A breeze rustled my hair, and my mind raced trying to think of an escape plan. I was fairly good at fighting zombies, but even with their strength and speed, zombies weren’t the same as fighting a strong, healthy man. They didn’t have any reason or intelligence, and their bodies were much softer and more pliable the longer they’d been infected.

Physically, I was no match for Korech. Lazlo was somewhat muscular, but he was barely taller than me, and I doubt he’d ever fought in his life.

“You shouldn’t be rushing off in the middle of the night. It’s a dangerous place out there for young girls,” Korech said with a smile that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Especially going off with him,” he nodded towards Lazlo. “He’s going to corrupt and destroy you.”

“He’s demon possessed!” Nevaeh spouted. She raised her gun a little, but it seemed more of an involuntary reflex out of fear.

“Hey, let’s take it easy.” I stepped forward and held my hands up.

“They need to leave,” Korech nodded at Lazlo. “He is not welcome here anymore.”

“Just let us get out of here!” Lazlo shouted, pleading. “We wanna leave!”

“I can’t have you endangering any of my girls.” Korech reached behind him, taking the gun from Nevaeh.

I could dive at him to try to grab it, but he was too far away from me. He’d have it aimed at me, and if I ran straight for him, I’d be an easy shot.

I glanced over at the SUV and considered sacrificing Lia and Vega to leave. Even if that didn’t make me feel like a monster, I had a feeling that wouldn’t be good enough anymore. He might be willing to let me go, but he already had his claws in Harlow, and he knew it.

“We’re not your girls,” I said. “We don’t want to cause you any trouble. We just want to leave.”

“He has you confused.” Korech held the gun at his side, and the calm assurance he had was unnerving. “Lazlo, I suggest you release my girls back to me, and then you leave, before I make you.” He lifted the gun just slightly, letting us know exactly what he meant by make.

“I’m not holding anyone hostage,” Lazlo insisted.

I could feel Lazlo looking at me, questioning what he should do next, but I wouldn’t take my eyes off Korech. Besides, I didn’t have an answer.

Korech tired of the conversation and raised his gun, pointing it directly at Lazlo. Harlow screamed inside the SUV, but thankfully, nobody got out.

Without thinking, I moved in front of Lazlo, standing between him and the gun, even though I wasn’t sure would deter Korech from firing.

“Wait!” I shouted.

“I’m through talking.” Korech centered his aim on me.

Nevaeh inhaled sharply next to him, and that’s when something occurred to me. I could take her. She didn’t have a gun, and Korech would react to defend her. His reaction might be shooting me, but if I ran fast enough, he might miss.

I ran at Nevaeh as fast as I could, veering far to the side so Korech knew I wasn’t charging him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his aim change, trying to keep up with me, but I only ran faster.

Nevaeh screamed, and I tackled her, sending her flying back on the ground. She did nothing to defend herself, and I felt sorry for her. I punched her in the face, but not as hard as I could. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I had to do something to distract Korech.

A sharp pain hit the back of my skull, spreading a blind white light across my eyes. Korech had slammed the butt of the gun into my head, and it was frighteningly effective.

I never lost consciousness, but I completely lost focus. I couldn’t really see or hear or feel anything but shooting pain.

When it relented enough where my vision could clear, I heard Nevaeh crying. I wasn’t on top of her anymore, and instead, I was kneeling on the ground. Someone had a painful grip on my arm, trying to pull me to my feet, but my legs were reluctant to cooperate.

“Remy! Move!” Lazlo shouted. He was the one trying to drag me up.

I looked over to see Korech lying on the ground. Blood spilled from his abdomen, and he made unintelligible sounds. Nevaeh stood, blood running down her face from when I had punched her, screaming her head off.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I grabbed the gun and shot him,” Lazlo said absently, so apparently, my distraction had worked.

My body finally functioned again, and I got to my feet. Lazlo led me back to the SUV, but I pulled away from him. I got the gun off the ground. We could use another weapon, and it was only a matter of time before Nevaeh’s shock wore off, and she grabbed it herself.

“Hurry up!” Lazlo yelled.

He waited for me, so I ran to him, and we rounded the back of the SUV. A tiger stood there, summoned by all the commotion.

We both stopped cold, unsure of what to do. The tiger growled at us and bent low, preparing to pounce. Belatedly, I remembered I had a gun. I fired a warning shot in the dirt next to it, and that freaked the tiger out enough to back off.

“Go,” I told Lazlo and nodded for him to go around and get in the SUV. “I’ll be right there.”

He pursed his lips. I knew he wanted to argue, but for once, he just listened and hurried around to the passenger side.

I opened the back of the SUV, throwing the gun inside with all our bags, and called Ripley. Everything had fallen silent after I had fired the gun, and Ripley came flying around the corner of the ranch. She dove into the back of SUV, slamming into our bags, and Lia let out a frightened yelp.

Nevaeh wailed and threatened the wrath of God against us. Some of the other girls had come outside. They milled around Korech, crying and yelling.

I ran around the side, where Lazlo was half hanging out the car door. When I got close, he reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me into the car and onto his lap.

Before I could even shut the door, Blue threw the SUV in reverse, and it lurched backwards. Through the windshield, I saw Ruth had another gun, and she pointed it right at us.

“Go, go, go!” I shouted, pressing my hands against the dashboard to steady myself.

“I’m trying!” Blue said through gritted teeth.

A shot fired overhead, but it missed us. Blue sped the SUV around, tearing off down the gravel road in a cloud of dust. Ripley growled, and the whole vehicle swayed. He almost lost control whipping around like that, but he managed to correct it.