by Chelsea Luna
Rachel nudged Steve with her toe. His head flopped to the side. “And when he wakes up?” She touched her bruised neck. “How many innocent people is he going to kill?”
Cage went silent. “Don’t, Rachel. You’ll regret it later.”
Adam watched Rachel’s face tighten. He knew what she wanted to do and he wouldn’t stop her if she did it. On some morbid level, Adam agreed with her.
Rachel stared at Steve for a long minute before cursing and walking away from Steve’s unconscious body. “Let’s get out of Detroit.”
Chapter Four
Rachel scanned the flat field. The half-mile patch of burnt grass was hidden in the middle of the forest. The spot looked deserted, but that could change at any moment. She didn’t like it—they were completely exposed. Anyone (dead or alive) could see them. The sky had turned a deep purplish-pink and it soon would be impossible to see what lurked in the darkness.
“We don’t have anything,” Lindsay whined. “No blankets, no extra clothes. Nothing. How are we supposed to survive?”
“We have our weapons that we had with us,” Adam said calmly.
Rachel shook her head. She didn’t know how Adam had so much patience. With the Traverse’s tires slashed, they had to steal the gang’s pickup truck. They’d managed to grab a couple of things, but they didn’t want to risk the other gang members coming back.
“And we have Nicky’s backpack,” Adam said. “He was smart enough to keep it with him. What do you have in there, Nicky?”
“Can you repeat the part where you said I was the smart one? No? Okay. Well, I have two flashlights, one bottle of water, a box of graham crackers, some leftover caviar and two shirts.” Nicky grimaced. “We’re f—”
“We’ll be fine,” Adam said. “It’s a long way to Vegas. We’ll gather more supplies.”
“We’re camping here?” Cage frowned. “Out in the open?”
“It’s not an ideal situation.” Rachel defended Adam’s choice even though she’d just questioned it herself two minutes ago. “But we can’t risk driving around in the dark and running out of gas.”
“It’ll be fine.” Adam scratched his shoulder and the muscles in his bicep bulged.
Rachel dropped her eyes.
“We can build a fire, but we need something to shield the flames,” Adam said. “I don’t want anyone knowing we’re out here.” He pointed to the truck. “We’ll sleep in shifts. Whoever is on guard can sit on top of the truck and watch with the flashlight. We can make this work for one night.”
“Super,” Lindsay muttered.
“There’s a creek down there.” Finn pointed. “Can we drink the water? Do you think we can catch any fish?”
Adam made a face. “I don’t know.”
“Where are we?” Rachel asked.
“Southeast of Kalamazoo. Not far from Lake Michigan.”
Nicky’s nose crinkled. “A creek in Kalamazoo?”
“We can boil the water,” Lindsay said. “I saw that on a TV show—like Survivor or something.”
“We don’t have anything to boil it in,” Rachel said. “I’m going down to the creek to wash up.”
“Wait.” Adam stepped in front of her. “We need to stay in pairs from now on.”
Rachel planted the end of the baseball bat into the ground. “Okay, who’s coming with me?”
“I’ll go with you,” Cage and Adam said in unison.
Lindsay snickered. “Slut.”
Rachel stared at Lindsay for a long minute. Too long. All the rage and anger that had been penned up over the last few hours exploded—she sprang like a cheetah devouring a gazelle.
Lindsay was too shocked to move.
Luckily, Adam wasn’t. He grabbed Rachel before she reached Lindsay. Adam wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up off the ground. “Calm down, Rachel.”
Nicky gathered Lindsay. “You, too. Although, I kind of want to see a catfight.”
“She was going to hit me!” Lindsay shrieked.
“I’m sorry,” Rachel whispered.
“You crazy bitch!”
“Don’t call her that,” Adam said. “I’m warning you.”
Rachel rushed forward again, but Adam held her back. She felt herself losing control again. “I’m crazy? Why don’t you tell everyone the truth? You were going to let me die!”
