Chapter 52: Cold

May laughed until her stomach hurt. One hand held the radar while the other patted Alex’s back. "Okay, okay, I feel sorry for you now, all right? But don’t do that again. If something actually happens to you, who’s going to be my little brother?"

Alex peeked out from between his arms with one careful eye. "Okay..."

Theo turned toward the doorway, glanced at May and the curled-up Alex, and left a light parting remark. "Save the banter. There are still a few downstairs who aren’t quite dead yet. Go finish them off."

Below, the women who had been chained in the truck beds came running up wrapped in rags.

The lead woman dropped to her knees and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Thank you, really, thank you..." Her voice trembled. "Those animals stole our vehicle. If it weren’t for you, we’d be dead today."

Mitch was already irritated. He tossed two empty magazines onto the floor and snapped, "There’s food on the first floor of the supermarket. Grab some and run the opposite direction. Don’t hang around here getting in the way!"

The women scrambled down the stairs in a panic.

May leaned against Theo’s arm, about to dig through her backpack for spare clothes for the poor women, when a continuous series of thunderous roars erupted outside the building.

The vibrations numbed the soles of her feet.

"Fuck! Horde incoming!"

Mitch stuck his head out the window for a quick look and immediately started cursing.

The earlier explosions had been far too loud. Zombies from miles around were pouring toward them like they had smelled blood. A black tide flooded the abandoned street, packing it solid like dumplings in a pot.

"Move! Get to the vehicle!"

Ray snatched the heavy sniper rifle from the floor and spun toward May.

In two strides he closed the distance, scooped her up by the waist without waiting for a word, and threw her over his shoulder.

They tore downstairs at top speed. The six men carved a bloody path with May and sprinted for the pink off-road RV.

Ray dropped into the driver’s seat and floored the accelerator.

The armored shell smashed through the front ranks of the horde, grinding a path through the sea of corpses by pure force.

The rear compartment was pure chaos.

The huge pink waterbed in the middle of the RV had no seat belts at all.

The wheels rolled over piles of shredded flesh, sending the vehicle into violent jolts.

May had barely sat on the edge of the waterbed when the next lurch threw her backward.

"Watch it!"

Mitch’s hand shot out and caught her.

She slammed face-first into a rock-hard chest.

The man’s body heat was scorching. Even through the combat uniform, she could clearly feel the stacked contours of solid muscle.

Mitch had his long legs spread to brace himself. Most of his weight pressed into the waterbed; one arm locked around May’s waist like an iron clamp.

The vehicle took another sharp turn. Their bodies rose and fell together on the springy surface, pressed flush against each other.

Mitch’s breathing went ragged at once. Hot air spilled across the back of her ear.

The rough calluses on the hand gripping her waist scraped slowly back and forth through the thin black T-shirt with every bounce of the waterbed.

The sensation was so electric it made her scalp tighten.

"Mitch..." May’s voice floated, her waist already too soft to support any strength.

"Don’t move!"

Mitch gritted his teeth. His voice was so hoarse it barely sounded human. The roots of his ears burned crimson, yet he showed no intention of letting go.

His other hand, unsure where to rest, instinctively pressed down—and landed squarely on the side of her thigh.

The heat of her skin transferred straight through the fabric into his palm.

Mitch jerked his fingers back as if electrocuted, only for another jolt of the vehicle to drag the back of his hand across that soft curve again.

"Mitch, your hands sure know where to land."

Alex, still smarting from having his earlier act exposed, was looking for a chance to regain some face. He lounged at the other end of the waterbed and needled him with deliberate sarcasm.

Ace sat nearby, peach-blossom eyes curved into crescents. He drew a small knife from his combat boot and tested the edge with a fingertip. "If that hand is surplus, Ace can cut it off for you. Save the trouble."

"Fuck off!"

Mitch snarled back, neck flushed, yet his arm stayed locked around the girl in his hold and refused to loosen even a fraction.

While the cabin reeked of jealousy, a sudden barrage of deafening impacts hammered the roof—like countless stones raining from the sky.

A sharp crack split the air. A large hole punched straight through the front windshield. Wind and snow poured in.

"Hail!"

Ray roared.

This was no ordinary hail. Every stone was the size of a fist, crashing against the armored shell with ear-splitting force.

In the space of a few sentences, the sky outside went pitch black. The temperature plummeted in a straight line.

The cabin temperature dropped hard. May sneezed loudly.

"We’re dead in the water!"

Ray slammed the steering wheel. Warning lights on the dashboard flashed in a solid red sea.

Extreme cold had damaged the engine. It was finished.

The temperature had already hit twenty below. Every breath turned to white frost.

"Out of the vehicle—make for the abandoned air-raid shelter on the hillside ahead!"

Ray shoved the door open. Gale-force wind laced with snow and hail blasted in, stinging faces raw.

Everyone grabbed gear in seconds.

May was already physically weak and wore only a single layer. The moment she stepped outside, the cold locked her tongue so tightly she could barely form words.

The wind was savage, mixed with fist-sized hailstones.

Jack didn’t hesitate. He charged over and planted himself on her windward side.

His massive frame became a solid load-bearing wall, sealing her completely from the storm.

The air-raid shelter sat under the hillside beside the road. The group pushed through the hail, stumbling and slipping, and finally plunged inside.