Night Betrayed Part 7

Before she could respond, she heard it. Faint, in the distance, but unmistakable: "Ruuu-uuuthhhh." "Ruuu-uuuthhhh."

d.a.m.n.

Her palms went damp and her fingers cold. Selena turned away from the wall. If she was going to have a chance to intercept the zombies, she had to do it now. Quickly, before the rest of the search parties got beyond the walls with their sticks and bottle bombs and all the other weapons. Got to go. Got to go.

"Jennifer's looking for you," she said. "Over there." She pointed east, over and beyond Theo's shoulder toward the milling cl.u.s.ters of people-and when he automatically looked away, she darted. Slipped into the shadows.

"Selena!" he shouted, and she glanced back to see him looking at the wall of cars and garage doors and old roofs, as if she'd somehow discovered a way to slide inside.

Good. Let him look for her while she found another way out.

The search parties had begun to leave the protection of the walls by the time Selena located one of the smaller entrances. Her crystal on its long leather thong hadn't begun to glow yet, but its temperature had started to rise. She felt its warmth against the hollow at the base of her breastbone. Not precisely a comforting feeling but a familiar one, nevertheless. A peek down at it confirmed that it wasn't burning ... Thank goodness. Thank goodness.

The zombie moans had grown louder, and by listening intently, Selena confirmed that they were coming from the northernmost direction. Fortunately, it was on the opposite side of Yellow Mountain from the river's swimming area, which was where the search parties would head first, then likely split into east and westerly directions.

But the fact that Hannah Tendy had dark hair, and that the gangas gangas had been programmed to kidnap blond people (and do what they wished, which was to maul and feed on their flesh), gave Selena little hope that if the little girl was out there, things would end well. had been programmed to kidnap blond people (and do what they wished, which was to maul and feed on their flesh), gave Selena little hope that if the little girl was out there, things would end well.

And she didn't really want to be the one rus.h.i.+ng out to ease the zombies into the afterlife in the wake of something like that.

The small north-side gate opened easily to a set of steps that led to the ground below. Gangas Gangas couldn't climb stairs, so all but the main entrance to Yellow Mountain were accessed thus. couldn't climb stairs, so all but the main entrance to Yellow Mountain were accessed thus.

Selena was just about to pull open the grate when a familiar voice came out of the darkness. "Selena, don't."

"Vonnie," she said, turning to her best friend, her mother, her savior. "You know I have to."

The older woman's arm came down to block her from the gate, strong and solid. "Not tonight. Just ... not tonight. There's nothing you can do."

"Yes, there is. I can't let them-"

"Have you forgotten Crossroads? They might see you."

Selena's voice rose and her throat burned. "Of course I haven't forgotten-"

"Then leave it. Tonight. Just leave it. You're still injured from last night; and if anyone sees you, Selena ... if anyone sees you-it's a little girl. A child. They won't understand and they won't care." Vonnie's voice cracked with emotion.

"I know the zombies are horrific, but they don't know what they're doing," she replied. Her words were taut and the crystal was much warmer now against her skin, even through the small thick pouch that hid its glow beneath her s.h.i.+rt. "They're trapped."

"You can't save them all," Vonnie told her. "Selena. You can't save them all."

"But I can save some of them. And I have to save as many as I can." She looked at Vonnie, blinking back tears. "I'm the only one."

She loved Vonnie, she owed her everything everything, but the older woman would never understand. She couldn't see the terror in the zombies' eyes, she didn't feel their desperation. She didn't watch their human lives pa.s.s through their memory, and into Selena's, as she set them free.

She didn't know that a human soul and mind was trapped for decades inside each hulking, flesh-starving body.

Vonnie wasn't dragged out of her her sleep by nightmares. sleep by nightmares.

"I'm the only one. That's why I have to go. Please, don't make it any harder than it is."

Her vision blurry, her stomach in knots, Selena ducked under Vonnie's arm and pushed at the gate. She heard the last low cry of her name, and had to ignore it. Blinking rapidly, she heard the grate closed behind her.

Darkness surrounded Selena as she hurried down the stairs. In the distance, she saw orange lights s.h.i.+fting about with jerky motions, in pairs. The groans were laced with desperation as the gangas gangas called for called for ruuu-uuuthhhhh ruuu-uuuthhhhh: searching, always searching for a man named Remington Truth.

