The Masquerade (34 page)

"Ella!"

Eli slid his machete across the concrete. It stopped inches from my feet. The zombie grabbed my arm and almost yanked me off my feet. I
pushed myself back and fell in the opposite direction to reach for the knife. I stretched as far as I could, my fingers curling over the handle. I pulled myself upright with the help of my zombie friend, who practically pulled my arm
out of my socket. I swung hard, the blade sliced into his shoulder. He shrieked and tripped back when I pulled the knife back. His hands grabbed at his shoulder. I watched in awe as blood began to squirt out of the open gash.

"Ella duck!"

I didn't hesitate. I practically dropped to the ground, the machete still in my hand, dripping with crimson. I looked up to see the head of the Undead topple to the ground. His body fell to the opposite side. I had to
roll over to keep it from falling on top of me. I quickly stood. Eli was in front of me, holding another machete that was coated in blood.

He nodded, "Nice."

I gave a quick, out of breath, smile and held up the knife.
"Can I keep this?"

He nodded. Behind him, Luke and Kellan shouted his name. He turned and ran to help them fight off two Undeads who were persistent in bighting Luke. Kellan picked up an axe, a weapon that was new to my eyes, and
he slung it into the back of one of the zombie's.

Something churned inside of me as my eyes dropped down to my hand holding my own machete. With horror, I realized that a smile crept onto my face when I was analyzing the blood dripping off the blade. I shook my head to
rid of the horrible smile.

I looked up when I heard Ben shout in what sounded like a mixture of pain and anger. He was struggling against two Undeads. He kneed one
in the chest while the other shoved him against an old truck that was parked on the side of the road. The metal folded in by the force of his back. When Ben pushed himself off the truck the monster he kneed kicked him on the side of his face, sending him back into the scrap metal. My heart sank when the other one,
I recognized as Alex, pulled him off the truck by his hand. Ben swung at him, but his strength was weakening. Alex moved behind Ben and pulled his arms back to restrain him. The other Undead punched Ben in the stomach. A winded grunt
left his open mouth when his stomach concaved. He only keeled over as far as his arms would allow, being held up by Alex.

I ran over to them with my machete in hand. I couldn't use it, knowing I'd only injure Ben if I tried to swing at either of them. I
dropped the knife to the ground and stopped in front of them. One of my distraction techniques came to mind.

"Hey!" I shouted. None of them looked. The Undead
continued to use Ben as a punching bag. "Hey," I said again, this time upping my voice several notches. Alex looked up and the other Undead glanced over his shoulder, without turning his full attention to me. Ben picked up his head, his eyes half closed but on me.

I grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled. When I reached the wire of my bra I pulled that up as well so that I was flashing the three of them. I knew Hayley would have been so proud if she saw me.

The one throwing punches stopped all together and turned to
get a better look like he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Alex leaned around Ben to get a better view. I tried not to grimace at the new mixture of hunger that haunted his orbs. Ben took the opportunity and swung both his legs
up, kicking the Undead in the gut. The move sent him flying and his back hit the ground with a loud thud. I pulled my shirt and bra back down and quickly picked up the machete.

Ben broke free of Alex's hold, turned, and slugged him. The
other Undead was back on his feet and came for Ben again when his back was turned. This time I had a better shot. I raised the knife above my head and sliced halfway down the Undead's face until it stuck.

He was screaming. He whirled and tried to come at me with the machete lunged through his skull. Ben knocked Alex to the ground and moved to the one I sliced. He blinked once at what I had done before he kicked him in the stomach. I moved to the side so that the Undead could fall to the ground
without hitting me. Ben turned back to Alex who was behind him again.

"You stupid fucking whore," the Undead with the sliced head roared. He was on his feet again, staggering towards me. I panicked
and stepped back. I had nothing to defend myself with.

I heard the sound of metal scraping against the concrete. I turned to see that one of the guys had slid me another machete. I didn't bother
to look for whoever tossed it. I picked it up just when Alex hit the ground beside me. Ben kicked the Undead who was stumbling after me in his side. I swung the blade into his back, listening to the sounds of bones splitting.

