“We have to get through this ice,” he said, gathering sparks of lightning on his fingertips. “Karmen, if we work together, maybe we can melt this wall.”
“I can help, too,” Parrish said, fastening her sword behind her back and conjuring flames in both palms.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Noah, watch our backs. I don’t like the sound of whatever she’s sending our way.”
All three of them concentrated their power on the wall of ice, and slowly, it began to melt.
“Hurry up, guys, we’ve got something big headed this way fast. Hear that?” Noah asked.
Crash didn’t even turn to look. If they didn’t get this wall down in the next few seconds, they’d be trapped here indefinitely.
He closed his eyes and focused, not only on the heat he could put into this wall, but also on the surge of power coming from the two girls at his side.
When they were all focused on the same task, it seemed like their power was amplified.
“Can you feel that?” he asked. “Karmen, take my hand.”
She did, and the moment they touched, the flames in Karmen’s other hand roared to life, bigger and stronger than ever.
Parrish stepped over, touching the side of her arm to Karmen’s, and the wall practically disintegrated.
Water ran into the streets, then disappeared into a nearby drain.
There was no time to celebrate, though. Hundreds of Z’s rushed at them from behind, and from the sound of it, they had a super zombie with them. They needed to get back out onto the bigger roads so they would be more flexible in their fighting styles, so the group followed him as he sprinted toward Third Avenue.
They would have to face zombies from both sides now, but at least they wouldn’t be boxed in with nowhere to go if things got bad.
Crash took inventory of the zombies standing on the street as they finally emerged onto Third. A woman in a black business suit. A cop in full uniform. A priest. A child who couldn’t have been more than six years old.
These things used to be people, but now their jaws snapped like hungry animals.
“Run,” Noah shouted.
Parrish drew her sword. “Here they come!”
They all moved into action, Crash stunned a few nearby rotters with his lightning power and then stepped forward to put an end to them with his hunting knife. As the first zombie fell, Crash pulled the knife back, then plunged it straight into the eye socket of another.
And just like that, they were back in the thick of it, fighting with everything they had and clinging to what was left of hope.
Thirty-Seven
Noah
They’d broken through the ice wall just in time.
Noah shouted for everyone to run just as a horde of zombies emerged from the street behind them. He couldn’t see the super zombie yet, but he could hear it.
Every footfall shook the ground around them, rattling the debris and glass on the street.
The group moved into action, clearing the rotters on Third Avenue so they could find a better position to face this horde.
Parrish took charge, directing everyone as she struck down several rotters nearby.
“Karmen, focus on the horde. Stun the first wave and hold them back as much as possible while we clear this area,” she said. “Crash, seek higher ground and charge up your lightning. Noah, you’re with me.”
He nodded, reloading his pistols and joining her as she ran up on top of a cargo van to get a better vantage point.
So far as they’d fought, they realized it was almost always better to get to higher ground as quickly as possible. The rotters couldn’t bite them if they stayed toward the center of the car, and it was easier for Noah to get a straight shot from higher up.
He didn’t hesitate, taking aim and downing ten rotters in seconds. Thanks to Tank back in Philly, he’d gotten some extended magazines for these pistols, so he could hold about sixteen bullets in each one.
He made the most of each shot, aiming for the head and never missing his mark.
They made quick work of the ones on Third while Karmen focused on holding back the horde.
“I can’t hold these guys forever,” Karmen said, her voice strained.
“Crash,” Parrish shouted. “Now.”
With a power Noah still could hardly believe, Crash threw lightning bolts toward the crowd on the side street. Several rotters in the front row caught fire and stumbled forward before falling onto the sidewalk.
Others shook and groaned until they fell in a heap on the street.
Everyone outside of Crash’s range, though, pushed forward, running over the bodies of the fallen.
Noah took aim toward the horde and brought down as many as he could, while Karmen gathered flames in her hands and lit the sidewalk and street on fire.
These basic rotters weren’t that difficult to deal with anymore, even in these larger numbers, as long as they had the space to spread out.
But the hulking man who rushed forward out of the crowd was no basic rotter. He was a beast just like the one Karmen had tamed back at the compound. Maybe bigger.
Their plan with any of these super zombies was to have Karmen do her best to turn them to their side.
This one, however, went straight for Karmen at the start, moving so fast, Noah barely had time to react.
“Beast heading toward you, Karmen,” he shouted. “Watch out.”
Unlike with Parrish and the motorcycles the other day, he hadn’t sensed this hit coming, but since they’d practiced his shielding several times at the beach house, he’d still been able to throw up a basic shield before the Beast made his hit.
Karmen screamed as the hulking brute swept her to the side with the back of his hand. Her body flew backward and hit the side of
