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“That’s it.” Emily charges forward and shoves her dagger into the dreg’s gut, blood spilling out onto his light gray suit. He shoves the dagger in deeper, twisting and turning it until he falls to the ground, dead. Then she drops to her knees and faces the dog with a smile on her face. “Come here, boy. I won’t hurt you.” She holds out her hand, her full focus on a stranger’s dog while war wages behind her back.
“We’re not safe yet, Emily, get in the damn car,” I call out to her, grunting when I kill another dreg who’s trying to get to her. I drop him to the ground and run the rest of the short distance to her, grabbing onto her arm right when she scoops up the massive dog in her arms. I drag them both back to the car, shielding her as best as I can while Max and William cover us.
William helps her into the passenger seat, which she somehow fits in there with this enormous dog still in her lap, and I jump into the driver’s seat. Slamming the car into drive, we peel out, running over the dead and injured dregs on the way. I drive the length of the parked cars until I’m able to get around them, and then Max throws something out the window. He cackles when the grenade explodes.
“You couldn’t have done that sooner?” I ask.
“We were in too close quarters. Didn’t want to hurt pet, here.”
“I’m not your pet,” Emily shoots back.
“Appears you’ve got one of your own now,” William adds. “That looks like a Belgian Malinois. They’re known for their intelligence, loyalty, and ability to handle stressful situations.”
“Hopefully, he won’t have to handle a situation more stressful than the one I just saved him from. Is that right, Buddy?”
“You’ve named it already?” I swerve to avoid a rotter that’s dragging its decaying body toward the music that’s still blasting from the car far behind us.
“It is a he, and his collar says Buddy, so yes, he already has a name.” Buddy licks her face, and she laughs and throws her arms around him in a hug. She’s so tiny, she practically disappears beneath that dog in her lap like that.
“This is ridiculous. We’re picking up strays now.” Emily glares at me, but I don’t retract my words. I don’t regret her saving the dog, and truth be told, if she hadn’t been there, I would have saved the dog myself. I’m just…I don’t know. Everything she does puts us all—including her—in even more danger. I’m supposed to rein it in. I should make her stop doing it. But truth be told, fighting for survival has never been this exciting before.
Thumping sounds out from behind us and I look in the rearview mirror, but there’s nothing back there. No one is following us. The thumping sounds again and I grind my teeth together. “Is there someone in the trunk?”
Max’s smile brightens my rearview mirror. “Willie boy here?—”
“It’s William?—”
“—found out that one of the dregs was a doctor. White coat and everything. Figured he might know something about the medical supplies our Emily here is looking for. So I helped him into the trunk to hitch a ride with us because I’m considerate like that.”
Emily’s eyes widen with excitement. Mine narrow with frustration. Max’s beam with pride. “Waddaya say, captain? Can we keep him?”
I blow out a sigh of defeat. This is getting ridiculous.
William lets out a strained laugh. “Come on. What’s one more hostage?”
8
EMILY
Islam the knife into the ground. “Well, I was aiming for the dirt, but your foot got in the way.”
The doctor probably can’t hear me through his screaming. What a baby. Sure, I stabbed my knife straight through the middle of his foot and now it’s leaking blood, but this seems a little excessive.
William appears from behind him and presses the palm of his hand against the doctor’s mouth. “Careful. You’re going to draw rotters with all this racket.”
“Tell him that. He’s the one making all the noise, not me.”
“I’m sure he’s also the one who stabbed his own foot.”
I shrug. “Could’ve been.”
He shakes his head and removes his hand when the doctor’s screams turn into whimpers. “There’s a stream nearby if you want to take a break to grab a drink and get cleaned up.”
“I’ll do that after I break this man.”
“Breaking men is your specialty, little girl?” The doctor spits out blood and a tooth. Ew, how unsanitary? I mean, I know his foot is bleeding, and that’s my fault, but come on, have some class.
“Only the ones who do me wrong.”
