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  The overpowering stench of rotting flesh knocked my attention back to the living boy standing beside me.

  "Where can we go?" I asked.

  I'd started shaking. There must have been at least a hundred corpses moving up Main Street. I'd just seen things in this nightmarish parade I'd take to my grave.

  "I know of a place we can hide," Trevor said. "I'll take you and your friends there."

  When the others reached us there wasn't any time for introductions. They treated Trevor suspiciously, their eyes moving from my swollen face to the crowbar clutched in his hand. I tried to smile despite the sharp ache in my lower jaw.

  "The kid knows of a place we can go," I said, briefly gritting my teeth. "We need to follow him."

  "What the hell is happening?" Ramos demanded. "You never told me there was this kind of shit going on down here."

  "I wasn't informed either. And if this lost President's son business is all a lie, then they must have put us down here for another reason."

  "Come on!" Trevor yelled before sprinting away.

  He was a fast runner and our post-freezer lungs weren't as prepared to suck scorching air. Trevor turned and went down a dark alley and for a second Jade stopped me and glared into my eyes.

  "You better be right about him."

  I nodded and pulled her along with me.

  We followed the kid into a brick warehouse. As soon as we were all inside, he slotted the door and locked it. The only light in the room came from a row of windows high up in the rafters. All the other windows near ground level had been boarded up with sheets of plywood.

  Without slowing, Trevor climbed endless flights of stairs with us puffing behind. When we reached the top, he threw open a metal door and walked out onto the roof. Hanging between two posts were the remains of a McCarthy antelope. Strips of its flesh lay cooking between panes of window glass heated by the sun. The smell of the meat was like a homecoming gift.

  "Take a look," Trevor said. He waved a crowbar toward the town below us.

  We staggered up next to him, out of breath. From here we could clearly see the horde moving through the middle of town. Screams pierced the air but we couldn't tell where they were coming from.

  "Someone needs help," Ramos said.

  "It's too late," Trevor replied. "They shouldn't have been so stupid."

  Ramos wasn't going to let it drop. "Who are they?” he demanded. “Are we going to just let them die?

  Trevor lit the butt of a cigarette and tossed the match over the edge. "A few days ago, I met this couple who'd been hiding like me. They'd run out of food and were getting desperate. I gave them what I could and showed them some places to look for more. They said they wanted to stay with me and I finally agreed. Then one night they drugged my food and robbed me blind. Took most of my supplies and the few guns I had. I was such a moron to trust them in the first place."

  "Are there many other survivors around?" Ramos asked.

  Trevor shook his head. "Only if you count the bandits who come through. There could still be some people hiding out there, but I think I would have discovered them by now."

  "Have you had many problems with the bandits?" Jade asked.

  Trevor leaned against the rail at the edge of the roof and continued to stare down below. "The first time they came there was a bunch of them. They found where I'd cached some food and left with a nice haul. After that I got smarter and learned to hide better. I do leave the canned dog food out for them and they seem happy enough with that most of the time."

  "Dog food?" I asked.

  Trevor shrugged. "Times are tough, Brand, and all the dogs in town took off ages ago. You can still hunt for antelope meat out in the McCarthy, but you've got to have enough provisions with you in case you run into trouble. Last time I barely made it back after a dust devil ripped my pack off and tore my hands to hell."

  ****

  After Trevor got through filling in the others what he’d already told me, we finally settled down on the roof to eat our dinner. Everyone was hungry and talked little. Our meal consisted of sun-cured antelope and warm water to wash it down. Other than having the undead wandering around the street below us, it felt like a typical outlaw picnic. The sun dropped behind the red ridge to the west and we all sat back and enjoyed the cooling air. This was the best time to be outdoors on Lazarus. Between the extremes.

