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“Too late. Once we’re spotted, there’s no point in turning around. They’ll chase us down. These scum of the earth rose when the world fell and took advantage of everyone’s vulnerability. They’ll chase down and kill everyone who runs from them, and if you’re lucky, the only thing they’ll take is all your supplies. If you’re not lucky, they take your life, too.”
“I know what dregs are, dumbass.”
“Just making sure. You said you haven’t run into them yet.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t know what they are.”
As he pulls the car closer to our impending doom, Griffin gives me the most serious look I’ve ever seen. Even more serious than when he slapped handcuffs on me. “Whatever happens, don’t get out of this car.”
Right, like that’s going to fucking happen.
7
GRIFFIN
Dregs. The scum of the earth. When the dead rose, so did they. People who are thrilled there are no consequences for hurting others and taking what they want. Some of them work solo while others band together in groups, and this group looks like a pretty big one. Laying traps in the road for the sorry souls who can’t defend themselves against a group their size. We’re screwed.
My palms sweat as my mind races for a way out of this mess. Ideally, we’ll all get out unscathed, and if we’re lucky, they won’t take anything more than our food. We can always find more food. It’s gotten harder to do as time went on and survivors scavenged everywhere they could, but we’ll make it work. As long as we can get out of this alive.
“William, pull down the middle of the seat so Emily can crawl through into the trunk.”
“Fuck that. I’m never getting in the trunk again. You get in the trunk.”
I knew she wouldn’t go for it. I should have stuffed her in there when we left the campsite. Tied her up and not let her out until we arrived at wherever it is we’re going. She kept asking about where we’re headed, but truth be told, I don’t know. There was no way we could stay in that clearing anymore, not with the smell. I should’ve tied her up and thrown her in the trunk last night the moment I realized she was no longer in the tent. Hindsight is a real bitch.
We get closer to the line of cars, and most of the dregs have their hands on their guns, ready to point and shoot. We are far too outnumbered here. The last time we ran into some dregs…well, it didn’t go well. And this time there’s more at stake.
“I mean it, Emily. Keep your head down and stay in the fucking car. All of you.” I put the car into park and get out, then lock the door before slamming it shut. I raise my hands in the air and step forward.
Car doors open and shut behind me and I clench my jaw, knowing that someone got out. I don’t know if it’s William or Max; I don’t dare take my eyes off of the dregs to look back and see. But I’m going to fucking kill them both if they get us killed. My ghost will revive them just so I can kill them myself.
“We don’t want any harm. Please, let us pass.”
“What’s it going to cost ya?” The man directly in front of me speaks, and I assume he’s the leader. He’s got the best posture of them all and the most lax stance. He’s the only one without his hand on a gun, trusting his couple dozen men to have his back. Not to mention he’s wearing a fucking suit. He doesn’t do the dirty work around here.
“We have food. We’ll give you as much as you want.”
The man chews on something. Maybe it’s gum, I don’t know, but he chews and then purses his lips as he thinks over my offer. I try to think of what else we might have to offer. We can give them tents, though our three tents won’t be nearly enough to house a group this size, and we’ll be left even more vulnerable in the night. So that’s pretty useless to them. We have plenty of weapons, but Max will give his life before giving up any of those. “We’ll take your food.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. This isn’t as bad as I feared. These are reasonable men, after all.
“And the girl.”
My back stiffens. I knew I should have forced her into the trunk. He probably saw her through the windshield. Why didn’t I at least put the damn visor down? “You can have the food and our tents.”
“And the girl.”
“Our food, tents, and the car.”
“And the girl.”
“That’s not an option.”
The man lifts his chin to someone behind me, and I freeze. No, absolutely not. She didn’t. She wouldn’t.
I turn my head slowly to look over my shoulder and see her standing there, with her amber eyes wide. Strands of her long dark hair have fallen loose from her ponytail and are fluttering in the slight breeze. She looks as scared as she did last night when I saw Max push her toward the horde of rotters. I wanted to kill Max when he did that, but right now, I’m going to need to kill a couple dozen dregs, plus my friends for letting her out of the car.
A part of me wonders why. She’s caused us nothing but trouble since the moment I laid my eyes on her. Still, I couldn’t live with myself if I agreed to it. I’m not that kind of man, and I made a personal vow to never become a dreg of humanity.
