Kade reached for the walkie as they continued toward campus on 19. Grace slept against the door. For the first time, Kade realized he was exhausted. He pushed down the button on the walkie, taking the effort of pushing a dump truck.
“X, Ash, we’re here,” he said, closing his eyes.
His heart jumped with hope as he heard a static response, and then crashed down when he heard Tiny’s voice coming from the speaker. “I’m sorry. They could still turn up.”
He didn’t respond, but passed the convoy in the oncoming traffic lane as they crossed the bridge and turned onto Willow Street, heading north. The entire campus was empty except for the winter wind. Driving past the campus center and dining hall, Kade only saw two parked cars.
He led the convoy along the curve of the road, past an old, rustic building that was three stories tall and had a high, peaked roof, and proceeded to the modern, six-floor dormitory, Lambian Hall. He parked the van and uncuffed Grace.
Grace rubbed her wrists. “Thanks.”
“I can’t promise you how long you’ll have them off,” he said. He made his way to the ramp leading to Lambian Hall and waited for the rest of the group to join him. The ground didn’t give with his step. In the two hours they had driven north, the temperature had dropped to freezing. Snow would be falling soon.
Argos barreled toward him and circled three times, tail wagging, before he licked Kade’s hand. As much as Kade didn’t like animals, the dog earned a pass for saving his life.
The rest of the group came up the ramp. Mick shot a cold glare at Grace, who kept her eyes on her feet.
Kade turned to face them. “There are five of us, and six floors, so—”
“There are only four of us,” Mick growled.
Grace lowered her head. “I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t know what they were planning.”
Mick stormed toward Grace. Every muscle in Kade tensed as he readied himself to separate them. Mick pulled his hand back to strike. Grace watched his motion, but didn’t shrink.
“Mick,” Kade said. “I get what you’re feeling. I really do.”
“Lucas didn’t die for you.” Mick turned his heat away from Grace and toward Kade.
“No, but it’s my fault.” Kade approached Mick and put a hand on his shoulder, looking into his bloodshot eyes. “I trusted them because I wasn’t strong enough to kill them. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”
They both turned to an eardrum-bursting screech from Victoria. “I don’t understand why we ever followed you! You’re just going to get us all killed!”
Victoria rushed at Kade and pelted him with her child-sized fists. He didn’t attempt to block her punches. Her raging attack would have been easy enough to endure even if he wasn’t wrapped in Kevlar. Argos let out a low growl, but stopped when Kade scratched the dog’s head. They had all been through enough trauma in the last day. If this is what she needed to unwind he would endure.
“I’m stuck with all of you imbeciles,” Victoria said and slapped Kade across the face, causing his ear to ring.
Tiny stepped toward Victoria, but Kade shook his head to call her off. If this is what it would take, so be it. Tiny’s eyes slashed through him as she watched Victoria beat on him. He tried to keep his face from showing pain when Victoria landed her furious fists on the bruised part of his chest.
Mick came forward and grabbed her by the wrists. Hopeless tears built in Victoria’s eyes as she stared at Kade, then buried her head into Mick’s uniform and sobbed. Kade understood she was scared; it took all the control he had to keep his own mind from falling apart.
“Can you keep the cuffs on the Wilson girl for now?” Mick asked, wrapping his arms around Victoria. Kade looked to Grace. She gave a nod and held her hands out for him to cuff.
“Mick, I want you to cover the entrance. Tiny and Victoria, you guys take the odd floors. Grace, me, and the mutt will take evens. Knock twice. Open the door. If something moves, shoot it. If someone answers the knocks, cuff them and bring them to me right away,” Kade said.
Tiny patted Kade’s chest where he had been shot and sent a warning glance toward Grace. “Be careful.”
“You too,” he said, avoiding her eyes.
CHAPTER VII
WELCOME TO THE PRIMAL AGE
___________
The pink morning light eased back the night, illuminating the ground between the willows. Ashton was wrapped in the sleeping bag, her hair sprawled across the hood to dry. The soft flicker of the stone-circled fire danced off her pale skin. Their clothes were hanging on a length of cord secured between the two trees, just out of harm’s way. X’s revolver laid, cylinder open, with the six cartridges on a flat stone near the heat. The pack’s contents were splayed near the fire.
The swish of plastic rose over the gurgle of the creek as X jogged in place in a red emergency poncho. His bare feet packed a flat spot in the grass. He dropped to the ground, his arms flexed to catch himself in a plank. A shiver ran through him as he fought to keep his eyes open. Every fiber of his being wanted sleep, but he wouldn’t have that luxury for at least a day. Once Ashton woke, they would have to get moving. Traveling on foot wouldn’t be easy.
