My legs ran faster than they ever had before, even in high school when I attempted track and wanted to please my mother so much that I ran until my lungs felt they would burst. Still, I was always the slowest, always the one left behind. But not that night. That night, I could fly.
The old railroad station came into view, and I skipped over the rails, and then surged past the remnants of the brick and mortar that displayed the word ANDERSON. The letters were dirty and rusted like my hometown had become. I glanced back just once before crossing the street. Even though sweat poured into my eyes, and my lungs could barely keep up, I wouldn't stop. Three more blocks to my babies. They would be there. They would.
I cut down an alleyway, getting a second wind when I felt the familiar gravel crunch under my feet. A dog barked, and I smiled. Not a single dog could be heard on the other side of town. The soldiers hadn't reached this side yet. Jenna and Halle would be waiting for me and I would take them into my arms and squeeze them so tight that nothing else would matter. The craziness outside the city limits would disappear.
I reached the end of the alley, across from Andrew's house. His detached garage and drive were directly in front of me, but his white Tahoe was absent. My chest heaved, and my guts lurched, purging the rattled remnants in my stomach.
Chapter Ten
Nathan
"THAT'S YOU, BROTHER, LET'S GO!" Skeeter said, running to a window. His head moved in every direction as he tried to get a good look. "Two cars! Right out front!"
Someone outside yelled, and I could see a large group of the dead peel off the wall and amble toward the street.
I ran to the door and pressed my ear against the door. No scratching, no rubbing noises. No moans.
"Zoe?" I called.
Zoe jogged to my side. I positioned her behind me and grabbed the knob.
"Wait!" Zoe cried, looking at her aunt Jill, who was lying lifeless on the floor, aside from her eyes. They were forcing themselves open, bloodshot and weeping, but alert.
"Zoe, we have to go," I said, holding her wrist.
"I love you!" Zoe cried. She was just a child, but she knew that she wouldn't see her aunt again. "I love you, Aunt Jill!" Tears streamed down Zoe's cheeks as she reached out to her aunt, pulling against my grip.
Jill wore a faint smile. The veins had become more visible under her skin: blue, slithering lines, branching off and covering her like the virus spreading through her body. A single tear slipped down Jill's cheek and dripped to the blanket beneath her.
Skeeter rushed to Zoe, pulling her into his arms. "Don't cry, lil' bit." He placed his thumb under her chin and lifted her eyes to his. "I'm going to take care of Jillybean, mmkay? You know how much Uncle Skeeter loves Aunt Jill, don'tcha?"
Zoe nodded, and her eyebrows pulled together.
Skeeter smiled and hugged her to him once more. "We love you, Zoe. Listen to your Daddy. He's going to take good care of you. Be quiet, now." Zoe's fingers pressed into Skeeter's shoulders. Skeeter let her go and stood. "Go, Nate. Go now."
I nodded, put my car keys in my mouth, shoved the clip into the AR, cocked it, and opened the door. I leaned out to take a quick look. It was clear. I nodded to Zoe, and then nodded to Skeeter. He winked at me, and I ran, tugging Zoe along with me.
Crossing the street, I saw a black Jeep Wrangler speeding away toward Anderson. I didn't wait to see if those things would follow.
I let go of Zoe's hand and pulled the keys from my mouth. "Zoe, keep up!" I said, holding the key out in front of me so I could shove it in the lock as soon as we got to the car. I didn't want to do anything stupid like drop the keys, so I made sure to hold it securely between my fingers.
When we reached the car, I remembered I hadn't had time to lock it before, so I just opened the door and reached back to grab Zoe. Something rounded the corner of the house, but I didn't pay attention to what it was or how many, I just picked up my daughter and nearly tossed her into the passenger side. And then I did exactly what I said I wouldn't do. I dropped the fucking keys.
They slid under the car, out of sight.
"Daddy!" Zoe cried.
