Among Monsters (Page 28)

Dad walked along the road into town. We had barely reached the other side of the hill with the rock before Dad hissed at us to hide. We retreated behind a tree, standing behind Dad, and he peeked out from behind it.

“Damn it,” he whispered. “It’s overrun.”

“Why does it smell like that?” I asked, my face twisting into disgust. It was the worst thing that had ever hit my nose. It was like charred dirty feet, skunk, and musk all rolled into one.

Dad’s eyes danced around, taking everything in. “Smells like a bloater.”

“A what?”

“A decomposed body after it catches fire. They are full of bacteria and built-up gases. When they catch fire, it releases that into the air. I think some of the infected must have either been caught in the explosion or walked into the fire.”

“Let’s go,” Halle whispered. “I don’t want to stay here.”

“We can’t make it to Red Hill before dark,” I said.

“Agreed,” Dad said. “We’ll just walk down this road and try to get into the first house we see. We’ll be sure to sneak in undetected, so that means quickly and quietly.”

“Okay, Dad,” Halle said in her small voice.

“Let’s go,” he said softly.

We stuck to the trees and then went down the back alley of a line of houses.

Dad hopped the chain-link fence of a two-story house that already had wooden slats on the windows. He tried to open the back door, but it was locked.

A familiar low moan sent a shiver up my spine, and I pulled Halle closer, looking all around. I couldn’t see it, but it had seen us—or maybe he could smell us.

Dad went to the next house, also a two-story. The outside slats had been painted dark green, and the windows had hideous brown shutters. The back door opened immediately. He disappeared inside for a bit and then came back out, waving at us. I helped Halle over the fence, and then I hopped over myself. We began to run to the back door.

A moan sounded from the fence, and I turned. An infected, a man in overalls, was reaching for us over the chain-link. I looked to Dad, who was signaling frantically for me to come inside, but I knew if we left that thing at the back fence, it would alert others to food, and we would be in real danger, real fast.

I held the bat low in both hands, twisting my palms on the grip, as I walked over to the infected.

“Jenna!” Dad hissed.

I took the first swing, stunning the creature. A month’s worth of decay had made him squishier, his skin and muscles not protecting his bones. I hit him again, and he fell.

“What are you doing? Get your ass in here!”

I jumped over the fence and hit him two more times until he stopped reaching out for me. I nudged him with my foot and then hopped back over the fence. I ran at full speed to the door as if something were after me. I closed the door behind me, my heart trying to beat out of my chest.

“What were you doing?” Dad growled. “Trying to get yourself killed?”

“They call to each other,” I said. “If I had left him out there, he would have drawn others here, and if enough came, they could knock over the fence and get inside the house.”

Dad was taken aback. He thought about that for a moment. “Good call, kiddo. Just…be careful. I’m going to have a coronary before we get to Red Hill. Do you know what your mother would do to me if I showed up without you?”

“Let’s just not do that, okay?” I said with a smile, still breathing hard.

Dad hugged me tight. He took in a deep breath and then kissed my hair. “I’m glad you’re with me, kid.”

Chapter Fifteen

DAD IMMEDIATELY BEGAN CHECKING THE LOCKS on the front and back doors, and then he looked for materials to fortify the windows. We searched every room for something, anything to keep the infected from breaking through. We had no luck with wooden slats like the ones on the church or plywood sheets like the ones at April’s. So, we used furniture and made sure all the curtains were drawn.

“No flashlights or candles unless absolutely necessary,” Dad said. “Keep your voices low. We just need to keep them out for the night.”

“I don’t like this house,” Halle whined.

Dad gently touched her cheek with his fingertips. “We’ll just sleep upstairs. I’ll put breakables at the top and bottom of the stairs. If anything knocks into them, we’ll hear.”

Halle’s bottom lip trembled.

I went into the kitchen to look for food, and when I opened the pantry door, I gasped. “Dad!” I whispered as loud as I dared. “Dad!”

He rushed in, dragging Halle with him. Surprise brightened his face. “Whoa!”

The pantry was stocked with cans of fruit and vegetables, rice, potted meat, potato chips, peanut butter, pickles, and bottled water. There were two loaves of moldy bread and rotted fruit as well, but I couldn’t stop staring at the potatoes. I reached in and gave one a squeeze.

“They’re still good!” I picked up a package of powdered gravy. “Mashed potatoes and gravy!”

Dad opened the refrigerator. “I don’t believe it. They still have electricity!”

“Then, I bet Mom does, too!” Halle pushed up her glasses and showed off her oversized teeth.

We spent the evening cooking and whispering, discussing how Mom would react when we showed up the next day at Red Hill. Dinner consisted of mashed potatoes and Spam, both drenched in dark gravy, and green beans. We hadn’t eaten this well in weeks.

“I wish we could take this pantry with us,” I said. “We don’t know what they’ll have left at the ranch.”

Dad paused. “Maybe I should go get her, along with anyone else there, and bring them back here. We can come back to get you and load up on supplies.”

“You don’t think they do that once in a while anyway?”

Halle’s eyes bulged, and her mouth formed an O. “What if they did that tomorrow, and we didn’t have to walk to Red Hill alone?”

“That,” I said, “would be the best luck we’ve had in a long time.”

Dad snorted. “If they have a scavenging party, I don’t think your mom would be on it.”

“Why not? I’m on yours,” I said.

“Your mom’s not really the type,” Dad said.

“Neither am I.”

“Okay, okay,” he said. “I just can’t imagine her bashing in skulls on her way to Shallot to pick up supplies. But you’re right. We’re in different times.”

Halle’s grin faded. “Is that what we’re going to have to do? Bash in skulls to get to Red Hill?”

“No, honey. I’m sorry,” Dad said, realizing his mistake too late. “I was just teasing Jenna about your mom. I wasn’t being serious.”

But that was our reality now, and we all knew it was a possibility even if Dad didn’t want to admit it.

“There are so many infected in town. Shallot’s even smaller than Fairview. I don’t get it.”

“I don’t know,” Dad said before shoveling a bite of potato into his mouth.

After dinner, we all pitched in to clean up, and then Dad and I moved a desk to the bottom of the stairs before covering it with drinking glasses and some jars I’d found on the top shelf of a cabinet. We dragged two nightstands from one of the bedrooms to the top of the stairs before covering it with decorative vases and figurines.