Chapter 32
“Well?” Zianna marched over to them. “What’s the verdict?”
Dex held back an irritated retort. “I want to know if Silverly’s on fire, or if it’s the forest itself.”
Zianna put her hands on her hips. “Why does it matter?”
“Because if the woods are in flames, there’s no point in trying to save the house! We need to leave right away.”
“Without Laiken? No.” Zianna’s expression dared him to cross her.
“Look, he either abandoned us or he’s dead. Whichever it is, he’s not here to help us! We have to deal with the situation at hand. Are you with us or not?”
Zianna turned to Radley. “Are you going to put up with this?”
“He makes sense, Z.”
Zianna’s mouth dropped. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t even know him!”
“Of course we do.” Radley narrowed her eyes. “And he’s more than proven himself. Do you think we’d have gotten down here without Dex?”
“Yeah, actually, I do. And also, Laiken would be here with us.” Zianna glared at Dex. “You kept arguing with him, and he took off.”
“He was being an idiot! He’d have gotten you all killed—guaranteed.”
She snorted. “As if.”
Dex stepped away from her. “I’m done wasting time. Stay here and whine if you want. I’m going to find out what’s on fire.”
Zianna flipped her head back and forth. “Fine by me.” She turned to Radley. “And you?”
“I’m going with Dex.”
“Whatever. I’ll take care of the zombies inside on my own.” Zianna stormed toward the house.
Radley looked back and forth between Dex and Zianna. “Should I let her fight them on her own?”
Dex considered it. “Maybe not. Show her it’s not us against her. It might be quicker if I check out the source of the fire on my own, anyway.
She tilted her head. “You think so?”
“Yeah. Promise to keep an eye out for Lucy while fighting the wanderers?”
“Definitely.”
“Okay.” Dex turned to Lucy. “I’ll be back shortly. You help them with the wanderers inside. If the forest is safe, we’ll stay here and pick up. Otherwise, we’ll get the heck out of Dodge.”
“Dodge?”
“I don’t know.” Dex shrugged. “It’s something my grandpa used to say. I mean, we’ll leave.”
“Okay.”
He took her hand and squeezed. “You’ll be fine. Radley’ll take care of you.”
“Radley friend.”
“Yes.” He turned to Radley. “Thank you.”
She nodded and put her hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Lucy met Dex’s gaze. “Come back.”
“I will.” He spun around and squeezed through the nearest gaping hole in the fence.
Once on the walkway, he pulled out his biggest knife and readied it for action. Everything was quiet. Hopefully, that meant all the other monsters had moved on—right into the flames, if he was lucky.
Dex was rarely lucky.
He ran into the woods as quietly as possible.
Snap!
Just a broken twig.
Dex edged closer to the trees and sniffed the air. He held back a choke. The smoke was definitely growing thicker.
Maybe they actually were in luck, and it was the hospital. The more of those unknown, altered wanderers who were killed the better.
He picked up his pace and kept on high alert for both monsters and people, but didn’t see or hear any.
Bright orange came into view just over the trees. The fire. It was right about at the location of Silverly.
The smoke grew unbearable, so he covered his mouth and nose. His throat and sinuses burned more the closer he got. A headache squeezed around his skull, making its way to his eyes.
He just needed to see that the blaze was contained to the building and not turning into a forest fire, then he could turn around and get as far away from the smoke as he could.
Finally, he made it to the main path leading up to the hospital. Dex ran about halfway up, still ready to stab a wanderer if needed.
One of the buildings was in flames—the middle one, and it was completely engulfed. Somehow the other two were untouched.
The entire hospital was far enough away from all plant life, even the blackberry bushes, that it was unlikely it would spread. Not impossible, but unlikely.
He spun around and ran back to the house breathing easier the farther he got from Silverly. His throat and nose still burned, and his headache continued pressing.
When he got there, Zianna, Radley, and Lucy were dragging corpses outside the property.
Radley dropped one on top of some others. “What’d you find?”
“The fire is from the hospital. It looks contained. You guys should be okay to stay here.”
Her mouth curved down. “Us? Are you leaving?”
“I can stay and help you clean up this mess.” Dex returned the knife to his sheath. “But I still need to find out what happened to my family.”
Radley’s frown remained. “Okay. Well, whatever you need to do. We’re just trying to clear all the zombies from the house. I’ve never seen so many.”
“Let’s get this done.”
They went inside, where both Zianna and Lucy were pulling bodies from the living room. Dex filled them in on what he’d seen at the hospital, then he grabbed a wanderer by its feet and yanked it outside.
It took hours to clear the house and yard of the monsters. By then, the sun was high in the sky. His stomach would’ve been rumbling had it not been from the odors of rotting flesh and smoke.
Fading black clouds littered the sky and an orangish haze hung in the air, casting everything in warm hues.
The whole scene made his stomach turn. What they really needed to do was move the bodies even farther from the property. Just outside the fence wasn’t far enough, and the stench was only going to get worse as the rotting continued.