My focus shifted to the man walking toward me. I raised the AR and pulled the trigger and missed. I pulled the trigger again, this time hitting this ragged, bloody predator in the neck. The wound didn't faze him. Suddenly the left side of his skull exploded, and he fell to the ground, midstep. Skeeter stood on the other side of the street, with his hunting rifle in his hand. He held up his fist, extending his index finger, pinky, and thumb. I returned the gesture and jumped in the car, backing out of his drive and turning west onto the highway.
Miranda
FIFTEEN MINUTES EAST, I PULLED the Bug over to the shoulder of the road. Mascara was burning my eyes, and it was getting harder to see. Bryce was still looking out the window. I reached back, squeezing when I felt Ashley's hand in mine.
She was my older sister, but Daddy had always said I was the strong one. Ashley didn't give me a choice. When our parents split, Ashley became a different person, like a sweater you put in the wash and it never fits or looks the same. She wasn't the giggly, carefree girl I grew up with. Instead she was sensitive, overly emotional and cynical. When she leaned up to show me her eyes, her blond hair fell forward, the long, stringy strands hovering over her lap. She was still sobbing, most of her face blotchy and wet.
"What if there's soldiers waiting at Fairview, too?" Cooper said, stuttering over his words.
Ashley's voice surged, in a half hum, half groan. "I want to go home, Miranda. I want to see Mom!"
"Fairview won't have soldiers. The only reason Anderson had those idiots with guns is because of the armory," Bryce snapped. He was clearly more than annoyed with Ashley. As if the loud sobbing wasn't stressful enough.
"What do we do?" Ashley said. "It's going to be dark soon. I don't think we should be out at night."
I looked to Bryce. "She has a point."
He didn't necessarily agree, but he didn't argue. I pulled back onto the road and drove a few more miles until we came upon an old farmhouse. I turned into the drive, nearly taking out the formerly white, rusted mailbox.
The Bug's new brakes squeaked to a stop. We all stared at the house, waiting for someone to open the door, or greet us, or try to eat us. I reached for the door handle, but Bryce grabbed my arm.
"I'll go," he said. He pushed open the passenger door and slowly walked up to the side of the house.
I glanced around. There were no vehicles, but there was a barn. Maybe they had parked there, and it only appeared deserted. Two cars traveling west on Highway 11 caught my eye: a silver car and a black, four-door Jeep Wrangler. For half a second, I focused on the child in a car seat. She was passing by in slow motion, holding up a teddy bear, oblivious that the world had gone to shit around her.
"Oh my God," I said, turning to watch them drive past. "Oh my God!"
"What?" Ashley cried, instantly panicked.
"They're headed straight for Anderson. They're going to be killed by those crazies on the bridge!" I opened my door and stepped out.
"Bryce, let's go! We have to stop them!"
"We can't save everyone that heads that way," Ashley said, gripping my headrest.
"But there's a . . . there's a baby in the car! Bryce!"
Bryce turned to me with a frown, holding his finger to his mouth.
"But . . . ," I said, watching them drive out of sight. And then they were gone. I sat back in the Bug and shut my door. "That's on us," I said, my eyes meeting Ashley's in the rearview mirror.
"Hurry up, Bryce," Cooper whispered, mostly to himself.
Bryce took one look inside and turned on his heels, jumped off the small, concrete porch, and sprinted to the Bug. He slammed the door and pointed to the road. "Go," he said, out of breath.
"What did you see?"
"Go! Go!" he yelled, pointing.
I stomped on the gas and pulled back onto the highway. "What?" I said, safely back on the road. "What did you
see?"
Bryce shook his head.
"We should turn around."
"No."
"Try to warn that family about the bridge."
"No."
"Didn't you hear me, Bryce? There was a baby in the car! We should turn around!"
"There was a baby inside that house, too!" he yelled. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and then spoke again. "Trust me. If they're killed on that bridge, they're better off."
I watched Bryce for a moment, and then returned my focus to the road. All color had left his face, and sweat had formed along his hairline.
"What did you see?" I said quietly.
He looked out the window. "You don't want to know. I wish I could unsee it."
The next miles were quiet as we made our way to Fairview, but it wasn't hard to tell when we'd reached the city limit. More infected roamed the streets than I had anticipated, alone and in groups. We were almost through town when I slammed on my brakes.
