He took his cowboy hat off, ran a hand through his white hair, then plopped it back in place. "Well, I don"t know about you, but I"m exhausted. I think we should all try and get some sleep, then head on out of here before noon. Get back to Minnesota."
"I agree, but what if those guys come back and cause more trouble for the nuns?" I whispered.
"You know, something tells me that they"re not coming back this way. No, I think they"ve got bigger fish to fry and this was just a little pit-stop."
"You really think so?"
He nodded.
"What about you, Nora?" I asked, as she walked over to us. "What"d you make of those two guys?"
She sighed. "Tell you the truth- that dude Travis, he seriously gave me the chills."
I raised my eyebrows. "He even freaked you out, huh?"
"h.e.l.l yeah. The way he handled the big Dufus, and that ball of fire he conjured up...that was some strange s.h.i.t."
"Sister Theresa called him a demon," I said. "Um, you don"t think there was anything to that?"
Nora burst out laughing. "Seriously, Wild? A freaken" demon? What funny plants have you been smoking, girl?"
I frowned. "Well, if I would have mentioned zombies three months ago, you would have laughed at me then, too."
Her smile fell. "Good point."
Henry waved his hand in disgust. "Okay, enough demon-mumbo-jumbo talk. That guy was some kind of illusionist, just like I told Wild. That"s all it is. Why do you think he had that tattoo under his eye? Been in prison, obviously. If he was a demon, you think he would have ended up in the slammer? h.e.l.l no."
"Maybe you"re right," I said. "I"m just being paranoid. That stuff the nuns were talking about earlier, it"s been niggling at me."
"Listen, Wild, those two were just trying to scare the tar out of us. Obviously, they did a good job. Even left me a little miffed. But now we know better, right? It"s just illusion brought on by an evil man. One that is human, and nothing more."
I nodded.
"Okay," he said. "Now, I"m tuckered. I"m going to lie down for an hour or two. When I"m refreshed, we"re going to make sure these women have what they need to keep those kids safe for a while. Then, we"re going to get back to our original mission- find your grandparents, Nora"s old man, and then get our b.u.t.ts back to Atlanta."
Thinking of how much I missed my sister and Bryce, I couldn"t agree more.
He stared off into the darkness, a wistful look on his face. "I tell you what- I sure miss watching Belinda do those Pilate moves, by golly. I don"t even have to exercise- she squats and it"s all that"s needed to get this old man"s blood flowing."
I bit back a smile as Henry started shuffling towards the church.
Chapter Thirteen.
"Do you think she"ll stay put?" asked Billie as they skidded down the mud-covered hill and through the trees.
Fortunately, the boat was anch.o.r.ed in a spot that was accessible, although not easily on foot. Thus, their trek had been more challenging than they"d antic.i.p.ated.
"She better or she"s going to have more than the zombies to worry about. If she doesn"t fall going down this hill, then she"ll fall backwards when I rip into her about defying us."
Billie chuckled. "Somehow, I don"t think you scare her."
"I must be losing my touch," said Bryce, with a humorless grin. "I can"t keep any of these girls in line."
"They"re all pretty unruly. I"m surprised they"ve made it this far, being so reckless."
"If you ask me, they"ve just been really lucky."
"Well, I don"t know about just being lucky. Nora, Ca.s.sie, and Paige are pretty tough chicks. They put a lot of men I"ve met to shame."
"Yeah, well they"re also overly-confident when it comes to these zombies. I mean, seriously, one false move and that"s it. Tar-tar for the zombies. They all need to start thinking before acting."
"I hear you."
When the guys reached the bottom of the hill, they moved to the edge of the water and Bryce took out his flashlight.
"The water," whispered Billie. "It"s pink again, isn"t it?"
Bryce shined it at the water near their feet and nodded. "Yeah, it kind of looks that way."
Billie frowned. "I can"t believe this. What in the heck is going on?"
"Just relax, man. Don"t go jumping to conclusions."
"It"s hard not too, after everything that has happened."
He shook the flashlight several times, to charge it. "We have to focus on finding the girls right now. We"ll worry about this other stuff later."
Billie"s eyes widened and he pointed. "Oh my G.o.d- what is that?"
Bryce aimed the flashlight towards the moonlit water and felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. "I, um, believe those are a couple of zombies enjoying a midnight swim."
"That"s pretty creepy," he said, watching the zombies, who were wading out into deeper water.
"Yeah, a little bit."
"Wonder if zombies got to the people on the boat?"
"I guess we"ll soon find out. "h.e.l.lo!" he called, aiming the flashlight towards the dark yacht.
n.o.body answered.
"h.e.l.lo!" he yelled louder, his voice echoing across the water.
