“I want to be a good neighbor. A good human.” When she laid a hand on his forearm, it felt like stone beneath her fingertips. “Look, you don’t have to do this, Max. I’ve already said that a million times.”
His eyes slipped shut, and he exhaled after a moment, his muscles slowly relaxing under her touch. “What is that foul concoction you’re ingesting, anyway?”
“Taco in a Can. ‘The world’s first and best nonperishable processed taco product,’ it says here.” The label didn’t offer much more information, other than a long list of ingredients she couldn’t pronounce. Letting go of his arm, she spooned up another bite, chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed. “Honestly? It’s not terrible.”
“Hopefully the world’sonlynonperishable processed taco product,” he muttered, opening his eyes.
“It mostly tastes like refried beans and preservatives.” She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve had worse.”
“What else did you squirrel away in here?” Without permission, he began riffling through the contents of her duffel bag. “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Falafel? What the fuck is that?”
“Not falafel.” She pointed at him with her spoon. “I know that much.”
“Pizza Jerky? I can’t evenbeginto…” He brought the plastic wrapper closer to read the slogan. “ ‘The party never stops with Pizza Jerky.’ Dear gods.”
“Grab me another pomegranate-lime juice box, would you?” When he tossed one her way, she caught it and checked the package. “Hey, look at that. It’s one hundred percent juice, Judgy McJudgythong. Also, pomegranate’s a superfood. Or superdrink. Whatever.”
His fingernails scratched against his chin. “What, precisely, is a superfood?”
She couldn’t resist. “Food that tastes super.”
He groaned loudly enough that any nearby zombies were probably sprinting in their direction.
“Anyway, enough about my amazing collection of emergency foodstuffs. Let’s talk about what happens next.” At the thought of proceeding without him, approximately fourteen ounces of processed taco product had become a leaden lump in her stomach, but she made her voice breezy, her question casual and unconcerned. “Are you coming with me, or are you taking me back to my car?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Coming with you.”
Her incipient nausea eased, and a glow of warmth and relief spread like sunshine through her veins. Also a hot prickle of guilt, because he’d have stayed safe in his home, and he wouldn’t have left that home if she hadn’t insisted on going. But he was a grown man—grown vampire, rather—and she wasn’t precisely holding him at gunpoint, so she shook off her guilt and began planning.
“All right.” She drummed her fingers against the side of her can. “I see at least two potential problems directly ahead of us. First, since we don’t know why the drawbridge is down, it could theoretically also go up at any time. If we were far enough along when that happened…it wouldn’t be good.”
The mechanism rose swiftly. Too swiftly for them to save themselves. The thought of trying to escape the SUV as it crashed into the water and sank into the moat’s dark depths chilled her to the marrow. Alternatively, she supposed the vehicle could get flipped violently backward onto the roadway again, which was…not a great option either.
“The drawbridge is also very exposed to attack. I assume that’s your second concern.”
She nodded. “It’s a bottleneck.”
“But since abandoning the SUV and most of our supplies to swim across the moat isn’t a good option, we don’t have much of a choice but to cross the bridge.”
He didn’t sound frightened or even especially tense about it. Just resigned.
“Agreed. Let me finish my snack, and then we’ll take our chances.” After scraping out the last bite from the bottom of her can, she waved it in front of Max. “Where do you want me to put this? And please know any response similar towhere the sun don’t shinewill be met with extreme prejudice.”
“I would never,” he said loftily. “Here.”
Taking the can gingerly between two fingers, as if it were a soiled diaper, he tossed it onto the floor of the back seat.
“You’re getting processed taco product on your mat,” she pointed out, tucking her spoon back into her duffel and placing her empty juice box on the floor beside the can. “Doesn’t that freak you out?”
“The seats and mats will already require cleaning, given the current status of our clothing and shoes.”
“Ah.” Now that she was paying attention, she spotted thebloodstains. Whoops. “Since your car’s already messy, does that mean I can wipe my mouth on your leather seats?”
He ignored her, his expression turning hard with purpose. “Is your seat belt low and tight across your lap?”
She tugged it a bit tighter. “Now it is.”
Without another word, he put the SUV in gear and zipped out from between the dumpsters, then turned smoothly back onto the main access road. As they approached the security station, with its passcard reader and cameras and designated stopping point, his foot only pressed harder on the accelerator.
