Smolder by Abigail Livinghouse (best young adult book series TXT) 📕

When I woke up, Dimitri was gone. I sat up slowly, looking around the kitchen for signs of danger. I didn't see anything, but what I heard was another story.

Growls and snarls erupted from the dining area, and I hopped to my feet, rushing out without even knowing what I would find. 

Half Deads were literally spilling into the room from the door that had been ripped apart in order for entrance. They were clawing and grappling for Dimitri, who was sitting on one of the rafters from the ceiling, a gun and knife in his hands.

Goddammit. There were so many, at least thirty in that room, and I quickly ducked back into the kitchen before they could catch sight of me. I didn't think any had seen me yet, and as soon as they did they would go charging for my throat. I had to think of an effective way to lure them away from Dimitri without killing myself in the process.

Even though Dimitri had a gun, I wondered if he fired it or not. He and I both knew that the noise attracted the Dead, he knew it even better than I did. So I doubted he had even fired at all. He didn't look frightened when he had been up on the rafter, he looked mad. As if he was pissed because he didn't have the situation under control.

How long had those things been surrounding the place before they had gotten inside? How long were they inside with Dimitri fending them off? And the burning question: why didn't he wake me up and alert me?

I chanced a peek through one of the dusty windows slotted on the doors. The Half Deads were piling up on each other, getting closer and closer to where Dimitri perched. He didn't look frightened, he looked like he was thinking something through before acting. I could guess what that was: fire the gun and attract more? Or be torn to shreds?

The answer seemed easy, but if I was the one reasoning this out then I would know that the latter would only cause more trouble in the long run. It could possibly save my ass for the time being, however later I would be paying for it.

I had to get involved. That I already knew. The question was how. I was on limited time, and needed to act quick before the Dead hooked their claws into Dimitri. I could use my fire, but that would send the whole place going up in flames, with Dimitri stuck up on the rafters while the Half Deads burned beneath him. If he dropped, he would be in no better shape than if he stayed put. Burn to death, or be ripped into while burning to death.

"Fuck", I murmured, knowing what I had to do. The only thing that would get these things away from Dimitri was another source of food. Fresh meat.

I had no other choice.

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I leapt out from the kitchen with my blade in hand. I have no clue what was running through my mind when I let out a high pitched scream and bolted back into the kitchen, through one of the rear exits and praying to God the Dead followed me. I didn't have to pray for long.

I had never seen Half Deads run so quickly before, not even in the barren cities or out near the desolate countryside where food for them was sparse in general. They must've been starved, because as I ran one of them got so close its curling fingers skimmed the leather of my jacket. A surge of fear overtook me for the briefest second before it quickly washed away. My fire took its place and flared, showing that it wasn't going to let me die, at least not without a fight.

I spun around and released flames, they shot hot and heavy from my palms and fingertips, immediately igniting the corpses sprinting after me. It was effective on about a quarter of the crowd but over half of them kept coming, even as they burned.

I pushed myself to keep going, keep running for my life. I had no choice but to run, and run fast. I wasn't sure how many of the Dead were left in the restaurant, because judging by the snarls and shrieks of the Half Deads behind me, there was a pretty sizable bunch on my tail. There were more here than the time I was on the run with Isabella's group, when we faced the herd surging after us. We narrowly escaped that. So many gnashing jaws and clawing hands, bloody mouths and bodies, ghosts of their former human selves. Who would've ever thought the dead would rise up to eat the living? I can tell you I sure as hell didn't.

I wouldn’t be able to run forever, I knew that. So dragging one more harsh gulp of air into my lungs, I turned around with my blade extended and slashed.

I knew there were too many. I knew there were too many of them from the start. But I kept going, kept stabbing and shooting flames at the Dead charging at me. Their putrid blood splashed all over me. I was grabbed a few times, but I made sure I took that one down before it could bite me.

There was absolutely no chance I would survive. It was a flood of Half Deads. Every time I killed one, two replaced that one, then four, then six, and it just kept increasing. I was overwhelmed, but my fire kept burning, kept screaming at me to keep going. My senses were being torn apart with the release of my flames, pouring furiously over anything in their path.

It was no use. A calm awareness of the fact that I was going to die filled me from head to toe, and the tension in my shoulders eased up a bit. One Half Dead gripped my arm, and I spun to release flames, but I realized with horrible sharpness that it wasn't the corpse's hand on my forearm, but its jaws.

My eyes widened and I brought the blade down, straight into the Dead's skull. It immediately fell to the ground. I didn't have time to examine the damage, however much was done. I had to keep going, even if I was beyond help now.

I caught something out of the corner of my eye. I didn't have time to look and see if it was a Half Dead or not. One quickly heaved itself on top of me with such force I fell to the ground. I held its shoulders firmly at arm's length, its snapping jaws inches from my face. It's mouth was dripping with blood, some landing on my face as I fought to keep it at bay.

A knife came down through the corpse's skull, the blade protruding from its forehead. The body was thrown off of me and to the side, and just maybe the most glorious sight I had ever seen stood over me. Dimitri reached down and hauled me to my feet, a bloody knife in one hand and a smoking gun in the other.

In the spare time I had been wrestling with the Half Dead on the ground, he had taken out the remaining Dead around us. I blinked, momentarily stunned at the sudden empty space around us except for Dimitri and I.

"Are you alright?" He asked, breathing hard and sweating.

I swallowed, nodding even though my eyes flitted to the spot just shy of my wrist. I would have to look at that later. For now, it wasn't something to worry Dimitri over.

He nodded once and turned to head back into the restaurant, limping slightly and without saying another word.

Inside the place looked exactly like it had when we had arrived, except for a few Half Deads lying on the ground, impaled or shot by Dimitri. Some must've stayed behind when I ran past.

My arm wasn't hurting yet, and I took that as a good sign that maybe, just maybe, I hadn't been bitten. If I was infected that would be it. I wouldn't be able to travel with Dimitri anymore and I would be of no use to Felix. I would be as good as Dead, or Half Dead for that matter.

I wasn't sure if Dimitri could tell I was a bit agitated or not as we packed our things. Staying here was out of the question of course. Who's to say we wouldn't face another mob like the last one the very first thing tomorrow morning? Best to stay safe and out of sight.

Dimitri's limp had gotten better, for which I was grateful. Having me possibly injured was enough, and we wouldn't make it anywhere if the both of us were seriously hurt. Not to mention I had the medical skills of a walnut. Meaning completely nonexistent.

I tried not to think of what would happen if he found out about my injury. If he would shoot me or just leave me behind I wasn't sure. I also wasn't positive which one I would rather have him