  Ever since I'd been pulled from my freeze, I'd craved the opportunity to gaze at the stars until it got too cold to sit out. If I didn't do it now I might never have a chance, I thought. Not with all this rotter crap to deal with. Our odds weren't very good even before we'd found out about them. I couldn't escape the feeling that our current situation was going to end badly at any moment. To amuse myself, I'd come up with a short bucket list I never expected to complete.

  The first few stars began to glimmer against the darkening blue when I heard an odd sound coming from not far away. We all stopped and listened to the thunder of steel and horrible groans of the undead. Riding over the top of this sound was a woman's piercing screams for help.

  "You've got to be shitting me!" Trevor cursed.

  He dropped his plate of meat and fetched his crowbar. Before we could even react, he was already running past us toward the edge of the roof. When he was almost there a rotter rose to the top of the fire escape ladder from the other side. It was a man in a dark suit, and his half-eaten face was leaking worms. Perched on his shoulder was a buzzard, and in the afterglow coming from the horizon, the figure reminded me of sea pirate stories from my youth.

  As soon as dark suit saw us, he roared wetly and dropped down on top of Trevor. The boy was ready and brought up the forked end of the crowbar to impale the creature through the chest before they both fell over. He tried to grab its head and twist it off, but the carrion bird on the corpse's shoulder had pecked his hands bloody and forced him to let it go. We arrived in time to pull it off before it could sink its foul teeth into Trevor's arm.

  The dead man was gnashing his jaws when Ramos cut his head down the middle with a rusted hatchet he'd found the night before. Other rotters were spilling onto the roof and coming at us. I managed to take out several with my rifle before the battle got too close for comfort. I was worried I might hit one of my own. I desperately needed a different weapon.

  "Brand! Over here!" I heard Jade shout.

  I turned to see her rummaging around Trevor's makeshift outdoor kitchen. I sprinted over and saw her remove a cleaver from a chopping block. She waved the blade toward a chainsaw sitting on the ground and ran. I picked it up and got it to start on the second pull. It had been years since I'd held one. Memories of cutting up scorpion infested firewood to sell came rushing back. Long days busting my ass in the sun and the voice of my father shouting at me to work faster.

  Trevor and Ramos were getting pushed toward a corner by an ever-growing horde. Jade brought her cleaver down into the backs of several rotters' heads, trying to hack a passage for the trapped men to pass through. I raised the chainsaw above me and let it scream. Several rotters turned and started shuffling toward me. I revved the saw more and ran to meet them, letting the chain do its dirty work.

  Rotted body parts splattered onto the ground. I lost my balance and slipped into the arms of something so burned I couldn't even tell if it was a man or woman. In fact, the only things left that caused it to still resemble anything human was its crudely shaped body and crazy eyes sunk deep into melted pits of flesh.

  It grabbed hold of me with webbed fingers and pulled me toward it. I glanced around to see its lipless mouth open wide. Two rows of bloody piranha-like teeth greeted me before it lowered its head toward my shoulder. I struggled to get free but the ground was too slick for my feet to find purchase. The thing's fetid breath began to press against my skin while a shredded tongue flicked like a snake.

  The chewed antelope began to climb up my throat. I plunged the end of the chainsaw into the burned rotter's forehead and shoved. The top of its skull exploded as the s
aw ripped through, showering me with a foul stew of brains and curdled black blood. The rotter fell against me and slid off.

  Wiping my eyes, I glanced warily around the battlefield. Amazingly there were no more rotters left on the roof to fight off. I could see the outlines of the others standing near the edge. I got up and joined them. For a moment, we just stared at one another, the fresh blood on our faces glistening under the starlight like black primer. Like it or not, the world we knew had changed drastically.

  Later we patrolled the edge, smashing in every interloper's skull with the heels of our boots and sending them into a waiting pile below.

  "Help me!" I heard the woman scream again.

