Chapter 8
EIGHT
Jack
“You hear that?” Miles whispered urgently.
It was early, early enough that the mist hadn’t yet been burned off by the sun, but Miles and I were outside, wanting to get a start on the day.
“I did,” I said evenly.
I glanced back at the kid and saw that he put on a brave face. He should be somewhere playing video games, throwing a football around, being a fucking kid. But that was gone for him, just like it was gone for every other kid.
Like it was gone for Evan.
That last thought shook me out of my spiral. Evan was out there. To get to him, I needed to stay alive.
“Go back to the house. Quickly. Get the others. Get more weapons.”
The kid moved, his steps light like he had been trained. And maybe in a way he was. I kept him close, and he watched. Sad that he had to put those newfound skills to use. But that was the world we lived in. Fucked up as it ever was.
My gun lay heavy at my waist, the familiar press of the metal against my hip comforting.
And also something I wouldn’t reach for.
Not until it was the last resort. The knife strapped to my thigh, however, was something else.
Levi really did have the arsenal Asia talked about, and this knife holster was one of the best gifts I’d ever received.
I unsheathed the knife, the low swish of sharp metal against thick woven canvas was the morning serenade. But that was what the new world sounded like. Not the owls’ last hoots, the roosters’ crow. No, the soundtrack to this new world was moans and mindless shambling.
The scent of death wafted in the air, a stain on the beauty and purity that was this morning. The tragedy of it, the unrelenting fucking horror, was something I didn’t think about. I didn’t think about anything but my next steps.
I scanned the field. Spotted ten of them.
They were slow, uncoordinated, but together, they would do damage.
I wouldn’t let that happen. I moved, going for the one closest to me.
A stab to the ear, a twist, and black goo that had once been brain started to pour, and the zombie dropped, an empty husk.
I heard the swish of grass, which alerted me to footsteps, and I looked back, seeing Miles with Asia a step behind him. Elliot was behind them and Levi trailed in the distance.
“Handle those three,” I said, nodding to the northwest side of the field.
The sun was steadily rising, and the others moved. Miles, who looked so young and innocent five minutes ago, was focused. He approached one zombie with no fear, dispatched it with no hesitation. I couldn’t let pride distract me. I spared a glance at Asia, watched as she took down one, then another.
Then I looked away.
She could take care of herself.
I knew that.
My jaw tightened anyway.
Every instinct screamed at me to move closer, putting myself between her and anything that might hurt her.
I forced my attention back to my own targets.
She’d have to handle herself.
Because I wouldn’t always be here.
That thought hit like an anvil.
But I let myself sit with that, telling myself it didn’t hurt harder than a punch in my gut every time I heard her grunt with effort.
Even as I dropped one zombie after another, I tracked her every move. But I didn’t go to her.
Couldn’t coddle her, no matter how much I wanted to.
“You handled any of these things?” I called to Levi.
He looked at me, expression stoic. But I saw the tick in his left hand, the way his fingers jerked like he was being electrocuted, the subtle shock of seeing the world falling apart needing a physical outlet.
“No, but I think I got the idea,” he said.
And then he moved. He was agile for a man his age but I saw the little stutter in his step, and his chest rising and falling with deep, heavy breaths.
He let out a grunt when he swung, but his efforts were more than rewarded. The zombie froze, slumped, like someone had turned off the light. Levi paused for a moment, and I moved toward him, but after a moment, he swung again, the sickening thud of metal against bone reverberating obscenely.
Elliot, who had gone deeper into the field, took out another one, and I handled the remaining two.
“You see any others?” Asia asked, her voice low, calm.
Too calm.
“No. I didn’t. Not sure how they got this close.”
“There’s a subdivision about three miles down the road. Could have come from there.” Levi pointed toward the woods, his chest still heaving as he struggled to catch his breath.
Asia moved closer and touched his shoulder, her face twisted with concern. He didn’t look at her, but patted her hand lovingly.
“How many houses?” I asked.
“About twenty, twenty-five. Mostly families,” Levi said. He coughed, but then stood up straight, eyes begging me not to notice.
“We’ll check it out. But for now, we need to keep our eyes open and think about those defenses,” I said.
