I can't run.
My boots made sure of that. They'd managed to track me all the way to my small hidey-hole – they'd find me again. The only thing I could do was try to stall them.
Tiptoeing across the room, I peeked out the window. My side throbbed in a way that had my stomach turning itself over. It hurt far worse than it had since I'd attempted to cauterize it and a part of me knew something was wrong.
Focus.
There was only one flashlight – one person – moving around outside. The figure had the light aimed at the snow and walked with a confidence that had me shrinking farther into the shadows.
It's them.
It had to be. The person was moving to the far side of the house where I'd entered through a window. I dashed out of my hiding place, trying to not make any noise as I did, but the old floorboards creaked under my every step.
I made it to the outside of the bathroom I'd previously entered from and let out a small puff of air in relief to see that the door was still closed. My relief was short-lived, however. I heard the soft tinkling of broken glass hitting the tile floor as someone messed with the window.
Adjusting my knife in my grip, I prepared myself for the inevitable, hoping that the element of surprise was on my side. I heard the moment the person's feet hit the tile floor. I held my breath, waiting.
The doorknob turned slowly and I squeezed my knife, ignoring my sweaty palms. The moment the door opened, I lunged. I moved to stab the person in the gut right as my eyes met theirs. There was only a moment for me to see their surprise before they reacted instinctively.
They shoved my outstretched arm out of the way, making me lose my balance. Before I even had the chance to recover, they whacked me upside the jaw with their flashlight. My arms pinwheeled as I tried to recover, but I ended up sprawled on my ass with a mouth full of blood.
My knife was still locked in my death grip. My knuckles took the brunt of my fall in order to keep it. I glared up at the figure and froze. I knew him.
Anton.
My guard from the courthouse towered above me with an angry scowl. In one hand he held a flashlight, in the other he held a metal bat. Looking at the man's physique, I realized how lucky I'd been that he'd chosen to not use the bat.
"You didn't really let me escape, did you? You tricked me," I said, almost unable to help myself.
The man raised a pale brow at my statement. "Yes."
I hadn't actually expected him to answer me – let alone answer honestly. Not wanting to give any of my emotions away, I instead took the moment to spit the blood building up from my bitten tongue to the ground beside me.
Anton's face stayed blank as his icy-blue eyes watched me carefully. Only when I made a move to get back onto my feet did his expression change to show a hint of weariness.
I staggered a bit, catching myself on the wall beside me as I stood. "Are you going to kill me?" I asked, needing to know.
"No."
Stunned, I could only blink at him. I tried to get a read on him to better understand, but it was like studying a plaster wall. The man didn't even bother to elaborate, instead, he began to move farther into the house, craning his neck as if searching for other people.
"You alone?" He eventually asked and I heard the hint of an accent again in his voice, but I couldn't place it.
My heart sank. Of course, he wasn't going to kill me yet. He still needed me alive to find the rest of my group.
"Look around," I snapped. "What do you think?"
His eyes narrowed. "I think you're pretty stupid."
I felt my cheeks flush at his insult and it took all I had to not rise to his bait. Even still, I knew my next words would come out as a sneer. "Really? And why is that?"
He lightly twirled his bat. "I gave you a chance."
My eyebrows shot up. "A chance? Are you kidding me? You sent me out bleeding and cuffed with a brand on my boot. How the fuck is that giving me a chance?"
Anton's expression never changed, but his eyes did. They became curious. "Ah." His gaze fell to my feet. "So, not stupid, just dumb then."
Our conversation was not going at all in the direction I'd expected. I had thought I was going to be killed, not insulted. I wasn't even sure why I was indulging him.
"Aren't those the same thing?" I asked.
"No, not at all," he answered earnestly. "Stupid would have been to keep running without realizing you were being followed. Dumb means you're smart enough to know your being followed but you still let yourself get caught like a helpless little bunny."
My jaw slightly dropped. Out of every nasty word he could have come up with, I wasn't expecting something as mundane as 'bunny' and yet I felt deeply slighted by it.
"I'm sorry," I scoffed. "My mistake. I didn't realize that I was supposed to follow a certain pattern of behavior. I apologize for being a bunny."
Anton shrugged. "Well, you're alive. So, that's good."
