Page 58

“Nearly there,” Luke said.

I hummed my agreement, watching the road ahead.

We’d made it to the outer suburbs of Melbourne, where the streets were narrower, and the houses were crammed together.

The dead roamed everywhere, lost and broken. Far too many to count now.

Vehicles had been dumped in the middle of the street or crashed into poles, and more cars were moving, taking people out of the city to who knew where.

I wondered how long Sadie and I could live in an apartment before we’d be looking to escape built-up areas, too.

And what happened to Luke when Kirby and I reached our destinations? Did I thank him and wave goodbye? I couldn’t imagine never seeing the two of them again after everything we’d been through.

Would it be weird asking him to come to Sadie’s with me so soon after meeting him? We’d talked about anything and everything yesterday while Kirby slept, but not this. Not the future.

Luke eased off the accelerator as we approached an intersection where the traffic lights were no longer working. He cruised around a crash involving three cars in the centre just as a sound pierced the interior of the car. High and frantic. Relentless.

“You hear barking?” Luke said.

I leaned forward, scanning the street. “It’s a—”

“Dog. There.” Kirby leaned through from the back, pointing at a cluster of infected loitering in the driveway of a house on the left.

Luke slowed the car as a small dog with fawn-coloured fur shot between an infected man’s legs.

It backed up, barking, frightened and confused.

The cluster of dead switched directions each time the dog’s position changed, grabbing air every time it evaded their grasp.

“Luke. We can’t let it…” My voice drifted off as it moved farther down the driveway, unknowingly trapping itself. It wouldn’t be long until it had nowhere to go.

“Eight infected and three of us,” he said. “It’s too risky.”

Kirby shifted behind me. A second later, her axe brushed the back of my seat, and the door opened while we were still moving.

“Wait a second,” Luke snapped.

“Nope. Stop the car, or I jump out.”

Her words were so calm, I’d never taken her so seriously.

Luke’s hands flexed on the wheel as he slowed the car. “Look, I love dogs as much as the next person, but—”

“If you actually loved dogs, you wouldn’t still be talking,” she said. “You’d already be out of the car.”

I sent him an understanding look as he pulled over. “We’ll do this together. We’re getting better at it now.”

He shut off the engine, then swore under his breath as he yanked off his seatbelt. “Don’t blame me if we all die.”

Kirby jumped out and ran for the dog. The poor little guy was still barking madly, hoarse now from the effort.

I grabbed the nail gun and flung my door open, jogging beside Luke toward the brown brick house. Nobody came outside. If anyone had been home, the noise should have brought them to the door or window by now.

The dog had backed into an overgrown, weed-strewn yard, heading straight for the front door. Several of the dead followed, scuffing and tripping through the long grass, arms outstretched. The two at the rear of the pack took more interest in our incoming footsteps and turned.

A man with teeth showing through a gaping hole in his cheek stared at me and groaned.

“Hey!” Kirby shouted, clanging her axe against the brick letterbox. “Over here!”