The second she entered the garage, the stench of decay hit her full-force and her tumbling thoughts arrested. She instinctively stepped back and covered her mouth and nose. Breakfast threatened to make a speedy reappearance, but she refused to waste perfectly good food like that. She pushed her nose and mouth into the crook of her elbow and took a shallow breath. She steeled her resolve, pushed inside, and hurried to get the garage door up—both to allow Dani entrance and to get the old air out.
Once the door rolled up, there was another side effect: light. It had been dark in the garage, but now nothing obscured the cart and its cargo.
The package was still right where they’d left it, but the blanket had soaked through and a puddle of fluid had gathered under him. Things she didn’t want to inspect writhed inside of it. Lynn gratefully diverted her gaze to Dani as she entered.
Dani pushed in with determination but faltered almost right away. “Oh, that’s—” She pinched her nose shut.
Lynn was impressed that Dani managed to keep her breakfast down; she couldn’t fault her for being overwhelmed now. “Step aside. I’ve got it.”
Dani backed out with relief obvious on her features.
In order to grip the handlebars, Lynn had to uncover her nose. She took shallow breaths only when she got dizzy. The quickest way to get him out was to push, but that meant stepping into the puddle. Lynn decided to make a half circle instead and pull him out.
Emerging into the light and fresh air was a huge relief. As soon as she was clear of the garage, she inhaled deeply. The cart was a heavy pull, but once she got momentum going, it was easier, so she just kept moving.
Skeever hurried over, as always engaged by anything that moved. As soon as he caught a whiff of the cart’s contents, he whined and backed up.
“Didn’t you want to tie him down?” Dani hurried after her but stayed about ten paces away from the cart as if repelled by an invisible barrier.
Lynn wished she could do the same. She set her jaw. “Let’s just get going. We’ll stop if he slips.” Her arms felt tired already, and her glutes strained. Stopping would only force her to spend energy she didn’t have. She maneuvered toward the main road and focused on avoiding potholes as much as possible.
Of course, Richard’s body slipped the second she hit the end of the downslope onto the highway. The weight of the cart and its contents added to her speed, and she hit a crack in the pavement while trying to slow. The wheels jumped; the cart creaked, and Lynn felt the weight shift.
Dani let out a yelp.
Lynn’s painful left arm strained to keep the cart from tipping. She dug her heels in. Her calves strained as she pushed against the force. Her heart lunged into her throat. You’re not tipping over, dammit! She tried to project her thoughts at the cart like a command, and it worked. The wheels found their grip, the load stabilized, and Lynn managed to stop.
She dropped the beams instantly, stepped out, and shook out her arms. “Fucking fuck! This is such a bloody bad idea! Fuck!” She swirled around and glimpsed Dani and Skeever catching up with her at a jog.
“Are you okay?” Dani reached out for her arm.
Lynn pulled away. She was far too antsy to be touched right now. Dying by being overrun by a cart with a corpse on it was very low on the how-I-want-to-die list, just slightly above being eaten alive or starving in a cave-in. “Fuck!” She kicked a hole into the body of a rusted car husk and raised her hands over her head. A stab tore through her arm, adding insult to injury. “And this fucking arm too!” She lowered it again and massaged the sting out of the flesh around the wounds.
Dani watched her, then checked their surroundings. “I’ll tie him down.”
Lynn clenched her jaw. This was all her fault; she should have just tied him down before they left. Stubborn and stupid. That’ll get you killed, Tanner. That’ll get you killed right quick. She kicked another car but with a lot less passion. “Stupid.” She mumbled the word to herself and shook her head. The adrenaline left her system, and her heart rate settled.
“Done.” Dani’s stepped back from the cart with a slight stumble. Her gaze was glued to its contents. She’d tied Richard’s body down with three separate lashes that wrapped around the crossbeams. He wasn’t going anywhere now.
“Thank you.” She took a deep breath and reeled herself in.
Dani nodded but still looked at the body. Actually touching Richard’s cocooned body seemed to have hit her hard.
Lynn set her jaw. Maybe she could help Dani work through it tonight, once they were bunkered down, but not now. Now they needed to get moving again. “Come on.” She walked over and patted Dani on the shoulder. “Focus. You’re a hunter, you know death. Prioritize.” She picked up Dani’s spear and handed it back. “You’re a hunter.” She waited for Dani to meet her eyes and nod before letting go of the metal.
“Got it.” Dani twirled the spear and brought it into position by her side. Her shoulders had squared; her chin was up again. There was life in her eyes.
“Yes, you do. Come on.” Lynn took up position in front of the cart and gripped the handles.
Time to get this done.
CHAPTER 18
SOMETHING OR SOMEONE HAD DRAGGED the corpses across the parking lot. As Lynn flanked the cart Dani pulled along the front of the office building, she dimly noted the bodies of the wolves and humans were all still there, but spread thirty feet apart.
“Something’s come to visit,” Dani said.
“Yeah, I saw.” Lynn glanced at Dani, who was struggling through her third pulling shift of the day. It was the first bit of conversation they’d had in hours. The hard work and discomfort had chased away the desire to communicate beyond grunted commands and warnings well before noon. “Leave him here. We’ll have to make sure the building is safe before we bring him in.”
Dani limped along on a swollen knee, which she’d banged on a rock. Lynn felt sore all over from a backward tumble down a rubble pile. The only one in their group who was still fresh was Skeever. He was the first one through the door.
Lynn didn’t call him back. The gate was visible in the twilight, and it hadn’t moved. Anything could have entered, but Skeever sniffed and went right on in, so Lynn doubted there would be a threat awaiting her. Still, she had her tomahawk in hand before she ducked under the gate and stopped to listen for a sound other than Skeever’s as he explored deeper inside the familiar building. She sniffed the air, hoping for a clue, but the smell of blood and feces lingered too strongly in the entryway. Somehow, after a day of frequent whiffs of death, this stench wasn’t as off-putting as she remembered it to be.
Dani’s boot scraped the tile as she ducked in behind her. “Anything?”
Lynn shook her head. “Skeever’s quiet.”
“Okay.” Dani hobbled ahead of her, using her spear as a crutch to keep some of her weight off her knee.
Lynn quickly caught up and overtook her as lead. As bruised and battered as she felt, unlike Dani, she was still able to keep her weapon raised and ready. If anything attacked, she would keep Dani safe—at least for as long as she could.
Skeever met her upstairs, wagging his tail, seemingly relaxed.
“All clear, huh?”
He leaned into her hand, and she scratched his jaw.
“All clear?” Dani looked up at her from the foot of the staircase.
“I’ll have a longer look up here, but yeah, think so. Time to lower the gate and bunk down. I want to check out your knee.”
“It’s fine.” Dani’s tone was dismissive, but Lynn knew better.