Page 28 of Zomromcom
After Max duct-taped the holes in the windows, the SUV’s temperature stayed relatively comfortable. By the time they turned onto the main access road and Edie polished off her first warm cinnamon roll, she was feeling pretty good, considering the circumstances.
As she ate the second roll, she pretended to wipe her sticky hands on his leather seats and hummed the Gaston song between bites just to fuck with Max, and his offended mutterings made her feel even better.
“About ten more minutes until the drawbridge into Zone C.” Digging a wet towelette out of her bag, she cleaned her icing-covered fingers. “Do you think that one will be down too? If so, what’s our strategy?”
The memory of yesterday’s terrifying, zombie-swarmed jump into dark water flashed through her thoughts, and she shivered.
With a flick of his forefinger, he set the temperature in the vehicle even higher. “Scout out the situation ahead of time as best we can. Wait and hide if we see the pack nearby. If we don’t—”
“Drive like hells for the other side,” she finished for him.
“Exactly.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I’ll stay on the shoulder, as close to the guardrail as possible. Which is what I should have done last time.”
“Max.” She reached over to rub his bunched shoulder muscles. “Please be patient with yourself. Neither one of us knows what we’re— Stop! ”
When he stomped on the brake pedal, cursing, the smell of burning rubber filled the SUV. She wrinkled her nose but kept her eyes trained on the roadside.
A dozen tween girls in green uniforms stood in a loose cluster near a stretch of forest. They were sitting ducks. Shit.
As soon as the car juddered to a halt, she flung open the door and ran.
“Edie!” Max shouted behind her, sounding deeply unhappy. “Wait for—”
“All of you need to find immediate shelter,” she called as she approached the group. “There’s been another breach, and we haven’t been able to sound the alarm! The zombies could be anywhere!”
No screaming. No scattering. For fuck’s sake, why weren’t the kids even reacting ?
One of the taller girls, her hair arranged in neat box braids and twisted into a bun, moved smoothly in front of the others. Her expression calm, she watched Edie approach without any noticeable surprise or alarm at the news of the breach.
“We’ll be fine.” She offered a serene smile. “The zombies are already over the bridge and inside Zone C.”
Presumably because everyone in Zones A and B was either dead or holed up somewhere out of reach and the creatures had moved on in search of fresh food. Even so—
“There could be stragglers.” Edie skidded to a stop in front of the girls and frantically scanned the area.
“We need to locate a house or some other sturdy structure nearby. Preferably one with access to food and water so you’ll stay fine until this clusterf—” After considering her audience, she rephrased.
“This cluster of…unfortunateness…is over.”
Climbing into the trees would serve as a temporary solution, but eventually—
“Woman, you can’t just run off.” Max had reached her side, and he was eyeing the humans before them in suspicion and obvious disfavor. “Not without waiting for backup.”
“Clearly, I can.”
Now that she was closer, she recognized the distinctive uniforms. These young women were Girl Explorers, complete with badge-studded vests, and the taller girl must be a troop spokesperson of some sort.
“We’re attempting to get word of the breach to authorities outside the Zone, since our internet and cell coverage is down,” Edie told her, then frowned. “I assumed that was true here too, but maybe it’s not. Have you been able to—”
“We have no way of contacting anyone outside the Zone either. We’ve been trying since this morning, when the first zombies arrived,” the leader said, answering Edie’s question-in-progress.
“I’m told the door through Wall Four is closed, at least for now.
Since the sirens haven’t sounded, we figure it hasn’t been breached yet, and the creatures are still contained within the Zone. ”
Edie nodded. “We think that too.”
“I’m Riley, Lead Explorer for Troop 3874.” The girl stepped forward and offered Edie a firm, confident handshake. “We appreciate your concern for our safety, even though it’s unnecessary.”
Nearly twitching with anxious impatience and biting back the urge to argue—because really, the Girl Explorers should be finding shelter, pronto —Edie played along instead.
Perhaps a little friendly persuasion could save the girls, even though their instinct for self-preservation had entirely failed them.
“I’m Edie.” When she laid her hand on Max’s forearm, his muscles there flexed distractingly. “And this is—”
“A vampire,” the troop leader said. “Interesting.”
Edie sucked in a shocked breath. How in the world could Riley have figured that out upon first meeting him?
Three years as his neighbor, and Edie had never even considered the possibility.
