Free DeadBorn by C.M. Stunich

immediately goes back under the table and crouches in the corner behind a cardboard box full of plastic dishes.
    “ I have no idea.”

    ***
    Ten Hours and Seventeen Minutes After …

    It's three o'clock now and Holly and I have searched the entire trailer from top to bottom. There's no sign of the keys, not in the kitchen drawers or the bedside table or in the bowl on the counter. I want to scream in frustration, but I keep the emotion to myself and pet the cat who's now decided that we're safe and is spending its time rubbing against our legs. Holly has declared that the cat is coming with us to the refuge office. She doesn't say if we can get in, but the words hang in the air and tease the hairs on my arm. The thought of nightfall is frightening enough, but the idea that we might have to spend it either in the car or in this trailer is too horrible to think about.
    “ We should probably check on Martin and Dawson,” Holly says as she looks out each window in search of zombies. When she decides the coast is clear, we grab the cat and our weapons and step out of the trailer. When we get back to the parking lot, the car is empty and the two boys are sitting on a bench next to the front entrance with all of our bags stacked next to them.
    “ Let me guess,” Dawson begins and although his face is swollen and crusted with dried blood, he forges on. “You couldn't find the keys?” Holly says nothing, but Martin smiles at us both.
    “ Can I hold him?” he asks and I glance down at the cat. At first it was happy to be picked up, but now that we're outside, I'm having a hard time holding onto it.
    “ Be careful,” Holly says as I try to pass the tabby into Martin's arms. She bounces up and down on her heels and only stops once the cat has safely been transferred.
    “ Now what?” Dawson demands as he glares at Martin out of the corner of his eye. Holly glances over at the glass doors of the entrance and the blinking light of the security panel on the wall. I wonder briefly how long it will take the electricity to go out if the DeadBorn aren't stopped. Days? Weeks? I push the thoughts down and try to focus on Holly's blue eyes. They're so pretty, like two circles of topaz in her pale face.
    “ Obviously Doug is around here somewhere,” she says as she kneels down and pulls boxes of ammunition out of her father's bag. “My guess is that he ran into something he shouldn't have.” Dawson frowns and squeezes his fingers around the edge of the bench. I step forward threateningly and he stiffens.
    “ Cool it, lover boy,” he growls and looks away toward a bird blind that's nestled in the golden grasses nearby.
    “ Either we'll find his body or … ” Holly trails off and rises to her feet. She hands me a gun and points at a metal piece on the top. “This is the hammer, Galen,” she tells me and her voice isn't the least bit condescending. I appreciate it and smile. “You have to pull this back before you take a shot. Got it?” I nod and take the cold metal in my hand. The gun is small and silver and a lot heavier than it looks. “Go take a practice shot,” she says. “Just one though; we need to save ammo.”
    “ And if you find this guy and he's been … transformed or whatever – ”
    “ Turned,” Martin supplies and even Holly glares at him.
    “ What are you going to do, fight him? These things are freaking invincible.” Before Holly can speak, Dawson holds up his hands and keeps talking. “And let's just say for the sake of argument that you do kill him or it or whatever. What if he doesn't have the keys on him? What if he dropped them in the fucking forest or something? We can't just do things on a whim. We need a plan.”
    “ Then we break a window,” Holly says confidently as if she's already thought of this. “I don't want to since the breaking glass could act as an alarm system, but if it comes to that then we'll do it. Give Galen and me an hour.” Dawson rolls his eyes as I raise the pistol