by Dia Cole
Grace continued watching Dominic, a wary expression on her oval face. She stepped from one foot to another as if any minute she’d take off running. The flexing of her thigh muscles brought my attention to the cluster of angry red circular marks tracking up and down her legs.
With a start, I realized they were cigarette burns.
She saw me staring and tugged on the hem of her nightgown in a futile attempt to cover herself.
Damn. I’m being insensitive.
After living with Reed and his scar issues for years, I should know better. Hoping to calm her down, I met her anxious gaze. “Do you need our help?”
She nodded. “Weeks ago we came across the Sidewinders. That’s what they call themselves. They’re a motorcycle gang. They said they’d keep us safe and protect us from the undead in exchange for food.” A muffled sob escaped her lips. “My dad was wrong to trust them. They killed him and raped me…” Her voice trailed off, and her shoulders hunched as though she was trying to make herself smaller.
The confirmation of my fears made me want to wrap my arms around her, but after what she’d been through, she probably didn’t want anyone touching her.
She dragged in a shaky breath and seemed to get a hold of herself. “I was starting to think that death was my only way out. Then I saw you. You have to help us.”
Giving up any pretense of giving us space, Dominic stomped back into the foyer. “How many men do they have?”
“Five now. There used to be seven.” She shuddered.
Dominic nodded. His gaze sharpened, as if he was mentally calculating our odds. “Are they well armed?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I think they must’ve cleaned out a gun store or something.”
“How did you get out?”
She offered me a tremulous smile. “I knocked Spider, the leader, over the head with a stool and escaped out the back window.”
What she’d done took some serious guts. My respect for her rose several notches.
Dominic’s voice deepened. “Do you know how dangerous it is to walk these streets unarmed?”
Here we go.
He opened his mouth, no doubt ready to launch into one of his lectures.
I cut him off at the pass. “You said us. Who’s with you?”
She wrung her hands together. “My brother, Aiden. He’s only six. I made him hide. I wanted to check you guys out first.”
“Are there others in the house?”
“No, just us.”
The pressure in my chest eased.
That makes things easier.
I exchanged a look with Dominic.
His expression was impossible to read.
“You and you brother can come with us.”
“No, they can’t,” Dominic said, gritting his teeth.
“I know they can’t come back to the safe house, but couldn’t we bring them to a safer location?” Surely, he wasn’t that heartless. “You know it’s the right thing to do.”
Dominic searched my face and then slowly nodded.
Another win. At this rate, I’d have him wrapped around my finger in no time. “Come on. We were just leaving—”
“You have a car?”
I nodded.
She let out a deep breath, and then sagged against the wall, looking for a moment as though she might collapse.
“Where’s your brother?”
She flinched and a haunted look came back in her eye. “Will you promise me that he’ll be safe?”
“We promise. Right, Dominic?”
His gaze softened infinitesimally. “Yeah.”
“He’s in the park.”
I blinked hard. “Outside?” That tracksuit zombie had been headed in the direction of park. If his smell wasn’t masked, the child would attract the flesh-eaters like sharks to chum.
She nodded, and then stiffened at the incredulous looks that Dominic and I gave her. “He’s safe. He climbed to the top of the play structure. The only way to get there is to climb the ladders or the slide. The undead can’t do either.”
Dominic’s jaw flexed as he stalked over. “You’re wrong. Howlers can jump twenty feet or more. You’ve put your brother’s life in grave danger.”
Color leeched from her face. “What are Howlers?”
I jumped in before Dominic could launch into his Zombie 101 lesson. “Let’s focus on getting the boy.”
Dominic headed toward the door. “You two stay here. I’ll bring him back.”
Grace shook her head. “He’ll only come to me and…and to Spider. That bastard brainwashed Aiden.”
“Fine. We’ll stop by the park on our way out of the neighborhood. We’re leaving now.” Without waiting for her to respond, Dominic turned and headed down the hallway.