Ben turned back to Alex who was on his feet again. I yanked
my machete from the Undead's back. His shoulder blades arched as he squealed in pain. I bit down on my lip and swung the blade through his neck. His head separated from the rest of his body. It fell to the ground shortly before his
body did.

I felt movement behind me. I whirled around with the machete raised, ready for attack. Ben turned at the same time I did. His eyes widened. He shot up and clamped his hand around my wrist, holding it steady before I
could cut him with the weapon in my hand.

His grasp sent tremors down my arm. The knife slipped out of my fingers and hit the ground. His hand moved, while I lowered mine, from my wrist to my hand. His fingers slipped through mine. He pulled me against his
chest and pecked my lips. The quick, but intimate connection was a driving force that we severely needed to keep moving.

"Where did you learn to swing like that?" He asked
when we pulled apart.

I laughed. "About two minutes ago."

His smile grew for a second before it fell. His gaze caught something behind me and the deadly look returned in his eyes. I followed his
gaze and caught a glimpse of Michael who was making his way for us again. I noticed the skin on one of his cheeks was ripped from the bone. Bloody flesh hung from his chin.

Ben moved in front of me. Michael stopped in front of us.
His twisted eyes were fixated on me. "You can't beat us, Benjamin."

"Watch me," Ben said curtly.

Michael stepped forward. Ben was already in front of him with his fist against Michael's face. They ducked and blocked the other's blow.
I bent down and picked up the machete and held it steady. I watched and waited for an open shot with Michael's neck. Through their fighting, Ben managed to stay in front of me, blocking any of Michael's advances toward me.

"The girl" I heard Michael shout when he managed to knock Ben off his feet. I turned to my right to see three zombies, two girls and an older male, advance towards me.

"Ella run!" Ben shouted. His voice was abruptly
cut off when Michael lodged his foot into my boyfriend's throat.

I ran but I only made a few strides. Someone's arms wrapped around my waist, roughly lifting me off the ground. I screamed and struggled
against the Undead's hold. He carried me with ease to where Michael was holding Ben captive. My eyes widened at the sight of the large knife Michael held to Ben's throat. I gasped and thrashed even more against the Undead, screaming and shouting for them to let Ben go. I felt as though I couldn't breathe with that
awful weapon touching the skin by his jugular.

"I like this picture." Michael said approvingly. His eyes cast down to Ben in wonder before they flashed to me. "Stephen,
would you take a bite out of our Ella?"

"No!" Ben growled, his voice still raspy from Michael's foot.

He broke free of Michael's hold when two other Undeads flashed to his side and held his arms back. Michael put the knife back against
Ben's throat. His rugged movements to break himself free caused the blade to slice into his skin. I screamed in protest, watching the blood drip down the side of his neck.

"Ben stop moving!" I begged. "I'm okay!"
I felt rough, chapped lips touch the base of my throat. "It's okay!" I tried to assure Ben who shouted profanities and thrashed violently against the men holding him back. I felt sharp, crooked teeth press into my skin.

"Like hell it is!" I heard my brother's voice behind Ben.

I looked up in time to see his arms come together and swing against the side of one of the Undead's throat like a baseball bat. Ben yanked himself
free, socked the Undead in the face, and ran for me without looking back.

Ben's murderous eyes locked on Stephen above me. He swung a fist to his face. Stephen staggered back. Ben gripped each side of his head and
pulled until it popped off his neck. I turned away to avoid viewing the graphic display until I felt Ben's protective arms grasp my side and pull me against him. Together we turned and found Michael on top of Noah, pinning him to the
ground, with his knife at my brother's throat.

"Noah!"

Ben left my side. His foot lunged into Michael's shoulder, throwing him off my brother. Noah sprung to his feet. Together, he and Ben
approached the leader of the Undead. The remaining Undead were beside Michael instantly. There were eleven of them, not including their leader. My eyes scanned the crowd of Undead until a particular one caught my eye.

