The Girl Who Punched Back (Death Fields 2)

The fighting outside quiets and I exhale, hoping maybe this is the end of it. “Let me know if you need anything,” I tell Amanda. She nods and moves back to her patient.

Parker and Jude are talking quietly in the front room when I walk in. The front door rattles and we all stop, looking uneasily at one another, wondering which direction this will go in. I take point, weapon ready, and the others stand behind me. Parker looks steady and my confidence in Jude has grown solid.

The rattle changes to banging. Loud banging. Then shouts. “Open up! We need all medical outside!”

It sounds like Davis, but I’m not sure. How am I supposed to be sure? Even if they’re still alive, they could be bit and transitioning. Amanda and Dr. Green appear in the hallway.

“Everyone stay back. Jude, do not let them past, got it?”

I move to the door and slide the bolt. A fist swings in my direction and Davis, carrying another person, stumbles forward. I pull my hatchet away from his face, but not before he shouts, “Jesus, Ramsey, what the hell are you doing?”

The body on the ground has a blood-stained mohawk and I know for certain it’s Wyatt. Davis rolls him over and it’s clear he’s unconscious and covered, again, in blood. This time, I have a feeling it belongs to him. Amanda rushes forward and pushes me out of the way.

“Has he been bitten?” she asks in a collected voice.

I am not so collected. Jude tugs me backwards and out of their way.

“No. Just beat up.” Davis wipes sweat off his forehead. He doesn’t look too good, either. “He got caught in the middle of the swarm and crushed against the fence. We had to use an explosive to get him out of there.”

“Take him to the first room on the left,” she says, and Dr. Green helps pick him up off the ground.

“What do we do?” I grab Davis’ arm as he heads down the hall.

“Get your ass out there and clean up. We killed all the dead. You need to go out there and help the living.”

Chapter 13

There’s nothing worse than cleaning up a dead Eater.

I mean, it may actually be the worst of the worst, and I say this living in the apocalypse. For real. They smell. They’re oozing. And oh, my God, the flies.

I lean over and quickly move the bandana from my mouth and nose and gag.

“Ramsey, if you puke it’s just going to add to the smell. Keep it together, please,” Jude says as he drags a body with only one leg to the pit we spent the morning digging.

Jude, Parker, and I, along with the other new recruits, secured the awesome job of clean up since we didn’t actually fight in the battle the night before. I get the point, and the veteran Fighters are either healing in the clinic or keeping watch over our efforts, but still, it sucks.

And did I mention it smells? Really badly.

“Seriously? Does it not make you gag?” I ask, choking back bile.

“I told you, I’ve just compartmentalized it—like eviscerating a deer after a kill.”

My stomach flips at the thought.

“You’ll get used to it,” he says, patting me on the back.

The number of bodies on the ground is astonishing, but Walker told us that we didn’t lose any of our own in the fight. That makes me feel a little better about our abilities as a group, even if my own specialty seems to be lugging dead bodies into a pile to burn.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my sleeve and push the bandana back in place. Reaching for the arm of the dead Eater at my feet, I notice something. Coated in dirt and grime is a thick paper band wrapped around his wrist. I scrape away part of the sooty dust and purple appears. Where have I seen this before?

Parker walks by, dragging her own body toward the pit by the feet. She shakes her head and raises an eyebrow. “Girl, what are you doing?”

I frown at the band and twist it around to see if it has anything else identifying on it. No logo or anything. Just a series of numbers.

“Alex!” Parker shouts and I blink up at her. “What the hell are you doing?”

“This bracelet. I’ve seen one before.” I glance down at the body she’s dragging—this one a female. Her long, dirty hair is tangled with dirt and debris. My eyes scan her body and land on the shirt-covered wrist. “Hold up.”