Nicky glanced up.
“What do you mean, Rachel?” Cage stood between the girls.
“At the dorm in Ann Arbor, when I slipped out the window. Lindsay hesitated. She wanted me to fall, but everyone was watching, so she pulled me up.”
“I was scared!” Lindsay buried her head in Nicky’s chest.
Tears flowed down Lindsay’s face—Rachel was positive she could make them appear on demand.
“She’s lying,” Rachel said. “She told me it was my fault Cage was gone. She’s a psychopath.”
“Is that true, Lindsay?” Adam held Rachel. She wanted him to hold her tighter, but she’d never admit it.
“I was upset, but I was going to help her. And it was her fault! She kept screaming at the dorm—”
“Lindsay.” Cage frowned.
“Rachel has risked her life over and over again for this group,” Adam said. “You have no right to treat her the way you do.”
“Of course you’d say that,” Lindsay said. “You’re trying to get in her pants.”
“That’s enough!” Nicky yelled. “We can’t keep ripping each other’s throats out.” He turned to Rachel. “I’ll go with you to the creek. Come on.”
Adam handed Rachel the empty gas can they’d found in the truck. Their fingers brushed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Nicky propped his fire axe on his good shoulder. “Let’s go, Warrior Princess.”
Rachel and Nicky walked side by side in silence until the meadow turned into a forest. “Sorry I tried to beat up your girlfriend.”
Nicky shrugged. “It was bound to happen. Finn and I have a standing bet over which one of you would swing first. But, technically, you didn’t swing.”
“How’s your shoulder?” Rachel asked.
“Hurts like a bitch.” Nicky slightly flexed his arm. Adam’s cousin, Manny, shot Nicky with a bow and arrow a few days ago. “I think I tore something when Cage and I fought off that pack of deadheads in the forest. We need to find another first-aid kit. Pronto. I don’t want it to get infected, especially since showers are now a thing of the past.”
“Adam’s right. We’ll find supplies soon.”
Nicky peeked at Rachel from the corner of his eye.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
“You and Cage aren’t doing so hot,” Nicky said.
The ground sloped as they neared the creek. Rachel knelt beside the water and rinsed the blood and dirt from her arms. She watched Morgan’s blood float away with the current.
“Are you really asking me about a relationship status? Sorry, I haven’t found a computer to update that on Facebook.” Rachel rinsed out the gas can in the water. “The world is ending, if you haven’t noticed.”
Nicky shrugged. “Then relationships are more important than they were before.”
“How so?”
“We’re struggling to survive, Rachel. Like, our entire species is on the verge of extinction and, I think, eventually, a small group of us is going to make it. That’s all that matters now, love and death.” Nicky grinned. “Man, that was deep. Don’t tell anyone it came from me.”
“Your secret is safe with me.” Rachel sighed. “Cage is great, but we’re not right for each other.”
“Adam’s right for you?”
Rachel looked up sharply. “I guess time will tell. To be completely honest, neither of them have been in the forefront of my mind today.”
“No, I know,” Nicky said. “I’m sorry about what happened to Morgan. You did the right thing when you shot that dude in the van.”
“
You think?”
Nicky shrugged. “It needed to be done. You were strong enough to do it. Times have changed and the world is a better place without those creeps in it.”
Rachel didn’t want to discuss killing anymore. “How are things with Lindsay?”
“She’s not entirely repulsed by me anymore.” Nicky beamed. “I call that an improvement.”
The corner of her mouth turned up into a smile. “That is an improvement.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.”
“Do you think we’re going to make it to Vegas? All of us?”
Rachel stood. “No.”
~ ~ ~
The fire wasn’t necessary for heat—even at night, it was eighty degrees—but it made them feel safer. Rachel adjusted the rocks surrounding the fire on three sides. The truck blocked the fourth side so the flames weren’t visible in the distance. Everyone was sprawled out around the fire, except for Adam who had first watch on top of the truck.
