Shattered World (Broken World Book 2) (9 page)

A jolt goes through me. All three of them survived the virus? It seems impossible that they’d all be immune. “How did you all three make it?” I ask before I can stop myself.

He shakes his head and pulls his family in for a hug. “I have no idea, but I thank God every day that we did. Most of the people we know are dead, and the few people who are left have lost everything. How we got so lucky, I have no idea.”

He shakes his head and wipes a tear from his cheek before turning to the two other kids. “This here are Max and Dylan. We found them at the playground right before the dead started coming back. Lucky for them.”

I introduce our group since Axl still hasn’t calmed down, then turn to the kids and kneel in front of them. “We have a two other kids in our group, and I was just going to get some toys for them. Want to help me?”

Their eyes light up in the way that only a child’s can when you mention toys with a dead body on the ground. I motion for them to follow me and head down the aisle, patting Axl on the shoulder as I go by. Moira comes too. She clings to Liz’s hand, and I don’t blame her for that. If I had been more diligent with Emily, protective the way this woman is being, maybe she’d still be here.

A sharp pain rips through my body. I have to hold my breath and stop walking until it passes. It makes my knees weak. I hide it from Moira by pretending to study the toys in front of me. Really, I’m afraid that if I keep moving, I’ll collapse from the pain.

“How old are the kids in your group?” Moira’s voice breaks through my pain and self-loathing to bring me back to reality.

My eyes are still focused on a display of dolls. Their black, plastic eyes stare back at me. “Ava is five and Jake is eight.”

“The boys are nine and Liz is seven.”

Liz pulls away from her mother and goes to the display of dolls. Even though it’s only a foot away, Moira looks stricken for a moment, like she’s missing a part of herself. She bites down on her lip and her blue eyes follow Liz’s every move. She’s an attractive woman, short and slightly round. Her hair looks brown, but I’d guess that once it’s clean it will probably be dirty blonde. Liz resembles her mother a lot.

It doesn’t take long for the kids to load the cart full of toys and books. Then we all head back to the loading bay as a group. The kids cling to the cart while Moira pushes it, and the men walk around us in a half-circle. No one talks, and I hold my breath like I’m waiting for a monster to jump out. But we get there without running into any more trouble.

              When everything’s loaded, Winston shuts the truck’s door and turns to face us, frowning. “Now we have to worry about finding a vehicle for everyone to ride in and gassing it up.”

I hadn’t even thought about that.

9

“YOU GUYS GOT A CAR?” Axl asks, addressing Nathan for the first time.

Nathan tenses when Axl looks at him but nods anyway. “Yeah, but it’s small. Ours was out of gas, so I took it from a neighbor’s house. The tank is full.”

They have a full tank of gas and they’re still in the city? What the hell were they waiting for?

Axl shakes his head. He’s thinking the same thing. I know him. “Why the fuck didn’t you get outta here if you got a full tank of gas?”

Moira and Nathan both give him disapproving looks, and Moira pulls Liz close to her. They’re annoyed that he’s cussing in front of their daughter? Seriously? The dead are walking the Earth, intent on eating us all, and they’re worried about a little cussing? Seems stupid to me.

Axl ignores their expressions and turns to Winston. “We gotta gas up the Explorer, then we’ll be good. We should split up, make sure there’s at least one of the four of us in each car.”

“Good thinking. If we get separated somehow, there will be someone in each car who knows how to get back to the shelter.” Winston looks at the newcomers. “I’m driving the truck back, and I can take one person.”

“I’ll go with you,” Brad says, stepping forward.

“The kids are riding with us,” Moira says defensively. She holds Liz tighter, like she’s afraid we’re going to try and steal her.

“Then Vivian can ride with you too,” Axl tells them.

“No. I’m staying with you.”

Axl shakes his head and turns to look at me, his gray eyes intense. “They got a full tank already. They can get outta here even if I don’t got time to siphon the gas.”

“I don’t care,” I say firmly. “Trey can ride with them. I’m staying with you.”

Axl sighs and runs his hand through his hair, but he nods in agreement. “Alright then.”

“What about Jhett?” Nathan asks. “We can’t take him if Trey’s with us, and he’s just a kid.”

Jhett doesn’t really look like a kid with the way he handles that gun, but he’s young. His face is marred by acne, and his dark, shaggy hair is so greasy it sticks to his scalp. His teeth are crooked when he grins at me. His parents should have gotten him braces.

“We can fit three,” Winston says. “It’ll be tight, but it’s no problem.”

I expect Brad to step forward and say he’ll give his seat up for the kid, but he doesn’t. He just stands back and presses his lips together, letting everyone else decide what’s going to happen now that he has a seat to the shelter. Something about the look on his face bugs me. He seems like an ass, to be honest.

