The Immortal Rules (40 page)

“We’re getting low on fuel,” Zeke muttered after several hours of driving. He tapped the dashboard of the van, frowning, then sighed. “How far from Eden do you think we are?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, gazing at the map again. “All I know is we have to follow the road east until we get there.”

“God, I hope it’s really there,” Zeke whispered, gripping the steering wheel, his eyes hard. “Please, please, let it be there. This time, let it be real.”

We drove through another dead city on the edge of a lake, passing crumbling skyscrapers, the ruins of old buildings and an endless number of cars clogging the cracked streets. Weaving through a choked sea of rusting vehicles, I wondered how chaotic it would’ve been in the time before, how people ever got anywhere without crashing into each other.

Zeke suddenly pulled the van to a stop alongside a faded red truck and shut off the engine. I blinked at him. “Why are we stopping?”

“We’re almost out of gas. There’s a hose and a gas container in the back—I saw them when we hijacked the van. I figure I can siphon something from a few cars, at least. Watch my back?”

I nodded. Zeke half turned, poking his head toward the back as the other passengers stirred and muttered uneasily. “Everyone, stay put. We’re just stopping for fuel. We’ll be on our way soon, okay?”

“I’m hungry,” muttered Caleb, sniffling. Zeke smiled at him.

“We’ll take a break soon, I promise. Let’s just get out of the city first.”

I watched Zeke, fascinated, as he opened a lid on the side of a vehicle, stuck the hose in, and sucked on the end. The first two cars yielded nothing, but on the third try, Zeke suddenly choked, turned and spit out a mouthful of clear liquid, before sticking the hose into the plastic container. Wiping his mouth, he leaned against another car and watched the gas trickle into the canister.

I walked up beside him and leaned back against the car door, our shoulders barely touching. “How’re you holding up?”

He shrugged. “All right, I guess.” He sighed, rubbing his arm. “It still hasn’t hit me yet, you know? I keep expecting Jeb to give me directions, tell me where we’re going next, when we should stop.” He sighed again, heavily, looking out toward the city. “But he’s gone. And it’s all up to me now.”

I hesitated, then reached down and took his hand, lightly weaving our fingers together. He squeezed them gratefully.

“Thank you,” he murmured, so soft I barely caught it. “I wouldn’t…be doing nearly so well if you weren’t here.”

“We’re almost there,” I told him. “Just a few more miles, I think. And you can relax. No more vampires, no more rabids, no more raider kings hunting you down. You’ll finally be able to breathe.”

“If Eden really exists.” He sounded so melancholy I turned to stare at him.

“What’s this?” I asked, giving him a challenging smile. “Don’t tell me you’re losing your faith, Ezekiel Crosse.”

His mouth twitched into a smirk. “You’re right,” he said, pushing himself off the car. “We can’t give up now. Let’s get there first, and see what happens next.” He bent down and picked up the container, peering at the contents. “That’s…what, about three gallons? Two and a half? Think we can get a few more before we leave?”

“Zeke,” I growled, gazing down the road. Zeke’s gaze followed mine, and he went perfectly still.

A spindly, emaciated creature crouched atop a dead car about a hundred yards away, its white skin pale in the moonlight. It hadn’t seen us yet, but I saw another rabid skitter behind a truck, and the one atop the car snarled and hopped down after it, vanishing into the sea of vehicles.

“Let’s get out of here,” Zeke murmured, and we hurried back toward the van. Grimly, Zeke poured the gas into the fuel tank, while I scanned the darkness and ocean of cars for rabids. Nothing moved, but I heard scuttling noises between the vehicles, and knew they were out there. It was only a matter of time before they saw us.

“Done,” he muttered, slamming the lid shut. Tossing me the gas can, we moved toward the front, but suddenly, the side door slid open and Caleb stumbled out, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m tired of sitting,” he announced. “When can we stop to eat?”

“Caleb, get inside,” Zeke ordered, but at that moment, a piercing shriek rent the air as a rabid hurled itself over a nearby car and lunged for him.

I dived forward, grabbed Caleb around the waist and spun, hugging him to my body. The rabid hit me hard, ripping at me with its claws, sinking jagged fangs into my neck. I hissed in pain, hunching my shoulders to protect Caleb as the rabid clawed frantically at my back.

Ruth suddenly shot out of the van, screaming, clutching a rusty tire iron. She swung it wildly, striking the rabid in the arm, and the monster whirled on her with a hiss.

“Get away from my brother!” Ruth shrieked and hit its cheek with a satisfying crack. The rabid staggered, roared and lashed out, curved talons catching the girl in the stomach, ripping through cloth and skin, tearing her open. Blood spattered the side of the van. As she fell back, gasping, Zeke lunged over the hood of the van, swung his machete and buried it in the rabid’s neck.

