Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
ARENA
I came to slowly, climbing out of the fog one sensation at a time. My ass was no longer trying to leave the seat with each bounce of the boat over the waves. The rope Lettie had tied around my waist was still holding me in place, though.
Being tied to something that would sink just as fast as I could without a life jacket wasn’t reassuring. At least the wind wasn’t still whipping past us now. The boat’s engine was a soft hum rather than a roar.
“How are you feeling?” Lettie asked quietly when I lifted my head without opening my eyes.
Taking her cue that it was safe to speak, I said, “Okay. Better if you tell me we’re docked.”
“We’re close to shore,” Gwen said softly. “So far, Lynn says it’s clear. We want to keep it that way.”
I nodded. “How long did I last?”
“Not long,” Lettie said.
I didn’t remember much after the bouncing started and she’d tied me to the seat, so that tracked.
Lettie patted my shoulder, staying close to whisper the plan in my ear as we approached the dock. They wouldn’t tie off. It was too dangerous. She and Lynn would stay with the boat while Gwen and I went ashore.
It made sense. Lynn wasn’t in the right headspace to go ashore, and Lettie was too nervous for it. If things went badly, Lettie would ensure they escaped so they could come back for us later, according to the standard emergency plan.
“Okay. Open your eyes and say hello to a steady dock,” Lettie said softly, untying the rope and helping me out of my lifejacket.
I nodded and opened my eyes to see Lettie. Her light blonde hair teased her cheek as she held out a hand-drawn map of the town.
The details were impressive, even if they were somewhat incomplete.
It was enough to know there was a pharmacy, circled for our convenience, not far from the marina, as well as a grocery store a little farther in.
Down the road to the left, I saw two equipment stores, a car parts store, and on the outskirts, a supercenter.
The pharmacy would get us what we needed as far as food and batteries went.
That car parts store would be a battery jackpot for the trade station, though.
“We’ll be watching for your pickup signal,” Lettie said.
Standing, I turned toward Gwen, who was watching me closely, reading me like she did newcomers.
Signaling that I was fine, I held out my hand for a spare backpack, then followed her off the boat. The tightness in my chest evaporated as soon as I was on solid ground, but not my tension.
I moved quietly down the dock, glancing at the few boats still there, remnants from before the first wave of infection swept the United States.
It wasn’t a good sign that they were still there.
Boats that worked were either taken as a backup or for parts…
if scavengers could get to them. There had to be a reason they were still in the marina.
Nothing moved as we left the docks. No groans.
Was it because the sound of lapping water covered our soft steps or because nothing was around to hear us?
We followed the road up a hill. Near the top, Gwen glanced at the hotel to the right, but I knew we wouldn’t check it. The thicker blankets we’d find inside, although very needed, weren’t worth facing the trapped infected and suffocating smell of death we’d find.
Stores were different.
We could wear more clothes to go to bed to stay warm. Food, though, wasn’t something we could go without.
Batteries either.
As we started to crest the hill, we slowed at the sight of the double-lane four-way intersection that wouldn’t give us any cover.
I followed Gwen as she moved closer to the hotel and the decorative grass that swayed in the wind.
The cover would help prevent us from being spotted as we considered the area.
The pharmacy waited across the intersection, just like the map had indicated. To our right was the hotel’s parking lot. A few cars were still there, waiting for owners who would never return. The intersection was empty. So was the pharmacy parking lot.
That didn’t give us many options for cover to get to where we needed to be.
We both scanned our surroundings, searching for movement and options. Gwen pointed toward the cars parked in front of the hotel. I nodded. It was the next logical step.
Keeping low, we stayed close to the hotel, watching the windows so we wouldn’t disturb anything inside. Car by car, we moved closer to the street.
We paused at the last car to listen and watch.
Everything was so damn quiet.
My gaze caught on the door of the hotel behind us. It was propped open.
Was that a head?
I swallowed hard and frowned a little, trying to figure out what I was looking at because it couldn’t be a decaying head. Who would do that?
Gwen nudged me. When I looked at her, she nodded toward the pharmacy. I looked and saw the sliding doors had been pried open. Did that mean we were too late? Had someone already cleared the place out?
Doubtful. It was a chain pharmacy. It would have had a lot of stock when things went south. Unless it was hit more than once? It would explain why there weren’t any infected wandering around. But then, why leave the boats in the marina untouched?
A low moan rang out distantly. A shiver of fear raced down my spine even as the sound reassured me it wasn’t close.
I glanced at Gwen. Her calculating gaze remained fixed on the pharmacy. She read situations as accurately as she read people. If she believed we could make it, I wouldn’t hesitate to follow her.
After a few more seconds, she met my gaze and nodded once.
Staying together and crouched low, we started across the street.
Another low moan rang out. It sounded distant again…until I spotted the source.
An infected peered out of the hotel window on the top floor, its face pressed against the glass as it tracked our progress.
Shit.
I turned to tell Gwen and bumped into her. She’d stopped in the middle of the road and was staring at the pharmacy—specifically at the head slowly rolling to a stop outside the door.
Another head.
Who would do that?
My stomach sank as I thought of what the traders had said about Silver Bay.
Heads torn clean off.
Demons. Grey monsters.
They couldn’t be real, though. Right?
An infected ran out of the pharmacy, its gait disjointed due to its decomposing left leg.
The one in the hotel behind us called out again, muffled by the glass. Not muffled enough, though. The infected outside the pharmacy paused, its head turning, its white, cloudy eyes searching.
I held still, barely breathing.
Hoping.
Its cloudy gaze locked on us.
Please let it think we’re grass, I thought.
It let out a sound that made my blood run cold—a sound that called to other infected. A sound that said it had found living prey.
It saw us.
“Run,” Gwen said softly.
Pivoting, I sprinted back toward the hotel as more infected answered its call. Three infected suddenly ran out of the hotel, aiming to intercept us.
Adrenaline flooded me, helping my legs eat up the distance faster.
Gwen fired the flare gun behind me, and I almost tripped.
She caught my arm, keeping me going.
Behind us, something roared.
It wasn’t an infected.
I’d never heard anything like it before.
Gwen swore and started to outpace me, forcing me to keep up or be left behind. My lungs burned. I kept my gaze on the Marina, searching for our boat.
I couldn’t see it.
Only vast, open water.
Gwen ran past the first dock without slowing. Past the remaining boats. Straight for the last dock. The empty dock.
Water loomed at the end.
I didn’t have my lifejacket on.
Infected called out behind us.
Another monstrous roar.
Infection or water?
It wasn’t even a fair choice. Both would kill me.
I let Gwen pull me off the edge.
The icy waters of Lake Superior engulfed me. My arm slipped from Gwen’s grasp.
Panic warred with the pain of the icy cold. Tipping my head, I looked up toward the light above and watched the growing distance between me and the blurry shape that was moving away.
I sank deeper, lungs burning, fear clawing at me.
I didn’t want to die, but Gwen wasn’t coming back.
She was swimming fast, still running from something.
An arm wrapped around my waist.
Big.
Strong.
Warm.
It pulled me upward toward the light even as everything grew dark.
One thought followed me into oblivion.
Infected can’t swim.