Clouds had gathered, turning the sky overcast. I breathed in deeply and detected the faintest scent of rot on the breeze once again. “They’re around here somewhere.”
But where? There was no movement, none of the shuffling footsteps we’d come to associate with the dead. I twisted in my seat and checked for shadowy figures behind us, finding nothing but swaying grass and an empty road.
Theo pulled over to a complete stop, angling the car for a quick escape. “Better take our weapons,” he said, killing the engine.
I grabbed my axe and stepped out into the cool air. The moment my boots touched the grass, wind ruffled my ponytail and tension coiled inside me. I stared at the wrecked van and waited for Theo.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
It hadn’t stopped, and no one yelled out for help.
Another cry drifted from the twisted metal. My gut clenched, and I inhaled a steadying breath as Theo joined me. I didn’t know what to expect, and I almost wished we’d never come down this road. We might have been travelling out of town by now, sweetly oblivious to whatever lay here amongst the wreckage.
“Take it slow,” he said. “Keep your eyes on the van. I’ll watch the rest.”
Our footsteps barely made a sound as we approached. The thumping grew louder, rocking the van. Infected.
Theo approached the passenger door and peered inside. “Shit.”
I took another step closer and saw what had grabbed his attention. Two adults trapped by their seatbelts. They both wore wedding rings. Whether they were married to each other or running from dead husbands, we'd never know.
The woman behind the wheel looked to be in her late twenties, with short blonde hair and tattoos peeking from the neckline of her jumper. Her throat had been torn apart, her cheek gnawed and gnarly. Blood soaked the neckline and spread down to her chest, a catastrophic injury that must have been excruciating before it took her.
The passenger, another woman, had a bandage on her forearm, her mouth and chin covered in dried blood that had seeped down her neck.
As soon as they spotted us, their behaviour turned feral. Arms swinging, fingers desperate to catch hold of us. Their mouthsopened and closed in those frightening, hungry motions, with their seatbelts pulled tight across their chests.
Strangely enough, as we wandered toward the sliding door on the side, that wasn’t the worst part.
A baby sat behind them in a rear-facing car seat. The lace band around her head had dipped low, covering one eyebrow, and her pink striped cardigan was soaked with tears or dribble. Red-cheeked, her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. She wasn’t screaming anymore. She just stared at us with enormous brown eyes, dazed and lost, her palms pressed to the sides of her seat. Seeing her so unsure of whether to reach for us or cringe away…
“Oh my God, Theo.” My throat closed up, my eyes welling with tears. I knew next to nothing about babies, but I guessed her to be around a year old, maybe a bit younger.
She’d been stuck here with her dead parents, surrounded by the smell. Cold and hungry, alone for who knew how long.
He didn’t waste time comforting me. He merely handed me his sword and slid the rear door on its track, reaching inside with the confidence of a man who had experience with babies. His murmured words of assurance tugged at my heart.
With both weapons in hand, I remembered where we were and spun around, checking the area for threats. Still in the clear.
The snap of a releasing catch had me turning back to Theo, and I held my breath as he eased her from the car seat. Her parents went wild, thrashing and rocking the van, their clouded eyes locked on their daughter as they reached through from the front. I told myself it was because they still cared, not because we were removing their food source.
“It’s okay.” Theo stroked his hand over the girl’s short, brown curls and lifted her headband into place. “You’re safe now.”
I pulled in a shuddering breath and performed a quick visual check for injuries. Her clothes were undamaged, her skin unmarred. I didn’t know if a scratch was enough to infectsomeone and turn them, but it looked like there hadn’t been enough slack in the seatbelts for her parents to reach her.
“Hold her while I take care of these two,” Theo said, his jaw tight as he passed her to me.
“Wait.” My pulse raced as I leaned our weapons against the van. I hastily wiped my hands on my pants. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“You don’t have to do anything yet,” he said. “Just hold her and make her feel safe.” He shifted her weight to me, his eyes troubled. We’d just made the baby’s life better, but ours infinitely more complicated.
As her bottom rested on my forearm, the smell wafting from it almost made me gag. “She needs a nappy change,” I said. “Urgently.”
Theo cupped the back of my head and pressed a kiss on my temple. “This sucks, I know,” he said. “I’ll look for a nappy bag before we do anything else. She could have been sitting in it for days.”
He rummaged among the belongings wedged between the rear seats, emerging victorious. A black bag with endless pockets dangled from his hand. “Do you want to, or will I?”
Fighting the temptation to complain or wish the whole situation away, I exhaled. “I guess I will. She's used to women caring for her, and I need to learn.” Keeping hold of the baby, I took the bag from him and looped it over my other shoulder. “Are we taking her car seat? We’ll need to lose some of the supplies in the back to make room.”
