Read Online Haven by Laury Falter - Free Book Online Page B

would he dodge my question about it? Why would it make a difference? Plenty of people have good hearing. I considered all this, dissecting the issue, during the drive back to school. It was an automatic assumption that was where we were headed. Mei and Doc paid close attention to the roads, or rather the stumbling people and abandoned vehicles on them, while Harrison and I sat in strained silence. Failing to come up with any reasonable explanation why Harrison would evade my question, I discarded my effort when the parking lot gate, and the crudely shaped hole Old Boy had made, came into view.
    Several figures were mingling there, turning toward the sound of Old Boy’s motor as we approached. They each showed signs of the same trauma we were encountering in others. Doc drove right through the hole without stopping, missing them purely by chance. It was no wonder he was known for his forcefulness on the field. The parking lot was full of wanderers now, more than when we’d left.
    Assessing the situation, Doc said, “I’m pulling right up to the gate. You got the keys ready?”
    “Yeah,” Harrison confirmed. “Kennedy will open it.” He turned to address me. “You’re going to need to crawl over me so you can get through first.”
    I glanced at his arm, noting that the blood had slowed but the raw, torn flesh was still glistening. I thought I saw a sliver of white bone peeking out from beneath it all.
    “I won’t let it touch you,” he promised.
    “No, I…That’s not it. I just don’t want to hurt you.”
    “You can’t,” he replied plainly, sounding convincing.
    We were almost to the gate.
    “Kennedy?” he prompted, his eyes drilling into me.
    “Right.”
    I lifted myself and slid my leg across his lap, straddling him. When I glanced up, he was watching me intently.
    Quietly, to keep his comment between the two of us, he acknowledged, “In another time and place, I would really have enjoyed this.” And even with the man-eaters bearing down on us, he managed to send a pleasant thrill through me.
    A satisfied smile flew across his handsome face and then was gone as I found his hand in mine, shoving the keys into it. “It’s the larger one,” he instructed.
    I nodded and slipped off his lap, into the seat where he’d been sitting. He was now on the other side of the car. I rolled down my window as Doc drove parallel to the gate and slammed on the brakes directly next to the entrance. He stopped us perfectly positioned, the hood and the trunk extending down the gate blocking off those coming for us. There’s definitely something to be said for good reflexes, I thought, and pushed myself through the window.
    I slipped the key into the lock, turned and lowered the lever before shoving the gate aside. It grated along Old Boy’s fender, leaving behind grooves of grey metal, and a pinch in my heart. Without the gate to hold me, I fell onto the pavement, dangerously close to the leg of a guard who hadn’t moved since someone took out a chunk of his neck. Mei came out behind me, landing almost the same way, but I was there to catch her.
    “You first,” Harrison insisted to Doc, who didn’t refuse.
    Despite his stocky body, he managed to exit, albeit clumsily.
    As Harrison leaned out the window, preparing to slide out, I understood why he’d made sure the rest of us went through the gate ahead of him. The grunts and growls had grown louder in the few seconds it took us to exit. They were almost deafening because the crowd of wanderers were now at Old Boy’s edge, ramming it, clawing across the hood and roof to get at us.
    When Doc got to his feet, he looked up and saw it. “Oh man,” he muttered and reached for Harrison, who was rocking violently back and forth as Old Boy was pummeled. Harrison swung his legs out just as I reached him, catching hold of my hand. But he wasn’t righting himself, he was looking for the keys. Taking them, he darted back to the car, stuck his hand through the window, and