Page 99 of Remnants
I think I hear Kellan’s voice shouting to us, but the cacophony of death is so loud behind us, growing louder with every breath, that it feels like it might swallow us up before we make it back. I gag on the putrid smell that clings to us, adhering to the bits of water particles hanging in the air or on us. It’s as if the stench sharpened with the zombies’ awakening.
A shadow moves in front of us, and my lungs seize.
“Is that you?!” Kellan booms, and I expel my breath in a rush. The entrance. He grunts, and I realize the moaning isn’t just behind us, but in front of us, too. Kell roars. Something cracks,snaps, and then thumps against the cave wall.
The fucking fog is thickening again, but he finally comes into view, a smattering of blood on his arms and face, and small patches of golden scales where something had broken skin. His chest heaves like he’s been doing this for some time, but another figure lunges at his arm, teeth biting down hard and drawing blood. Kellan grabs them by the hair, fighting to get them off but their teeth are too deep, too locked down that they don’t budge.
Metal whips out, the curving blade slicing the body in two. The lower half thuds on the ground, but the top half…
“That doesn’t work,” Kellan snarls.
“Then take it with us,” Aiden orders, pushing Dane and me forward. “There’s more coming from behind, and we’re not gettingtrapped in here. Move to more open ground.”
I rush forward, drawing my gift to my hand as I shout, “I got it!” I grab the zombie and thrust my gift into it. The rest of it crumples in, disintegrating from the inside before the remainder of it follows. It doesn’t even scream or make a sound. It doesn’t struggle or stop its mission of hurting Kellan like it feels nothing.
As soon as its jaw slackens, it drops.
And we run.
Kellan takes point, throwing his arms to bulldoze through as many of them as he can to make a path for the rest of us. There are so many…more than what we’d found in the cave behind us. Did they come from the other caves? We pass the waterfall, racing to the beach on the other side and finding a break from the zombies.
And also, a dead end.
The cliff curves sharply into the ocean, blocking us from going any further. Kellan splashes into the water, fighting the waves as he gets waist deep and then switches to swimming. I bend over to catch my breath, hands on my knees as the chilled air pinches and stabs at my lungs. The water laps over our feet as we watch Kell. Aiden continuously checks behind us for signs of the zombies. I can still hear them in the distance, the sound carrying on the breeze as a cold reminder of what’s coming.
Kellan reaches the end of the cliff, a wave shoving him roughly against it and then dragging him under.
“Kell!” I shout, perched to bolt after him until Aiden grasps my upper arm.
“He’s okay. Look.”
His head breaches the water, and he gasps for air, the next wave already bringing him back to the cliff face. He slams against it again, but this time, he gets a firm grip.
“We’ve got company,” Dane warns.
The zombies are filling the beach, an entire hoard of them eating up every inch of sand in a violent mass with a single goal clearly driving them: us.
The forward procession is blown back, knocking the ones behind them to the ground. Jackson lands halfway between us and them.
“Where are Reid and Harvey?” Aiden asks, flicking his wrist to release the diamond-shaped pieces of metal on his sword. They separate along a smooth curve of silver and curl at his feet.
Jack knocks his hood back. “Still at the house. I smelled them.” He jerks his chin at the swarm, then cocks his head, regarding them as they struggle to get back on their feet. “Where did they come from?”
Aiden answers, “Caves along the cliff. Who knows how many were lying dormant there, but we haven’t seen an end to them yet.”
Kellan jogs from the water. “The cliff stays in the water as far as I can see in the goddamn fog.” He takes a few gulping breaths. “There’s no way out.”
“Jack can fly us to the top of the cliff. Or get Reid to grab us,” Dane says, but Jackson doesn’t budge.
Aiden frowns, looking from Jack to the danger getting closer, even as slow as they move. “What are you thinking?”
He takes a step back and to the side. “We take them out now so we don’t find them at our backs when we’re fighting Royce.Maybe it’ll weaken him. Have any of them used any gifts?”
“None of the ones I dealt with did,” Kellan replies, and Jack nods. “But they don’t feel pain. And they sure as hell take forever to stop moving, even in pieces.”
Gross.
“There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of them, against five of us,” Dane argues. “Gift or not, they could probably bury and suffocate us by numbers alone.”
