Rage and Ruin(22)

“I’m guessing the game plan is to take it out.”

“Yeah, but I want to see what it’s up to. There has to be a reason it’s here, when—”

A door at the other end of the room swung open, and the sound of feet shuffling over tile rose until it was a loud hum. My mouth dropped opened.

Zayne stiffened. “Holy...”

“...zombie apocalypse,” I finished for him, staring down at the limping, twitching mess. They weren’t groaning, more like barking harsh, clipped snarls in between snapping their teeth together. “There have to be a dozen down there.”

“And then some.”

I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. The stench was overwhelming, a mix of sulfur and rotting meat left out in the sun, and it triggered my gag reflex.

“Remind me never to say I’m bored again.”

“Oh, trust me, I will never allow you to say that again.” He angled his body toward me. “Something is up. They don’t flock together like this, especially where there’s no food service.”

That was something pop culture got wrong about zombies. They didn’t travel in groups. The reason could be seen here, as they snapped and snarled at each other below while they stumbled forward and into the empty pool.

“It’s like they’re waiting on something,” Zayne continued. “But that doesn’t make sense.”

Very little of this made sense. Like, how did we just happen to sense a demon and end up here, where an assembly of the dead was waiting and the demon we’d sensed was MIA? Unease stirred. Could we have been led here? “Zayne—”

Cold air blasted the nape of my neck. My head cranked around. The frigid temperature reminded me of when I’d accidentally walked through a ghost, but this wasn’t a full-body blast. This chilly sensation settled in the same spot that burned when I felt a demon, along the bottom of my neck and between my shoulder blades.

“What?” Zayne touched my arm.

I rubbed the back of my neck. The skin felt normal, but the chill was still there, tingling. “Do you feel anything strange?”

“No. Do you?”

My gaze found his as I dropped my hand. “It’s weird. Like a cold—”

A guttural howl whipped our heads toward the pool. One of the zombies had stepped forward, its head thrown back as it screamed. I had a sinking suspicion we’d been spotted.

“Um, I think they want to say hi,” I murmured.

“Dammit,” he growled. “Well, no more waiting around to see what they’re here for. We can’t let them leave.”

“You know, I’m beginning to think they don’t plan to leave,” I said, not even bothering to keep my voice low as another screamed. “I think we’re the reason they’re here, but since they don’t have the capacity to plan, I’m thinking that demon led us here.”

“I think you’re onto something.” Zayne rose. “But why would be the question.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they think we can’t take them.” I peered over the railing. “How high up do you think we are?”

“About twelve feet from here to the pool deck. Why?”

“Perfect.” I sent him a grin. “Beat you down there.”

Zayne spun toward me, my name a shout from his lips, but I was fast. I vaulted over the railing and dropped into nothingness. Musty air seemed to pull me down. The fall took seconds, but I landed on both feet. The impact was jarring, shooting a dull burst of pain along my ankles and up my knees into my hips, but it faded quickly enough. I rose, unsheathing my daggers.

“Dinnertime,” I called.

Several zombies turned to me, and the fresher ones scrambled for the pool wall, clamoring up its smooth sides. I caught glimpses of flayed skin and gaping throat wounds. One came over the side onto the deck and blocked most of the moonlight.

Probably should’ve anticipated that, but oh well. I’d seen enough to know where to aim. The zombie lurched forward with startling speed, and I struck even faster, thrusting the dagger into the center of the head-shaped blob. Sticky, foul smelling liquid hit the air as I yanked the dagger back. The zombie folded like a paper sack but was quickly replaced by another.

I snapped forward as Zayne landed in the deep end of the pool, wings unfurled. He’d shifted, which was good, because I didn’t think zombie teeth could break his Warden skin.

Me on the other hand? I had no idea what would happen if I got bit. Didn’t want to find out, either. I shoved the dagger in, under the throat this time, because this zombie was super tall.

“I swear to God, Trinity,” Zayne growled as he snatched up a zombie by the head. There was a wet, ripping sound, and all I could see was a body falling, minus an important part. Zayne threw the head, and it went splat against the side of the pool.

