“Give her to us,” Emery’s father ordered, reaching for Liz. I set her down, and Emery’s mom immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulder and murmured to her softly as she helped her fix her clothes. I didn’t know if I liked leaving a ticking time bomb with Emery’s parents, but at the moment, I didn’t have much choice.
“So far, the street is clear,” Luis said when I joined him at the door.
“Perfect.” I saw Nico and Emery run out of the kitchen. “Let’s go.” I reached for my knife and cursed when I realized Emery still had it. Spotting her bat near a table, I grabbed that instead and pushed the door open. We would definitely be trading later.The street was relatively quiet for now, but I could hear the zombies in the back alley, and the noise they were making would attract others. Trusting the group to follow me, I moved quickly down the street, putting as much distance between us and the pizza place as possible.
I’d just led the group through an intersection when I heard someone shouting.
“Hey! Hey! Wait!”
We all froze in shock. We’d been out here all morning, and this was the first sign of a living person we’d gotten. It had started to freak me out that we hadn’t run into any living humans yet, so while I was wary of whoever was calling out to us, and a bit peeved that they were shouting and drawing attention to us, it was also a relief to hear another voice.
A man on a bicycle with a cart attached to the front came around the corner behind us. He was grinning ear to ear as he pedaled toward us.
“Emmy! I was looking for you! I hoped I’d find you along the way, but I was starting to give up hope when I looked up and there you were! You can’t tell me we aren’t meant to be.”
I exchanged dark looks with Nico and Luis.
Who the fuck was this guy?
Chapter eight
Emery
“Justin?” I stared at the overexcited man in shock. Why the hell was he here? He lived in a completely different borough.
“I’m so glad I found you, Emmy.” Justin climbed off his bike and rushed to me, sweeping me into his arms in a bear hug. “I couldn’t imagine living on this earth without you.”
Why was this man a stage five clinger? “Justin,” I said, wiggling out of his hold, “we slept together once. That doesn’t make us soulmates.”
“Come on, Emmy,” Justin whined. “You can’t seriously say you don’t think you and I are meant to be when I literally found you at the end of the world. No help or anything. Just blind faith that I would find you. If that isn’t fate, I don’t know what is.”
I glanced around to see that the entire group was watching us with interest. Nico, Miguel, and Luis looked less interested and more murderous. “Ok, first of all, you need to keep your damn voice down before you attract zombies to us. Second of all, I don’t know how many times I’ve told you it was one night and that I wasn’t interested in a relationship with you, but you don’tseem to hear me. If I didn’t want a relationship with you before, I certainly don’t want one now. We’re headed to the evacuation shelter. You’re more than welcome to come with us, but as a traveling companion, not a boyfriend.”
He looked a little defeated, but the determination in his eyes never faded. “I’d appreciate that, thank you.”
“Emery, who is this boy?” Mami asked, eyeing him curiously.
“Just a coworker, Mami. His name is Justin.”
“Your mother?” Justin asked. He rushed to her and hugged her.
“I’m her father,” Papi said as he gently pulled Mami away from Justin.
Justin went to hug him as well, but at the stern look my father gave him, he took a step back instead and held his hand out to me. “Look at this, Emmy. Already meeting your parents.”
A tingle of unease travelled up my spine. How well did I really know Justin? Admittedly, not all that well. I’d seen him around Speedy’s enough times to be familiar with him. Familiar enough to get drunk and sleep with him, but I didn’t actually know anything about him except where he lived and what his bedroom looked like. There may have been more to Justin’s inability to accept no for an answer than I initially thought.
Justin was watching me expectantly, and my eyes flickered between his hand and the creepy smile on his face. I knew right then that I never wanted that man to touch me in any way ever again. Whatever was going on, he had a screw or two loose, and it took the end of the world for me to see it. And I just invited him to tag along. My eyes searched the group desperately, for what I didn’t know until my eyes met Miguel’s.
“We should keep moving, yes?”
Miguel nodded. “Yep, let’s go. Emery, you’re up front with me. Luis and Nico will take the back. Everyone else is in between. Let’s keep it moving.”
I practically ran to Miguel and, more importantly, away from Justin. Before we started walking, Miguel thrust my bat toward me and held out his hand expectantly. I rolled my eyes as I placed his knife in his open palm and accepted my bat.
“Who’s the guy?” Miguel asked as we started walking down the street.
“Coworker.”
