Free Duality (The Hitchhiker Strain) by Kellie Sheridan Page B

’m not sure if this theory is more smart or awful.
    “ Are they full on zombies or second-gen?” Liam asks.
    “ Zs, I think.” They’re so far away that it’s impossible to tell for sure, but I add in my two cents anyway. “I’ve never seen a group of super-Zs that big. Nowhere close to that big. But the dead ones sometimes flock together like that, although I have no idea why. They would have to use some pretty serious bait to keep a group of second-gen together, but with zombies, you kind of point them in the right direction and you’re good. They’ll veer off course if something catches their attention, and this whole area is basically deserted.”
    Then it hits me.
    My lungs deflate as bile rises in the back of my throat.
    Unless there ’s something in place ahead of them that’s meant to reroute the herd again, this massive crowd of undead is going to go straight through New Ravencrest, or whatever it is my friends and neighbors are calling their newest settlement. They wouldn’t stand a chance.
    “ Savannah, are you okay?” Liam asks, grabbing my arm when I take an unsteady step backward. I rest my weight against Dooley’s car before looking up at the three concerned faces in front of me.
    “ No. I’m really not.” I force myself to inhale then exhale. “I have to tell you all something.”
    Wasting precious time, I explain my history with this area, telling them about New Ravencrest, the people who live there, and even the reason why they were forced to abandon their home in the first place. I offer them no time to respond once I’m finished, choosing instead to jump right into forming a plan.
    “ I have to warn them,” I say, my tone betraying not even a hint of uncertainty. “We can be there in under an hour, give them time to gather up what they can, and get out.”
    “ Savannah, we can’t,” Eduardo says. He moves to grab one of my hands, but I jerk it away, betrayed.
    “ We have to! There are hundreds of lives at stake.” I can’t even begin to fathom how he could even consider letting those people die, and for what?
    “ It’s too risky. I’m sorry, Savannah, but it’s a lost cause.” Eduardo glances down at the stretch of road beneath us for emphasis, but I ignore him. We don’t have time to stand around and talk about this anymore. We have to go back and warn Paulson and everyone else.
    “ Every second we waste arguing about this is one more where we could be doing something to help.” I knot my fingers in my hair, silently panicking as I try to come up with a plan. The herd isn’t moving very quickly now, but as soon as they realize how close they are to a group of healthy, living humans, they’ll go berserk. There will be no stopping them.
    “ There’s no way we can fight that many off,” Dooley argues, keeping his voice infuriatingly calm. “There’s nothing we can do.”
    “ We don’t have to fight,” I counter, desperate. “We can warn them! Give them time to get out. Give them a chance.”
    “ It’s too risky… We’d be driving right toward a massive herd. If we get stuck in there, we’re done,” Eduardo says, a sadness growing in his dark eyes.
    “ Well, give me the car keys then!” I hiss through my teeth. “You don’t have to come, but I can’t go back with you. I won’t.”
    “ I know these people are your friends—”
    “ That part doesn’t matter at all! I can’t believe you guys. All of you, you’re exactly the same. These are real people we’re talking about. People who need our help if they’re going to have any chance of surviving what’s coming for them. What’s the point in hiding out, working on the cure, and stocking up on supplies if we aren’t prepared to help actual survivors? The Veritas Initiative is going to…what? Repopulate the earth by themselves? Oh wait, it’ll be them and the mindless people they cure . That’ll be wonderful. We’ll all live happily ever after.” It’s then that I realize Liam hasn’t