“She’s here!” I shouted.
“Finally,” she whispered. “Had to be...last one to...arrive at party. Grand entrance...my thing.”
“Shh, shh, kitten.” Frosty shoved me aside to kneel beside her. “Save your energy, all right.”
I rushed around to her other side, saying to Frosty, to anyone who would listen, “We need to get her to the nearest hospital. And someone call Detective Verra. She— No,” I gasped out.
Kat had bite marks on her arms. The flesh was black, oozing.
Zombie toxin.
Frosty must have noticed, too; he sucked in a sharp breath.
You can sit here, panicking, or you can act. “Does anyone have the antidote?” As soon as I’d learned what the fire could do, I’d stopped carrying mine. But civilians like Kat couldn’t tolerate the fire. They ashed as quickly as zombies.
Frosty and I waited, tense. Desperate.
No one spoke out.
“Anyone,” he shouted. “Please.”
Then we heard the sweetest words this side of heaven. “I do.” Chance bounded over from triage, with a tiny plastic vial in his hand. “It’s only half a dose. We didn’t come with enough for everyone, so I’ve been doling out sips. It’ll keep her symptoms at bay until you can get her a proper injection.”
Frosty poured the contents down her throat.
“Kat,” I said, doing my best to disguise my fear. Time wasn’t our friend. Had just become slayer enemy number one.
Just?
Her gaze shifted to me, and she offered a small smile. “My Ali. Helped me...live.”
“And that’s not going to change. Do you hear me? You’re going to continue to live. I promise. And you know I never lie.” I met Frosty’s wild gaze. “Do it now.”
He gently lifted her into his arms. The pain should have been excruciating for her, but she didn’t even cringe. That wasn’t good. I knew that wasn’t good.
Chance extracted Jaclyn and carried her to River.
“Let’s get you to the hospital, kitten,” Frosty said.
“Cole’s place is on the way.” The words spilled from me. “We can get more antidote there.”
He eased forward, careful not to jostle her. “You’re going to be okay, kitten. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Love you,” she whispered. “Just wanted to...fix you...lunch...and live...you and Ali...made life worth...fighting for...thank you.”
Killing me. “Don’t thank us. Live! Keep fighting.”
Pop. Pop. Pop. The gunfire drew ever closer.
Boom!
Boom!
More zombies, too.
“Frosty.” I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other, maintaining the moderate pace. “We have to hurry.”
“Shut up, Ali.” His tone remained gentle, despite the heat of his rebuke. “I can’t risk jostling her.”
“I know.” But I can’t risk losing her.
Pop. Pop. Pop. The ground shook. Little fires blazed in patches of foliage, dark smoke mushrooming to the tops of the trees.
“Bronx, get everyone to the closest safe house.” Cole’s voice rang out. “Chance, give me two of your guns.” Then he came up beside me and slapped one of the guns in my hand. “I’ll guard the front. You guard the rear.”
All business. Good. Exactly what I needed.
The deeper we traveled through the forest, the thicker the smoke became, the more obvious the scent of rot. It wasn’t long before we discovered why the authorities hadn’t made it to the house. Zombies had attacked their cars en masse and dragged policemen and firemen outside, where they’d become a spiritual feast.
Soon, they would rise.
Scratch that. No “soon” about it. Some of them were already crawling out of their bodies.
Multiple sets of red eyes landed on us and narrowed. And suddenly, it was like a starting bell rang out, zombies leaping into action and racing toward us. Some wore a collar...and a bomb—the new ones didn’t.
“Run, Frosty! I’ve got this.” I stepped out of my body and fired the gun. Bam, between the eyes. Bam, right inside the mouth. Bam, direct to the heart. I hammered at the trigger until I ran out of bullets, then used the butt of the gun to knock a few skulls around. Summoning flames proved ineffective.
I threw a punch at a zombie, then another, then ducked to avoid a chomp of teeth. I swiped out my leg and knocked a pair of ankles together. While I fought, I thought, Screw the fire and tried to push out a stream of energy, but failed at that, too.
Behind me, gnarled fingers locked on my shoulder. I was dragged to the ground. Multiple sets of teeth flashed in the moonlight. I rolled and kicked, nailing two zombies in the face, and then I twisted, using one hand to punch the zombie beside me and the other to brace my weight.
Gold star, Ali. The creatures were going down fast.
I popped to my feet, a high-pitched noise making me cringe. A noise I recognized.
“Bomb,” I shouted, diving to the ground.
Boom!