Page 61 of Such a Feral Little Lamb
“She’s got us in there?” I ask, indicating Nia with a jerk of my chin.
Rae nods. “I gave her our names this morning. I’ll wake Autumn. We’ll be ready with everyone else.”
“Thanks.” I leave them behind and walk over to Nia, who frowns at my approach. “You have something for me?”
“Yes.” I like that she doesn’t bother with small talk. It makes things easier. She looks at Mason and raises an eyebrow. “I take it you’re going with him?”
“Yes.”
“All right. Wright and Hoar. Got it. You’ll take the far side of Gravesend, from the school to the old town hall. I could add—”
“No,” Mason says quickly. “We’ll go alone.”
The purse of Nia’s lips tells me she doesn’t like that at all, but she doesn’t argue. Just waves us ahead, and I slip past Callum and Sal and out into the grey morning.
“We might be better with another person,” I say. Something nudges at the back of my mind. Something important.
“We won’t,” Mason replies. He pushes his hands into his pockets, then darts a look back at the church. “Come on. We know where we need to go.”
Mason sticks close as we descend into the town. Looking back, I see Rae, Autumn, and Callum heading through the gates. I don’t know if it’s better or worse that Blake will be working with strangers. At least they might take less of his shit.
The school is silent and empty when we reach it. Mason unlocks the door with a flick of his fingers, but despite his magic, I nudge him out of the way to go in first. My torch picks out nothing but dust and empty rooms. Mason’s boots are heavy on the floor behind me.
“There’s nothing here, little lamb,” he murmurs, but when I glance back, he’s frowning.
“Did you expect there to be?”
“Seems as good a place to hide out as any. Maybe they just got lost and confused.”
I shake my head. One of them, sure, but both? And Otto wasright there…
Mason trots along after me as I search every inch of the school, but he’s right, nothing seems to be out of place. I pause by the teacher’s desk in one classroom, for a second sure that I’ve heardsomething, but searching turns up nothing and Mason says he can’t sense anything, either.
I sigh when we step out into daylight again. “Where do you think those zombies came from the other night?” I ask. “Can you track them with… you know?”
“Magic?”
“Hm.” I still haven’t quite wrapped my mind around that.
“I am not certain how. If I were able to do that, I could have tracked Otto by now.”
“You don’t think the zombies got them, do you?”
“Doyou?”
I sigh, twirling my bat in one hand. “No, I guess not. Not Otto.”
Mason grunts. His mouth is a flat, irritated line, and I don’t think he’s angry with me. He and the rest of the townspeople have kept this place safe from zombies for years. Now people are just disappearing?
We check each house on the way to the shop, splitting up halfway through to cover more ground faster. It doesn’t matter. There’s no sign of anyone or anything. No sign of any townspeople either, but then maybe those who aren’t searching are staying in the church, where it truly seems to be safe.
The town hall is the only place to give anything up. Mason opens the doors, and I move around him to go in first—
And stop at the sight before me.
The room is empty of people. It’s a wide, open space with a chestnut-coloured wood floor and a stage at the other end, framed by dusty velvet curtains.
None of that is what has my attention. No. My entire focus narrows in on Otto’s war hammer, lying dead centre in the room.