Asia walked past me, her arm brushing mine.
Even that brief contact was electric.
Felt like branding.
Her steps stuttered for just a second.
Like she felt it, too.
Our eyes locked.
Held.
And then she moved.
Even though I still felt her warmth, smelling her on my skin, I watched her go, the last thing I wanted to do.
The only thing I could do.
Because as easy as it was to lose myself in Asia, the world didn’t stop just because I wanted to hold onto something good for five fucking minutes.
It never did, and I wasn’t stupid enough to believe it ever would.
“I’ll get the wheelbarrow. Can clean this mess up,” Levi said.
“Miles. Go help him,” I said.
The kid smiled, and then left, slowing his long, loose-limbed steps to allow Levi to keep up.
“You good?” I said, looking at Asia.
“Yeah,” she said.
There was no inflection in her voice, and I studied her, trying to figure out what was going on. I wasn’t unfamiliar with close quarters, but I never studied anyone quite the way I studied Asia. And now, I tried to get a read on her. Coming up empty.
That was new.
“I’ll go help with the bodies,” she said.
I wanted to argue, but stayed quiet.
“Elliot. You want to walk the tree line with me?”
He nodded.
“Yeah,” he said.
I looked at Asia as she walked away. Then I forced myself to refocus. Maybe later when I was alone, not amped on adrenaline, I could try to process all this. But for now, there was work.
“Wait,” I whispered urgently.
Elliot froze.
Asia did, too.
I turned, looked, seeing the trees rustle.
“Is that…?” Elliot asked.
I lifted a hand to silence them and then watched the movement.
It wasn’t one of those things. This was an attempt at concealment. I clicked the snap on my holster, putting my hand at my waist. Realized I was standing in a fucking field. Might as well have been wearing a bullseye.
Nothing I could do about that now.
So instead, I walked, getting closer, anticipation threatening to overcome the calm.
We got close, maybe a hundred yards away. Still not obscured, but close enough to the tree line that it’d be easy to duck forward if it came to that.
“Whoever’s in there needs to come out.”
I looked at the trees swaying slightly. Easy to mistake for a nice early morning breeze.
I pulled out my gun.
“Final warning.”
I said nothing else. There was no need to. I made myself clear, and if whoever was hiding in the woods didn’t want to die, they’d step out.
I waited a moment, clicking the safety off. Ready.
“Here we come,” a man called.
The leaves rustled, the branches swaying heavily.
“I… we’re sorry…we had nowhere else to go.”
As he spoke, the man emerged, his hands up. Forty. Middle manager-looking type.
“Why are you here?”
“Is this the Griffin farm?” the man said.
I looked at the gun, then looked at the man. “I’m asking the questions.”
“Our… the subdivision, it’s gone. Those… things were everywhere. We stayed as long as we could, but—”
The man dropped his arms, his face crumbled.
“Who’s we?” I said.
“Come on out, guys,” the man said.
Leaves rustled, and six more people filed out. Another man, about the same age. Two women. Four children, preteens and teenagers from the looks of it, stepped out.
“We had nowhere else to go,” the first man said.
“How do we know you’re not here to rob the place?” I said.
The man laughed. “Do I look insane?” he said.
“Never judge a book by its cover,” I responded.
He shrugged.
“Yeah. But Mr. Griffin’s always been decent. We were hoping…”
“Farm’s closed—”
“We’ll go talk to him,” he said.
I looked back at Asia, who stared at the group, her eyes soft.
Sympathetic.
Fuck.
I glared at her, willing her to look at me.
She didn’t.
Wouldn’t.
She looked over the whole group, but kept coming back to the kids.
I knew that look.
Knew what it meant.
I was so pissed off, I didn’t know what to do. But this was her uncle’s place. And I knew Asia well enough by now to know that she still didn’t quite get it.
She’d want to save them.
I’d have to tell her no.
But Levi was the wild card.
Sure, I could force the issue, making him bend to my will.
Would do just that if it came to it. Hoped that it wouldn’t, because I knew what that would cost me.
“Pat-downs first,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Thank God. You—”
“Save it. And keep your hands up. All of you.”