Running Wild (4 page)

I knew we’d need more food for the road trip, so I grabbed two large coolers from the garage and brought them to the kitchen where I bumped into Bryce, Bobby, and Megan. It was well after midnight and Bryce had taken a shower. Now he wore nothing but a pair of low-riding blue jeans. He must have sensed that I was staring at his body, which was rock-hard in all the right places. He smiled wickedly and pointed towards his face. “Hey Wild, my eyes are up here.”

I bit back a smile and turned towards his brother. “Hi Bobby, how’s my favorite man?”

“I’m not a man,” he said, looking at me like I was nuts. Bobby is only six and so adorable that he makes my heart ache. Their mother was killed by a zombie and now he’s Bryce’s full responsibility, which, truthfully, wasn’t all that different from before. Their mother was an alcoholic and hadn’t always treated her youngest, who also had Down Syndrome, exactly the way a loving mother should.

I bent down and ruffled his dark hair. “What are you talking about? You help to take care of Megan and your big brother, don’t you?”

He nodded slowly and a smile grew on his face. “Yeah…you’re right!”

“Well, in my book that’s quite a responsibility. I’m going to call you my “little man”, if that’s okay?” I asked him.

He gave me a big hug and then turned to Megan, who was playing with Barbie dolls on the linoleum floor. “Megan, if you need a ride somewhere, I can drive you. I’m a man now!”

Bryce chuckled. “You have no idea what you’ve started, Wild.”

I cleared my throat and changed the subject. “Guess what Bobby? There’s a new little girl, close to your age in the Daycare area. Her name’s Brooke.”

His eyes lit up. “Can I play with her?”

“In a little while,” I said. “She’s probably still resting.”

“Okay,” he said.

“Bobby,” said Bryce. “Why don’t you go and start packing your backpack. We’ll be leaving in a couple of hours and you don’t want to forget anything.”

Bobby nodded and took off downstairs, followed by Megan.

“So,” murmured Bryce stepping into my personal space. He stared into my eyes and my heart began to race. “It looks like we’re alone, finally.”

I licked my lips. “Looks like it,” I replied breathlessly.

He tilted my chin and brought his lips to mine. As he started kissing me, a fiery heat spread throughout my entire body, making me quiver. I slid my arms behind his neck, pulling him closer and he released a ragged breath.

“Wild, what are you doing to me?” he groaned and slowly began kissing my neck. His mouth was hot as he burned a trail down my neck and then back up, finally catching my lips again with his own. He pressed against me and my hands slid down and touched the small curve of his hard muscular buns. He sucked in his breath, pulled away and closed his eyes.

“What?” I asked, wondering why he’d stopped.

He looked at me again and whispered, “God, you’re innocent…but so damn enticing.”

His eyes were smoldering with such intense desire that I tingled in places that I’d never even known existed. 

“Bryce…” I murmured pulling him back towards me.

He cupped my face with his hands and brought his soft lips back home to mine; kissing me with so much tenderness that it brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to lose myself in his kisses, forever, and forget about the madness around us.

“Oh, shit,” stammered Austin, walking into the kitchen. He lifted his hands in the air. “Sorry guys.”

Reluctantly, we pulled apart. Bryce turned to Austin and fixed him with a level stare. “I’ll bet.”

He shrugged. “Believe what you want. We’re almost packed and I just wanted to see if Cassie needed any help.”

Bryce folded his arms across his chest and stood up straighter. “She doesn’t need your help Tex. Why can’t you get that through your hick brain?”

I swatted Bryce; he could be so cruel when he was angry. “That’s totally not fair Bryce.”

He frowned. “You just don’t see it do you?”

I shook my head. “I think that
you
are seeing too much. You’re acting like an angry bull when there’s no red blanket being waved.”

Austin rubbed his jaw and smirked. “Out of respect for Cassie and her family, I’m going to ignore you’re ignorance and not kick your ass.”

Bryce took a step towards him, his blue eyes blazing murderously. “I’d like to see you try, asshole.”

Austin’s mouth twitched as he stepped forward and I immediately positioned myself between them. “Okay, that’s enough.”

