“One-Mississippi-two…” Gavin’s words wrapped around me.
I prayed silently to the same God I’d prayed to many nights before. He listened then and I hoped he’d listen now.
I grabbed two knives that were in the kit and flipped the blades open, locking them in place. The anodized orange handles were larger than the actual blades. Not comforting. I handed one to Gavin.
“There’s still a Louisville Slugger on the floor behind us,” Gavin said. His brown hair was cut short. That was one of the first things he did after we were vaccinated. A haircut and a shave to celebrate our survival. He still looked young but not as young as we both did before the outbreak.
I slid toward the center console, crawling as far from the passenger window as I could get. Gavin’s breathing was heavy, and I felt the heat rolling off him as he continued to struggle with what we were facing.
I dug around in the bottom of the bag for the zombie deterrent. My hand clasped around the ADD, also known as the Audible Distraction Device, and I dropped the kit to the floor.
The car rocked back and forth as the number of beasts grew on both sides, creating a trance-like rhythm that was terrifying.
“Grab the bat,” Gavin instructed, his voice low.
I slid my hand to his knee, squeezing it hard before I reached behind us and grabbed the wooden weapon.
The challenges we faced living off the land paled in comparison to what we faced confined in this car.
Gavin turned the engine on and sunk it into reverse, only to be stalled right where we were.
“Pedestrians in minimum safe distance,” the car warned again.
“Shut up!” I shouted at the car’s inhuman voice.
An oily residue smeared against the glass all around us from their bodies touching and gliding along the surfaces. They were crawling on the hood, metal pops sounded with every dent created. Their bodies slowly snaked up the windshield as they climbed toward the roof. Their mouths opening, jaws clicking as they tasted our scent. That was all we had separating us from zombies—glass. It would be only a matter of time before they mangled the metal above us and shattered the glass around us.
“If I get out of the car, I can distract them and you can run. I need you to run,” he said slowly, his eyes locking on mine.
“No way. I’m not—”
The glass shattered, interrupting my objection. The shards of glass crumbled down the door and into Gavin’s lap. Several mismatched arms shoved their hands through the nonexistent barrier, reaching for Gavin as I let out a scream and lunged with the knife in hand.
“Don’t watch what happens, babe. Promise me you’ll look away,” his voice pleading, as he struggled against the fleshy fingers that twisted and pulled at his shirt.
I reached across Gavin and began breaking off fingers and slicing hands and anything I could connect with that was attempting to gouge at Gavin. Pieces of flesh tumbled into the car.
We’d been vaccinated.
We’d be okay.
The stench of the decaying flesh filled our small car with every crack of a bone and tear of the skin. Gavin and I were shoving the arms, bodies, and heads back the other direction, but they kept pushing through the small driver’s window. Gavin grabbed the bat, shoving and poking the zombies through the window. The space was so small it was hard for him to hit with any force.
It wouldn’t be long before they broke the other windows. The first thump on the roof made me jump and then the second. The metal was crunching with every step above, and I looked up to see the roof dipping in places.
The moans grew louder as more arms pushed through the opening, scraping and digging at our flesh. Fingers with calloused skin grazed my face, poking at my eyes and scraping my cheeks, but they would fall from my face almost instantly in search of Gavin. Why Gavin?
Gavin propelled the bat into the crowd with such velocity that he managed to run it through the stomach of one of the beasts, spreading the group out momentarily. The zombie collapsed, but the swarm returned, descending on us again.
I jabbed the knife directly into the neck of the most insistent intruder and pulled it out, severing the head from the neck. The head toppled into the car as the body slumped outside against the door. There was a brief hesitation as they stepped back, and I grabbed the ADD, removing the pin and flipping the lever. I threw the ADD out the window, but it bounced against an undead girl in the back of the crowd. It dropped to the ground with a thud. My heart sank with the realization the zombies wouldn’t be running anywhere.
Broop-Broop-Broop
Maybe I was wrong.
Once the ADD sounded, the zombies peeled away from our car and turned toward the device, but there wasn’t enough distance to open the door or escape through the window. They’d get us in a heartbeat. The deafening sound made it hard to think. I watched as each zombie turned back toward the car and shoved their arms back at us. A set of hands latched onto Gavin’s neck, and I slashed clear through the zombie’s wrists—bone and all—, stopping only because the blade encountered the softness of Gavin’s throat.
