Page 16 of Such a Feral Little Lamb
I shake my head. “We can’t.”
“I’m not asking.”
Callum is looking at me now, too. He’s a really big guy, so maybe that cricket bat is more for show than anything else.
“Wecan’t. We came in on the train. It won’t come back for a few days.”
Nia sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She doesn’t appear surprised, more exasperated. Emma comes back out of the shop and stands by her side.
Dread swirls in my stomach. I don’t like this. They seem more upset that the shop is destroyed than they do at the idea of hundreds of zombies swarming their town.
Do they know the man I saw last night? Does he have something to do with this?
I rub a hand over my face. I’m exhausted. Howcouldhe have anything to do with this? Everyone knows how zombies are made.
But the skeletons…
“Fine,” Nia barks. “You all need to come with us. We’ll keep you safe until your train arrives, then you leave and don’t come back.”
“We need to complete this job.”
“No, you need to leave.” Nia’s tone brooks no argument, and I frown. “Tell your team to come down.”
I bite back a curse. They’re going to like this even less than I do. Behind my eyes, my dreams of making a better life for myself crumble to dust. If we return to the Citadel without having destroyed a single zombie, it’s not simply that I won’t be able to lead my own team or be paid a little better or find a more private place to live…
No. There are worse fates than all that. The Citadel does not look kindly on failures.
I take a few steps forward so I can see them all sitting on the roof. Otto is the closest, still holding my pack.
“Come down!”
Dane shakes his head. “How do we know you won’t kill us?”
“There are only three of us,” Nia says with a careless shrug.
I eye Emma and Callum again. The mark on her head is definitely a tattoo, judging by the dark blue colour of it. Three swirls connect in the centre. Callum has the same tattoo, peeking just above his collar. Staring at the marks for too long makes my eyes feel strange, almost like I want to look away.
“We can’t stay here,” I say, turning back to the shop. “You know that!”
Dane grumbles, but Rae leans around Blake to argue with him, and Otto is already shuffling over towards the window. Rae wins. Blake follows Otto and, one by one, they get themselves and their packs inside.
Dane is the first to storm out of the shop, shoulders set. “I don’t know who the fu—”
Callum steps swiftly between Dane and Nia, wordlessly staring Dane down. Dane swallows hard. None of the anger drains from him, but I see the way he calculates his odds and realises this is another fight he won’t win.
He steps back, jaw clenched. Blake is right by his side. Otto drifts in my direction and Rae keeps Autumn behind her, the furthest from the strangers.
“We aren’t here to hurt you,” Nia says, and I don’t miss the way Emma looks at her, “but you can’t stay here, either.”
“The Citadel—” Dane begins, but Nia shakes her head.
“They don’t reach up here. Now, you have how long until your train comes back?”
Dane doesn’t answer. Blake, ever-loyal, presses his lips together, too.
“Seven days,” I say.
Both glare at me.
