She could feel the draw of the fifth, too, and when she had a second between fights to slow down and focus on that feeling, she could tell he was getting closer.
But she could also feel his anxiety and fear. He was scared, and she couldn’t blame him. They were both children, really, fighting all of this mess on their own.
Did either of them even know how to fight? Or were they just running and hoping not to get caught?
Parrish shuddered.
She hated that Zoe had already been through so much alone, and as much as she wanted to protect her from what was to come, that was partly out of her hands now.
She would do everything in her power to make sure Zoe survived this, even if the rest of them would not.
As they fought through the ruined streets of New York, Parrish pushed herself forward by that one thought.
When all of this was over, maybe Zoe and the other survivors could rebuild this world. A world Parrish and her friends had doomed the minute they brought this evil with them.
It was her one true hope and the thing that kept her pressing forward, despite how tired and afraid she was deep down.
For a while, they’d been traveling on top of a row of cars on Third Avenue, but at one point, the pile had stopped due to a concrete police barrier that had been erected to try to control the crowds.
Here, they’d had to get down and navigate rotter-filled streets again.
Just a little farther. We can do this.
So far, their time in the city hadn’t been as difficult as Parrish had expected, but she wouldn’t have dared to admit that out loud. She didn’t want to jinx it.
But maybe it was just that the time they’d spent practicing and honing their powers, coming up with a good group strategy, had really paid off. Maybe they were going to make it to David and Zoe faster than they ever could have dreamed.
If they found the others soon, they might even be able to make it back to the boat before nightfall.
Noah suddenly stopped dead in front of her, holding both hands out to the side.
He lifted his hand to his mouth and doubled-over, like he was going to throw up.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, touching his shoulder.
He didn’t respond. He just looked up, scanning the area and studying each of them.
They were stopped at the corner of Third and East Seventy-Ninth, and from what Parrish could see, there was nothing particularly special about this location. There were a few rotters roaming up and down the streets, but overall, it was one of the quieter areas they’d been in so far.
But she did not like the look on Noah’s face. Was he having another one of his premonitions?
“I don’t know how to save you all,” he said, his eyes growing wider as they locked on something behind her.
He breathed in, his body taking on a bright blue glow as he threw both arms out to the side. Threads of blue energy extended from him like ropes to the three others in their group.
She spun just as something swooped down from the top of a nearby building. Razor-sharp claws scraped across the skin on her arms and face, but all she felt was pressure as the giant bird-like zombie dodged the first swing of her sword.
She fell to the ground from the knock-back but quickly scrambled to her feet, her eyes following the creature as it flew up and joined two others, nearly identical to itself.
“Parrish.”
Noah’s voice was barely more than a whisper in her ear, and she turned just as he fell to his knees on the asphalt.
Her mouth opened in a scream as she ran to his side. His entire body was covered in thick gashes. The right side of his face had taken the injury intended for her, and blood poured from his wounds, covering his shirt.
Crash and Karmen had also been knocked to the ground, but neither of them showed any sign of injury. Noah had taken it all on his own.
With trembling hands, she dropped her katana and threw her backpack to the ground.
“I have to get you fixed up,” she said, sounding so panicked she hardly recognized her own voice.
“No,” he said, gripping her forearms tightly. “They’re circling back around. I can’t take another hit. You have to get up. We have to fight.”
The urgency in his voice startled her back to the present moment. And he was right. Of course those things were coming back.
They’d never fought something that flew through the air like this, though. Her katana wasn’t going to do much damage to them if they were fast.
“Here they come,” Crash said, standing and gathering his lightning powers in his hands.
Karmen stayed on the ground, closing her eyes. Parrish prayed her friend could manage to turn at least one to their side quickly, but they were moving so fast she barely had any time to gather her own energy.
She stood and slid her katana back into its sheath at her back. Instead, she gathered a ball of flames in between her palms. Instead of heading for each of them, this time, they seemed to all be taking aim at Noah. They must have realized he’d taken their hits, and they wanted to take him out before he could do it again.
“Over my dead body,” she muttered.
She swirled one palm over the other, flattening her flames into a disc before rearing back and hurling the spell toward the first creature.
It shrieked as the flame spell made a direct hit, but that didn’t seem to slow it down at all.
The thing’s claws descended toward Noah.
“Karmen,” she shouted.
“I can’t get into its head,” Karmen answered. “I’m trying.”
“I got it,” Crash said, sending a stream of lightning toward the bird-like creatures.
A steady stream of electric energy poured from his hands, hitting the first bird-woman