Ashton tucked her knees and rolled toward the fire. He paused, halfway to the ground, his eyes fixed on her freckled face. In all the years he had known her, he had never looked her. He had seen her, of course, as Kade’s little sister, but that had made her as invisible as air.
He was hardly aware that his biceps were quivering as he looked over her narrow face. Her long eyelashes interwove like a Venus flytrap. The corners of her mouth pulled into a smile even as she slept. She was so different from her brothers.
Her green eyes met his through the dancing flames. Caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he busted out pushups, playing it off like he had been looking ahead the whole time.
“X?” she asked.
“Forty-seven … forty-eight … forty-nine … fifty … Yeah?” He stopped and sat on top of his knees while shaking his arms out.
“Why am I naked?”
He rubbed his neck. “What do you remember last?”
“I think we hit a guardrail?”
“We wrecked into a creek, then we got from the car to the bank. You couldn’t go into the sleeping bag soaking wet, or you’d have died of hypothermia.”
She laughed at him. “We? You saved my life. You’re allowed to take credit, and you could make it sound a little less dull. But let me get this straight—you undressed me?”
“Just, kind of, while I got you in the sleeping bag. Kade’s going to kill me.”
She shrugged and gave him a sly half-smile. “It’ll be our secret. Where is Kade?”
“I’m guessing Houghton by now. We were pretty far from the road by the time we made land. I couldn’t leave you alone.”
Ashton sprang to her feet, and the sleeping bag fell to a heap on the ground. X’s mouth hung open, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from scanning her up and down. Being an outlaw, as the women liked to call him, he had seen more than his fair share of naked bodies, but there was something striking about Ashton’s sense of self-confidence.
“Really? You already saw me naked once. Let’s get a move on,” she said pulling her clothes from the cord.
X pushed off of the cold ground and slowly stood to his full height. He felt like a seventh grader at a school dance who just realized girls didn’t have cooties. “I mapped out a path to the nearest town. We’ve got about thirty miles on foot.”
“Then stop talking and break camp.”
He hesitated for a moment because her tone and demeanor were something he was used to from Kade, but not from this beautiful girl. Shaking off the shock, X dressed, loaded his pistol, and returned it to his belt. Ashton dropped the cord and stuffed it into the pack with the rest of their supplies, keeping a protein bar for each of them. She hoisted the backpack and was sliding her arm through the first strap when X yanked it from her and slung it onto his own back.
“It’s fitted for me,” he explained.
“Is my name Victoria?”
X cocked his head at her.
“If you’re going to treat me like I’m fragile, I’m telling Kade you saw me naked.”
“Then put the fire out.”
“Fine, Boy Scout.”
“Eagle Scout.”
“Really?”
“Be prepared.”
* * *
The corridors were a chocolate color, with electronically locked fire doors. The overhead fluorescent lights illuminated every torn thread of the brown carpet. Kade pressed open one of the heavy fire doors, letting Argos enter ahead of him and keeping Grace, who was still handcuffed, behind him. On the wall was a poster urging students to go home to get the Feline Flu shot, since the school would only have limited quantities.
Grace came up alongside him. “Is Tiny your girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Did you guys ever date?”
“Just do your job.”
She went to the first door and knocked. Kade’s heart raced. He didn’t know if he wanted to hear an answer or not. His eyes narrowed as he focused down his sight. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He would kill to save his friends. Grace knocked a second time, pushed the handle down with both of her cuffed hands, and kicked the door open. Kade stepped into the doorway and swung his aim across the room.
The room was arranged with a small single bed, a wooden desk and chair, and a chest of drawers on either side. Judging by the pink sheets and green fluffy pillows, he was in a girl’s room. He sighed when he found it was empty.
Kade, Grace, and Argos continued down the hallway, checking the rooms; the next six were empty. As they approached the seventh, Argos emanated a low rumble as his hair stood on end like a forest of pins. Kade’s hands became clammy as he gripped his shotgun. The police-standard, pump-action shotgun was beginning to feel familiar. The black rubber–wrapped grip of the handle and the ribbed pump had formed imprints in his hands.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and then gave Grace a nod. She knocked twice, and when there was no response, opened the door and moved out of the way. Kade filled the doorway, aiming down the barrel. At his feet, a red-haired foamer dressed in a puffy pink coat and black yoga pants was on the floor by the door. The young foamer sprang to life and threw herself at him. She slammed into his ribs, under the shotgun, knocking Kade across the corridor into the far wall. As he stumbled to get his balance, the foamer lunged at him, teeth bared.
