Fate's Surrender (Eternal Sorrows Book 3) by Sarra Cannon (android based ebook reader txt) 📕

Karmen was getting better, too, expanding her range and essentially stunning large groups of zombies all at once. Killing them was like shooting fish in a barrel. Hope surged through Parrish as she sliced down rotters and climbed over them to the next group.

They were moving now, and as they approached First Avenue, she called back to Crash.

“Which way do we want to go? Do you think we just keep heading uptown?”

“Yeah, let’s head up First and see how it goes,” he said. “We might have to adapt our strategy, so pay attention.”

First Avenue was teeming with rotters, all pressing in toward them. Parrish knew at any minute they could run into some super zombies, too. It was only a matter of time before Lily or the Dark One sent their pets over this way and the real fight began.

As they moved, though, each person got better at executing their role in the group, and they fell into a rhythm with it, anticipating each other’s movements as they kept a tight circle.

Parrish’s muscles burned. They’d already been through so much over the past week between the hospital, the compound, and all their training. Her entire body was sore before they even started.

But with every swing of her sword, she reminded herself she was taking one step closer to Zoe every time they moved forward even a little bit.

And then, she heard it.

Zoe’s voice. Small but strong.

We’re in trouble, Parrish. It’s all my fault.

Parrish nearly fell to her knees at the sound in her mind. She faltered in the rhythm, and Noah quickly stepped in with a headshot from one of his two pistols.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Zoe,” she said. “Where are you? We’re coming to you.”

The others stepped around Parrish, giving her space in the center of their group so she could talk to her sister. The fighting never skipped a beat.

I don’t know. We’re on top of buildings. We’re moving as fast as we can, but they just keep coming.

“David’s with you?” she asked, already sensing the answer but needing to be sure.

I’m here, David’s voice now. We’re about to cross over the Third Avenue Bridge. I can sense you.

“They’re on Third Avenue,” Parrish said. “Crash, what do we do?”

“Tell them to stay on Third. Keep heading this way. We’ll make our way there. Meet in the middle,” he said.

Parrish relayed the instructions to David and Zoe, wishing she had some idea of just how far they were from each other. Even though she’d studied the maps, she didn’t have a clear enough concept of the city now that she was here to know what kind of distance they were needing to cross here. Served her right for relying on her phone’s GPS all her life, instead of pulling out a map every now and then.

Of course, no one had expected life as they knew it to come to a screeching halt, either.

The Third Avenue Bridge was only a few miles at most. They could do this.

“Keep moving toward us,” she said. “We’ll be together soon. All you have to do is stay alive.”

I will keep her alive, David said. Heading your way.

The words filled Parrish with a surge of hope, and she looked toward the rotters ahead with renewed determination. Goosebumps broke out across her arms, and something new awakened inside.

She held onto that feeling, pushing deeper into it, and as she lifted her sword and stepped back into place, sparks of red flame joined the blue light emanating from her sword.

Thirty-Six

Crash

“This way,” Crash said, spotting a break in the otherwise endless crowds of rotters.

They’d been fighting their way to Third Avenue for the past half-hour, and he was exhausted. More importantly, Karmen needed a break. She’d indicated she was losing focus and starting to feel light-headed.

He wasn’t sure they could push through without her, so he led them into an alleyway between two tall buildings where there were only a handful of rotters lingering. Parrish made quick work of them, and the group crouched down behind a set of trash bins.

Crash leaned against the brick wall and took several deep breaths. They’d been fighting nonstop, and it felt good to finally get a break, even if it wouldn’t last too long.

This alley was clear for now, and though they needed to keep moving, he also needed to catch his breath.

“Thank you,” Karmen said.

“Are you feeling alright?” Parrish asked.

“I just need a second. Maybe something to eat.”

While the others drank some water and searched their bags for snacks, Crash took the opportunity to pull up several cameras and study the area between where they were now and where they needed to go.

David had said they were just crossing the Third Avenue Bridge. That looked to be about three miles or so away. It seemed like such a short distance, but at the rate they were moving, it was still going to take an hour or more unless David and Zoe were moving a lot faster than they were.

The city around them was completely trashed. It was so much worse seeing it with your own eyes than any satellite could ever convey.

Crash could only imagine how terrifying it must have been to be trapped here. Were there still survivors hiding out in their apartments, rationing out whatever food they had left? Or was the city mostly given over to rotters at this point?

He couldn’t be sure. All he could do was hope their actions would make a difference to whoever had managed to survive this long in the world.

He pulled up every possible route, trying to navigate them around the larger messes where they might possibly get trapped. New York City was basically a grid, but their trip wasn’t as simple as just cutting over to Third Avenue and heading north. There was too much in the way sometimes to make a straight shot, so they were going to need to move in a kind of zig-zag pattern in some places.

Even then, the sheer number of