Page 25 of The End of the World As We Know It

Gut check. Graffiti splashed the tunnel entrance, green, violet, crimson, but past that, it was inky. Dani inhaled and got a nod from him. They couldn’t wait. Dismounting, they walked the bikes inside.

Dani’s breathing echoed off the walls. What was down here? “I’ll take out the zombies.”

“I’lltake out the zombies,” Jesse said. “You tackle the Zodiac.”

She felt thankful for his presence. Even if he was a baby. He was cute. Hell, he was handsome. But so alone. As if he was—severed. From the life he’d planned. From a love, somebody meant for him, he hadn’t even met yet. Maybe gone now. Who knew?

Daylight quickly weakened. When they reached the first branch in the tunnel Jesse pulled out a marker and drew an arrow on the wall.

“So we know we’ve been here, and which way we went.”

They flicked on their flashlights. The sharpened glare turned their faces ghoulish. A hundred yards on they reached the first encampment.

A stench hit them. Mollie moaned. They pulled bandannas over their faces.

“Walk beside me, Mollie,” Dani said.

Electric bulbs were strung overhead on a tangle of extension cords. Beds, camp stoves, old dressers, a broken guitar, rotting food. And the dead. A body. Then another.

Dani set her hand atop Mollie’s, on her handlebars. “I’m here.”

Above them, a grate let in stormy light. Perched atop it, pecking, was a crow.

Snap.Lightning bleached the view. Thunder cracked and the clouds ruptured.

Rain pelted through the grate, splashing, echoing. The crow clicked its head sideways, staring at Dani. A biting chill seeped into her.

Cawing, the bird flew away.

Jesse forged on to a branching tunnel. Immediately they hit another dead encampment. Mollie balked, whimpering. Dani hugged her tightly to her side and began to hum. Low, barely a sound. “Viva, Las Vegas.” Don’t hate on the King. They inched forward.

Jesse glanced back over his shoulder. Dani mouthed,How much farther?

He mouthed back,Mile and a half.

Then the space opened into a wide chamber. Tunnels branched off, black mouths. Aboveground, thunder boomed. Jesse paused to check the map.

And they heard scuffing sounds. Footsteps. Jesse straightened, alarmed. Mollie grabbed Dani’s shirt. Dani frantically shook her head.Not a word.

But her heart plummeted. Had Amber’s people spotted them? How?

Crowcrowcrow.No. Crazy.

A new rumble echoed through the tunnel. Dirt bikes. They were coming.

She killed her flashlight. Jesse did the same. Then Mollie, her entire body chattering.

And then Dani heard a trickle. Water was running down the center of the tunnel floor.

A steel band seemed to tighten around her chest. She needed air. Sky. To soar above it all. Away. Away.Away.

The water grew from a trickle to a stream.

Jesse whipped out the map, flicked his flashlight on just long enough to check it, and pointed at one of the branching tunnels. “This way.”

Dani hesitated. Water flowed around her boots. Mollie stared at her intensely.

Dani gazed up the tunnel they’d been following. She dropped her bike. Her pack.