Page 6 of The Forever (When the World Fell #3)

Liv

O ur group of four kept up a respectable pace as we ran through the streets of Darby Downs, with Gabe in the front, Ellie and me in the middle, and Remy bringing up the rear.

So far, nothing had triggered any concerns, and it felt good to be running again.

“Left up here,” Ellie said as we approached a cross intersection.

We turned the corner, and I performed a head check to the right, finding only the dead loitering in the distance. “How are you doing after what happened?” I asked her.

“I’m all right—just thankful to be out of there,” she said. “We weren’t even in the shed for twenty-four hours, so it could have been worse.”

“Did they hurt you?” I asked carefully as we jogged.

Ellie was cruising, arms loose, breaths coming easily. “Not in the way you’re asking,” she said, giving me a sideways look. “Dane was working up to it, but Tae kept getting in the way without making it seem like he was doing it on purpose. If he had the time, he would have got us all out of there—and if not, Ro would have figured out a way to rip Dane to shreds.”

I smiled as I pulled in a breath. “I don’t doubt that.”

Gabe slowed as we approached a cluster of dead blocking our path, with several spread out in a way that dodging one threat put us in the path of another.

As he grabbed the stained t-shirt of a young woman and drove his knife through her jaw, the rest of us dived into the melee.

Ellie took the one closest to her, a heavyset man in overalls and a ripped flannel shirt. She snatched a handful of matted hair and stabbed the knife I’d given her through his ear, jumping back as his body dropped to her feet.

Impressed with her quick movements, I swung my sword at two more, blood and fluids spraying the air as I took them both out with a single sweep.

Remy ended the fifth and sixth, and Gabe followed soon after with the remaining two.

Without another word, we took off running again, and I glanced in Ellie’s direction, thankful to have another confident, skilled member on our team—even if it was only for the duration of our time in town.

“More coming,” Gabe said a short while later.

The horde must have splintered off into several smaller clusters. Remy moved in close, and our group tightened as we encountered more than a dozen of the infected.

“Focus, everyone.” He bumped his shoulder against mine. “Cruz told me to look out for you, so you better take it easy. He’ll kill me if you get hurt.”

“I’ve got it covered,” I said, tossing him a smile. “You just worry about yourself.”

Several of the infected were badly burned, their decaying skin blackened and raw. Tattered clothing had fused to their bones, and some were missing body parts. If I thought the smell of rotting flesh had been bad, the crispiness added an extra layer of disgusting that made me want to gag.

“They must have come from the building Dane set on fire,” Ellie said as we spread out to prepare for a fight.

“Why did they burn it?” Gabe asked after he’d dropped the first one.

“Trying to clear the zombies from town.” Ellie stabbed a woman with a backhanded motion while she kept her eyes on the next one. “I don’t think they expected them to keep moving afterwards, but the fire didn’t damage their brains enough to stop them for good.”

Remy grabbed one of the infected and swung it into two more, knocking them all off their feet. He leaned over each of them to pierce their brains, ending the moaning and writhing in seconds. Sometimes watching him fight could be like seeing every action in fast forward, a blur of movements that left me in awe.

I put the tip of my sword into the face of a petite woman with the longest hair I’d ever seen, the strands partially burnt and stuck to her arms. She fell to the ground in a heap as Ellie took care of two more in quick succession. For someone who’d spent hours tied to a chair, she’d recovered surprisingly well.

Gabe threw himself into the fray, working fast, his form smooth and graceful. He dropped more than his share, occasionally using roundhouse kicks to take them down.

By the time we were out of danger, I stopped for a minute to catch my breath, turning to take in the immediate area.

Even with the delays caused by the dead, we were about halfway to Ro’s place.

Hopefully, the others were picking up the second car by now, and if everything went to plan, they’d found Willow and Tae waiting for them.

“Where to now?” Remy asked.

Ellie pointed straight ahead at a stretch of road that went as far as the eye could see. Houses were no longer on standard residential lots, and the view opened up into vast farmland. “Just over a kilometre up that road on the right. White fences all around. Ro used to have a horse agistment business there before… you know… everything.”

I flicked my sword to dislodge a chunk of crap clinging to the blade. “Let’s keep moving then,” I said. “We shouldn’t be out in the open with so many of the dead around.”

“Race you there.” Remy launched off his back foot as if he’d just heard a starter’s pistol, moving quicker than our original pace. Maybe too fast for me, but that wouldn’t stop me from trying to catch him.

Gabe rolled his eyes. “Can you tell he’s the younger twin?”

I smiled. “By how many minutes?”

“Eight, but every one of them counts.”

With a laugh, I readied myself for a nice, quick burst of speed to finish our run. “Ready to go home?” I asked Ellie.

Her mouth lifted on one side. “More than you can imagine.”

I gripped my sword and prepared to kick off when a weight hit her in the middle of the back, thunking into her like she’d just been punched. She made a strange squeaking sound and dropped my knife, falling to her hands and knees soon afterwards.

A fluttering started in my stomach, and my eyes went wide with confusion. “What the hell was that?”

“Rem!” Gabe bellowed, turning to scrutinise the area behind us.

Winded and struggling for breath, Ellie rolled over and sat on the ground directly next to a hammer.

An attack.

I rested my palm on her shoulder and lifted my gaze, steeling myself for a fight.

When I spotted Dane standing in an alley between two tall buildings, my heart punched against my ribcage.

Other than a bloody patch on the front of his shirt, he looked to be unharmed, and seeing him still breathing ticked me the hell off.

Gabe crouched beside Ellie to help her, and I took a step back as rage built inside me, turning my blood hot and sharpening my focus.

“You’re going down,” I murmured, bending to collect my knife from the ground.

“Liv,” Gabe warned. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“It’s fine,” I said, distracted by murderous thoughts. “Everything’s fine. Take care of Ellie.”

I returned the blade to my belt and slid my sword back into its sheath, freeing up both hands to maximise my speed.

Before anyone could stop me, I ran straight for him, arms pumping, determination in every step.

Dane grinned and performed a one-eighty, heading straight back down the laneway he must have just come from.

It couldn’t have been more obvious I’d given him what he wanted, but letting him go meant leaving a dangerous man out there lurking and planning. Stalking.

We’d seen what happened with loose ends, and he had the potential to cause lasting damage if we didn’t keep track of him.

Still.

I’d been doing this for far too long, and I knew better.

I knew not to go it alone.