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He scoffs. “Quit being daft. If you charge in there, the Anarki will kill you.”
“Why the hell do you care?”
Shock rolls his eyes. “Here, hold this.”
Reflexively, I grab the item he thrusts at me as he stalks toward the battle. I look down at the smallish square thing in my hands. Red. Leather bound.
The Doomsday Diary?
“Is this…”
But Shock is already gone, shoulders deep in the melee. Doing what? And why did he give me the book?
Caden empties bullets into the Anarki like a pro. The others, less versed in human combat, are fighting for their lives.
I tuck the book into the waistband of my pants and maneuver toward Bram, who’s trying to crawl to the edge of the tunnel with Marrok clutched against him. The Anarki claw him back.
I don’t know much about fighting, but I played a little soccer in school. I have a mean kick. And I have to do something.
The undead soldier camped on Bram’s back has beaten him brutally. The wizard’s gorgeous face is swollen. Blood drips from his nose and mouth, matting his hair and staining his shirt.
Still, he refuses to leave Marrok behind.
I kick the zombie. Its decomposing body’s head snaps back, then tumbles off. Black goo spews.
Grimacing, I fight the urge to retch. Instead, I lock my fingers together and, with a battle cry, swing my fists like a baseball bat into the ribs of another Anarki attacking Bram. The undead’s torso collapses.
“Get yourself somewhere safe!” Bram shouts.
“You and Marrok get somewhere safe. Please don’t let anything happen to him. I’m fine.”
I charge into the battle as Caden flattens another four Anarki with bullets. I sidle closer to him, grab one of the blades strapped to his thigh, and plunge it into the undead soldier headed for me. It crumples to the ground.
“Damn it!” Caden swears, shaking the gun.
He’s out of bullets. Very bad news. Anarki still swarm everywhere, and we need all the firepower we can muster.
At least I don’t see Mathias up and fighting. Yet.
Caden tucks the gun away. “Give me the knife.”
“Don’t you have another?” I ask as a fresh wave of zombies closes in on us.
“Fucking Shock swiped it.”
Just like a traitor.
Suddenly, the lights flicker, then cut out entirely. Eerie silence falls over the darkened tunnel. Someone grabs me from behind. He stops my scream with a big palm over my mouth. Instantly, I know it isn’t Anarki.
“Be still.”
The whisper in my ear makes me shudder. Shock. He tried to capture me for Mathias’s personal use earlier. What else could he be doing now, in the heat of battle, except trying again?
I stomp down on his instep. He spews a vile curse in my ear, hopping away.
Someone snaps then. I blink against the sudden lights illuminating the tunnel once more and whirl to find bodies of the Anarki zombies littering the charred tunnel, oozing black slime. To my stunned surprise, Shock and all the Anarki who didn’t fall at the Doomsday Brethren’s hands are gone.
So is Mathias.
