“Dammit,” Blake muttered. “I was going to go around that town up ahead but now I think we might need to go right through it. Could be our only chance to lose them.”
“It’s like four miles away,” I said.
“Do you have a better idea?” Blake asked with a soft chuckle. The tone indicated, however, that he didn’t find anything even a little funny. “Because if you do, I’m all ears.”
I chewed on my cheek. “No, but I sure wish I did.”
“They are just so close to my bumper,” Blake said his eyes flicking back and forth from the road to the rear view mirror. His knuckles were as white as morning frost on a window. “I’m going to tap my brake.”
“What if they slam into us?” I asked tugging on my seatbelt.
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Blake said.
His knee stiffened and the SUV jerked. I blinked and could hear the tires of the car behind us squeal.
“Jesus,” Blake said with a small nervous laugh. Sweat beaded up at his temple.
Blake’s plan worked somewhat because they backed off. Although it wasn’t enough. They were still following us.
“What do they want?” I said sinking down in my seat. It was odd they hadn’t tried to get us to pull over but that didn’t stop me from worrying that they were going to pull out their guns and shoot at the SUV.
“They probably want to bring us back,” Blake said.
“How are they going to do that?” Whitney asked.
Blake exhaled. “They’re not. But maybe they think they’re going to capture us, drag us back against our will. What they don’t know is that’s not going to work.”
“There’s only three of them,” Maddie said.
“Three guns versus one gun. Doesn’t look good for us,” I said.
“But if they wanted to shoot us, wouldn’t they have done that by now?” Maddie asked.
“You’d think,” Blake said. “I don’t think they want us dead.”
The country road turned into a smoother, paved city road. There were houses on both sides of the road and mailboxes perched upon posts like birdhouses at the end of each driveway. We’d made it to the town but without any other traffic and without knowing our way around, it was going to be hard to lose James’s men.
“All right,” Blake said. “Let’s do this.”
Blake stepped on the gas and turned the corner so sharply the wheels screamed at the pavement. I grabbed a hold of the armrest stopping myself from flopping into Blake’s right side.
“Hold on,” Blake said as he straightened the wheel.
“Now you tell us,” Whitney groaned.
“You’ll probably want to just keep holding on until further notice,” Blake warned as he gripped the wheel and made another sharp turn.
This time my body pressed so hard against the door I was afraid it was going to pop open and I would roll to the ground. We were getting tossed around like a chef salad but it was working. The car behind us was still behind us but with each turn we took, we put more distance between us.
Blake turned around another block and then another. The car was zig-zagging between the cars and turning around the blocks. It felt like we’d been going in a giant circle.
“I think we lost them,” Maddie said peeking over the backseat and out the back window.
“Maybe,” Blake said zipping around another corner.
“Oh shit!” I said pressing my palms against the dash, hoping to stop myself from flying through the windshield. “Look out!”
There was no way the guy in the road could hear my warning.
Chapter Three
Blake slammed his foot down on the brake. The guy didn’t release his hold on the water bottles he was carrying as he dove toward the curb disappearing from view.
Whitney let out a sharp gasp as the SUV came to an abrupt stop propelling us all forward.
“Did you hit him?” Maddie asked in a rather calm voice.
“I don’t think so,” Blake said shifting the SUV into park. He put his head down and took in a breath as if he’d been drowning and finally found air. Blake turned to me with wide eyes. “Is he one of the sick?”
“The sick don’t really gather supplies, do they?” I asked as I slowly looked out my side window. I was afraid of seeing something gruesome that I wouldn’t be able to unsee.
The man was on the ground only inches away from the front bumper. His eyes bulged as he stared at the front of the SUV. There was no doubt the man was frightened but he definitely wasn’t sick.
His hair was a bit wild as if he were about six months overdue for a haircut. The man’s eyes were a bright blueish-gray the same color as a cloudy day where the sun was desperately trying to poke through.
He met my eyes and I noticed they sparkled with a friendly glimmer. It was something I hadn’t seen in a while.
I wasn’t afraid of him. Not even the slightest as I rolled down my window.
“What are you doing?” Whitney whispered sharply.
“Are you okay?” I asked the man on the ground.
He stared at me for a long moment as if he was trying to comprehend what I had asked him. A cheerful smile stretched across his face.
“I’m fine,” he said as if he were surprised by that fact. “Looks like you folks were in a hurry.”
“Yeah,” I said as my eyes flicked to the side mirror.
The man got to his feet and came closer to the window. I quickly pulled on my mask.
“Oh,” he said shaking his head. “I’m not sick.”
“Just a precaution,” I said.
“Where are you guys going in such a hurry?” he asked as his eyebrows pinched together.
Blake tapped the steering wheel anxiously with his fingers. “We need to say goodbye.”
“Aw, man. I haven’t talked to anyone in quite some time now,” the man said giving us a slightly exaggerated frown.
He shook his head and a smile appeared. There was no mistaking, however, that he was disappointed.
The man pulled the bottles away from his chest and looked down at his shirt. He held one of the bottles away from his body and water leaked out in a steady stream, raining down onto the ground.
