Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles 1)

“I’m sorry,” I repeated. I had to get out of here. Now.

Shaking off Kat’s hold, I whirled around and pushed my way through the still-writhing bodies on the dance floor. A strobe light tossed out beams of pink, blue and yellow. Where I would go—and how I could get there—I wasn’t sure. I was miles from home, and there was no way I’d walk in the dark.

“This is becoming a very bad habit,” Cole growled, suddenly keeping pace beside me. His arm wrapped around my waist. “You run, I chase.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. His expression might break me. “We can’t do that again,” I said. Ever.

“Why?”

I noticed he didn’t have to ask what I was talking about. “As you so eloquently pointed out in the forest, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but we almost…you know…in public!”

“You know. That’s what you call it?”

Was that amusement in his tone? “Do you want me to punch you in the face?”

“No, I want you to be still and listen to me.”

“That’s not happening.”

He sighed, a wary sound. “Even if I promise not to you know in public again?”

“No,” I snapped, and I wasn’t sure whether I was happy or ticked by his easy assurance.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.” He linked our fingers and stalked ahead of me, leading the way. Everyone parted as though he was Moses and they were the sharks in the Red Sea.

“I’m not going home.”

“Even better.”

Outside, warm night air relaxed me. Not the heat so much, but the fresh, clean scent. No perfumes or sweat lingered in the breeze, and I was able to breathe deeply, savor. Cole never slowed. He just plowed ahead, toward…his Jeep. He’d parked at the end of the lot, under a streetlight, angled so that he had a straight shot onto the road. The top and doors had not been replaced.

“I’ll leave with you,” I said, “but I can’t be gone long.”

“Fine.”

“So why was Frosty upset with me?”

A pause. Then “You’re a wild card, and we don’t know exactly what to make of you. Plus, I’m supposed to exercise caution when dealing with you, yet several times already I’ve acted out of character and put myself in danger.”

Truth, no evasion, but the words gave me no comfort. He and his friends had discussed me, and they obviously thought I—weird little staring me—was nefarious.

“Maybe we shouldn’t see each other tomorrow.” The words were sharp, lashing out at him. “Things will be easier if we—”

“Oh, we’re seeing each other tomorrow. Don’t even try to get out of our date.”

“Date! You said it wasn’t a date.” To be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to date him anymore. I wasn’t ready for a guy like him. I couldn’t handle him.

“Whatever. We’ve got some getting to know each other to do.”

“And we will, maybe,” I said. “But I’m actually going to the party with another boy.” I didn’t owe him an explanation, but I couldn’t stop myself from adding, “It’s not a date, either, we’re just friends, but I—”

Cole stopped, just stopped, and whirled on me. His eyelids narrowed. “Who?”

No. No way I’d tell him. I might not have any experience with boys, but I knew he’d threaten Justin simply to prove his status as Asher Tough Guy. The problem was, he’d follow through. “You will not hurt him. Promise me.”

Those lids narrowed further. “I’ll promise not to kill him, how’s that?”

Okay, that was taking things a little far. “Why would you want to kill him?”

“I don’t know. I just do.”

How informative. My first thought: I should cancel with Justin, just in case this mood of Cole’s continued into tomorrow night. My second: I couldn’t let Cole’s moods dictate my life.

“Nothing else to say to me?” Cole asked.

I lifted my chin in defiance, a new habit I must have developed. “No.”

“We’ll see about that.” He darted back into motion, dragging me with him. We reached his Jeep, and he placed his hands on my waist to heft me inside. Before he’d lifted me an inch, his entire body tensed. He sniffed the air.

In reflex, I, too, sniffed the air.

Rot.

Panic threatened to consume me. That same stench had permeated my backyard two nights ago when I’d gone tearing out with a baseball bat, intending to confront Bridezilla.

Only two nights. Too soon.

“Cole. We need to leave.”

“You’re leaving. I’m staying.”

I blinked, and Cole had his crossbow palmed. A cold sweat sheened my skin. “Cole?”

“Go back inside, Ali.”

Sounded like an excellent plan, considering I was weaponless, but I stayed just where I was. “Come inside with me.” If he stayed out here, alone…no! I couldn’t let him, wouldn’t leave him to face whatever danger lurked out there. He might know what it was, he and his friends might even seek it out as I suspected, but I wasn’t going to watch another person fall to the monsters. “Please.”

“Tell the boys I need them,” he said, ignoring my plea.

Just then he reminded me of my dad, looking in every direction, stiff, alert, poised to erupt into battle.

“The f-fighting vision I had,” I stuttered, my mind locking on the thought. Our kiss had happened. Why not this, too?

I had to tell him all the details I hadn’t had the courage to tell him before. If I stayed quiet, he would stay out here. He was too stubborn for his own good.

“I don’t know what happened in yours, but in mine, there were monsters all around us, wanting to eat us.” The words gushed out of me. “And the other night, I saw two of them, outside my window, for real and not in a vision. At the time, I thought I was crazy.” Now, I wasn’t so sure. “They were watching me and when I checked on them, there were tracks. The ones you showed me.”

He sucked in a breath, an indication he’d heard me, but he never glanced in my direction. He kept his attention straight ahead, clearly waiting for the threat to materialize. If it did, would he see the monster or not? Would I?

“Do you have any idea what you just—”

A twig snapped in the distance, and he went silent.

Four men trudged into a ray of moonlight, their clothing dirty and ripped. Their eyes sagged, their skin was pitted and their finger bones were gnarled and curled in. Hair had fallen out of their scalps in chunks, leaving them mostly bald.