Page 141 of His to Burn
“Probably desperate. Didn’t see another way,” he said.
So much like everyone else here and now.
“Yeah. I hope there’s some—” Jack stopped abruptly, then looked up.
“Do you hear that?” he said quietly.
I listened, then heard it. Faint at first and then louder.
“Is that...”
“Quiet.”
He let out a low whistle and got the others’ attention.
“Hide,” he said in a whisper-yell.
We ducked into the back of the truck, and I peeped out of the window, my heart practically seizing when I saw what was approaching.
“There’s hundreds of them,” I said.
“Yeah,” Jack said.
I didn’t want to look, but couldn’t make myself look away as they approached. Those things, moving almost as a unit, the sound of their shambling and their moans getting louder and louder.
“They’ll pass us by,” Jack said, his voice quiet.
I prayed he was right, but if they did, it would take a while.
They passed, always moving, but so, so slow that I worried my heart couldn’t take it.
I tried to stay calm, stay quiet, but every moment felt like torture.
I inhaled sharply when I felt something, then looked down into the now dim evening light to see that it was Jack.
He interlaced his fingers with mine, and I looked into his eyes.
Saw the calm there. Knew that no matter what, I wasn’t alone.
“No matter what, right?” I dared whisper.
Jack nodded, his gaze unwavering.
I held his hand, squeezing it so hard I knew it hurt.
But it didn’t bother him.
And he didn’t let me go.
Jack
“They’re gone,” I said.
It was dawn now, the tense night spent in the back of the truck finally giving way to the morning light.
The crowd was so thick, I lost sight of the others, and by the time it started to thin, a full night had fallen.
I didn’t know what was out there, and I couldn’t fight what I couldn’t see, so I stayed put and hoped the others did, too.
