Nathan and Micah dismounted their horse without any hesitation, and Nathan brought his rifle up and shot through the skulls of a couple of zombies. The sound wasn’t anything like the guns my parents had. It was quieter, which was a pleasant surprise.
Micah rushed forward, slamming his axe into the head of one zombie before turning and hitting another.
They took out the zombies seamlessly, like a team. It made me wonder just how many times they’d done it before.
Nathan moved forward, rifle up on his shoulder as he scoped the area. The sounds of their boots crunching as they walked over the disposed dead and cleared the area was sickening.
Micah was just ahead of Nathan, and neither of them saw the blood-caked fingers digging into the soil and pulling its upper body out from the high grass next to Nathan.
Adrenaline slammed into me as I jumped off Kovu, grabbing the golf club that had been secured to the saddle bag.
“Tori! What’re you doing?” Mom gasped, and the rest of their shouts blended together as I raced toward Nathan just as the zombie’s hand curled around his ankle.
Nathan’s head snapped down as horror enveloped his features.
I swung the club over my head and struck down on the back of the zombie’s head with as much force as I could muster.
The crack of the skull came easier than any I’d killed before, and brain matter splattered everywhere. Sounds of puking erupted from behind us, and I swallowed the burning bile in my throat as I stumbled back with my golf club clenched in my hand.
“Fuck. Nathan, I’m sorry.” Micah rushed back to us, checking both of us over with his eyes. “I didn’t check the high grass enough.”
“Don’t be. You did your job. That was on me. If it wasn’t for Tori, though…”
“Good arm on you, darlin’,” Micah finished, nodding at me with relief clear on his face.
“Darlin’?” Nathan forced out a breathy chuckle, the color in his cheeks starting to return. “I think killer is more appropriate. Thanks for saving my life,killer.”
“Anytime,” I replied, forcing my lungs to inflate and deflate with oxygen as my heart pounded mercilessly in my chest.
“You need something better than a golf club,” Micah stated, his lips thinning into a grim line.
“No. I like my golf club,” I defended as I adjusted my grip on it. “It’s light-weight and pretty brutal.”
“You never liked my golf clubs before,” Jay grumbled as he helped Daisy off the horse behind us.
I glanced down at the mush of a zombie head that I had made and shrugged. “They weren’t as fun as they are now.”
Nathan barked a laugh. “She’s got a damn good point.”
“It’s not like you used the golf club much through the years anyway,” Daisy said as the rest of the group walked over. “Not after we made it to the ranch at least.”
The horses kicked their hooves at the ground, refusing to come close to the dead.
“She’s killed the majority of the zombies that came up on the fence back home.” Spencer snorted. “How many have you killed?”
“None,” Dad answered for her. “Care if we take a quick rest without the bickering? Horses need a break.”
Micah and Nathan shared a look before nodding.
“We can only chance a five minute rest,” Micah said.
“Good enough for me.”
We’d led the horses around the dead zombies on the ground and moved far enough away from the carnage to feel comfortable. Some of us stood while others sat on the ground, and my muscles cried in relief for the break.
Micah and Nathan sat on each side of me, and the warmth of their shoulders spread to mine.
“So, why the golf club, killer?” Nathan broke a stick before digging it into the ground and carving a line in the dirt.
