Deadland's Harves(49)

“Sonofa—” Nate’s cussing was cut off by a ruckus of metal crashing and shouts.

We all sprinted to Nate’s position. My headlamp shone onto Jase’s back as he slashed something on the ground. When he moved, I saw that it had been a zed. More noticeably, it had been female, wearing a skirt and sporting a badly broken leg. The likely scenario? The crew had brought her on board during the outbreak, not realizing she’d been infected. Their compassion led to their deaths.

“She bit me. She f*cking bit me!”

I stepped around Jase to see Nate’s wild eyes. Blood poured from his cheek and head. The zed had taken a couple good-sized chunks. He had less than an hour.

Jase knelt by the collapsed locker. “Aw, hell.”

“Nate,” Tyler said, falling to his knees. He shoved against the locker, trying to push it off the guardsman.

Jase breathed deeply and then joined in, and they pushed the locker off Nate.

Nate must’ve been in shock because he didn’t seem to notice the locker. He only lay there and held his cheek. He stared at Tyler. “She bit me.”

Tack leaned on his machete.

“Damn it,” Griz said.

With a straight arm, Tyler pushed Jase back. He pulled out his sidearm and pressed a hand on Nate’s heart. “You’re a hero, Private Hawking. You’ve saved lives, and you’ve earned the peace that’s coming to you.”

Nate squeezed his eyes shut as Tyler lifted the sidearm. His hand shook, but he didn’t waste any time. I jumped at the single gunshot. It still echoed through the room as Tyler stood and walked several feet away from us.

Griz came down on a knee, clasped the cross he wore around his neck, and prayed.

By the time he’d finished, I came to accept the fact that Nate was gone. It seemed like the more death I’d seen, the faster I moved on. I wasn’t so sure I liked that change in me.

“The zed must’ve reached out and startled him,” Jase said. “He must’ve banged into the locker and it fell over on him.”

It’d been my job to clear this room. My fault. “I can’t believe I missed one,” I said breathlessly. My brows furrowed as I stared at Nate’s body.

“It was hidden behind the cabinet,” Jase said, grabbing my shoulder. “You couldn’t have seen it.”

I still couldn’t help but think I should have seen it.

After a long minute, Tyler returned. “Let’s wrap things up and get the engines running and lights on. We have less than forty-eight hours to get this towboat and barges ready for Camp Fox. We have to assume there could be more zeds wandering around here. Tack and Griz, you take the private above deck. Cash and Jase, you stay behind me.”

We silently fell in line as he headed back toward the engine room.

“I hate these enclosed spaces,” Jase said in a low voice, walking beside me. “If zeds got in here, there’d be no way out.”

“We’re safe now,” I forced myself to say even though I didn’t believe the words. Jase needed my support, not my doubts. “Zeds would have to climb the side of the boat to get in here, and that’s not going to happen. This place will be a vault for Camp Fox, trust me. Once we get it cleared it, you’ll be safe here. I know it.”

“Easy for you to say,” he replied. “You’ve been through more shit than just about anyone else out there. I still don’t know how you made it through that elementary school.”

“It wasn’t fun, but it was nothing compared to Doyle’s camp.”

“The Dogs, then all the zeds…man, I can’t imagine how much that must’ve sucked,” Jase said after a moment.

“Yeah,” I replied in a quiet voice. “But you know what? The Dogs and the zeds weren’t the worst part.”

He paused. “Then what was?”

I chuckled drily. “Everyone thinks I went after Doyle to save Camp Fox.”

“You did.”

I didn’t answer.

“Didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t need to go it alone. I also went after him because I was cocky enough to think I could pull it off all by myself without anyone else getting hurt.”

Jase grabbed my arm, stopping me. “You did pull it off. You killed Doyle and took down the militia still loyal to him. You survived and no one got hurt.”

“It was by sheer luck.” I shook my head. “No. It was a miracle. I realized that when I was lying on the roof, waiting to die. Hell, if I had half a brain, I would’ve stayed in the cellar with all the weapons and food until help arrived. That just goes to show you how unprepared I was.”