I crossed my arms, almost forgetting that I was still holding my knife. The more time that passed, the less sure I was of how to deal with Anton. I had thought our next confrontation would have resulted in bloodshed.
And it probably still should.
But, his utter lack of interest in harming me was more disarming than if he'd actually managed to get my knife out of my grasp.
"So, where's your people?"
I stiffened, raising my chin slightly in defiance. Misty and Hayden had died to protect them and I would do no less.
Anton and I stared each other down and the longer it lasted the more I realized that his stiff expressions couldn't hide the many thoughts that danced through his eyes. I saw the moment when his eyes lit up with understanding.
"Ah," he said. "So, you didn't want to lead us to your people. That's why you kept the boots on?"
I pressed my lips into a firm line, refusing to answer even if he didn't need me to.
He nodded. "Good. Keep doing that."
"Wait." My arms dropped heavily to my sides. "What?"
He looked at me as though I was living up to his expectation of 'dumb bunny' again. "I told you I gave you a chance."
"I thought you meant-"
"A hunting party is maybe twenty minutes behind me. They sent me out first, but they'll be here soon and then you'll be dead."
I was struggling to follow him. "Wait, they're going to kill me? Don't they want me to lead them to my group?"
He shrugged. "Sure, but that doesn't always work. So if they find you alone, they'll just kill you."
I nodded along slowly. "So, then why aren't you killing me?"
"I don't want to," he answered plainly.
Shock reverberated through me, shaking my very bones. "You... don't want to kill me?"
Anton's eyes shined with annoyance. "Yes. But the others do and they'll be here soon. You're wasting time."
"You don't want to kill my group?"
"No."
I shook my head. "How am I supposed to believe that?"
"Don't know," Anton answered, sounding bored with our conversation. "Not my problem."
"But-"
"Hunting parties on foot will have over ten people. Do you want to stay and meet them?"
I blanched. "No," I said in a smaller voice than I would have liked.
"Good." Anton's lips slightly quirked up but his eyes were filled with frustration. "Keep running. If I find you again, you'll probably die."
"Oh, uh, okay..." I glanced between him and the window we'd both used to enter. "So, I can just go?"
The expression in Anton's eyes soured further. "Yes," he practically hissed.
Still a bit wary, I took careful sidesteps around him. When I made it all the way to the window without being attacked I turned back to meet his eyes again. "Thank you."
He gave me a single-shoulder shrug in return. "If you want to thank me, don't die."
I gave him a sharp nod.
I don't intend to. Not yet.
Without another word, I hauled myself out the window. The freezing night air stung at my exposed skin, but I barely felt it. Too much of myself was caught up in what had just happened and once I started running, all I could feel was the pain in my side.
I ran in the opposite direction than the one I'd seen Anton approach from, but worry gnawed at me as I still had no idea if I was bringing myself and those following me closer to my group. There was no time to stop and assess my surroundings and I wasn't even sure that it would have helped if I did. As much as I'd studied the map, I hadn't exactly memorized every street in a ten-mile radius. I had to get lucky with familiar names.
Hugging my side, I kept moving. I ran through backyards and random streets, doing my best to at least stick to a straight line. After a hard fifteen minutes, I had to slow down to take the strain off of my side.
I watched my panting breaths turn into little puffs of clouds in the night air. Trying to slow my breathing and to breathe through my nose, but it was too stuffed up. I wiped at my nose with my sleeve and glanced behind me. My heart nearly stopped.
I was being followed.
It wasn't by Anton or his people but by a zombie. I hadn't even seen or heard it but I had to have passed it at some point. It was tall and lean and making great, fast strides towards me.
With my heart in my throat, I picked up my pace again. I wanted it to lose sight of me so I made a plan to turn into the next alley I found. The shops I was passing were all part of the same plaza and it took far longer than I had hoped to find a turnoff. When I eventually did, it was anything but clear.
I stumbled into the alleyway only to find three zombies loitering about. Their attention snapped almost instantly to me and with an eerie suddenness, they went from standing still to a stuttering jaunt. I backed out of the alleyway as quickly as I could, but the zombie that had been previously following me was catching up. Not waiting to see it happen, I knew three became four.
In my rush to flee, I was slowly creating a horde.
