“I won’t blink,” she promises.
Practiced fingers finish tying the knot on the makeshift wick. I can’t forget that single dab of motor oil on the tip so that it catches and catchesfast. One quick shake to make sure that none of the gas can spill and I’m satisfied. The matches are where I left them. I yank two from the inside of the book, placing the head of one against the strip. I won’t strike it until Hallie gives me the signal.
“Done,” I tell her. “Can you see their eyes yet?”
“Almost.”
As far as we can tell, their eyes are the only weak spots they have. The Injection made it so that the recipients had perfectvision and, like everything else, it backfired on the monsters. Even the smallest amount of light blinds them once they Turn; like the cockroaches they are, the lurkers scatter and hide in the dark. That’s why we rely so desperately on keeping the street lamps functional.
The burnt-out light hanging over my head is a mocking reminder of just how important they are. I refuse to look at it again so, instead, I squint and strain my eyes toward the trees. I hardly breathe, waiting for that first flash of waxy skin peeking out from under the shadow of their heavy hoods.
As quiet as it is in the Grave after sundown, my ears are trained for this ominous task. I make out the continued sound of their steps, each one in rhythm because they’re of the same mind.
Food.
That’s all they’re thinking about. It’s all a lurkereverthinks about. We’re not a pair of twenty-five year old women to them anymore, just like they’re no longer our friends and neighbors. Once a lurker Turns, it’s anit—and the first time you forget that, you’re ameal.
Hallie makes a small whine in the back of her throat.
My chest tightens, but I have to ignore it. No matter how many missions we’ve partnered on, she still hates the idea of killing the lurkers. She knows we have to, and she knows how much I’m relying on her unusual ability, but I can’t get her to stop pitying them.
I wish I could give her a hug and comfort her the way I’ve done all my life, but I can’t. My head goes down again, my hands poised to light the match, my reflexes ready to throw the firebomb.
One step, two steps… no step. The monsters have paused, frozen like weathered, warped marble statues. Frozen from Hallie’s stare.
“Now,” she whispers.
I have maybe ten seconds to do this. Fifteen tops since they’re a trio that Hallie’s staring down. I only get one shot.
Gritting my teeth, I strike the match. The flame blossoms on the head before leaping down to the gas-soaked rag poking out of the top of the rig. Thank goodness for the motor oil. It catches immediately, leaving thick black smoke to trail behind it like a snake’s tail.
Without climbing off of my knees, I straighten up just enough to pick out the unnatural shadows on the edge of the normal ones. The outline of their ratty, hard-worn cloaks fade into the color of the night, their hoods up and hiding most of their ghoulish faces from view.
The lurkers are about ten feet away from us. The one on the left is already struggling to break out of the stare. There’s no time to lose. I lob the sparking firebomb at the horrific trio and pray it smashes at their feet.
And in the light of the blaze as it arcs toward the first monster, I see the rainbow haze in a flash and I realize what I’ve done.
We found out about the dead street lamp with barely enough time to plan a proper mission. We arrived in position right as the sun disappeared for good. There hadn’t been any time at all for recon, or for a backup team in case the lurkers broke through Ridgemond. No time even to check for the simple safety measures we all take for granted.
Gas, I think. Somewhere there’s a gas leak. And I just threw a Molotov cocktail at it.
The scream rips out of my throat?—
“Hallie! Get down!”
It’s no use. I know in an instant that I’ll never get to her in time. But that doesn’t stop me from diving toward my sister, trying to bring her down and out of reach of the fire’s rebound.
It isn’t enough. I hit the ground hard and Hallie… innocent Hallie, worried Hallie, petrified Hallie… she’s still standing there, her normally soft green eyes suddenly dark and wide and utterly terrified as the pupil eats up the iris. She doesn’t move. Ican’tmove. I just look up at my twin and, for the first time since the world Turned, I pray.
In the moment before the gas ignites and the fireball comes back at us, Hallie’s lips form one soundless word.Xandra. She might even have said my name out loud. The explosion bursts outward, leaving me deaf and flat on my belly on the asphalt. The force finally knocks Hallie on her back, even further out of my reach. The flames engulf us both.
And, I hope, the three monsters that we’re burning for. Did the glass even get the chance to smash? I guess I’ll never know.
The pain comes, the pain and the absolute certainty that I’m dying. But it’s nothing, it doesn’t even compare to the overwhelming horror of knowing that I did this. I killed Hallie. It’s my fault. I’ve killed somebody else that I love?—
Fire really is the only thing that can fully kill a lurker. Probably because the two aren’t all that different. The lurkers are incapable of remorse; fire doesn’t care if you’re good or bad—so long as you can burn, you’re a target. Both are unstoppable, bringing nothing but death and destruction andagonyif they aren’t snuffed out first.
Not only that, either. Give the hungry flames a chance and, like a lurker, they’ll devoureverything.