“I’m in,” Erin said. No hesitation.
“Calm down, people.” Santa’s bushy brows clumped. “It’s nearly dark. You cannot—”
“Like hell I can’t,” Finn snarled. Dan’s fingers dug into his shoulders, holding him back. “She is not staying out there alone. Move that truck now!”
“Son …” Santa started up again.
Finn literally felt himself snap, heard the noise like a crack in his skull. He lunged at the prick.
“Finn! Shit.” Dan’s arm grabbed around Finn’s waist, dragged him back. “Calm down. This is not helping. You wanna hit someone, hit me.”
Finn snarled, pissed off beyond belief. But he let Dan pull him back.
“It’s nearly dark,” Dan said. “We can’t do a damn thing by going back out there now but get her into more trouble.”
“Explain,” Finn demanded, his heart racing.
“Ali knows how to hide. She’s real y good at it,” said Daniel. “We go out there now, we’ll put her in danger. She’ll try to come to us.”
“I want her back.”
“I know.” Dan’s arms wrapped around him. The man was the only thing stopping him from hitting the ground. “I know. And I’m so fucking sorry, but we’ve gotta be smart about it.”
His mind raced, and his heart sank, so far down it was through the ground. The thought of leaving her out there was abhorrent.
“Fucking hell,” muttered Finn.
Dan nodded in perfect understanding, eyes glassy. “Yeah.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
It was oddly peaceful on the roof. There was nothing to be done until dawn and infected didn’t climb. They lacked the coordination, the muscle strength, who knew. She was safe for now and resolved to take it easy.
It was hard to block out all the moaning going on downstairs. At least she was out in the open air, not caught in a dust-ridden attic.
And she was safe enough for the night. There were two positives.
She counted stars to pass the time and keep her mind off her bladder, tested her memory for song lyrics. Hoping she didn’t hear any vehicles, hoping they wouldn’t try to come out at night, hoping they were safe.
The lights of Blackstone shone like a beacon in the darkness. No wonder they were attracting zombies to the wal s. It seemed a long way away. Then, another light came to life near the settlement. That was odd. She squinted, peering out into the dark.
One lone light outside of town. It was there, then gone. Poof! Like she had imagined it. No one went beyond the town wal s at night.
Better not be Finn or Dan out there, trying to get to her. God, she hoped it wasn’t them. Please.
There’d been a lot of angry words lately between all three of them. When she got back she’d fix that. Whatever was brewing between Dan and Finn would be dealt with. She loved them both too much to lose them. The pissy silences between her and Finn needed addressing, too.
She swallowed, trying to conjure up some moisture in her mouth. No water bottle; it was downstairs somewhere. What a mess.
But she was stil alive and breathing, still uninfected and still getting home. She watched the light and ran the opening lines to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” through her head. Over and over. Her memory for lyrics was shit.
A menacing growl shut down the disco. Snapping and snarling rose up out of the dark. Scratching and scraping. Her skin prickled.
She wanted to huddle against the cooling tin roof.
The moaning escalated to counteract the competition. The zombies sounded agitated, afraid.
She lay like the dead, staring into the heavens, her focus entirely on what played out below. The noises reached new heights and the battle began. The sound of breaking bones and tearing flesh came to her, noises unique and horrible, indelible.
Something was enjoying the infected she had drawn. Safe to say Mike was done. Poor Mike. Poor everyone.
There were several somethings sniffing the air, followed by whining and howling. Dogs. What would the infection do to dogs? More importantly, dogs couldn’t climb buildings, no matter what their diet entailed. She was safe for now.
Ever so quietly, she rolled onto her belly, crawled to the side of the building and peered over the edge, not daring to breathe.
Several sets of gleaming red eyes stared back at her from below.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Finn squinted into the rising sun, bracing himself against the side of the tray as they drove out of Blackstone.
For a moment he had a funny sensation, racing past the remains of the town. The hairs on the back of his neck vaulted. It felt a lot like someone had him in their crosshairs.
He scanned the lines of dul weatherboard houses and overgrown gardens, but there were no signs of life. Nothing.