Haley stayed away from Lee. She was behind Scott, and didn’t look to be in much of a hurry to be noticed. Her face was pale and dirty, and she looked like she was a few years older. It was the weariness, the constant danger. It had to have worn on her worse than on us. Then again, I didn’t know what she had been through in the past six months.
“Who’s the kid?” Lee pulled his gun. He had the barrel in the air, like he was going to shoot a bird out of the sky. Now that would have been an impressive sight.
“She was trapped with us. They kept us in a cage, and she helped us escape. Her name is Haley, and she’s very brave,” I spoke up, feeling fiercely protective of the girl for no reason other than our companionship. I had never had kids, and didn’t know how to talk to them or relate.
One of the men approached and whispered in Lee’s ear as he lowered the gun. He squinted as the man spoke, looked toward the woods, and then back at us.
“Looks like you stirred up a hornets’ nest. There are a bunch of bodies heading our way, and when I say bodies, I think you know what I mean. So do I leave you here, or take a chance that you won’t do anything stupid and get us all killed? I really don’t have any use for more creepers.”
Scott stared at the man like he had never seen him before. I wondered if he were about to break into a cry of protest, but his face stayed tense. He looked at me then back at the large man.
Lee turned away and talked to the other guy, giving orders that I couldn’t hear. Scott leaned close and whispered in my ear.
“Shit! That’s him. What the hell are we going to do when he recognizes you?”
We didn’t have a choice. Maybe if we slunk to a truck, in the back we could get some food, and then sneak away at the next stop. It was a shitty plan, but it was either that or remain here and wait for the dead to find us. I doubted he would let us join his group. This was the same man that set a trap for my friends. These men were thieves, murders, and rapists. If I could fool them for a few minutes and get on board a vehicle without Lee noticing me, I might be able to get my hands on something useful, but I didn’t think I could stomach being so close to them.
We were on an open stretch of road, and it would make us perfect targets if anything came out of the woods. Across the double-lane road was a fresh copse of woods into which we could crash and try to hide. I didn’t like either option, but maybe we could join up with the men and get away later.
“Are you okay, girl?” Lee had his full attention on Haley, and that concerned me.
She stared at him but didn’t say a word. She wasn’t shaking anymore, and I was glad she was coping with the cold better than I was. She probably had more practice at it.
“Haley?”
She turned to regard me. Her eyes were darker now, lined in red—bloodshot and desperate. Had her eyes always been that color? I thought they were hazel, but now they were just black.
“Are you okay?”
She looked at Lee and took one step back.
“What the hell?” Scott took a step after her.
Lee took a pair of long strides, brushing past me.
Lee grabbed her arm as she put it out as if to push him away. He took her wrist and yanked her to him.
I went red with rage. What was he planning? If they had burned a family out of their home just to get their food, what was he going to do with a sixteen-year-old girl? Surely the entire world had not descended into anarchy. There had to be some humanity left.
“Let me go,” Haley roared. She struck at Lee, but he deflected the blow with one hand like he was swatting a fly. He leaned over so he towered above her head as he stared down at her.
“Let her go, God dammit!” I said, trying to get to my feet.
At my cry he turned and looked at me—really looked this time. Then his face darkened. Strom clouds filled his eyes, and I could tell I was about to meet an early end. I hoped fate hadn’t planned for us to make it this far only to be shot down like dogs. I wasn’t planning on lying here and watching something bad happen to one of us, especially not Haley. She had come back when she could have ran, could have left us. In fact, we told her to, but she still came back for us. Without Haley, we would still be in the cages.
“Erik,” she cried and looked at me. I met her eyes. They were filled with … something that wasn’t fear. They were brighter than before, like she had changed contacts. They had been dark, but now they were brighter and partially green.
“Hello, Tragger. Nice to meet you, son,” Lee said in a low voice.
Gasping, I tried to get to my feet.
“Let her go.” I said with as much force as I could muster.
“I’ll let her go, alright. Then you can join her. This little bitch is becoming one of them, and if you were paying attention you would have known that. But you know something?” He paused for dramatic effect. “Even if she wasn’t turning into one of those ghouls, I would still do this. Because I owe you.”
Lee pointed his gun at her head. I screamed from the ground and rose, but someone pushed me down. Thrusting my hand out, I found an ankle, hooked my hand in a claw and yanked. The man cried out in pain and nearly fell over. There was one other man near me, and he had a gun pointed, but I didn’t care. I planted my hand flat on the ground and shot my foot out. It slammed into the other guy’s shin, knocking him off his feet. In case he fired, I slid to the right.
The soldier went down, and I struggled to my feet, but I didn’t have anything left. Lee moved fast. He slid to his left, boots shuffling over the wet ground with a whisking sound. He had Haley’s arm in hand and dragged her along with him.
“Stop!” he yelled, pointing the gun at my face.
If I were on my feet, I might have had a chance, but from my position on the ground, I would be dead before I could try to knock the gun aside and go for a strike. It was suicide, but I didn’t see the folly of my action. All I knew was that I had to rescue Haley before Lee did something to her.
One of the guys I hit came back to his feet, and he was not happy. He pointed his gun at me, jabbing it in my face. The other guy rolled on his back, still clutching his shin. “Ah shit, man, that hurt. That fucking hurt!”
“Don’t shoot him,” Lee ordered the guy with the gun pointed at my chest.
The man looked at Lee, then at me, and snarled. He flipped the gun over and jabbed the butt into my gut, and I went down hard. My breath went out, and I couldn’t catch it again. Jack moved toward us, but the guy swung the gun at him. He stopped and held his hands out.
Lee stared at me for a few seconds, while Haley struggled to get away. She snarled and pulled at him, but he held her just as firm as if she were tied to him. His face was unreadable. If he was trying to tell me something, then I didn’t understand the message.
The next event would be burned into my brain for as long as I live.
Lee pushed Haley down. She fell back on her behind and stared up at him with something approaching rage. Her eyes were bright, and something should have clicked in my head, but all I saw was the girl who had helped us.
The gun boomed across the silent morning. A few seconds ago, the birds had started to call to each other again, making their plaintive cries, each struggling to be heard. I also wanted to be heard. I wanted to scream my rage, wanted to yell against the injustice, but all I could do was sit there, defeated, while Lee put a fucking bullet in the girl’s head.
She was gone, and I think part of me fled as well.
I stared, unable to think, unable to even make a sound. I was in shock, but it faded to white-hot rage in a few seconds. In that time, something happened.
The dead had arrived.
I backed up on my ass as an army of the things broke from the cover of the trees. They lurched and drooled blood as they set eyes on the living. Lee turned his gun on the nearest and fired. One of the zombies spun to the right but recovered, turned to face us, and lost the back of its head to a bullet.