Resurgence: Green Fields book 5 by Adrienne Lecter Read Free Book Online Page A

him about a minute to get into his gear and strap on his weapons. My gear? What was left of it was in the car, but I had a certain feeling that if I’d been forced to wear the heavy, reinforced clothing rather than the shorts and tank top I was in now, I would have keeled over on the spot. I wasn’t quite as defenseless as a newborn, but not a long shot from it. Speed was still my best chance.
    And, who knew? Maybe I didn’t even smell like food to them anymore.
    That thought was one I kept to myself. What I didn’t was my assessment of what would happen once we’d managed to—somehow—make it to the car. “I’m driving.”
    Nate gave me a look that was a breath away from incredulous. “You can hardly stand up straight—“
    “Then be glad the car still has seats,” I whispered right over his protest. “I didn’t say I want to drive. But can you? Out there, tonight, with the clouds obscuring what little moonlight there is? The scope may be good enough for spotting any moving targets, but you won’t see a single bump in the road or pothole. You need me to drive.” I didn’t point out that in the event that we had to shoot, he was the only one of us who’d hit anything. If it came to that, we were likely toast. Just starting the car and letting it rumble down the road would already send the zombies into overdrive. Suddenly, that idea the guys at the Silo had with their electric engine wasn’t half as harebrained as it had seemed at first glance.
    Nate’s jaw stood out hard as he gnashed his teeth, but after a few seconds of deliberation he gave a curt, reluctant nod. “Do you think you can make it down the stairs on your own? I’m afraid that if I have to carry you, the friction of fabric against fabric will be enough to make some of them at least curious.”
    I nodded, although I didn’t like the idea one bit. Then again, it was the same if it took me one minute or five to get down those stairs, as long as I managed not to make a sound.
    Nate hesitated for another moment, but there was no sense to it. Reaching for the door, I turned the knob and eased it open, momentarily shivering as the cool night air rushed in. I winced as the hinges creaked, but from what I could tell none of the shamblers down in the lot noticed. Looking left and right to make sure that the way was clear, I stepped outside, gingerly putting my foot down on the concrete. The stairs were only four doors down, but rather than head there directly, I stepped toward the bannister to look into the lot. Just as I’d feared, there were more shamblers lurking down below already, several of them congregating at the bottom of the steps. Nate followed me, and at a glance down he pulled me back, signaling toward the other stairs. Taking those forced us to do a good five-minute detour of slowly sneaking along the entire length of the building, but at least the way was clear. By now it was impossible not to smell them, and as silent as they were for a horde of undead, they still made enough sound as they moved to pinpoint their locations easily.
    A sudden gust of wind made the door of our room slam shut, startling me enough to jump, but thankfully not scream. Heads all over the lot snapped in that direction, and barely a moment later the first two zombies came up the stairs—the other stairs, thankfully. I didn’t need Nate’s gentle push against my arm to make me start down toward the lot, using the rush over there to disguise my steps. He remained behind me for the first five agonizing steps, but then eased himself by me and down, pausing only for a moment to point from me to the car. I nodded, taking a second to catch my breath. Walking on even ground wasn’t that hard, but stairs? Not my favorite architectural element right now.
    Within moments he’d disappeared in the shadows at the bottom of the stairs, silently melting away. I wished I was already down there, not fully exposed as I was right now. I still forced myself to wait until I