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She drifted deeper, maybe swimming down below the level of those particular memories. That was something.
Benny glanced over at Morgie, who sat hunched over, whittling a stick as something to do while staying awake to stand his watch. Benny sighed, lay back, closed his eyes, and tried to fall asleep.
His mind wandered instead. Wafting like a ghost but going nowhere. Then he heard Nix moan again. It pulled him wearily back to the surface. And as he rose to wakefulness, his mind replayed that sound. That moan.
A moan.
But not Nix’s.
Benny was instantly awake, scrambling to his feet, snatching up his katana, whipping the blade from the scabbard.
“Zom!” he cried.
Even as he shouted it, there was a din of stones rattling in tin cans. Morgie leaped to his feet, knives in each hand. “Get up,” he bellowed. “Everyone get up. Zoms!”
Everyone was already in motion. Benny’s cry had snapped the spell of sleep, and they grabbed weapons and turned toward the perimeter.
Everything around them was a big white nothing. Even the massive tree trunks were ghosts lost in a sea of fog.
“Where—?” began Nix, but Benny cut her off.
“Quiet,” he snapped, and they all froze. Listening, straining to see. The cans rattled to their left, and they all pivoted in that direction. The mist itself was moving, drifting like ghosts around them. A zom had to be out there, though. Benny had heard it, and something had touched the trip wires. He sensed more than saw one of the living dead, and he pivoted silently on the balls of his feet to track something as yet unseen. Nix turned too.
“Where?” she repeated quietly.
Benny raised his sword, pointing with the silver tip.
The mist swirled and swirled.
Nothing emerged.
The rattling of the cans slowed, slowed . . . and stopped. Silence dropped over everything, and even the buzz of morning insects faded into silence.
“Is it gone?” asked Chong, his voice low and frightened.
“I think so,” said Nix.
Morgie nodded.
Lilah took a few steps forward and stopped next to Benny. They exchanged a look. She shook her head, confirming what he thought. They moved forward together, ten feet apart so as not to interfere with each other’s weapons. Crouched, stalking with maximum care, maximum readiness.
A sound stopped them in their tracks.
It was what had awakened Benny. It was a hoarse, plaintive, hungry sound. Not a moan, though. Not exactly. This was different. It didn’t sound like anything Benny had ever heard before. Almost a grunt, but with the same need to satisfy the undying, unbearable hunger.
“What is that?” asked Morgie.
“Shut up,” said Lilah. “Listen.”
They listened.
Another grunt, and this time there was a crunching sound. A heavy foot on fallen twigs. It sounded somehow sneaky. Careful. Benny felt his blood turn to ice. God, was there an R2 or R3 out there? Smarter than other zoms, stalking them? Being careful? Maybe even stepping over one of the lines of strung cans?
“It’s coming,” he said, and again Lilah nodded. She had her spear in a two-handed grip, ready to fight. A faint creak behind him told Benny that Chong had nocked an arrow and pulled back on the string. A rubbery creak suggested that Riot had pulled tension on her slingshot. Everyone was ready for whatever was out there.
He hoped.
The grunt again.
