Page 72 of Bound in Ashes

But as irritating as she could be, she could read people, and vapid assholes like Hayes might be so taken with her looks that they gave away more than they should.

As if sensing my thoughts, Caitlin grimaced. “I don’t know if I like being recruited as a honeypot.”

“Caitlin, you’re not a honeypot. I just want you to be another pair of eyes. Give us your impression of things.”

“You think I’m capable of that?” she said snidely.

“Caitlin, I do not now and never have doubted your intellect or your insight. Your personality, though…” I glanced in the rearview mirror and met her eyes. “You’re annoying as fuck, but since we’re trapped together here at the end of the world, maybe we could try to make the best of it.”

She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “Finally, some damn honesty.”

“Good,” Jack said from the passenger seat. “Now that we got that out of the way, let’s go over objectives again.”

I drove, and Jack was still pissed about it, but it was the right call. I knew this terrain better than he did.

“We’re here to get information,” I said, scanning the road as we passed. This road wasn’t as heavily trafficked after the government built a new four lane highway two towns over, but it was never this empty. Other than the leaves and overgrown shrubs clawing at the edge of the road, we were alone.

The jury was still out on whether that was a good thing or not.

“Be more specific,” Jack said.

I glanced at him quickly. Jack was just being his usual meticulous self. I reminded myself he wasn’t quizzing me because he thought I was dumb. This was about making sure I was ready.

“We want to find what they know, and hopefully find out anything we missed on the road,” I added.

As far as supplies went, we had food, means to grow more, ammunition, water, and a water purification system. Jack was overjoyed to see it, but it only reminded me of how swiftly—and irretrievably—the world had fallen.

But even as well-stocked as we were, that stuff would run out eventually, and we needed to know what was left of the world.

“We are close to Main Street,” I said as I eased the truck closer to town.

I passed the pharmacy that also served as the post office, a diner with boarded up windows, the town’s only bank, and the sheriff’s office.

“I’ll park here⁠—”

The screech of tires tore through the quiet. A silver sedan shot past us, barreling down Main Street at what had to be ninety miles an hour.

“Christ,” I said on a low huff as I slammed on the breaks.

“What are they doing?” Caitlin said.

“Running from something,” Jack said.

The girl driving the car couldn’t have been much older than twenty and looked panicked, her face a mask of terror, and when I glanced behind, I saw three of those things shambling behind her.

“Is that…?” Caitlin said.

“Yeah,” Jack responded.

He was already out of the truck, weapon aimed, but before he could make a move, there was another screech. The brown SUV with a sheriff’s star on the side swerved to a stop, blocking the road.

Sheriff Hayes got out of the SUV, and moved with cold, economical precision. He raised his pistol and fired two shots. Two of those things dropped like someone had flipped a switch. The third lunged at Sheriff Hayes and was met with a bullet to the right eye.

It was over in seconds.

A crowd gathered, no doubt drawn by the noise. It was probably fifty people, and it looked like they were gathered in the town’s only bar. We all watched as the sheriff stormed over to the sedan.

“You trying to get us all killed?” he bellowed to the frightened woman sitting behind the steering wheel.