Page 19 of Such a Feral Little Lamb
“It looks as though we have no need of your services,” Mason says, voice pitched as though he only wants me to hear.
“The train won’t come for a week,” Nia says, and she’s frowning at Mason now as though she blames him for this, somehow. “We’ll keep them here until then.”
Dane doesn’t explode, but I can see the loose grip he’s keeping on his temper. “Keepus here?”
“For your protection as much as ours,” Nia replies with a shrug. “We’ll all be staying in the church until the zombies have calmed again.”
I exchange a glance with Otto. His brow is furrowed, and when he mouthscalmed, I shake my head.
Nothing about this place is usual, least of all the way the survivors are dealing with it. That was one of the biggest hordes I’ve ever seen. And I’veneverseen one up and stumble away at sunrise, even if they prefer the dark. Why aren’t they out there killing them? Why haven’t the zombies torn them to pieces?
“Where?” Rae asks.
“Up here,” Nia says, and now there’s a warning in her dark eyes. “The church is safe enough. The zombies never pass through those gates.”
I jerk my head up. Mason still watches me, and he tilts his head in much the same way he did last night.
Why would the zombies not come up here? That doesn’t make any sense at all.
I am itching to ask, to blurt out my growing suspicions and demand answers, but the consequences of that will, I suspect, be unpleasant. Mason seems to know it, too. His smile turns secretive, and when I turn my head away, I see Dane’s scowl.
“Let’s get you situated.” Nia scowls around, and eventually the others in the church disperse, most wandering outside.
She leads us up towards the altar. In the vestibule, the door is partially open, light spilling out. The entryway is narrow, a set of stairs descending beneath the church. Theywereall down there, then.
Mason has followed. He sees where I’m looking. “You’re getting it.”
I scowl. I don’t like that he can read me—or that he believes he can. He doesn’t know me.
“This should do,” Nia says. There’s space before the altar, pews pushed back and away. Nia gestures, and Emma and Callum pull one upright, then shove it back into place.
Dane pulls himself up to his full height, obviously trying to appear intimidating. Nia doesn’t bat an eyelid.
“There’s a hole in the fucking roof,” he says. “Not to mention that we’re, what, supposed to take your word for it that those zombies won’t just waltz right in here—”
“They won’t,” Mason says.
Dane’s face goes purple with rage. I step back, watching him with no small amount of interest. Rae seems just as happy to let this play out as I am, though she makes sure she’s standing between Dane and Autumn. In fact, only Blake seems willing to step in, though he seems warier of Mason than Dane does.
“They won’t? Theywon’t? What the fuck does that even mean? Have you ever dealt with a horde? They realise we’re up here—and believe me, they’ll fucking smell us if nothing else—then they’ll spend all night fighting to get inside.”
Mason’s expression doesn’t change, but something in his eyes does. Anger, I think. “Maybe we’ll offer you up first, then.”
“Mason,” Nia says, weary.
Dane starts forward, and at least Blake seems to have enough sense to pull him back. “Fuck this,” Dane growls. “We don’t need this. We’ll do just fine on our own.”
He looks at the rest of us, but no one moves to back him up. Why would we? We all know the truth, even Autumn. If those zombies come back tonight, it’ll be another sleepless one, whether we’re in the church or outside of it. We’d be fools not to listen to the survivors here. We can only hope, if they turn out to be wrong about the zombies, that they’ll let us through that door to hide with them.
“The zombies will not step on these grounds,” Nia says. “You have my word.”
Dane growls something, but he knows he’s lost. He shrugs out of Blake’s grip and stalks outside. Blake lingers only a second longer to glare at us all before he follows.
“We’ll sleep out here?” I ask. When Nia looks at me, I flick my gaze to the door.
“Yes. Not safe to have strangers sleeping among us. I’m sure you understand.”
“Yeah. Yeah, okay.” Of course she’s hiding things. None of us trusts each other. But I want to trust that the church will be safe.
