The air explodedfrom my lungs, and I blinked awake with sympathy for any dinosaurs who had attempted to sleep through a world-ending meteor shower.
“Colby?” Asa flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror. “Are you all right?”
“She’s fine,” I wheezed. “I caught her with my stomach rolls.”
Beside me, Clay snorted out a laugh and scooped her off me. I pushed upright while the SUV cut in and out of lanes, and a hard bump jostled me. I banged my head on the ceiling and hurried to strap on my seat belt.
“What’s wrong?” I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth to check for drool. “Do we have a flat?”
“Ten points,” Colby crowed, pumping her fist. “You’re up to thirty.”
“Points?” I leaned forward, noticing the crimson smears on the windshield. “Oh crap.”
The headlights illuminated a staggering zombie congo line crossing the road ahead of us. There was no way to avoid them. They weren’t organized. They were tied together. With rope. Which made them that much worse as they pulled and tugged to get away from one another.
“Any idea who they used to be?” I sat back, bracing for impact with a hand on the back of Asa’s seat. “They look human.”
“That’s my guess.” Clay held Colby tight. “Easier to hunt and to reanimate.”
“And there are a lot more of them.”
The word disposable came to mind, but that was how black witches saw humans. As less than. Unworthy of notice. They put the human in human sacrifice. That was the only use black witches had for them.
Tires screamed as Asa hit the brakes, and my head bounced off the window when he cut the wheel hard.
“Ouch.” I rubbed my temple. “Anyone else feeling like Humpty Dumpty?”
No wonder I had ended up with a gut full of moth. His evasive maneuvers had slung her into me.
“Come here.” Clay gripped my elbow, hauled me as close as the seat belt allowed, then locked his strong arm around my shoulders to anchor me against his side. “You gotta protect that noggin, Dollface.”
“You gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet,” I said lamely, happy to use him as my shield.
“I think you broke her,” he teased Asa on a laugh. “Colby, can you sense brain damage?”
Her airy intake of breath wedged a blade in my heart, and I reached up for her.
“He’s joking.” I snuggled down with her against his side. “I got my teeth rattled, but I’m fine.”
“How far are we from town?” Clay settled in to brace us better. “We must be halfway there.”
“Lights ahead.” Tension rode Asa’s voice as he worked to keep us on the road. “Won’t be long now.”
“Who is crazy enough to throw zombies at us on the highway so close to town?”
“Not crazy.” Clay squeezed me tighter. “Desperate.”
A buzz in my pocket had me reaching for my cell and hoping momentum didn’t jerk it out of my hand.
>>I shot a trespasser.
“Oh no,” I breathed, recognizing the number. “Mrs. Gleason shot someone.”
>On your land or on mine?
>>Ha! With your police friends? Like I would tell you if it was on my land.
“I have a funny feeling I live next to a graveyard.” I exhaled. “She is one hardcore lady.”