Page 50 of Worth the Ruin
“Get some,” Wynn says, holding out his fist towards me. I grin and bump my fist to his. I can’t deny that I’m excited. I need some action to take my mind off of everything else.
“Laissez les bons temps rouler, baby.”
We makeit most of the day without much incident. A few Bloodies inside some of the houses, but overall nothing too crazy. Without even really looking too deeply, I know that we’ll get tons of great stuff from these houses, and, Traeger assures me without me asking, it will be spread equally throughout the settlements.
The properties here are good size, the houses a little more spread out than we originally thought, so we have to hike a good bit between some of them. I hate hiking. Running is fine, but traversing through mud and downed trees and overgrowth like a fucking frontiersman is not my idea of fun.
The three groups that are working this side of the island take a break. The mud and slippery terrain is making it hard for everyone, so we can all use some water and rest. We find a a spot where the trees are a bit thinner, not quite a full clearing, but only smaller trees dotting the landscape. It honestly looks a little creepy with the thin layer of fog hanging around because of all the rain and I rub the back of my neck at the prickling of unease that skitters up my spine. I don’t like not being able to see clearly around us.
Wynn holds out his canteen and I take it gratefully, not wanting to dig through my own pack to find mine. I take a long sip and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand before holding it back out. I jut my chin to the edge of the trees.
“How far you think that drop is?”
This part of the island is elevated above the water and an inlet from the lake runs between two small-ish…I guess cliffs is about the closest thing to a right term for them, though it feels like a gross exaggeration.
“Sixty feet at least probably,” Wynn says following my gaze. I nod and he takes another drink. “This is gonna be a huge haul when it’s all said and don—” He breaks off when screams ring out. I spring up from my perch on a half-rotten log, muscles tense and ready. I grab my gun, just as everyone around me does the same. The only good thing that’s happened since Jonah is that my probationary period was lifted and now I can have weapons.
“Horde!” someone yells and then a group of Bloodies seems to materialize from the trees, as if they’d appeared out of thin air. They look creepy as absolute fuck lurching out of the fog and my heart thunders in my chest.
“What the fuck?!” I yell, catching Traeger’s eyes across the small space. Shots begin to ring out as everyone starts fighting for their lives. The Bloodies keep coming and coming. Ten, twenty, maybe more. How had a group this big crept up on us so quickly? Whoever had been scouting ahead must have been slacking…or they got taken out before they knew what hit them.Shit, shit, shit.
I start taking them out as fast as I can, but we’re in relatively close quarters and I don’t want to risk hitting any of our own people. I grit my teeth in frustration and sling my rifle over my back, reaching for one of the many blades I have within easy reach instead. Knives are riskier since I have to get closer to the Bloodies to make the kill, but they’re safer for everyone else in the long run. I stab and slice and duck and spin, my knife and body coated in thick, sludgy blood soon enough.
“Melody!” Traeger bellows my name as I bolt forward to take out a Bloody who has Martin pinned, barely keeping the thing’s snapping jaws from his throat. I sink the blade into the Bloody’s temple and it goes limp. I help shove it off of Martin and yank him upward, nodding before sprinting for the next one, then the next. A blood-curdling scream rings out to my left and I whipmy head that direction only to see a Bloody tearing out Amber’s throat. Her scream cuts off in a low, wet gurgle, and blood pours down her chest. The Bloody follows her body down as it slumps to the ground, feasting. Another joins and I grimace as the stomach-churning sounds of wet flesh being torn apart. I grit my teeth but force myself to move on: there’s no help for her now. I can only hope that they finish the job enough that she doesn’t rise again.
I keep an eye on Wynn and Traeger as I fight, needing them to be alright. As complicated as my feelings are for Traeger, I don’t want to think about him being hurt or worse. I refuse to think about it or think about what that means, so instead, I take out my frustrations on the undead all around me. God, there are so fucking many of them. I scream through gritted teeth as one gets so close that I can see the bits of rotting flesh hanging from his gaping jaw—singular I suppose, since the entire bottom half of it is missing. He forces the full weight of his desperate body on me and I nearly topple backward. My boots slip in the mud, but even as we slide backwards, I keep my arms against the Bloody’s chest, pushing back against it with all my strength. He may not be able to chomp down with only half a face, but if he gets his top teeth into me at all, I’m done for.
I scream again and shift my weight, spinning and following the Bloody down as his momentum takes him to the ground. I slam my knife into his skull and he stops struggling. I roll off of him, breathing hard, but only allow myself a heartbeat to lie there before springing up to find my next target.
Traeger somehow ended up on the edge of the clearing, near the drop off and three Bloodies are gunning for him. My heart clenches, panic taking hold and strangling me. I fight my way to him, desperate to get there in time, but by the time I do, he’s already taken all three of them out. He turns towards me and arches a brow, asking if I’m alright. I nod before I freeze, icycold fear skittering up my spine as I look just over his shoulder. Another Bloody lurches towards him, faster than the others. It must have fed on one of our people already, the boost of fresh blood making it stronger, faster, more volatile and frenzied. Traeger won’t have time to turn and get his gun up. The thing is already almost on him.
No.
Without thinking, I raise my arm, blade in hand. Traeger’s eyes go wide, actual fear and confusion and a bit of hurt flashing in the green depths. I let the knife fly and he barely has time to flinch before the blade sinks into the Bloody’s eye, mere feet behind him. He whirls just as the body slumps to the ground, and stares dumbfounded for a second. I close the distance between us and yanked my knife free, wiping the blade on the Bloody’s shirt. I glance around and see that most of them have been handled. I try not to look too closely at the bodies of our own littering the ground among the monsters. Wynn is still standing and uninjured from what I can tell, so the fear clenching my heart eases up a fraction.
“Holy shit,” Traeger breathes as I straighten. “How…” He cuts off as the ground beneath us shifts. He grabs me, and I meet his gaze for a heartbeat before everything gives way and we tumble down the embankment.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
TRAEGER
Mel screamsas we fall and my heart ends up in my throat. We both try to grab onto anything to slow our descent, desperately scraping and clawing at the earth, but there’s nothing but mud and wet leaves. I hold onto her arm, refusing to let go of her. The whole thing only takes seconds, I know, but it feels like an eternity. Rocks and twigs scrap against my hands and face, but I barely notice. We finally hit the bottom with jarring force, and I lose my grip on Melody. She screams again as she lurches sideways, and we both tumble and roll across the small sandy bank in opposite directions.
“Melody!” I yell, scrambling through the damp sand towards her. “Melody, are you ok?” I reach down to help her up, but her leg nearly gives out and she cries out in pain, quickly clamping her lips together to stop the sound. I keep her upright, but she keeps weight off of her right foot.
“My ankle,” she gasps. “Might be broken, not sure.”
“Mel! Traeger!” Landry calls from above us. He holds onto a tree, probably worried about another landslide, and leans out over the edge as far as he can.
“We’re ok!” Mel calls. “Be careful at the edge! Looks like more could give way any second.”
“Yeahhh,” he says, eyeing the ground warily. “We’ll find a safe way down, just sit tight for a bit.”
I hear the unmistakable groans then and whip my head to our left.Fuck.
“We don’t have a bit,” I say, trying to keep my voice even. Mel follows my gaze and curses. A whole group of Bloodies is coming around the curve of the bank right for us. This whole fucking area is apparently infested. I shift Melody so we can head the opposite directly, only to find another group closing in from that direction.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Mel groans.
