. Old fears of losing the people I love dog me. And the dog has rabies.
“You’ll want to help us,” River tells the others, “but don’t. Stay out here and wrangle the collared zombies we toss at you. If you’re in there and you’re bitten, the horde could be cleansed...as things stand right now, it’s not likely, I know, but we can’t risk the ruination of the samples Reeve needs.”
I remove the metal collars from my backpack and hook them to my belt loops. Collars we stole from Anima because they place zombies under our control.
“Ready?” he asks me.
I nod. “Ready.”
River hands Frosty a vial of Blood Line neutralizer. “Use this only if we get hurt and you have to swoop to the rescue.”
“Won’t we have to use it to get the collared zombies out?” Ali asks.
“No. Once they’re collared, they’re tangible and they can move past the Blood Lines just as we do while we’re in bodily form.”
Frosty kisses my forehead. “Be careful. Or I’ll be pissed.”
More concern from him. It’s... I don’t... Wow. “Ditto.” It’s all I can manage.
River nudges me, and I force myself to focus. Zombies. Battle. Collars. Nothing else matters right now.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” he whispers, and it’s clear he’s not talking about our mission.
I pretend he is, though. “I do. Try to keep up.”
“Milla—”
I surge forward. He isn’t far behind. Because we’re still in our bodies, we pass the Blood Lines, no problem. But the moment we do, zombies stop trying to claw their way free and turn toward us.