I patted the front pocket of my pants and felt the rectangular shape. "Yep."
“If you hear me shooting, keep running and don’t look back. You worry about your job, and I’ll worry about mine—and don’t forget, there’s one more asshole out there somewhere.”
The thought of a man lying in wait for me to pass by made my stomach lurch, but I stood beside Cruz and took in the long-dormant traffic build-up. There were no visible humans in the immediate area. The alcohol-fuelled fires had drawn the nearby dead to the flames, their numbers dispersed over four different locations. They were far enough away that they technically shouldn’t cause us any problems.
Smoke billowed from the pub that I’d set on fire, rising in a thick, black cloud above the rooftops. The smell carried on the breeze and mingled with the ever-present stench of decay.
I sucked in a breath and took it all in one last time.
Cruz shot me a look. “Run like the devil’s on your tail,querida. Go.”
“Try to keep up,” I said, then I bolted for the car.
Thirteen
Cruz
Liv ran faster than ever this time around, arms pumping, long stride eating up the bitumen. Pride rolled through me as I kept pace with her and watched her navigate the street. Just when it looked like she'd reached her limits, she seemed to find more. She weaved around a lone white van, leapt over a tyre, shot glances from side to side to stay aware of her surroundings. All the while she kept her knife pointing backward in her grip, minimising the chances of injuring herself if she fell.
I swept my gaze over the area as we closed in on our target, the blue Ford Focus parked diagonally beside our original car. That one elusive member of the gang still hadn’t shown, and I didn't know how to feel about that. Part of me wondered if he’d gone back to base while the others were searching. If that was the case, more cars and men could be arriving anytime soon to complicate the situation.
Liv ran around a couple of bikes resting on their sides and approached a minivan on the outer edge of the bottleneck. I followed her with my gun in hand, checking either side of her as we got closer to the car.
We were almost there... almost out of this place…
Then the missing man launched himself at her from behind the van. My stomach turned into a ball of tension, but Liv's reflexes were on point and she sidestepped the scrawny blonde guy before he could get a hold of her. He glanced around, and when he spotted me, he yelled at the top of his fucking lungs, “They're here!”
My heart thundered as I approached. He switched his attention to Liv and lifted his axe. She took another step back but was still too close for my liking. If he lunged, and she took a dive, the motorbike lying on the ground behind her would trip her up. I stopped a few metres away and assumed a shooting stance, aiming the Glock at the guy's chest. “Don’t move,” I said, breathing hard. "Stay the fuck where you are."
He laughed and pointed his axe in my direction. “That thing's useless. No one’s got ammo anymore. You might as well throw it at me.”
His laughter had a sharp edge to it, and his gaze darted around. As expected, they'd left the weakest man behind to guard the car, and this little shit was desperate for backup. No one had appeared yet though, and I only had a small window of opportunity to wrap this up. "You want to take that chance?" He hadn't made another move in Liv's direction, so I waited to see if he'd back down and save me a bullet. As much as these assholes had pissed me off, I preferred not to kill anyone.
“Yeah, ya fuckin’ hero, I do.” The idiot sprung at Liv, but she stood her ground and lashed out, slicing his forearm with her knife. She must have fluked a deep arterial cut because blood poured straight down his hand and dripped from his fingertips. When he screamed and tried to grab her, red droplets sprayed her face and neck. The yelling, the volume…Jesus, he'd have the rest of them running in our direction in seconds.
Time slowed as I gripped my gun. I saw the fear on her face, the realisation that this could be the end—for her, for me, for everything we'd planned together. He stood between her and the car. Neither of us could go anywhere until we took him out. His blood slid off her chin. Her chest moved up and down with her laboured breaths, and when her eyes moved to me in a panic, it hit me then that I'd do anything,anything at all, to keep her safe.
I aimed for the biggest body mass.
No more warnings.
I’d been trained to use deadly force, and when I pulled the trigger, I did it knowing full well he wouldn’t recover.
The sound ricocheted off the buildings. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air. He sputtered and stared at my weapon as a splotch of red bloomed on his chest. Before he'd even hit the ground, I sprang into action. Liv was frozen to the spot, whether immobilised by her actions or mine I had no idea—but we needed to get the hell out of here now.
We'd made too much noise, taken too long. They were coming.
"Liv. Car.Move!"
She snapped out of it and locked eyes with me. Hers were a little wide and crazed, but she appeared to be in control. “He’s dead,” she said, her breaths coming fast as she spared the man a horrified glance. “I think he’s dead.”
I needed to get her in the car and moving before the shock kicked in for real. “It’s going to be all right,” I said, turning her toward the vehicle while remaining painfully aware of the urgency. “Grab the fob. Let’s go.”
She pulled the key from her pocket, and just as I reached for the door handle, loud voices came from the direction of the fires. I glanced across the street to see three men running our way, putting as much effort into the chase as we’d been putting into escaping. A mob of the dead followed them at a slower pace, but whichever way you looked at it, we were about to be under some serious pressure.
“They’re here.” Liv fumbled the key and dropped it, sending it clattering to the ground. When she took a step toward it, she somehowkicked it under the fucking car. The two of us swore simultaneously, and as she laid flat on her stomach to retrieve it, I turned and faced the men.
“Tell me when you’ve got a hold of it.” My attention stayed locked on the three of them, and I lifted my gun. They were close, but not enough to create an immediate threat. I took a chance with bullet number two and pinged the knee of the skinny redhead on the left. He fell to the ground spewing a string of expletives then rolled onto his side clutching his leg.
