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“Luke,” Ava snapped. “Eyes up.”
The last infected lunged.
“Jesus.” My foot slipped out from under me, my stomach dropping along with it. Before I could hit the ground, I made a grab for the car and pushed off the side panel, ramming my shoulder into a young guy with full tattoo sleeves. I shoved him off his feet and steadied myself just in time to avoid following him down.
His head slammed onto the road with a force that would have knocked a normal person unconscious, but not him. He tried to rise again, unaffected.
“Stay down,” I ground out, stamping my foot on his chest. With a two-handed grip, I swung the pipe wrench into his head, and his body went still under my boot.
Ava scrambled out of the same window I’d climbed through, eyes wide and hair tangled. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good.” It was a lie, but it beat complaining.
Ignoring the girl on the ground, I straightened and rolled my shoulders. Ava walked a full circle around me, searching for tears in my clothes or skin. When she was satisfied I hadn’t been bitten, she let out a breath.
Kirby had lowered her window and pushed herself halfway through, a fresh bruise coming to the surface on her chin.
“Need a hand?” I tossed the wrench into the ditch, unable to make myself use it again.
“Not sure yet,” she said, struggling with her hands on the frame. “Just make sure I don’t face-plant.”
I held her elbows and waited for her to heave her leg through. “Any serious injuries?” I asked. An existing rip in her jeans had been torn even wider, showing a bloody scrape and part of a tattoo.
“No, I’m good.” Kirby dragged herself the rest of the way out and set both feet on the ground. “Thanks.”
Ava stared at Kirby’s leg, her eyes troubled.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Kirby cut her off before she could start. “Don’t even think about apologising again,” she said. “You didn’t mean it, and no one’s badly hurt.”
She was right. It was an accident, and none of us would argue otherwise, but that didn’t stop the irritation from simmering alongside the relief.
Ava sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Okay, I hear you.” She took a beat to reset, then with a careful step over the teen’s body, she faced the crash site. “So… it looks like the car’s a write-off.”
We were lucky to escape with no broken bones or deep cuts—but we’d had a working car and weapons, with the open road ahead of us. Now we were back on foot. “Even if it runs, it’s not coming out of there without a winch and a tow truck.”
“Fantastic.” Kirby turned around, nose scrunched as she searched in every direction.
Ava wandered into the middle of the road and planted her hands on her hips. “There has to be something nearby.”
I moved in beside her and pointed at a speck in the distance, a farmhouse set far back from the road, at the top of a steep hill. “They might have a spare car.”
“Someone’s home,” Kirby said.
Smoke curled from the chimney. What were the chances of a living person giving us the keys to a car they’d never see again?
Behind us, the last property we’d passed had to be at least five kilometres away, and the guy in the caravan had made it pretty clear he wanted to be left alone.
“Well, we’re out of options right now.” We didn’t know how far we’d have to walk to the next town, or if there’d be more houses in between here and there.
“It’s too far to carry all our weapons.” Ava’s elbow brushed against my stomach as she turned to me. Her eyes lifted to meet mine, lips compressing as she considered our options. “What if someone takes them while we’re gone?”
I stared at her mouth, then the freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose. Frowning, I picked a blade of grass from her hair, and for a moment, her question didn’t register.
Kirby’s snort snapped me out of my trance.
“Then they take them,” I said. “All we need is one weapon each. We’ll pick up more when we hit the next town.”
“I’m not lugging a nail gun all that way,” Kirby said, a faint smile lingering.
