I watched him for a moment, seeing no judgment in his eyes. “My grandparents have a lot of meds in their bathroom. Ibuprofen, painkillers, Ex-Lax. The door is open. You’re welcome to it.”

Tobin managed a small laugh. “Thank you. I hope you find your girls.”

“I will,” I said, turning and breaking into a sprint. The next block was Main Street. It was well lit, the main road of Anderson, and boasted the only four stoplights in town. A four lane with room to spare on each side for parking, the road was wide, and didn’t offer much in the way of cover. I had so much momentum going when the streetlamp on the corner revealed my presence like an escaped convict, I just kept going, hoping I was lucky enough that no one would see. I flew across the street and the sidewalk, and cut across the funeral parlor’s back parking lot, shooting down the alley. A broken chair was right around the corner, and before I even thought to jump, my legs were already pushing me up and over.

My tennis shoes and scrubs were wet and weighed down with mud, but knowing my girls were just a few miles away, my legs carried me like I was weightless.

Tobin called to me from blocks away. “Go, Scarlet! You will find them! You will! Go!”

My legs ran faster than they ever had before, even in high school when I attempted track and wanted to please my mother so much that I ran until my lungs felt they would burst. Still, I was always the slowest, always the one left behind. But not that night. That night, I could fly.

The old railroad station came into view, and I skipped over the rails, and then surged past the remnants of the brick and mortar that displayed the word ANDERSON. The letters were dirty and rusted like my hometown had become. I glanced back just once before crossing the street. Even though sweat poured into my eyes, and my lungs could barely keep up, I wouldn’t stop. Three more blocks to my babies. They would be there. They would.

I cut down an alleyway, getting a second wind when I felt the familiar gravel crunch under my feet. A dog barked, and I smiled. Not a single dog could be heard on the other side of town. The soldiers hadn’t reached this side yet. Jenna and Halle would be waiting for me and I would take them into my arms and squeeze them so tight that nothing else would matter. The craziness outside the city limits would disappear.

I reached the end of the alley, across from Andrew’s house. His detached garage and drive were directly in front of me, but his 4Runner was absent. My chest heaved, and my guts lurched, purging the rattled remnants in my stomach.

Chapter Ten

Nathan

“That’s you, brother, let’s go!” Skeeter said, running to a window. His head moved in every direction as he tried to get a good look. “Two cars! Right out front!”

Someone outside yelled, and I could see a large group of the dead peel off the wall and amble toward the street.

I ran to the door and pressed my ear against the door. No scratching, no rubbing noises. No moans.

“Zoe?” I called.

Zoe jogged to my side. I positioned her behind me and grabbed the knob.

“Wait!” Zoe cried, looking at her aunt Jill, who was lying lifeless on the floor, aside from her eyes. They were forcing themselves open, bloodshot and weeping, but alert.

“Zoe, we have to go,” I said, holding her wrist.

“I love you!” Zoe cried. She was just a child, but she knew that she wouldn’t see her aunt again. “I love you, Aunt Jill!” Tears streamed down Zoe’s cheeks as she reached out to her aunt, pulling against my grip.

Jill managed a small smile. The veins had become more visible under her skin: blue, slithering lines, branching off and covering her like the virus spreading through her body. A single tear slipped down Jill’s cheek and dripped to the blanket beneath her.

Skeeter rushed to Zoe, pulling her into his arms. “Don’t cry, lil’ bit.” He placed his thumb under her chin and lifted her eyes to his. “I’m going to take care of Jillybean, mmkay? You know how much Uncle Skeeter loves Aunt Jill, don’tcha?”

Zoe nodded, and her eyebrows pulled together.

Skeeter smiled and hugged her to him once more. “We love you, Zoe. Listen to your Daddy. He’s going to take good care of you. Be quiet, now.” Zoe’s fingers pressed into Skeeter’s shoulders. Skeeter let her go and stood. “Go, Nate. Go now.”

I nodded, put my car keys in my mouth, shoved the clip into the AR, cocked it, and opened the door. I leaned out to take a quick look. It was clear. I nodded to Zoe, and then nodded to Skeeter. He winked at me, and I ran, tugging Zoe along with me.

