Page 20 of Grave Danger

Cody screwed up his face as he tried to work all that out. He finally gave up and said, “For fuck’s sake, Ollie, stop fucking around and tell me what you’re doing out here. It’s the least you can do since you’re fucking my brother, and a month ago you managed to get him and Demmy possessed by a fucking ghost that nearly killed you and me both at that shit heap of a motel.”

“Oh my, someone’s cranky today,” Ollie said, then made a face. “Well, crankier than usual.”

“Ollie…”

“All right, all right. Fine.” Ollie took another step closer, looked around as if he expected to find someone eavesdropping on them out there in the woods, then took a breath. Before he could say anything, however, his eyes widened in surprise and he shouted, “Look out!”

The years of dealing with crazy shit had done one good thing for Cody: improved his reaction times. He ducked his head and took a big step forward, simultaneously twisting around to look behind him.

He’d half-expected to see the mayor coming after him, arms extended, dirty fingers curled into claws. It wasn’t the mayor that lumbered toward him, but a woman. She was older, in her eighties at least, and her cloudy eyes and vacant expression sent a shiver through Cody. Sticks and leaves had tangled in the soft white cloud of her hair, and a thick, dark streak of gore stained her chin and the front of her navy blue dress. Her liver-spotted hands were, however, extended toward Cody, fingers crooked with arthritis as she reached for him.

If the sight of her was bad, the sound was even worse. She moaned and grunted as she staggered toward him, gnashing her teeth and tightening her fingers to try and grab hold of him.

“What the fuck?” Cody said, dancing back out of her reach.

“Ow, fuck!”

Cody dodged around a tree and looked over to see Ollie lying on his back, legs hooked over a fallen tree he had apparently backed into. Ollie stared up at the leafy canopy overhead, seeming to have been stunned by his fall.

The woman turned at Ollie’s exclamation and shifted her focus to him. Her moans got louder as she tromped toward him. Ollie moaned and rolled his head side to side on the leaves.

“Oh, fuck no,” Cody said. “Not today, you zombie bitty.”

He came out from behind the tree and held his arm up and out from his chest, the way his coach had taught him when he’d been a linebacker in high school. Putting the thought that this was an elderly woman out of his mind, Cody bent slightly at the waist and rushed her. His forearm made contact with her side and knocked her off her feet and out of her blocky black shoes. As she tumbled into the leaves and undergrowth, she left behind a strong lilac odor tainted by the smell of damp earth and rot that made him gag.

“What the hell was that?” Ollie sat up and braced himself with his arms behind him, staring wide-eyed at Cody. “Was she… Is she…?”

Cody extended a hand. “She’s getting up. Less talking and more moving.”

Once Ollie was on his feet, they paused to watch the old woman struggle to her hands and knees. She reached out to place her hand against a tree to help her get back on her feet, all the while staring right at them and gnashing her teeth.

“She’s determined,” Ollie muttered. “And is it weird I feel bad for not helping her up?”

“Be my guest.” Cody turned toward the road. “While you work on your Boy Scout badge, I’ll be driving the fuck away from here.”

Cody heard Ollie mutter, “Asshole,” under his breath followed by the sound of his steps through the leaves and underbrush as he fell in line behind him.

The sound of the old woman’s struggles to get to her feet faded, and they reached the truck soon after. Once inside the cab, Ollie hit the power lock button and looked over at Cody.

“She’s a zombie, right?”

Cody started the engine and pulled out onto the road. “I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t deny it.”

“Damn journalists,” Cody muttered. “Playing your word games.”

“So, we’ve had werewolves and now we’re getting zombies?”

“Seems that way. I guess we’re leveling up or something.”

Ollie pulled out his phone and started tapping out a message.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m texting Dave. This is fucking crazy. How the hell did this happen?” His fingers stopped, hovering over the glass of his phone, and he looked up at Cody. “Wait, if she’s a zombie, she could bite someone or even a bunch of people and turn them, and then we’ll have an even worse problem. We can’t just leave her out there. Does Lucia know about this?”

Cody grimaced. “She knows.”