“This is going to be a bitch to clean afterwards,” I say as I step back to avoid a particularly grabby set of zombie hands before jabbing my knife into its eye socket.
Alex just grunts.
I grind my teeth in frustration. Fuck it. If he’s going to be a grumpy bastard, then I can at least use this time to get through to him. “Are you mad at me?” I demand as I spare him a glance.
He doesn’t answer. Not that he needs to when he stabs a zombie with more force than necessary, causing the skull to explode like rotting confetti.
My eyes narrow. “Youaremad at me. Why?” I dodge a flailing zombie hand and stab at it as I try to think of what I’ve done to piss him off, only to come up empty. “What did I do?”
“I’m not having this conversation right now,” he growls, sounding exactly like Rhys as he kills yet another zombie.
“Why not? It’s not like we have anywhere to go, and I’m not going to stop asking until you tell me.”See? I can be stubborn, too, asshole.
He shoots me an incredulous look. “We’re in the middle of a bloody fight, Theo! This is not the time.”
I scoff. “We can fight and talk. I’ve seen you do it before.” To prove that point, both of us slam our blades into zombies at the same time, like we choreographed it or something.
“No, Theo. Just drop it.” And then the bastard just moves away, forcing another member of our group to take his spot.
Rude.
Unfortunately, one of our group members chooses that moment to lose concentration. They step back and trip on a fallen limb, crying out as they crash onto the blood-stained concrete. A bony, rotting hand wraps around their leg and yanks them towards a gaping maw. Apparently, someone didn’t make sure their zombie wasdeaddead before moving on.
The guy shouts and struggles, but the zombie’s hold is too tight and no one else is in a position to help as they’re dragged closer to their doom.
“Fuck!” I kill the zombie in front of me and dodge several grasping limbs as I scour the floor for the undead that’s trying to turn my group member into dinner. I find it trapped beneath a pile of corpses, missingits legs and one eye. With a swift stab to the head, it releases its hold on the guy.
The group member lies there, stunned as he stares at the hand loosely wrapped around his ankle.
“Move!” I snap at him as I yank my knife free and move back to my spot.
And just in time to take down an undead that had been shuffling towards Alex’s back. The man in question turns, sees how close the zombie was to him, and inclines his head in thanks.
Fucker still isn’t talking to me.
With a huff, I focus my attention back to taking down as many zombies as possible.
I’m not sure how long it takes before I slam my knife into the last zombie. My arms ache and my clothes stick uncomfortably to my sweat and gore covered skin.
“Everyone still alive?” I call out as I shove my knife back into its sheath and turn to face the rest of my group.
They’re all looking a little shell-shocked—eyes wide and unseeing and their bodies trembling from the adrenaline—but they all seem to be in one piece. Although it’s kind of hard to tell since they’re also covered in rotting blood and gore. I glance at Alex, relieved to see that he’s fine, even though he’s scowling at the ground like it wronged him.
“Everyone alive out here?” Rhys calls as he steps through the door, looking as exhausted and dirty as we are.
“We seem to be,” I answer as I sweep my eyes across the sea of corpses, not recognising anyone amongst the dead.
“Um, is it over? Does this mean we’ve cleared the place out?” one of the guys from my group asks.
I really need to learn their names.
Rhys glances around before nodding. “Seems like we got them all.”
Thank fuck. I really need to wash this gore off me; my skin is starting to itch.
“Theo, Alex, make sure all the infected corpses are moved to a more discreet location so we don’t tip off the Scourge to where we are. My team will clear out the bodies inside the warehouse and set up camp.”
I swallow a groan. Clean-up duty is theworst. I turn to my group. “You heard the man. Let’s get these bodies moved.”
