Free Run (Nola Zombies Book 1) by Gillian Zane

Protein bars don’t taste that good going down, much worse coming up.  

    The weird cries were silenced. Blake must have done something with that big knife that he kept on his hip. I was grateful and horrified at the same time. But those feelings were washed away when he turned to me and handed me a bottle of water. Now I was just grateful and embarrassed. What did I expect? To find a goddamned baby in this mess, take it with me and become the Cleavers? I was an idiot.  

    I wiped at the stupid tears that were leaking from my eyes, hiding my face so Blake wouldn’t see.   When they were dry I turned around and noticed Blake had opened a door and had walked out onto a balcony. He motioned for me to come over to him.  

    “I think we can get out of here,” he whispered, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. He pointed to the backyard where there weren’t any zombies. “See that low-hanging oak tree limb? We can climb onto that and actually make it to the neighbor’s roof. It looks like they have a side exit and the street seems clear in that direction. My house is only a block down. We can make a run for it. We just have to stay quiet.”

    He didn’t give me time to protest before his leg was over the balcony and he was shimmying out onto the branch, which didn’t seem that sturdy. He quickly made it to the crook and hurriedly motioned for me to follow. If it could hold his weight, it could hold mine. I didn’t think about it, just focused on one foot going over, one foot moving forward, one hand gripping the branch above me and then I was in Blake’s arms.  

    With a turn, he swung onto the next branch and then he was on top of the neighbor’s roof. I was trying to follow silently as he was.  

    The grade of the roof made it hard to keep my footing. I slipped once but managed to regain my footing and I slid to a seated position next to Blake at the edge of the roof. We both looked down. This was the lowest point, but it had to be about a 15-foot drop.  

    “We gotta jump.” Blake said.

    “I know.”  

    “I’ll go first.” No prelude, he just went for it. And he was no worse for wear so I followed. I don’t know how I remained upright or managed to not twist my ankle, but I did. Go me.   Blake didn’t give me time to catch my breath, he pulled me upright and urged me to start running. We were off. We were running as fast as we could. We were out the fence, and then we were down the street.  

    I looked behind me frantically as our pace increased. Were they chasing us? Nothing. They were probably all inside the store.   When Blake turned and headed for a fence, I knew we had made it. We had gotten to his home. I could have cried, I could have puked again—but really all I wanted to do was chug a bottle of water.  

NINE | Shock and Oh Baby

    The run from the store was excruciating. When we finally made it into his house I bent over with a cramp in my side as Blake closed the door quietly behind us.  

    He kneeled down in front of me, “Hey baby, you okay?” Out of breath I could only shake my head. I wasn’t a very fast runner. I had always done a slow jog whenever I forced myself to get out and run. Blake looked like he hadn’t even broken a sweat, jerk .

    Me, I was a mess. I was shivering. I had probably pissed my pants, I couldn’t breathe. And Blake was just there all put together. I couldn’t help it, I might have cried a little bit. He was right there though. He pulled me into his arms and he didn’t let go for a long time. Even though I probably smelled like a rotting zombie, puke and maybe piss. I felt safe there and soon I stopped crying, but I couldn’t stop   shivering.

    “Lex, I’m going to go secure the house. We have to stay here tonight, I don’t think we can’t make it back to the boat today, not with all the dead out there. I have to make sure this place is safe.”

    “Okay,” I whispered.   I wished I could help him, but the only thing my body could