Given that Selena absorbed all of their human memories, these creatures who had been just as alive as she and Vonnie before somehow being turned into such horrifying beings, she still didn't know much about their purpose. She did know that the zombies were programmed to walk the earth looking for the silver-haired man who had been one of the Strangers, a member of the Elite. And when they weren't carrying off light-haired humans as candidates, they were tearing into dark-haired ones with their filthy claws and rotting teeth. That was how they fed. How they lived.

If one could call what they did living. living.

Selena's throat burned. It was difficult enough to guide the souls and ease the pain of normal humans as they pa.s.sed on, but to take on the pain and anguish of these other horrifying, cannibalistic ones ... it was often too much. The battle between her horror for what they did and her need to save them-because she believed they weren't in control of their urges-was a nightmare.

Yet, Selena couldn't stop. She knew that every one she saved meant one less soul would be trapped in limbo-or somewhere worse-forever. Even one soul saved was worth the danger, worth being ostracized for, worth the constant internal battle she fought.

Selena blinked away the tears. Now was not the time to be distracted. They might be damaged creatures, deranged and mindless, but they were lethal in their desperation.

The terrain in front of her was clear and open, purposely, so that any approach could be seen from the walls. But less than a hundred yards out, trees and the buckled concrete of roads from days past made the ground uneven and provided shadows in which to hide. The overgrown remnants of an occasional building made low, unnatural humps in the land, tall gra.s.s shooting up and filling in amid the rubble.

Selena gripped her crystal, pulling it out from beneath her tunic and letting it hang free. She wasn't ready yet to slip off its protective covering, and allow the rose-colored stone to glow in the night. Not until she got closer to a band of zombies.

By counting the lights of their orange eyes, which looked like staggering fireflies from her vantage point, she guessed that there were fewer than a dozen tonight. She'd dealt with more, but any number over five was frightening and chancy.

The familiar fear clogged her throat and her hands had gone clammy. Selena was suddenly acutely aware of the breeze that had been so refres.h.i.+ng earlier, but now felt like an icy blast. The last bit of warmth from the wine that had made her so loose had disappeared, leaving her taut and edgy and her heart pounding.

No matter how many times she did this, no matter how important it was, how critical ... Selena still felt the fear. As if to remind her of the dangers, the wounds on her chest tightened and ached. And a gash along her back that had healed long ago, twinged.

But she went on.

Now she could smell them in the air-the musty, death smell of old flesh and the putrid rot of their breath. Like swamp and garbage that had been sitting in the sun, baking, for days.

But this was nothing. When they got closer, she'd hardly be able to breathe for the stench.

Selena's hands were cold and clammy and she automatically curled one around the crystal. It was hot now, like a stone that had been tucked amid the ashes of a fire and then withdrawn. The thick pouch protected her from the heat, but she'd soon remove it so that the rosy glow could beam through the night.

She stopped in a shadow about three hundred yards from the wall, and even farther from the troop of gangas gangas. The blossoms from the small cl.u.s.ter of apple trees had already dropped their petals and tiny buds had begun to form. The crushed and rusted form of a car sat a few feet away, and what looked like an old sign leaned against it. It was too dark to read the faded letters, but she knew there was a large fancy R R on it. on it.

The creatures were somehow taller than the humans from which they'd come-taller and broader and thicker, as if their original bodies had been stretched and stuffed to make them larger, causing their skin and skeletons to protest the mistreatment and begin to tear and protrude.

Selena counted eight zombies. Too many. Too many.

She shuddered and swallowed. Time to move closer.

From behind her, then, suddenly in the night, came a loud clanging sound.

Selena froze and turned, her heart skipping a beat. A great beam of white light shot into the air from behind the walls, accompanying the ringing bell.

That was the signal. They'd found the girl Hannah.

Selena felt a wave of relief so strong that she nearly doubled over, her fingers brus.h.i.+ng the rough bark of a tree next to her. They'd found her. She was safe.

An answering light shone into the dark sky in the west, and then another, to the south. The search parties: acknowledging the message and confirming their locations. Far from where Selena was in the north.

