Page 105 of Grave Danger

“Oh, man. I didn’t think about the cookies.” The kid approached the door, the plastic bag filled with their food clutched in one hand. The wrist above his hand looked painfully thin, and Demetrius knew the poor kid must be terrified being stuck there alone with everything going on. He wondered how old the kid had been when the werewolves had taken over the town, and whether or not he’d lost anyone that night.

Demetrius looked up at Cody. “I’m going to just take what he gives us. This kid looks overwhelmed.”

“Get in line, kid,” Cody mumbled. “I’ll go wait in the car.”

Demetrius weighed the money down with a small stone he found in the flowerbed, and he retreated to the Cadillac. The kid stood at the door and looked back and forth several times before he twisted the deadbolt and crouched to set the bag outside. Holding the door and refusing to set foot outside, he scrabbled thin fingers along the cement until he was able to grab the money. His arm whipped back inside, and he hauled the door shut and set the lock before fleeing back into his enclosure.

Grabbing the bag, Demetrius waved his thanks and hurried back to the car. As Cody pulled out of the parking lot, Demetrius opened the bag of Cheetos and stuffed a few of the curls in his mouth.

“Don’t get cheese dust on my upholstery.”

Demetrius wiped his fingers on his shorts before holding the bag out toward Cody, who took a curl and looked at it with a frown.

“Puffy?”

“I wasn’t going to barter with the kid. Just eat the Cheeto.”

They’d devoured the Cheetos and drank half their teas before they came upon the zombies. Cody had steadily increased his speed along the two lane road devoid of traffic, so when they rounded a bend, he wasn’t able to stop.

“Fuck!”

Cody swerved, but there was nowhere for them to go. Zombies at least three deep were all around them. The headlights splashed over their vacant faces, prompting the herd to reach out as one. Gnarled and bony fingers grasped for them, and gore-stained mouths stretched open wide. There were too many for Demetrius to count as they staggered, lurched, and stumbled toward them. It was like an undead marching band, covering the road from shoulder to shoulder. There was no driving around them. The only way to get past was to drive through them.

They hit the first line of the herd, which went down. Bones and clothing scratched along the undercarriage, but the bodies became wedged beneath the Cadillac, bringing it to an abrupt stop. More closed in around them, penning them inside. Moans and grunts came from every direction. Fingernails scraped along glass and metal. Dead, milky eyes stared in through the dirt and blood-smeared glass as mouths gaped open, showing crooked and yellowed teeth.

“We have to get out of here.” Demetrius’s heart banged. His lungs hurt, and he couldn’t seem to get enough breath.

“We’re stuck.” Cody shifted into reverse. The engine revved, but the car didn’t move. He shifted into drive, but got the same reaction. “There’s too many jammed underneath us.”

Demetrius jerked his eyes from one window to the next. Everywhere he looked, a zombie clawed at the glass, trying to get inside. Trying to bite him, to devour him. He heard clawing beneath his feet as the zombies they’d run over tried to get inside as well.

“Oh my God. We’re trapped.” Demetrius heard the whistle in his breath and knew he was hyperventilating, not drawing enough breath. But he couldn’t slow his breathing or his heart. He was descending into full-blown panic mode.

“Look for something,” Cody said. “A gun, a knife, anything.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere! Everywhere!”

Demetrius fumbled with the twist knob on the glove compartment then yanked the door open. A landslide of items fell out: maps, dozens and dozens of pink Sweet’N Low packets, something coated in plastic wrap that might have once been a dinner roll, and sheet after sheet of paperwork along with envelopes of unopened mail. He clawed through the mess, spilling even more onto the floor mat as he looked for something that could help.

“I don’t see anything!” Demetrius shouted.

A long, yellowed fingernail scraped down the glass inches from his right ear. A shiver went through him, and he had to force himself not to turn his head and look at the horror that waited on the other side of the window.

Cody climbed into the backseat and dropped to the floor. A hand gripped Demetrius’s ankle from beneath his seat, and he screamed and jerked himself free.

“Sorry, that was me,” Cody said. “Sorry.”

“Jesus Christ, I think my heart stopped.”

Demetrius put a hand to his chest and tried to slow his heart, which was pounding even faster than before. He looked through the windshield at the dead and hungry trying to get inside. How were they going to get out of there?

An arrow pierced the skull of a taller man standing nearly center with the Cadillac’s hood ornament. He collapsed, and another zombie moved in, stepping on the now inanimate corpse beneath it.

“What?” Demetrius said.

Cody continued to dig around under the seats. “What what?”