Free Strange Trouble by Laken Cane Page A

didn’t say a word.
    He might live, was all Rune could think. He might.
He could.
    They waited impatiently until Owen completed his task and
climbed into the back with Lex and the children. “What’s this?”
    Lex began explaining. Rune stared out the window as Jack
sped them away from the site, from Z.
    The daylight faded into a cold darkness. It’d been winter forever. Cold, weak sunlight, gray days, frigid nights. Summer
was a distant memory and every single part of her longed for it.
    Jack’s stomach growled and it took her half a minute to
figure out what she’d heard. She rummaged in the glove compartment until she
found what she was looking for. “Eat this.”
    He smiled. “Gunnar’s Baby Ruth?”
    She nodded but couldn’t bring herself to smile. “I remember
a time when I was a hard ass, Jack.”
    “You’re still a hard ass, honey, but you love your crew.”
    “Yeah,” she said, almost afraid to say more. Even she could
hear the tears in her voice. “But so do you and you didn’t fall apart.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “You call that falling apart? When
this is over, Rune, I’ll grieve for the ones we lose. I’ll grieve hard.” He
reached over to pat her leg, then took the candy. “If
any one of us had to deal with half the shit you’ve dealt with, we’d be insane. Or dead. So yeah.” He ripped
the packaging off the candy and took a gigantic bite. “You’re a hard ass.”
    “I’d like a burger,” Lex said.
    “As soon as we get a chance, we’ll raid a grocery,” Rune
promised.
    “Want a bite?” Jack asked, waving the candy over his
shoulder.
    “No, thanks,” Lex answered.
    Owen grabbed the candy and finished it off. “Got any more of
those?”
    “Sorry, baby.” Rune stared out the window once more. Her
hand was feeling a little better but she left the bandages on. Her claws would
rip right through the gauze when she needed them. It might hurt to use them,
but to fight the zombies she’d need all the claws she had left.
    Z. Get up.
    “Did Strad say anything about Denim?” she asked Jack.
    “No.”
    Even if Denim noticed that Levi was a little different, he’d
be overjoyed his brother lived. Surely.
    But there was no more time to worry about it.
    “We have to put the kids into a secure house while we’re
fighting,” she told Jack. “Let’s try one of those.”
    He pulled into the yard and right up to the front door of a
small white house, then jumped out of the car and went to break in and make
sure it was clear.
    But when he came back, his face was pale and he drove them
away from the little house as though monsters were hanging from the ceiling.
“I’ll find another one. Can’t go in there.”
    “Why not?”
    “I’ll find another.” And that was all he’d say.
    He didn’t have to explain. She had a good idea of what he’d
found inside the house.
    He found another one and went to clear it.
    “I know this house,” George said. “My mom’s friend lives
here.”
    But Fie wouldn’t get out of the car. She hung on to the back
of Rune’s seat and screamed.
    “Fie, come on,” George said. “They’re going to fight
zombies. They might get in the car.” And finally, he was able to pull Fie from
the SUV.
    They left the children there with promises to return as soon
as they could.
    “There they are,” Jack said, five minutes later.
    Up ahead, tall pole lights shone down on what looked like a
hundred zombies. They blocked the street, an undulating mass of rotting flesh
and eerie moans. They spilled into yards and lurched into trees, trampling each
other in their desperate attempts to find living food.
    In the middle of that mess were her men.
    Tremors of excitement unfurled inside her belly as she
jumped from the truck. If there was anything that would take her mind off Z and
Levi and Denim and fucking hell, it was killing the enemy.
    They cut their way through the zombies, desperation riding
them as they tried to reach Raze, Levi, and Strad.
    Despite her