Grace watched him leave, an uncertain expression on her face.
I gave her a sympathetic look. “He’s always like that. Don’t take it personally.”
She let out a deep breath. “Okay.”
“It’s this way to the garage,” I said, pointing after Dominic. “Just try to ignore the bodies along the way.”
She paled. “The Daniels…their kids?”
I shook my head.
“I used to babysit them,” she murmured, her eyes glinting with tears. I half expected her to completely lose it, but she straightened her shoulders and headed after Dominic.
The thumping noise that had freaked me out earlier sounded again.
She stopped short. “Are there more than the three of you?”
“Three?” I shook my head. “No. There’s just Dominic and me.”
She gave me a puzzled look. “Then who’s the blonde on the roof? I figured she was your lookout.”
Fingers of dread crawled down my back.
Eden is here.
4
My chest constricted as I scanned every rooftop we passed. Although the slate sky rumbled ominously above us, there was no sign of Eden.
She’s out there. I felt it in my gut.
But why hasn’t she attacked? It doesn’t make any sense.
Dominic white-knuckled the minivan’s steering wheel. The moment he’d heard about our fourth guest, he’d all but thrown us in the van and peeled out of the garage.
Grace rocked from side to side in the glass-covered seat behind mine. She hadn’t stopped shaking since seeing the baby Howler in the dryer. At least I’d been able to get her into an oversize T-shirt and some sweatpants from the laundry room before she’d fallen completely apart.
I should’ve grabbed a shirt for myself too. A quick glance down revealed that I needed to hike up the waistband of my yoga pants yet again. The black veins were creeping higher. It was getting harder to hide the effects of the virus. The world swam in front of me. I shut my eyes and took a shaky breath. This was the third dizzy spell in fifteen minutes.
Not good.
“Are you okay?”
I snapped my eyes open to find Dominic staring at me, concern etched in his face.
Thankfully, Grace saved me by sticking her head between our seats. “Aiden’s there,” she said, pointing at the playground in the distance.
Dominic parked the minivan on the sidewalk and scanned the deserted basketball court. “Looks clear.”
“I’ll go get him,” Grace said, opening the side door.
“Be quick,” Dominic ordered.
It was my turn to give him a WTF look. There was no way in hell he’d ever let me go off by myself unarmed.
Feeling strangely protective, I opened my door. “Here take this.” I handed her my knife without any hesitation. Whatever need I’d had to hold on to the reminder of that awful night so long ago was gone.
“Thank you,” she said, holding it out in front of her like a flashlight. She turned toward the park, her whole body shaking.
Dizziness be damned. I can’t let her go off by herself.
It was clear she wouldn’t survive if she ran into tracksuit zombie or any of his friends.
“I’m going with her,” I
said, unbuckling my seat belt. “We’ll be right back.
“Fuck that. You stay here.” Dominic turned off the ignition and jumped out of the van.
He shot me a murderous look as I followed after him. “You said you’d follow my orders.”
I snorted. “I gave my promise to a dying man. You deliver on your end and I’ll deliver on mine.”
Dominic huffed, but he didn’t argue further.
Grace’s eyes brightened as we approached. “Thanks for coming with me. It’s this way.”
We followed after her, our feet crunching through the gravel that edged the basketball court. We navigated around exploding lantana, bougainvillea, and sage bushes. Their bright yellow, pink, and purple blooms seemed garish under the dingy gray sky.
I caught a whiff of something rancid. “What’s that smell?”
Dominic didn’t answer, his attention seemingly captured by the colorful wooden decorations lining the grass between the court and the playground.
“Wow. Someone loved Christmas.” It looked like a miniature North Pole with snow-covered gumdrop houses and child-sized elves carrying gifts bigger than my head.
Grace flashed sad smile. “The HOA did that every year, you should’ve seen it all lit up at night.”
