Lost World (36 page)

I don’t respond, mostly because I’m feeling less and less pissed as the minutes pass and I’m afraid if I start to talking to Angus right now, I’m going to get mad all over again. Instead, I head toward the back of the house, leaving the brothers to load their boxes.

When I jog down the stairs, I notice that Angus wasn’t lying. There are only about fifteen boxes left, which means we only have a couple more trips each. Then we can get the hell out of here.

My arms are once again full when the brothers come pounding down the stairs. I pass them without a word, heading out into the winter sunshine. My feet stumble over the junk littered across the yard, but I do my best to make it through without falling down. Just like every time I came up, the boxes are partially blocking my view. Making it tough.

I’ve just made it to the front gate when a hand clamps down on my arm. My heart stutters to a stop and a scream rips its way out of me. I yank my arm back. The fingers slide across my skin, losing their grip on me. The boxes fall from my hands and drop to the ground. My heel catches on something behind me and I stumble back, finding myself falling just as the putrid face of the zombie comes into view.

My body slams into the cold ground and the zombie in front of me growls. I scramble back, kicking my feet up as the creature moves closer, chomping at air as he tries to get to me. Another snarl comes from behind him, and I scream even louder when more of the dead advance. My hands fumble for my knife as I kick harder, trying to get away, and knock the bastard back at the same time. The black goo I’m so used to seeing is frozen on his skin, creating dark crystals that sparkle in the sun. Thankfully, his movements are slower than usual, because he’s right on top of me and more have moved in at his back. Their lack of speed gives me the chance to pull my knife free.

“Vivian!”

Just as Axl’s voice cuts through the moaning zombies, I raise my knife, bringing it forward so the blade sinks into the zombie’s skull. The knife is ripped out of my hand and the now motionless zombie drops right on top of me with such a sharp thud it forces all the air out of my lungs. I gasp for breath, only to get a mouthful of rotten air.

Footsteps crunch against the snow, getting closer as the moans of the approaching dead increase. A gunshot cuts through the air, and Angus rushes past me. Axl screeches to a halt at my side, shoving the dead man off me. He barely gives me a chance to catch my breath before he’s pulling me to my feet, dragging me back.

Angus stands in front of the dead, hacking at them with his knife as they converge on him. There are so many! It’s like the horde that swarmed Millersville decided to follow us here. They moan and growl and bite at Angus, trying to get at him.

I’m still gasping when Axl shoves me behind him, screaming at his brother, “Angus, we gotta go. Back to the cellar, now!”

I don’t even glance behind me to make sure Angus is listening before I run back through the yard, jumping over trash and piles of crap now barely covered by the snow. At my back, Axl is still yelling for his brother to move his ass. When I reach the corner of the house, I look back so I can see what’s going on. It’s that exact instant that Angus gets overrun. He growls when two zombies grab him at once, pulling him in opposite directions. A third gets in on it, sinking his claws into Angus’s shoulder. Trying to pull him back.

“Angus!” Axl yells, firing as he runs for his brother.

My heart jumps, then falls to the ground, and before I can even think about it, I’m running back the way I came. My knife got lost when that bastard fell on me, so I pull out my gun as I charge back through the snow. Angus disappears from sight, but I can still hear him cursing up a storm. Axl is firing like crazy, taking out the zombies that get close to his brother. But there are at least three on top of him and no matter how much I try to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut, it’s impossible.

Angus is going to die, and I hate how much it hurts.

When I’m closer, I start firing as Axl charges into the mass of walking corpses. My heart’s pounding so hard it thumps in my ears, and it takes everything in me to keep my eyes focused on shooting the dead charging Axl and his brother.

Angus pulls himself from the mass of zombies, letting out a roar so loud I’m surprised it doesn’t shake the planet. Axl is next to him, slamming his blade into rotting skulls over and over again until he and his brother are free. Then they’re charging toward me, running from the horde at their backs.

