The air outside the car smelt weird. Almost like burning flesh and iron. A hint of something sweet and metallic.
It just smelled like infected resided here. Maybe they still did.
Which meant that we were gonna have to hunt them before they hunt us.
I glanced over my shoulder. "Lila—.."
I stopped.
She wasn't looking at me. She was staring past me. Up.
A weight dropped into my chest.
Then she moved.
In one sharp motion, she lunged at me. Her body slammed into mine just as a shot cracked through the air. Gravel exploded where she'd been standing a second earlier.
The bullet buried itself in the ground.
We hit the pavement hard and rolled behind an old rusted car. Her weight pressed against me, chest to chest. Our breaths mixed. Too close. Too warm.
In any other moment, it would've meant something else.
Not now.
Her eyes locked onto mine. Calm. Focused. Serious.
"Shhh."
She pressed a finger to her lips.
I nodded once. Slow.
Then a voice echoed from above.
