I moved onto the ladder and held tight, leaning out from the wall again to check the position of the windows below me. There was a wide one that looked to be located in the lounge area of the lobby. I’d have to step off the last rung and sprint for the nearest hiding spot just in case they were passing through that area.
While I was still leaning back, a window above me slid open, and a man with tangled blonde hair and a lean face poked his head outside. He looked to be two floors up from me, and I gasped, immediately flattening myself against the ladder.
My heart pounded so hard it could have burst from my chest. I froze and held my breath, feeling so panicked that it took everything in me to be silent and still.
Please don’t see me, please don’t see me.
With my head tilted back and my gaze on him, I willed him to lower the window and go on with his search inside the hotel.
I didn’t get my wish.
He glanced down and locked eyes with me.
My stomach pitched. Every nerve ending fired. His eyes filled with confusion at first, and it took him a beat to register that he’d found me. I made the most of his hesitation. Before he could react, I sprung into action, racing down the ladder and jumping to the ground from the third last rung.
“Hey! She’s here!” he called to his crew, then to me, he said, “Stay there, baby. We’re not gonna hurt you.”
Babywas exactly the wrong thing to call me. It implied intimacy and warmth, and the sleazy undertone turned me cold. In what world would I ever give those assholesthebenefit of the doubt? I’d seen them in action, I'd heard too much. Instead, I sprinted to the nearest alley and slowed down to hang a sharp right, then broke into a sprint again.
All of those men were stronger than me; I’d never be naive enough to tell myself otherwise. They were bigger in numbers, too, but I hadn’t seen a single one of them do anything more strenuous than walking over the past two years. I’d committed to running every morning, and I hadn't allowed myself a day off. I'd completed circuits running fast, slow, carrying weights. In sneakers, boots, all kinds of weather. I had the edge, and I’d keep that advantage until I used up my very last option.
I took a left and heard them yelling out to one another behind me. They were strategising and trying to trap me, but they were also alerting Cruz to their location and mine. I had no doubt he could hear them. Just before I turned another corner, I risked a glance over my shoulder, and hope trickled through me when all I found was a narrow, empty street. Still no tail.
When my gaze returned to the front, I sucked in a breath and ran straight into one of the dead. The force knocked it off its feet and sent it falling with a hard thwack. My stomach dropped, and my knife slipped from my hand as I followed it to the ground. I landed on top of its gross, rotting body. My forehead smacked its chin, and the shock stole the breath from me. It shook me to the core. One second I'd been flying, and the next I’d rammed into the equivalent of a brick wall.
My head throbbed as I sprang to my feet and scrambled for my knife. The infected man reached for me, but I wouldn't waste time or energy ending him. I needed to get running again.
Move, move,move.
I checked behind me before I took off.
Still nothing.
Then a man skidded around the corner a block behind me, big and bearded and covered in tattoos. Jackson—again.I just couldnotget a break from this guy.He spotted me straight away and bellowed, “Stop!” then continued running in my direction, his face hard and determined, his arms and legs pumping like a machine.
The vision terrified me, and I pulled in a sharp breath.
Adrenaline rushed through me, and I set off like I'd just heard a starter's pistol. I rounded the corner, keeping an eye on my surroundings so I wouldn't hit another rotting roadblock. Racing down a street filled with apartment blocks and office buildings, I headed for a shopping arcade I knew of nearby. There were stairs that led to a second level where a row of offices were located. Assuming I'd find at least one door unlocked, I could hide there until the men got tired of searching for me.
Another group of the dead lumbered toward me, crowding together as their bony, decomposing arms stretched out in front of them.
I'd have to dodge them whenever possible. If I took any down, it would leave an obvious trail for the gang.
With a shove into the shoulder of the closest infected, I kept running and sighted the opening to the arcade. There were more dead swarming around the entrance—so many more—clustered together and moving like a herd of sheep. Seeing them had me rethinking the upper-level idea. If they gathered around the base of the stairs after I ran up to the second floor, it would look suspicious and leave me vulnerable.
I bypassed the arcade and set my sights on an apartment building half a block away. My breaths were wrenching from me, my calves and lungs on fire. My backpack seemed to weigh twice what it had when I first started running, but my fear and determination kept me going. I pulled up at the entrance to the complex, relieved to find one of the double doors swinging open. With a look over my shoulder, all I saw behind me were the dead.
No men, no danger.
I stepped inside the building and kept my knife at the ready, my senses on alert.
The smell of the decayed bodies scattered across the floor hit me like a punch to the face, and I tried to block it out as I scanned the foyer. There was a row of mailboxes to the left and a bank of elevators on the right. A wide set of stairs straight ahead of me split the room in two, and I took the steps as fast as I could, keeping my tread quiet, my ears trained for noises behind me.
When I reached the landing, I glanced left and right and considered my options.
There were no visible infected wandering about or dead bodies lying in the corridor. If the men came in here at all, they surely wouldn't expect me to choose the same level as I had in the hotel—and this looked to be the quickest, safest way to hide.
Two apartment doors were hanging open. The others were shut and most likely locked. I hurried inside the fourth apartment on the left, closing the door behind me. While I worked on calming my breaths, I engaged the push-button lock, threw the deadbolt, and then followed up with the flip lock for added security.
