But the old man ended up getting the upper hand, and Nathan rolled on the ground, only a few feet from the bleeding, infected dead body in our barn. His boots kicked into Nathan’s side before my vision pulsed red.
“Get off him!” I jerked out of Micah’s grasp fast enough to swing my golf club into the back of the old man’s head. It hit with a dull crack, and the man stumbled back.
Blood dripped down his head, and before he could grasp his bearings, an arrow shot through his skull, the tip sticking out of his eye socket before his body fell forward.
Nathan scrambled to his feet before grabbing his gun off the ground.
The men at the barn doors looked at each other before turning to run, but a third arrow shot through the heart of one, and another arrow hit through the chest of the other.
Micah slung his long bow back over his shoulder and pulled me against him.
Nathan lifted his gun and shot the last guy who had only made it a few yards away.
My knees wobbled, and I couldn’t take my eyes off Nathan as he got back to his feet and winced before smiling at me with his busted lip.
“How did you three know how to get out of that situation?” Dad asked, his voice thick with fear and respect.
“The humans alive now are more dangerous than the zombies.” Micah shrugged.
“What were they doing here?” Daisy’s voice trembled. “Why did they kill the cow?”
“They’re raiders. They’ve been following the horde and scavenging what survives it,” Nathan explained bitterly. “They probably shot the cow for meat.”
“She wasn’t a meat cow. She was a milk cow,” Dad muttered, and my chest throbbed. “Might as well take advantage of the situation though.”
“I’ll help,” Nathan offered, and I frowned. “We just need to clear the house and coop first.”
Nerves fluttered in my stomach. The ranch was a disaster from the horde, and I doubt we would’ve survived it. But Iknewwe wouldn’t have survived the raiders that came through after.
17
TORI
The entire house had been ransacked aside from the upstairs, and my mom and Spencer were hard at work, putting things up and stuffing some things into boxes.
It was obvious the horde hadn’t breached the house—the raiders did.
But even so, the thought of staying here again didn’t feelsafe.
Everyone else surprisingly felt the same way—including my dad. Since Benjamin planned to build structures for the livestock, we decided to bring all the animals with us.
We had a couple of trailers that could be pulled by the horses, so we planned to gather as much as we could and head back. It would be a harder journey with the cows, bull, and us walking along with the horses, but we didn’t have much of a choice.
My main concern was the bitter cold with the animals, but as soon as we made it back to the Oasis, they would be warm again—and they were warm tonight.
Canned foods were stockpiled already, and we knew we’d have to use one of the trailers strictly for the chickens since we had so many of them. We would have to make a couple of trips to bring in some of the bigger supplies, but it would be worth it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?“ I fussed over Nathan at the kitchen table, ignoring how all the things were torn out of the cabinets and flung around. My hands moved around his body, pressing and prodding to make sure he wasn’t more injured than he’d looked.
Nathan gripped my wrist and tugged me into his lap. “I’m fine, killer. Thanks to you bashing the old guy over the head with your golf club, Calix had a perfect shot to take him down.”
My face heated, and I nodded. My body had acted on its own. All I knew was that I absolutely hated seeing Nathan being kicked while he was down—literally.
“I can’t believe you hit a person with it,” Spencer stated, shaking her head. “My sister is such a badass.”
“She is.” Micah strolled over and kissed my temple.
“Proud of you,” Calix murmured, standing behind Nathan’s chair.