“It’s just you and me, then,” I say tensely.

Axl glares at Brad. He’s probably thinking the same thing I am. We always seem to be on the same page. “Now we just gotta create a distraction, so’s I can siphon some gas.”

“There was a car alarm going off down the street when we got here,” Nathan says. “They were all over it. Sounds like it’s off now, though.”

“Axl did that,” I tell him. “To draw them away from the store.”

Nathan nods appreciatively, but Axl’s hard stare doesn’t soften even a little. “Nice job.”

Axl just grunts, and it reminds me of Angus. That’s a pleasant thought.

“Got any ideas?” Winston asks him.

“Not particularly.”

Winston looks over toward the truck. “How about you try to sneak out nice and quiet and siphon some gas? I’ll pull the truck out and keep watch, and if things get hairy we can fire some bullets in the air, draw them our way. That thing’s huge. Even if they surround us we’ll be able to get out.”

Axl purses his lips. “It’s better than anythin’ I can come up with.” He turns and looks at Nathan and Moira. “You parked out front?”

Nathan nods.

“Why don’t you come on out with Vivian an’ me and pull the car ‘round here? That way the kids don’t gotta go out there at all.”

Nathan nods again, but Moira grabs his arm. “You can’t leave us!”

“I’m not leaving you. I’ll be right back, I promise.” He pulls her against his chest, hugging her tightly for a brief moment. He kisses the top of her head before he lets her go.

I throw on my pack and tuck my gun into my belt. I’m not making the mistake of leaving it behind ever again. My hand brushes my sheath. It’s empty. Shit. I never found my knife. I’ll have to get a new one. Axl had a whole bag of weapons in the car. There has to be one or two in there.

“Ready?” Axl asks Nathan.

He nods and gives his wife a worried glance before he heads to the front of the store with Axl and me. We don’t talk. Axl’s still pissed, and Nathan’s too tense. I’m caught somewhere between terror and dread. I hate that I lost my knife, but I try not to let it bug me. No way am I going back to that aisle to crawl around in the darkness looking for it.

When we get closer, I notice that a front window is broken and a row of carts has been pushed in front of it. That must be how Nathan and his group got in. It’s sloppy, though. Anyone can see that the bodies could have gotten through it if they’d really wanted to. How the hell have these people survived this long?

Axl and Nathan pull the carts aside with very little effort, and we look through the hole before stepping out. The sun is pretty high since it’s well into afternoon, and it takes a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the light. Once they do, I’m surprised to find that the parking lot is pretty empty. There are a couple stragglers at the far end of the lot, but it seems like most didn’t come back this way after the alarm went off.

A black sedan is parked half on the sidewalk right in front of the hole, like the driver was in a hurry. It wasn’t there when we got to the store, so I can only assume it belongs to Nathan and his group. It’s in good shape. Not very old. I still can’t figure out why the hell they’re still hanging out in Vegas when they have a car that will get them out of here.

“You go first,” Axl whispers to Nathan. “Get to the back and get everybody loaded up.”

Nathan nods and steps through the hole, ducking so his head doesn’t hit the jagged glass at the top. Every muscle in my body tenses as he runs to the sedan. I keep a close eye on the few bodies stumbling around about twenty feet away. They don’t seem to notice Nathan until he starts the car, and as soon as he drives off they head after him. The car’s too fast for them though, and Nathan loses them before he turns the corner.

“Ready?” Axl asks.

I nod even though the answer is no. It will always be a firm no when someone asks if I’m ready to head out to face the dead. I go back to chewing on the inside of my cheek despite the fact that it already hurts.

Axl dashes out into the sunshine, heading to the Explorer. Even though the fear of being eaten is still very present in my mind, I breathe a little easier the second we step out. It sure smells better than in the store. The scent of decay is still there, especially whenever a breeze blows, but it’s nothing like it was inside where there’s no ventilation.

Axl jumps into the driver’s seat and has the car started before I’m even to the passenger side. I hop in and shut the door just as two bodies notice us and head our way. There are only two, so it doesn’t really worry me. I can take two. It’s the possibility of running into a horde that has me worried.

We drive over to a group of cars at the opposite side of the parking lot, and Axl pulls right up to them. “Keep watch,” he says as we climb out.

I don’t respond. I just keep my eyes open and circle the car while he gets gas cans out of the back and gets busy. The two bodies that noticed us are still about fifteen feet away and moving slow, so I keep an eye on them while I watch for any others. So far there aren’t any. I relax even more when the two that were headed our way change direction as Winston pulls around the building in the semi. Nathan and the others are right behind them in the sedan, and I tap my toe nervously when a few more bodies on the other side of the parking lot head that way. They need to keep back. The semi can withstand a horde, but I doubt the smaller car could.

