Devoured by - (ebook reader browser .txt) 📖

you!” Lance shouted as he climbed into the truck.

He pulled the keys from the ignition and wriggled backward, shoulder aching with every movement. He jumped to the ground, stopping just long enough to lock the doors of the cab before running to the back again. They didn’t need the gun-wielding asshole getting behind the wheel and doing something stupid while they were stuck in the back.

The shotgun boomed behind Lance as he turned the corner. Pellets ricocheted off the armored vehicle, missing him by less than two feet.

“Dumbass?” Cass lifted a hand to her head. Her eyelids fluttered open, confusion filled and dreary. “What are you shooting at?”

Lance fumbled with the keys. “Some asshole is trying to kill us. No big deal.” He stabbed a key at the hole in the door, but it didn’t fit. The next one slid in and he turned it, hearing a loud thunk as the lock opened.

“Where are we?”

Opening the door, Lance held a hand out to Cass. “Come on! There’s a whole street full of Vladdies bearing down on us.”

Cass took his hand, groaning as he jerked her to her feet. “Easy, dumbass—I have a helluva a headache.” Her words slurred as she spoke, eyes still cloudy.

Lance didn’t argue with her. He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around, shoving her toward the open door. She put her foot on the first of two steps leading into the back of the truck, but her movements were lethargic. Knowing they were out of time, he knelt down, placed his hands under her ass, and pushed as hard as he could.

Her light frame flew into the back of the truck, landing with a thud on the metal floor.

“Don’t touch my ass, you stupid mother—”

Lance grabbed the open door, about to pull himself inside, when he felt the touch of cold metal on his neck.

“Step away from the door,” the man said.

“We can—”

“You said ‘fuck me’.”

“I watched you shoot that guy.” Lance licked his lips. He caught Cass’ gaze, saw her eyes clear when she spotted the shotgun.

“Let him go, hillbilly.”

Dozens of feet clopped across the pavement by the front of the truck. Lance knew they had seconds before the daywalkers took them.

“Shut up, bitch. I’ll—”

Lance grabbed the Rambo-style knife from the sheath on his hip and spun around. His right elbow caught the barrel of the shotgun, shoving it aside as it roared. The deafening blast went off by his ear, filling his head with a high-pitched ringing.

He continued spinning on his heel, coming face-to-face with his would-be murderer. They locked eyes as Lance drove the ten-inch blade into the man’s sternum. The razor-sharp edge slid in with surprising ease, stopping only when the hilt jammed against skin.

The air exploded from the man’s lungs, his eyes widening, mouth falling slack.

Warmth ran over Lance’s hand. He stared at the man’s face, forever etching his features into his memory. Deep lines across his forehead. Dark hair, graying at the temples. Slight belly hanging over his belt.

Lance pulled the knife free.

Red-tinged saliva spilled over the man’s lower lip.

The first daywalker appeared around the corner of the truck, grabbing at the dying man’s shoulders, sinking its teeth into the exposed flesh of his neck.

Lance stepped away, bending to grab the axe from the ground, and lunging for the back of the truck.

Cass grabbed the back of his shirt as he climbed in, pulling him clear of the door. Hands grabbed at his trailing feet.

He kicked them away, twisting around in time to see Cass boot one of the infected in the face. She slammed the door shut.

The back of the truck went dark.

They sat without speaking for a while, listening to the screams of the man outside. He lived for quite some time, pleading for death. It finally found him a few minutes later and he fell silent.

Lance found a bench on the left wall and sat on it, rocking back and forth, as he replayed the knifing in his mind. He couldn’t erase the image of the man’s shocked face as the blade pierced his body. Remembering the blood on his hand, Lance wiped at his pant legs frantically, overtaken by the need to clean himself of the deed.

Cass found him in the darkness. She placed her hands on his shoulders. “You didn’t have a choice. He was going to kill you. I saw it in his eyes.”

Lance thought about it for several seconds before responding. “There are so few of us left. We shouldn’t be killing each other. It’s different with them—the Vladdies—than it is with a man.”

“It was him or us. You did the right thing.”

He understood what she was saying, but it didn’t make him feel much better.

The bench shifted as she sat beside him, unseen in the darkness.

“Care to tell me how we ended up in an armored car?”

As the daywalkers outside began to beat against the reinforced sides of the truck, Lance recounted the exploding office building.