Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
BECK
It came in pieces.
Sounds first.
A low rumble, steady and constant, like something vibrating through the floor.
Then heat.
Too much of it was covering my arm.
Then, a low growl that was so loud it made me wince.
My eyes opened slowly, and for a second, everything was blurry. Then the room snapped into focus. I stared at the ceiling, confused about what I was looking at, until I realized I could see each individual grain in the wood.
“What the hell?” I whispered, my voice scratchy from disuse.
The growl came again, and I turned my head slightly.
There was a mess of brown hair covering my arm. I brushed the hair back and gazed at a face I was fairly sure I couldn’t live without.
“Hey, Fox,” I murmured, lifting a hand to touch her face.
I shot up when I realized how hot she was.
“Taryn, wake up.” I ran my hand down her neck.
She was sitting on the floor, leaning back on my bed.
“Hey,” I said, sharper now. “Hey, wake up.”
Nothing.
Not a single twitch or hitch of breath.
My pulse kicked up as I slid my hand to her pulse point.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. It was there, steady and strong.
“Okay,” I muttered in relief. “Okay…”
Another growl.
That damn fighting dog of the prez was still here, Max. I think that’s what she’d named him.
I squinted at the dog, which had its head lowered, staring at my hand on Taryn’s neck. “She was mine first, so you can cut that shit out.”
He tilted his head at me in question.
“That’s right, she was mine first. We’re going to have to come to an understanding, or you’re going to come up missing.” I raised an eyebrow.
I ran a hand through my hair and sat back slightly, trying to think.
My head didn’t feel right. There wasn’t exactly pain, more like pressure. It was almost as if something inside it was… expanding.
And everything around me was too loud and too sharp.
“How long was I down?” I murmured, looking at the dog.
He yawned, then lowered his head to Taryn’s lap.
“Fine. Don’t answer me.” I pushed myself to my feet, then swayed slightly, and grabbed the edge of the mattress to steady myself.
Max stood suddenly, his body going rigid, head low, eyes locked on the door.
“What is it?” I cocked my head.
A dull thud echoed down the hallway.
Then another. Much closer this time.
Max froze. Ears forward. His growl was back and infinitely more threatening.
“Yeah…” I muttered. “I hear it.”
Another slam. This one was much louder than the first.
Shit. The sick people locked in that room must have changed and were trying to bust out.
I grabbed Taryn’s bat that was leaning next to my bed and stuck my pistol in the waist of my jeans. Lifting Taryn, I put her on the bed and tucked the covers around her.
“Hold on, Fox. I’ll be right back.” I whispered in her ear, then kissed her forehead.
Max jumped on the bed to lie at her feet.
“Good dog.” I reached to scratch his head, and he snapped at me.
Now it was my turn to growl, but the big mutt didn’t seem the least bit intimidated.
Seeing the dresser pushed in front of the door gave me pause.
I glanced at Taryn. “What happened while I was out?”
Of course, there was no answer.
Pushing the dresser out of the way as quietly as I could, I stepped cautiously into the hallway and shut the door firmly behind me.
The smell hit immediately.
Blood.
Rot.
Much stronger than before.
The hallway stretched out in front of me—
And at the far end… the door to the sick room had buckled inward, and the wood was splintered.
“Fuck.” I whispered. “The sick must have turned.” I glanced around cautiously.
They could be anywhere. My head jerked back around to look at the busted door when I heard shuffling moving in my direction.
A hand grabbed the jagged edges of the wood.
Skin torn.
Movements jerky.
Wrong.
Then—
Engines.
Faint.
Far.
I froze and lifted my head slowly.
There it was again.
Low at first, then slowly becoming clearer.
Multiple engines. I could hear them downshift when they took the sharp curve that was a mile away from the clubhouse.
What the hell was going on? There was no way any normal person could hear them from that far away. Every shift, every rev of the motor, heading here fast.
My brow furrowed. “That’s not…” I muttered.
The engines grew louder.
Closer.
Too fast.
Then—gunfire.
I could hear Max lunging toward my bedroom door, growling low, full of fury.
My head snapped toward the front of the clubhouse. Then back to the hallway. Two problems at the same time.
“Perfect,” I muttered.
Suddenly, bodies began spilling out of the room.
Three.
No—
Four.
All wrong.
Eyes clouded and movements snapping, twitching, hungry.
One turned toward me instantly, as if it could feel me standing there.
It lunged.
I met it halfway, the bat coming down hard.
Bone cracked and it dropped like a stone.
Another came from the side.
Fast.
I grabbed it by the front of its shirt—
And threw it.
It hit the wall hard enough to leave a dent before sliding down in a heap.
I froze for half a second and looked down at my hand.
“How in the hell?”
No time.
More infected were coming toward me.
The front of the clubhouse erupted into noise—shouting, boots, something slamming against metal.
Then a voice I knew.
“Move! Move!”
Stain.
I turned and ran.
Fast.
