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I stopped and kept my face contorted in pretend pain, but a gauze bandage on his right forearm drew my attention. That was my bite under there.
“You fucked everything up, you know-it-all bitch.” Anger swept over Judd’s face. “You just had to poke your fucking nose where it didn’t belong.” He steadied the rifle, and my pulse jumped.
“You’ll turn zombie a lot faster if you kill me!” I blurted.
“The fuck you talking about?” he demanded, but his tongue darted out to lick dry lips. The seed was already there. I just needed to give it plenty of manure.
“The bite. The zombie virus creates a psychic connection with the one who turned you.” I couldn’t bring myself to call him my zombie baby. Ugh. I tried to ease forward but the twitch of his rifle stopped me. “Even now, you’re probably able to pick up some of my thoughts, such as the number I’m thinking of right now.”
His eyes narrowed. “Seventeen?”
“On the nose,” I said, adding a sprinkle of awe.
A tremble went through him. “I’m not that stupid, you freak. It’s been twenty-four hours, and I’m not sick or turned into a zombie.” His throat worked, and a sheen of sweat covered his forehead.
“Exactly. It’s not too late to stop the virus and keep you human.” I tried to give him a motherly smile. “I can get you the antidote. But, if you kill me, our connection will snap back like a rubber band, and POW, you’re as full a zombie as I am right now.”
“Shut up!” he screamed, spittle flying. “I’m not a zombie, you fucking monster freak whore bitch!”
Shit. Pushed too far. Fucking motherly smile. “Okay, you’re right, Judd. Look, I’ll go with you. Take me to Bear. You don’t have to kill me.”
Judd sighted in on my head. “Don’t tell me what—” His face went slack. The rifle tumbled out of his hands, and a second later he collapsed face down beside it in the dirt.
A tranq dart protruded from his back. A zombie tranq.
He’s dead, I thought wildly. But who—?
I snapped out of my daze and sprinted toward Judd’s body. I didn’t have zombie super speed, but I covered the distance in record time. With the sweetest tuck and roll I’d ever managed in my life, I snatched up the rifle, took cover behind a thick slash pine, and fired three quick shots at the stand of trees where I’d seen a flicker of movement.
A choked cry of pain rewarded my efforts. “Goddammit, Angel!” Rosario’s voice. “Shit! It isn’t what you think.”
“Go fuck yourself!” I yelled back. I slammed the butt of the rifle down onto Judd’s skull to crack it then once more to smash it open. Moving quickly, I ripped skull pieces away and tossed them aside, then grabbed a double handful of brain and tore it free. Most of it, anyway. The cerebellum and medulla oblongata were still in there along with a mangled chunk of occipital lobe, but digging them out would take time I didn’t have. I lifted a handful of brain to my mouth then paused as a horrible thought occurred to me. Judd had been zombie-tranqed. Could I even eat his brain without knocking myself out? My hand trembled as I thought it through. Tranqs were formulated to be injected—not only for speed of delivery, but because ingestion drastically reduced the amount that got absorbed into the blood stream. Since Judd wouldn’t have anywhere near a full dose in his brain tissue, I’d be taking in a micro-dose, at most.
Hunger roared in impatience. Screw it, I thought and gulped the chunk of brain. I didn’t really have a choice anyway. I shoved the rest of the brain into my jacket pocket and zipped it shut, then gave Judd’s body a quick search in the hopes of finding the flash drives. His wallet contained four hundred dollars in cash that I pocketed with zero guilt, but his clothing held only keys and a folding knife. No drives. Crap.
Marla let out a flurry of growl-filled barks, quieting only after a hush from Rosario. I didn’t need to be fluent in Doggy to know that she’d announced precisely how she planned to tear me apart for hurting her human, despite the fact that Rosario was far from death’s door, judging by the muffled curses that drifted my way.
Well, this was a nice little standoff. I had no way to reach my car without risking getting tranqed or mauled. I had Judd’s rifle, which was surely the only reason Rosario hadn’t sent Marla to flush me out. But if he called for backup I was fucked.
Fine. Time to change the game. I tucked Judd’s knife into my pocket then snatched up the rifle and took off running at an angle that kept the trees between me and Rosario. I fully expected to get a German Shepherd between the shoulder blades at any second, but I made it to the water untackled, and a glance behind showed no pursuit.
Yet.
With a vague goal of get the hell away from here, I splashed into the water and tried not to think about snakes and alligators and snapping turtles and sea monsters. The setting sun painted the marsh in reflections of gold and orange, and cypress trees cast long shadows over the water. I pressed onward, slogging through waist-deep then chest-deep water, holding the rifle over my head like soldiers in a movie I once saw about the Vietnam war.
Marla’s strident bark in the distance was more than enough to spur me deeper into the marsh. It was nearly full dark by the time I stopped hearing her barks and was far enough into the swamp to feel safe from discovery. Exhausted, I crawled onto a small island of relatively dry ground. I heard a slide and splash that was probably a gator, but I was too tired to give a crap. The island was about half the size of my bedroom and crammed full of chest-high marsh grass that I knew damn well was home to all sorts of slithery critters. I wasn’t really afraid of snakes, but getting bit by a water moccasin at this point might make my poor parasite throw its hands up in defeat and go sob in the corner. With a stick in hand, I jabbed and poked and whacked the grass as I pushed toward the middle of my little island. Though I didn’t see any snakes, I heard plenty of whispers of noise as unseen creatures evacuated the area.
Invasion complete, I stomped a circle of grass flat then plopped my butt down. An almost full moon was starting its climb above a horizon of cypress trees and Spanish moss. I reclined in my nest and watched the curtain of stars shift and shimmer as fluffy clouds drifted across the sky. The various swamp musicians who’d been silenced by my arrival gradually resumed their evening symphony. I was wet and dirty, but the night was mild enough that I wasn’t miserable, and I took care of the twinge of hunger with the rest of Judd’s brain. Peace stole through me despite the danger that lurked beyond the swamp. Tomorrow, I’d deal with Rosario. And Bear.
For the moment, I was safe. And that was enough.
Chapter 30
I snapped fully awake, primal instincts shrieking so loudly I expected to find a serial killer standing over me with an axe. But no serial killer. No threat of any sort within my trampled circle of grass. It was still full night with at least another hour until dawn, judging by the moon’s new position. Heart jittering, I grabbed the rifle, parted the grass, and gave the dark swamp a careful scan. Though I couldn’t see anything remotely dangerous, my nerves continued to buzz a low warning. Unsettled, I listened, straining my ears through the silence.
Silence?
No symphony or chorus. Every living creature had gone utterly still, waiting for whatever was out there to pass them by.
