HURTSOON!
HUNGRY!
The small enclosure was dark and dank, but smelled of wildflowers and sunshine. I shifted to the side, and what seemed to be a thousand red eyes opened to track the movement. A gasp of horror escaped me.
I’d just found a zombie nest.
Chapter 17
The Zombies Are Back in Town
The shock must have brought me to my senses. As easily as my body had been dragged forward, it now whisked backward. Spirit and body collided, once again hooking up.
Kat was at my side, tugging at my arm. I tripped over her feet and fell, banging my knees into the cold, hard ground. The scent of rot clung to my nose, the wildflowers and sunshine gone.
“Frosty’s on the way,” she said. “He’ll make everything better.”
“Get back. Purse. Syringe. Throw.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Reeve asked with a tremor. “I know she’s sick, but she was just comatose!”
“Sick?” Ethan demanded.
“Gets violent,” Reeve said, distracted.
“Violent,” he parroted hollowly.
“Back!” I shouted, pushing Kat away from me. If I helped the zombies... If I hurt my friends... “Go! Please,” I croaked. I no longer wanted her to take time to search for the antidote in my purse. “Please.”
Ethan jerked a protesting Reeve away from me. She worked her way free and raced back to my side, but he quickly caught up with her, hefted her over his shoulder and took off for his car.
Maim. Kill.
Hungry.
Soon.
Cold.
The words played through my mind, a terrible song. I wanted to stand, but my vision was going dark. “Run, Kat,” I commanded. “Run and don’t look back. It’s happening. The worst is happening.”
The nearness of the zombies must have provoked Z.A. to rise.
“I’m not leaving you. I’m— Hmph! What are you doing, Ethan? Let me go!”
He was carting her to his car?
He must have. Tires squealed. Gravel sprayed. He had no idea what was going on, but he’d sensed the danger, had understood the truth in Reeve’s claim about violence and had reacted accordingly. I’d have to remember to thank him.
I lay on the ground, exactly where I’d fallen. Breath rasped from me, burning my lungs, my throat. Should I stay here and try to calm down?
Are you kidding? Stand up! Fight! Zombies had killed my family, and I had made it my life’s mission to return the favor.
What was more, if the zombies emerged and innocents were around...
I pulled my knees into my chest and pushed, unfolding to my full height. I wobbled but managed to stay upright.
I curled stiff fingers around the dagger hilts sticking out of my boots; metal whistled against leather as I freed the blades. The darkness persisted, closing in on me, and I blinked rapidly. Little pricks of color suddenly appeared—all of them red.
The zombies had emerged.
Footsteps pounded at my side, and I stiffened. A hard breeze wafted over me, followed by another, and another. Unsure how close the monsters were, I swiped out an arm, encountered only air.
“Ali.” Cole’s voice registered a split second before I was tackled to the ground.
I lost my grip on the daggers, as well as what remained of my breath. My head thumped against a rock, and a sharp pain tore through my skull.
“Sorry, sorry,” Cole rushed out.
I tried to sit up, but he pinned my arms to the ground, making any kind of movement impossible.
“You’re staying right here. The others will take care of the zombies.”
Around us, grunts and groans erupted. The fight was on, good against evil, light against dark.
I should be helping. I should—hmm, Cole smelled like heaven. The rot had faded, and his scent was crisp and clean, untainted, wonderfully pure, and the more I inhaled, the more I liked it. The more my mouth watered.
So. Hungry.