"What?" Bryce said loudly, slamming his palm against the dash.
A woman was running down the street barefoot, carrying a little girl in one arm, and pulling along a boy, maybe nine or ten, with the other. She wore a red dress with white polka dots, and her hair had mostly fallen from her low, dark ponytail.
"Bryce," I said.
"I see them."
The woman stopped at the corner church, and helped the boy climb up on top of the air-conditioning unit, bravely passing a large group of infected. She heaved the boy onto her shoulders, and then pushed him up, allowing him to climb onto the roof, and then held up the little girl. He pulled her up safely, but she was reaching for the woman, crying and drawing the attention of the mob of bloody horrors pounding against the front of the church. Several of the dead ones broke away and ambled in the woman's direction. She was struggling to climb, but the boy waited, bent over and holding his knees, encouraging her.
It was then that I saw a trail of blood running up the side of the white wood of the church. Someone else had already gone in that way. Someone that was probably infected.
"We've got to help them," I said, determined this time.
"Look," Cooper said, his hand stretching between my and Bryce's seats. He pointed to the church. "The windows are boarded! There's people in there!"
Bryce looked to me. "It seems like a good place to wait out the night."
I watched as the woman barely made it to the roof before the dead reached the unit she'd been standing on.
I let out the breath I'd unconsciously been holding. "Okay, but how do we get in? How do we get them to let us in?"
"They're not very fast," Cooper said, gesturing to the woman on the roof. "She ran right past them."
"I'm not going out there with those things walking around!" Ashley wailed. "No way!"
I looked around the Bug, making sure we'd have no surprises, and then noted the position of the sun. "We can't make it to the ranch before dark. There are already people inside there. They probably have guns, and water--"
"And a bathroom," Cooper muttered.
Bryce nodded. "We have none of those. We're going in there. We just have to find a way to distract them long enough to get inside."
"You guys get out here. I'll drive past them and lure them away, ditch the Bug, hide, and then double back."
Bryce shook his head. "I'll do it."
"Look!" Ashley said.
The woman was trying to open the window, but was having trouble. Suddenly it opened, and she held back her children, shielding them for a moment until she recognized whoever was standing on the other side. A tall, scruffy man ducked through the window, and helped the mother and children inside. He walked over to the edge and took a look at the frantic pack below. They were clamoring over each other, trying to get at the people on the roof.
"Look at them. They can't climb," I said, surprised.
Bryce stepped out of the Bug and waved his arms. "Hey!" he yelled.
"What the hell are you doing? What if he shoots at us?" Cooper said.
"Help us!" Bryce said, ignoring Cooper.
The man on the roof signaled for us to come around to the backside of the church, and then pointed at his gun.
"He's going to cover us. Let's go. Let's go!" Bryce said, getting back in.
Without hesitation, I slammed my foot against the accelerator, and the Bug surged forward. Within moments, we were bouncing across the street and into the church lawn. The man held up his hand, palm out, and then turned to point, directing us.
I parked the Bug in the back of the church, and then jumped out, pulling up my seat for Ashley. "Go. Go!" I said, watching every undead thing on the side of the church turn in our direction and begin their approach.
The back door of the church opened, revealing the man from the roof. He turned the bolt lock as soon as the last of us was inside. The room was full of scared people, the mother and her children, another woman, two other little boys, and five men: the man that saved us, two middle-aged men, and two older men.
"Thank you so much," I said to the man who let us in. "We needed a place to stay for the night."
"Skeeter McGee," he said, holding out his hand. I shook it, and he nodded to Cooper, Bryce, and Ashley, and then turned to one of the middle-aged men. "Gary, we're going to have to nail the boards back up on the door upstairs. Just one board this time."
Gary nodded, and then turned, disappearing down a dark hall. His footsteps echoed back into the kitchen, and then the hammering started.
Everyone in the room traded glances, and then Skeeter tended to a woman on the floor. She looked near death, and a white, foamlike drool was dripping from the side of her mouth to the blanket she was lying on.
"Was Annabelle . . . ?" the older woman said.