And oddly enough, the remaining players in their little tableau barely reacted to Riley’s statement.
The other Girl Explorers simply nodded, as if she’d merely confirmed what they already suspected.
Was there some telltale sign of vampirism Edie should have known about from the start?
Apparently Max had similar questions, because his stare narrowed slightly as he studied Riley. “You’re human. How did you know that?”
There was a moment of utter silence.
“Dude.” A girl with a high blond ponytail edged in front of Riley. “Look at you. Look at your outfit. Someone that hot in all black? Vampire.”
He glanced down. “I could be an incredibly handsome goth.”
As one, all the girls rolled their eyes.
“No visible piercings.” The blonde ticked observations off on her fingers. “No makeup. No black hair. I bet you don’t even listen to the Cure.”
Edie couldn’t resist, despite the urgency of the situation. “Also, you have resting murder face. RMF, if you will.”
“Exactly.” The girl nodded. “You look like you’d rather maim someone than wallow in unbearable ennui.”
His neutral expression became an affronted scowl. “I can maim and wallow at the same time, young woman. I multitask very effectively.”
The dregs of Edie’s patience abruptly emptied. The girls would find shelter—she hoped to goodness they did—or they wouldn’t. Either way, Edie and Max needed to go.
“Which is why he’s such a useful companion on our mission,” she interjected smoothly. “Speaking of which…”
“Enough, Delia.” Riley sliced a hand through the air, and her compatriot fell back into the crowd. “You two are trying to get word of the breach to authorities?”
Edie nodded. “Yes. Do you have any additional information we should pass along?”
After considering them for another moment, the troop leader nodded.
“My next-door neighbor is a witch. After the first zombie appeared in our neighborhood, she scried with water to find out what had happened and check the status of all four Zone walls.” She spoke slowly, her brow furrowed.
“She saw the site where the initial breach occurred. Afterward, she said she couldn’t tell for certain, but… she believed demons were involved.”
Demons. Fucking demons . Wow. This cluster of unfortunateness kept becoming even more unfortunate by the minute, didn’t it?
Max had stiffened beside her. “What’s your neighbor’s name?”
Why did that matter? Confused, Edie swung to face him, but his face told her nothing. His features might have been carved from granite.
Riley’s stare turned distrustful. “Why do you want to know?”
“In case we need to find her and ask for more details,” he said, sounding bored. “Obviously.”
Well, that was rude.
Sorry , she mouthed to Riley, who merely lifted a shoulder in response.
“If you need to find her, find me first.” The troop leader smirked. “You’re a vampire. I know you can track my scent from here, as required.”
Max inclined his head in acknowledgment, still stone-faced. “Very well.”
Edie hadn’t realized vampires possessed such a keen sense of smell. It certainly wasn’t common knowledge. So how did Riley know? Did she have a vampire friend, or…?
Didn’t matter. They had no more time to waste.
“Thank you for sharing your information.” She offered the girl a smile of gratitude. “Is there anything else we should know before we get back on the road?”
Riley shook her head, her braids shining in the sun. “That’s everything.”
The girls still needed to find shelter. Maybe if Edie made one final plea, they might—
“You shouldn’t remain out in the open like this,” Max said to Riley.
“Before we go, we can help you locate a place to hide, if you’ll accept our assistance.
” When Edie stared up at him, pleased surprise at his offer warming her from the inside out, he met her eyes and shrugged in that casual, infuriating, extremely French way he had. “If they died, you’d be sad.”
“And…” she prompted, hoping for something along the lines of and I’d rather not have the grisly deaths of a dozen tweens on my conscience either .
He raised a brow. “And…your sadness isn’t enjoyable to me.”
Her brief beam of approbation turned into a glare, which he confronted without any obvious remorse. There was no good way to determine whether he harbored any real concern of his own for the girls, but she supposed that didn’t matter right now either.
Sighing silently, she removed her hand from his arm and ignored his small grunt of protest. When his own hand came to rest on her lower back, though, she didn’t shake it off.
“Thank you for your kind concern.” Lips twitching in amusement, Riley raised a brow at Max. “But we’ll be fine, and we need to warn anyone still outdoors to find secure shelter. Otherwise, our Community Helper badges mean nothing.”
At the thought of leaving them behind, every instinct within Edie revolted. Surely there had to be some argument that would convince the girls—