of Nero’s head exploded.
The car door flew open. Carlos jumped out and rushed toward me.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
He crashed to the ground like a fallen tree.
Eden stood behind him, a smoking gun in her shaking hands.
Stunned, I blinked at my sister. I’d never thought her capable of murder.
“Good girls,” Uncle Duncan wheezed. His eyelids fluttered shut and he let out his last breath.
He’s gone.
A scream boiled up inside me. I wanted to shout out the unfairness of his death. And all the deaths of the people I’d loved. But screaming wouldn’t bring them back.
“Sissy.” Eden hopped over. “A bunch of those things are coming. What do we do?”
I wiped away my tears with the back of my hand and shoved Uncle Duncan’s gun into my waistband. Then I picked up my knife and Nero’s gun.
Either we barricaded ourselves in the house or drove one of the cars out of here. I looked down at Reed’s bloody face and made a split-second decision. “Help me get him into the house.”
While Eden and I struggled to drag Reed up the driveway, the spine-tingling sound of clicking teeth grew in volume.
Unable to help myself, I glanced down the street. The size of the horde lumbering toward us stole my breath. Movement out of my peripheral vision had me glancing in the opposite direction.
Jerry, still shirtless, lumbered across his yard. He must’ve been coming to investigate the gunshots.
I had to warn him. “Jerry, get back inside your house.”
Jerry canted his head in my direction. The blood streaming from the tattered skin of his neck looked like a crimson scarf in the bright light.
Crap. He’s one of them.
Letting out a garbled noise, he shambled toward us.
There was a crashing noise. Mrs. Munoz from two doors down stumbled out her front windows. She was saturated in so much blood it looked as if she’d bathed in it.
Seeing us, she lifted her head and moaned. The blood-chilling sound was echoed by her two children, who appeared behind her.
Oh, God. Everyone’s turning into monsters.
“Lee!” Eden gasped. “We have to hurry!”
Grunting, we dragged Reed through the lawn littered with red plastic cups.
As we pulled him up the front step, a hysterical laugh bubbled from my lips. Just hours ago, my biggest worry was who’d clean up the mess from the party. Now, I didn’t know if we’d survive the day.
Eden wrenched opened the unlocked door and together we dragged Reed into the house.
As soon as we were all in, Eden slammed the door closed and turned the dead bolt.
As if that will keep them out.
I swung my gaze around the living room, realizing we had the same floor-to-ceiling windows Mrs. Munoz had just crashed through. “We need to cover the windows.”
Eden ran to the entryway closet, opened the door, and rummaged through it.
“What the hell are you doing?”
She held up an old collar of Sasha’s. “I need this.” She buckled it around her neck.
“Seriously? If the zombies don’t kill you, I will. Go grab the other side of the couch.”
Eden took two steps forward and froze. She’d caught sight of Cami writhing under the television set.
“Eden.”
She jerked her head up. “What?”
I pointed at the couch. “Help me push this to the window.”
“Right.” She hobbled over and then gasped when she saw Ronnie’s body lying on the floor.
I smacked her arm. “Focus.”
The sounds of clicking and moaning were getting louder. The zombies had to be right outside.
“Okay,” she said in a shaky voice. "Let's do this."
Between the two of us, we managed to push the couch against the largest window and flip it over so it blocked most of the glass.
“Do the same thing with the other furniture,” I shouted as hands slammed against the windows.
I grabbed the recliner and dragged it in front of an open window while Eden moved one of the big speakers against another window.
Glass shattered.
“They’re coming through,” Eden shrieked, her eyes wild.
We backed away from the windows.
Bloody arms and legs pushed their way inside.
“Shoot them,” I screamed, raising Nero’s gun.
Eden raised Carlos’s gun and fired on the first zombie, who pushed his way past the couch.
It was Jerry.
“The head. Aim for the head,” I cried, remembering Reed’s advice. I glanced over at his unconscious body lying in the hallway.
We have to protect him.
Eden’s next shot took off the top of Jerry’s skull.
He went down and stayed down.
Mrs. Munoz and her kids stumbled over the recliner.
Eden stepped forward, but then lowered her gun.
“Eden, shoot!”
“I can’t. They’re kids,” she cried.
“They’re monsters.”
Her hands shook. The gun wavered in the