Page 96 of After the Burn

“I’ll get her,” Lucas said, already crossing the living room toward the hallway while I killed the flame beneath the coffee pot almost out of habit.

Another volley erupted outside.

Closer this time.

Then came the shouting.

Fear.

Raw.

Urgent.

“They’re through!” The word carried clearly through the open kitchen window.

Max exploded into a deep, furious bark from somewhere near the front door, every hair along his back standing on end.

I exchanged one look with Beck, and neither of us spoke.

We didn’t need to.

Whatever had happened…It was bad enough that the settlement had forgotten the first rule we’d all learned after the meteors fell.

Gunfire drew the infected.

One or two occasional shots didn’t matter, with people managing the few stumbling outside the gate. But a horde would be almost impossible to handle.

And someone out there had just fired enough rounds to wake every monster within miles.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

TARYN

Iwas still a little dazed after Lucas woke me so abruptly. “Now, Taryn. We’ve got to go!”

He yanked me up and chucked my clothes right at me, which were on a chair in the corner.

I frantically pulled my shirt over my head, then dragged on my pants. “What the hell is going on? And why are you here?”

“Shots are being fired.” He threw my boots at me, ignoring my second question. “If the infected aren’t already inside the fence, they will be soon.”

He was right.

The infected stayed close, drawn by the sounds from inside the fence. Generators, voices, children playing. These were normal in a world past, but now they were dangerous. Adding gunfire to the mix would draw a horde we couldn't hold off.

Fence or no fence.

I grabbed my go-bag and gripped GG. “I’m ready.”

As soon as we walked into the living room, Beck opened the front door.

Max exploded through, barking so hard his whole body shook.

“Ruhe!” Beck snapped at him, and Max immediately fell silent.

“I can hear them inside the fence. We have to get the hell out of here.”

Lucas grabbed his rifle even as Adrian caught my hand. “Stay between us.”