It ran for us, claws outstretched. I waited until the last possible moment before diving to the ground on all fours, then covering my head with my hands as I braced for impact.
The scrab crashed into me, its legs buckling as it lost its balance. It landed with a thump. I scrambled to my feet.
Edan drove his spear into the back of the scrab’s neck. It thrashed, screamed, and then stilled.
“You all right?” Edan asked, watching as I rolled my shoulders. That would leave a bruise.
“I’m fine.” I pointed to where blood was dripping down his arm. “You?”
“I can’t feel it. I think it’s the intense panic.” He grinned. He must have been really good at hiding his panic.
Footsteps sounded behind us, and I turned to see Dorsey running toward us with four machetes, two gripped in each hand.
“Oh, you got it,” he said breathlessly. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. “Damn. I barely outran that thing.”
Edan pointed to where a piece of broken wood was sticking out of the Scrab’s side. “Did you do that?”
“Yeah. Broke a chair leg. It was all I could find.” He held up his machetes. “I brought one each for you guys.”
“And two for you?” I took one.
“Hell yes, two for me. I’m not going anywhere without a weapon after this.” He held his two blades up in front of his body. “You guys ready? It’s bad down there.”
“Wait, weren’t you with Julian in the boxing room?” I asked. “Does no one have weapons down there?”
“No, I saw a bunch of people down there with weapons. But I left for a minute to refill my water bottle, so I wasn’t with Julian when they came.” He broke into a jog. “Come on.”
Edan and I followed Dorsey to the end of the hallway and down the stairs. He skidded to a stop as he pushed open the door on the first floor. I stepped around him.
The lobby was covered in dead scrabs. I counted ten—no, twelve. There was a giant hole in the middle of the floor where they must have entered the building.
And Madison was walking through the dead bodies, bloody machete in hand, looking like she was ready to kill twelve more. She wiped the back of her arm across her forehead, smearing blood across it.
A scrab leapt out of the stairwell on the other side of the room, launching its body at Madison.
She swung the machete, hitting the scrab on its side. It screamed as she slid the blade out. She ducked as it swung at her, and then sliced the machete across its throat. It slumped to the ground.
“What the fuck is going on?” she yelled.
Noah emerged from the stairwell behind the scrab. He was breathing heavily and carried his own bloody machete.
“Did you get all of them?” Madison asked.
“Not even close,” he panted. “Get ready.” He pointed to us. “Move away from that door. I drove them to the other end of the hallway, and they’re probably coming down now.”
We scrambled away from the door. I whipped around to face it, machete poised to fight.
A scream sounded from my right. A recruit flew out of the small gym and smashed into the wall. Dani and Hunter flew around the corner. Dani had a machete, Hunter a gun.
“We’re all going to die,” Dorsey said.
“You are, at least,” Madison said.
He shot her an incredulous, horrified look.
“Move back more, dumbass,” she said. “You’re so close to the door that they’ll crush you as soon as they open it.”
He still looked insulted, but he took several big steps back.
“If you die, I apologize for calling you a dumbass,” Madison said.
“And if I don’t die?”
“Then I meant it.”
Noah actually laughed. My heart was beating too fast for laughter.
The stairwell door banged open.
They piled out, one after the other. I counted six before I had to stop counting because one was flying toward me.
“Duck, Clara!” Noah yelled from behind me.
I dropped into a squat. The scrab flew over my head.
I jumped to my feet. A scrab trailed out the door behind the rest, blood dripping from its neck. It opened its mouth and roared, giving me the best view yet of its teeth. I tried not to think about how it could easily rip off my arm if I got it between those teeth.
It swiped at me. I ducked. It took another try, and I grabbed its arm. Its flesh was prickly and just as hard as it looked, more like a shell than skin. I shoved it out of the way as I sliced the blade of the machete across its neck. It stumbled backward, hitting the door and crumpling to the ground.
I quickly turned to find the rest of the team midfight. Dorsey screamed as he tried to stab a scrab with both machetes at once. Hunter shot off a round at it. Madison kicked a scrab in the chest.
Noah was pinned to the ground, and I jumped forward, aiming my blade for the scrab’s side. I drove it in. It screamed, and Noah kicked it off and scrambled to his feet. He was completely covered in blood, and from the look of it, none of it was his.
“Oh, that’s gross,” he said, wrinkling his nose as he pulled his shirt away from his body. He grinned at me. “Thanks. You’re not bad with that thing.” He gestured at the machete I was holding.
“She’s pretty good with a spear too,” Edan said as he stepped away from the scrab he’d just killed. They were all dead. Dorsey slumped against the wall and let out a string of curse words.
I looked down at the blood on my machete. A cheer rose up from the back of the building.
“I think we got them all,” Noah said. His gaze snagged on something behind me. Julian and Grayson were running toward the front doors, recruits trailing after them.
Dani’s handcuffs rattled as she shook blood off her blade. “Hey, did you guys see—”
A
