Kick at the Darkness (7 page)

He leaned his back against Adam’s chest. “There. That’s not so bad, is it? Snookums?” He felt the puff of Adam’s laugh across the top of his head.

“I suppose not.”

Cuddling was actually nice and warm. Parker exhaled and got comfortable, and Adam didn’t complain. Parker wondered how he would feel about getting cozy with his fake boyfriend if he knew Parker really was gay. He thought again of Adam’s real girlfriend, and whether or not Tina was still alive. Whether or not Parker’s parents were alive. Were Jessica and Jason okay? How long could Eric stay underground? How long—

“Stop thinking for a few minutes,” Adam murmured, briefly rubbing Parker’s arm.

“How did you two meet?” Daniela asked.

Parker pushed aside his other thoughts, since they weren’t doing them any good. “He gave me a C-minus on an assignment even though everyone knows it’s an underwater basket-weaving course and should be an easy A. He apparently didn’t get the memo.”

Adam huffed out a breath. “So he complained to the dean and got me in trouble.”

Parker sat up and looked over his shoulder. “Dude, I seriously did not narc on you to the dean.”

Adam’s brow furrowed. “Really?”

“Really. Besides, I’m sure it’ll be fine.” He and Adam watched each other for a long moment, and then Parker sat back against him. Would it ever matter again? Had it really only been twenty-four hours ago when that stuff had seemed so incredibly important?

“Wait, he’s your TA?” Carey raised her eyebrows. Then she leaned in, her voice lowered. “That’s
hot
.”

Daniela popped open another bag of chips. “Tell us everything. No detail too small.”

Pretending to be Adam’s boyfriend, Parker could almost let himself believe this was all just a game. He spun an outlandish tale while Adam just shook his head and actually chuckled occasionally. It felt good to laugh and forget about the shit show going on in the real world. Maybe everything would be okay. Maybe they just had to wait it out together, and the cavalry would arrive.

After midnight, Parker’s eyes got heavy, and his head felt like mucus was building up by the minute. The girls had curled up together, and when Parker glanced back at Adam, his eyes drooped too. “I guess we should get some rest,” Parker whispered. He sat forward to go lie down on his own part of the nest.

But Adam tugged him back between his legs and wrapped his arms over Parker’s chest. His breath was warm on Parker’s ear. “Sleep.”

Despite everything, Parker felt safe. He pulled out his phone. The screen was still blank. No texts. No calls. He checked his battery. Ten percent. It would be dead by morning. He took a shuddering breath and slipped it back into his pocket, trying to keep his mind empty. Closing his eyes, he wriggled closer. He didn’t even
know
Adam, and hadn’t liked him at all, and now they were
snuggling
. But he let the exhaustion pull him under…

Parker jerked awake. He didn’t know what time it was, but his leg was cramped. He looked back at Adam, who was frozen and alert, his golden eyes practically glowing.

One of the girls whispered, her voice breaking. “What was that?”

Then an unmistakable sound consumed the silence: shattering glass.

IN THE GLOW of the emergency light, they were frozen—Parker still tucked against Adam, Daniela pushed up on one hand, and the other girls curled on the floor. Then Adam leapt to his feet and somehow ended up halfway down the aisle with the shotgun in his hands.

“Get ready to run,” he whispered back to them.

Adrenaline rocketed through Parker as he strapped on the machete and backpack, and the girls gathered their own weapons and supplies. Angry shouts filled the air from the front of the store. Parker and Daniela shared a glance. Parker licked his lips. “Stay here.”

I can do this. I can do this
. He crept down the aisle and peeked around the corner to find Adam in a standoff with a group of men in the shattered doorway. A large display of baseball equipment Parker and Carey had shoved in front still blocked their path. One of the men leveled a handgun at Adam, while the others held flashlights.

“Let us in, you son of a bitch!” one of them yelled.

Adam spoke calmly, the aim of his shotgun unwavering. “We have to set a few ground rules first.”

“Fuck you!” another intruder spat. “It’s every man for himself. We’ve got just as much right to the guns in here as you do.”

There must have been six or seven of them, flashlight beams cutting through the darkness this way and that as they jostled for position. Parker couldn’t tell how old they were and could only clearly see the middle-aged man with the handgun, who spoke.

