Find Me (Life After the Outbreak, Book 2) (29 page)

"I can, and I will. If you two don't stop this fighting, you're both going to lose me. Life is too short for this shit. Just frigging stop it already." I yelled the last bit and Will clamped his hand over my mouth as soon as I finished.

Before I realized what was going on, Dan was by my side and he had his bow drawn. I struggled from under Will's hand and looked around. There was at least twenty flesh eaters coming from the north and another dozen or so from the west.
 

Just great.
 

Will handed me my bow, which I must have dropped when I nearly fell, and readied his own.
 

"We aren't actually going to take them on, are we?"

Both Will and Dan said "No!" at the same time. There were just too many of them for the three of us. We might be able to do it if we had to, but it wasn't worth the risk if we could manage to get away safely.
 

I glanced around at the oncoming flesh eaters. "What's the plan? Because it sure looks like they are coming from all directions now."

I wasn't exactly in the mood to die.

"Shit. There's less over that way." Dan pointed to a spot where maybe six flesh eaters hobbled toward us. "We could take those out and hope there aren't more?"

Will turned to see what Dan was talking about and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

I felt my ankle swelling inside my sneaker and I knew I wasn't going to be able to run. "I think there's a little problem with that plan."

"There's not that many, babe. We can take out the stragglers and make a run for it before the others catch up." Will squeezed my hand. "We'll be fine. Don't be afraid."

"I'm not afraid, you idiot. I'm hurt. I don't think I can run."

Will and Dan both turned and looked at me, confused.

"What are you talking about?" Will glanced over me. "You look fine."

I tried to put pressure on my foot and pain seared up my leg. "Yeah, not gonna work."
 

Dan held onto my arm with his free hand and glared at Will. "You pushed her."

Will's eyes widened. "You got hurt?"

I shook my head. " Didn't we cover that?"

The horde was getting closer, and we had to do something. Stand and fight or make a run for it, and I was in no shape to do much of either.
 

"I could carry you.” Dan suggested.

"Will can't take them all on himself, and you can't fight with me on your back."

As I watched the dead bastards get closer, part of me wanted to tell them to leave me and get the hell out of there, but I knew there was no way either one of them would ever leave me.

Dan picked me up and flung me over his shoulder. "We'll see."
 

Dan and Will took out the closest three and made a run straight for another six. A few feet from them, Dan set me down next to a tree and helped Will with the next batch. I pulled out my bow and managed to hit one that was about to take a bite out of Dan's shoulder.

More came out of nowhere, and I did my best to help, but it seemed like we were losing the battle. Three flesh eaters were on their way toward me, and I was out of arrows. I slung the bow over my shoulder and pulled the knife from my belt. The guys were busy with a few of their own, so I needed to handle them on my own.

I took a step onto my injured foot and almost fell over from the pain. It was swelled up to nearly double its size, and if it wasn't broken, then it was definitely the worst sprain of my life. The tree kept me from hitting the ground, and I managed to stay on my feet.
 

With a deep breath and adrenaline coursing through my veins, I lunged forward and buried the knife into one rotting skull. Another grabbed my arm and tried to sink in its dead teeth, but I spun around on my good foot and pushed it to the ground. While it struggled to get back up, I took care of another.
 

By the time the one I pushed over dragged it's broken limbs into a semi-standing position, I was able to slam my knife down into its head. There were bodies everywhere, and more flesh eaters were on their way. I unlaced my shoe and pried it from my foot. I wasn't sure whether it hurt more with it on or off. Not that it mattered. Getting it off was bad enough. There was no way it would go back on.
 

"You okay, Andi?" Will called over between kills.

"Sure. Great. So glad we came out here." I shot him a fake smile.

There was a small break in the horde, so Dan collected some of the used arrows and distributed them around to the three of us.
 

"We should push further," Will said.

"Agreed." Dan picked me back up and threw me over his shoulder.

We made it a few hundred yards before we had to stop again and fight another dozen off. We weren't all that far from the basement, but we couldn't exactly lead them right back with us.
 

It seemed like more were on the way and coming from all directions. I didn't see how we were going to be able to keep up fighting them off. I hadn't seen that many throughout the entire outbreak.

"They're just getting worse. We can't fight dozens of them at once."

