Page 37 of Worth the Ruin
“I’ll fucking kill them,” he all but growls, eyes wild. This is…unexpected? He looks like a caged animal whose ready to tear the throat out of anyone who would dare get near him—or who would dare try to hurt me. Am I imagining all of this? Adrenaline mixed with pent up frustration mixed with all the feelings I’m having but trying not to admit to, all coming together to make me see what I want to see?
I shake myself as bullets ricochet off of the mailbox.Not the time, Morales.
“Hey,” I say gently but firmly, holding his gaze and gripping his wrist, “I’m ok.” He blinks and shakes himself, as if coming out of a trance or something. He swallows hard and gives one hard jerk of his head that I’m taking for a nod of acceptance. “And they’re a shit shot,” I add with a rueful smile. “We can make it to the Jeep and then come up with a game plan. Alright?”
Traeger takes a deep, steadying breath and nods.
“On three.”
We never make it past one. Wynn apparently has the same idea and makes a break for the Jeep. We peek around the mailbox to see him stumble back as the jeep is assaulted with gunfire. He bolts back to the safety of his alleyway.
“Stay there!” I yell to him. I glance back at the Jeep and grind my teeth. The tires are blown out, and I know without a doubt that the engine is shredded. Ok, plan B: take out the shooter, get to better cover, and find a car to steal. Easy peasy.
“Fuck!” Traeger grits out.
“Give me the God damn gun.” I hold my hand out for the rifle. Traeger eyes me for a heartbeat and I snap, “We don’t have time for this. They’re going to move positions soon and our little safe island here will be compromised. You’re just going to have to trust that I won’t shoot you in the fucking skull, alright? Now, give me the gun so I can save our asses.”
He quickly pulls the gun over his head and thrusts it into my hands.
“I trust you,” he says simply.
I smile as I check the weapon. “Alright, on three I want you to pop around that side and fire off a couple of rounds. When they return fire, I’ll light ‘em up. Ready?” He nods. “One…two…three!”
Traeger does exactly as I instructed, and I ignore the flare of panic as our attackers fire at him. I pop up and quickly sight the target, taking out one and then a second. I duck back down as the third sends a spray of bullets our way. Traeger settles back beside me.
“Nice shooting,” he pants.
“Duh,” I say with a grin. I feel almost high, like I’m finally doing what I’d been made to do again. “Ok, now?—”
Another round of bullets rains down but not at the mail bin. No, this time they fly into the window of the boutique just to our left, shattering the glass.
And they release a hungry horde of Bloodies not twenty feet from us.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TRAEGER
“GO!”I roar, dread coiling around my spine like an icy fist. I fire my pistol into the mass of rotting corpses spilling out of the broken storefront, some with bone showing through their ribcages, others with half-severed limbs hanging uselessly at their sides. The black blood oozes and drips from their gaping mouths, rotting teeth flashing in the sun. I shove Melody behind me. This wasn’t how this was supposed to have gone down. She wasn’t supposed to have been in danger, not like this. I know that in this world, nothing is completely safe anymore, but fuck, I really thought it would be fine. I shouldn’t have brought her, not until she was allowed to have a weapon.
But my stupid fucking need to be near her won out over logic. Melody is becoming a problem. A problem I in no way want to be rid of, but a problem all the same. She’s quickly upended everything that I’ve created and worked so hard to put into place over the last few years, and while I should be pissed about that, I’m not. I fucking love it. I crave it. I need more of it.
But now isn’t the time to be worrying about any of that. Now, we need to get the fuck out of here.
We have no choice but to leave the cover of the mail bin, and as soon as we make a break for it, the gunman on the roof rains down bullets. By some miracle, we don’t get hit—Mel was right: they are pretty shitty shots—and Landry bolts into the street and takes the guy out while he’s distracted firing at us.
“Come on!” Melody yells. I run backwards trying to keep the Bloodies back as best as I can while we retreat. I cap a couple, clean shots right through the skull, and they drop, but the flood keeps coming, trampling right over their fallen brethren like they’re nothing.
“Traeger, forget them and fucking RUN!” Mel screams. She latches a hand onto my arm and tugs, and I give in, turning to run flat out for our lives. We sprint down the street and turn, only to find another group of Bloodies coming towards us.
“Fuck!” I shift to place myself in front of Melody again, and I swear I can feel her roll her eyes from behind me. I’m not doing it because I think she’s weak or can’t defend herself, I’m doing it because…I don’t want to think about it right now.
“This way!” Landry yells, nodding down an alley between two buildings that connects to the next street over. We’re moving away from the main square, away from the rest of our people, but we have no choice. We’ll circle back as soon as we can.
“We need wheels,” I say and Melody nods in agreement.
“Looks like there’s a parking lot full of cars behind that building,” Landry says, nodding to a crumbling brick building in the distance. We just need to cross another street and a small field to get there. “Probably our best bet—” He cuts off with a yell as a shot rings out and he stumbles back into the wall. Melody and I both turn to find the shooter, but she’s faster. Two more bodies drop. I knew that she was good, butdamn. Seeing her in action is something else. It’s fucking sexy. Don’t ask me to explain.
Landry slumps against the side of the building, his left hand clamped over his right shoulder, and Mel takes up a protective position a few feet ahead of him, rifle at the ready and head on a swivel.