“Go, go, go!” Axl yells, waving for me to move.

He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I pull the trigger one more time and my gun clicks, then I spin around, charging toward the back of the house. The cellar is our only escape, and even that is going to suck big time.

My feet hit the steps literally five seconds before Axl’s. He pauses to shove his brother into the cellar ahead of him, then turns and grabs the door. Outside, the moans and pounding footsteps of the dead are so loud they echo through my brain like a stampede of buffalo. I reach the bottom and spin to face the stairs, catching sight of the horde just as Axl pulls the door down. The ray of light shining into the room gets smaller until there’s nothing left but a narrow beam. It shines down on Angus like a spotlight, illuminating the rip in his shirt and the crescent-shaped bite on his shoulder.

Then the door shuts, and the room goes black.

24

I STARE INTO THE DARKNESS, FROZEN in place. Above us, zombies growl and bang on the cellar door, trying to get in. Axl grunts and footsteps scrape against the wood steps. The heavy rattle of Angus’s breathing echoes against the cement walls. No one says a word.

Was that real or was my mind playing tricks on me?

No. There’s no way I imagined that shit.

Angus grunts and it sounds like he drops to the floor. “Dammit, turn on a fuckin’ flashlight.”

“I’m on it,” Axl says, his voice way too calm.

He doesn’t know.

The flashlight clicks, and the beam cuts through the darkness. Axl has it aimed at the door, but it gives off enough light to illuminate Angus leaning against the wall, his hand covering the wound on his shoulder. My stomach twists so hard that for a second I’m sure I’m going to throw up.

Axl is still on the stairs, looking at the cellar door. His back to Angus and me. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I do know in a second he’s going to forget all about it.

Angus meets my gaze and frowns. “Don’t look so sad, Blondie,” he says, his voice echoing through the little room and making me jump. “You ain’t even gonna notice when I’m gone. It ain’t like we was close or nothin’.”

Axl’s body jerks and he spins around, looking toward his brother. His eyes grow big and wide. Angus’s hand is still covering the bite, but there’s blood everywhere. Not the black shit these assholes have inside them. Real blood. Red blood. It’s smeared all over Angus’s shoulder, dripping down where it soaks into the fabric of his shirt. There’s a lot of it. Way more than I would have thought possible from a bite made by human teeth.

“Angus?” Axl’s voice trembles as he stumbles down the steps. He falls to his knees next to his brother and jerks Angus’s hand away.

When the bite mark is finally visible, it knocks the wind out of me. Axl just stares at it. Not moving or saying a word, his mouth hanging open like he can’t register what he’s seeing.

I force myself to move forward until I’m next to them, then kneel down at Axl’s side. Putting my hand on his leg. “Axl.”

His head whips my way and he shoves my hand off his leg. His gray eyes are wide and full of rage. So much more rage than I’ve ever seen on his face. He doesn’t look like my Axl.

“Get your hand off me. This is your fault! You had to run off all pissed, not stickin’ with us like you was supposed to. Never learnin’ your lesson!”

My whole body jerks back as anger builds inside me. I try to control it. Try to swallow it down, but fire flashes in Axl’s eyes, and it makes everything in me build until I feel like I’m going to explode.

“My fault? I didn’t make this virus, and I’m not the one who gets off on killing these things! Your brother is reckless. He has been since he picked me up on the side of the road, and it’s only gotten worse. You can’t blame me for his stupidity!”

Axl’s mouth scrunches up, and for a second I’m afraid he’s going to spit in my face. “You gonna sit here an’ call my brother stupid? To my face! He’s gonna die and that’s what you got to say to me?” Axl shakes his head, and his gray eyes narrow on my face. “You been tryin’ to pull us apart since the day we picked you up. Angus said it, but I didn’t believe him. Too busy thinkin’ with my dick. Again.”

