Trepidation Read Free

car.
    Max had given cars to both of us for our undercover work, though they were nothing fancy. Claire’s was a Honda Civic, and mine was some kind of black Mazda. Nick and the others had secured their own transportation. There were plenty of vehicles to choose from, as long as someone could figure out how to make them run and provide enough gasoline. Luckily, there were a couple of fantastic mechanics in the complex who were more than happy to help anyone with any car repairs. We walked for the most part, but we go for a spin every once in a while, especially in cold weather or when we had to go too far to travel on foot.
    “Dean!” one of the men called.
    “Yeah?” I said, spinning around.
    He peered through his scope. “Get in your car! We’ve got unidentified company.”

Chapter 2
    M y first thought was zombies, but then I saw a black truck cruising down the street toward us. I had no idea who it was; it could have been anyone, from one of the locals to a new person in town, or maybe even a gang member out house-shopping, ready to stake their claim on the city.
    I grabbed Claire’s hand and pulled her toward my Mazda. If there was a problem, I was sure the guys could handle it, and I knew Claire didn’t need the headache with the emotional torment she was already going through. My goal was to get Claire home and make her lunch—nothing fancy, but some kind of canned food and a few fresh vegetables from what Rachel had brought from the greenhouse. Only in a post-apocalyptic world could I ever have been considered a chef, because I couldn’t cook to save my life. Opening a can came naturally to me though.
    We hopped in, and I started the car. When I saw one of the guys approaching, I rolled down the window. “You got this handled?”  I asked.
    “Yeah. Just get back to the apartment,” he said. “We’ll talk to these guys and see what they want. I’m sure they’re just passing through.”
    I nodded, then sped off.
    Claire leaned back and buckled herself in.
    I turned left down the next street and started cruising back to the apartment.
    “Thanks for coming, Dean,” Claire said. “It means the world to me.”
    “Of course I’d come. I loved Jackie too.”
    “I know you did. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have gone into zombie-infested territory at three a.m. to dig up Jackie’s body.”
    “Yeah. Only we’re nuts enough to do that,” I said, “because we loved her that much.”
    “Yeah, we did, and I know we’ll always cherish every memory we had with her.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Hey, Dean, that truck we saw back by the lab is following us.”
    I swallowed hard and glanced into the rearview mirror, wondering why the guys hadn’t handled it. It was then that I realized that the men in that truck weren’t just random survivors. My gut told me it was a gang of troublemakers, and I wondered if they’d made quick work of killing those we’d left behind to fend them off.
    “Whoever it is, they’re speeding to catch up with us,” she said.
    Continuing to look in the rearview mirror, I pressed the gas. The menacing black truck continued to pursue us, but no matter what, I wasn’t going to let them hurt Claire. She’s been through hell already, I thought. She doesn’t need this crap...and neither do I.  
    “Dean!” she screamed. “Floor it! We gotta go faster!”
    “Are they gang members?” I asked, gripping the steering wheel till my knuckles were white, wishing Max had hooked me up with a Ferrari instead of a Mazda.
    “I-I think so,” she breathed out. “I don’t wanna have a run-in with them out here, Dean,” she said. “It’d be nice to surprise them on their own turf, with a good plan and lots of backup, but not here. We’re outnumbered, probably six to two.”
    “I know,” I said. I hit the gas, but I didn’t know how long I could keep up that reckless pace in all the ice and snow. The tires spun, and we fishtailed every once in a while, and I was worried