At that moment Kristie stormed into the kitchen, her face stricken. “Save it boys, we’ve got some real problems right now; Bobby and the new girl are missing!”

Chapter Six

Before I could register the meaning of her words, Bryce bolted out of the kitchen and down the stairs hollering for Bobby.

Austin sighed and soon followed suit.

I turned to Kristie. “How do you know he’s missing? I thought you were sleeping.”

She closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. “Kylie woke me up and said she’d left Bobby and the new girl alone so she could use the bathroom. When she returned to the Daycare area, both children were missing. She was concerned because the little girl said she wanted her mommy and Bobby had promised to drive her at some point.”

I groaned and charged downstairs to check the garage, just in case; if a zombie could figure a way to open a door, who knows what a couple of kids might accomplish. I sighed with relief to find both the van and the Yukon still sitting there; although there were no signs of the children. When I stepped back into the house, Bryce was fully dressed and rushing to put his shoes on with a rifle resting on the floor next to him.

“They’re both gone,” he growled. “So is that puppy we found.” He then stormed out of the house.

Goldie’s gone too?

I ran to the deck, where I’d left my war hammer, grabbed it then charged back towards the front door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Austin, appearing out of nowhere. He folded his arms across his chest, reminding me of my dad when he’s about ready to scold me.

“Outside,” I told him. “I have to find those kids.”

“Bryce is already out there looking. It’s late and much too dangerous for you.”

I shook my head. “It’s my fault they’re missing. I have to help search for them.”

He sighed. “That’s totally ridiculous; it’s not your fault Cassie.”

“It is. I actually told Bobby he was a man and now he’s trying to actually be one. I
have
to help. Now please, for the love of God, move out of my way.”

He bent down and grabbed his combat boots which were also sitting next to the door. “Fine, then I’m coming with.”

Kristie and Paige joined us on the landing.

“We’re coming too,” said Kristie, raising the Smith and Wesson I’d given her the other day. She motioned towards her oldest daughter. “Besides, Paige could use some extra batting practice. She almost missed the zombie coming after me in the gas station early this morning.”

Paige’s jaw dropped. “Hello? You were the one that said you could take him! It wasn’t my fault he reminded you of Josh Duhmal and you froze up!” She turned to me and sighed. “She’s been hot for that guy since she saw him in those “
Transformer”
movies.”

Kristie giggled like a school girl and squeezed my arm. “Holy crap, did he look like Josh Duhmal! I just couldn’t bring myself to shoot the fellow.”

Paige snorted. “Well this thing was ready to eat you for breakfast!”

Placing her hands on her hips, Kristie flashed a sardonic grin and said, “Listen, anyone who looks exactly like Josh Duhmal can have a little lick, zombie or not.”

Austin threw me an incredulous look, but I couldn’t help but smile a little as I opened the front door. Even at the most stressful situations, those two managed to lighten the mood.

“Mom…that’s really disgusting,” muttered Paige following us outside into the darkness.

“Oh Paige, just chill the hell out,” replied Kristie. “You’re no fun.”

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see that there weren’t any signs of Bryce or the missing children.

“Damn it, a flashlight would have been smart,” grumbled Paige.

“Fortunately the moon’s pretty bright,” stated Austin. “Let’s stay together and keep to the center of the road,” he looked at my war hammer. “Damn, I wish I would have brought a weapon.”

“We’ll cover you,” I said.

We started moving down the middle of the street, past the cul-de-sac, calling out for the kids. I knew it greatly raised the chances of us running into a zombie or two but it was the only way to get their attention. Besides we hadn’t seen any zombies in the neighborhood for a while.

“Goldie!” I yelled.

There was a feint bark in the distance and we all took off running in the direction of the park. When we arrived at the horrifying scene unfolding by the big slide, my heart stopped. Two zombies lay dead near the bottom of it and Bryce was trying to fight off a couple other very vicious ones. Not only were they quick, but surprisingly more calculating in their attacks.

Goldie, was there too and whimpering. She raced towards me and I held her close. The dog was smart enough to be afraid of the crazy looking dead humans.

“Crap,” muttered Paige as three other ones stepped out of the darkness. She raised the bat and started walking towards them.

