Glass smashed and screams cut Sara off. Remy watched as Ava, Kirby, and Sara reached for their bags, pulling out iced knives and other weapons. They started preparing, looking around for places to hide and escape. Remy’s heart sank as she realized what she’d missed while she’d been running scared. They’d been training and preparing themselves.
Remy was good at one thing that she didn’t need practice at—finding exits. She searched quickly, noting all the possible escape routes before peeking out of the changing room to see what was happening. The front windows were smashed, and Arden and some women were moving everything solid they could in front of them, stopping what looked like zombies from coming inside.
“Arden and some women are blocking the windows and doors, but it looks like tons of zombies are storming us,” Remy reported.
She sighed in relief when Arden came around the corner, feeling safer with him close to her, but her relief vanished at his look. Three women followed behind him and huddled in the corner he pointed to.
“Stay down, and remember, no matter what you see, we are the good guys,” Arden said in a deep, clear voice.
The women nodded and the one who’d showed her to Sara stuttered, “W-w-what are t-they?
“Zombies.” Arden dismissed the women and turned back to them. “I’ve called in reinforcements, but they won’t be here in time. I’ve never seen so many zombies. I have faith that your training will help you kill these monsters.” His eyes clouded. “Ava, Kirby, Sara, and Remy, you have to promise you will fight until your last breath. These zombies are different from what I’ve seen. They still have life in them, and they are determined. Don’t let their difference fool you or make you hesitate.”
“If they still have life in them, maybe we can save them,” Ava said.
“No. I barricaded the door and windows as best I could, but these zombies are stronger, more eager to do their master’s work. I can see it in their eyes. You cannot let them take you.”
The sound of the barricade breaking had them all jumping to attention. Arden stood in front of them, and Remy watched wide-eyed as the zombies came at them. They moved faster than the ones she’d seen before, and they looked more human, not as white. The eyes still held light, but it was a hopeless light. The zombies outnumbered them three to one, maybe more.
She knew she had to do something. Looking at her best friends, she bit her lip as the sight of Sara in her wedding dress, ready to fight, and Kirby and Ava in bridesmaid’s dresses doing the same had Remy knowing she had to do something to help them all escape. Remy could save them. She’d been working with her powers while she’d been on the run.
“Go out back now. I’ve been practicing. I can light the—” Her words were cut off as zombies grabbed, pulled, and fought to get them with a strength only a super undead had. They were trying to hold them and drag them away.
Concentrating, Remy started a ball of fire in her hands and let it spread until her entire body was covered with fire. She felt her clothes burn away. The sprinklers turned on and the fire alarms went off, but she kept the flames covering herself. The zombies who were trying to capture her screamed and moved away from her. She stood still and bounced balls from one hand to the other, building the fire bigger and higher. Looking around, she saw Sara and knew her power was useless against zombies as they weren’t demons and water didn’t kill them. Sara was getting better at fighting, but Remy knew Sara wasn’t really the fighting type.
The sprinklers turned off, and Remy focused on Sara’s attackers. Moving as close as she could, she threw the ball of fire onto a zombie and built the blaze to consume the whole thing. The zombie dropped to the floor and rolled, but the flame remained, and Remy built it more until the zombie finally stopped moving. Sara killed another zombie, but more kept coming.
“Stay still,” Remy yelled at Sara before she circled her with a ring of fire.
The zombies around her and Sara moved away, and Remy knew she had to help whoever they’d gone to now. She winced when she turned and saw Ava guarding the humans along with Kirby who stood behind her while Arden was attacked by at least ten or more zombies. Arden hacked at them, killing them quickly and efficiently. He was in his half-change mode, and he now stood over nine feet tall, covered in black hair, and looked like a werewolf straight out of a horror film.
Kirby looked terrible, and Ava in her own half-change mode didn’t look much better. These zombies were strange, they weren’t going for the neck to choke them, and when she’d been grabbed before she burned them, they hadn’t tried to squeeze her to death.