swallowed hard. No. Not thinking about that.
Eden jangled her cuffs. “How am I going to get out of these?”
“We’ll find some bolt cutters.” I’d bet my fluffy angel wings that Uncle Duncan had a pair. He was usually prepared for anything.
Eden touched her neck. Her eyes widened. “Sasha’s collar. The police impounded it.” She glanced behind us. “We have to go back.”
“The hell we will. You can get another collar, okay?” I got that Eden was mourning the loss of her dog. Hell, I missed the pit bull mix too. But her collar wasn’t worth getting arrested over.
She jerked her head up. “You just don’t get it, do you? I wear Sasha’s collar to remember her and the senseless reason for her death. I went to jail protesting her killers and their murderous laws, and I won’t stop fighting them no matter—”
“Can it, Edie,” I said with an eye roll. “We’ve got bigger problems than Order 1537. People are turning into monsters. That prisoner next to you in line was infected with the Z-virus.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the blue-haired chick. Cami had those same black veins before she attacked Ronnie.”
Eden blinked. “I’m not following. What happened to Ronnie?”
Reed stopped the van at a light and glanced back at her. “I beat Ronnie’s head in with a bat this morning.”
“He was a zombie,” I clarified.
“I also took out Cami,” Reed said, sounding a bit too happy about it.
Eden made a choking sound.
“Don’t freak. None of this is real.” Reed waved his hands around.
“It’s real,” I said with a sigh.
Eden shook her head. “You’ve both completely lost it.”
“We did lose it,” Reed said, giving her a meaningful look in the rear-view mirror. “Lee and me. Last night.”
“Reed!” I didn’t want Eden to know about that. Ever.
“You two had sex?” she shrieked. Her eyes went so wide I was afraid they would pop out of her skull. She turned her gaze toward me, no doubt waiting for me to contradict him.
I looked away, my face heating.
“Well, it’s about damn time.”
“What?” That wasn’t the reaction I’d expected.
She laughed. “The sexual tension between you two was getting ridiculous.”
That was news to me. “What do you mean—”
The van shuddered, and the engine died.
“What the hell!” I glanced out the windshield. My blood chilled when I saw we were stopped near the corner liquor store again. “Reed, get the van moving.”
“Working on it.”
“What’s going on over there?” Eden tapped on the glass.
I pushed her out of the way to look through the side window. Across the street, a dozen people shuffled around the empty parking lot shared by Eros and the sex shop.
It took me two seconds to recognize Jess in the crowd. A large bald man lurched beside her. He was missing his left arm.
“Oh, my God. That’s Max.” I struggled to breathe. My boss was a zombie too.
A bloody hand slammed against the front passenger window.
“What is that?” screeched Eden.
There was no mistaking the lime-green bowling shirt. “Cal,” I said, staring at the remains of the sex shop owner in horror.
Hunks of flesh were gouged from his face. One eye was missing and the other dangled from the socket.
Guilt swamped me. If I hadn’t asked for his help last night, would he still be alive?
The glass cracked.
“Reed!” I shouted.
Reed tried turning the ignition over again. The van engine made a grinding noise.
No. This can’t be happening.
The front passenger window shattered. Cal reached inside.
“Okay, okay.” Reed’s way too calm words were punctuated by the sound of him twisting the ignition and pounding his foot on the pedals.
Cal clawed in Reed’s direction.
“Back off, man.” Reed said, trying to avoid Cal’s outstretched hands.
“More are coming,” Eden shrieked.
Dread filled me as I shot another look out the side window.
The sight of the zombie horde lumbering across the street made my knees shake.
Jess was at the head of the pack, her intestines swaying in front of her like macabre tentacles.
I drew the knife from my waistband with shaking hands. Running wasn’t an option with Eden in shackles. “Reed!”
He turned the ignition one more time, and the engine warbled to life. We pulled away just as Jess and her zombie crew reached the back of the van.
Thank God.
My relief was short-lived.
Cal clung to the door, his skinny legs dragging on the street.
“Goddamn it.” I sprang from my seat and moved into the front of the van. “Let go,” I shouted, stabbing at his spindly arms. Any sympathy I had for the man evaporated when he gnashed his teeth