“Wait Paige,” I said, a shiver running down my spine. The zombies were advancing towards us slowly, but not because they were having difficulties. They seemed to be studying us, almost like they were preparing an attack.

“A little help here would be nice!” growled Bryce. The zombies he was fighting off appeared to be super-fast, it was all he could do to keep them at bay and he was a third degree black belt. The only way to kill them was to destroy their brains and karate chops only slowed them down. “Shoot them in the head someone… today would be nice!”

“For the love of God,” gasped Kristie who’d just caught up with us, her hands on her knees. “I’m getting too old for this hero shit.”

“It’s the cigarettes mom,” muttered Paige. “What did you expect?”

Kristie looked at the zombies staring us down. “Well, I could really use one right now,” she said, trying to catch her breath. She turned to Paige and scowled. “It’s funny how my smokes seemed to have disappeared overnight.”

Paige didn’t say anything, she just turned away.

Bryce began hollering at us again as the zombies he knocked down kept getting back up.

“Just give me your gun,” I said to Kristie. “I’ll take care of this.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said straightening up. She handed it over and I rushed to the zombies circling Bryce. One of them, a severely rotted male stinking of something far worse than anything rolled up in a diaper, opened its twisted mouth and began shrieking. The other seemed to understand what I was about to do and lumbered towards me with an oddly determined look for a dead man.

I raised the gun and shot them both in the face.

“Thanks,” said Bryce as he staggered towards me and grabbed the gun out of my hands. He took a moment to catch his breath then walked over to the other zombies who were still studying us and raised the gun. In a sudden blur all three zombies came to life and rushed him at once. They were so quick that by the time Bryce fired his rounds, he’d only shot one in the head. The other two ended up knocking him to the ground with his gun now out of reach.

“Bryce!” I screamed, running towards them just as one of the zombies opened its mouth to attack. Fortunately, Bryce kicked the zombie in the skull several times before he had a chance to do much. We watched as zombie blood sprayed everywhere from the impact of his steel-toed work boots.

“Don’t let him bite you!” I shouted as he tried to keep the other one away from his face, which was scrunched up in a look of disgust.

He laughed without mirth. “Trying really hard not to Wild! Damn it, these things just reek of shit!”

I tried to get closer but they kept rolling around in the sand. Finally, when I had a good angle, I raised the war hammer and slammed it into the zombie’s head.

Bryce, who now lay totally exhausted on the ground closed his eyes and said, “Wild, next time can you bash the zombie’s skull a little more quickly?”

As I dislodged my weapon, I looked at Bryce, who was covered in bloody visceral and bone. “What is it with you not ever saying “you’re welcome”? It’s a very simple phrase.”

He groaned then jumped to his feet. “Tell you what, I’ll give you something better,” he answered getting ready to kiss me.

I glanced at the carnage left on his shirt and the smell emulating from him. Pointing to his clothing I said, “No offense Bryce, but I’ll settle for a “hive-five” this time.”

He snorted. “That was far too close. These things are getting much harder to beat. Thank goodness Bobby and Brooke were well hidden in the jungle gym.”

A piercing scream cut through the darkness and we all jumped.

“Help!” shouted Bobby from the other side of the playground. It was dark, but I could make out two small figures on top of a large jungle gym, one being Bobby and the other I assumed to be Brooke.

Austin, who hadn’t said one word the entire time, suddenly came to life. Both guys bolted towards the structure to get to the frightened children and whatever was scaring them. When they reached the top I heard a strangled type of mewling noise followed by some shuffling.

“Damn it!” hollered Austin right before I heard the echo of a single gunfire shot.

“You okay?” asked Bryce from somewhere up in the top.

“Just a couple little scratches,” replied Austin as he climbed back off the equipment. Bryce and Bobby climbed down soon after him.

“Where’s Brooke?” I asked, trying to see in the darkness.

Austin pursed his lips as he stepped closer. He touched my arm and said, “Sorry Cassie. Brooke attacked us; she was a zombie.”

My chest felt heavy for the little girl but I could also see that Bobby was terrified and needed consolation more than anyone. I walked towards him as Bryce tried to calm the hysterical boy. “It’s okay,” I said softly, putting my arms around him.