“We have to. The longer we stay here, the harder it is to go home.” Eli smiled and walked to me. “You could always come with me.” He seemed hopeful, but I couldn’t give him what he wanted. When I looked back to my dad, I knew he understood.
“I love him, you know.” “I know, but I was just hoping you’d change your mind,” Eli said. He let go of my hands and turned from me to leave. “You are always welcome in my world if it becomes too much.”
“Thanks. I’ll remember that.” I bit my lip and looked back to my dad. “Where is he?” I had to see him. I had to know he’d seen Anna like I had and it wasn’t in my head.
“He’s at her grave,” my dad said. I grabbed a travel potion from my stash and thought of Connor as I broke it on the floor. When I opened my eyes, I saw him kneeling at a gravestone. He was just looking at it with a flower in his hand.
“Are you okay?” I said it carefully, knowing what we’d been through and how much we had lost. He glanced to me and sat in front of the stone.
“She was a good person.” He almost couldn’t talk about her. She was a part of him that he missed and wanted to remember, but his memories were also on the verge of killing him a lot of the time. “I miss her.”
“I know, but she wants you to live your life. There’s a lot of good we can do. We can put this world back together.” I made the choice to fix the damage my birth father had done as soon as I did the blood spell. I just hoped he would want to do it with me.
“I know. We have to make it right. For all the people we lost.” He put the flower on her stone and stood. “We’re the only ones that can.” He turned and walked to me and grabbed my hands. “I’m sorry for everything. I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted to bring her back.”
“I know.” I smiled and he pulled me to him. “We will never be apart again. I promise you that.” He kissed me gently, but as though it had been forever since we’d seen each other. I closed my eyes and let it take me from the pain and hurt we’d been through. Everything was right as long as we were together.
He pulled back from the kiss, but didn’t let me go.
“I love you and am glad you didn’t lose faith in me.”
“I’ll always have faith in you,” I said and kissed him back. This was my new beginning. Even with Eric still free and able to be in my head, I felt like nothing could keep me from being happy. I was with the man I’d loved from the first minute I’d seen him. We were connected forever and could face anything.
Even Eric.
The End Free Sneak Peek
Dead Rising Part One I watched the old newspaper blowing in the wind. It sailed from the wild green grass to the burnt out Chevy sitting in the middle of the road. The window was busted out and the door remained open. It was someone’s failed escape plan and my only source of cover.
I waited while they passed, covered in their own blood. My heart pounded in my chest because I knew what would happen if this many caught sight of me. I’d be
eaten alive. It wasn’t always like this, the world moved fast and people faster. They texted on their cell phones and listened to music on their Ipods. No one saw it coming, not even the ones that put it all together.
I glanced at the group of, for lack of a better word, Zombies passing by. One caught me off guard and made me grip the handle of my sixteen inch hunting knife that much tighter. The light blue eyes of a girl. Her blond hair falling in waves around her bloodstained face. Her blue dress fell to her knees and her white socks held her legs tightly. She was missing one shined black dress shoe.
Once they were far enough away, I slid out from behind the door and made my way on down the road. Traveling on your own in this country was not an easy or safe task, but I had to find someplace safe, if there was anyplace that was anymore.
The thing that got to me the most was the quite of the world. There were no cars buzzing by or people talking. It was just silent. That was the world I lived in now, but we didn’t go quietly into the night. We went out with screams and blood.
I threw the army green backpack onto the grass at the side of the road. It was getting dark and I figured it was best to rest. When the sun went down, the freaks were better hunters. Something about the way they could see made it more frightening to be out and about after dark.
I rubbed my hands on the dirty jeans I’d worn for more than a week. There weren’t many options when it came to clothing anymore. It was a good thing the winter had come and passed or I wouldn’t be able to get where I was going.
New York. I laid down on the overgrown grass and let my head rest on the backpack I'd scavenged. It worked for a pillow even though I doubted I'd get any real sleep. I was too on edge. If you weren't, you didn't live very long.
The last time I'd gotten any real sleep was the night I went to sleep and woke up to my very own Horror movie.
The fire licked the tips of my feet. I had to keep it low so it didn't attract the dead. It was enough to keep me warm on the nights that seemed to be a little colder than I liked. This was the worst time of day. It's when my mind could wander and I had to think about what was happening.
My weakest hour. I pulled the six shooter from my boot and opened it to see how full it was. I didn't have anymore bullets than what was already loaded. Three bullets left and two thousand miles to go. My hand slid over the cold metal, my mind thinking about how easy it would be to just give up. I could just end it right now. No more pain.
I put the gun back into my boot and sighed. I wasn't ready to give up, not yet. I had to find them, at least know if they were dead or not.
My family was out there somewhere and they needed me to try. My eyes opened when the alarm sounded. It was like a piercing siren in my head. I glanced around my little dorm room, in a little bit of a panic. I slid out of the bed and turned the light on. It flickered, but stayed on. I listened, trying to figure out if anyone was still around in the building. I couldn't hear anything and my heart was pounding loudly in my chest. I didn't know what to do. Should I wait for someone to come find me or should I run? I didn't know which way to go.