“Damn,” he said with a sigh. He put the bottle up to his lips and sucked down the rest of the liquid. After he finished shot-gunning the water, he tossed the empty plastic to the side. “That was rude of me… I should have offered you some.”
“We need to be on our way,” Blake said. “Sorry for almost hitting you.”
“It’s all right. You weren’t the first person to try to hit me with their car and something tells me you probably won’t be the last,” he said laughing as he stuck out his hand toward me. When I didn’t take it, he pulled it back. “I guess people probably aren’t going to do that anymore, are they? Anyway, I’m Jay Cooper. It’s good to know there are still normal people out there. For a while now, I was a bit worried it was just me left with all the sick people.”
I bit my lip. I couldn’t stop myself from feeling bad for him. It must have been awful to think you were alone, surrounded by the sick.
I grabbed one of the extra masks from the console and held it out to him. “Here. You should have one of these.”
“Why?” Jay asked.
“So, you don’t get sick,” I said with narrowed eyes.
Jay raised a brow and shook his head. “This isn’t an easy life on my own. I’ll take my chances. Whatever will be, will be.”
We all turned at the same time the car slowly drove down the road at the far end of the block. It stopped and backed up before turning down our road.
My eyes blurred from the panic that surged through my veins. It felt like there was sand stuck in my throat.
“We gotta go,” Blake said pounding the steering wheel. “Please step away.”
“Those guys after you?” Jay asked keeping his hand on the side of the SUV.
“They are,” Blake answered quickly. “Which is why we need to go.”
The car was maneuvering around another vehicle that had been haphazardly parked in the middle of the road. I could see the grin on the driver’s face as they drew closer.
“I can help you,” Jay said quickly. He could sense that Blake wasn’t going to wait a second longer even if it meant the guy might lose his fingers.
It surprised me when Blake hadn’t shifted the SUV into reverse and sped away. He shot a quick glance at Jay.
“I know this town like the back of my hand. I have a place you can hide,” Jay said. “They won’t find you.”
“Get in,” Blake said pressing the unlock button on his door before handing me his gun. “Keep this on him and if you need to shoot… shoot.”
I wanted to argue but there wasn’t time. Hopefully, I’d have the courage to pull the trigger if it was necessary. Rather, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
James’s men were nearly halfway down the block. The man in the passenger seat stuck his head out the window and waved his empty hand.
“We just want to talk,” he called out but the gun in his other hand worried me. If they wanted to talk, he wouldn’t be gripping his pistol in the other hand.
“Reverse out of here,” Jay instructed.
“I had that much figured out,” Blake said. “Keep your heads down.”
Blake placed his hand on the back of my headrest and stepped on the gas. He sharply turned the wheel at the intersection and shifted into drive in one swift movement. Gravel spit out from beneath the wheels as Blake floored the pedal, causing the tires to spin briefly on the pavement.
“You’re going to want to go straight four blocks then make a left at the stoplights that aren’t working,” Jay said.
Blake followed his instruction even though the guy could have been leading us to certain death. Our choices were limited. I drew in a breath, trying to ignore the blurring surroundings to keep my eyes on Jay.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked.
“My place,” Jay said. “There’s a garage at the back. They won’t find you in there. What did you do to piss them off anyway? Like, how do I know if you are the good guys or if they are? After all, you were the ones to try to mow me down.”
“We’re the good guys,” Blake said turning at the stoplight just like he’d been instructed.
Jay nodded. “Well, if you say so, it must be true. Either way, I’m just happy to be talking to someone. Even if you are a group of serial killers and will end up taking my life. Take a left.”
Blake took a left and glanced in his mirrors. They were still behind us but the same as earlier, we were putting distance between us with each turn.
“They’re terrible at this,” Jay said. “Keep going straight until you get to that family diner, then you’ll want to make another left.”
“That’s a lot of lefts,” Blake muttered.
“Are we going in a circle?” Whitney asked.
“We are. Back where you almost hit me, well, that was roughly a block away from my place,” Jay said. “Don’t worry, though, we’ll lose them before you get to my driveway. Be sure to cut the engine the second we park in the garage. We wouldn’t want them to hear it.”
Blake followed his instructions and just as Jay had said we would, we lost the car before pulling into the driveway. He parked the SUV in the dark garage and we all stayed inside breathing rapidly as they drove right past the house. The car had slowed their chase. To them, it must have seemed as though we had vanished into thin air.
“Ha!” Jay said. “I knew it would work.”
Jay’s garage was nestled behind his house. There was a large tree in the backyard that created a large shadow over the garage and yard hiding us from view even though the garage door was wide open.
“Thanks for your help,” Blake said. “Mind if we hide out in here for a bit?”
“No problem but you don’t need to wait in the garage. Come on in and take a load off. I don’t have much to offer you these days but it would probably be a good idea to give it a couple hours before you get back on the road, don’t you think?” Jay asked.
“We appreciate at the offer but we’ll just wait out here,” Blake said.