The monster collapsed, mouth working frantically, as howls and wails began to rise around us. I tossed Caleb in the van, ignoring his frantic cries, as Zeke scooped up Ruth and dived inside with her. Slamming the side door, I leaped over the hood and swung into the driver’s seat, yanking the door shut just as a rabid bounced off the glass, leaving a bloody spiderweb of cracks.

Another rabid leaped on the hood, hissing, as I turned the keys Zeke had left in the ignition and threw the van into Drive. The rabid smacked into the windshield, rolled off, and suddenly I had a clear shot at the open road. As I slammed my foot onto the pedal, the van leaped forward and screeched away down the sidewalk, striking a few rabids, as we escaped the city and fled into the night.

* * *

W
E
BURIED
R
UTH
just before dawn, on a small strip of farmland about an hour outside the city. She was conscious up until the end, surrounded by her family, cradled gently in Zeke’s arms the whole time. I concentrated on driving the van, trying to ignore the smell of blood soaking everything, and the soft, hopeless sobs coming from the back. Sometime near the end, I heard her whisper to Zeke that she loved him, and I listened to her heartbeat as it grew softer and softer, and finally stopped altogether.

“Allison,” Zeke called a few minutes later, over Caleb’s hysterical sobbing and pleas for his sister to wake up, “it’ll be dawn soon. Look for a place to stop.”

I pulled to a stop in front of an abandoned farmhouse, and even though dawn was close, I helped Zeke dig the grave in the hard clay outside the building. And with everyone gathered silently, Zeke said a few words for everyone we’d lost: Ruth and Dorothy, Darren and Jeb. His voice broke a few times, but he remained calm and matter-of-fact, even with the tears streaming down his face.

I couldn’t stay for the whole thing. With the sun threatening to peek over the horizon, I met Zeke’s eyes over the mound of earth, and he nodded. Drawing away from the much smaller group, I found a bare patch of soil behind the farmhouse and sank into the earth as Zeke’s quiet, grief-stricken voice followed me down into the darkness.

Chapter 25

Blissfully, my sleep was free of nightmares this time. But that didn’t quell my sense of urgency as I pushed myself free of the earth the next night, shaking dust from my hair and clothes. Kanin was still out there, somewhere. In trouble. Maybe he couldn’t be saved. Maybe the eerie silence in my dreams meant he was already dead. But I couldn’t leave him. I had to try to find him, at least.

Soon.

Picking a clump of clay from my hair, I turned and found Caleb staring up at me.

His eyes were red and swollen, his face dirty and streaked with old tears, smudges where he’d wiped at his face. But he stood there, watching me with dry, hooded eyes, solemn and unafraid.

“They put Ruth in the ground,” he said at last, as a faint growl of thunder echoed somewhere in the distance. Behind him, lightning flickered, showing a storm was on its way.

I nodded, wondering what he was getting at.

“But you came out,” Caleb said, his gaze flicking to the disturbed earth behind me. He padded up, staring into my face, his eyes hopeful. “You came out, so maybe…Ruth will come back, too? We could wait. We could wait until she comes back, just like you.”

“No, Caleb.” I shook my head sadly. “I’m different. I’m a vampire.” I paused, to see if that frightened him. It didn’t. Kneeling, I took his hand, staring at the grubby fingers. “Ruth was human,” I whispered. “Just like you. And Zeke. And everyone. She isn’t coming back.”

Caleb’s lip trembled. Without warning, he lunged at me, striking me with his small fists, beating on my shoulders. “Then make her a vampire!” he sobbed, as tears began welling in his eyes again. I flinched, more startled than anything, not knowing what to do. “Make her come back!” he screamed at me. “Bring her back right now!”

“Hey, hey! Caleb!” And Zeke was there, grabbing the boy’s wrist, swinging him into his arms. Caleb wailed and buried his face in Zeke’s shoulder, still pounding his chest weakly.

Zeke held him until the tantrum quieted, then lowered his head and murmured something in his ear. Caleb sniffled.

“I’m not hungry,” he mumbled.

“You should go eat something,” Zeke insisted, brushing back Caleb’s hair. His own eyes were red, and dark circles crouched beneath them, as if he hadn’t slept at all. Caleb sniffled and shook his head, sticking out his bottom lip. “No?” Zeke asked, smiling faintly. “You know, Teresa found apple jelly in the basement. And peach jam. It’s really sweet.”

A tiny gleam of interest from Caleb. “What’s apple jelly?”

“Go ask her to give you some,” Zeke said, putting him down. “Everyone is in the kitchen. Better hurry, or Matthew might eat it all.”

Caleb padded off, sullen, but at least his outburst seemed to have run its course. Zeke watched until he vanished around the corner, then sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

“Have you slept at all?” I asked.