Crossing the street, I saw a black Jeep Wrangler speeding away toward Anderson. I didn’t wait to see if those things would follow.

I let go of Zoe’s hand and pulled the keys from my mouth. “Zoe, keep up!” I said, holding the key out in front of me so I could shove it in the lock as soon as we got to the car. I didn’t want to do anything stupid like drop the keys, so I made sure to hold it securely between my fingers.

When we reached the car, I remembered I hadn’t had time to lock it before, so I just opened the door and reached back to grab Zoe. Something rounded the corner of the house, but I didn’t pay attention to what it was or how many, I just picked up my daughter and nearly tossed her into the passenger side. And then I did exactly what I said I wouldn’t do. I dropped the fucking keys.

They slid under the car, out of sight.

“Daddy!” Zoe cried.

My focus shifted to the man walking toward me. I raised the AR and pulled the trigger and missed. I pulled the trigger again, this time hitting this ragged, bloody predator in the neck. The wound didn’t faze him. Suddenly the left side of his skull exploded, and he fell to the ground, midstep. Skeeter stood on the other side of the street, with his hunting rifle in his hand. He held up his fist, extending his index finger, pinky, and thumb. I returned the gesture and jumped in the car, backing out of his drive and turning west onto the highway.

Miranda

Fifteen minutes east, I pulled the Bug over to the shoulder of the road. Mascara was burning my eyes, and it was getting harder to see the road. Bryce was still looking out the window. I reached back, squeezing when I felt Ashley’s hand in mine.

She was my older sister, but Daddy had always said I was the strong one. Ashley didn’t give me a choice. When our parents split, Ashley became a different person, like a sweater you put in the wash and it never fits or looks the same. She wasn’t the giggly, carefree girl I grew up with. Instead she was wounded, overly emotional and cynical. When she leaned up to show me her eyes, her blond hair fell forward, the long, stringy strands hovering over her lap. She was still sobbing, most of her face blotchy and wet.

“What if there’s soldiers waiting at Fairview, too?” Cooper said, stuttering over his words.

Ashley’s voice surged, in a half hum, half groan. “I want to go home, Miranda. I want to see Mom!”

“Fairview won’t have soldiers. The only reason Anderson had those idiots with guns is because of the armory,” Bryce snapped. He was clearly more than annoyed with Ashley. As if the loud sobbing wasn’t stressful enough.

“What do we do?” Ashley said. “It’s going to be dark soon. I don’t think we should be out at night.”

I looked to Bryce. “She has a point.”

He didn’t necessarily agree, but he didn’t argue. I pulled back onto the road and drove a few more miles until we came upon an old farmhouse. I turned into the drive, nearly taking out the formerly white, rusted mailbox.

The Bug’s new brakes squeaked o a stop. We all stared at the house, waiting for someone to open the door, or greet us, or try to eat us. I reached for the door handle, but Bryce grabbed my arm.

“I’ll go,” he said. He pushed open the passenger door and slowly walked up to the side of the house.

I glanced around. There were no vehicles, but there was a barn. Maybe they had parked there, and it only appeared deserted. Two cars traveling west on Highway 11 caught my eye: a silver car and a black, four-door Jeep Wrangler. For half a second, I focused on the child in a car seat. She was passing by in slow motion, holding up a teddy bear, oblivious that the world had gone to shit around her.

“Oh my God,” I said, turning to watch them drive past. “Oh my God!”

“What?” Ashley cried, instantly panicked.

“They’re headed straight for Anderson. They’re going to be killed by those crazies on the bridge!” I opened my door and stepped out.

“Bryce, let’s go! We have to stop them!”

“We can’t save everyone that heads that way,” Ashley said, gripping my headrest.

“But there’s a . . . there’s a baby in the car! Bryce!”

Bryce turned to me with a frown, holding his finger to his mouth.

“But . . . ,” I said, watching them drive out of sight. And then they were gone. I sat back in the Bug and shut my door. “That’s on us,” I said, my eyes meeting Ashley’s in the rearview mirror.