“Now I’m sure we can all cooperate and come to an agreement.”

“Shoot him! I need guns! Let us in, God damn it!” a voice cried.

The men began to fight each other desperately, trying to squeeze through the door, the beams of their flashlights spinning wildly. Their leader pleaded for calm amid the shouting and cursing, and then Adam bolted away from the door toward Parker.

“You’re letting them in?” Parker shouted.

“Run! Out the back!” Adam grabbed his arm and jolted him into motion before Parker could even process what was happening. In their wake, the shouts of the intruders transformed to screams, and when Parker looked back, he saw blood arc through one of the beams of light. The infected poured into the store, their jerky movements terrifyingly fast.

The girls were waiting by the pile of sleeping bags, their eyes wide and packs on their backs. “Out, out!” Parker called to them. Carey and Daniela bolted, but then skidded to a stop, looking back at Lauren frozen in place.

“Lauren!” Carey yelled. “Come on!” Daniela turned back to yank at her friend.

The back door was through the storeroom at the other end of the rear aisle, and Adam was pushing Parker toward it, the girls on their heels. Adam shoved Parker and the girls through the door and began firing, the shotgun’s
booms
reverberating.

But it wasn’t enough.

Parker reached back just as Daniela and Lauren were overtaken, their screams piercing as the infected tore into them with hands and teeth. All he could do was grab Carey’s wrist and escape into the storeroom while Adam continued shooting, the chattering swelling in the air.

“Adam! Come on!” he shouted.

Then Adam was beside them, and as they raced through the storeroom, Carey shrieked and stumbled, nearly toppling Parker. One of the infected had hold of her foot, and Parker gripped her hand with both of his and heaved as Adam blew off the attacker’s head in a spray of gore. They stumbled onward to the rear part of the storeroom, which was separated by a door. Adam kicked it shut, and they plunged into darkness.

“Oh my God!” Carey cried. “We have to go back and get them. They’re…oh my God.”

Parker couldn’t see a thing, and could only hold onto Carey’s hand. She squeezed his fingers so hard he thought they might break. “Adam?” Parker’s heart thumped.

“This way.”

When Adam’s hand found his, Parker had to swallow a scream. They were completely blind, but Adam somehow guided them to the store’s back door. Of course they’d barricaded it, but he seemed to shove the storage racks aside in an instant. Holding Carey’s hand, Parker tried not to think about Daniela and Lauren. His stomach roiled. They’d been right there, and then…

As they made it outside to the alley, he gulped in the cold night air. Adam circled around, shotgun at the ready. The swell of chattering inside the store was faint, and it seemed like they were alone in the alley. Adam ducked back into the storeroom for the motorcycle, and Parker thanked God they’d put it back there.

Carey trembled beside him, her fingers still gripping his. A sob wracked her slight body, and Parker drew her into a hug. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”

“Don’t leave me here!”

“We won’t. Of course we won’t.” He rubbed her back.

“Parker.”

He looked over Carey’s shoulder to where Adam stood a few feet away with the bike. Adam stared down at Carey’s leg.

“Don’t leave me!” she cried again.

“She’s bitten,” Adam said quietly.

Parker jerked away from her. “Oh God.” He circled around and stood by Adam.

Her hair had come loose in a tangle, and tears streamed down Carey’s face. Below her capri pants, Parker could see the gouge taken from her left calf. Blood spilled over her sneaker.

“Please don’t leave me!” She reached for them. “I’m okay. I’m okay!”

Before Parker could formulate a thought, Adam was straddling the bike. “More coming. We have to go.” He reached behind and slid the shotgun into the holster strapped to his back.

“We can’t leave her! What if she’s not infected? We don’t know how it’s spread.”

“Get on.” Adam’s nostrils flared and he glanced behind. “Both of you.
Now
!”

Parker jumped on, and Carey clambered over his lap so she was facing him, her legs around his hips. They wobbled as the bike sped out of the alley with too much weight on it, but Adam kept control, roaring around the store and onto the sidewalk. With Carey wrapped around him, Parker couldn’t look back, but he prayed to anyone listening that the infected weren’t following. They seemed to have gotten faster, but it could just be that there was strength in numbers.