The searchers were coming back, and Selena could- Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the sound of hoofbeats.

He was riding across the expanse of field, clearly outlined by the slice of moon and the glow from the torch he held high over his head.

Selena watched as he galloped madly toward the cl.u.s.ter of zombies, the fire blazing a stream in the dark blue night above him.

She realized in an instant what he was about to do, and she had to move.

Das.h.i.+ng out of the trees into the open, the crystal swaying and bouncing against her, Selena shouted and waved her arms. She was exposing herself and him as well, but her biggest concern was to stop him before he tore into the zombies and tossed the blazing fire onto them.

At the sound of her shouts, he looked over. In an instant, he wheeled the horse expertly, front hooves flailing briefly against the sky. Then suddenly they were barreling down toward her.

Upright and steady in the saddle, he held the horse's mane in one hand and the fiery torch in the other, looking like some primitive warrior. As one, they leapt over a small crevice in the ground and then over a pile of old tires. He barely s.h.i.+fted in his seat, his hair gleaming from the flames above.

It wasn't until they came closer that she actually saw his features, but somehow she'd already known it was Theo, even from a distance. She'd never seen anyone ride a horse like that, except on a DVD. And even then, she'd been warned by Vonnie and Frank that nothing on DVDs was real, or ever had been.

The mustang stampeded up toward her without slowing, and Selena realized he wasn't going to stop. She started to dart out of the way, but the next thing she knew, the large, pounding animal was upon her. The ground shook and the hoofbeats filled her ears.

What the h.e.l.l- They tore past her, hardly slowing. A hand swept down and curled behind her and under her arm, lifting her quickly and fluidly into the air without straining the gashes on her chest. Selena found herself jolted onto the muscular, undulating back of the horse in an unstable sidesaddle position. Instinctively, she grabbed the dark mane in front of her with both hands as she tried to settle her heart and stomach-as well as her rear end-into place. Out of breath, startled and angry, at first she couldn't speak.

Then she was terrified.

As the shock eased, she became aware of the flickering light above them from the torch he still held, and the strong band of an arm that curved from behind her to a clump of mane above her two-handed death-grip. And the very young, very hard thighs that veed and jolted right right behind her. And the solid torso she'd b.u.mped back against when she got settled in her seat. behind her. And the solid torso she'd b.u.mped back against when she got settled in her seat.

"You busted busted idiot!" she managed to gasp, realizing that he must only have been holding on to the horse with his idiot!" she managed to gasp, realizing that he must only have been holding on to the horse with his legs legs when he reached down to grab her up. "You might have killed both of us!" when he reached down to grab her up. "You might have killed both of us!"

"What the h.e.l.l did you think you were doing?" he shouted back, the wind whipping his words behind them.

She realized they had made a wide turn and were barreling back toward the cl.u.s.ter of zombies in the distance. "No!" she shouted back at him, twisting in the half-embrace and nearly falling backward off the side of the galloping horse. She gasped and clutched harder. "Go back to the walls!"

The crystal on the long cord bounced and jounced against her stomach, heavy and hot but still covered by its heavy pouch. She bent forward to try and subdue it because there was no flipping way no flipping way she was going to let go of that mane. Especially since her a.s.s was s.h.i.+fting and bouncing like a popcorn kernel in hot grease. she was going to let go of that mane. Especially since her a.s.s was s.h.i.+fting and bouncing like a popcorn kernel in hot grease.

"I've got to take care of them first," he replied in a determined voice by her ear. "Got to find that girl."

"No," she shouted, chancing to turn once again in her seat. She nearly clipped his chin with her temple, and he gave her a quick downward glance. "They found her! Go back, Theo!"

"They found her?" The tension eased a bit from his torso, but still they shot toward the zombies, his bracing arm solid as before.

The crystal was getting warmer and the heat seeped into her belly where she'd bent over to cup it close, and she worried that the temperature might bother the horse. And the zombies, few as there were, would soon sense it, if she didn't get Theo to turn around. "Please! Go back! It's too dangerous!"

He eased up on the horse at that moment and she felt him s.h.i.+ft away to look down at her. "Are you hurt? Are you all right?"

"Take me back. Please," she said, avoiding the question but clearly leading him to believe that she was hurt. "They found her. It's not worth it."

