Maverick argued with him, but when I chimed in, voting for shelter as I tried to wipe off the mud, he gave up when he saw I was only smearing it all over my jeans. Letting me lead,using my better-tuned ability to sense when lurkers are near, we eventually entered a small cul-de-sac. Trusting my gut, we smashed a window and broke into a two-story house in the center.
It was a good find. Not many houses are locked-up tight after the Turning. If the house is abandoned, that means survivors either died where they stood or they fled. Maybe it’s habit to lock up after yourself when you leave, but when a lurker is plodding after you, snapping its powerful jaws, locking the door is pointless when the lurker can just burst right through it.
This cul-de-sac is in nearly pristine condition. When the house we picked turned out to be locked, we fixed that easily with a large rock that Chase found in a nearby garden. It had never been claimed by a lurker before. My first lungful of air was dusty and stale. Instead of the lurker’s rot, it reeked of helpless abandonment.
But there were non-perishables in the cabinet, some towels to dry off, and blankets for us to bring with us to wrap up against the rain. Even more amazingly, as I scavenge one of the upstairs bedrooms, I find a dresser and a closet with clothes that are near enough to my size that I can’t help myself.
“I’m taking a shower,” I announce to the two guys.
“No,” Maverick answers, and it’s nothing less than I was expecting. “We’ve already stayed here too long.”
Too bad.
I pick up a hunk of wet hair. “I look like a poodle.”
“You look gorgeous as ever, Holden.”
I ignore Chase. “I’m wet. Soaked all the way down to my panties. My jeans are covered in mud. My toes are squelching in my boots. I’m changing?—”
“There’s time for that,” begins Maverick.
No. “There’s time for me to shower off the rain. I won’t be long. Just enough to get clean. You guys can see if you can swap out your drenched t-shirts, too. When the rain stops, we can go.”
Maverick marches over to the window. “It’s stopping now. The sun’s peeking through.”
Of course it is. “Then we don’t have to worry about lurkers again for a couple of hours.”
“Xandra—”
I open my mouth to continue to argue. It’s pointless. I should’ve just started to strip off my wet clothes. Rory’s leather jacket is all but waterproof, but Denise’s hoodie is soaked. I need a fresh shirt, fresh underwear, and new jeans before putting Rory’s jacket back on. I’m not above stealing it from this house, just like I’m two seconds away from taking off all of my clothes in front of these two guys.
Tell me I can’t shower then, Mav. Sure, I might give Chase an aneurysm, but it would be worth it to get out of these wet clothes.
And that’s when Chase plants his boots on the carpet, crossing his arms over his chest. “You go if you want. I’ll stay here with her.”
Great. I don’t need a knight in shining armor to fight my battles for me, but the look on Chase’s face says that he’ll stay here all night if he has to to make sure I get that shower.
Maverick eyes him up and down.
For days now, there’s been sniping. Little cheap shots back and forth that make me wonder why Maverick invited Chase along if he was just going to pick at him the way he did me the first couple of days. It’s worse because Chase obviously has a chip on his shoulder when it comes to the older man.
It only becomes more noticeable when Maverick chews on the corner of his mouth before asking Chase, “How old are you?”
If Chase wonders why Maverick gives a shit about his age, he doesn’t make it obvious. He just answers with a curt, “Twenty-five.”
“If I make it to next February, I’ll be forty.”
“And?”
I’m with Chase.And?
“I’m your superior. In age. In rank. In experience. I say we move out now before someone catches up to us.”
It can’t be Darryl. Maverick used his second-to-last bullet to spatter his brains all over that bedroom. But if any of the East Jersey inmates decided to come after us… if other rogues caught us coming into this cul-de-sac… if my sensing ability failed, the rainstorm tricked the lurkers into thinking it was night, and we get trapped by hungry monsters… yeah. Someone could catch up to us.
Damn it.
My shoulders slump.