Page 146 of Walking in Darkness
And our circle became larger and larger, growing in strength and magnitude as the torrent of people undulated closer and closer to the magnet that pulled us all toward our destination.
The fissure.
Up ahead, Kruen began to run rampant through the mass.
Tossing people out of their way, rising high as they slashed with fiery tendrils, unconcerned who was in their path, though it was clearexactlywho they were trying to get to.
“Oh God,” Aria said as we pushed our way through the havoc. “We have to find Ambrose. There’s too many of them to fight off. We have to get around them, cause a distraction somehow.”
She closed her eyes for a beat before they whipped open with a new severity. “Keep pressing forward. He’s here ... I can feel him.”
A loud engine suddenly roared over the commotion, and shouts of terror echoed over the crush before it was riddled with cries of pain.
“What the fuck is that?” Timothy bellowed, turning a worried glance my way.
I struggled to see over the heads of the people.
My heart sank like a rock to the pit of my stomach. “A tractor.”
A big fucking tractor that someone was using to bulldoze the throng as it came in our direction.
Ellis slashed the belly of a woman who tried to claw at his face. Then he turned to me, belief in his eyes. “Do something.”
I gulped, not wanting to leave Aria’s side for a second.
“We have her,” Josephine promised.
I met Aria’s gaze for a beat.
An eternity.
My love pouring out before I gave a succinct dip of my chin, then ducked out of the huddle and ran for the edge of the sidewalk, where there were fewer people.
Here, the buildings were closer together, what likely amounted to their main street. The road was narrow, but angled parking spots were situated in front of the shops and restaurants.
I ran alongside them, jumping over garbage cans and flowerpots and dodging any fucker who tried to get in my way, shifting my body so I could glide around them, ignoring the assholes who were busting out windows and wreaking whatever havoc they could find.
One objective in mind.
Metal screeched as the tractor tore through the cars that had been left in the middle of the street, busting through them as well as any people in his way, both Laven and the deranged.
A man sat at its helm, his skin bubbling and blistering, appearing as if he were getting ready to explode. Nothing but evil twisted his malicious face, no thoughts other than the one that had taken over his mind.
“End her.”
“End her.”
I could almost hear it radiating from his spirit. Crawling out of the vile depths of his being.
I was not going to let that happen.
I finally made it far enough up the sidewalk that the tractor was nearly parallel to me.
It was old, the color a faded yellow with a big metal scoop attached to the front, no tires but instead those giant metal tracks that marred the ground.
Thank fuck there was no cage on it to protect the driver.
Turning on my heel, I began to run toward it. Winding between two degenerates who were so far gone they were fighting each other, I jumped onto the hood of a car in front of me and used it to propel myself over the heads of the fiends who writhed around the tractor.
