Figure it out later. Concentrate now. I scanned the night, searching for the best place to stop and corral.
In the distance, flickers of light caught my attention. As I honed in on them, those flickers became glowing smears of…something. I frowned. A large rock loomed ahead, glowing so brightly it was like a piece of the sun had fallen from the sky.
Fetid breath trekked over the back of my neck. Fearing I was about to be grabbed, or worse, bitten, I released a scream as I jumped over the rock.
Behind me, I heard a crash.
Still on my feet, unharmed, I threw another glance behind me. The zombie that had been closing in on me had tripped over the rock. There’d been another zombie close to his heels, and that zombie fell, too. The others were smarter and jumped as I had, and oh, they had multiplied. They were like a swarm of flies. As soon as I swatted one away, three others took his place.
My backup had better arrive soon!
Hoping the glowing smears were here to help me, that they were arrows meant to lead me to the right direction, I followed them. There was a dead end about a yard away, limbs and leaves forming a solid wall. I had nowhere else to turn and kept going—bursting through, I discovered a wide-open space.
I spun. Bridezilla and a tall, beefy male ruptured the same wall, coming at me without pause. She wore that dirty gown. He was shirtless, his arms pale, his chest black and bubbled and scabbed over.
Grunting, they launched at me. Teeth stained with ooze snapped, at the ready.
Hobble them, my dad used to tell me. If you’re surrounded, hobble as many of your opponents as possible so that you can run without being chased by all of them.
Now that I was solid to the zombies and they to me, that advice would work. I went low, using my knife to slash both zombies in the thigh in one smooth motion. They flew over me, toppled, but quickly gained their bearings and climbed to their feet. Bridezilla made another play for me and snagged several locks of my hair, yanking. A sharp throb created a staccato rhythm in my scalp as I jerked away from her. Of course, both zombies immediately swiped at me.
I dove for one of the tree trunks outside the circle, thinking, hoping, a trap rested at the base and the zombies would be swept into the air. Something, anything. Only, they weren’t swept up. They weren’t swallowed by a hidden hole in the ground. They weren’t even deterred. Grasping hands pulled at me....
I twisted and kicked the male in the stomach, sending him stumbling backward. At the same time I grabbed Bridezilla by the hair. The strands ripped free, but my momentum wrenched her forward, slamming her face into the tree. Her nose shattered on impact, and she sagged to the ground. The inactivity wouldn’t last long, I knew.
The rest of the gang arrived. I kicked the first to reach me, and just like his friend, he stumbled backward. The rest converged. I punched. I stabbed. I punted, dancing this way and that to avoid being seized.
I made little progress.
I would have settled for being caught in Cole’s trap myself. I’d be swept up, out of reach.
Out of reach… Heck, maybe I should just climb the tree.
Climb. Yeah. I pushed my boot into a groove on the trunk and raised one of my arms. My hand snagged on a smooth protrusion. A glowing protrusion, I realized with a glance up. My bicep strained as I hefted myself a good ways off the ground. As I kicked with my free leg, I raised my other arm and found another glowing protrusion; my boot even caught on another groove. I gained a few more inches…more…more.
The higher up I was, the brighter the glow was, until I could make out the rungs of a ladder nailed into the side of the tree. This wasn’t happenstance. Mr. Ankh had to have made this.
One of the zombies shackled my ankle and tugged; I held on to the tier for all I was worth and nailed him in the face with my other leg. The moment he released me, I scrambled the rest of the way up the tree.
When I reached the top, I was panting, air rasping through a too-tight throat. The zombies attempted to follow me up, but they couldn’t figure out the mechanics.
Hallelujah, I’d just won myself a reprieve.
I looked around, counting the competition. Sixteen. To win, all I had to do was incapacitate each one, place my hand over their hearts and turn my palm into a flamethrower. Easy.
Yeah. Right.
Bridezilla recovered from her lobotomy and joined the others, scratching and clawing at the bark—and finally making progress up the ladder. Dread pierced me. So much for a reprieve.
I knew what I needed to do, and palmed a second blade. Take out as many as I could and run, just as my dad had said. Don’t think anymore. Just act. I jumped, somersaulting over the zombies. When I landed, my knees knocked together, jarring me, rattling my brain against my skull, but I swiftly turned, my arm arcing, both weapons slashing. I nailed a male in the throat so deeply his spine got a nice introduction to the knife’s hilt. A roar ripped from him as he careened to the side.