  I gazed over the edge to see where she was. The fire escape was jammed with rotters trying to climb up while others watched hungrily from below. I followed their eyes until I spotted the woman clinging to a steel pipe running near the fire escape. Several rotters holding onto the railings were trying to get at her. One after the other they swung out their arms to reach her before losing their grip and falling to the sidewalk below where their companions hissed in a grisly mass of twitching limbs.

  Chapter 4

  "I'm going to get her," I told the others. "She won’t last much longer down there."

  Trevor grabbed my arm and turned me around to face him. "Don't be stupid, Brand. She's not worth it. Those damn things wouldn't even be here if she hadn't led them to us."

  "You act surprised she came here. But what choice did she have? She's still a human being, Trevor, not one of those things. And I'd like to help her stay that way if I can."

  The boy finally let go of me when he saw the others looking twitchy. "She's also a thief... I don't want to have to worry about waking up again to find all my shit's been stolen."

  "You won't have to worry," I assured him. "I'll keep an eye on her. If I think she's up to no good, I’ll be the first to cut her loose."

  Trevor met eyes with Jade and Ramos before nodding grudgingly. "Fine. If you feel like it's the right thing to do."

  "Thank you."

  Trevor pointed a finger at the fire escape and sneered. The weight of the rotters climbing up it was causing the brittle steel to shudder and groan louder than ever.

  "How do you plan to rescue her without one of those things biting you first?"

  "I’ll come up with something," I said.

  Trevor walked away in confusion and disgust. He had every reason to be unhappy with my recklessness. But a lifetime of criminal experience had come flooding back to me, helping me see how to accomplish the nearly impossible task. I needed to do this, to prove to myself I still possessed my old abilities after years of being entombed in ice.

  I walked along the edge until I came to the large pipe I'd noticed earlier. There was a good five inches between it and the brick wall, leaving plenty of room for me to hang onto it while I climbed down.

  I set down my rifle, unbuckled my belt and pulled it free before sitting next to the pipe. I touched it with my hand. The metal was still warm from the day's sun but not enough to cause worry. Yet without ropes and gloves it would still be rough going.

  Jade bent down next to me and reached out her knife. I glanced up and read her eyes. She too had had enough of the woman's pleas for help. It was either put the screamer out of her misery or try to save her. Lucky for her we hadn’t turned into the cold executing types. We hadn’t been back on the new Lazarus long enough to become hardened.

  "Thanks," I said, taking the blade. "I'll try to remember to give it back."

  "No one is asking you to be a hero, Brand."

  I nodded and passed my rifle up to her. She stared at me in surprise.

  "You're not going to take this?"

  "Too much weight. Do me a favor and keep an eye on us. If that woman or I fall, you'll need to take us out before those things reach us."

  Jade looked at my government issued weapon in dismay. "You expect me to use this piece of junk?"

  "Head shots," I said. "Don't forget."

  "You're crazy, you know."

  "Just do it, okay?"

  Jade rested the barrel on her shoulder and looked away. "I'm starting to hope I'll need to use it on you."

  I looped my belt under the pipe and slid over. I kicked against the brick until the toes of my boots found an edge to catch onto. I glanced up and saw Ramos leaning over. His eyes were hooded and he scratched at his cheek before he spoke, a sign he was keeping his anger at me on lockdown.

  "Can't change who you are, I guess."

  "You could be right about that," I said. "Watch the kid for me, will you? Be sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

  The big man smiled tightly. "You got it, Brand. I know you don't want anyone else to steal your crown from you."

  "I figured you wanted it," I said.

  The big man raised his middle finger at me.

  Already my post-freeze muscles were starting to feel the strain. I glanced down at the shadow of the screaming woman clinging for her life. "Don't move," I shouted. "I'm coming to get you."

  By the second floor down I felt better than when I'd started. My stiff muscles were warmed up now, and I was able to descend with ease. Damn I’d been well preserved, I thought. I’m going to be back to my old self in no time.

  It was more difficult to ignore the low roar of the undead. My brain had tried pumping the breaks shortly after I'd started downward, and for good reason. Moving toward that terrible stench and sound ran against all instinct for self-preservation.

