Page 17

“That’s a good thing.” Luke stopped beside me, his elbow brushing mine. “If they can’t think, they can’t plan. We won’t need to worry about them rounding us up.”

“I hope that’s true.”

The sun had barely woken, leaking washed-out tangerine across the sky. A magpie warbled from a treetop, and a distant scream split the air, gone before I could work out which direction it had come from.

With a shiver, I rubbed my arms and tracked an old man with silver hair, his beard crusted in deep red.

“They used to outsource the gardening where I worked,” I said. “I’m guessing they would have done the same here, which means no shovels or power tools. I’m not sure mop or broom handles are going to be much help either.”

He crossed his arms and continued monitoring the infected. “And kitchen knives probably won’t cut it.”

“No pun intended.”

He didn’t look my way, but his mouth lifted in a half-smile. “We need baseball bats. Hammers—the long-handled kind. Light enough to swing. Strong enough that they won’t break.”

One of the dead reached up and clawed the air as a bird flew too low over its head. The sudden movement riled up the others, and they turned toward the activity, staggering closer.

An infected woman with waist-length blonde hair tripped and stumbled, colliding with a man whose cheek was covered in dark bruises. As the two of them engaged in a macabre shuffle to regain their balance, I drew a careful breath. She looked so much like Sadie. Too much.

I thought about the endless hours ahead of us and fought the urge to sigh. A few hours of broken sleep hadn’t been nearly enough. “So, our first stop needs to be a hardware shop.”

“That, or a sports store. Maybe a high school gym. But we have to get past them first.”

The centre was built smack in the middle of a residential area, with houses in every direction. The driveway wasn’t our only way out. “Or avoid them completely.”

He frowned. “Over the back fence?”

“We just need to make it through one yard, and we’re on the next street over.”

I’d made it sound so simple, but avoiding one risky situation could mean throwing ourselves into another. Screaming had come from that direction last night.

Luke didn’t appear rattled by the idea of leaving the centre, and his steady presence helped calm some of my nerves. “Does this scare you?” I asked. “Even a little bit?”

His attention remained on the slow, aimless movements of the infected, and a long moment passed before he answered. “Sometimes, but I’m not going to let it hold me back. You?”

“Not as much as it would have if I’d been dealing with it on my own.”

Slow, scuffing footsteps came from behind us, mimicking the awkward movements outside. My stomach tensed, and I checked over my shoulder.

The second I saw Kirby, my unease lifted. Her hair was a tangled mess, and smudges of makeup had blackened the skin under her eyes. She’d draped the silver blanket around her shoulders like a cape, her wide-mouthed yawn letting me know her sleep had been just as poor as mine.

“I hope you’re not planning on running off without me,” she said.

“Don’t worry, you’re not annoying enough yet.” I faced the front again. “We’re just talking tactics. Figuring out how to not die today.”

“And can we let go of this idea of anyone being dumped?” Luke asked. “We’re sticking together. It’s the only way through this shit.”

“Someone woke up grumpy.” She slotted in beside him, her gaze shifting to the car park. “What the… I thought they’d get bored and move on—and where’d that body come from?”

“No idea.” Luke tracked the man with the bloody beard.

“We’re thinking about heading out the back and climbing another fence,” I said.

Kirby clutched the foil blanket as it slipped from her shoulders, lifting it back into place. “Because that went so well last time.”

The grey-haired man turned and locked eyes with me, tilting his head at an odd angle. My knees locked in place, but I made myself keep looking at him. I’d have to get up close and personal with these things soon enough.

“We should get organised,” Kirby said, the slightest tremble in her voice. “The earlier we leave, the earlier we get to my parents’ house.”