finally killed her, as well as the other one. He figured he must have. Otherwise they’d be here.
As he watched them, they watched him and Luke noticed that two of the three had that same calculating look in their eyes that he’d seen more and more of as the weeks went by. Late at night, alone in his bunker, he’d found himself wondering if the zombies were becoming more intelligent. Perhaps they were, as time went on, getting back some of the human traits that had disappeared. Half of him sort of hoped so. Maybe they’d get back a sliver of humanity, but the other part—the part that had seen so many of his friends die, and had spent so long fighting the bastards—was angered beyond belief at the thought of them becoming smarter. Surely they’d just get better at hunting their dwindling supply of food—which was him and Jackson right now.
“You ready for this?” he asked, tightening his grip on his ax.
“Always am, Luke. Always am.”
The gap between the doors was just big enough for two to fit through, at a pinch. And that was what they did. Two females—it had to be, didn’t it?—slithered through the hole and came at them full pelt.
They went straight for Jackson.
Luke lifted his ax and swung at the one closest but it growled and jumped out of his way, so that he severed only a hand rather than an arm. He lifted to swing again but a massive male was coming through the door now, bits of skin flaking off from the tight squeeze, and Luke had to turn and swing at him.
The ax took off most of the arm—just like he’d wanted to do with the first one. Pus and blood shot out and Luke dodged it. Another swing and the ax embedded itself in the dead thing’s chest. Luke grunted in satisfaction, but the grunt turned to a growl when the blade wouldn’t come back out. Fuck. It was stuck in the chest bones. He heaved and pulled but the dead guy moved swiftly and an arm wrapped around Luke’s torso, squeezing him hard.
Luke lost his grip on the weapon.
The zombie lifted him then, so that his feet dangled above the floor and Luke head butted air just as he felt teeth graze his neck. Luke dropped an elbow on its shoulder but the move did nothing but anger the huge zombie and it squeezed harder. Bright spots of light appeared in front of his vision and Luke roared.
It couldn’t fucking end like this! Not when he’d just found someone!
He struggled and thrashed, desperate to get free. The female zombies…Jackson…she was going to die and it would all be his fault…
The arm loosened its grip. Suddenly Luke was free, stumbling to right himself. Blood rushed to his brain and the room spun. He coughed and turned just in time to see Jackson severing the massive zombie’s head. Her machete was wicked sharp and went through in one go. Like a knife sliding through butter. It didn’t meet any resistance at all. Blood and pus exploded out and she jumped back before it hit her.
He could not believe what he was seeing. “Jackson?”
She smiled a grim sort of smile and pulled his ax out of the dead zombie’s chest. She wiped it on the zombie’s “Dave’s Auto” sweater and chucked it across. He almost fumbled the pass and scowled.
“Stuck in the clavicle,” Jackson stated. “Next time wrench upward, not outward. It’ll slice through the lungs if your blade is sharp enough.”
He gaped, his gaze following the rolling zombie head. It came to a stop next to a sausage-shaped flotation device. “Upward?”
She nodded as if this should have been obvious and dunked her own blade in the rancid pool water. “Yeah, upward. God, I fucking hate zombie pus. Where the hell does it come from? There always seems to be way too much. How does it all fit in their bodies? If I could find out the source of the pus, I’d die a happy woman. One of life’s little mysteries solved.”
He gaped at her again. “I—”
She shook her head. “Whatever. I suppose we have more important things to be thinking about right now.”
“But… how did you do that?” Luke finally asked. “You’re not even out of breath.”
She pulled her blade out of the water and gave it a little shake. Their gazes met. Luke’s stomach flipped.
“I am a little.”
“You’re not. And you killed them all.”
She shrugged. “The second one almost took a chunk out of me. I got lucky. She slipped on a splatter of blood at the exact right moment. The other one tried to grab me, but she was missing a hand thanks to you.”
“But—” Luke stepped back, because the pool of blood was growing, the male zombie’s joined by the blood of the other two. Their decapitated corpses were leaking a whole lot of the stuff, but then that was understandable. One was missing both arms and her head, the other a head and leg.
Luke swallowed unsteadily and looked from Jackson to the undead, now dead, and then back again. She was so tiny, so delicate-looking, but clearly he’d been bang on the money. Appearances were deceptive.
“It’s done, Luke. Forget it,” she said, picking her pack up and shrugging it on. “We should get out of here before any more arrive. And I need some pants. I’m fucking freezing.”
“I have clothes at my place,” he said. “We could go straight there.”
She nodded slowly and stepped back from the rapidly growing puddle of blood and gore. “That’s the worst pickup line I’ve ever heard, but right now it’ll do.”
And Luke almost fell in love there and then.
Chapter Eight
They made it to Luke’s place without incident and before long he sat her down with a cup of thin noodle soup. Jackson would have liked to say she took her time and enjoyed the novelty of eating a nonrat-based meal, but that would be a lie. It took maybe a minute before she drank it all. Luke filled it back up.
It was only when that too was empty that Jackson became aware of the fact that she sat on a strange man’s chair in her panties and a jacket. The panties were also a little big and may well have been gaping a bit around the gusset. She shifted, suddenly uncomfortable in a weird way, placed her cup on the table, and shot Luke a glance. He stood in the kitchen area, leaning against the counter, arms crossed.
“Have you had enough? There’s more if you want it.” His tone was gentle, at odds with the look in his eyes, which seemed like he was trying to figure something out. Maybe how she’d managed to take down the zombies? Jackson hadn’t missed the shock stamped across his features when he’d looked around the pool room.
She fiddled with the handle of her mug and tried to remember the fight but, as always, it was just a blur. A fuzzy memory her brain was already locking away.
“Jackson?” Luke prompted, still with that same look in his eyes. She could practically hear the question his eyes were asking. “How the fuck did you take down those zombies?”
But she wasn’t sure what to say. Despite two years of doing it, she couldn’t explain it, couldn’t really explain how she was still alive. It just happened. They attacked, she responded, and so far it had worked.
“I’ve had enough, thanks, Luke.”
He smiled and Jackson’s heart gave an odd little thud. She had a nasty feeling it was going to do that every time Luke flashed that grin of his. It was all so unexpected! Sitting with another live person who wasn’t Tye, doing something as normal as eating soup, confused her. She crossed her legs and fiddled with the spoon again.
“You said something about clothes?”
He nodded and strode over to the large hamper by the fridge. He grabbed an oversize T-shirt, black, and a pair of sweats, also black. “These’ll be a bit big but the sweats have a cord you can tighten, and you can roll up the legs. What color socks would you like?”
“I don’t really mind.”
“Here.” He added a pair of bright green socks to the pile in his arms and passed them to her. “I’m sorry there aren’t any girl clothes. I guess the people who set this place up weren’t expecting any female company. Makes sense. I looked around the mansion up there a while back, and all the pictures were of some guy. No women in any of the shots.”