Jay frowned. “I get it. But you don’t need to worry. I live alone. You can keep the gun on me if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
“I kind of have to use the bathroom again,” Whitney said. “The chase rattled my nerves.”
“You’re in luck! I have a bathroom,” Jay said slapping his thigh. “Please, come in. Just give me an hour of your time. It’s the least you can do for almost killing me, right? I’m so freaking lonely.”
Blake looked at me as if he were trying to find the answer written on my forehead. He exhaled as lightning lit up the sky and brightened the garage.
“You owe me one,” Jay said smiling. “You know, for almost killing me.”
“I suppose we could take a break,” Blake said. “But no funny business.”
“Of course, not,” Jay said holding up his hands. “My wife never thought I was very funny. She said all my jokes were dad jokes.”
Lightning cracked the earth and the silence that followed made my ears ring. The second we stepped out of the SUV, rain poured down.
Jay stepped out into the rain and smiled as he waved for us to follow him.
Chapter Four
Jay quickly unlocked the back door, pushing it open with a loud squeak. We all spilled into his kitchen one after the other.
The counter was littered with empty wrappers and packages. There were empty bottles of water, soda, and beer lined up on the table.
“Sorry,” Jay said. “Not that I’m not thrilled because I totally am, but I hadn’t been expecting company. Please, excuse the mess.”
Heavy rain pelted against the windows as if they were tiny pebbles being thrown at the building in giant handfuls. Jay started to toss some of the wrappers into the trash but it was already piled to the top.
“I’ll have to bring this out in the morning. I’ve got quite a collection building up out there already. And to think I used to complain about bringing out the trash,” Jay said clapping his hands together almost in time with a deep rumble of distant thunder. “Let me show you around.”
There was a short hallway between the kitchen and living room that had a closet and a bathroom. The living room was clean but there were pillows everywhere and blankets strewn over every piece of furniture in the room as if Jay had been planning to build the best blanket fort of all time.
“And that’s about it. There are two bedrooms upstairs and a second bathroom but I don’t go up there much anymore,” Jay said.
Blake walked over to the window and pulled the curtain a quarter of an inch to the side. Lightning flashed and reflected in his eyes.
“Quite a storm, huh?” Jay asked. “My basement will flood but it’s just boxes of old stuff and random junk down there.”
“If you don’t mind—” Whitney jerked her thumb over her shoulder “—I’m going to use the bathroom.”
“Oh, right, yes, of course,” Jay said. “Mi casa es su casa.”
“Thanks,” Whitney said crossing her hands in front of her as she backed away with a smile.
Jay started picking up the blankets and piled them at one end of the couch. “Please, everyone have a seat. Can I get you all something to drink?”
“No, thanks,” Blake replied instantly.
“Anyone else?” Jay asked glancing at Maddie and then at me.
I shook my head.
“I’ll take a water,” Maddie said. “But we have our own water. I could just go grab one.”
Blake shot her a glance. He wasn’t happy about the fact that she’d just told a stranger that we had our own supplies.
“No need to get soaked,” Jay said as if he could sense the tension that had suddenly filled the room. He scratched the side of his head as he turned toward Blake. “I’m not a bad guy but I can understand why you’d be skeptical.”
“Sorry,”
Blake said. “Hard to believe anyone is a good guy anymore.”
“You guys must have seen some shit out there,” Jay said crossing his arms. “There was a reason I didn’t leave this place after what happened. It’s hard enough going out there to find supplies, so I don’t die.” Jay’s expression turned to putty. “Sometimes, I wonder if that might be easier, though.”
The silence in the living room was brutal. Sounds of the rain and thunder intensified, sending a shiver down my spine.
“Wow, that brought things down, didn’t it?” Jay asked.
“I’m sorry, man,” Blake said. “I didn’t mean to insult you. Things have been rough for us out there.”
“I’m just a guy,” Jay said holding out his arms to his sides. “When the sickness spread through town, it quickly took my wife and ten-year-old daughter. It was pretty awful for a while.” Jay turned away from us to stare at the wall. “They kept coming back over and over and over again. It was so painful to see them… hear them.”
I understood what Jay was talking about as I’d seen it with Freddie. If it had been Maddie, not that I liked to think about it, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it.
“I did what I had to,” Jay said. “And it’s hard to live with that but it’s the worst thing I’ve ever done. If that makes me a bad guy then, yeah, I guess maybe I am one of them too.”
“You’re not a bad guy,” I said.
Jay met my eyes. “Thanks, but I’ll never forgive myself.”
“You did what you had to. They wouldn’t have wanted to live like that, would they?” I asked.
“Well, we never had a conversation but I don’t think they would,” Jay said.
“What did you do with them?” I said keeping my voice low and soft. It was clear talking about them made him uncomfortable. “If you don’t do certain things, they’ll just keep coming back.”
Jay shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t just kill them like you might think. After some time, they’ll just pop right back up,” I said with a cough. “I wish I didn’t have to say this but you have to decapitate, burn, or cut out their hearts to completely get rid of them. Which I guess you must have done otherwise they’d be back.”
What Remains Series (Book 3): Infected Page 2