Chapter 11 Luis
Chapter eleven
Luis
Ilet my anger that we got separated from Emery flow through me and into the knife I plunged into the zombie in front of me.
I had to stay focused on the task at hand: keeping Emery’s parents alive.
She trusted us to make sure they made it to the memorial, and that’s what we were going to do.
Emery could take care of herself. She would be just fine, and we’d see her again soon.
That mantra looped through my mind as we continued through the city.
I was in the lead, Miguel stuck close to Camila and Felix, and Nico covered our backs.
Anyone who presented a threat was put down.
Human or zombie, it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was safely reuniting Camila and Felix with their daughter.
When we were far enough from the mayhem, we ducked into a convenience store to let Camila and Felix rest. To their credit, they kept up with us without complaint, but they weren’t spring chickens anymore, and we had to make sure they didn’t become too worn out in case we had to make a run for it at some point.
“We have to keep going,” Felix demanded. “We have to find Emery.”
“Emery can take care of herself,” Nico replied, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Felix.
“He’s right, darling,” Camila said, grabbing Felix’s hand and tugging him to sit next to her.
“Emery will be ok. She isn’t alone.” Begrudgingly, Felix sat, but we didn’t rest for long before they were both up and ready to keep moving.
We all felt anxious to get to the memorial as fast as possible.
We continued moving away from the pier where most of the zombies were still concentrated before cutting over toward the memorial.
We moved a little more slowly since the streets weren’t as busy, which reduced the need for breaks.
As we neared the park, we came across a group of zombies.
“Is that...?” My brain couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing. Darla and Lani, their entrails dragging across the pavement, were among the zombies.
“Do you see Emery?” Camila asked in a panic.
I scanned the group but only recognized those two. “I don’t, does anyone else?”
“No,” Miguel answered. “The rest of the group must have made it through.”
“Let’s get to that memorial,” Nico said. “If they already made it this far, they’re likely already there waiting for us. Keep moving.”
We had to take a little extra time to avoid catching the zombies’ attention, but when we arrived at the memorial, Emery wasn’t there. Where the fuck was she? Felix and Camila held on to each other as they tried not to worry while I discussed what to do with Miguel and Nico.
“We need to find Emery,” Miguel stated.
“We can’t leave her parents unprotected,” I said, “and it’s too risky to bring them with us.”
“Plus, we don’t know where to even look for her. She could be anywhere,” Nico sighed. “We’re going to have to stay put and trust that Emery will make it here as planned.”
We settled in among the trees within view of the memorial and waited for Emery and the others to arrive. When the sun started drifting toward the horizon, we began to get seriously worried.
“She should have been here by now,” Camila said.
She’d obviously gotten close to the memorial because we saw Darla and Lani, so where was she?
“Something happened,” Nico said, running his hand through his dark hair. “I bet it was that prick, Justin. He’s done something.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Miguel advised. “We don’t know that.”
Nico scoffed. “Yes, we do. We’ve all seen the way that he’s looked at her. The only way Emery didn’t make it here was if something or someone stopped her.” He didn’t vocalize the other reason she might not have made it: death. We weren’t going there unless we saw her dead body with our own eyes.
“We’re going to have to figure something out,” I said. “We can’t stay in the park after dark, and we can’t move on without her. I’m going to find somewhere close for us to bed down for the night.”
I left them in the park and headed toward the buildings that overlooked it.
We couldn’t stay in the park, but I didn’t want to be too far from it, either.
Emery’s absence was concerning, and I was worried that Nico might be right about Justin’s involvement.
I spotted a Chinese restaurant across from the park and eyed the metal grate side door beside it.
Likely, there were apartments above the restaurant.
This close to the pier, there was a good chance that most of the buildings in the area were empty, having been evacuated first.
I opened the door, pushed the solid wood door behind it open, and looked up the stairwell into the dark.
I didn’t hear anyone or anything moving around, so I cautiously went upstairs.
I went into the first apartment I came to and found it empty.
I went to the living room windows and looked out.
This place would be perfect. I couldn’t see the memorial from here, but we would have eyes on the park’s main entrance.
The chances weren’t great that Emery would go through the front entrance, but we’d leave her a note at the memorial.
Plus, the idea that we could see her from here would give us some peace tonight.
After clearing the rest of the building, I returned to the memorial to find Mr. Higgins had arrived.
I looked around, but didn’t see Emery or Justin with him.
As I approached, my hopes that she might be nearby died.
Felix was comforting Camila, who was crying.
Miguel looked pale, almost as if he were sick. Nico was pacing and looked murderous.
“What happened?”
When nobody answered me, Mr. Higgins stepped forward, and when I got a better look at him, I saw he had dried blood on his face from a gnarly-looking head wound the size of a duck egg.
“He took her.”
The edges of my vision blurred as everything became red-tinted. Justin was a dead man walking.