Page 15 of Zomromcom
Edie ate her long-awaited, much-needed breakfast as she and Max discussed what to do next. Parked between two dumpsters, out of easy sight, they should be safe enough for a few minutes. She hoped.
“I’m not changing my mind,” she told him for the dozenth time, and downed another starchy spoonful of her on-the-go meal. “But feel free to drop me off at my house so I can grab my car and go on my own.”
He dragged a hand through his hair, pushing it away from his forehead.
“By themselves, zombies are incredibly dangerous. But now we have to take into account whoever planned this clusterfuck too, Edie, and they could be anywhere. Anywhere . We have no idea what they want or why. All we know is that they’re willing to kill innocent people to get it.
Which means they would kill you without a second thought. ”
“And you.”
He waved that aside. “Come back to my house. Bring your”—he glanced at what she was eating and turned up his perfect nose—“whatever that is, along with the rest of your human food, and we’ll hunker down until the problem is resolved.”
“No.”
“Do you want to be a martyr? Is that it?” His glare should have incinerated her where she sat.
“I want to be a good neighbor. A good human.” When she laid a hand on his forearm, it felt like stone beneath her fingertips. “Look, you don’t have to do this, Max. I’ve already said that a million times.”
His eyes slipped shut, and he exhaled after a moment, his muscles slowly relaxing under her touch. “What is that foul concoction you’re ingesting, anyway?”
“Taco in a Can. ‘The world’s first and best nonperishable processed taco product,’ it says here.
” The label didn’t offer much more information, other than a long list of ingredients she couldn’t pronounce.
Letting go of his arm, she spooned up another bite, chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed. “Honestly? It’s not terrible.”
“Hopefully the world’s only nonperishable processed taco product,” he muttered, opening his eyes.
“It mostly tastes like refried beans and preservatives.” She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve had worse.”
“What else did you squirrel away in here?” Without permission, he began riffling through the contents of her duffel bag. “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Falafel? What the fuck is that?”
“Not falafel.” She pointed at him with her spoon. “I know that much.”
“Pizza Jerky? I can’t even begin to…” He brought the plastic wrapper closer to read the slogan. “?‘The party never stops with Pizza Jerky.’ Dear gods.”
“Grab me another pomegranate-lime juice box, would you?” When he tossed one her way, she caught it and checked the package. “Hey, look at that. It’s one hundred percent juice, Judgy McJudgythong. Also, pomegranate’s a superfood. Or superdrink. Whatever.”
His fingernails scratched against his chin. “What, precisely, is a superfood?”
She couldn’t resist. “Food that tastes super.”
He groaned loudly enough that any nearby zombies were probably sprinting in their direction.
“Anyway, enough about my amazing collection of emergency foodstuffs. Let’s talk about what happens next.
” At the thought of proceeding without him, approximately fourteen ounces of processed taco product had become a leaden lump in her stomach, but she made her voice breezy, her question casual and unconcerned.
“Are you coming with me, or are you taking me back to my car?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Coming with you.”
Her incipient nausea eased, and a glow of warmth and relief spread like sunshine through her veins.
Also a hot prickle of guilt, because he’d have stayed safe in his home, and he wouldn’t have left that home if she hadn’t insisted on going.
But he was a grown man—grown vampire, rather—and she wasn’t precisely holding him at gunpoint, so she shook off her guilt and began planning.
“All right.” She drummed her fingers against the side of her can. “I see at least two potential problems directly ahead of us. First, since we don’t know why the drawbridge is down, it could theoretically also go up at any time. If we were far enough along when that happened…it wouldn’t be good.”
The mechanism rose swiftly. Too swiftly for them to save themselves.
The thought of trying to escape the SUV as it crashed into the water and sank into the moat’s dark depths chilled her to the marrow.
Alternatively, she supposed the vehicle could get flipped violently backward onto the roadway again, which was… not a great option either.
“The drawbridge is also very exposed to attack. I assume that’s your second concern.”
She nodded. “It’s a bottleneck.”
“But since abandoning the SUV and most of our supplies to swim across the moat isn’t a good option, we don’t have much of a choice but to cross the bridge.”
He didn’t sound frightened or even especially tense about it. Just resigned.