Grace stepped between them and kicked the foamer in the chest. The foamer ran on all fours down the hallway.
Argos snagged her foot in his jaws. The foamer corkscrewed around and slammed her free foot into Argos’s nose, breaking his grip. She scrambled away with Argos in pursuit.
Kade called Argos off as he ran down the hallway. The moment Argos passed him, Kade leveled the shotgun at the running foamer. She was out of lethal range, but he was out of time. She was almost at the exit doors. He pulled the trigger and the shotgun kicked into his shoulder as the scattershot barreled down the hall. They peppered into her pink coat, off the walls around her, and a cluster buried themselves into her cheek. She burst through the door, which flew open on its hinges, and slammed shut.
Kade skidded to a stop and pulled out his walkie. “Foamer in the stairwell.”
Grace rubbed his back with cuffed hands. “You okay?”
He worked the shotgun action, discharging the red casing. “I’m sick of foamers.”
* * *
Victoria pushed the handle down and rapped her knuckles against the door. Tiny gave her a nod. Swinging the door open, Victoria moved to the side, and Tiny stepped in with the stock of her assault rifle tucked to her shoulder, scanning the room.
“Clear,” Tiny said, lowering the rifle.
Victoria lodged the doorstop into place and went into the hallway. There were signs hanging from every other door urging students who had the flu to leave school until they were healthy.
The two of them moved silently to the next door. Tiny brought her rifle to her shoulder and waited for Victoria to open the door. Victoria grabbed the handle and looked back at Tiny.
“What?” Tiny asked.
“Don’t do it.”
Tiny rolled her eyes. “We have to check every room.”
Victoria shook her head and took a step toward Tiny, putting her hand on her shoulder. “I mean … Kade. Don’t do it. I know, end of the world, pickings are slim, but I’ve been inside the head of his other half. Kade’s dead. All that’s left is for someone to carve the end date on his tombstone.”
Tiny let her rifle hang from her shoulder and pushed Victoria’s hand off of her. “Thanks.”
“I mean it. He seems great. He seems wonderful. You can’t get closer than you are. How long have you known him?”
“Like ten years. Look, we have a job to do—”
“And in ten years, you haven’t been able to land him?”
Tiny uncomfortably ran a hand along her rifle.
“Try now. Make a move. See that I’m right. He’s a dead man walking,” Victoria said.
* * *
Ashton stumbled through the thick woods. X slogged along behind her. He was leaning on a smooth stick to distribute some of his weight. Logic said he should rest, but Ashton was soldiering on and he didn’t want to be the weak one. Even if he had the excuse that he’d been awake all night after saving her from the wreck, he didn’t want to quit first. It wasn’t even midday yet.
A certain song had come to mind. “I would walk five hundred miles—”
Ashton turned around and eyed him up. “Really?”
“It’s catchy.”
“It’s annoying.”
“You can’t hate the song,” he said, walking past her.
“I don’t hate it. I find it annoying.”
“It’s a song about a man who would walk five hundred miles for the woman he loves, and then walk five hundred more.”
“Would you walk a thousand miles for someone you loved?” She hurried after him.
“No.”
“Then why do you like the song?” she asked, catching up.
“Caus
e I would walk five hundred miles, and then walk five hundred more.”
“Are you often in love?” she asked, watching his face for any read she could find.
“And I would walk five hundred more—” he belted out.
“And I would walk five hundred more—” she rolled her eyes and sang along.
“Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles,” X continued, then collapsed onto his knees. He slumped with his arms hanging to his side and stared ahead with glassy eyes.
The cold water had worn him down, the chilly night had weakened him, the lack of sleep had left him without recovery, and the march had broken what little strength he had left. He had pushed himself to the max, but it wasn’t enough.
He didn’t want to delay Ashton’s return to Kade. Kade was the only person X didn’t want to let down. The two of them went back practically to their births. X had been raised by a single mom, and was often looked after by Kade’s parents when she was at work.
X had never bonded with Damian or Ashton, but Kade was the closest thing he had to a brother. There was nothing that he wouldn’t do for the Zerris family, and Kade had proved on more than one occasion that their relationship was a two-way street. Kade had even crossed Mick to keep X from going to jail.
Though X wasn’t a keen believer in Kade’s Shenanigans plan, he owed Kade too much to not help him. He didn’t care if Kade was right or wrong, this was a matter of loyalty.
Ashton rushed back and knelt beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. His head drifted to the side as the fog crept into his mind. He was exhausted, his muscles were shot, and his body didn’t want to move.
“Catchy?” he asked, referring to the song.
“You must not be in love right now. That was hardly a thousand miles.”
Foamers Page 9