As I moved closer to inspect the life-size red sleigh, Grace grabbed my arm and dragged me away.
“My brother’s there,” she said, pointing at a large boat-shaped play structure ahead of us.
Two yellow slides spilled from the side of a blue plastic hull that stood ten feet above the sand below. The back of the ship was connected to a covered helm area by a long metal platform walkway. There was even a mast that stretched up into the sky.
I shook my head incredulously at the white sails flapping overhead. Growing up, I’d have killed for a playground half this cool.
Too bad no kids will ever play here again.
As we changed course, the faint sound of splashing water rose over the creaking of the empty swings. A horrible smell mixed with the fragrance of orange blossoms.
Dominic stopped in his tracks and cocked his head to the side.
Grace continued trying to drag me toward the slides. When I wouldn’t budge, she dropped my arm and called out, “Aiden!”
Dominic slammed his hand over her mouth. “Shh.”
She clawed at him for a second and then went limp.
He pulled his hand back, keeping his finger to his lips.
I wasn’t going to get on his case for manhandling her this time. The hairs on the back of my neck were tingling and a foreboding feeling came over me. Needing to see better, I climbed on a nearby bench. At this angle I could just make out the bottom of the sloping greenbelt just beyond the pine trees.
The view chilled me to the bone. “Oh, God.”
“What is it?”
I could only shake my head wordlessly. Beyond a cluster of ponderosas, a steep embankment led down to a flooded greenbelt. It was hard to estimate the depth of the standing water due to the teeming throngs of zombies. Some lay motionless in the water. Others flopped around as if they were jockeying for a better spot. The stink of bloated rotting flesh was horrendous even from this distance.
Dominic and Grace clambered up next to me. Both inhaled sharply at the horrific sight.
Dominic jumped down from the bench. “The good news is they’re downwind and distracted. But let’s not do anything to draw their attention. Understand?”
Grace and I nodded as we helped each other down from the bench.
Without another look at us, he jogged over to the play structure.
Grace’s gaze locked on the yellow tube slide. The outline of a small body was visible through the plastic shell.
“Aiden,” she said softly.
Dominic must’ve seen the boy too because he stood at the bottom of the slide trying to coax him down. When the boy didn’t budge. He moved around to the closest metal ladder.
As he cleared the first rung, a small head peeked out at the top of the slide and then ducked back in.
“Come out. I’m not going to hurt you. Your sister is here.”
His words fell on deaf ears. Aiden stayed in his hiding place.
I headed to the bottom of the slide figuring I’d catch the boy if he tried to run.
Grace cupped her hand to her mouth and called softly to her brother.
The little boy pulled himself out of the slide, the breeze blowing back his wild mop of carrot-red hair.
I squinted to see him better. As I did, the muted light reflected off something he was holding in his hand.
What’s he carrying?
“It’s okay, Aiden. Go to the man.”
The boy nodded and turned toward Dominic.
Dominic made it up to the top rung. He took a step onto the platform and motioned Aiden to come to him. “I won’t hurt you.”
Aiden hesitated and backed up a step.
There’s no way the kid will go to a man as dangerous-looking as Dominic.
I opened my mouth tell him to switch places with me, but snapped it closed as the little boy took a halting step forward.
Slowly he crossed the metal mesh walkway over to Dominic.
Dominic holstered his gun and opened his arms. “That’s it. A few more ste—”
He broke off as Aiden lifted his hand and pointed a gun at him.
“Aiden, no,” shouted Grace.
“Stop!” I cried, forgetting about the lagoon of zombies at the end of the park. “Don’t shoot, we’re here to help you.”
The crack of a gun rang out.
Dominic stumbled, his mouth opening and closing in surprise. Then he collapsed facedown on the platform. Blood gushed through the slats in the metal, staining the sand below.
Shock tinged my vision white. All I could think about was getting to Dominic as fast as I could. Before I could turn to run to the ladder, a sharp blade pressed against my throat.
