Alexander dashed back to the truck. He unlatched the rear door and pulled down the ramp. Zombies marched out one after the other, carrying axes, shovels, and picks looted from a hardware store a few towns away. Alexander and Ashleigh had also gorged themselves on Waffle House food to stock up on calories. Ashleigh's purse was stuffed full of Power Bars in case they needed more.
Ashleigh leaned out the driver-side window. “Does this mean we're here?” she asked.
“We're here.”
The zombies hacked open the trail with their tools. They worked reasonably fast. After spending so much time feeding on Jenny's energy, Alexander was at the most powerful he'd ever been in this lifetime. The zombies themselves were finally defrosting. He'd kept the temperature in the rear of the truck around forty-five degrees, enough to loosen them up without bringing on rot.
Soon, a wide, clear path connected the dirt road to the rubble. Ashleigh jumped down from the truck to join him next to the old chimney.
“This place is a wreck,” Ashleigh said.
“We're just passing through,” Alexander said. “We're not renting a room.” He waved a hand, and the zombies attacked the rubble, slashing away thorns and weeds, shoveling bricks aside. Once, there had been a small cottage here, a good place to retreat for reading books and writing letters. It looked like it had been completely forgotten, which was fortunate for him.
After a few minutes of digging and scratching, a few of the zombies sank through the sandy earth and tumbled out of sight. Alexander approached the hole, which had once been hidden under the floor of the cottage. The zombies were piled on each other down on the dirt floor below, still making digging motions with their hands. Alexander had them stop and stand up. He pointed into the pit with his flashlight.
“Ladies first,” Alexander said.
Ashleigh looked into the rough dirt hole. “No, thanks. I'll wait.”
“Suit yourself.” Alexander shrugged and jumped down into the hole. The zombies who had fallen through were teenage girls. Ashleigh had identified them as her cheerleader friends, back when they were alive.
Alexander shined his flashlight ahead of him. The dirt tunnel looked like it was still intact. He would have to duck to walk through it, but he was glad it hadn't collapsed.
“Nice work, ladies,” Alexander said, slapping a zombie girl's butt.
“How's it look?” Ashleigh called down.
“Come and see.”
A couple of dead football players picked Ashleigh up and lowered her into the hole, where Ashleigh's cheerleader friends took hold of her and gently lowered her to the floor. Ashleigh scowled as she looked around. “This is it?”
“It's perfectly safe.” Alexander shined his flashlight across one of the wooden buttresses. It was covered in mushrooms and mold, and a tree root had partially cracked it.
“You call that safe?”
“I'm sure it'll hold up for a few minutes.” Alexander sent the girl zombies ahead. More zombies dropped into the hole and followed them.
“Where does this lead?” Ashleigh asked.
“Somewhere safe. We'll be inside the walls of my estate, so they won't see us coming.”
“Your estate?”
Alexander gave her half a smile. “We'd better get moving. There's a lot of work ahead, and our enemies aren't going to punish themselves.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Jenny awoke to the sound of breaking glass. She was lying on a couch in the library, napping while Seth took a turn watching the monitor. Heather was still asleep.
“Seth?” Jenny asked. She stood up and stretched, and she heard more shattering and breaking sounds.
Jenny walked along the hall, toward the kitchen, but then she heard the sound again. It wasn't coming from the kitchen.
“Seth, where are you?” Jenny tiptoed further along the hall, toward the gallery at the back of the house. She froze in mid-step when she saw the three sets of French doors.
Pale, diseased arms smashed in through the panes. Dead faces stared at her, and she recognized all of them. Cassie Winder, Neesha Bailey and other cheerleaders were reaching in through one set of doors, while a few big guys from the football team smashed down another. The third set of doors was broken to pieces by Coach Humbee, Mayor Winder, and Dick Baker, all of them wielding axes. The zombies surged into the house.
She had killed all of these people, and now they were coming back for her.
Jenny let out a long, high scream that rang and echoed through the house.
“What's happening?” Heather asked somewhere behind her, but Jenny was too horrified to speak. “Jenny?”
Jenny couldn't budge. Her feet felt cemented to the floor. She couldn't even think, she could only stare at the approaching horde.