  Despite her ordeal, the woman hadn't yet slipped into some state I wouldn't be able to pull her out of. I'd been worried when she'd stopped screaming, that maybe I'd already lost her.

  She was thin and raven-haired and even in the shadows I could tell she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.

  Her hand was raw and bleeding where she'd torn it against the brick. I took it in mine and held it for several moments, felt the gradual transfer of trust.

  "Are you up for this?" I asked.

  She nodded and I saw a splash of tears land on her cheeks.

  ****

  We had two floors left to reach the roof when she lost consciousness. I'd felt her whole body go slack and begin to slide down behind me before I reached around and caught her around the waist. Somehow, I'd managed to keep my toes wedged in a window sill. The belt held the two of us but I didn't know for how long.

  Of all the times I'd managed to get myself stuck in a bad place, this had to be the worst I could recall. My choices were few. I could let the woman go and save myself, or I could try to keep hanging on until I gave out and fell to my death with her. No, a voice in my head insisted. You're still capable of getting back alive. Jade doesn’t want to shoot you. You don’t want to make her do that.

  I stared up at the roof and didn't see anyone peering over. Where the hell were they?

  A few moments later a rope dropped next to me. When I looked up again Trevor was staring down from the roof.

  "Put it around you," he shouted.

  I shook my head. "Take her first."

  Wedging my toes deeper, I let the loop fall over the unconscious woman’s head and then cinched it under her arms before pushing her away. She swung out and spun for a few moments. Hands of the dead strained to reach for her as the crew on the roof hauled her up.

  By the time the rope fell back down next to me, my arms were so numb I didn't know if I could lift them. And yet I managed to slip the loop over my head before my body gave out. I briefly awoke to find myself moving up next to the wall, gliding like some creature of the night in search of rooms with open windows and occupants inside with blood to drink.

  ****

  When I came to, I was on the roof. Jade was helping the woman sip from a canteen. I'd heard her whispering to Jade in a cracking voice. When she saw me watching, her eyes widened with fear. I took her hand in mine and held it. It seemed as if she remembered me and began to relax.

  "What's your name?" I asked.

&nb
sp; "Laura.” The woman tried to say something else but her strength suddenly left her and she closed her eyes and leaned back.

  I glanced at Jade. "Is she going to make it?"

  "I think so. She wasn't bitten by one of those things, thank god. But it's going to take time for her to get her strength back. She's really dehydrated."

  I sat up on my elbows and glanced around the roof, watched the others patrolling along the edge. The groaning sounds of the iron fire escape tearing away from the wall had ceased.

  "Has she told you much?" I asked.

  "She said she had no idea her boyfriend had poisoned Trevor. He'd told her Trevor had died and she'd had no reason not to believe him."

  I struggled to get up and limped toward the watchers on the edge of the roof. My chest and back burned from where the rope had dug into my flesh. Trevor and Ramos turned to look at me. Their faces appeared withdrawn.

  "Thanks for the help," I said. "I know I'm a pain in the ass."

  Ramos looked like he wanted to say something before changing his mind. It seemed like he and Trevor had decided not to dwell on my impulsive desire to save Laura and put everyone else possibly at risk.

  Trevor finally smiled when his eyes met mine. "Ramos told me some stories about you, Brand. Sounds like you have a knack for getting into shit."

  "It's true," I said. "And if you think you'd be better off without me, I'll understand why."

  Trevor grinned. "No need for that, Brand. So long as you keep an eye on her like you said, we're good."

  I nodded as I stepped closer to the edge and stared down with them. I was startled to see the parade of dead moving away.

  "Why are they leaving?"

  "We're not sure," Ramos said. "But a few minutes ago we thought we heard hoof beats again."

  "Bandits?" I asked.

  "No idea," Trevor said. "But it doesn't seem likely."