“Let’s check it out.” Ben drew the knife from his belt and held it at the ready. “From here on out, no guns unless it’s unavoidable.”
I nodded in agreement. These things were like animals. I just hoped their senses weren’t as sharp.
Lucas led us behind the counter through a door into a short hallway. There were two doors on each side and one at the end.
Ben and I opened the doors lining the hall. The first led to a bathroom, and the other was just a closet filled with cleaning supplies.
“Here,” Lucas said with his hand on the knob of the final door.
“Wait—,” Ben started, but it was too late. Lucas had already opened the door.
There was a man in a white coat, slumped against the wall opposite the door.
At first, I thought he was dead. Then his head lifted.
A gray film covered his eyes.
“Shit,” Lucas froze.
The infected lurched forward.
Lucas jerked back instinctively, the flashlight beam jumping wildly across the room. Ben moved just before I did, at the exact moment the infected lunged.
Ben swung his knife but missed the head, striking the shoulder instead. The body staggered sideways but didn’t fall. Ben stepped forward and swung again, narrowly avoiding the teeth snapping inches from his arm. The second strike drove the knife between those dead eyes, and the infected collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut. Ben bent down, pulled his knife free, then stabbed it several more times.
Lucas exhaled slowly. “Remind me not to piss you off.”
“Too late.” Ben stood, wiping the blood from his knife on his pant leg. “I’m not saving your ass next time you do something so stupid.”
I stepped over the dead body and grabbed the handle of the back door. The metal felt cold and slightly sticky under my hand.
I turned the deadbolt and gently pushed the door.
It moved an inch and stopped.
I frowned and pushed harder.
The hinges groaned, but the door refused to open more than a narrow crack.
Lucas shifted beside me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not sure. It must be blocked by something.” I murmured as I peered through the crack.
Was that a car? What the hell?
“There’s a car rammed against it.” I leaned back, frustrated by yet another roadblock between me and getting to Taryn.
Lucas swore under his breath. “Why in the hell would someone ram this door?”
“As Einstein once observed, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” I pushed again, and the other two men joined me, but it still wouldn’t budge.
I knew it was hopeless because even if we managed to force the door open wider, there wouldn’t be enough space to squeeze through. Which meant the obvious exit was no longer available.
“This isn’t going to work,” I murmured quietly.
I had no clue how we would get out of here, but I heard a clock ticking in my mind, counting down. My instincts told me that time was running out for Taryn.
I wanted to let my temper loose, but that wouldn’t accomplish anything except give me a little relief.
