Page 121 of After the Burn

Rotters poured through the opening.

“No, you’re not.” Adrian took the bag and pushed me toward the exit. “We can argue later.”

“Get that ass in gear, Fox,” Beck yelled over his shoulder.

I tightened my grip on the bat and followed him.

The first rotter made it into the hallway as I reached the back door. I turned and swung. The bat connected with its jaw. Bone broke beneath the metal, but the impact barely slowed it.

My arms shook.

The rotter staggered into the wall, then came at me again.

Adrian stabbed it in the temple and threw the rotter on the floor. “Out.”

I stumbled through the doorway.

Lucas had already forced a gap in the fence where rust had weakened the metal. Wren shoved Rory through first.

Colson bent the chain link wider with both hands until the supports screamed. “Go!”

Wren ducked through the opening, even as Rory and Max raced toward the trees behind Lucas.

Beck passed Harper carefully through the gap while Finley fought to keep the IV line from snagging.

The clinic windows shattered behind us, and rotters spilled onto the grass. Some fell as they climbed through, only to crawl after us on broken limbs.

“They’re coming!” Wren shouted. “Hurry, Robin!”

We ran… or everyone else did.

I made it ten yards before my legs threatened to fold.

Beck looked back. “Taryn!”

Was this how I ended?

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

TARYN

Adrian scooped me up and threw me into the opening Colson had made, even as he followed right behind me.

I saw Beck give him a grateful nod, then continue running with Harper in his arms.

A rotter broke through the fence behind us.

Then another.

Adrian turned and pulled a pistol from his waistband and fired twice. Both dropped, but more crowded into the opening Colson had made.

The gunshots rolled through the woods, and answering moans rose deeper among the trees.

“We’re drawing more with all the noise,” Lucas growled. “We’re going to have to kill them the hard way.”

“No more shooting unless it’s a last resort,” Adrian agreed.

A rotter lunged from behind a pine, and Lucas caught it with the handle of his hatchet, driving it backward. Max launched at its leg, dragging it off balance.