“Agreed. Let me finish my snack, and then we’ll take our chances.” After scraping out the last bite from the bottom of her can, she waved it in front of Max. “Where do you want me to put this? And please know any response similar to where the sun don’t shine will be met with extreme prejudice.”
“I would never,” he said loftily. “Here.”
Taking the can gingerly between two fingers, as if it were a soiled diaper, he tossed it onto the floor of the back seat.
“You’re getting processed taco product on your mat,” she pointed out, tucking her spoon back into her duffel and placing her empty juice box on the floor beside the can. “Doesn’t that freak you out?”
“The seats and mats will already require cleaning, given the current status of our clothing and shoes.”
“Ah.” Now that she was paying attention, she spotted the bloodstains. Whoops. “Since your car’s already messy, does that mean I can wipe my mouth on your leather seats?”
He ignored her, his expression turning hard with purpose. “Is your seat belt low and tight across your lap?”
She tugged it a bit tighter. “Now it is.”
Without another word, he put the SUV in gear and zipped out from between the dumpsters, then turned smoothly back onto the main access road. As they approached the security station, with its passcard reader and cameras and designated stopping point, his foot only pressed harder on the accelerator.
For the first time ever, she zipped past the station without halting.
After a brief rumble as they passed over the seam connecting the roadway to the bridge, they were hurtling across the moat.
The water sparkled on either side of them, its surface only a low barrier and an eight-foot drop away, its depths inky and glacially cold.
At this speed, they’d reach Zone B in maybe ten seconds, assuming nothing went—
“ Shit .” For the second time that day, Max stomped on the brake pedal, and he flung an arm across her chest as the vehicle shuddered, skidded to a halt, and threw her violently against the unforgiving cage of her seat belt.
There were now zombies pouring through the giant open door leading to the neighboring zone, sprinting in their direction. A dozen. Two dozen. Maybe more.
That was one question answered. The pack had already made it across the moat.
“Hold on.” He slammed the SUV into Reverse and began backing up as quickly as he could.
It wasn’t enough. The zombies were gaining on them, racing on all fours, gaunt flanks heaving with each panting stride, and she frantically twisted in her seat to see how far Max still had to drive before they were back on solid ground, where they could find a hiding place.
“Max, behind us!” she yelled.
Apparently not all the pack had crossed yet, because another clutch of the creatures had just rounded the security station and begun bounding toward them in full flight.
His knuckles shone white on the steering wheel, but he didn’t slow down. “If they trap us on the bridge—”
“We won’t have anywhere to go but the water,” she finished for him.
With the accelerator pressed all the way to the floor, they barreled directly into the group of zombies behind them.
The jarring impact rocked her in her seat, and the SUV’s momentum tossed aside or trampled almost a dozen of the creatures before the vehicle slowed to a near halt, their bodies becoming speed bumps beneath its wheels.
She and Max panted in the sudden stillness.
“Maybe if I—” He shifted to Drive, then floored the accelerator again, but managed only a few feet of progress before the first cluster of zombies reached them and easily stopped their minimal forward momentum. “ Dammit .”
The two parts of the pack converged on the vehicle, and the onslaught began.
The SUV shuddered, and metal screeched and glass thumped as the creatures howled and beat on the temporary shelter.
Their open jaws, all sharp teeth and slavering hunger, clicked against the windshield and side windows, their features deforming as they tried to somehow press through the transparent barrier.
Claws scraped and shrieked, and the interior grew dim as the swarm blocked the light. She and Max were entirely surrounded.
A buzzing began in her ears, and she couldn’t catch her breath.
More creatures leapt on the rear bumper and began to climb atop the roof, stomping and smashing, frustration urging them to even greater violence.
“The glass…” Why wasn’t it breaking?
“Bulletproof.” His face had twisted into a snarl. “It may eventually crack, but it shouldn’t shatter.”
Get your shit together, Brandstrup , she frantically instructed herself.
The roof began to creak and indent, and she hurriedly ticked off their few remaining options.
“If we leave the car and confront them on the bridge, we’re dead.
So we can wait here and find out whether they’ll eventually crush us from above or break through the glass, or we can somehow get in the water and hope the reports are right. ”
“That they’ll eventually drown.”
She nodded. “Preferably before killing us.”
And hopefully before we drown too , she allowed to remain unspoken.