"We'll be fine, Andi." Will put his arm around me after Dan once again put me down to rest. "It's not as many as it looks."

Dan raised an eyebrow at Will. He was much less likely to sugarcoat things the way Will did. Maybe he was just in denial.

We braced ourselves for the inevitable as a patch of undead made their way in our direction. Dan's accuracy with the bow was way above mine or Will's, so he took out a few of them on his own before they could get close. He fired at them, one by one, making every shot, until we were out of arrows.
 

Will and I readied our knives, when from the distance, we heard gunshots. It wasn't a sound we heard often so it got all our attention. It got the attention of the flesh eaters as well, and a lot of them turned and started off in the direction of the sound.
 

The guys took advantage of the shots and took out at least six that had turned and were going off toward the noise. Dan ran back and picked me up again, and we took the opportunity to get the hell out of there.
 

"You going to be able to carry her down the basement stairs like that?" Will asked Dan.

He put me down on the front steps of my old house and shrugged. "Probably.” Then he turned to me. “What have they been feeding you at that military base?”

I was about to yell at him for making a joke about me being heavier when I noticed drops of blood dripping from Will’s arm onto the white steps. “Will, are you hurt?”

Will looked down at the small puddle of blood that grabbed my attention and glanced over his arm. He shrugged one side of the jacket off his arm and pushed the sleeve up to his elbow. It was bloody and clearly cut open. Dan handed him a water bottle to wash the drying blood off and get a better look. A jagged cut about two inches long appeared and Will's eyes immediately found mine.

Dan took a step forward to get a closer look. “Is that a bite?”

The whole world spun around me and my stomach jumped into my throat. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from hurling that last protein bar up onto the porch.
 

“It’s not, right?” My voice cracked, and I was practically begging him to agree.
 

The color drained from Will’s face and he held his hand over the wound. “Andi, I’m so sorry.”

Acknowledgements

So much has changed since I wrote the first book in this series, and I can't even imagine how I made it through without the amazing nutjobs I've met since. The writing community has the most awesome people that will help, offer advice, and tell you you're being a shithead when necessary. Seriously, you guys are the best, yo. Yeah, I said that.
 

There are a couple of people though, that I never could have done this without. To Staci, with her grammar-nazi, bootcamp-to-better writing style, you are one of the most amazing people I've ever met. You made me a better writer and held my hand while I sobbed like a baby over edits. I couldn't have done this without you. For reals. You. Are. Amazing. And Orry, who listened to me bitch and complain (sometimes about Staci!) and basically told me to suck it up every time I needed to do just that, though maybe sometimes you could have been a bit more gentle. I would have lost that tiny shred of sanity I have left without you there. Thanks for being you, waffle iron.
 

I have to also say a big thank you to my beta readers because I couldn't have gotten it right without you. Especially Vanessa, who wanted to stab her eyes out because I used their names too many times. And Brandy, who had too much wine and way too many dirty thought about Dan. You guys rock!

I can't forget the people who entered my contest to create a character in the book. To Jennifer Dyche, who came up with the housekeeper zombie, and Tarnya Rutheford, who gave me the idea for the amazing Hadley. Your ideas were great, and Hadley, well, I just love that odd girl. I hope you love the results of your inspiration!

Not everything changes, though. My family has stuck it out through yet another book. Despite the times I have yelled at them to be quiet, or the many occasions they have had to endure the same song on repeat for three days, they haven't bolted yet. I appreciate each and every one of you. Yes, Roger, that means you too, even if this is the only page of the book you will ever read.
 

Author Bio

L J lives on the Jersey Shore with her husband, four kids, two cats, and an inherited dog from hell (a.k.a. the sewer gremlin).
 
Though writing has always been her first passion, she got a degree in psychological counseling and worked in the mental health field for awhile, which she finds very helpful in dealing with her crazy family.
 
She is a lover of all different types of music and books, switching between genres so wildly it sometimes makes people wonder if she has multiple personalities. She is most likely to be found writing romance stories of all kinds (contemporary, erotic, new adult, young adult, fantasy, paranormal, etc.). When she's not writing, she prefers to spend her time reading, taking photos, watching Doctor Who or Supernatural, or spending time with her family.
 

She would love to hear what you think of her work or answer any questions you might have. Please feel free to visit her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorLJBaker or check out her website at www.lj-baker.com.