The atmosphere was drastically different from the campout they had in Finn’s aunt’s clothing store. What was that—three days ago? They’d shared stories, laughed and felt safe and secure. Selena and Morgan were alive and Rachel and Cage had kissed in the storeroom.
It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Cage slept soundly near Finn. Rachel smiled—Cage was a good guy. They’d been through so much in the last few days. She never would’ve made it this far without his help and his level-headed thinking.
A giggle cut through the crackling flames.
Nicky and Lindsay were huddled together under one of Nicky’s shirts. Rachel flipped on her side. Gross. She closed her eyes, but she wouldn’t sleep. Not tonight. Not on the night of Morgan’s murder and the night she’d killed a man in cold blood.
Rachel climbed to her feet. She didn’t want to wake the others, but she couldn’t lie there anymore with all those horrible thoughts flooding her mind.
Adam turned the flashlight on her. “Hey.”
“I can’t sleep.”
Adam extended his hand. She placed her foot on the front tire and, with Adam’s help, climbed the truck. She stretched her legs on the windshield and looked up—thousands of stars filled the sky.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” Adam said.
“It’s beautiful.”
“Yes, it is.”
Another of Lindsay’s giggles rose from the blankets.
“Nicky and Lindsay are hitting it off,” Rachel said.
Adam scanned the perimeter with the flashlight. “Nicky’s dream has officially come true. At least the others are sleeping and don’t have to listen to those sounds.” He smiled. “I’m glad you’re keeping me company.”
She stared at her hands. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
“For what?”
“Wanting to run out onto the highway like an idiot when the gang showed up. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I would’ve gotten us all killed. Thank you for stopping me.”
Dark eyes searched her face. “You’re doing better.”
“I wanted to kill them all. One by one.”
“I know,” he said.
“I’m not a good person, Adam.”
“Wanting revenge against your sister’s killers doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you human.”
“I can’t stop blaming myself for Morgan’s death.”
“It was a stray bullet,” Adam said gently. “There was nothing you could’ve done.”
“No, but I sent her to science camp. I thought I was helping her by getting her away from Gene.”
“Gene?”
“Our foster father.”
“Oh.” A deep line formed between Adam’s eyebrows. “The old-guy zombie from the Wooden Barrel in Flint?”
Rachel nodded. She didn’t want to think about how she smashed her zombie foster father’s head with the baseball bat. For a full minute, she’d completely gone insane with rage. “I sent Morgan to science camp. If she’d stayed home, she would’ve been with me in Flint. We never would’ve gone to Ann Arbor or Detroit. We could have—”
“No. The zombies would’ve come and you and Morgan would’ve been alone. You never would’ve met Cage or me or Nicky or any of us. Imagine protecting Morgan alone.”
Rachel had never thought of it that way. Either way, they would’ve been screwed. Morgan wasn’t cut out for the apocalypse—she wasn’t a cold-blooded murderer like Rachel.
“What are you thinking?” Adam asked.
“There’s a small part of me that’s relieved Morgan’s no longer around. She was too sweet to live like this. I’m glad she’s somewhere safe now.”
Rachel didn’t realize she was crying until Adam wiped away a tear with his thumb. She leaned her head against his shoulder and melted into his chest.
“I felt that way about Selena, too,” Adam said. “I hope they’re both in a better place.”
“Me, too.”
A long moment passed. Rachel felt safe next to Adam—like he’d take care of everything. It was a freeing feeling—she didn’t have to be responsible for everything and everyone. How had her feelings for Adam changed so drastically?
Cage shifted in his sleep.
Adam flashed the light in his direction. “He’s really pissed at me.”
“He’s upset with me, too. Everything I do disappoints him.”
“You haven’t done anything wrong. We’re fighting for our lives. He should give you some slack.”
Rachel sighed. “I’m not sure I deserve any slack.”
