He quickly thought back to the dream he had, the one where Jake joined the dead.
Please…
He sprinted past Yorke, focusing on the next sign. He could just make out the letters on the green plate—Crown Avenue they spelled. It fueled him, injected him with vigor. Ben never felt faster. Not in his entire life, youth combined. He ran like Hell itself was burning behind him.
God…
Shouting from behind him, but he didn’t care.
Jake…
He prepped himself for the corner, already focusing his eyes toward the houses to see which way the numbers ran. A bush to his right blocked his vision. He readied to round it, his heart feeling like it would explode in his chest. He took the corner the fast, almost too fast.
No…
He skidded to a halt. His heart plunged into his feet.
God… no…
Before him, the street was filled with the dead.
Jake…
They slowly turned to him, their faces long and unsatisfied. Hungry.
God… please don’t let this happen…
Behind him, the women screamed.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Wait up!” Victoria yelled after Ben.
“Ben! You don’t know what you’ll find!” Josh shouted. It wasn’t the most convincing argument for Ben to stop, but it was the best he could come up with on the fly. He ran after his companion, his lungs aching something fierce. Cold sweat poured off him.
Ben disappeared around the bush. Josh stopped.
Victoria noticed he had fallen behind. “Girls, wait.” She slowed to a stop, her daughters doing the same.
“Why are we stopping? Ben needs our help,” Brittany stated.
Josh slowly caught up to them, attempting to catch his breath. The two young girls appeared to have no problem with sprinting down the street. They acted like they hadn’t been running at all.
Victoria put her hands over her head, sucking wind. “Guess I should renew my gym membership, huh?”
“Ben’s gone,” Josh told them. “We won’t catch him.”
“He could be walking into a deathtrap,” Brittany replied. “His mind isn’t right, Josh. He’s not thinking clearly.”
Josh knew. The man was so desperate to find his son that nothing else mattered. Especially his own safety. One small misstep in this dangerous new world and…
“Okay. We’ll follow. But let me catch my brea—”
Something darted behind him, heading straight for Victoria. Josh turned in time to watch a middle-aged man in a three-piece suit tackle her to the ground, snarling bestially. The man had recently taken a bath in someone’s blood. His expensive suit was heavily stained, torn and tattered.
Victoria screamed. So did her daughters.
Josh rushed over to her, reaching for the zombie’s shoulder. He grabbed the dead man, but it was too late; he already clamped his mouth down on Victoria’s throat. A blood-curdling scream roared from her open mouth as the monster tore a gaping hole in her neck. Ruby fluids spurted out excessively.
“No!” Brittany screamed, rushing to her mother’s side.
Emily froze, looking on expressionlessly. Her jaw dropped open, remained there for the duration of the carnage.
Josh yanked the zombie off Victoria with the strength in his one good arm. It was surprisingly light for a corpse. Tumbling across the pavement, the zombie growled. Josh kicked its teeth in before it had the opportunity to rise to its feet. The corpse took the blow without protecting itself. Josh kicked it again, this time aiming for the side of its head. The zombie’s head dented. He kicked it again, this time in the knee. Its fragile bone cracked and the zombie fell flat against the street. Clenching his teeth together, Josh stomped on the zombie’s head. Blood splashed the asphalt, pooling around the corpse’s nearly-crushed cranium. Josh repeated this act over and over again, until the zombie’s head caved in like a rotten pumpkin. Brains and other pinkish matter oozed from beneath his foot.
Josh turned to Victoria and her daughter. Brittany was holding her hands over the cherry cavern in her mother’s neck. Blood seeped through her fingers. She glanced at Josh, looking for help he couldn’t give.
He stared at her forebodingly. She shook her head slowly, her eyes growing wet.
“Is Mom going to be okay?” Emily asked innocently. Tears stood on the rims of her eyes.
Sniffling, Brittany uttered, “Yes. She’ll be just fine, sweet pea.”
“Don’t call me sweat pea,” Emily said under her breath.
Brittany stared Josh in the face. Tears poured down her face. She was able to keep her outburst internal. “Take Emily. Get out of here.”
“What are you going to do?” Josh asked.
“I’ll wait with her.” She looked down at her mother. Victoria’s mouth hung open like she had something to say but couldn’t speak. “Then I’ll catch up.”
Josh exhaled. “You sure?”
Brittany nodded.
Josh looked at Victoria one last time. Life was beginning to fade from the middle-aged woman’s eyes. He knelt down. “Thanks for the sling,” he said.
She didn’t respond, remaining frozen in her final moments.
Josh sprung back to his feet. A stinging sensation found the corners of his eyes. It felt good feeling something again, although he wished it wasn’t sadness.
“Come on, Emily. We’re going for a walk,” Josh told her.
“I want to stay with Mom,” she sobbed. Her face glistened in the sunlight.
“Your sister will take care of her.”
Emily sprinted past Josh, crying and screaming. He didn’t stop her. Physically drained, Josh watched the girl hug her mother for the last time.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Zombies. The street was full of them. Emily swallowed air. Josh felt his knees grow weak and almost give out.
“Where’s Ben?” asked Emily, still sobbing.
“I dunno.”
“Do you think he made it?”
“I dunno.”
“What number was the house?”
Josh clenched his teeth. “I do—”
A swaying corpse lunged for them. They stepped away. The zombie tripped, falling to the asphalt. It crawled after them, growling and gnashing its teeth together.
“Was it 732?” Emily asked.
“That sounds right.”
They danced around the crawling corpse.
“What do we do?” Emily asked.
“Does it look like I know?”
Emily winced. Tears flowed from her eyes once again.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” Josh felt the need for drugs pumping through his veins. “I’m just… not feeling too good.”
“Well, my mother just died. I think I have you beat,” she said harshly.
“She’s not dead.”
“I’m not stupid.”
Josh nodded.
“How are we getting through this?” Emily asked again.
Josh looked ahead. There was no way they could maneuver through the horde without being torn to pieces. They could try to go around them, but if the dead caught on, they’d converge on them within seconds.
“We’ll try to go around them,” Josh told her. “We’ll head for that house.” He pointed.
“The tall gray one? With black shutters?”
“Yup. We’ll hop the fence and travel through the backyards, until we find the right house.” Josh squinted, trying to see the house number. “Looks like that’s 542. So it’ll be on that side of the street, a little ways up.”
“Okay,” Emily said, wiping teardrops away from her eyes.