Page 98 of Grave Danger

“Really?” Demmy said. “Killed?”

Agatha stood outside the door, bent over to look in at them. Her eyes were wide, and her knuckles tight as she gripped the top of the door frame. “I guess so? It’s a little old woman with an updo.”

Cody nodded. “Yep, sounds like her. What the hell is she doing back there?”

Demmy pushed up to his knees and looked over the seat as the others climbed into the car. “She’s just lying there, wedged in the footwell of the backseat. Is she dead?”

“She’s got a pulse, but it’s weak,” Sam said. “She smells like a whiskey refinery, though. Who the hell is she?”

“Crazy relative of the town crazy lady, who apparently was the one who drove the car into the fence,” Cody muttered. “Even undead, she managed to drive her car out here. What the actual hell?” He shook his head. No time to dwell on that now. “You able to move her?”

“Nowhere to put her with all of us in here,” Sam said.

“How about the trunk?” Ollie suggested in a dry voice. He and Dave had climbed into the backseat behind Demmy, and Cody figured Dave had elbowed him because Ollie said, “What? It was a serious suggestion.”

“Best to leave her be for now,” Sam said. “We can put our feet around her or keep them up in the seats.”

“Don’t wreck the upholstery in my car, dammit,” Cody said.

“Your car?” Sam and Dr. Willoughby said together.

“Long story. Anyway, I can’t drive the car with the seat so far up.”

Agatha slammed the back door once Sam had Dr. Willoughby situated, then she slid behind the wheel and pulled the driver’s door shut. She turned the key that still hung in the ignition, and the engine rumbled to life. “Everybody in?”

A chorus of “Yeah,” responses came back.

“Buckle up, babies. We’re going to drive hard and fast.”

Agatha pulled the gear shift down into reverse. Fencing scraped along the sides as she backed out. Cody winced, and Demmy gave his thigh a comforting squeeze.

“Sorry about that,” Agatha said, making a face.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about the car. Get us there in one piece.”

Agatha smirked. “Hey, it’s me.”

GRUNT labs had been built off a series of dirt trails in the backwoods rural property between Parson’s Hollow and Harriettville. When Agatha shifted into drive and hit the gas, the tires spun in the dirt of the trail for a couple of heart-stopping moments before they found purchase and the car jumped forward. With deft movements, Agatha turned the wheel and narrowly avoided sideswiping a tree. Everyone cried out, and Cody thought he even have heard Dottie make some kind of sound, but it might have just been a fart.

“Okay, Fast and Furious,” Cody said. “You’ve proved your point. Ease up.”

“Gotta get there fast,” Agatha said, her foot on the gas as she navigated the snaky curves of the trail. “Don’t tell me how to drive.”

“Not telling you how to drive,” Cody said. “I’m telling you how to slow the hell down and avoid killing us all.”

A zombie teetered out of the trees and onto the trail.

“Look out!” Cody and Demmy shouted at the same time.

Agatha hit the tuxedo wearing man full speed and sent him tumbling over the roof to land in the dust somewhere behind them.

“What the hell?” Cody said. “Don’t kill us trying to get there.”

“Are we dead?” Agatha snapped without taking her eyes off the road.

Cody made an exasperated sound, then braced himself with a hand on the edge of the seat as Agatha took a bend more than a little too fast. He looked at Demmy, not surprised to see him wide-eyed and pale, seatbelt tight across his lap and chest.

“Is this how you feel when I drive?” Cody said.