Once Bitten, Twice Dead - By Bianca D'Arc Page 0,82

considered. She was beautiful, smart, funny and courageous, not to mention the way they lit each other on fire in bed. She could very well be the one.

Hell of a time to realize it. Xavier shook his head and kept firing.

“I don’t like it, either, but it’s what we’ve got.” He wanted to say something profound but there wasn’t any time. The enemy was closing in and already they were inching their way up the embankment.

The tracks above curved to the west, toward Manhattan, and there was a grassy field beyond. No lights. It wouldn’t stop the zombies. The whole area was dark and foggy, just the way they liked it.

A quick glance at Sarah told him she was reloading, working on putting her third round in each target. He’d just finished his third round and was on to the fourth. He’d be able to help her finish off her targets as soon as he’d completed his. Then they’d see about the girl. She was being dragged along with the zombie she kept calling Tony, but it didn’t look like the creature that had once been a man cared about the girl beating at his chest. He was intent on Sarah and Xavier, working with his nightmare team to box them in against the embankment, forcing them to climb it.

Xavier didn’t understand the tactic, but then he’d never really understood what motivated any of the creatures he’d faced. This new variety was even more perplexing. The girl’s wailing was grating on his nerves, but he and Sarah had to focus on their jobs. Rescuing the girl would have to come later.

Four darts in each target, Xavier turned to help Sarah with her group. They worked well together, in synch without having to say a word.

“Now what?” Sarah asked when every one of the zombies had been darted four times. Even the one that still held the screaming girl. Shooting that one had taken some tricky aiming, but it had been done all the same.

“Now we wait for them to crumble.” Xavier took hold of Sarah’s elbow as they walked backward up the steep incline toward the railroad tracks. They kept their eyes on the zombies who had slowed now that they were closing in on their quarry.

“They’re taking an awfully long time to dissolve.”

An eternity, Xavier thought privately. As soon as this was over, Xavier was going to put a call in to Commander Sykes and see if he could get the science team to pep up the toxic darts. These weren’t cutting it, especially when faced with large numbers of these new-and-improved zombies.

Sarah was behind him, a little farther up the hill, when the first of the creatures started to wobble, then crumple into nothing. One by one, they all went down.

“About time,” Sarah muttered. She was a few paces away, closer to the tracks, and as the creatures fell her face lit with triumph.

“I’ll get the girl. Stay close.” Xavier moved forward, confident Sarah would follow right behind.

As the zombie holding her disintegrated, the girl was freed. Xavier ran to her, rolling her onto her back, away from the gooey mess that had been the man she’d called Tony.

She was badly scratched, and her shoulder was a bleeding mess of teeth marks and missing flesh. Chances were good she was already dead.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?”

She was sobbing as her life slipped away. The least he could do was find out who she was before she succumbed, so that her family could be notified.

“Donna. Donna Sullivan. Tony Bosco was my boyfriend.” She cried harder. “What happened to him?” She was hysterical now, losing energy with every sob.

She was fading fast, but Xavier couldn’t be absolutely sure whether it was just unconsciousness or contagion-induced death coming to call. He’d bet on the latter, but he’d give her a chance to prove him wrong before he darted her. Leaving her on the ground, he did a quick survey to find Sarah. She should have been right next to him.

“Sarah?” A knot of dread formed in the pit of his stomach. He started up the embankment toward where he’d seen her last.

And there she was, struggling in the clutches of three big men. One had her caught in a bear hug from behind, trapping her arms, while the others each had one of her legs. They were zombies, but they didn’t seem to want to bite her.

Then Xavier caught sight of a shadowy figure, a man standing about ten yards behind them.