“Does anyone want something to eat?” Radley asked.
Dex’s stomach lurched at the thought. He shook his head. “I’m going to fix the fence. You guys go ahead and eat.”
Lucy shook her head. “Stomach hurt.”
“I’m with you there.” Zianna turned to Radley. “How can you think about food now?”
“After all this work, I’m starving.”
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat until we move those zombies even farther away.”
“Same here.” Dex could hardly believe he was agreeing with Zianna.
Radley shrugged. “Well, I’ll be quick. Then I’ll get back to helping you guys out here.”
Dex followed her inside and went into the garage, where he’d seen so many supplies earlier.
He opened the door and stepped inside.
A few stray wanderers meandered around, walking into each other and boxes. One turned and stared at him.
Dex’s heart skipped a beat. He reached for a knife and dug it into the temple of the nearest one. It crumpled to the ground. He repeated the process with the next two.
He stuck his head back into the house. “Wanderers down in here!”
Radley poked her head around the corner and made a disgusted expression. “We missed some?”
“Yeah. They might not be the only ones, so be careful in there.”
“Okay. Want me to help you with those?”
He shook his head no. “I’ll get them. You get something to eat. This’ll just make you lose your appetite.”
“I just moved all those others, and it didn’t make me less hungry.” She walked past him, twisted a knob on the door, and pulled it open.
They dragged one wanderer each out into the yard.
“More?” Zianna exclaimed.
“These ones got into the garage.” Dex passed her and dragged the wanderer to the pile of other ones.
The sten
ch of more than fifty rotting wanderers finally became too much for him. His stomach lurched and heaved. He turned to a bush and threw up.
It was going to be one long day.
Chapter 33
Three days later.
Dex hammered the final nail of the last stair into place. The new staircase left a lot to be desired—a whole lot—but at least everyone could get back upstairs and stop sleeping in the living room.
Lucy smiled at him. “Looks good, Dex.”
A warmth spread through him as it did each time she looked at him. “Well,” he said, his voice gruff, “let’s make sure it actually works before we admire it.”
“It holds you.” Her grin remained and her tone held a bit of teasing. “Let me try.”
It had only been three days since they’d cleared all the wanderers from the house, but in that time, Lucy’s speech had improved by leaps and bounds. She still used short sentences, but they were far less barbaric than before.
She kept proving that he’d been right about her—she was highly intelligent, and she’d only needed to spend some time having actual conversation with other people.
Lucy put a foot on the first step.
Dex cleared his throat. “Let me double-check everything first.”
She threw him a playful frown. “You’re no fun.”
“I’ll take that.” He stepped down, bouncing on each stair.
“Well?” Lucy asked.
He took a deep breath. “Let’s see if this thing can handle two people at once.”
She slid her hand into his. “It will.”
They went up one step at a time, standing for a moment on each one to make sure the weight held before moving to the next.
At last, they made it to the second level. None of them had stepped foot there since the wanderers had attacked and crushed the old staircase.
Lucy threw her arms around him and squeezed. He returned the embrace. His whole body warmed, and he pressed his face into her hair and breathed in deeply. Holding her close was quickly becoming his favorite thing.
She stepped back and grinned. “You did it!”
Heat crept into his cheeks—a response only she could elicit. He opened his mouth to respond, but Radley’s voice stopped him.
“Is it done?”
“Dex finished it,” Lucy called down. “Try it.”
Radley bounded up the stairs. “Wow, it’s almost as good as the original.”
“Hardly,” Dex replied. “I really should add a railing so no one falls off the side.”
Radley shrugged. “We’re all adults.”
“Still, accidents happen.” The thought of Lucy falling to the first level sent a cold shiver down his spine. “I need to get on that.”
The front door slammed shut. “The guys are back!” Zianna shouted.
Radley’s eyes lit up. “They are?”
“They just pulled up to the fence. Come on!”
Radley stepped down, but then turned to Dex and Lucy. “Come and meet them.”
Dex stiffened. “Are you sure they’ll be okay with us being here? Maybe we should leave.”
“Are you kidding?” Radley exclaimed. “After everything you’ve done for us. They’ll be begging you to stay. Come on.”
Lucy took Dex’s hand. “Let’s go!”
“Okay.” He stepped closer and whispered into her ear. “If they’re dangerous or I feel threatened, we’re going to leave. Are you okay with that?”
She turned to stare into his eyes. Their noses nearly touched, and their mouths were only inches apart.
Dex’s heart pounded and his pulse raced through his body. He tried to speak but couldn’t find his voice.
“Wherever you go, I’ll go.” Lucy squeezed his hand. “We’re a team.”
He nodded and swallowed. His voice still evaded him.
“You coming?” Radley called.
“Yeah!” Lucy stepped back and pulled him toward the stairs.
Dex cleared his throat. He needed to pull himself together if he was going to meet the other two men in the group. The last thing he could do was to let them sense even a hint of hesitation. They needed to know he wasn’t one to be crossed.
