Andrew gasped in a breath, flailed a hand out to clutch weakly at my arm. “Help . . . Dying.” A sob turned into a cough, and panic filled his eyes. “No. Please . . .” His arm fell away, and his eyes rolled back.
Shit. I grabbed his shoulders. “Andrew! Listen to me. I can save you. You know I can.” Godalmighty, I sure hoped I could. It wasn’t always a sure thing, as I knew all too well. “But I won’t—I won’t do that if you don’t want me to.”
His eyes fluttered, but he managed to focus on me. “Oh, god.” In that moment I didn’t know if his fear of death could overcome the terror of becoming one of us, becoming a monster. “Y-yes.” His voice was weaker, words slurring.
“Yes?” I gave him another little shake. “Yes, what? I need to know, Andrew! I need to know for sure!”
“Yes . . . bite.” The last word died away, but it was enough. At least I hoped so. I looked over at Kyle. He understood what I needed from him, the confirmation and reassurance. His nod was slight, yet it was enough. Holy fuck, but I hoped this worked, for Naomi’s sake as well as Andrew’s. No time to gather my nerve any more.
Leaning down, I sunk my teeth hard into the muscle at the side of Andrew’s neck. He jerked, but only barely, and his cry of pain was little more than a wheeze. Please let this work. Please please, I silently begged as I bit harder. I’d know soon enough if it would. When I’d turned Philip, instinct took over within a minute, guiding my body to do the damage necessary to transfer the parasite. Yet when I tried to turn another “volunteer” the next day, no instinct rose to lead me, and the man died.
My fingers dug into Andrew’s shoulders as I bit and gnawed. He wasn’t struggling anymore—unconscious by now, and close to death. I thought I heard Dr. Nikas’s voice, distant and tinny on the phone, calling my name, but I didn’t dare let my focus shift from Andrew, from the blood in my mouth and the scent of him.
Hunger rose in a wave like a cresting orgasm, a driving, snarling need to rend and rip and tear at the flesh beneath me. An eerie growl leapt from my throat as my teeth ripped and my fingers tore. Beneath the violence I wept in relief. It’s working.
I gave myself up to the instinct, only dimly aware of the others in the van with me. Finally, I paused, lifted my head and bared my teeth. Blood dripped from my chin onto the ravaged body of Andrew beneath me.
The growl throbbed within me. “Braaains.”
Someone shoved a hunk of brains into my hand. Kyle, maybe. Didn’t matter. Instinct shifted me to the next stage, and I chewed the brains and spat them into the seeping wounds. Chew, bite, spit, repeat. He wasn’t dead yet. I sensed the flickering spark of life on a level I couldn’t explain. Yet he didn’t wake, and the wounds didn’t close. Chew, bite, spit, repeat.
More brains were pushed into my hand as soon as I needed them. The van stopped, and the back doors opened. Chew, bite, spit, repeat. I heard Philip’s voice but couldn’t focus on the words. Chew, bite, spit, repeat, wake up, Andrew, come on, goddammit, chew, bite, spit, repeat. Pierce spoke to the others, then he and Philip pulled the bin out, giving me more room. Wake up, Andrew, come on, goddammit, chew, bite, spit, repeat.
Someone, another zombie, sat near me and laid a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. I lifted my head, teeth bared and a growl in my throat. Pierce gave an answering growl, but I didn’t sense that he wanted to take my spawn from me. Spit-hissing, I returned to biting and braining. I thought that some of the wounds were starting to close, but so much more slowly than with Philip. Yet with only the one experience to draw on I had no idea if this was going wrong.
“Angel.” The voice cut through to me as Philip’s hadn’t.
Nostrils flaring, I looked up to see Pierce spit something into his hand and hold it out for me. Brains. Pre-chewed. My human side had no problem registering that this was beyond disgusting, but my parasite didn’t give a shit. My hand darted out and scooped the mush up, shoved it into my mouth, then I bit and spit some more. Maybe some spores or whatever from a mature zombie would get things kickstarted in ol’ Andy.
The cycle shifted to scoop, chew, bite, spit, repeat, while I did my damndest to avoid thinking about how this was the weirdest possible way to swap spit with another person. And it was Pietro, which made it even weirder, except that Pietro was Pierce now, and wasn’t some sixtyish older guy anymore. It didn’t help that Pierce Gentry had been an asshole. I still had a hard time getting that out of my head.
Andrew sucked in a breath then coughed. His eyes flew open, and he gasped in more air only to expel it in an unintelligible sound. I sagged in relief and fatigue. With Pierce’s help, I shifted to sit against the wall of the van and gathered Andrew close, cradled his head against my shoulder. He trembled in my arms, eyes not really focusing on anything yet.
Pierce set a chunk of brain in my hand—unchewed—and I held it to Andrew’s lips. “Time to eat.”
He recoiled, but even as one instinct pulled him away, a newer, stronger one had him leaning in to take the chunk from my fingers. He opened his mouth for more, and this time Pierce guided my hand to a container beside me that held chunks of brain, bite-sized and ready for feeding.
I fed Andrew another chunk and gave Pierce a weary smile of thanks. He gave my shoulder a light squeeze then exited out the back of the van and shut the doors behind him.
Andrew ate for several more minutes, eyes half-closed as he took the chunks from my hand and swallowed them. The wounds on his torso healed to smooth, unblemished skin beneath the blood and remnants of gore, and a hint of color returned to his face. He didn’t look a hundred percent healthy yet, by any stretch, but he no longer resembled a day-old corpse either.
When he didn’t open his mouth for another bite I knew his own parasite had enough fuel for the moment. “You need to sleep now,” I said. While he slept the parasite would do its thing to make a permanent home in Andrewville.
His eyes struggled open. “Wh-what am I going to . . . do?”
“Sleep,” I told him firmly. “We’ll figure out the rest later.”
He tried hard to form words, but at this point he didn’t stand a chance against what his body and his new tenants needed. He mumbled, then his eyes closed, and he relaxed against me. Fatigue rolled over me, and I shifted him to a somewhat more comfortable position for both of us while still holding him close.
The back door creaked open, and Philip peered in, concern on his face. His eyes met mine, questioning, and I knew he was there for me but would have no problem withdrawing if that’s what I needed. My hand felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds, but I managed to lift it enough to gesture him over. He climbed in and closed the door, then sat beside me and slipped an arm around my shoulders—not in a cuddly way, but more in a You’re a tired zombie way. I gratefully leaned against him while Andrew’s head lay tucked in the crook of my arm between us. I wanted to make a silly crack about how we were the weirdest zombie family ever, but instead I rested my head against Philip’s shoulder, closed my eyes, and went right to sleep.
Chapter 34
A lavender teddy bear wrapped its arms around me. Shifted. Squeezed. Bled purple.
I jerked awake, and it took me a couple of seconds to figure out why a blood-covered Andrew Saber was sprawled across my lap.
His eyes darted around, confused and wild. “Hungry,” he rasped, swallowing noisily as he struggled to sit up.
“Hey, careful.” I tightened my arm around him and groped for the container of brains with the other. “Here,” I said, shoving a couple of pieces at his mouth. “Eat this.”