Page 140 of Remnants
Kellan shoves the zombies away, and Rae uses her gift on any that are in her way one at a time. I shoot the ones that get close to me or her, then switch to trying to knock them down with my fist instead. My bullets are wasted on them when they don’t feel pain, but knocking them away to give us time to keep moving is the best I can do right now.
Before we know it, the fog’s everywhere, coating the main hall in a thick blanket of shit visibility.
We’re sitting ducks now.
Shoving my gun away—I’m more at risk of shooting a friend by accident in this fog—I realize that I’m suddenly alone. “Kellan? Rae?”
Fuck. Where did they go?
A shadow grows in the fog. “Kell?”
There’s a low groan as my only warning before a zombie slams into me, knocking me off my feet. “Fuck!” It gnashes wildly at my face, and I smash the heel of my hand into its chin. I push my other hand behind it for added strength when its crazed movementsthreaten my hold. One slip and those teeth are going to bite my face off.
Its bony, unwashed fingers scratch and claw at my skin and clothes, but I’m too fucked by his teeth to do anything about it. The smell curdles in my gut, acid crawling up my throat as I choke on the smell of death and brine.
And then it’s gone.
Kellan tears the zombie’s head off, dropping the disgusting thing at his feet and right-the-fuck next to me. I simultaneously roll away from it and to my feet, swallowing the bile back down.
“You couldn’t have thrown that thinganywhereelse?” I demand as Raegan runs to us. I made it out with mostly mild scratches and a deeper one that I pray won’t wind up with an infection based on what caused it.
Kell eyes the fog like he’s waiting for the next zombie to launch itself at us. “And possibly throw it at an ally?”
“Do you guys smell that?” Raegan asks, her face scrunching with distaste.
“You mean the dead guys?” I question, but she shakes her head.
“No, it’s…something sweet.”
Kellan slaps a hand over her mouth and nose. “Don’t breathe it in, beautiful. Dane, use your shirt.”
A breeze sweeps around us in a tight circle, clearing the fog momentarily as Aiden and Jackson join us. “Sleeping gas,” Jack murmurs.
“Is it the fog?” Rae’s muffled voice sounds from behindKell’s hand.
“No. It’s coming from the air vents and hanging around our ankles.”
“I haven’t found the fog user. Jack’s going to clear it from above while I block the vents. You three need to find and stop whoever’s controlling it,” Aiden commands, and I bite my tongue from adding the small detail where we’re also dodging zombies and fighting other GE agents. He hands Jackson a thick piece of metal with a stubbed point.
Jack whips another vortex of wind around us before he leaves, and the wider dispersal of fog exposes GE agents lining the walls of the main hall. To avoid the fog and gas? I’m about to tell the others when my gaze catches.
Vera.
She, like the other agents, is shooting what looks like darts at Guild members. We’re fucking fish in a barrel as they drop one member after another.
“Dane, let’s go!” Raegan grabs my arm, pulling me back into the thick fog.
I yank my shirt over my nose and mouth for whatever fucking good it’ll do and jog with her and Kellan as they push through the zombies in our path. “I didn’t see any fog by the walls!” I shout, dodging a flying body part and then kicking a zombie. “We’ve gotta watch out for tranq darts, too. They’re picking us off one by one.”
Kellan curses. “Get between me and Raegan! Those won’t affect us.”
Shit. He has a point. With their gifts,I’mthe weakest link.
Fuck.
Why couldn’t I have a cool gift? Why’d I get stuck with something that I can’t really use to help my friends, helpher, and has only put us more in danger than anything?
Somehow, we make it to the bar on the other side of the hall just before the kitchens. The fog is thicker here. So thick it clogs my lungs, making me choke out of fear that the gas is in it. Where are those fucking vents in this room anyway?
