by Dia Cole
Dominic turned to me. “Get inside. Help Grady.”
Right. Like I’ll abandon my sister.
“No. I can help you. What’s the plan?”
Reed made a choking noise.
I twisted around in time to see Eden’s sneakers slipping on the flowers coating the windshield. Biters snagged her leg and dragged her to the edge of the hood. The air in my lungs froze.
No. No. No.
This can’t be happening.
Darcy pulled on Eden’s arms, trying to keep her on the vehicle.
Fisting my hands so hard my fingernails dug into my palms, I willed the female soldier to keep hold of my sister.
The mob surged. A naked male Biter clambered onto the hood. He charged Darcy. As Darcy reached for her rifle, the mob wrenched Eden out of her grasp.
As if in slow motion, I watched Eden fall into the horde. “No,” I shouted, my heart exploding in my chest. “Nooooooo!” Forgetting about my own safety, I ran down the stairs. I couldn’t see what was going on, but I could hear my sister’s bloodcurdling screams.
Oh, God. They’re tearing her apart!
I have to save her.
A primitive part of my brain took over. Darting past the zombies, I fired at anything that moved in my direction.
As I neared the fountain, I could see a frenzy of motion near the truck. The infected covered the entire vehicle. There was no sign of Darcy.
Eden’s cries cut off.
I shook my head, refusing to accept what the silence meant.
Run faster, I commanded my feet.
Bloated wet zombies swarmed me.
I pumped the trigger of my gun and realized the magazine was empty.
Reed appeared next to me, his face ashen. “Lee, we have to get inside.”
“Go,” I screamed, reloading.
He shook his head. “Not without you.”
Biters surrounded us.
He fumbled with his shotgun, dropping it in the process.
Panic and frustration had me shouting at him through gritted teeth, “Goddamn it, Reed.”
Dominic rushed over, firing his guns into the oncoming mass of undead. He pointed at the animal hospital. “Get inside.”
He’s insane. I’ll never leave my sister.
I shook my head. “I have to get to Eden.”
He stepped in front of me. “She’s gone.”
A bubble of hysteria rose in my throat.
He’s wrong.
She’s not dead.
She can’t be dead.
Eden.
I tried to push past Dominic.
He grabbed my arm. “Accept it and move on.”
Tears blurred my vision. A hurricane of grief tore through my soul.
Rotting skeletal faces seemed to spin around me. The dead were closing in.
She’s dead. What’s the point in living now?
My hand dropped to my side, the gun dangling by my fingertips. My knees weakened, threatening to give out.
Dominic grabbed the straps of my backpack and shook me. “Do you want to join her? Reed too?”
I glanced over to see Reed’s too-pale face. His terrified expression brought me back to my senses.
I still have to protect Reed.
I raised my trembling arm and emptied my gun into the wall of undead closing in around us.
More came. Wave after wave of them. As one fell, two others seemed take its place.
I grabbed hold of Reed’s hand and dragged him behind me.
Have to keep him alive.
I exhausted my ammo making our way back to the stairs.
At the top of the staircase, I cast a quick glance down at the parking lot. It looked like a giant mosh pit of death. I couldn’t see my sister, but in my mind, the zombies feasted and fought over Eden’s limp body like rabid sharks.
A scream escaped my lips. My throat constricted. I couldn’t take another breath.
Biters swarmed over the truck.
This can’t be happening.
“Breathe,” Dominic shouted. “Survive now. Grieve later.”
My legs gave out.
Before I could hit the ground, Dominic swept me up in his arms and carried me into the tomblike darkness of the animal hospital.
5
Half an hour later, numbness had set in. I stared down at the bottles of pills in my shaking hands as I tried to stop my brain from replaying of images of Eden’s death.
“They’ve gotten in,” Reed said in a strained voice from across the pharmacy.
Startled, I jerked my head up and smacked into the shelf above. The bottles flew out of my grip. I dove for the pills forgetting I was standing on a laminate counter four feet off the ground.
The pills rattled as they hit the linoleum floor.
Dominic’s strong hands wrapped around my waist, anchoring me. The heat of his fingers burned through my shirt. I pushed him away.
Does he feel the same energy between us?
Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered anymore.
Eden’s dead.
Tears clogged the back of my throat.
An insane tendril of hope flared inside my chest for a moment.
Maybe she’s still alive.
She could’ve fought back and found safety inside one of the cars. On cue, the horrific memory of Eden’s screams flashed in my mind.
She’s dead.
Somehow I had to accept that. Aguish flooded every cell of my body.
It’s your job to protect her.
Remembering my older sister’s last words only twisted the knife of despair deeper.
My breath came fast and shallow.
I should’ve made sure Eden stayed at the safe house. I should’ve paid closer attention to the way she was acting. I should’ve—
Grady slammed a cabinet drawer shut. “I ain’t found jack shit. Tell me you got something?”
“Lee?” Dominic stared up at me, streaks of blood covering his face.
My gaze darted around the room smaller than the kitchen in our old rental.
How many times did I come here with Eden? Six? Seven?