Faster than should have been possible.
My boots hit the stairs, and I took them two at a time—then three—then I was at the bottom before I even registered moving.
The door slammed inward.
An infected crashed through, jaws snapping, half its face torn open.
I stepped into it.
The bat cracked against its skull.
Once. And this one dropped too.
Stain stumbled in backward, firing over his shoulder.
“Close it!” he barked.
I grabbed the door and slammed it shut just as something hit it from the outside.
Hard.
The impact rattled through my arm… and there was no pain.
I shoved the deadbolt into place, and something clawed at the other side instantly.
Scratching.
More bodies began hitting it.
Behind me—
Footsteps.
I turned, and Nash stepped in like none of this phased him in the least.
Bull was right behind him, sweating, eyes a little off.
Stain lowered his gun slightly, breathing hard. “Inside’s blown,” he said. “They got out.”
“I can see that,” Nash replied calmly.
My grip tightened on the bat, ears ringing from it all—the scratching at the door, the dragging sounds down the hall, a broken noise coming from these things that used to be people.
And under it all—Taryn breathing from upstairs.
Max barked, loud and protective.
I looked up at the ceiling toward her.
“Where’s the girl?” Nash questioned.
And just like that—
Nothing else mattered.
I turned and took the stairs two at a time, the sounds behind me fading under one thing—
Max.
He wasn’t barking anymore; he was snarling.
Deep.
Feral.
The kind of sound that meant he was ready to tear something a new asshole.
My chest tightened. “Max—”
I hit the top of the stairs and saw it immediately.
An infected creature was halfway through the door, its arms flailing against the frame, clawing as it dragged its body forward inch by inch, its skin tearing on the splinters of the door.
Max was between it and the bed. Teeth bared and his hackles raised. Holding the line.
“Good boy,” I muttered.
Then I moved.
I crossed the room in a blur and grabbed the infected by its hair, yanking it backward hard enough that its head snapped against the doorframe.
It twisted toward me instantly, teeth snapping.
Clouded eyes locking on like I was a turkey on Thanksgiving.
I didn’t hesitate. The bat came down once, and the bone gave. Brains and blood spattered the floor at my feet as he landed hard, then bounced slightly.
I threw the body out into the hallway.
Max was still snarling and pacing in tight circles between the bed and me.
“It’s dead,” I said, breath ragged. “It’s not getting back up.”
He didn’t seem to believe me and kept growling in the direction of the hallway.
I moved to the bed to check on Taryn. Even with all the commotion, she hadn’t moved an inch. I pressed my hand to her face. Still burning up.
“Stay with me,” I muttered. “I’ll die right here with you if you don’t.”
A knock came from the open doorway.
Max snapped toward it instantly.
“Hey.” Nash stuck his head inside. “If she’s sick, maybe I can help.”
“No.” It came out flat.
I didn’t need or want his help. Even though he was my father, I wasn’t foolish enough to believe I could trust him.
Silence stretched for half a second.
“You don’t get to make these decisions,” Nash replied, calm as ever.
I stepped closer to the doorway, the bat hanging loose at my side.
“You try to come in that door,” I said quietly, “and we’re gonna have a problem.”
Another pause. Much longer this time.
Then he took a step.
Behind him, Stain’s voice cut in. “Don’t. She ain’t turned.”
“Yet,” Nash replied.
“Maybe, but for now, you need to leave it alone,” Stain insisted. “Beck can handle it no matter what happens.”
Nash exhaled once through his nose. “Fine. For now.” He looked at me, “If she does turn, you'd better take care of it, or I will.”
Footsteps moved away from the door, but Max kept growling until they disappeared entirely.
I waited too. Counted to ten, then twenty, before stepping back and lowering the bat.
“Who’s a good dog?” I leaned down to scratch behind Max’s ear, and this time he let me. “You’re an ugly thing, but you might be worth keeping after all.”
I guess I’d proved that I was willing to protect his human, so now we were friends.
I sat on the edge of the bed beside Taryn and ran my hand down her arm slowly. She was still too hot, but her breathing was steady.
Minutes passed.
Or maybe hours.
It was hard to tell because everything felt stretched.
Sounds were too sharp and loud.
Then I heard voices from downstairs.
I tilted my head slightly and focused.
“…can’t leave her like that…”
Bull.
“She turns, she’ll take him with her,” Nash took a sip of something.
“We wait,” Stain cut in. “Give it time.”
“You’re not in charge, boy. I make the decisions here.” Nash growled, “I’ll take care of her tonight.”
My grip tightened on her arm.
I heard shifting, then Bull. “You want me to come?”
Nash didn’t hesitate. “Yeah. I might need help with Worthless. He’ll thank us when he realizes it’s for his own good.”
Something inside me went cold.
I sat on the bed and pulled Taryn into my lap. “They’re not coming near you. I’ll kill them first.”
She didn’t answer, of course.
I needed a plan. It was time to get the fuck out of here.