“They’re not going to stop until they get what they want,” he whispered, punching back at the beasts.
The windshield began cracking from the weight of the bodies. The ADD siren stopped blaring, and I was almost completely positioned in Gavin’s lap, stabbing at anything and everything in the opening. Hands had broken through all of the windows. The passenger side window had arms flailing as bodies attempted to squeeze into the narrow opening.
“I don’t know what to do.” My yell could only be heard as a whisper of desperation above the noise of the horde.
“Becca, there’s some research in my folders from the campus…” his voice trailed off. His eyes began to cloud over, and I dropped my gaze. Dodging rotten, fleshy fingers and elbows, my hands ran protectively over his chest as I fought the undead. There was nowhere for us to hide.
“Don’t start saying goodbyes,” I commanded, noticing blood on my fingertips, lots of blood. Where was this blood coming from? There was no pain beyond the scratches on my arms. I felt no pain. Elbowing the beasts, I looked at Gavin. His eyes on mine—locked on mine—as his lips curled up slightly.
“What are the odds?” he whispered weakly.
A cry wanted to escape my lips as I watched Gavin blink slowly. His breathing became shallower with each passing second. I searched feverishly, gliding my hands along his chest and stomach. My fingers fell into his wound.
The zombies had torn through his shirt, through his abdomen. Blood was pooled on the seat, blood was everywhere, and I watched the hands of the undead still stirring and grabbing pieces of him. I swallowed my horror. A gasp wanted to escape my lips, but I was stronger than that. We were stronger than that.
I continued slapping the hands away but none were after me. They only wanted Gavin.
“I’ve loved you since your sixteenth birthday,” he murmured, closing his eyes.
“No!” I screamed, grabbing him, attempting to move him from the window.
But it was too late. Several arms had wrapped around Gavin’s neck and chest, hauling him through the window. I grabbed his body but he told me to let go. I couldn’t let go. I wouldn’t let go.
My hands slid from his waist…to his thighs…to his knees…to his ankles. I was holding on so tightly, but it wasn’t enough. Only his feet were left inside the car, and I held on with a strength I didn’t recognize as my own. As they pulled the last of him out the window, I followed right through the opening, collapsing on the concrete driveway. None of them attempted to attack me beyond the accidental push or scrape. They weren’t after me.
I watched in horror as the love of my life was torn to pieces and thrown about. Why didn’t they take me too? Why were they leaving me alone? My screams did nothing. I wasn’t sure I was even screaming. The zombies huddled together, and I forced my eyes away from what was left of my husband.
“Please, kill me too,” I whimpered.
T
wo unmarked, black vans came barreling down the street, stopping right at our driveway. The back doors flung open and the killers vanished inside. That wasn’t possible. I couldn’t trust my own eyes.
I was hallucinating.
The last of the undead stepped inside the vans, and the doors closed before the van peeled off.
“Is there anyone out here? Can’t anyone help us? Please? Can’t someone help us?” I sobbed, crawling toward what was left of Gavin.
I heard the screams of the neighbors as they ran toward us, stopping just short of our driveway. Their mouths dropped open, speechless. There was nothing anyone could do. The sobs and cries for help continued, and I didn’t know if they were coming from me or from everyone else. I was numb. I heard apologies about not coming out when they heard the ADD, but it wasn’t their fault. The ADDs were the equivalent of fireworks nowadays. Everything was in slow motion or people were moving slowly. I slumped over Gavin, holding the remains of his torso, listening to the ambulance siren make its way down our street. I wrapped my arms around him tightly for the last time.
That’s what I remember from that day—and that I never told him I loved him.
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Acknowledgements
I want to say a simple thank you to Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and all of the other avenues available for the indie publishing world. It allows the art of storytelling to continue to flourish in unexpected ways!
Thank you also to:
Cover artist: Phatpuppy
Typography: BB Designs
Female model: Anya Kod
Male Model: Steve Alario
Makeup/Hair artist: Nadya Rutman
Photography: Teresa Yeh
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Recipes
Hidden Sins Excerpt
RecruitZ Excerpt
Acknowledgements
Beyond Intent Page 23