“Maybe an hour.” Zeke lowered his arm, not looking at me, gazing over the tangled, choked fields beyond the fence. “Found some fuel in the garage,” he said, “and there’s about a dozen cans of preserves in the cellar, so we should be good for another night.” He sighed, bowing his head. “You told Caleb that Ruth wasn’t coming back?”

I stiffened, then nodded. “He needed to hear it. I didn’t want to give him false hope, that his sister could still be alive. That would just be cruel.”

“I know.” Zeke finally turned, and the bleakness on his face shocked me. He looked years older, lines and circles around his eyes and mouth that weren’t there before. “I was trying to tell him earlier, but…” He shrugged. “I guess he needed to hear it from you.”

“You know this wasn’t your fault.”

“Everyone keeps telling me that.” Zeke hunched his shoulders against the rising wind. “I wish I could believe it.” He raked his hair out of his face, shaking his head. “I wish I could believe…that we’re going to make it. That Eden is still out there, waiting, after all this time. That there’s
anywhere
on this godforsaken earth that is safe.” He turned and kicked a bottle lying in the weeds, sending it smashing into the side of the house. Green shards exploded, flying everywhere, and I blinked, watching him sadly.

Zeke tilted his head back, glaring up at the clouds. “Give me a sign,” he whispered, closing his eyes. “A hint. Anything. Anything to tell me I’m doing the right thing. That I shouldn’t give up and stop looking for the impossible, before everyone around me is dead!”

As expected, there was no answer except the wind and the approaching storm. Zeke sighed, dropping his head, and turned to me with eyes that had gone completely blank. “Let’s go,” he muttered, starting forward. “We should get on the road before the storm hits.”

I glanced back at the wall of clouds rolling in off the lake. Something glimmered against the black, a brief flash of movement, and I squinted, waiting for it to reappear. “Zeke,” I whispered, gazing over the fence. “Look.”

He turned, narrowing his eyes. For a moment, we stood there, the wind rising around us, forks of lightning slashing across the horizon. Thunder growled threateningly, and the first drops of rain began to fall.

Then, far in the distance, a beacon cut through the darkness, a beam of light, scuttling across the clouds. It vanished momentarily, only to reappear again a few seconds later, a spotlight turned toward the sky.

Zeke blinked. “What is that?”

“I don’t know,” I murmured, stepping up behind him. “But—and I could be wrong—it looks like it’s coming from the east.”

“Where Eden is supposed to be,” Zeke finished in a near whisper and took off, jogging around the side of the house without looking back. I heard him calling for the others and joined them, feeling the excitement and nervousness as everyone scrambled to leave. And I hoped, desperately, that at the end of this road, they would find what they were looking for.

* * *

W
E
FOLLOWED
THE
LAKE
EDGE
, keeping our eyes on the faint beam of light over the trees. No one spoke, but the excitement from several rapidly beating hearts was easy to hear. Rain pounded the windows, and Zeke squinted through the glass, his gaze focused and intent. Though it was difficult to see through the storm, the light never stopped, a sliver of hope glimmering through the rain, urging us on.

The road narrowed, weaving its way through overgrown forest and woods, sometimes vanishing altogether as grass, dirt and brush crowded the edges and broke through the pavement. Dead vehicles began appearing through the trees, scattered on the side of the road or abandoned in the ditch. Uneasiness stirred, and my instincts jangled a warning. It seemed to me that these cars could have belonged to others drawn to that light, following the same promises of hope and safety. Only, they never made it. Something had stopped them before they reached their Eden. Something that was probably waiting for us, as well.

Rabids are always drawn to places that have lots of people.
Kanin’s voice echoed in my head.
That’s why the ruins just outside vampire cities are so dangerous. Because the rabids have discovered where their prey is, and though they can’t get over the walls, they never stop trying. Of course, they’re not intelligent enough to set up complex traps, but they have been known to ambush people or even vehicles, if they know where their prey is going.

Zeke suddenly slammed on the brakes. Caleb and Bethany cried out as the van skidded a few feet in the road, then came to a lurching halt, still in the center of the pavement. Peering through the glass, my blood ran cold.

A tree lay across the road, huge and thick and gnarled, much too big to go around, over or through. From the storm and the amount of rain and wind, it might’ve fallen on its own. It might’ve been uprooted and had crashed from entirely natural causes.

And yet…I knew it had not.

Zeke looked at me, his face pale. “They’re out there, aren’t they?”

I nodded.

“How long until sunrise?”

I checked my internal clock. “It’s not even midnight.”

He swallowed. “If we sit here…”

“They’ll tear the van apart, trying to get at us.” I looked down the road, searching for the light. It shone above the branches, tantalizingly close. “We’re going to have to make a run for it.”

