Page 104 of Grave Danger

“I totally get that.”

Demetrius looked up at him and put a hand on his back. The material of Cody’s T-shirt was damp, but he couldn’t tell if it was from sweat or just hadn’t dried completely after being drenched in the rain and submerged in the creek. “How are you doing?”

Cody didn’t look at him—a move Demetrius made mental note of—but he gave a couple of quick nods. “I’m okay. Tired as hell, and now that I’m thinking about it, hungry as hell, too.” He glanced down with a sly smile. “But not for human flesh, so don’t worry about that.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” Demetrius stopped and looked back. “We should have gone down to the cafeteria before we left.”

“Forget it,” Cody said, grabbing his hand and tugging him forward again. “It was probably packed with people and out of food. It’s like a refugee camp in there.”

They walked on, both quiet and lost in their thoughts. Eventually, they wound their way into the neighborhood behind the hospital. The houses were shut up, drapes or blinds closed against the night. For the most part, porch lights blazed in the darkness, but nothing and no one moved. There wasn’t a single car engine, conversation from a backyard gathering, or barking dog. Demetrius noticed the silence around them, felt it like an ominous presence. He was about to mention it when Cody let out a quick laugh.

“There it is! I can’t believe we found it.”

The Cadillac had been parked under a streetlight and it practically glowed in the wash of light. Demetrius thought it looked like it had been staged for a scene from The X-Files or some other supernatural TV show. He guessed that wasn’t far off from what their lives had become, but still, did it have to be so blatant sometimes?

They circled the car, checking it over for damage. Scratches raked along the sides, which Demetrius attributed to the fence surrounding the lab. The only other sign the car had driven through a zombie uprising was one cracked headlight.

“I’m about to start siding with Oliver,” Demetrius said. “This car may be possessed.”

“This car is a fuckin’ classic,” Cody said with a smile that looked so natural and so very Cody-like, it made Demetrius smile as well. “A Detroit-made, built to last classic. Damn.” Cody tried the driver’s door and it swung open. He got in, careful of his knees against the steering column, and slid the seat back.

“Are the keys in it?” Demetrius asked as he rounded the front and got in on the passenger side.

“Not in the ignition.” Cody lowered the sun visor and the keys dropped into his lap. He grinned at Demetrius. “Terminator 2. A classic.”

The engine turned over on the first try, and the power of the V-8 rumbled through them. Cody ran his hands around the steering wheel, a half-smile curling up one corner of his mouth.

“You know, I really like this car. Even with the weird lavender, Aqua Net, and Old Spice smell and the crazy shit we keep finding inside it.”

“And the ozone destroying emissions, and ten miles per gallon mileage,” Demetrius added.

“Yeah. Even with all of that, I really do like this car.” Cody tapped a gauge on the instrument panel. “And, speaking of all that. We need to get gas.”

Demetrius could practically hear their credit card weeping. “Of course we do. Let’s go before we run out of gas sitting here.”

The streets of town were deserted. Demetrius thought he caught sight of a couple of zombies lurching down a shadow-drenched alley, but he wasn’t sure. They passed a number of closed gas stations, lights off and parking lots empty. One station, on the outskirts of downtown, was open, the lights on, and a single car parked in the lot. Cody pulled in, and, after looking all around for any threats, got out to work the pump.

Demetrius approached the door to the building, but found them locked. He peered inside and saw one teenage boy with wide eyes and a rash of acne across his chin. Demetrius knocked, but the boy stood rooted to his spot within the bulletproof glass that enclosed the register area and shook his head.

“I just want some food and to use the bathroom,” Demetrius called to him. “We’re safe. I promise.”

“No way. Gas only.”

Demetrius checked his wallet and held up a twenty dollar bill. “If you put some granola bars, chips, and iced teas in a bag and set it outside the door, you can keep the change.”

“That wouldn’t cover the cost of it,” the kid called back.

With a mutter about being fucked in the ass by inflation, Demetrius pulled another twenty from his wallet and held it up. He watched the kid slink out of the enclosure and move down the chip aisle. A hand came up above the rack of chips, holding a bag of Cheetos. They were the puffy kind, not the crunchy kind they preferred, but Demetrius decided they could deal with it. He shouted, “Yes, please!” through the glass. The kid held up a few more bags, which Demetrius declined or accepted. Next, the kid moved to the cooler and grabbed a couple of bottles of sweet iced tea. Demetrius knocked on the glass and shook his head, then shouted, “Unsweetened, please!”

“What’s going on?” Cody had come up beside him.

“I’m getting us food and drink.”

“You can’t go inside?”

“No. The kid’s too scared. I promised him forty bucks if he’d get us stuff and set it outside the door.”

“Forty? Jesus, I hope we at least get some of the cookies with that.”