He skirted the counter and checked the panel for the gas pumps, pushing all the buttons until the cash register gave a ding. With the lights all green, he assumed that the gas would be flowing, so he burst back outside and sprinted for the bike.
This time when he pulled the handle, gasoline began to pump into the tank, and he let out a sigh of relief.
“At least it didn’t want a credit card,” he muttered, and then chuckled under his breath, shaking his head.
Once full, he turned and replaced the pump, and then a rotted hand narrowly missed his face.
“Jesus fuck!” he cried, at high enough of a pitch that he was glad nobody was around to hear it. He ducked and dove around the pump, out of the reach of the excited zombie that had come out of nowhere.
He stabbed through the pillars at the pump, but the ghoul was fast enough that it passed his arm, staggering around to get to him. He kicked it in the chest, sending it stumbling back into the windshield washing station, the squeegee knocking loose and splattering brown water everywhere.
Ace took his opening and lunged forward, burying the knife into the zombie’s eye socket. As soon as it fell limp, he whipped around. He had to be fast, Dante was waiting on him, but he didn’t want to start up the bike and make a bunch of noise.
He quickly replaced the cap on the gas tank and steered the bike around, running as fast as he could with the rolling vehicle alongside him. When he reached the main road, he heard Dante yelling instead of shooting, and assumed he’d either run out of bullets or decided to conserve them.
He spotted his companion on the roof at the end of the row, waving his arms and jumping up and down. It was an almost comical sight, and he filed it away to describe to Lily later.
There were no ghouls in sight, so he chanced walking out into the street with the bike, trying to figure out how he was doing to get Dante’s attention without making a sound. Thankfully, his companion seemed to spot him, because he waved.
Now, how to get him over here? Ace wondered, but it seemed Dante had that covered as well. He fired a few times into the crowd and then ducked down, so that he was out of sight. Ace spotted him coming into view on the back side of the row of buildings, running across the roof.
He wheeled the bike over to the broken sedan, and got on it, ready to kick start as soon as Dante was down.
As soon as the man’s boots hit the roof of the car, the zombies began to trickle their way.
Ace hit the starter, and Dante jumped onto the back, wrapping an arm around his waist. The redneck chuckled and hit the throttle, speeding them out of town.
Both men seemed afraid to let out sighs of relief, but as they left their harrowing day in the dust, they felt lighter and lighter. There was just the hope that QXR wouldn’t come knocking. At least if they did, they’d find them here, and not right on top of Ace’s house and the little community they’d begun to build for themselves.
The redneck went straight to Maddox’s and punched in the code for the gate.
“Where is everyone?” Dante asked, getting off of the back of the bike, brow furrowed. There were no signs of struggle, but it unsettled him how quiet it was.
Ace hit the kickstand and wandered up to the trailer, finding a little yellow sticky note attached to the door. “Gone to the farm,” he read out loud, and shook his head. “You okay riding bitch a little bit longer?”
Dante laughed, shaking his head. “You mean I get the pleasure of hugging you for another leg of the trip?” he pretended to flip imaginary hair over his shoulder. “Sign me up!”
CHAPTER NINE
As the bike rumbled up towards the abandoned school, Lily emerged from the gymnasium door, flanked by Cam and Bailey. She put her hands on her hips, giving the men a stern look like an angry mom.
“About time you boys got back,” she scolded, but couldn’t keep the smile out of her voice.
Ace rolled his eyes. “Don’t even pretend like you missed me, Lil,” he drawled.
“I didn’t miss you at all,” she teased, and then her gaze softened when she noticed how rough around the edges Dante looked. “What happened?”
He stepped up to her and brushed some stray hair back from her face, gazing down at her with a smile. “Lots. But I’m fine.”
“Well I can see that, you big oaf,” she shot back, but her voice lacked any venom as she grinned goofily up at him.
Cam gaped at them, and then turned to Ace, eyes wide.
“About time, right?” the redneck drawled, and clapped the younger man on the back, leading him back inside.
Bailey blushed crimson and trotted after them, brushing past Cam to be first back into the gym.
Dante looped an arm around Lily’s shoulders, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head as they headed inside.
“Fine, but needs his woman to hold him up, I see how it is,” she joked as she slid her arm around his waist, and he pretended to lean on her. She poked him in the side and he laughed, easing up on her shoulders.
“I could clean up,” he said, looking around.
The gym wasn’t exactly a hive of activity, given their low population, but work had definitely been done. There were raised garden beds everywhere, with neat little rows. Henry and Tate sat on the far end at a set of desks someone had pulled together, sharing a giant bong as they leaned over some papers.
“Over here,” Lily said, waving for him to come to the right.
There was a long hose coming out of one of the change rooms, and it hung over the side
