Once Bitten, Twice Dead - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,115

flowerbed. She saw the zombie hesitate before it backed down the steps and came after her. Xavier followed close on its heels. The object now was to stay away from the zombie long enough for the toxin to do its job.

“Stay in the open, Sarah. Don’t let it box you in.”

“Why does this thing want me so bad?” She was thinking out loud. The zombie hadn’t gone after Xavier. It seemed to want her.

“Mas-ter say…” the zombie said, almost as if answering her question.

The very idea freaked her out. The creature could talk—nothing too grand, mind you—but it could say a few words. And now, apparently, it could answer questions as well.

Xavier picked up on it, too. He moved closer.

“What did master say?” he demanded.

The zombie turned to look at him, and she noted again the difference in this one’s eyes. It seemed more aware than the previous ones.

“What did master say?” Xavier shouted again when the creature didn’t answer right away.

Then the zombie smiled. “Kill…”

That was its last word. A second later, the creature dissolved into a pile of goo and old clothes, right there in her backyard. Sarah’s weak knees almost gave out on her, but there was still one thing left unattended.

“Where’s Sellars?” Xavier asked. They were both thinking on the same wavelength.

“In the trees. The zombie got him pretty bad.”

Xavier followed where she led. She made a slight detour in her yard to retrieve her slippers, now thoroughly saturated from the fog and her movement through the grass and trees. They had a sole, though, that’s what counted. It might be flimsy plastic, but it was better than her tender skin against the rough ground under the trees.

She saw that Xavier had his utility belt on. He wasn’t wearing much else, but at least he’d taken the time to get his weapons and tools before he’d rushed to her rescue. That belt also held the serum.

“Are you going to try to save him?” she asked as she picked her way through the trees to where she’d left Sellars.

“Yeah. I have to try. We need to know who he was working with on this.” He opened the case where the serum lay and took out what he’d need as he walked. “It might not work, but we have to give it a shot.”

She understood, though she would’ve just as happily seen Sellars die. She wasn’t bloodthirsty as a general rule, but this particular scumbag had caused all kinds of mayhem. He’d caused the deaths of so many innocent people. He’d terrorized her personally and changed her life for all time. The slime. He didn’t deserve to live. But she understood why Xavier had to try to save him.

They found him cowering not far from where the zombie had left him. He was hurt badly.

Chapter Fifteen

“What are you doing? I’m as good as dead already.” Sellars’s eyes widened in fear and he reared back as Xavier knelt next to him.

“Maybe not.” Xavier measured the dose expertly before he positioned the long needle and stuck Sellars through the chest, straight into his heart. Xavier depressed the plunger as Sellars screamed.

“Don’t torture me. It’s over,” Sellars whined as Xavier pulled out the needle.

“There’s a slim chance this stuff will save your life. One of your colleagues came up with it, but it only works if you have the right antigens in your blood already.”

“McCormick! I knew that bitch was holding out on me. I thought she was playing hard to get.”

“Impossible for you to get,” Sarah muttered, her weapon trained on Sellars.

“It might not work.” Xavier sat back and looked at Sellars. “If you have anything to say, now’s your chance. You very well might not get another.”

Sellars glared silently, clutching his extensive wounds. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he went through a series of convulsions. When they ended, he leaned to the side and vomited into the grass. He didn’t look the way Sam had. Sellars wasn’t reacting as well to the antidote as Sam had. It wasn’t going to work for him.

“Looks like you struck out, Sellars. The antidote isn’t working,” Xavier observed coolly. “It was a long shot from the beginning, but we had to try. So why did you do it? Why would you try to sell this kind of technology? Why would you even continue to pursue it?”

“Why else? For the money. You’re a fool.” Sellars spit on the ground and glared. “This isn’t over. There’s more—” He broke off as