In his arms, Carey sobbed, her face buried against his neck. “It’s okay,” he repeated, over and over. “It’s okay.” It took all of Parker’s strength to lean forward and clutch Adam’s sides so he and Carey didn’t go flying off the back of the motorcycle. The handle of the machete dug into the base of his neck, and the backpack strained his shoulders. He had no idea where they were going, but soon they bounced over grass and there were trees all around. When they finally came to a stop and Adam killed the engine and lights, Parker stumbled off onto the ground, sprawled on his back with Carey on top of him.

A moment later, Carey’s weight lifted as Adam hoisted her up and deposited her by a tree some feet away. He backed up, keeping Parker behind him as Carey wailed.

“They’re dead! Oh my God, what’s happening?” She heaved a great sob. “I want my mom.
I want my mom
!”

On his knees, Parker tugged off his pack and fumbled for the slim flashlight he’d tucked in a side pocket. When he crawled toward her, Adam blocked his way with a strong hand on Parker’s head. Leaning around him, Parker shone the light on Carey’s gored calf. Her hands were soaked with blood where she tried to stop the bleeding.

“We have to bandage it!” Parker tried to shake off Adam.

“It’s too late.”

“She might not be—” Parker’s words died on his tongue as he watched Carey’s eyes bulge. Her limbs trembled spastically, and then began jerking as the chattering sound grew in her throat, her teeth clashing. She tried to speak, but could only scream as the infection overtook her.

Before their eyes, Carey became one of them.

Her wrists swiveled as her fingers curled, the strange rictus setting in. Her eyes stuck out like a cartoon character’s, too wide and as if they were pushing out of the sockets. Parker could still feel the dampness of her tears on his neck.

The flashlight was still in his grip, and the light waved back and forth as he scrambled to his feet and gestured with his hands. “What the fuck is this? Jesus, we—”

With a sudden burst of power, Carey lunged toward him, her arms outstretched and fingers grasping.

Adam shoved him out of the way, and Parker hit the ground with a
whoomp
. The flashlight flew from his hand and rolled across the grass as Adam unstrapped the shotgun and fired. He missed, and the bark of the tree splintered as Carey scrabbled across the ground. The chattering swelled as she clutched the flashlight and chomped down on it.

For a heartbeat, they watched.

“I have to kill her.” Adam’s voice was barely a whisper.  “Right?”

“What if there’s a cure? What if she’ll be okay?” Parker felt hot and shaky all over. They’d known her only hours, but the thought of shooting her was unbearable.

Carey gnawed at the flashlight, her teeth grinding into the metal. A few hours ago, she and her friends had laughed with them; curled up and slept by their sides. Tears pricked Parker’s eyes, and the acid in his stomach burned. He slung on his pack. “Let’s go. We’ll just…maybe there’s a cure.” As long as they didn’t kill her, he could keep that tiny beacon of hope alive.

“Yeah. Okay.” Adam stared at Carey, transfixed. Then he blinked and backed up to the bike.

When he started the engine and the headlight flashed on, Carey’s head jerked up and she vaulted toward them. Parker leapt on behind Adam, his heart in his throat when she caught his ankle through denim, digging her fingers in so hard he thought she might tear off his foot. He kicked wildly, and the motorcycle swayed as Adam hit the gas.

For a terrible moment, Parker felt like he might be torn in two, Carey’s unnaturally strong grip not wavering. Then they broke free, the cuff of his jeans tearing as they raced away. Parker turned to watch what used to be Carey chase after them in the red glare of the taillights, her eyes bulging so hard he thought they might explode, a ferociously single-minded expression distorting her face.

Images ricocheted through Parker’s mind. The revolving red police lights on the Oval—the swaying flashlight beams of the intruders—the infected flooding toward the emergency light in the store. The words scraped his raw throat. “It’s the light. They’re attracted to the light.”

Adam immediately flicked the switch.

Parker blinked. The trees were only shadows, and they might kill themselves navigating the forest before any of the infected could even get to them. “Can you see?” He called. “Maybe we should stop.”

“I can see.”

Parker didn’t argue. He clung to Adam, the shotgun holstered on Adam’s back wedged between them. He wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed when the bike finally slowed and stopped, and Adam switched it off. The silence felt heavy and unnatural. The engine ticked, and then there was nothing but darkness.