“Dustin.” Theo looked me over, rubbing something from my cheek before giving his full attention to Owen. “Asshole tried to stop us from leaving—or wanted to take a few of us out before we could go.”
“The girls could have come down here,” Owen said absently.
My gaze skimmed the massacre—the blood and fluids, the bodies. Not long back, the cops would have been barging in and arresting us. “What did you want to know?” I asked, catching my breath.
The woman’s sensible shoes scraped across the tiles as she came toward us, her low moan drifting through the space.
“Whether they can climb,” Owen said.
None of us said a word, but in unspoken agreement, we moved up another couple of steps into a safer zone.
We’d already learned plenty about them, but I didn’t know the answer to this question.
My fingers tightened around the handle of my axe, and Theo kept his sword half raised. The air grew tense, and my gaze briefly shot to the open entrance as a trail bike flew past, the bleat of its motor fading fast.
The woman reached the bottom step and lifted one foot, her sole scuffing against the edge. My stomach clenched, and I forced myself to breathe. If they couldn’t follow us upstairs, we’d have safe spaces to hide. A chance to escape their relentless hunger without having to track every movement.
“I don’t think she can,” I whispered, even though the volume didn’t matter.
As she clawed at the air and tried to latch onto one of us, her balance wavered. Even before the virus had ravaged her body, she would have struggled to stay upright at that angle. Now, with no working brain cells or coordination, she slumped forward and landed on the stairs, her forehead slamming against theedge. Her jaw opened and closed as if on autopilot, that little detail hitting me harder than anything I'd seen so far.
No one moved. I held my breath as we waited.
Seconds later, she tried again, her fingers reaching and curling inward.
As her glazed eyes stared up at me, veins showed through her paper-thin skin. She peeled back her lips as if to take a bite, her gums purple, her tongue a strange brownish hue. All she could do was swipe at the air and moan her frustration.
Owen was the first to speak. “Guess that answers that.”
Theo’s hand brushed mine, the small touch spurring me into action. “Let’s clear out the bodies and close the main doors before more come in here,” I said.
Theo stepped down to the woman’s level, keeping back from her grasping hands. “We’ll figure out what to do with Dustin after we’ve cleaned up.”
I nodded, appreciating having practical tasks in a completely illogical world.
Then he lifted his sword and plunged it through the woman’s temple.
“Well, what do you say? Are we making this snappy, or dragging it out and getting messy?” Laura yanked up the zipper on her puffer jacket, hair in a low ponytail and mouth set in a firm line. She tried not to show her nerves, but I caught the tremble in her hands.
We were all packed. Theo and I had shut the doors on our apartments for the last time, and everything that meantsomething to us had been stowed in the back of his Ranger, the tub packed to capacity.
The foyer reeked of bleach, but it beat the stomach-rolling smell of rotting corpses that had clung to the walls and furniture after our battle. We’d all shared cleanup duty, dragging the bodies out to the back of the residents’ car park, then scrubbing the tiles until our arms ached.
Theo had the foresight to roll an abandoned car in front of the building’s entrance, blocking the doors from the outside. Dustin couldn’t pull another of his stunts anytime soon—and Tim and Varesh would be in a clean, secure building while they waited for my sister.
“Let’s get messy.” I stepped away from Theo and dragged Laura into a hug, refusing to pretend this didn’t matter to me.
She’d helped me stay sane during the long months of lockdown, providing a voice of reason, a spark of brightness in the gloom. I’d miss our chats. Her humour, her strength. Knowing it would be the last time, I held on tighter and tried to keep it together. It only took a few seconds for her to loosen up and throw her arms around me, hugging me back just as hard.
We clutched each other for one long, anguished moment, her breath stirring my hair as a tremor ran through both of us. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I pulled back and forced a smile. “Just so you know, I’m going to imagine all of you living long, happy lives in Darby Downs—so take care of yourselves. I need that to be true.”
Laura nodded as her eyes shone. “Make sure you do the same,” she said, sniffling. “Take it easy and think every situation through when you can. No rash decisions.” She paused and looked away, clamping her lips together.
“We’ll be fine,” I said, rubbing her upper arms. “Two hours on the road, and we’re there.” I’d simplified it, of course, only throwing out the best-case scenario. Anything could go wrongfor us between here and the farm, but I had to believe we’d make it. “I just wish I could call you and tell you we’re safe.”
We locked eyes in silent understanding, tears welling, my stomach twisting at the thought of the unknown. I only had to look out for myself and Theo. She had her daughters.
“You and Theo… it makes my heart happy knowing you’re together.” Laura looked behind me, then brought her gaze back to me. “Thank God you stopped being idiots and finally talked to each other. Just in time, too.”