Panic brought tears to my eyes as I passed another alley and another two zombies joined in the hunt. I began to run blindly, gripping my side as hard as I could. My wound was screaming at me to slow down, but I couldn't.
If the Judge's group doesn't get me, the zombies will.
For over an hour, I was caught between a walk and jog, trying to make distance on a group of zombies that I just couldn't seem to shake. Their numbers kept growing and growing.
Dawn had to be coming soon. I was about to pass a gap between houses and hurriedly glanced over my shoulder again to check the number of zombies following me again before I did. My heart skipped a beat as the number looked to be over twenty.
I was so focused on what was behind me that I turned to look ahead of me too late. I took a step to cross the breach between the houses and ran headlong into something – someone.
They let out a grunt as I winded them and I threw my weight backwards to get away from them, but they caught me by the elbow. Their grasp was on my knife-wielding arm and I immediately tried to tug myself free. They let go and I raised my arm, ready to stab.
"Kate."
The fog of terror lifted from my mind, finally letting me see clearly.
Ian.
I burst into tears, losing myself completely. Ian caught me as I teetered forwards, holding me up by my elbow and waist. Before I could warn him about my wound, his hand grazed passed it, making me let out a hiss of pain.
He retracted his hand instantly, looking at me with concern before his eyes moved to look past my shoulder.
"Can you walk?" he asked.
I nodded, still too choked up to speak.
How did he find me?
Ian put a hand on my lower back, guiding me slightly ahead of him as he took me down the gap between the houses he'd just emerged from. I let him lead me out onto the street and passed two more houses before I remembered my situation.
I made myself stop.
Ian stopped with me, his chest rising and falling as he took in harsh breaths. He looked at me with confusion but I could see the excitement and relief in his eyes.
Had he been looking for me?
"I can't go back. You can't lead me back to the others."
"What do you mean?" He frowned.
"Please, please tell me they are safe," I begged, needing to know before I could go on.
Ian grasped my shoulder and squeezed it gently. "They're safe."
I smiled despite myself. It was the best news I could have possibly heard. "Thank you," I whispered, savoring the moment. I closed my eyes, feeling the hot tears wheeling up behind them.
Ian squeezed my shoulder again and I opened my eyes again to see his concerned ones flash between me and what was behind me.
"Now what's going on? Why can't we go back? We're only-"
"Oh, God. Please tell me they aren't close." My throat constricted and I felt as though I'd lost all of my ability to breathe.
Ian's eyes widened at my reaction. "They're two streets over," he whispered.
No.
I raised my hands to my forehead.
What have I done?
"Ian." I shook off his hold on me and grabbed him by the front of his jacket. "I have to get away from here. Now. I have to go. They're tracking me."
"Who? Who's tracking you? The zombies? We can-"
"No." I tried to find the words but I felt like I'd swallowed hot coals. Telling him would mean I'd have to explain the absences of our friends.
Misty.
Hayden.
It's my fault.
Ian's expression hardened. "Is it the people who grabbed you?" he asked carefully.
I nodded adamantly.
"Are you... are you the only one who escaped?"
My heart felt like it was being crushed under the weight of the words unsaid – the words I couldn't say. "They... I... I didn't escape."
Ian's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"They let me go. They put a mark in my boot and let me go. They're trying to follow me to you. I have to get away from here. Do you understand me now? I have to get away."
Horror made Ian's eyes widen as the situation became clear to him. He stopped looking between me and the zombie and instead gazed down the street as if he could see the house with our friends from where we stood.
"Take off the boots," he practically ordered. "Take them off. We can-"
"No, Ian. No. We're too close to the house and they aren't that far behind. I have to make a trail going away from here."
The pained look on his face told me he knew I was right. I could tell he had a million questions, but they'd all have to wait. Still holding his jacket, I leaned forward on my toes and kissed him on the cheek.
"I'll see you soon," I whispered in his ear.
Falling back on my heels, I looked away from him and released my hold. I started to walk in the opposite direction of the street his eyes had followed when he caught me by my sleeve.
A dark and bitter smile graced his face. His hand slid down my sleeve until it met my hand and he interlaced his fingers with mine.
"I have an idea," he told me. "And then you can explain everything."
Before I could respond, he tugged on my hand and began to guide me away from our friends. The two of us then ran together, deeper into the last of the fading shadows of the night.