I stood there, against the cold brick dorm wall, trying to understand what was happening. My first thought was it was a terrorist attack. It had to be. There was no other reason my world would be together one day and gone the next. I waited and then decided I couldn't stay here. I had to try and get out.
I ran my hand over the doorknob, breathing hard in worry. What was going to be on the other side could be a nightmare or it could be a false alarm.
Then the lights went out. I woke up from a night of little sleep and pulled myself together. Today was the day I was going to move out of Missouri hopefully and on to Illinois. I knew the road was not an easy one, but I had to know if they were still alive.
The last time I'd heard from them, they were going to visit my older brother at NYU. That was the day before everything changed. My only hope was they got out of there alive and found someplace to hunker down, but that may be asking too much.
My legs hurt more than they ever had before. I had walked for months, hoping I'd run into someone, but so far, there was no one that was alive out there.
I almost passed the exit for St Louis, but stopped to think about it. I still needed some supplies. I only had a few bullets in my gun and a short knife at my side. If a group of the undead came at me, I'd have nothing to protect myself with.
I sighed and pulled myself down the exit ramp and headed towards the city. It was eerie quite and nothing seemed to move. There were cars left with doors open in the middle of the street. When I got closer, I could see the blood still running down those doors. It was dry and stained the grey of the car. Making it look like a reject from a Horror movie.
I could hear shuffling to the left of me and slowly turned to face whatever was making the noise. What I saw was not even close to what I expected.
The barrel of his gun was only about a foot away from my head. He had a wild look in his dark brown eyes. Something an animal wo
uld have, not a human. Then again, the world had gone to hell so fast no one would ever be human again.
“ What are you doing?” He asked, his voice cracking a little in fear. I held my hands up to show I wasn't a threat and stood still.
“I'm just looking for supplies. I won't be here long,” I said, taking a little step towards him. He flinched, like I'd slapped him or something. I didn't move any further.
“There's nothing here. Everything is gone,” he said, not lowering the weapon. “ I'm not one of them. I'm just taking a minute before moving on,” I said, keeping my tone even and cool. I didn't want to throw him and make him more upset than he already was. He finally lowered the weapon, but remained jumpy. His eyes flicked from me to the left and back. He was worried about finding something or something finding him.
“ Are you infected?” He asked, before taking a step towards me. We were slowly closing the gap and possibly becoming a little closer to friends.
“No, I'm just trying to get somewhere.” I lowered my hands and took a breath. “Are you the only one here?” “ There was someone else, but they didn't make it.” He glanced around me and pulled the shotgun back to a ready stance. “Their coming. We can't stay out in the open.” I turned slowly to see the top of a head. It looked to be disheveled and bruised. My heart fell when I realized it was on of the dead walking towards me. I could only see the one, but usually there was more following behind.
The other survivor grabbed my arm and pulled at me, leading me towards an alley. He didn't say anything until we got to a pull down ladder.
“ Go to the top, but be as quite as you can,” he said, pulling the ladder down and then stepping behind me with the gun raised. I did as he said and started up the ladder. I could hear him on my heels and the dead walking down the street. They seemed to be missing the alley and the meals waiting for them. All it would take was a wrong move or a sound and we would never get out of here alive.
When I got to the top of the building, I stopped and glanced to the alley. One lone Zombie met my eyes. He smiled a perverse smile and started down the alley. I reached down and pulled the other survivor over the edge and pulled at the ladder. It slid up easily, but one zombie at least knew we were here. The others would follow shortly.
“ What do we do now?” The man snapped at me. I glanced back to him and then the wailing Zombie at the street level.
“ I don’t know. Find another way out of here, I guess,” I snapped back. When I glanced around, I saw a door towards the middle of the roof area. It was steel and closed, but I did have some hope the survivor I’d met know how to get it open.
“How do you normally get out of here?” I asked, eying that door. “Do you use that door?” He glanced in that direction and back to me.
“ Sometimes, but we usually can jump to the next building too.” He looked across the roof and then back to me. “But I’ve never been to this one.”
I sighed and looked around us. We had to get off this roof. “I’ll try the door,” I said and made my way, carefully to the door. When my hand hit the cold metal, I froze. What if there are more dead people behind this door waiting to naw us down? The thought came faster than I could stop it, but it had to be done.
I turned the knob and was surprised when it opened right up and allowed me to see down the staircase. The staircase was empty and open. It reeked of concrete and mold, but there were no dead things waiting to eat me. I turned back to the other man, but he was already behind me.
“ Well, I’ll be damned, it’s open.” He smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. “Who are you anyway. I haven’t even asked.”
“We really didn’t have time.” I smiled and continued. “I’m Leah, you?” “ Brandon. I think we should get the hell out of here, don’t you, Leah?” He said with a half smile on his face. I couldn’t help but smirk as well. We never thought we had a chance of making it, but here we were, making our way down a set of old metal stairs.
When we got to the basement level, I watched Brandon slowly open the door. He pointed the shotgun in the door and took a slow step in. I didn’t see anything through the darkness behind him, but that meant nothing in this world. Brandon glanced back to me. He seemed to be sure there was nothing to worry about in the dark.