Axl works fast, draining all four of the cars around us in what seems like minutes and transferring the gas to the Explorer. “That’s all I can get, but it should be enough. Let’s get the hell outta here.”

We climb back in the car and Axl puts it in gear, signaling to the others to get moving. It looks like we made it in the nick of time, too. Six of the dead are circling the sedan, getting more aggressive by the minute. Trey’s in the driver’s seat and he takes off, leading the way. Winston falls in behind him while Axl and I bring up the rear.

The air in the Explorer is almost as ripe as it was in the store, but when I look at the window, it’s closed tight. I sniff my shirt, and my nose wrinkles in disgust. I smell as bad as one of the bodies, thanks to the black goo from the dead man who tried to take a bite out of me, and the sweat soaked into my skin.

“I can’t wait to get back to the shelter,” I say. “I need a shower.”

The corner of Axl’s mouth twitches, and he glances over at me. His face looks even dirtier now that we’re in the sun. “I was meanin’ to talk to you ‘bout that.”

I slug him in the arm playfully. “I wouldn’t talk if I were you! You smell worse than one of the dead.”

He chuckles and flashes me such a relaxed grin that it totally lightens the mood in the car.  I lean back in the seat and close my eyes, then let out a big sigh as tension rolls off me in waves. I won’t feel really comfortable again until we’re out of the city, but at least we’re on the road. And with a full truck too. This should tide us over for a while.

“Shit,” Axl mutters a few minutes later. “Why the hell’s he goin’ this way?”

My heart jumps to my throat at the panic in Axl’s voice. I bolt upright and my eyes fly open. Axl rarely loses his cool, so whatever it is, it must be important. At first look, nothing seems different, though. We’re still in Vegas, the street is clogged with zombies. Normal. Or as close to normal as we can come these days. Then I catch sight of a few casinos in the distance, and the sheer number of bodies in front of us hits full-force, like a tidal wave. It must be thousands.

“Are we on the main strip?”

Axl’s hands wring the steering wheel. “Never been to Vegas, but that’s what it looks like.”

All the tension that had just disappeared is suddenly back, and my shoulders are in knots all over again. The streets are so crowded with the walking dead that it reminds me of Time’s Square on New Year’s Eve. The truck in front of us slows down, probably because the sedan is having a difficult time getting through the throng of bodies, and Axl is forced to slow too. I glance at the speedometer nervously. We’re not even going thirty miles an hour.

“This was a bad idea,” Axl mutters, gripping the wheel even tighter than before and leaning forward.

The bodies swarm us and slam into the sides of the car. Their rotting fingers rake against the glass, scratching at the windows. I swear one loses a couple nails. A few bang their heads against the car, leaving splatters of black goo on the glass. Axl has to slow even more until we’re down to fifteen miles an hour. It doesn’t even feel like we’re moving at this point.

“Shit!” Axl slams his hand against the dashboard.

It startles me more than the dead trying to break into our car, and I almost jump out of my skin. The fact that Axl’s worried makes all of this so much more frighteningly real that I start to sweat all over again. My heart kicks up about ten notches, and I dig my nails into the palms of my hands to stop them from shaking. It doesn’t help. Nothing can, because when you face thousands of bodies intent on eating you, you’re pretty much in a helpless situation.

I do my best to shove the fear down as I lean forward and try to get a good look at the sedan through the mass of bodies in front of us. That’s who we should be more concerned about right now, Trey with Nathan and Moira and the kids. They’re vulnerable in that small vehicle, while we may be able to take a beating and squeeze out of this alive. I strain my neck and twist in my seat, but no matter which way I turn, I can’t see a thing. My eyes land on the moon roof, and I climb to my feet.

Axl watches me push the button that opens the small window above us. “What’re you doin’?”

“I want to see what’s going on.”

I pull myself through the window and into the blinding Vegas sun. The stench is so strong it singes the hairs in my nose. It’s like thousands of rotting corpses baking in the sun, which is exactly what’s happening. But it’s so bright that it takes a moment for my eyes adjust. When they do, I wish I’d stayed inside. Bodies rush toward us like a tsunami, ready to wipe us off the face of the Earth. Their moans and cries fill the air, and it’s so loud that I almost clamp my hands over my ears. It’s earth-shattering and so unnatural that the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I shiver despite the scorching Vegas sun pounding down on me from above. This just can’t be real.

Almost worse than the dead walking around are the signs that the living were once here. There are splatters of blood on the cement and sides of buildings, bloody trails that lead to mangled masses of flesh and bones. Things that used to be human lie discarded and rotting in the hot sun.

I try not to focus on it, try not to think about how awful it would be to have these monsters’ teeth sink into my skin. Try not to think of Emily.