Her teeth were chattering now; somehow, her body was supporting her in the misleading of Theo. Selena gripped the mane more tightly and felt his legs s.h.i.+ft as he eased up on the horse. The creature responded, slowing and turning to head back to the settlement. The mustang was by no means walking or even trotting; they were still going along at a gallop-but at least it wasn't at breakneck speed.

Which was good ... and bad. Because now she was even more acutely, insanely aware of the details of her surroundings: the warmth leeching into her back; the bare, muscled arm next to hers; the lap into which she'd been positioned; and the clean, masculine scent of Vonnie's soap mixed with fire smoke, wine, and Theo.

At that moment, she wasn't certain which was a bigger threat to her sanity: his proximity or the orange-eyed zombies stumbling away in the distance.

She had a bad feeling it wasn't the zombies.

Chapter 4.

Theo hadn't felt this exhilarated in a long time.

The brush of thick, sweet-smelling hair from the woman in front of him, combined with the anger vibrating from her, only made him feel even more alive.

Not that it had been the smartest thing he'd ever done-barreling up to her and swooping down like Viggo Mortenson in Hidalgo Hidalgo to scoop her up-but what a rush when she'd landed perfectly in front of him. Reckless, yeah, but when hadn't he been a little crazy? to scoop her up-but what a rush when she'd landed perfectly in front of him. Reckless, yeah, but when hadn't he been a little crazy?

And it had been a while since he'd let loose like this. He'd f.u.c.king missed the rush.

Theo grinned in the dark, still holding the torch in one hand and getting a mouthful of thick hair because of the way he had to lean forward. She was p.i.s.sed, but she'd get over it when he reminded her how dangerous it had been for her to be out by herself. But, h.e.l.l, what a crazy-brave thing for her to do ... stupid but brave.

Not unlike me.

The wall of the settlement, and its main gate, loomed ahead, and he found the doors spreading wide to allow them entrance.

Selena slid to the ground the moment he slowed the mustang to a walk, and before he even dismounted, she'd disappeared. Again Again. Theo wasn't able to follow her immediately, for their arrival had drawn a cl.u.s.ter of people around them-including Jen.

"You were amazing," she said, rus.h.i.+ng up to him, her hand already clinging to his arm as he slid off the horse. "I saw you out there; I was watching over the walls. So So bang." bang."

An unfamiliar flare of impatience washed through him, but he resisted the urge to dislodge her grip. Instead, he looked at Patrick Dilecki, who'd coordinated the search parties and remained in the settlement as a point of contact. "You found the girl?" Theo asked.

"Yes, she's safe. She'd fallen asleep under her bed." He sounded grim and tired as he laid his hand on the horse's neck. The mustang belonged to Dilecki, and he'd been the one to offer it to Theo when he explained that Selena had gone out by herself.

Theo wasn't certain whether to be relieved or annoyed. He supposed Hannah's mother was feeling the same way, so he merely settled on relieved. Yet, the urge to get back out there, to destroy those zombies before they could hurt anyone else, spiked through him. They'd been lucky this time, but he'd been a witness to many other events when the outcome hadn't been so rosy.

His adrenaline rush hadn't faded. And the memory of the carnage he'd seen over the years spurred in him the desire to go back out beyond the walls and finish the job he'd begun. Those d.a.m.n, blockheaded zombies would be waiting for their next opportunity.

"What were you going to do?" asked Jen. "With that torch?"

Her eyes shone as she looked up at him, and once again Theo was struck by how young she looked ... and by how she hadn't mentioned Selena at all.

Speaking of which. He needed to have words with that crazy woman. What the h.e.l.l did she think she was doing, going out there by herself, with no protection, no weapons but whatever that pendant she was hiding around her neck?

"I was going to throw it at them," he told Jen absently as he scanned the shadows. Surely Selena had to be around here somewhere; she wouldn't be sneaking out again ... Would she? Would she?

"The torch?" she asked.

Pulled back to the moment by her urgent hand, Theo looked down at Jen. "Yes," he said, trying to keep the impatience from his voice. "I was going to throw the torch at them. They're afraid of fire."

"Where are you going?" she asked, a bit of petulance in her tone.