AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What a woman,” Max breathes out, leaning farther out.
William grabs the back of Max’s jacket to hold him back. “Down, boy. Falling for her doesn’t need to be literal.”
I barely pay attention to them, my gaze fixed on the woman and her dance with death.
“Can we keep her?” Max asks, his voice almost giddy.
“We need to stop her.” I grip the railing so tightly that the metal creaks.
A rotter reaches the car and bangs on the hood, setting off the panic setting. The lights go crazy and the woman’s dancing turns even more joyful. I need to put an end to this. If she wants to get herself killed, then she should do it when there isn’t anyone else around wanting to stay alive.
I turn and head for the stairs, flying down them so fast that I’m not sure if my feet even touch the steps. I know better than to go running down there like this, but I can’t stand by and watch someone else get senselessly killed. There are enough deaths staining my hands already.
Letting that thought fuel me, I spot the girl and come to a halt. My blood boils at her carelessness. I don’t understand how she could be this reckless, attracting so many rotters only to dance with them? She acts like this is a freaking end of the world ball. She’s more insane than Max. It’s impressive, confusing, and annoying as fuck.
“Well, are we going to let her fight them all on her own?” William asks when he catches up to me. He slams his knife through the skull of a rotter coming up on our right, while I’m still preoccupied with the new brown-haired bane of my existence.
“Looks like she’s having a party. I want to join.” Max twirls his new morning star around and slams it into the head of another rotter. They’re now all pouring in through the doors. If we don’t hurry, nobody is getting out of here alive.
Knowing they’ll follow my lead, I run forward and start taking out the rotters closest to me. I’ve had two hundred and sixty-five days of practice, but it pisses me off that I’m having to do this. This wasn’t part of my plan for the day.
The girl hasn’t noticed us yet, but we’re running out of time. There’s no way the four of us will clear this area easily with how quickly the rotters keep stumbling in. We need to destroy the source.
When I get to the car, I take out the rotters near the driver’s side door before killing the engine and ripping the key out of the ignition. The girl’s head turns so sharply that it catches me off guard, but not nearly as much as her soft amber eyes that widen when she sees me. Her wild hair flies freely around her face. It’s a hazard. Does this woman know nothing about survival?
I stand tall and straighten my spine, ready for whatever kind of confrontation we’re about to have, which will have to wait because rotters are still stumbling toward us from all directions. She’s made an absolute mess of our lives tonight.
She’s still too far away, but with her gaze locked on me, she doesn’t see the threat behind her getting closer. I can’t get to her in time.
“Behind you!” I shout out a warning, but it’s too late. The rotter falls against her, knocking her to the ground. Her spear flies across the ground. She doesn’t get up.
Max gets to her first. He swings his new morning star to connect with the rotter’s skull before it can bite her. I’m running forward, ignoring the rotters that are now following me after my outburst, and fall to my knees next to her. My fingers press against her neck, and I sigh with relief when I feel a steady pulse. A few drops of blood trickle down the side of her face from a cut on her temple, but she seems otherwise unhurt, only knocked unconscious. That’s okay, we can deal with that later.
“New game,” Max says, swinging the morning star through the air before connecting it with another rotter. He sweeps his shoulder-length dark hair to the side of his face, smearing blood along his cheek. “You play the prince who stays with the sleeping beauty, and Willie and I will be the dragons protecting her.”
“It’s William,” William grinds out through his clenched teeth. “And two humans against hundreds of dead aren’t the odds I want to play with.”
Max heaves a high. “Fine. I’ll just have to throw sleeping beauty over my shoulder and play both prince and dragon.”
“We’re not fighting,” I say, and Max places a hand over his heart like I’ve offended him. Ignoring him, I scoop the woman into my arms and hold her close to my chest while I stand. “We’re getting out of here. And for the love of the living, be quiet,” I whisper-yell before taking off toward our car.
Remaining silent while dodging rotters that are still pouring in from the commotion, I dart around them when they turn toward me, dart below their outstretched hands, and veer away from their snapping teeth. I remain quick on my feet, completing the most deadly obstacle course I’ve ever attempted.
If we move fast enough, we might put enough distance between us that the rotters in the city lose interest. It’s a short half-mile sprint, but our silence and distance finally gets the rotters off our backs. They go back to milling about, waiting for another dumbass to draw their attention. I look down at the unconscious girl in my arms and feel a mixture of rage and pity. What could have been so bad that she thought this was the only way out? Or was she merely having fun, like Max would have been if I hadn’t been there?
Whatever her reasoning, she’ll need to pay for what happened. All the supplies we lost out on, not to mention nearly losing our lives to save hers, a maniac stranger with a death wish.
2
EMILY
My head pounds with the force of something fierce. I scrunch my eyes together and try to remember what happened. I remember brick walls, wooden floorboards, and a low fire. Holding Zoey’s hand and promising her I’ll find her medicine and return. Finding a shopping center that should’ve been untouched enough by survivors due to the drastically increasing amount of rotters, that I should’ve had a chance at finding what I needed. A man turning off the music and putting all of us at risk.
My eyes pop open, but I’m met with pure darkness. I reach out and feel a felt interior beneath me and around me, and a cool metal above me. I’m boxed in.
There’s a jolt and then I’m thrown to the side. Low murmurs come through one wall. The roar of an engine as we pick up speed. I’m in the freaking trunk of a car.
Everything comes rushing back to me. How I was drawing the rotters all to one location so I could have a free run of the shopping center, but then some dipshit ruined that. I was so stunned to see him standing by my car staring at me that something—or someone—must’ve knocked me out. Judging by the murmuring voices, there are at least two of them. Maybe more.
