He waited there a few seconds, willing the holographic image of their new safehouse to materialize in his mind. Turn right on the next street. Justin motioned them to join him by the SUV.
Scarlett darted over with Twila in hand. Dean escorted Ella and Mateo along. Luther walked backward, pointing his Glock from side to side. If they ran into a horde, what would they do? As if reading his thoughts, Ella flashed him an I-don’t-like-this look. He merely smiled. Dude, stay focused.
Luther ducked beside the SUV next to him. “I can smell those stinking nimrods.”
Justin didn’t want to worry Ella more than she already was. He nodded in acknowledgment and panned the street. “Meet me behind that van after I check it out.” He slinked off.
He stopped next to the van parked diagonally across the street, blocking his line of sight. “Holy shit!” A freaking horde spasmed-out in the street, sniffing the air like a mangy pack of wild dogs. It was like the horde expected their return.
One of them gawked its buggy eyes in his direction. Is that what I think it is? He grabbed the binocs draped around his neck. They all wore faded blue vests. Really? A horde of Walmart Zs? Anyone’s worst nightmare.
The Z with the most flair pinned to its tattered vest ogled in his direction. It threw its head back and groaned to the sky. The others joined in. Justin gave the danger signal as he duck-walked back to the SUV with his finger to his lips.
Now what? Ella’s furrowed brows shouted.
He called up the map in his mind again. They would have to take the longer route, the one he and Luther had initially taken this morning.
“Should we head back to the warehouse?” Dean whispered.
“This way,” was all Justin said. He should have known better. Never go the same way twice in a short amount of time. Regular Zs made lame predators but were keen on detecting the human scent. Patience and relentlessness made up for their shortcomings. And this collective consciousness thing Scarlett talked about had really upped their game. If it were true, scientists needed to tweak Darwin’s theory to the evolution of—devolution.
They reached a corner strip mall, when for no reason at all, Mateo started balling. Justin cringed from the inside out. Ella’s eyes widened in fanic, the same fanic he refused to accept. She desperately rocked the satchel, shushing him.
They needed a place to hide. Now! “I’ll check out the strip mall,” Justin said before running across the street. He peered through the windows first. No movement. The door to CiCi’s Deli stood wide open. He crept inside and checked behind the counter. Empty. He knocked over an empty rack to draw out any Zs. He waited five seconds. No groaning. That was all he needed to know.
Justin motioned them on. Shit. He forgot to check the rear entrance. Always have an alternate escape route. He wasn’t thinking clearly. After everyone made it into the deli, he asked Luther to cover him while he checked the rear exit.
Justin grudgingly opened the rear door a few inches. Thank you! “It’s clear in the back.” For how long?
“Folks, let’s take a breather ’til the baby stops fussing,” Dean announced calmly.
Luther tore into a bag of Lay’s chips he snagged from the floor. Three seconds later, he spat it out. “Nasty.” Luther grimaced and grabbed his canteen.
“Dude, they expired years ago.” Justin laughed. He had done the same thing back in his smuggling days with Mad Dog’s gang.
“How close are we?” Scarlett asked.
“About two miles. We’re still in the commercial zone,” Justin advised.
Mateo’s bawling went vibrato. He was way too loud.
Tears pooled in Ella’s eyes. “I’ll try to nurse him. But he shouldn’t be hungry yet.”
Justin struggled to maintain his cool. “Take him in the bathroom. To buffer the noise.”
“Wait!” Twila yelled.
That’s when he heard it. Erratic thumping coming from the gender-neutral restroom. How long had it been stuck in there? Apparently, it hadn’t learned to open doors. Why had some evolved and others hadn’t? Meh, the same thing irked him about the living human race.
“It can’t break down the metal door,” Dean said. “But to be on the safe side, we’ll barricade it.” Dean and Luther blocked the door with several shelving units.
Ella wasn’t buying it.
“It can’t get us,” Justin promised, attempting to comfort her and watch the street at the same time. But he should have checked out the restroom earlier. The Z would be stuck there until Last State sanitized the rest of Texas. And Justin didn’t see that happening for a hundred-freaking years.
Scarlett waved her hands, telling everyone to be quiet. “The horde’s following our scent,” she whispered through fluttering eyes.
That’s exactly what he was stressing over. “Guys, we need bug spray. To disguise our scent.” Where the heck was he finding that?
“Yup, we’re leaving them a trail.” Luther pulled his T-shirt over his nose in apparent disgust. “They’re getting closer.”
Pissed at himself, Justin needed to start thinking like he had during the early days of the pandemic. Plus, all those X-box Live gamer achievements he had racked up roleplaying the zombie apocalypse hero had to count for something. Right?
I got it! “There’s a Dollar Tree a block away.” Sure, the food would have been looted or confiscated by Last State. Not the bug spray.
Ella put one hand on her hip and tapped her foot. “I won’t let you go!”
“I have to. I’m the fastest. If I’m not back in ten minutes—Luther, take them back to Quinton’s. I’ll meet you guys there.”
He kissed Ella and Mateo on the cheek and refused to give in to the fear oozing from Ella. It was like tiny tendrils of fear snaked around her torso, paralyzing