Zeke closed his eyes. I could see he was shaking. Opening them, he stole a quick glance at the back, at Caleb and Bethany, Silas, Teresa, Matthew and Jake. The last of our party. The only ones left. Leaning in close, he lowered his voice. “They’ll never make it,” he whispered. “Teresa has a bad leg, and the kids…they can’t outrun those things. I can’t leave them.”

I glanced out the window. Beyond the headlights was only rain and darkness, but I knew they were out there, watching us.
Leave them,
my survival instincts whispered.
They’re lost. Get Zeke out of there and forget the others; there’s no saving them, not this time.

I growled, deep in my throat. We had come this far. We just had to go a little farther. “Don’t worry about the rabids,” I muttered, grabbing the door handle. “Just concentrate on the others. Get them to safety as quickly as you can and don’t look back.”

“Allison—”

I put my hand over his, feeling him tremble under my fingers. “Trust me.”

He met my gaze. Then, not caring of our audience or the gasps that echoed from the back, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. It was a desperate kiss, full of longing and sorrow, as if he was saying goodbye. “Be careful,” he whispered, pulling away. And I suddenly wished we could’ve had more time, that the world didn’t consume every bit of light and goodness it found, that people like Zeke and I could somehow find our Eden.

I turned, opened the car door and stepped out into the rain.

Hopping the tree, I drew my sword, seeing my shadow stretch out before me in the headlights.
All right, monsters,
I thought, walking forward.
I know you’re there. Let’s get on with it.

The storm swirled around me, pelting me with rain, whipping at my coat and hair. Lightning flashed, turning the world white, revealing nothing but empty woods and shadows.

It flickered again, and suddenly, the trees were full of them, hundreds of dead white eyes glaring at me as they shuffled forward. There were so many; like ants swarming out of a nest, and the air filled with their eerie wails and cries.

I gripped my blade and took one deliberate step forward.

With piercing shrieks, the rabids flung themselves at me, a pale, chaotic swarm. Howling a battle cry, I lunged to the edge of the road and met the first wave with flashing steel, cutting through limbs and splitting bodies in two. Claws slashed at me, tearing through my coat, into my skin. Blood misted on the damp air, both mine and the tainted blood of the monsters, but I didn’t feel any pain. Roaring, I bared my fangs and surged into the wave, splitting them apart. Everything dissolved into a chaotic blur of blood and fangs and slashing limbs, and I lost myself in complete, savage destruction.

A scream drew my attention to the van. Zeke was pulling Caleb out the side door, when a rabid clawed its way out of the earth next to the van and slashed at them with curved talons. With one arm, Zeke swung Caleb out of its reach, bringing the machete down with the other. The blade struck the monster’s skull, burying deep, and the rabid jerked away, twitching. I started toward them when suddenly, through the trees, the earth roiled, and another wave of monsters erupted from the ground. Eyes blazing, they gave chilling wails and flung themselves at the van.

“Zeke!” I screamed, cutting a rabid’s head from its neck, even as the claws ripped a gash in my sleeve, “get them out of there now!”

“Go!” Zeke bellowed, and the tiny group of six humans scrambled over the tree and took off down the road. Silent Jake led them, clutching the ax he’d picked up from our last stop, but the others were either too small or too old to carry weapons. Zeke hovered by the van, waiting until everyone was gone, before turning to flee, as well.

A rabid came hurling out of nowhere, slamming into him before he could move, pinning him to the hood of the van. Jaws snapping, it lunged for Zeke’s throat, but Zeke’s hand shot out, clamping around its neck, holding the teeth away. The rabid hissed in fury and ripped at him with its claws, tearing at his chest, and for a horrible moment, I flashed back to that night in the rain, where I had died, holding the monster away from my throat while its claws tore my life away.

“Zeke!” Breaking away from the horde, I started toward him. But Zeke brought his foot up, kicking the rabid in the chest, hurling it away. His blue eyes met mine through the rain.

“Help the others!” he spat, as the rabid bounced to its feet with a hiss and sprang at him again. It met the blade of a machete, slashing across its face, and lurched back with a shriek, blood pouring across its eyes. “Allison!” Zeke spared me a split-second glance. “Forget about me—help the others! Please!”

I watched Zeke bring his weapon up, the front of his shirt drenched with blood, watched the rabid close on him, and made my decision.

Whirling, I sprang after the rest of the group, catching up to them just as a pair of rabids lunged for Bethany, cutting them down before they touched her. But the circle was closing in; everywhere I looked, rabids were coming at us, leaping through the trees and rising out of the ground. Several jumped forward, but I sliced them apart before they reached the rest of the group. Still, it was only a matter of time before numbers overwhelmed us.