“ Are we good?” I whispered through the dark. He nodded and I followed in behind him. “There might be a door at the other side of the building that’s clear.” I kept a hand on his shoulder to make sure I knew right where he was. I didn’t want to lose him in the dark. We were the only people in the area alive and I wanted to keep it that way.
We crept through the bottom floor, missing the clothing racks with some things left on them. I glanced at them in passing to see if they might fit me, but they were to small for my frame.
Brandon stopped and turned back to me. “It doesn’t seem like there are any of those things in here.” “ Do you think there’s a back door we could use to get out of here?” I asked, hoping I was right. Logically there would have to be a back door of some kind. Hopefully we could find it before it got dark and slip out of this place. I wasn’t about to lose my life over items I might be able to find in a place that’s less covered with these things.
He picked up his shotgun and we made our way through the store. After a bit of searching, we found an area that was more than a little darker than the rest of the place. Brandon pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and flicked it on.
The wall was lined with dock doors that were closed and locked. The locks were simple and opened from the inside, so there wouldn’t be any problems with that. The problem was, once they went up, there was a possibility that a whole lot of Zombies were waiting and ready to pounce on us the minute we opened the doors. I glanced at Brandon and then back at the doors.
“What if there are Zombies on the other side of the doors?” I asked, not sure what to do. “ Then I guess we get eaten alive,” he said, working with the door. The idea was to crack it first if we could and see what was on the other side before we through open the door.
Brandon slid the door up just a little and looked my way. I could see the strain on his face as he held it. “ Can you find something to hold this thing up?” He asked, his voice filled with strain. I glanced around the room, looking for something, anything that would hold it. I finally spotted a concrete block sitting in the corner. I walked to it and grabbed it. One side felt wet and sticky. I didn’t want to look at it and find out what was on the block. I just wanted to ignore it.
I slid the block to the door and worked it under the lip. Brandon let go of the door and rubbed his hands on his jeans. We both looked at each other like we wanted the other to tell us what to do. I glanced at my hands, now that I could see them. They were spotted with the red of the blood on the concrete I’d just moved. A part of me shook inside and I started trying to rub the half dried blood onto my jeans. I could feel Brandon’s eyes watching me in my slight panic, but it didn’t stop me from wanting it off.
“ I’ll look under the door first,” he said with a slight quiver in his voice. I understood what the fear was all about. It kept us alive, but it also was something that ate away at you. It threatened to take you over and make you crazy, but the world we lived in seemed on the verge of crazy.
Brandon knelt down and stuck his head out of the door. I held my breath, hoping it was clear and we could get out of here alive. When he pulled himself back in, I let out the breath I was holding and waited.
“ It looks clear, but we’ll have to be fast.” He grabbed his gun and pulled the bag from his back. “We’ll go at the same time.”
I nodded and slid my legs under the door and then the rest of my body. Once I was through, I grabbed my bag and pulled it through. I glanced to Brandon as he was still trying to maneuver himself through the opening. He dropped his shotgun on the ground and let his feet hit the concrete under him. I took a breath and watched, but something was wrong.
A blood covered hand suddenly reached through the opening and gr
abbed at Brandon’s arm. He flailed at the new revelation of something trying to pull him back into the building we had just nearly escaped. My mind froze for a moment as I tried to take in what was happening.
“ Shoot it!” Rang through my head and I realized it was coming from Brandon. I glanced at the ground and the gun laying at his feet. I took two steps and grabbed it. I could feel my heart beat in my chest. My breathing seemed slow as I raised the gun to fire. Brandon’s fingers gripped at the door, trying to keep himself from being pulled back through.
I cocked the gun and fired at the bloody hand of Brandon’s grabber and held the gun in place. Everything seemed to get quite. There was no sound, but the blast of the gun and my breathing. I didn’t even see Brandon pull himself from the door and grab my arm.
“They will all come running now. We have to go.” He pulled at my arm until I met his eyes. “Come on!” He yelled.
I turned and started running behind him. We turned a corner heading towards the interstate. I had no idea if it would be safe or not, but one thing was for sure, it wasn’t safe to stay here. I glanced behind us as we ran, my heart beating wildly and my chest hurting from the strain. The dead were following, but they were a little slower behind. My mouth went dry. There would be no way we could keep up this pace.
When I turned back to Brandon, he was standing still beside a black Kawasaki Ninja. The only reason I even knew what a crotch rocket was, was because my brother drove one around our old home. Brandon glanced at me and then swung one leg over the seat.
“Get on.” He turned the key and the bike fired up. I didn’t hesitate and slid onto the seat behind him. “ Do you even know how to drive this?” I asked, but before the sentence was even past my lips, he took off. I held on to him as best I could as he weaved the bike through the empty cars on the road. This was a much better way to get around than walking.
Soon we were far enough out of St. Louis and he slowed down. We were still heading towards the East, but the sun was starting to set on us. We’d have to find a place to stop and rest. It wasn’t safe to be out in the night. Not now.
The 13th Witch Complete Trilogy Page 16