There wasn’t time to place my hand on his chest to try and flame broil him. The female batted at me, striking me across the cheek. I stumbled, tripped over something solid and fell. I meant to leap to my feet, I really did. Meant to work my way back up the tree and repeat that little vaulting/neck-slashing trick. Except, strong arms shot out from behind me, wrapping around my waist and holding me down.
Teeth embedded in my shoulder. I screamed as agonizing pain seared me, flames seeming to lick over me, driving out the cold. My eyesight hazed, and my muscles clenched into hard little knots.
“Ankh,” I shouted. “Cole.” No footsteps sounded, no big strong man rushed to the rescue.
This couldn’t be the end. I’d faced death several times before and come out okay. I would again.
“I will kill you!” I shouted, furious that I’d allowed myself to become this helpless. “You’re dead!”
To my utter shock, my right hand instantly heated, glowing with the same concentrated white light as the smears. I reached up to grab the zombie still nibbling on my shoulder, but only managed to brush my fingertips against his forehead.
That was enough.
He burst into ash.
Dark particles rained down, the glow fading from my hand. My shock magnified. Why had… How had… We’ve learned that whatever we speak while in spirit form happens, as long as it doesn’t violate someone’s free will and as long as we believe it.
Cole’s words filled my mind.
I tried to stand but couldn’t find the strength. Zombies…everywhere…all around me…
“Stay away!” I shouted.
They glanced at my hand, saw that the glow was fading…gone…and dove for me, pinning me down. Just like that, it was Open Season on Ali. I tried to push Bridezilla away, but she leaned down and bit me. They all bit and bit and bit.
“Let go! I’ll…kill…”
No one obeyed, and my hand did not fire back up. Another starburst of pain blistered through me. I released another scream, this one so shrill I was sure my eardrums would bleed for eternity.
A very short eternity.
I was alone, already bitten countless times. They were like animals, groaning in ecstasy, sinking those teeth in, shaking me as though they were dogs and I was their favorite bone. I was a goner.
Maim…kill…destroy…
The words filled my mind, some kind of slick, sulfur-scented oil seeming to fill my veins, coat my skin.
Maim…I should maim someone, I thought dazedly.
Kill…I should kill someone.
Destroy…I should destroy EVERYTHING.
Bridezilla’s jaw suddenly slackened. My arm fell onto the ground, limp, useless. Rattling leaves, pounding footsteps. The zombie chomping on my shoulder abandoned me. More rattling, a swish of air, a terrible roar. I tried to sit up, but again I couldn’t manage it. The burning hadn’t stopped, hadn’t even dulled. Had only increased.
Something divine suddenly scented the air. My mouth watered. A taste. I wanted a taste of it. Would main, kill and destroy for it.
A sting shot through my neck. A heavy weight settled over me.
The dark desires dulled. The “something divine” morphed into something wretched. Bile burned a path up my throat, and I gagged.
“Oh, Ali,” I heard Cole say, dread dripping from his voice. Gentle fingers brushed over my face, lifted and turned my arm to survey the damage. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you. I’m sorry. I got here as soon as I could.”
“I don’t know how she knew,” a man lashed out, “but she caught several in our traps.” His voice was unrecognizable to me.
Those gentle fingertips returned to my face. “Every zombie that attacked you is dead, Ali. I promise you. They paid.”
“We need to get her out of here.” Frosty had said that, I think.
“I’ll take her,” Cole proclaimed, and the words were so sharp I knew no one would dare contradict him. “You take care of her grandparents.”
Take care of my grandparents how? Arms slid underneath me, hefting me up. With the movement, the burn those chomping zombie teeth had left behind intensified, and I whimpered.
“I’ve got you,” Cole said. “I won’t let anything else happen to you.”
Hours seemed to pass before we broke through the trees. Suddenly I could hear party sounds: muffled voices, laughter, fast pounding music, even splashing. Kids must be swimming.
I struggled against Cole, hurting myself further but not caring. I didn’t want anyone to see me. As strong as he was, I made no progress.
“Settle down,” he said softly. “There’s an underground passage into the room you and Kat discovered. We’ll be able to doctor you there. No one will see you, I swear. And you will recover, do you hear me? I’ve already administered the antidote. You need other treatment, but the worst that will happen is you’ll miss your curfew and be grounded for a few weeks.”
Maybe so, but my grandparents would worry every minute that I was late, and that I wouldn’t allow. “Need…call…” I managed to grit out. The pain…it was too much…too much… “Can’t…let…”
