The Living Dead Boy (The Living Dead Boy #1)(30)

“Ouch!” Sam cried out.

Dulce shoved his tummy down with one hand and pulled on his arm with the other.

“Need to hurry. We got flaming zombies on the way!” Troy exclaimed. “About ten feet and closing!”

Josh glanced up to see blackened zombies emerging from the tall flames. Their lips were burned away to reveal gleaming teeth.

With a shout of triumph, Chad reached the fence and vaulted over the post to land beside of Josh. “I did it!”

“Help us,” Josh ordered.

“We need to go! Leave the fatty! He’ll slow them down,” Chad answered dismissively.

“Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!” Sam chanted in terror.

“We’re not leaving you,” Josh promised, and pulled harder. The muscles in his arms and legs were stinging with the strain.

“Help us,” Corina shouted in Chad’s face.

Breathing heavily, sweat streaming down his cheeks, Chad reluctantly leaned over and grabbed Sam’s belt. Dulce shoved down on the boy’s stomach while Josh and Chad pulled. His shoulders and head slipped under the barbed wire, and he was through.

“We did it!” Danny grinned, and let go of the wire.

It vibrated with a twang.

Corina turned to Sam. “Get up. Hurry. We need to get moving. The fence won’t hold them long. And it’s not going to keep the fire back.”

“He’s wasting our time. He’s gonna die anyway,” Chad said with a sneer.

Rolling onto his side, Sam sobbed, “I’m not going to die, Chad.”

“Eh. Without us you will.” Chad shrugged, and jogged into the trees. “Hurry up, losers.”

The kids scrambled away from the fence and followed the teenager.

All except Corina.

Josh turned around when he noticed she wasn’t following. “Come on.”

Corina was frantically pulling at her pant leg. “Josh, I’m caught!”

“What?”

“The studs on my pockets are caught! Please help!”

Rushing to Corina’s side, Josh ignored the advancing zombies. The smell of burned meat and grass filled his nostrils, making him gag. Corina jerked her hips away from the fence, but she was solidly hooked by a barb.

“Oh man! The zombies are going to eat her,” Sam wailed from behind them.

“Shut up!” Troy ordered. “You’re freaking her out.”

“Josh,” she wailed desperately. “Please get me free!”

“Hold still!” He could see where she was snagged. The rusted metal had burrowed under the studs. Fingers slick with sweat, he tried to unhook her.

“Josh! They’re almost to you!”

“I know, Troy!”

The zombies were eerily silent. Out of the corner of his eye, Josh could see their blackened bodies coming closer and closer.

“Josh,” Corina whispered, terror in her eyes. “Get me free, please!”

Jerking at the wire and at her jeans, Josh frantically attempted to free her. “Chad, help me!”

“He ran ahead,” Danny replied.

Grunting, Josh desperately tried to free the girl he loved.

“Josh! Seriously!”

“Troy, shut up!”

“They’re gonna eat her!”

“Sam, shut up!”

The reek of burnt meat was overwhelming. Josh looked up to see one zombie reaching for him. He ducked away from its grasping hand. A second later, a broken tree branch swung over his head and knocked the zombie back.

Breathing heavily, Dulce hit it again.

With another branch, Danny shoved a different zombie back by jabbing it hard in the chest with one splintered end. “Dude, seriously hurry!”

“The zombies are going to eat them!”

“Shut up, Sam!” Josh and Troy chorused.

“I don’t want to die,” Corina whispered, her eyes darting to the zombies closing in on her. “Please, Josh!”

Shaking the wire has hard as he could, Josh grunted with exertion. Blood started to stain the fabric around the barb, and Josh hated that he was hurting her.

A zombie lurched toward the kids behind the fence. Dulce and Danny shoved it back, but it stayed upright, supported by the many undead behind it. They were only a few feet from the fence.

They were out of time.

Weeping, Corina pulled against the wire.

“Take them off!” Josh exclaimed. How had he been so stupid and not realized what she needed to do before. “Take off the jeans!”

“Oh, God! You’re right!” Corina gasped. Her fingers fumbled with the button on her waistband.

“You’re useless,” Chad grunted, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. He grabbed Corina about the waist and wrenched her from the fence. Her jeans ripped free, tearing a big hole in the fabric and leaving a nasty wound in her skin. Grabbing Corina’s hand, Chad dragged her deeper into the trees. “C’mon, losers. Let’s go!”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Troy muttered, following.

“I almost died!” Sam trailed after Troy. “I almost died, Troy!”

“Nah! Corina almost died!” Troy replied.

Still holding onto their makeshift spears, Dulce and Danny ran after Chad and the others. Josh backed away from the barbed wire fence as the front end of the herd of zombies collided with the rusted metal. The fence shuddered but held.