Page 14 of When the Living Fall

My gaze falls on Debbie, lying in the mud a few feet away. If she can remain undetected, they can get away with anything else they want to. I can’t lose my second-best girl tonight, too.

“This is pathetic. Thought you’d have more,” one guy sneers, flinging our knives around like they’re worthless. I grit my teeth when I see the blades scraping against rock and dirt. I just sharpened them, too. They’re going to pay for that. I should be afraid like Willie probably is, but I find thiswhole situation rather annoying. What a grand waste of time.

“We’ll give you whatever you want. Please, leave us be. We have a girl to find,” Griffin begs. The plea is odd coming from him, thick with desperation. I’d expect him to be a stone statue, always standing up against dregs. Instead, mud is dirtying his knees, and his eyes are those of a broken man. Fascinating. This is the first time he’s ever tried to give shitheads like this what they want. “Please. We’re wasting time.”

“A girl, you say?” Another man snickers, and every muscle in my tenses when I realize their interest has shifted. The hairs on the back of my neck stand upright. My fingers curl. A flash of red creeps into my vision, and I grip the mud like I could tear it apart.

“I take it you haven’t seen a girl since the dead rose,” William taunts, earning himself a brutal punch to the face. Blood spatters across the ground. Willie-boy sways, but he stays upright, kneeling in the mud, his jaw tight. I’ve gotta hand it to him. That soft boy has found himself some balls.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I struggle against my assailant, but his grip on my wrists only tightens. The bastard pressing me down digs his knee harder into my spine, pressing my face deeper into the mud. I think I’m chewing on a cricket at this point. Huh, that’s actually not bad.

It’s not until one guy picks Debbie off the ground that my amused annoyance turns into anger. A sharp, violent need takes me over. I swallow the cricket. “As much fun as this is, I think we’ve had enough play time. Now it’s time to die.”

“Play time?” A man questions with a chuckle, mocking my words. I grin. They won’t be laughing for long.

With a twist of my body, I flip onto my back, so itsquishes against the mud with the guy on top of me now seated over my crotch. Oh, hell no.

Before he can react, I grab the front of his shirt and yank him down. His brief look of confusion turns to twisted pain when I slam my forehead into his.

Beautiful pain sears through my skull and blinds me for a moment. The kind that makes me feel alive. I let my mouth hang open while I watch the stars dance away, and then let out a laugh. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve done that. I forgot how much of a rush it gives. The addiction to the pain. I slide the guy off me and watch him hit the mud, stunned.

Another one runs toward me. Perfect. I get to my feet. “Help me out, will ya?”

The guy stops in front of me, confused by my request. I grab his hand and place it against my shoulder, then use force to shove it back into the socket. A coolness runs through me, and I know it worked. The dreg watches me in horror. “What are you doing?”

“Fantastic. Thank you.” Reaching out, I yank Debbie back into my grasp—she practically hums at my touch—get to my feet, and swing. Another lunges at me, Debbie hums as I swing her around, catching him below the jaw. Blood arcs through the air, mingling with the rain and mud, painting the scene in wild, swirling patterns. My movements are pure instinct now—swing, thrust, spin. Repeat.

The next one falls, then another, their groans fading into wet gurgles. In mere moments, I’m standing over their broken bodies, their blood staining the ground like a dark, twisted victory flag.

I spit on their beautifully bruised and broken bodies. “That’s what happens when you touch what’s mine.”

They don’t flinch. They only groan and curse me out under their breath, which brings a smile to my lips.

Griffin doesn’t waste a second. He’s already moving,running ahead. Dude has no chill, but he’s determined to be the first to find Emily. He ought to be at this point.

William wipes a streak of mud from his face, smearing it with the back of his hand. “You good?”

Grinning, I roll my shoulders and flex my fingers around Debbie’s handle. “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling refreshed after that mud massage. I didn’t realize it was spa day in the apocalypse. What a luxury treatment. Remind me to put it on my calendar for next year.”

He rolls his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching as he holsters his gun and glances over his shoulder toward Griffin, who’s already disappearing down the trail.

I scoop up what’s left of my scattered weapons, my boot grinding down on the fingers of the guy who dared to touch Debbie. He cries out in pain when his fingers crush, and it only makes my grin widen. His hand spasms when I step back, and I admire the scene for a second. Weapons, blood, and pain. Perfect. The trifecta of a good time.

William and Griffin already have a lead on me. I’ll have to sprint in order to catch up. Hmm, maybe I carry too many weapons.

Nah. If anything, I have space for more. Actually…

I double back and strip the assholes of their weapons, too, then push off into a sprint. The extra weapons don’t even slow me down. It’s as though I was destined to be a mobile armory.

The world blurs around me as we sprint through the night, shadows stretching across the earth in dark, twisted shapes. I mistook a few shadows for rotters and ended up beating Debbie against a tree here and there before I realized my mistake. I’ll have to make it up to her with some dreg blood later. She’ll be alright.

We’re exhausted, but somehow, we have newfound energy after that confrontation. Griffin leaves behind drops of blood on the fallen leaves, but he refuses to let up. Emilyis going to kill him when she sees the state he’s in. Maybe I can convince her to wait until I find some popcorn.

After what feels like hours but could be mere minutes for all I know, we reach a cliff edge and skid to a drop, sending a dust cloud flying up around us. We look down.

“A dead end. Are you kidding me?” William mutters, peering over the edge with distaste.

The drop stretches far and steep, craggy with rocks and roots twisting out from the rock face. It’s dangerous—my favorite kind of terrain—but as always, I’m alone in the thrill. I don’t see a single path that would be Griffin-approved. Or even William-approved. Unlike me, they turn up their nose at danger. They’ll never understand the thrill of fresh air and jagged rocks beneath them.

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