"Not yet," Skeeter answered.
"That's good news. Maybe Jill won't come back as one of those things. Or maybe she'll get better. We just don't know, Skeeter. Please don't do anything rash."
"You don't have to bullshit me, Doris," he told her. He ran his large fingers through Jill's damp, blond hair, and whispered something in her ear.
Doris looked at us. "Bless your hearts. You from Anderson?"
"We go to the university in Greenville. My father has a ranch northwest of here. We didn't really want to travel after dark."
Doris nodded with understanding. "Can't say I blame you. You kids want some water?" she asked, already making her way to the refrigerator. She handed us all bottles of water, and we wasted no time tipping our bottles back.
"Your father has a ranch close to here?" Skeeter asked.
Ashley smiled. "Red Hill Ranch."
Skeeter nodded. "I've hunted over there. That'll be a good place for you."
*
GARY RETURNED FROM THE HALLWAY, hammer in hand.
Everyone settled in as best they could. Doris comforted the mother and her children, Skeeter alternated between checking on his wife and checking the windows in the other room. They all gasped and traded glances when a new person was seen ambling around outside with the rest. Fairview was a tiny town. It made sense that they all knew each other. I wondered who the woman on the floor was to Skeeter, and what her life was like before she was bitten. Even with her sweaty, bluish skin, and the dark around her eyes, it was obvious that she was beautiful.
The man they called Bob pointed to the next room. "The sanctuary is in there. Plenty of places to sit."
"Thank you," I said, accepting his invitation.
Two more women, quite a bit older, were seated in pews. I chose one in the front and sat nearest the center aisle, farthest away from the broken windows. Even if they were boarded, hearing the dead ones trying to get in was unnerving.
Bryce sat on one side of me, Ashley on the other. Cooper sat beside my sister, and took her hand in his. We all let out a collective sigh of relief.
I let my head rest against Bryce's shoulder, and he rested his head against mine. After everything we'd seen, and everything we'd been through, I
didn't think I would be able to sleep, but the longer I sat on the hard, cold, wooden pew, the more comfortable I became--and the harder it was to keep my eyes open. I shifted, prompting Bryce to turn his head slightly to kiss my temple.
"It's okay. Go to sleep. We're safe now."
"It's never going to be safe again," I whispered, trying not to let the words trigger more tears.
"Safe enough to get some rest," he whispered back. "Now close your eyes, Miranda. We've got a long day tomorrow."
"Once we get to Red Hill, we'll be all right, right?"
"Your dad is probably there now, scared to death, wondering where you are. He's going to be so happy to see you and your sister. We'll be far away from everything, with a stocked pantry and your dad's crazy gun collection. We're going to be just fine."
With his words, I let my eyes close and the heaviness of sleep engulf me.
Chapter Eleven
Scarlet
THE HOUSES SURROUNDING ANDREW'S WERE dark and abandoned like the others. I walked across the street, devoid of cars and people. The incline of Andrew's driveway made me feel like I was trudging up a steep mountain face after the stretch I'd just sprinted. Careful not to let my shoes crunch too loudly against the gravel beneath them, I took gentle steps and paused at the gate. It whined as I pushed through it, and I slowly walked the ten steps or so to Andrew's back door. I'd only traveled this patch of earth a handful of times since Andrew had moved in.
After the divorce, he could no longer afford the two-story fixer-upper we'd purchased in the next town over and moved to the converted two-bedroom, former duplex. It was literally on the wrong side of the tracks, nestled deep in the west side of Anderson, where a meth-lab raid was not uncommon.
Andrew was humbled by the move and the divorce, and he surprised us all during his visitation weekends. Slowly the yelling stopped. The bullying was replaced with short bursts of mild annoyance or long sighs. I wasn't sure if being away from the girls for most of the month helped to quell his rages, or if it was my absence that offered him peace.
I climbed the two steps to Andrew's back door, and tapped on the Plexiglas on the top half of the door. A curtain hid the inside from view. I tapped again, then tried to turn the knob. It was locked.
My heart pounded so hard in anticipation that I could feel it in my throat.