That was one way to go about destroying the brain.

“You shouldn’t swear to God.” I hopped into the shallow end of the pool, figuring that Zayne was worried I was going to start pummeling zombies like I’d done with the Raver. “Baby Jesus wouldn’t approve.”

Zayne swore as he flung another headless zombie aside. “I think you have a death wish.”

“Nah. I just wanted to beat you.” I grabbed the hair of a zombie shambling toward the deep end and pulled it backward, but that didn’t quite work out. There was a weird mushy tearing sensation, and the zombie kept going without its hair and most of its scalp. “Ew!”

I dropped the hair, gagging. “I’m never going to forget how that felt. Never. Ever.”

“You jumped down here, so stop being a wimp.”

Shaking my hand, I shuddered and swallowed the taste of bile. “I had its scalp in my hand, Zayne. It’s scalp.”

He lifted into the air, catching the scalpless zombie. “Behind you!” he shouted.

I spun as I jumped back. My foot slipped in gunk and my leg went out from under me. I tried to catch myself, but I was too close to the slanted drop in the deep end. When my foot came down, there was nothing there. I hit the cement with a loud oomph and rolled like a log down the pool. When I came to a stop, I was prone on my back, arms and legs widespread.

A body crashed onto me, and based on the funk I was inhaling through my nostrils, I knew it was the zombie. A second later, teeth snapped an inch from my face. As close as the creature was, I got a good look at an exposed jaw and one eye hanging, attached by a pinkish jellylike cable of tissue.

“Oh God,” I groaned, catching it by the throat. I cringed as my fingers sank into tissue and muscle. Swinging my other arm around, I slammed the dagger into the side of its head. Liquid sprayed my face and chest as the reanimated pain in my ass slumped.

“I hate zombies,” I muttered, shoving the corpse off me.

“Are you okay?” Zayne shouted.

“Yeah.” I sat up, squinting as I twisted toward the shallow end. I saw Zayne, but there were four zombies still on their feet between us. Three of them were coming straight for me.

Groaning, I popped up and got down to business. The zombies weren’t hard to take down. They weren’t born fighters, and coordination was definitely not something that reanimated along with them, but they sure were messy. By the time I was done, I was standing among a whole lot of gore and funk.

“You done up there?” I called out, eyes searching the beams of moonlight.

Zayne appeared where the pool began to dip. “You okay?” he repeated.

I assumed that meant there were no more zombies. “I’m fine. Not a scratch or a bite.”

He turned sideways. “There had to be at least two dozen.”

“That’s bizarre, isn’t it? There’s no way that many zombies just moseyed on over here. People would be freaking so badly, we’d hear them in here.”

“Yeah,” Zayne agreed, wings lifting and then lowering. “I got twelve. How many did you get?”

I frowned. “I wasn’t counting.”

He scoffed. “Amateur.”

I flipped him off.

“No need to be hateful.” The humor had faded from his voice when he spoke again. “I need to call this in.”

That made sense. This many zombies gathered in some random abandoned building was highly abnormal and created a whole lot of questions that needed answers.

I stared down at what was left of the zombies, and for the first time in probably my entire life, I wasn’t hungry. Lifting my gaze as Zayne pulled his cell from his pocket, I thought of something. “What do I say when the rest of the clan gets here? They’re going to have questions. Hell, they probably already have questions.”

“I’m calling Dez,” he answered, referencing the only other Warden besides Nicolai who knew what I was. He’d accompanied Zayne and the clan leader to the Community. “Get him to take you back to my place before the rest get here.”

“What if more zombies show up while you wait for the others to arrive?” I asked.

“I can handle them.” He put the phone to his ear. “And the others will be here fast.”

I nodded, even though I hated having to cut and run. Sheathing my daggers while he talked to Dez, I looked around the pool. It looked like a butcher shop.

“Dez is on his way,” Zayne said, sliding the phone into his pocket. “Something’s up, though.”