Neil, Eli's brother, stood in the midst of the Undead with a
hand pressed against his shoulder. It took me a moment to realize he was trying to hold his arm in place before it ripped off his body entirely.

I didn't have time reminisce memories of the past to put two
and two together, but I knew now why Eli chose the hunting lifestyle. He was looking for his brother. I wondered if he knew Neil was an Undead.

I moved to stand next to Ben. Eli, Kellan, and Cam ran to stand near my brother. PJ, Jesse, and Vlad were immediately on my side. I felt
a singe of pain in my chest when I realized Chester, Luke, and Domino had not joined us. Someone else, on our side was missing, but I didn't try to figure out whom.

"Well it looks like we have a trader among us,"
Michael said to the other Undead.

Most of them shot my brother venomous glares. I noticed two of the Undead were way past exhaustion to even care. They were done with the
fight. I looked at Neil and noticed his gaze fixated on Eli. He appeared apathetic to the situation that left a chasm between him and his brother. He was an Undead and he looked like he wanted to kill us, despite the fact that his own brother was on our side.

"Did you forget to mention your sister was one of
them
?" An Undead sneered, looking at my brother.

Michael's black eyes sparked curiosity while they moved between Noah and I. It was like he was admiring the resemblances we shared. I
leaned forward to see Noah's face was made of stone. He maintained a small glare in his eyes, but it was definitely penetrating.

"I wonder why," Michael said thoughtfully. "You know what that means for you, Noah."

Noah rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

"Anyone else wish to leave us for humans?" Michael suddenly roared, his expression fuming. No one moved. I noticed Eli glaring at
his older brother who was purposely looking at me to avoid confrontation or possibly an outing.

"I still haven't gotten a full dosage of kicking ass," Cam explained in pure honesty. "I think I'm going to start with
you." He pointed to an Undead who I realized was a
she.

The girl, in her mid twenties, had short, wispy brown hair, some of the tips dyed pink. She was tall, close to six feet, and her dark eyebrows were sculpted to perfection to go along with her high cheekbones and full, pursed lips. She looked more like a goddess than someone who dragged herself out of the ground.

She cocked an eyebrow. "Is that you, Cameron?"

"In the flesh." He smiled at his own pun. "How long has it been? Thirty years?"

She shrugged and her gaze flickered to my side. At first I thought she was peering at me, but then I realized it was PJ. From the corner
of my eye I noticed PJ was purposely staring at something insignificant on his knuckles.

"Hello PJ."

He looked up and nodded once. "Angelina."

She seemed to be upset with the little attention he gave
her. She pursed her lips, shrugged, and rolled her eyes at Cam who was eyeing her and PJ suspiciously. I decided that was the first story I wanted to hear if we survived.

Michael spoke again. "Are you still willing to risk the
lives of your friends to save your poor little soul, Ella?"

I frowned at his condescending tone. I really hated this man and it took a lot of anger for me to use that word against someone else.
"I'd rather lick the floor of a gas station then go anywhere with you."

Noah laughed. "That's my girl."

Michael's eyebrows came together. "Their funeral."

I had the feeling he was prepared to launch himself towards me, but the sound of a scream broke through the brief moment of silence. Everyone turned to the noise.

Neil had pulled a machete, stained with dried blood, from
behind his back. He turned to the side and slid it through the throat of the Undead beside him. With wide eyes and a mouth still pressed into a hard line, its head toppled to the floor.

It took me a minute to realize the scream didn't even come
from the decapitated Undead. It came from another zombie on the opposite side of Neil. That Undead was also a
she
. Everyone froze for a moment until she shrieked again. She was angry and the noise barreled from the top of her
lungs. She launched herself at Neil. Noah suddenly shot forward and tackled her to the ground before she could touch him.

My hair blew into my face from the brush of wind PJ caused when he disappeared beside me. My eyes snapped forward to see Angelina on the
ground and screaming. PJ sat on top of her, both of his hands pressed against each side of her face. I couldn't see what he was doing to her but it didn't look pleasant.