When he and Lucy made it to the yard, Zianna and Radley were pulling the fence open. After they stepped back, in rolled a muddy, beat up brown Hummer with black-tinted windows.
Dex planted his feet on the porch and pulled Lucy close. If the two guys inside were like Radley and Zianna, everything should be fine, but if they were at all like most people Dex had crossed paths with… He shuddered at the thought.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah, but if I say run, run. Okay?”
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m just worried those guys will be…” His voice trailed off as he contemplated his wording. “They might be like the doctors.”
She turned to him, her eyes wide. “You think so?”
“We’ve never met them.”
“Radley likes them. So does Zianna.”
Dex nodded. “That’s why I’m willing to give them a chance.”
Lucy stepped closer. “If you say run, I run.”
His voice caught again. “Thank you.”
“Should we help?” Lucy asked.
Zianna was closing the fence, and Radley was opening the garage door.
“I think they’ve got it. We need to see what those guys are like before we do anything.”
“Okay.”
Dex adjusted his bow and made sure his quiver was full. “You have your knives?”
“In my pocket.”
“Good.”
The Hummer’s engine cut in the garage. Zianna locked the fence into place and jogged around, waving Dex and Lucy over.
They followed, keeping their distance. No way was Dex going near the house until he met those two.
A door slammed shut, then another.
“Who are these guys?” asked a deep male voice. “And where’s Laiken?”
“It’s a long story,” Radley said. “First come meet them. They’ve helped us out more than you know.”
Dex squeezed Lucy’s hand. He released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
Chapter 34
Lucy stepped closer to Dex and pressed herself against his side. He wrapped his arm around her and straightened his back.
The sounds of the two men’s boots echoed on the concrete garage floor.
One man stepped out. He was short, muscular, and had thick black hair. He looked like the kind of guy who could kill ten men in one breath.
The other man was taller and skinnier, but equally intimidating. He had short, wavy brown hair and what appeared to be a permanent scowl.
They both stepped out into the yard, staring down Dex. The short one arched a brow. “You helped our family?”
Dex kept his expression tense and didn’t move from his spot. “We did. They helped us, as well.”
The taller one moved closer. “Let’s hear about it.”
Radley came over and stood between them. “First, introductions.” She smiled and told the men Dex’s and Lucy’s names. Then she pointed to the shorter man. “And this is Bob and Ian.”
Dex nodded toward them. Neither of the other men moved a muscle.
Radley waved toward the house. “Let’s go inside and catch up. Trust me, once you all get to know each other, you’ll be best friends.”
Dex would believe that when he saw it. Radley headed inside, and everyone else followed.
The garage door crashed shut, then Zianna came into the living room from there.
“Where’s Laiken?” Bob asked Zianna.
Her expression darkened. “We haven’t seen him in a few days.”
“He abandoned you?” Ian exclaimed.
“Or he’s dead,” Zianna whispered.
It was the first time she’d admitted that was a possibility.
“We didn’t find him, remember?” Radley turned to Zianna. “He wasn�
��t among the bodies.”
Bob pulled a sword out from his coat, sat on the couch, and looked around at everyone. “Sounds like you’d better fill us in.”
Dex sat as far away from Bob and Ian as possible. The urge to leave and find out what had happened to his family had never been stronger. It had been pushed to the background as he and Lucy helped Radley and Zianna get the house back in order.
Radley explained everything that had happened with the wanderers escaping Silverly a few days earlier. Bob and Ian mostly listened, but stopped a few times to ask questions.
Just as she was explaining how the four of them escaped the second level…
Creak!
Dex sat up straight. The noise came from the new stairs.
Bob grabbed his sword. “What was that?”
Ian jumped up, aimed a gun in the direction, and cocked it.
Creak!
Had a wanderer been up there all that time?
Bob and Ian crept toward the stairs. Dex joined them, his bow ready.
They rounded the corner to the stairs. Dex saw him.
Laiken.
“Where the hell have you been?” Dex aimed his arrow at Laiken’s head.
Lucy, Radley, and Zianna came around the corner. Shock covered their faces.
Ian ran over to the bottom of the stairs and pointed his gun at Dex. “What’s going on?”
“Talk to him! He should be dead.”
Ian turned the gun toward Laiken.
Laiken put his hands in the air. “I’ve been upstairs.”
“For three days?” Anger tore through Dex. Laiken was even more of a weasel than he’d given him credit for. “You sat up there hiding while the women and I cleaned and repaired everything?”
Bob glared at him. “Explain. Now.”
“Okay, I will. Just let me downstairs.”
“No.” Ian leaned forward, moving the gun closer to Laiken. “You can tell us from right there.”
Laiken scowled and leaned against the wall. “Fine. When the zombies started coming up here, I freaked out. I didn’t want to die. So I hid.”
“Hid?” Zianna exclaimed. “Where? I looked everywhere. Everywhere! I should’ve been helping them, but I was busy looking for you.”
Dex Page 14