Thicker Than Blood (Thicker Than Blood #1)(17)
A full-body shudder racked through me, leaving my lips quivering and my hands trembling. I found myself frantically fumbling beside me, searching for the gun Alex had given me the night before. For what reason, I didn’t know. I’d never fired one, had never even held one; Lawrence hadn’t allowed me the liberty.
When I found it on the floor of the truck, I snatched it up and kicked my way out of the passenger side door, then rushed to the front of the truck. I reached Alex’s side just as Evelyn had begun letting loose a barrage of bullets. Amid her screams, one crack after another rang through the air. My breath stuttered to a stop while my heart made up in beats what my lungs couldn’t seem to produce.
One of her bullets finally found purchase in the knee of an infected, causing it to stumble and fall firmly on its backside. Another took a shot to the shoulder, the chest, and the side of its face, and yet it kept on coming for her, unfazed.
Then Evelyn, a mere kissable distance from the still-standing infected, finally hit her target. The bullet sliced through its forehead, blowing the back of its head wide open. Like a papier-maché pi?ata, the prizes inside—bone and brains and various shades of indistinguishable sludge—all exploded into the air like confetti.
“Oh my God,” I breathed, watching as the creature crumpled to the ground. But my relief was short lived as the remaining infected had somehow managed to get back on its feet. And Evelyn, looking victorious, was oblivious to the danger that was now nearly on top of her.
I screamed at the top of my lungs, frantically waving my arms in the air. “Eve! Eve! Behind you!”
Evelyn spun around just in time to catch the infected as it was reaching for her, its jaw open wide, ready to take a bite out of whatever piece of her it could manage. As she struggled to keep it at bay, shoving her hands into its chest, her gun fell from her grip. Screaming, Evelyn staggered backward under its dead weight, barely holding the monster off of her.
“Do something!” I cried, pleading with Alex. “She’s going to die! Do something!”
“I can’t get a shot,” he muttered, still squinting into his scope.
Frustration and fear had me grabbing his arm, gripping tightly to the thick material of his canvas jacket and twisting. “This can’t be for nothing!” I screamed, tears in my eyes. “And if I lose her, this will have all been for nothing!”
Evelyn continued to scream, barely managing to remain upright as she tried again to push the infected off her. But it wouldn’t relent.
Lowering his gun, Alex turned to me, his calm gaze finding my hysterical one. It took only a split second, this strange look he gave me, and then he was shoving his rifle into my arms and running out into the field. Pulling a large hunting knife free from the sheath strapped to his thigh, Alex ran a circle around Evelyn and the infected, catching the infected’s attention and allowing Evelyn the distraction and space she needed to give the thing a good shove. They both stumbled in opposite directions, Evelyn backward and the infected straight into the waiting arms of Alex.
With a swiftness that only came from experience, Alex laid the creature out flat on its back, and in the space of a heartbeat had sunk his blade into its skull.
Still cradling both the rifle and my gun, I sank to the ground, desperately trying to catch my breath. It was over now, everyone was safe, but…
This was life outside the walls, wasn’t it? This was my supposed freedom. Tears burned behind my eyes, tears of both relief and regret. Had we only traded one hell for another? And what would the cost of this new hell be?
“Lei!”
I lifted my eyes, watching as Evelyn came quickly down the incline, a small smile on her face. Incredulous, I stared at her, wondering how she could smile at a time like this. But I already knew the answer. Simply put, she’d been built this way, able to find a light when everyone else around her saw only darkness, able to hold herself together when everyone else was falling apart.
She’d lost Jami only hours ago and yet here she was, looking fresh faced, exhilarated, and…free.
“Are you okay?” she asked when she reached me.
Unable to answer her, so caught up in my own self-pity, I could do little more than bob my head once for yes.
“That was f*cking amazing,” she said breathlessly, shifting from one foot to the other. “Fucking amazing.”
“You need to learn how to use that gun.” Alex had strolled up casually beside Evelyn, his eyes on me.
Still on the ground and feeling awkward, I cleared my throat and attempted to get to my feet. Suddenly Alex was by my side, taking his rifle from my hands. With one arm around my waist, he pulled me upright.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, moving quickly away from him and trying to subtly inch closer to Evelyn.
“She does,” Evelyn agreed. “But first we need to figure out where we’re going.”
“Cold weather is coming,” Alex said, still watching me. “We could head south, wouldn’t have to worry about freezing to death.”
“Sounds good to me.” Evelyn turned toward me. “Lei?”
“The cold weather slows them down,” I said softly, knowing I had nothing to offer and feeling silly because of it. “Doesn’t it? Wouldn’t that make it safer here?”
Alex continued to stare at me, his hard expression giving nothing away as to what he was thinking. “Don’t know how safe we’re going to be when we’re freezing to death and can’t find shit to eat.”