She loved to visit the elderly pharmacist. He was supposed to write one of her letters of recommendation for vet school.
Is he outside right now feasting on her remains?
Dominic reached up and grabbed my arm. His skin was hot against mine. “Breathe. Lee. In and out. Slowly. Look at me.”
I glanced down.
His dark eyes bore into mine. “Get it together.”
Reed’s tormented face swung our way. “We have to go.”
Dominic is right. If I can’t get a grip, we’ll all die.
My stomach twisted itself into knots as I scanned the shelves again. “Give me a second.” It has to be here.
If we left without finding the medicine, this trip would have been for nothing.
Eden would have died for nothing.
I swallowed back a sob.
No thinking of that now. Must stay focused.
Hazy light filtered through decals covering the window over the sink. The decals left distorted shadows on the floor. The blue pill bottle rocking in and out of a paw shadow caught my eye.
I recognize that bottle.
Elation ran through me. “There it is!” I jumped down and reached for the bottle at the same time as Dominic.
We both shied away before our hands actually made contact. For a fleeting second, his jaw tightened and he curled his hand into a fist. Then, he scooped up the bottle, straightening his broad shoulders.
Grady rushed over. “Give it to me.” He reached out his beefy hand to take the bottle.
Dominic shook his head. “No. Lee found it, she’ll carry it.” He stepped behind me, his masculine scent rising above the faint odor of wet dog and disinfectant.
Grady looked like he was going to spit nails.
“You have to stay alive to get these pills back to the safe house,” Dominic said, his hot breath tickling the nape of my neck as he tu
cked the pills into a side pocket on my backpack.
It was obvious what he was doing—trying to give me a reason to stay alert and alive. But he didn’t need to.
I still have a reason to live.
My gaze sought out Reed.
He paced by the door, holding his shotgun the same way he used to hold his bass guitar.
I will not lose them both.
“Grab what medical supplies you can,” Dominic ordered.
I bent down and scooped up the other bottles. Antibiotics, painkillers, and other meds I didn’t recognize. We’d figure out what they were later. I slung my pack off and began stuffing the bottles inside.
“We have to go, people,” Reed said, urgency eating a hole in his words.
Stopping only to shove a pile of bandages inside my pack, I followed Grady and Dominic to where Reed stood sentry.
“The back exit is this way.” I pointed to the south end of the building. We’d barricaded the front door, but the noise coming from down the hall indicted it hadn’t held.
Dominic nodded, pushed Reed aside, and slowly opened the door. The sound of gnashing teeth traveled down the pitch-black hallway.
Dominic clicked on his flashlight.
We followed him around the doorway and moved single file out into the long hallway. The light illuminated rows of empty kennels. Some had been ripped apart and were covered with bits of torn flesh. I quickly averted my gaze.
The stench of decay grew stronger. We took the final turn that would lead us past several exam rooms to the gray double doors.
“Those will take us through surgery into the back exit,” I whispered.
A guttural howl came from behind us.
Grady glanced back. “What the hell was that?”
“Move,” Dominic ordered.
The four of us broke into a run. The horrible noise was getting louder, and so were the pounding of footsteps behind us.
We finally came face-to-face with double doors leading to the surgery rooms. They’d been chained shut.
No. No. No. This can’t be happening.
“Christ,” Dominic gritted out.
My sneakers squeaked as I skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding slamming into the muscular wall of Dominic’s back. The chains rattled violently as rotting hands reached through from the other side. They grasped and clawed, seeking live flesh.
“Back.” Dominic spun around—but it was too late. The beam of his flashlight illuminated the Biter at the end of the hallway.
Her sunken eyes, the same fish-belly white as her skin, skittered from side to side as she sniffed the air. Even bloodstained and covered in chunks of flesh, I would know that oval face and cleft chin anywhere.
Eden.
I couldn’t move. The shock and pain of seeing her like that paralyzed me. We should’ve been prepared for this. At death, the transformation happened instantly. Given the limited visible damage to her body, she must have died fairly quickly. The dead fed only on the living. Once she joined their ranks, they must’ve lost interest.
“Shoot,” Dominic commanded Reed.
Reed lifted his shotgun. It wavered in the air. “I can’t…it’s Eden,” he gasped, his words thick with emotion.
Grady lifted his machete and took a step forward. “I’ll take care of it.”
“No,” Dominic shouted, grabbing his arm to keep him in place. “It’s a Howler. Use your gun.”
Howler? What’s he talking about?
My heart lurched as Eden let out an inhuman, bone-chilling sound and rushed toward us at breakneck speed.
Grady unloaded his handgun into her.
Eden shook off the bullets and kept coming.
“I’m out,” Grady said, falling back beside Reed.
Dominic ran to my side. “Get behind me!” He shoved me back. The force was enough to send me careening into the doors behind us. One gnarled hand pushed past the chain on the door and grabbed the bottom of my jacket.
Heart in my throat, I twisted away.
Dominic gripped the flashlight in his teeth. He ripped the shotgun from Reed’s limp hands and aimed. The resounding boom reverberated in the narrow hallway. The middle of Eden’s torso exploded outward, painting the sea foam walls crimson.
