Page 141 of His to Burn

“Probably desperate. Didn’t see another way,” he said.

So much like everyone else here and now.

“Yeah. I hope there’s some—” Jack stopped abruptly, then looked up.

“Do you hear that?” he said quietly.

I listened, then heard it. Faint at first and then louder.

“Is that...”

“Quiet.”

He let out a low whistle and got the others’ attention.

“Hide,” he said in a whisper-yell.

We ducked into the back of the truck, and I peeped out of the window, my heart practically seizing when I saw what was approaching.

“There’s hundreds of them,” I said.

“Yeah,” Jack said.

I didn’t want to look, but couldn’t make myself look away as they approached. Those things, moving almost as a unit, the sound of their shambling and their moans getting louder and louder.

“They’ll pass us by,” Jack said, his voice quiet.

I prayed he was right, but if they did, it would take a while.

They passed, always moving, but so, so slow that I worried my heart couldn’t take it.

I tried to stay calm, stay quiet, but every moment felt like torture.

I inhaled sharply when I felt something, then looked down into the now dim evening light to see that it was Jack.

He interlaced his fingers with mine, and I looked into his eyes.

Saw the calm there. Knew that no matter what, I wasn’t alone.

“No matter what, right?” I dared whisper.

Jack nodded, his gaze unwavering.

I held his hand, squeezing it so hard I knew it hurt.

But it didn’t bother him.

And he didn’t let me go.

Jack

“They’re gone,” I said.

It was dawn now, the tense night spent in the back of the truck finally giving way to the morning light.

The crowd was so thick, I lost sight of the others, and by the time it started to thin, a full night had fallen.

I didn’t know what was out there, and I couldn’t fight what I couldn’t see, so I stayed put and hoped the others did, too.