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Chapter one
The bullet sailed flawlessly, piercing through his skull.
Saff watched as the zombie's body lost all tension and crumpled down onto the asphalt.
Twelve for twelve.
“Woo.” Mike let out a whistle that scraped against her nerves like a dull knife. “Check that out,” he said with a deep chuckle. “Blew half his head off.”
She pulled her eye back from the scope of the rifle and rolled her shoulders, stretching her neck from side to side as the light crack of bones echoed down her spine. Shifting farther away from her father’s old friend, she scanned the surrounding rooftop, then peered back down to the street below.
“God, this is boring,” Mike grumbled, standing from where he’d been crouched beside her for the last twenty minutes.
Saff glanced over at him, careful to keep a neutral expression. She knew him well enough to know that if she could delay just a little longer, he’d likely get bored and want to move on without her. Then she could move forward with the plan she’d had since her father’s death.
The plan to finally escape.
Even so, she couldn't leave without one more thing.
Her eyes flitted down to the large black duffel bag on the ground behind Mike’s feet. The last inhaler she had was already half empty, but she knew for a fact there were more in there.
She could make it a little while with what she had, but that wouldn’t last long. She needed to get their medical supplies. And then, if she could sneak away from Mike and the rest of the group, she’d be able to make it to her father’s old bunker, which she was sure had a stash of medication. Although even that was a gamble. After the outbreak, he’d never once mentioned the bunker to her. And the last time she’d been there with him was when she was a young child.
For all she knew, it could’ve been long gone.
But still, if there was one thing she knew about her father, it was that he’d never let himself get caught unprepared—medically or otherwise. Which meant there was a good chance that the bunker, if it was still there, had the medication she’d need when the time came.
Although, that was also a big if.
She’d never asked him why he hadn’t gone to the bunker after the outbreak—why he’d chosen to band together with his old military friends instead. That just wasn’t how they were. Even after traveling together for nearly a year after everything happened, they only occasionally shared a handful of words, and those words were never particularly pleasant.
“Ben, what’s your status? Over.”
Saff glanced up at Mike, standing with one hand on his hip and the other holding the radio up to his mouth.
He waited a moment before Ben’s thick southern accent crackled through. “Just met back up with Dan and Ethan. We’re moving to the North end of the city. Dan thought he heard some gunfire from that direction. Over.”
There we go.
A small smile spread across Mike’s face, and she knew there was no way he’d resist trying to raid any group of people in the city. In fact, she was almost positive he enjoyed life more after the apocalypse, when he could raid, kill, and steal anything he wanted.
“Hell yeah,” he muttered to himself before clicking the button on the radio. “Where are you now? Over.”
The radio crackled once more before Ben’s voice came through. “Corner of East Crane and Broadway. Over.”
Her heart rate ticked up in long awaited anticipation. They’d gone even farther than she’d hoped. If they continued, and she could get rid of Mike, then she’d be able to get plenty far away before they’d even think to go looking for her.
“Got it,” Mike replied. “I’m leaving now. Gonna catch up with you guys. Over and out.”
He clipped the radio back onto his cargo pants as she peered back through the rifle scope, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. “Finish clearing the zombies, then grab whatever you can from the pharmacy.”
Saff barely refrained from rolling her eyes at his need to give her the obvious instructions, as if he was still a sergeant spitting out useless orders.
He reached down, grabbing his camouflaged backpack off the gravel floor of the rooftop they were on. “Radio us when you’re done and we’ll meet up somewhere at the North end.”
She nodded, already knowing exactly what she’d do—and it definitely wasn’t that.
He bent down, hoisting up the duffel bag, his shoulder sagging beneath its weight.