My blade.
Grace pulled me back against her, with a surprisingly strong grip. “Aiden wasn’t supposed to do that. I’m sorry,” she said, pushing me to my knees.
Too shocked to resist, I fell into the cold damp sand. The vantage point gave me an excellent view of the men running from behind the wooden North Pole displays. The Sidewinders no doubt. A bitter taste filled my mouth. “We were trying to help you.”
Grace tightened her grip on my neck. “It’s the only way to save my brother.”
I shut my eyes willing time to reverse.
I’ll never open the damn door. I’ll run Grace over on our way out of this godforsaken neighborhood. Then Dominic will be okay.
Grief lodged in my throat as I opened my eyes and craned my head up. There had to be some sign of life.
Wait. There.
It looked like he was breathing. The sliver of joy that gave me evaporated as five beefy-looking men in motorcycle jackets surrounded us. All but one pointed a gun at my head, the man with the white handlebar mustache from the window. He broke from the pack and strode up to us. “Nice work, baby doll,” he said in a raspy voice, slapping Grace on the butt.
She shuddered, making the blade jerk against my neck.
The man squatted down so he was eye level with me. He flicked the toothpick in his mouth back and forth. “And what do we have here?” He smiled, the movement crinkling the spiderweb tattoo that ran across his face.
No doubt this is Spider.
Without warning, he reach over and cupped one of my breasts. “Nice. Very nice.”
Every cell in my body recoiled. “Don’t fucking touch me.” I did my best impression of Darcy’s laser beam eyes and spat at him. My gum landed in the middle of his cheek.
He smirked and flicked the gum off. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, pussycat.” He fondled my other breast.
Bile rose up the back of my throat. I slowly reached for my gun, keeping my expression neutral. My fingers curved around the handle.
Spider glanced down, his eyes going c
old. “I don’t think so.” He grabbed my gun and then backhanded me across the face with it.
My cheek exploded in pain.
“Tell me where the rest of your people are?”
I glared at him in stony silence. He wouldn’t get a damn thing out of me.
He thrust my gun into the waistband of his jeans. “I’ve got ways to get those pretty lips talking.”
The other men laughed.
Spider’s grin faded. “Why are you just standing around? Mitch, Riptide, check out the van. Tweety make sure the swim team isn’t about to crash our party.”
A heavyset man wearing a red bandana, and a smaller guy with a ponytail headed toward the street. A blond man, whose seven feet of toned muscle belied his goofy name, stalked toward the pine trees. That left us with a greasy-haired man in snakeskin boots and Spider.
The greasy-haired man never took his eyes off me. His gaze crawled up and down my body. When he caught my eye, he flashed me a yellow-toothed grin.
I shuddered.
The virus better take me before these assholes do.
My lips quirked up as I thought about turning into a Howler and ripping their balls off before eating them alive.
Grace’s arm tightened around my neck. “My brother and I get to go now right, Spider? Like you promised.”
As if remembering Aiden, Spider glanced up.
The boy danced around the covered front area of the play structure, twirling a plastic ship wheel around in circles.
Spider grinned up at him. “You did good, son. Come on down.”
Aiden ran over to the slide and slid down.
Spider caught him and hefted him up in his arms. “You’ve made your papa really proud.”
“You’re not his father,” Grace cried, her arms trembling. “You can’t keep making him kill people. He’s just a child.”
So this isn’t an isolated incident. Lovely.
I tried to bend down and grab a fistful of sand to hurl at them, but Grace tightened her grip around my neck forcing me to stay still.
Spider ignored her and turned to the greasy-haired man. “Viper, check out the dead guy.”
After one last leer at me, Viper clambered up the ladder.
My breath caught in my throat as the man felt for Dominic’s pulse. “He’s not dead yet. But he’s got a bullet to the lower gut.” Viper whistled through his teeth. “Man, that’s a shitty way to go. You want me to end him?”