Adam turned off the light, and they sat in darkness. “You deserve more than you think. I forgot to tell Nicky about your knife-throwing skills—he would’ve been impressed how you took down that woman.”
“It was pure luck.”
“Skills, you mean.” Adam stretched. “Is your foster mother still alive?”
“What? No. She turned into a zombie on my kitchen floor. My foster brother is dead, too. I have no family left.”
“That guy Gene, he—”
“Was a rotten man,” Rachel said.
“My dad was a jerk, too.” Adam scanned the field with the flashlight, but it was impossible to see farther than fifteen feet from the fire. A black inky darkness had cocooned around them.
Rachel scooted closer. Adam had his arm wrapped around her shoulder. It wasn’t cold, but she needed to be near him.
“My dad left when I was three,” he said. “Best thing that ever happened to my mom and me.” Adam paused. “Did he hurt you?”
“What?” Rachel asked.
“Did Gene hurt you?”
Rachel bit her lip. She never spoke about Gene. Never.
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
“Come here.” Adam pulled her onto his lap.
“I never let Gene hurt Morgan.”
“Of course you didn’t.” He kissed the top of her head.
She wanted to rub her hand over the stubble on his jaw. Her heartbeat raced when Adam rested his forehead against hers. Neither of them had mentioned their quick kiss on the forest floor.
For a long moment, Rachel was sure he was going to kiss her again, but he didn’t.
He sighed. “You should get some sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
She laid her head on his lap and closed her eyes. “You know what?”
“What’s that?”
“Yesterday was my eighteenth birthday.”
Adam bent down and kissed her forehead. “Happy birthday, Rachel.” He ran his hand through her hair soothing her into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Five
“We’re supposed to take shifts.” Cage’s angry voice drifted into Nicky’s ear.
Nicky’s arm was draped across Lindsay’s butt. He pulled her closer and opened an eye to see what in the hell was going on. Couldn’t a man sleep in peace?
Cage stood near the truck.
Adam was still positioned on watch. Rachel looked like she’d been caught with her hand in the cooki
e jar—Adam’s cookie jar. Her eyes squinted from sleep and she looked guilty. Did they hook up last night?
“I wasn’t tired,” Adam said. “So I let everyone sleep. You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Thanks, dude,” Nicky said.
Lindsay groaned and pulled Nicky’s shirt over her head.
“You’re making all the decisions for us now?” Cage asked. “When were you appointed leader? We don’t get a say in anything?”
Nicky couldn’t see Cage’s face, but he sounded pissed, and it probably wasn’t because Adam so graciously kept watch last night while everyone else slept. It probably had to do with Rachel falling asleep beside Adam. When did she go up there? Nicky hadn’t noticed. He was too busy making out with Lindsay to pay attention to anything else.
He grinned from ear to ear.
“What are you smiling at?” Lindsay muttered. “You look like the Grinch when he steals all the presents.”
“Nothing, but I appreciate the movie reference.”
Rachel smoothed her hair. “It’s not a big deal, Cage. Adam let us sleep. You should be thanking him.” She fluidly slid down the windshield. She always reminded Nicky of a cheetah or a lion. A hot one.
Adam jumped to the ground and stood in front of Cage. They stood toe to toe like boxers at a weigh-in. Cage whispered something.
Adam’s dark eyebrows rose. “What did you say?”
Nicky opened both of his eyes. This wasn’t good.
Adam’s tone woke Lindsay, too. “What’s going on?”
“Cage and Adam.”
“Oh.” Lindsay stretched her arms above her head. “I knew this would happen.”
Finn was already on his feet. He glanced back and forth between Adam and Cage.
“Cage, stop,” Rachel said. “Both of you, quit it.”
Cage eyed Adam. Apparently, he wasn’t afraid of the firefighter. “I said, I’m sorry your girlfriend died, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over so you can take mine.”
Adam punched Cage in the nose.
It was a quick, loud snap that no one saw coming, especially Cage. He stumbled backward. Adam’s fist was still clenched.