Page 99 of Grave Danger

“Not quite,” he said, smiling. “But close.” He shouted a warning and Cody heard the thump and felt the bounce as Agatha ran over another zombie.

The trail came out on Route 125, a long stretch of two-lane blacktop running between farmlands and parallel to Route 118 which connected Parson’s Hollow and Harriettville. Agatha barely slowed as she skidded out onto the road, and she definitely didn’t look for oncoming traffic. Cody pressed his lips together and held on, trying to will his heart to slow down.

A number of narrow asphalt roads connected Routes 118 and 125, and Cody tried to think of the one that would take them closest to the hospital. Agatha was headed back toward Parson’s Hollow, and they would need to cut over to 118 soon.

“You’ll want to take a right coming up,” Demmy said. “It should connect to 118 almost right at the hospital.”

“Got it,” Agatha said.

To be fair, Cody had to admit she was doing a good job. And she held the wheel tight at ten and two positions.

Two zombies lurched out into the road, and Agatha swerved around them. The back tires skidded across the gravel shoulder, and for a moment Cody thought she was going to lose it and send them tumbling out into a field of soybeans. But Agatha kept the car on the road and sped off, leaving the zombies in a cloud of dust and exhaust.

“Holy hell,” Ollie gasped. “I think I left five years of my life back there.”

“That’s okay, they’ll keep the five I left company,” Sam said.

“Tell me where to turn,” Agatha said. “These farm roads sneak up on you.”

“It’s coming up,” Demmy said. “It’s called Knutson’s Way or something like that.”

“How do you know the names of these crazy roads?” Ollie said.

“Growing up here, all we had to do for entertainment was drive around,” Dave said. “We all know the names of these little roads and which are the fastest shortcuts to different parts of town and have the best places to park and make out.”

“Oh, really?” Ollie said, sounding interested and causing Cody to screw up his face with distaste at the mental images that came with it.

“It should be coming up soon.” Demmy leaned forward, one hand on the dash and the other still on Cody’s thigh. “You might want to slow down.”

“Don’t tell me how to drive, and I won’t tell you how to navigate,” Agatha said through clenched teeth.

“Feedback noted,” Demmy said.

“And it was said with love,” Agatha added.

“Always,” Demmy said with a smile. “Okay, it’s this road coming up.”

“Nut son?” Ollie said with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” Demmy said. “But it’s spelled K-N-U-T.”

“That makes no…” Ollie’s words dissolved into a loud scream as Agatha hit the brake and turned the wheel, skidding into a turn that launched them along the pothole strewn stretch of Knutson’s Way. The shocks absorbed much of the rough ride, but not all of it. They were jostled and bounced around. A couple of times Cody’s head hit the roof.

Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, he saw half a dozen zombies stumbling single file up the middle of the road.

“Oh,“ he said.

“Fuck,” Demmy finished for him.

“Hold on!” Agatha shouted.

She moved to the extremely narrow shoulder, keeping her foot on the gas and her eyes straight ahead. The zombies turned toward the car as she sped past, clipping two of them with the side mirror that, miraculously, remained intact. When she’d left the zombies behind, Agatha powered down her window and calmly adjusted the side mirror before raising the window again.

“How far?” she asked.

“Um.” Demmy blinked rapidly, and Cody could practically hear his brain trying to kick back into gear.

“It’s not far,” Cody said. “Maybe a mile.”