"This doesn"t look good," muttered Billie, after a few minutes of silence.
"No, it doesn"t," he said, handing him the flashlight. "Here hold this."
"What are you going to do?"
Bryce lifted his gray T-shirt over his head. "I"m swimming out there."
"Seriously?"
"Yep. Just watch out for zombies for me, okay? Especially those two we just saw. They seem to be ignoring us for now, but that could change in a heartbeat."
"Yeah. No problem."
Bryce removed his socks and boots. "Okay, wish me luck."
"Good luck, man."
He stepped into the water and swore under his breath. Even though it was in the middle of the summer, the river"s water was still pretty chilly.
"Cold?"
He waded further into the murky water. "Very," he said through clenched teeth. He then launched forward and began swimming towards the yacht, which was about three hundred yards away. Bryce tried to ignore the smell of the water as it splashed against his face. Although he was no ecologist, he knew there was definitely something wrong with the river. Not only was it the wrong color but it smelled like iron.
"Bryce!"
He stopped swimming and turned back to find both Billie and now Paige, both standing on the embankment, waving their arms frantically.
Dammit, he thought, planting his feet on a sandbank. Why can"t one of these girls just do what there told, for once!
"Zombie!" hollered Billie.
Bryce turned around and found himself face to face with a zombie. Gasping, he pulled his fist back and delivered a hard punch to the creature"s nose, shattering any remaining bone and cartilage. Before the zombie could do make any moves, he threw himself back into the water and began swimming again. When he reached the back of the yacht, he climbed onto the swimming platform, took a few seconds to catch his breath and then stepped into the aft.
"h.e.l.lo?" he called, knocking on the sliding gla.s.s door. When n.o.body answered, he pulled it open, stepped inside, and searched the impressive boat. Unfortunately, it appeared to have been abandoned.
Sighing, he turned to leave the galley when something caught his eye. A note taped to the refrigerator that said: Went in search of supplies. If you are a stranger, please be respectful to our boat and we"ll share what we have. If you"re family, take off your shoes and stay awhile! We"ll try to hurry - XOXO Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face, wondering what to do. They certainly couldn"t wait around for Ca.s.sie"s family to show up. It might not ever happen.
Noticing the pen, he quickly scribbled a message of his own on the same note: Ca.s.sie, If you get this, we"ll be at your grandparents for the next couple of days. Come find us.
Love, Bryce Sighing, he walked out of the galley, through the boat"s salon and out the back, closed the sliding gla.s.s door. When he turned back around, he found himself looking right into a double-barrel shot-gun.
Chapter Fourteen.
"Wait, you guys. I just can"t walk any further," said Allie. "My feet hurt are killing me."
"We need to keep moving," said Justice, turning around, walking backwards. "I think there"s a house over that next hill."
Her eyes narrowed. "You say that before every hill."
"One of these times, I"ll be right."
She stopped, took off her pink canvas shoes, and stared at her heels in alarm. "See, they"re both raw from blisters."
Justice walked back and stared at her ankles. "It"s your fault for wearing such cheap tennis shoes and no socks."
"It"s not like I had a lot of choice in the matter," she muttered. "The only other ones I had were left in the truck we abandoned back at that parking ramp. The one you said was too dangerous to return too. So if anything, it"s your fault."
"Well, it wasn"t like I planned this hike," he said. "We just got stuck with the wrong truck."
"Hey, someone"s coming!" cried Allie.
They both turned to stare at the large pair of headlights heading towards them in the distance.
"It"s a semi," said Justice. "You girls get behind those trees over there. I"ll see if they stop."
The girls ran towards the dark woods and hid behind a large oak tree as the truck got closer. When it slowed down and finally stopped came to a stop, Justice ran up to it.
"Hey kid," smiled the pa.s.senger, a man who looked to be in his late twenties. "You need a ride?"
The dark-haired man had a friendly enough smile but there was something about him that seemed off. "Maybe. Where you heading?" asked Justice.
"Oh, here and there," he replied, scratching his chin. "What about you?"
"Minnesota."
"You have a long way to go."
Justice chuckled. "Tell me about it."
"Well, you"re in luck because we"ll be pa.s.sing through that way. Have some business to take care of in Canada. You may as well join us."
"You don"t mind?" asked Justice.
"h.e.l.l no," said the man. "In fact, it"s your lucky day, kid. We"ve got s.p.a.ce as well as food and water. That"s why we"re using this rig." He grinned and patted the outside of the door. "It came fully supplied with life"s little necessities."
Truth be told, he was parched and the thought of water made his mouth feel even drier. "So, what about your friend in the cab- he okay with that? Sharing a ride along with your supplies with a stranger?"
The man turned to the driver and said something, then turned back. "He said to get in, time"s a-wasting."