Unaffected by the gaping hole in the center of her body, Eden shrieked and continued racing for us. There was no recognition in her rolling eyes.
As she ran, her body knitted back together until the visible flesh of Eden’s stomach was smooth as porcelain.
Grady took another step back. “Holy shit.”
Dominic pumped the shotgun, once, then twice. He cursed. “We’re out of ammo.”
The door chains jangled behind us.
My entire body shook.
Death ahead of us.
Death behind us.
There’s nowhere to go.
Reed seemed rooted to the floor, an expression of shock on his face.
I grabbed my knife and stepped in front of him.
I can’t let Eden kill him.
Seconds before she reached us, Dominic jerked the knife end of the shotgun into her shrieking mouth. She collapsed to the ground, jerking and spasming.
A cry escaped my lips. I fell to the floor on my hands and knees as if I’d been impaled too.
Her body went lax.
Tears streamed down my face.
She looks so young.
Reed stood there, dazed.
Grady gaped at Eden’s body. “That’s fucked up.”
Dominic dragged me to my feet. “Is there any other way out?”
My ears were ringing so badly, he had to repeat the question.
I shook my head. “Just the front door.”
He clenched his jaw. “Follow me.”
Reed reached for the shotgun with shaking hands.
“Leave it,” Dominic ordered. “Come on.” He headed toward the front of the building.
Reed and Grady followed close behind.
I hesitated, casting a look back at Eden.
Dominic was taking the light with him.
I’ll have to leave Eden in the darkness.
I shook my head. All our lives, we’d both feared the dark. Sobs racked my body.
I couldn’t leave her like that—with the shotgun sticking out of her face.
I rushed to her side and tore the weapon out of her mouth.
Her head lolled, her eyes staring at me sightlessly. Even bathed in blood, she was beautiful. Out of the three of us girls, she’d looked the most like my mother with her delicate features.
Maybe they were all together now.
Mom, Angel, and Eden.
Pain coiled tighter around my heart. “I’m so sorry, Edie.”
A bright light blinded me.
Dominic moved the beam of the flashlight off my face. “Get over here.”
“Goodbye,” I said softly. Then I ran to Dominic, holding the shotgun tightly in my hands.
He steered me toward the front, stopping only to drag me behind the receptionist desk where Grady and Reed were huddled.
I lifted my head high enough to see Biter after Biter shuffle into the waiting room. Despite the chairs we’d stacked against the doors, the mass of undead had pushed them open. The grotesque smell of the creatures made my stomach churn.
How can we possibly fight our way out of this?
I pushed the shotgun at Reed. He took it, giving me a bleak look.
He’s torn up about Eden too.
“It’ll be okay,” I said, scooting close enough to lay my hand on his knee.
He folded his hand over mine.
Dominic glared. If I didn’t know him better, I’d swear jealousy flashed in his eyes. He wrapped his hand around mine and then held a finger up to his lips.
The Biters moved erratically—like fire ants whose nest was crushed. There was a crash as one of the zombies knocked over a display of cat food.
Grady raised his machete and mouthed, “They’re swarming.”
The creatures h
ad caught the scent of their favorite food. Us.
“They’re too many of them,” Dominic whispered, his fingers tightening around mine. Using his other hand, he motioned us to retreat to the hallway.
As we backtracked, Reed’s foot crunched on a glass frame.
Every head jerked in our direction. A chorus of teeth chattered in excitement.
Oh, shit.
Dominic took off running, dragging me in his wake.
It took all my concentration to keep up with his long strides. The pills in my backpack rattled as we careened around the kennels.
We slammed the door of the pharmacy just as the Biters rounded the corner.
My heart pounded as I stared at the barrier between us and them.
It won’t hold.
Dominic knocked bottles and medical equipment off one of the metal shelves. “Barricade the door!”
Between the four of us, we managed to wedge the shelf between the door and the counter. It wouldn’t hold, but it would buy us time. Desperately, I spun in circles, looking for salvation in the tiny room.
The glass-paned window on the door shattered, and skeletal arms shot through.
Glass. Window.
Of course! The window over the sink.
Following my gaze, Dominic grunted in approval. Without a word, he grabbed my hips and lifted me onto the counter.
The window slid open easily.
“Is it clear?”
I peered out the opening, down to the alley below. “Nothing in sight.” Finally, our luck was improving.
“Good.” Dominic’s voice sounded tight.
I tossed the backpack out the window. As I shimmied through the small opening, the realization that a larger person wouldn’t be able to get through hit me like a kick to the stomach.
I turned around and dropped back into the sink.
“What are you doing?”
“You can’t fit.” There was no way he or Grady, with their broad shoulders, could get through.
Dominic’s face was carved in grim resolve. “I know.”
“They’re breaking through,” Reed cried. “Get her out of here.”
It’d be tight, but maybe Reed’s lanky runner’s build could squeeze through. “Reed, come with me.”
Reed glanced back at the window. “Go. I’ll follow.” His blue-eyed gaze didn’t meet mine. He’d never been a good liar.