I squeeze my hand into a tight fist as anger and pain war against each other inside me. It feels like they’re trying to rip me in half. Nothing has ever hurt as much as Axl’s words just did. All the I love yous and intimate moments we’ve shared are gone in the blink of an eye, erased by the implication that I’m no more than a piece of ass to him.

“You’re an ass—”

“Will you two shut the fuck up?” Angus growls, cutting through my words. “Dumb as shit. I’m the one sittin’ here bleedin’ to death.”

Axl tears his eyes from me and moves closer to his brother, and some of my anger melts away. He’s just mad. Axl didn’t mean what he said. He’s hurting, and the thought of losing his brother has him saying things he doesn’t mean.

“Shit, Angus,” Axl says, shaking his head. “What the hell were you thinkin’?”

“I was thinkin’ you and that blonde bimbo got somethin’ I ain’t never seen before and I didn’t want her dyin’.” Angus shakes his head, and just like that the anger inside me evaporates.

Tears fill my eyes, and I move closer to Axl. “You’re such an asshole, Angus,” I say, sniffing through the tears. “Why the hell did you have to go and show your human side now? It would have been easier to say goodbye if I still hated you.”

Angus snorts. “Never could do nothin’ the easy way.”

Axl stares at the bite on his brother’s shoulder, not saying a word. Above us, the zombies are still banging on the door, but the cellar is so quiet it feels like death is already here.

Then the full force of what’s about to happen hits me, and I suddenly think I’m going to collapse. We’re trapped and Angus isn’t just dying, he’s going to turn. Axl and I will be in this cellar with him when he turns unless the others show up very soon, which means one of us is going to have to put him down.

How the hell will Axl ever be able to handle it?

“You gotta do it now,” Angus says, almost like he’s reading my mind.

Axl slumps back, leaning against the wall next to his brother. “I ain’t gonna kill you.”

“Dumb shit. You don’t got a choice. You let me come back an’ I’m gonna rip the two of you to shreds. You take care of it now. Before I turn into one of them.”

Axl shakes his head and Angus swears, but before he can tell his brother what an idiot he’s being, Axl says, “Gun’s outta bullets, and I ain’t gonna stab you, so you can just forget it.”

“Shit. Lost my gun when I got bit,” Angus says, turning to look at me. “You got any bullets, Blondie?”

“No,” I whisper. My extra clip was in my jacket. The one I threw on the ground.

We lapse into silence. Angus holds his hand over his wound, wincing with each move he makes. Too bad we can’t clean it. Then again, what would be the point? It’s not like an infection is going to kill him, not that kind anyway. Soon he’ll lapse into a lethargic state, then he’ll die. When he comes back, he won’t be Angus anymore. He’ll be a monster who wants nothing more than to rip us to shreds.

Hopefully, the others come looking for us before that happens.

“How long before the others get worried?” I say out loud, not even sure who I’m asking.

“Hell, Rambo ain’t gonna be worried, but she’ll come lookin’ for the bodies in a bit.”

I want to be pissed, but I know Angus is right. Parvarti won’t worry when we don’t come back, she’ll just see it as proof that she was right. We’re all just biding our time.

“This is bullshit,” Axl mutters.

He still hasn’t looked at me and he still hasn’t apologized, but all the anger I felt is gone now. All that’s left is pity. Axl loves Angus. Despite his brother being an asshole and a racist and giving Axl so much shit that Angus probably made life miserable for him at times. And he took care of Axl when their mom was too drunk to do it, then after she died. They’ve depended on each other for so long, I’m not sure Axl is going to know what to do with himself when Angus is gone. Even if he doesn’t take his brother’s advice the way he used to, Axl is still going to feel like a part of him has been ripped away.

“Well, this is about how I expected things to go down,” Angus says.

He pulls out a pack of cigarettes I didn’t even know he had and pops one in his mouth. The little match book he produces only has two sticks left. Luckily, the first one catches. He holds it to the end of the cigarette, sucking in until it catches, then tosses the lit match to the floor. It hits the dirt and the flame is smothered out. Angus lets out a big puff of smoke, filling the tiny room with the toxic aroma of tobacco. I’d complain if I didn’t think he deserved to smoke a cigarette or two before he died.