“Hurry up, Bryce,” Cooper whispered, mostly to himself.

Bryce took one look inside and turned on his heels, jumped off the small, concrete porch, and sprinted to the Bug. He slammed the door and pointed to the road. “Go,” he said, out of breath.

“What did you see?”

“Go! Go!” he yelled, pointing.

I stomped on the gas and pulled back onto the highway. “What?” I said, safely back on the road. “What did you see?”

Bryce shook his head.

“We should turn around.”

“No.”

“Try to warn that family about the bridge.”

“No.”

“Didn’t you hear me, Bryce? There was a baby in the car! We should turn around!”

“There was a baby inside that house, too!” he yelled. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then spoke again. “Trust me. If they’re killed on that bridge, they’re better off.”

I watched Bryce for a moment, and then returned my focus to the road. All color had left his face, and sweat had formed along his hairline.

“What did you see?” I said quietly.

He looked out the window. “You don’t want to know. I wish I could unsee it.”

The next miles were quiet as we made our way to Fairview, but it wasn’t hard to tell when we’d reached the city limit. More infected roamed the streets than I had anticipated, alone and in groups. We were almost through town when I slammed on my brakes.

“What?” Bryce said loudly, slamming his palm against the dash.

A woman was running down the street barefoot, carrying a little girl in one arm, and pulling along a boy, maybe nine or ten, with the other. She wore a red dress with white polka dots, and her hair had mostly fallen from her low, dark ponytail.

“Bryce,” I said.

“I see them.”

The woman stopped at the corner church, and helped the boy climb up on top of the air-conditioning unit, bravely passing a large group of infected. She heaved the boy onto her shoulders, and then pushed him up, allowing him to climb onto the roof, and then held up the little girl. He pulled her up safely, but she was reaching for the woman, crying and drawing the attention of the mob of bloody horrors pounding against the front of the church. Several of the dead ones broke away and ambled in the woman’s direction. She was struggling to climb, but the boy waited, bent over and holding his knees, encouraging her.

It was then that I saw a trail of blood running up the side of the white wood of the church. Someone else had already gone in that way. Someone that was probably infected.

“We’ve got to help them,” I said, determined this time.

“Look,” Cooper said, his hand stretching between my and Bryce’s seats. He pointed to the church. “The windows are boarded! There’s people in there!”

Bryce looked to me. “It seems like a good place to wait out the night.”

I watched as the woman barely made it to the roof before the dead reached the unit she’d been standing on.

I breathed out the breath I’d unconsciously been holding. “Okay, but how do we get in? How do we get them to let us in?”

“They’re not very fast,” Cooper said, gesturing to the woman on the roof. “She ran right past them.”

“I’m not going out there with those things walking around!” Ashley wailed. “No way!”

I looked around the Bug, making sure we’d have no surprises, and then noted the position of the sun. “We can’t make it to the ranch before dark. There are already people inside there. They probably have guns, and water—”

“And a bathroom,” Cooper muttered.

Bryce nodded. “We have none of those. We’re going in there. We just have to find a way to distract them long enough to get inside.”

“You guys get out here. I’ll drive past them and lure them away, ditch the Bug, hide, and then double back.”

Bryce shook his head. “I’ll do it.”

“Look!” Ashley said.

The woman was trying to open the window, but was having trouble. Suddenly it opened, and she held back her children, shielding them for a moment until she recognized whoever was standing on the other side. A tall, scruffy man ducked through the window, and helped the mother and children inside. He walked over to the edge and took a look at the frantic pack below. They were clamoring over each other, trying to get at the people on the roof.

“Look at them. They can’t climb,” I said, surprised.

Bryce stepped out of the Bug and waved his arms. “Hey!” he yelled.

“What the hell are you doing? What if he shoots at us?” Cooper said.

“Help us!” Bryce said, ignoring Cooper.

The man on the roof signaled for us to come around to the backside of the church, and then pointed at his gun.

“He’s going to cover us. Let’s go. Let’s go!” Bryce said, getting back in.

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