Hazel's Shadow by Nicole MacCarron

Author:Nicole MacCarron
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
Published: 2020-03-28T04:00:00+00:00

15

Rooftop

The corrupt were at her back.

“Jen?” Hazel cried, giving up on sneaking altogether.

“The door!” Breanna said.

Hazel yanked at the door handle. It didn’t open. She turned to run left into the back of the store where there might be a bathroom to hide in, but just then the door opened without her help. Someone grabbed the back of her shirt. Hazel choked as she was yanked onto a set of stairs. She snapped some of the sage under her elbow as she crashed to the steps, crushing someone’s leg under her as she went. The door slammed shut.

“Lock it! Lock it!” someone cried.

Hazel was blind in the darkness. She pushed herself back up, and felt the leg withdraw. There was the click of a bolt.

“Who’s there?” Hazel asked.

“Morgan and Jen,” Morgan replied.

“Thank god you’re okay,” came Kelly’s whimper.

Hazel went weak with relief at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Where have you been?”

“You’re welcome,” Morgan scoffed. “We found a door to the roof and were trying to watch out for you.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Hazel corrected. “I was worried about you.”

Morgan didn’t answer, but Hazel sensed she was mollified.

“Jen? You okay?”

“I’m good,” Jen replied. “Was that the sage?”

“Yeah, but it should be fine.”

“Well grab it, we need to move fast,” Morgan said.

Hazel felt around on the dark steps and scooped up two bundles while Jen retrieved the third. The zombies pounded on the door. Morgan led the way up the stairs, her shoes making grinding sounds as if bits of glass were stuck to the soles. Hazel’s thighs burned as she climbed, and she fell behind. Then they opened an outer door, ascended a few more steps, and emerged onto the roof.

“Hazel!” Riva cried from where she was staring over the edge of the plaza. She rushed Hazel and buried her in hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Hazel shook as she squeezed her back. They exchanged teary nods when they pulled away. Alexis and Di, who had also been looking over the edge, joined them. Both girls looked too sick with fright and relief to speak. It was Jen who surprised Hazel with the next embrace. Jen had never hugged her like this before. Hazel’s heart, already overworked, stopped for a moment.

“I thought you were dead when I broke the car mirror.”

“Oh.” Hazel’s brain seemed to have skipped a pulse too.

“We have to go,” Morgan said from way down at the end of the building. “The drain pipe is dry enough.”

Jen and Hazel gave the others questioning looks.

“The corrupt got it all bloody chasing Riva, so they couldn’t get a grip. But they got onto the house; they can get up here too.”

“We can’t get down through the barricade either,” Alexis said. “There’re more trying to climb it. They know we’re up here.”

“We have to get back to the house,” Morgan said, as if continuing an argument. “It’s already barricaded. We can’t start over.”

“We were almost out of food,” Riva said.

“Then we should break into the dollar store and get some.

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