We sit in silence for a while, nothing but the banging above to distract us from the reality of what’s about to happen. I can’t stop staring at the bite, thinking about all the friends we’ve lost over the past few weeks. Too many. Soon there won’t be any of us left and this whole world will disappear.

“Can you feel it?” I ask.

“Feel what?” Angus says, staring at the ceiling.

Axl keeps his eyes on the dirt floor.

“The infection. Remember when Nathan got bit leaving the Monte Carlo? He said he could feel it. That it was like falling asleep or something. Do you feel anything like that?”

Angus shakes his head and takes a long drag. “Don’t feel shit,” he says, smoke coming out with the words.

“It shouldn’t be long,” I mutter.

We all know the position of the bite determines how long it takes for the infection to spread. The closer it is to the brain, the faster it moves through your body. The sooner it kills you. The sooner you turn.

“Shut up,” Axl hisses. “Don’t even say it.”

“Don’t get mad at Blondie, lil’ brother. She ain’t sayin’ nothin’ we don’t already know.”

Axl shakes his head and gets to his feet, crossing to the other side of the room. It’s such a small space that he doesn’t get far, though. He stands with his back to us, leaning against a shelf. His shoulders heave as he takes in a deep breath, then lets it out. Over and over again until I’m afraid he’s going to hyperventilate.

I want to go to him. To wrap my arms around him and pull him against me and let him cry until he doesn’t hurt anymore, but I’m afraid. Afraid he’ll yell at me again. Terrified he really does blame me for this. That he won’t be able to love me anymore once his brother is gone.

Angus pats my knee, and I turn to find him staring at me, the cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “He’ll be okay. Just gotta give him some space.”

I let out a deep breath and nod, then scoot over next to Angus so I can lean against the wall. It’s dirty and cobwebs tickle my nose, but I can’t make myself care about spiders after Angus’s bite. He pats my knee again, then takes a long drag off his cigarette, tilting his head up so he can blow the smoke toward the ceiling. I watch it float off, just visible in the dim light.

“I’m sorry, Angus,” I say.

“Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry ‘bout. We all knew this could happen, don’t mean we stop tryin’. I been doin’ the same thing my whole life. Tryin’ to live even though everythin’ ‘round me was shit. Ain’t nothin’ new, really.” He shakes his head again. “Just sorry you all gotta see me like this. I hate lookin’ weak.”

A snort and a sob break their way out of my throat at the exact same moment, and more tears fill my eyes. “No shit.”

Angus chuckles. “Guess you know me ‘bout as well as anybody could after all we been through.”

“I don’t know,” I say, my eyes on Axl’s back. He gets more rigid by the second. “I like to think there’s more to you.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but there ain’t. Was born a bastard and I’ll die a bastard, and there ain’t nothin’ nobody coulda done that woulda changed that.”

More tears fill my eyes, and I don’t know why, but I lean my head against his shoulder. “I don’t believe you, Angus.”

“Well, people are gonna believe what they want, I guess.” He takes another drag off his cigarette, then snuffs it out in the dirt. “You ain’t gonna like me sayin’ this, but I gotta, so just do a dyin’ man a favor an’ listen. Got it?”

I nod as I swipe my hand across my eyes. “Okay.”

“Your mama feels real bad ‘bout how things went down, and she wants to fix it. Kinda sees this whole thing as a second chance for her. I know I’m a hard ass and most people probably think I was just screwin’ her so I could get laid before I bit it, but that ain’t it. I like her. More than I ever liked anybody I dated before all this shit, that’s for sure. Wanted to take care of her. Now I ain’t gonna be ‘round, and I wanna make sure you do it for me. She acts all tough, but she’s soft. Like you.” He chuckles. “You two remind me of each other.”