Marty cocked his head, turning to face the raven-haired woman. Growling low in his throat, he raised a hand, reaching out for her and staggered forward, mouth already opening. Caroline froze, trembling, too frightened to even react.
Bunny's fingers closed on the butt of the shotgun, pulling it closer as she made one final heave, pushing Carl off her. Reeling the weapon in as quickly as she could, she stumbled to her feet, leveling the barrel only inches from Marty's head.
He turned his inhuman eyes on her, hissing as he reached for her. She wasted no time on apologies or regrets as she squeezed the trigger, scattering his head all over the room.
His body clutched for her blindly for a few seconds before slumping to the floor. Bunny stood, shaking violently, gasping for breath. She'd felt it before, with the man from the audience, as well as from Sheila. She knew that both of them had wanted to bite her, but to actually see it happen?
Bunny sank to the floor, clutching the shotgun to her chest, unable to stand any longer. It was too much, more than anyone could handle. It wasn't possible. She'd had enough. She needed it all to stop now, whatever it was. She started sobbing softly.
Caroline swallowed hard as she looked down at Marty's headless body. Skirting it, she moved to kneel in front of Bunny and wrapped her arms around the quietly crying woman who’d just saved her life. She had no illusions about what’d just happened. She'd panicked and Bunny had saved her.
"I'm sorry," Caroline said. "I'm so sorry."
"For what?" Bunny asked, wiping her eyes.
"Freaking out," Caroline told her. "I was useless. I almost got us both killed."
Bunny shook her head, trying to regain her composure. "No, you know, Caroline, I think you had the more normal reaction of the two of us."
"Yeah, well, I don't think reacting normally is a good thing right now."
Bunny took a deep breath as she tried to make her hands stop shaking. "No. I guess not."
Caroline stroked her hair and gave her a wan smile. "Thanks for saving me."
"Shit," Bunny said. "I just want to know why you have that gun."
Caroline laughed, and after a minute, Bunny joined her. She didn't know if it was because she was losing her mind, or if it was because despite what had just happened, she was still alive. In the big picture, she didn't think she really even cared.
"You got blood on you," Caroline said after they caught their breath.
Bunny looked down finding the white satin robe Bruno had given her earlier was smeared with blood. Carl's she figured, when Marty had thrown him at her. A wave of nausea passed over her.
"I'll need to get this off," she said after a minute.
Caroline nodded. "We should go back to the dressing room. We both need something else to wear. These aren't suited to what we're dealing with."
With a nod, Bunny took a deep breath, feeling the tremble in her body easing. "Good idea."
Caroline stood, holding out a hand to her friend with a smile. Bunny took it and accepted the help getting on her feet, feeling as if she needed it right now. Marty had been a nice man, kind-hearted and gentle. He didn't deserve what’d happened to him, before or after Bunny had pulled the trigger.
She spared him a glance where he lay. She didn't say it out loud, but she felt it, and thought it, and hoped that if there was a better world after this one, that he heard her apology.
The two walked to the door, both feeling the sudden weight of events pressing down on them. Caroline wanted to promise Bunny she would never freeze like that again, had it written all over her face, so plain Bunny couldn't miss it. She didn't say anything, though, and Bunny understood why. In the face of madness, what promise could you make?
They looked down the steps, checking for movement before starting down, but only got a single step when they heard it. A soft rattle of a moan, creaking like a broken door, coming from behind them. Slowly, and with a fresh wave of fear washing over them both, they turned to look behind them.
Carl was standing up.
Chapter Three
“BUNNY!” CAROLINE SHRIEKED.
"No fucking way," Bunny whispered.
Carl stood there, wobbling on his feet. The wound on his neck had stopped bleeding, more likely from a lack of blood than anything else. Just from the amount he'd lost, Bunny knew his carotid artery had been ripped to shreds. He'd been dead almost as soon as it had happened.
Carl staggered a little, caught himself, and tried to straighten up. Bunny could hear Caroline screaming at her, and knew she should move, but all she could do was look at him, standing there.
She'd felt him die. When Marty had thrown him, and he'd fallen on her, she had felt it. He'd twitched a little then went still. He’d died, right there, and she knew it, as sure as she knew the sun came up in the morning. Just as sure as she knew the sun set at night, she knew dead people didn't stand up.
Carl groaned and lifted his head, fixing Bunny with his yellowed eyes, staring at her like a man stares at food after being hungry for days. She looked into those eyes and saw nothing else, just a deep and insatiable hunger. Everything else that’d ever been Carl was gone.
"Bunny! Fucking shoot him!" Caroline bellowed, shaking her as hard as
