of them were tossed to the street. The few creatures that tried to run in front of the truck were turned into living speed bumps that jostled Paige and Milosh even more.
Paige had kept hold of the Half Breed she’d impaled with her sickle. After twisting the weapon to make sure the werewolf was dead, she finally let go with her left hand so she could grab one of the squeeze bottles. “Get ready on that tailgate,” she said.
Milosh slid his knife back into its scabbard and scooted toward the rear of the truck until one foot was propped against the edge of the frame and the other was flat against the back.
Paige dumped a good portion of bait mixture onto the dead Half Breed and then pulled the sickle free. “Hit it!”
Milosh popped the latch and opened the tailgate with a solid kick. Then he pulled himself against the side of the truck bed so his body pinned the rifle in place and a path was cleared for her to shove the Half Breed out. She didn’t know where she got the strength to move the heavy creature, but her muscles barely protested as she pushed the carcass toward the back of the truck. The vehicle’s momentum and erratic movement went a long way in sending the dead werewolf into the anxious faces of the creatures running directly behind them. Knowing that some of the Half Breeds might try to jump up into the truck while it was open, she unscrewed the squeeze bottle and tossed it at the ravaging crowd so the rest of the mixture was sprayed across as many of the creatures as possible.
Propping herself onto her knees, she swung her sickle out and down to hook the tailgate beneath its curved blade. All she needed to do then was fall back to lock it into place. Since Al was constantly checking his rearview mirror, he knew when to steady his course so as not to throw her out along with the carcass they’d just unloaded. She grabbed the side of the bed and watched chaos unfold among the Half Breeds.
Most of the creatures swarmed the baited carcass. Others splintered into smaller groups to chase creatures with the mixture spattered on their coats. The newer breed definitely had a keener sense of smell than the previous generation and were driven beyond frenzy as they got closer to the mixture. One of the Half Breeds that had been sprayed by the water bottle ran in circles and flopped on its back like a dog trying to grind an itchy spot against the floor. It twisted itself into a pretzel in its attempt to gnaw at the bait and was quickly overtaken by its brethren as the overzealous werewolves ripped it to pieces. As the green pickup carrying Nadya and Jesse sped down a nearby street, more Half Breeds followed it onto northbound I-69 and led a couple dozen others in that direction.
Even with the road momentarily cleared, Paige knew better than to celebrate. She flipped the sickle into the bed and trapped it once again beneath her foot. “Where are we headed, Al?”
“Straight through town on Mississippi Avenue. Don’t know how far we’ll make it before one of those damn things shreds a tire.”
Paige winced. She hadn’t thought of that. While making a suicide drive through a town infested by shapeshifters, getting a flat tire seemed almost too common a problem to consider. Even so, anything that brought the truck to a halt would be one hell of a serious situation. “How far is the reservoir?” she asked.
“Just a few miles north of town. Getting there is still pretty sketchy considering how much we’ll have to plow through.”
“Don’t think about that,” she told him while popping the top off another squeeze bottle. She sent it pinwheeling into some trees at the intersection where Liberty Road met Mississippi Avenue. Some of the Half Breeds peeled away from chasing the truck, but the ones that remained had their sights set on her and would not be diverted. To make matters worse, some creatures emerged from those same trees to either attack the container of bait mixture or replace the Half Breeds that had broken off their pursuit.
Al turned to look over his shoulder. There was a maniacal glint in his eye when he said, “Give the gimp something to hang onto.”
“What?” Before Milosh could fire back with anything more than that, he was tossed from one side of the