“You see anything?” Dante asked.
Ace shook his head. “Just a fucked-up bitch who needs her head caved in.”
His companion nodded in agreement and stepped closer to the zombie. He used the top of the sledgehammer to smash her in the chest, sending her tumbling back to the grass. He raised the hammer high and brought it down on her skull with a wet squelch.
“What the hell was that all about?” Lily screeched through the slats in the window.
Ace jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Ask your man there,” he drawled.
Dante knelt down, looking over the dead ghoul to see if there was any special damage that could have caused it to be slow.
“What’s going on?” Lily called. “What do you see?”
He stood up, shaking his head, and simply said, “Hope.”
CHAPTER TWO
The group clustered around in the living room, mowing down on pancakes and scrambled eggs. Abigail emerged from the kitchen with a steaming hot pan.
“Who needs more eggs?” she asked.
Ace and Bailey both held out their empty plates, and she dished out heaps of eggs before turning and dumping the rest onto Lily’s plate.
She nodded and offered the older woman a smile. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, dear,” Abigail replied and headed back into the kitchen, getting rid of her pan and re-entering with a plate for herself.
“So, are you still dead set on going to see Maddox today?” Lily asked, scooping up a forkful of egg.
Her cousin nodded. “Yeah, Dante was right about the food situation,” he said through a mouthful of pancakes, spitting crumbs everywhere, much to Bailey’s disgust. “So unless you magically learned how to be a farmer last night, we’re going to need someone who knows how to grow.”
Lily shook her head, letting out an exasperated sigh.
“If you don’t want to go,” Dante piped up as he studied the sullen expression on her face, “Ace and I can handle it.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Thanks, but…” She sighed again. “If that slimy-ass fucker is still alive, I’m going to have to deal with him sooner or later. Might as well get it over with.”
“Do you want Phillip and me to tag along today?” Cam asked, holding up a hand.
Ace shook his head. “Nope, you boys got some chores to do in our absence,” he declared.
Phillip groaned. “Chores?” he asked. “Really?”
“You can call it whatever you want,” the redneck replied. “But shit needs to get done around here.”
Dante leaned forward, setting down his fork. “You two did a great job fortifying the house, but now we need you to do it to some of the neighbor’s houses as well,” he explained. “As much as I like you people, having six of us in the living room isn’t exactly a long term sleeping solution.”
The boys nodded begrudgingly.
“But what about zombies?” Phillip asked. “Didn’t you say those ones you killed this morning were your neighbors?”
Ace jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “We’ll handle that before we go,” he explained. “While Miss Abigail was cooking, I checked the remaining houses. Only one on the other side of the gas station had some in there. Once we get that cleared, this town is ours.”
“So which house do we start at?” Cam asked.
Ace and Dante shared a quick glance, and the redneck shrugged.
“The house across the street has a fence,” Dante suggested. “It’s a small chain link one, but it’s better than nothing. Get that boarded up and see if you can’t get something to block off the road and yards up to Ace’s. If we have any more visitors, it would be nice to have them waiting on the perimeter instead of knocking on our bedroom windows.”
The redneck nodded. “A-fucking-men to that,” he drawled.
They finished up their breakfast and set their plates down. Lily started shoveling her food into her mouth to catch up.
“Take your time,” Dante assured her with a smile, and she nodded in thanks.
“From best I can tell, there was just one of those things in the last house,” Ace piped up. “Scarface and I can handle it. You just be ready to go when we get back. Bit of a haul down to Hardeeville.”
She nodded and gave Dante’s arm a small squeeze before he passed her.
The duo grabbed their farm tool weapons from the porch and headed to the road, walking towards their target house. The morning had turned out fairly nice, a bit cool with the breeze, with the sun warming their faces.
“Fucking zombies, man,” Ace declared.
Dante raised his eyebrow. “Is that in general, or do you have something specific to curse them about?” he asked.
“Football, man,” the redneck whined. “Perfect weather for grilling in the backyard before the games started. Then sitting on my ass for twelve straight hours with the case of beer by my side, stuffing my face while watching grown men give each other concussions. It is a bonafide tragedy that I’m not going to be able to do that this season…” His eyes widened and his face went pale. “Or any season.” He scrubbed his hands down his face. “Fuck, it’s really gone, isn’t it?”
Dante nodded solemnly. “Afraid it is, buddy,” he replied. “Afraid it is.”
“You a big football fan?” Ace asked, taking a deep breath in his misery. “Seattle has a hell of a team.”
His companion shook his head. “I would watch a bit whenever Grace was over,” he replied. “She was a die hard fan, never missed a game. I was kind of indifferent.”
“So your sister’s a fan, huh?” the redneck asked, cocking a brow. “She ever drag you to a game so you could tailgate?”
Dante chuckled. “We talked about it a few times,” he admitted, “but Grace isn’t what you’d call a morning person.”
“Oh man, you are missing out!” Ace moaned. “Well, just like I’m being your wingman for Lil, I’m going to help you out here, too.” He ignored Dante’s snort and continued, “I still got a couple of games on the DVR, so
