Free My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road by David Powers King Page B

name-calling and see the serious trouble that we were in. The Vectors had caught up to us. Each of them wailed desperately. And if I wasn’t careful, Kaylynn would become one, too.
    “How did you pick up Thomas?” I asked.
    She frowned. “What’re you talking about?”
    “And your eyes, they went all red. How?”
    She got up and silently crossed her arms.
    “Are you bitten?” I asked. “Scratched?”
    “I’m trying to figure that out,” she said.
    “It’s not rocket science! Are you or not?”
    “What’ll you do if I am? Bash my head?”
    Glancing at the pipe in my hand, I knew I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Aside from Jewel and my parents, Kaylynn was the only person in the world that I couldn’t afford to lose. I lowered my hands as the door creaked. One of the hinges broke. It didn’t matter whose fault it was. We were sardines in an oversized can with two-dozen Vectors attempting to pry it open.
    We could argue another day if we lived through this. “Now’s not the time,” I said. “What do we do?”
    “I don’t know,” she replied. “There’s no way out.”
    My aching ears were of no help to my pounding heart. I searched the dark building for a better weapon or a safer place for us to roost. How Chloe was able to stay so calm throughout all of that was a mystery.
    “There’s an office on a second floor?” I asked.
    Kaylynn was really out of it. She stood up, nodded, and led me to a set of steel steps. But just when we reached them, the door crashed open. Laggard bodies stumbled over each other to get in. Kaylynn and Chloe ran up the stairs. As I followed them, a Vector grabbed me by the ankle. With my heart caught in my throat, I repeatedly smacked the Vector with my pipe, but with no effect. It had me, my foot was caught in its grasp.
    An arrow shot through its left eye from behind its skull, splattering dark blood all over my face.
    It was one of Cody’s arrows.
    Crack! Bang! Boom!
    The moaning stopped when the gunfire ceased.
    Flashlight beams danced into the building and converged on Kaylynn and me. Four men entered, each pointing their guns at us. I saw Mason right away, followed by Black-Bandana and Cody. I didn’t know the other guy, but they wouldn’t have come unless a certain fat kid had told them his version of what had happened between him and Kaylynn at the baseball diamond.
    “What’re you doing out here?” Mason asked. “It’s way past curfew!”
    “It’s my fault.” I stood in front of Kaylynn. “I started the fight.”
    “What fight?” Mason looked at me, checking my stained face. “Is that what happened to you?”
    “Ask the fat kid.” I hadn’t given the state of my face much thought. My left eye was swollen. I’m sure my stomach was bruised. The scab on my lip had split.
    “Did any of those things touch them?” Cody asked.
    “I was about to ask,” said Black-Bandana, coldly.
    I’d wondered where Cody had been. Now that he was next to Black-Bandana, I saw a resemblance. Was Black-Bandana his dad? The man had a decent rifle and a sheath at his side for a sword or a really big knife.
    Like father, like son.
    “Did they touch you or not?” Cody asked.
    “They didn’t touch us,” I answered. “Big Thomas sure as hell did.”
    Kaylynn touched my shoulder, and then she gave me the slightest headshake and a strong expression that said, I don’t blame you, but don’t make a big deal out of this .
    Her eyes made me cave, so I gave it a rest. “Thanks for coming for us,” I said. “Those things would’ve—”
    “We’ll sort this out later,” Mason said, nodding to the others. “We’ll have to take the usual precautions.”
    Black-Bandana and the others stepped behind us.
    Kaylynn raised her head. “What precautions?”
    “On your knees,” Mason said. “Eyes on me.”
    No way. Were they going to kill us? Just because we ran into some Vectors didn’t mean they had infected us. Then again, my lip was split. What if I was