After wriggling deeper into the curve of his body, she searched for an honest answer.
“I think of them standing in a sunless underground compound, watching a television,” Edie finally whispered, gathering her words in small handfuls. “Groomed to kill and be killed from their first breath. Disposable. Unloved.”
He made a sort of humming sound. Acknowledgment of what she’d said and encouragement to continue speaking.
“It hurts my heart, Max.” Her breath hitched, and his arms closed more tightly around her. “But whatever they used to be in that moment…it’s gone. Starla told us as much. They have no conscience. No drive except hunger. They murdered my parents,they would gladly kill everyone in this house and on this continent, and they won’t stop until they’re dead.”
“True,” he said neutrally.
“I’d be figuring out ways to capture them alive so scientists could fix whatever went wrong in them, but I read the documents you sent me.” When she shook her head, her hair rubbed against the couch cushion serving as her pillow. “The government already tried all that. The few zombies they managed to lure outside the compound and whisk away to yet another secret underground laboratory failed to respond to any known or experimental treatment. Whatever snapped in them…”
He kissed the top of her head. “It stayed broken.”
“Yes. And without fail, scientists and researchers died in the process of reaching that conclusion.” Restlessly, she picked at the seam of the cushion. “We both know the government has no interest in the creatures as sentient beings. At best, they’d become cannon fodder. Weapons to use against anyone deemed too dangerous to live. At worst…”
His hand came to rest atop hers, stilling her anxious fidgeting, and he interlaced their fingers. “At worst?”
She skimmed her thumb over his. “At worst, we’d find ourselves in the exact same place we are now. Hunkering down in our homes with mindless, bloodthirsty zombies on the loose, wondering how far they’ll get and how many they’ll slaughter before they’re stopped again.Ifthey’re stopped again.”
She wished they had more privacy. Whenever they lay skin to skin, their barriers of clothing tossed aside, the coolness of his embrace calmed her agitated thoughts.
As did the very enjoyable orgasms he gave her while naked. Alas.
She sighed. “So…to answer your original question, I’m not exactly thrilled to kill creatures who haven’t tried to kill us first, but I don’t see another livable choice.”
“If tomorrow’s encounter devolves into a physical battle, don’t wait for them to attack before you do.” His biceps bunched beneath her neck, steely with tension. “You can’t hesitate, my Edie. If you hesitate, you’re lost. And I am too.”
“I understand.” Ducking her head, she rubbed her cheek against that bulge of flexed muscle. “Is that something you’ll have to remember too? Are you worried you’ll hesitate to kill them without immediate provocation?”
Silence.
Then his hands curled into fists, and his cold, quiet words emerged in neat lines, like ice blocks chopped from a glacial lake.
“They took your parents from you. You had to listen to your family die.” The statements radiated so much chilly menace she actually shivered. “Almost every inch of your fragile body is bruised. You nearly drowned. You became hypothermic. Your ankle is injured.”
Now that he mentioned it, she probably should have popped some ibuprofen in preparation for tomorrow’s exertions. Running for her life would have been easier in her twenties, that was for certain.
“They’ve stalked you in my presence. Treated you like common prey. Savored the anticipation of your death.” The subarctic precision of his voice raised goose bumps on her arms. “If they could, they’d rip out your throat and snatch you from me.”
She winced, but he wasn’t quite done.
“I intend to scour them from this earth,” he said calmly.
It was a simple declaration of fact, so cold and emotionless itsounded dead. The verbal equivalent of absolute zero, and she hoped never to hear its like again.
For a while, they continued cuddling in renewed silence.
She cleared her throat. “I’ll take that as a no.”
“That was a no,” he confirmed.
24
Edie couldn’t decide which of Max’s hands she appreciated more: the one idly playing with her clit or the one clamped over her mouth, stifling her moans as he fucked her slowly from behind.
On the one hand—ha-ha—this predawn rendezvous only remained private because of their absolute silence. They’d crept out of the living room and down the hall without waking a single Girl Explorer or restless troll. They’d shut and locked the bathroom door behind them without even a single incriminating click or creak. He’d bent her over the vanity and slid inside her, and she’d bit her lip against the gorgeous stretch without so much as a whimper. At a certain point in the proceedings, though, her own efforts hadn’t been sufficient, and he’d offered to help muffle the desperate sounds vibrating in her throat.
In short, his left hand was doing good, necessary work.
