Page 94 of Bound in Ashes

“Don’t turn away,” I whispered.

She lowered her gaze, and I threw my arm around her shoulder, pulling her body into mine.

“Don’t show them any weakness,” I said.

Her eyes flew open wide, her expression stricken, but she watched.

Watched as the sobbing girl was dragged forward.

Watched as the deputy let the zombie go.

She was too terrified to run, and for a shambling dead person, the zombie moved with extraordinary speed.

No, it wasn’t speed—it was determination.

The zombie moved with determination and captured the girl.

I could hear its teeth bury themselves into her neck.

Heard the gurgle of blood. Heard her scream.

And scream.

And scream until she couldn’t anymore.

And then there was quiet.

Silence that was only marred by the gnashing of teeth.

“I think the point’s been made,” Hayes said.

He looked at Asia, who was stricken, but she didn’t let tears fall.

I could have kissed her when she met Hayes’s eyes.

“Welcome home.”

FIFTEEN

Asia

“I feel you glaring at me.”

The response I got back was stony, as thick with tension as the air.

Wasn’t sure why I expected anything else.

Jack hadn’t said a single word to me since we’d left town.

I should have kept my mouth shut, too.

But I couldn’t.

Because in this quiet, I still heard the girl’s screams.

And somehow worse, I remembered the silence.

How people stood there, watching, like rubberneckers peeking at a particularly gruesome car wreck before speeding off to work.