Haven by Laury Falter Read Free Book Online

ammo, so it needed to get us to the car, at the least. It did, thankfully, and when we reached Old Boy, I tossed the keys to Harrison so I could continue shooting in a ring around us.
    Once we were all safely inside, Harrison inserted and turned the key. Without pausing, he chuckled to himself and glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “All right,” he said. “I agree. You can handle yourself.”
    I might have smiled if we were simply on a run for Slurpees, and I wish we had been. The bodies bearing down on us were sobering reminders that we weren’t. Their groans and grunts were muffled now, but that didn’t make them any less terrifying.
    “Go! Go! Go!” Doc shouted as Harrison stepped on the gas and peeled straight ahead.
    I actually didn’t cringe when Old Boy’s hood hit the fence and sent it churning over the roof. My mind was too busy screaming the same word as Doc, mentally propelling Old Boy faster.
    We careened through the grassy strip on the opposite side and into the street, still being chased but gaining ground as Harrison pressed the gas pedal. The first block was as eerily quiet and untouched as the inside of our school and then we came face to face with everything we’d read in the news. Houses were in flames. A car was rammed into the front of someone’s house. Trees were down and bushes were strewn about. In the middle of it all, people who looked like the kind that had just tried to run us down, roamed the sidewalks and yards. A few were scattered across the street, which Harrison steered around. All of them, on hearing Old Boys rumbling engine, made an attempt to get at us but never quite succeeded. Harrison ignored all traffic laws, driving straight through stop signs and red lights, over people’s lawns, and across sidewalks, but he got us there.
    Doc’s house was on a cul-de-sac, which hid us from the hordes moving through the city, but also corralled us in if they chose to come down his street. So, we didn’t waste time getting out of the car and into his house.
    “Kennedy,” Harrison said, keeping his voice to a whisper.
    I looked at him.
    “Just…” He paused and I could see that he wanted me to stay in the car. Apparently he knew that wouldn’t be an option and instead settled for, “Be alert.”
    “I am.”
    We made it to the front door in record time. Doc pushed it open, shouting, “Mom! Dad!”
    And then he came to a stop just inside.
    There was a reason why his street didn’t have anyone on it waiting to attack us. They’d already been here. Chairs were overturned, glass had been shattered across the carpet, there were blood streaks along the walls. We kept up with Doc’s panicked rush through the house and then found ourselves back at the front door.
    We could see it on his face and all of us knew without anyone needing to say a word. There were only certain people that would be able to survive whatever was happening. Unfortunately, Doc’s parents didn’t fall into this category.
    Nonetheless, Harrison left Doc with a little hope. “Leave a note,” he advised. “If they come back then they’ll know where to find you.”
    Doc nodded, pulled out a pad and pen set from the entryway table, and scribbled his location on it. It seemed to reinvigorate him a little. “I’m gonna get some stuff from my room,” he said, putting down the pen.
    A visible tension ran through the rest of us when he said it, which he noticed after he looked up. Realizing what he’d said, he swallowed nervously making the Adam’s apple slip up and down along his throat. It seemed to be nodding at us, saying “Yes, you know he’s correct. You’ll be staying at school for a little longer than expected.”
    He raced up the stairs and returned a few minutes later with a backpack slung over his shoulder. “Mei’s house next,” he said, not bothering to stop or look back at his home as he headed out the door. And I understood why. He refused to believe it would be his last chance to do