Bad Blood (Battle of the Undead Book 1) by Nicky Peacock Page B

children.
    Nicholas was oddly quiet. I was expecting a sarcastic quip or an off-handed insult, but neither came. Instead, he just stared off into the distance, watching to see if Philippe was coming back.
    Once everyone and all the dwindling supplies we had were packed away, Josh started up the bus. Nicholas and I jumped onto the roof, and together we pulled off onto the road. He couldn’t get a great deal of speed up as the roads were covered in debris. When something was too big to push past, one of us would leap off and clear the path for them.
    As we were heading out of London, I saw a young man in my peripheral vision. He was down an alley and surrounded by a small pack of zombies. I leapt off the traveling bus and sprinted toward him. Once I reached the man, I pulled him away from the grasp of the undead and roundhouse-kicked the zombies. They fell in a huddle, limbs entwined like reluctant lovers. I turned to the open-mouthed man and patted him down. No bites.
    “Hi,” I said.
    I pulled him over my shoulder into a fireman’s lift. I ran back to the road and jumped up the now speeding bus. I maneuvered the man through an open window into the waiting arms of Henri and Paul.
    Nicholas was crouched on top of the bus with me, his shoulder-length hair escaping from his usually tidy ponytail. He looked at me, smiled, and laughed. He then jumped off and within moments , had returned with an older woman in his arms. He did the same as I had and threaded her through the window to safety.
    I scanned the buildings as we moved through the streets. Middle floor flat —a female teenager holding a toddler was barricading a door against a lonely yet determined zombie. I swung into action, the force of my jump from the roof of the bus propelling me through the window of the flat. The teenager dropped the toddler in shock and I caught it. With an armful of squirming infant, I kicked the door open and crushed the zombie behind. I threw the teenager over my shoulder and jumped back out into the street. I sprinted to the back end of the bus and threw the teenager into Nicholas’ waiting arms. I followed with the toddler, who had vomited on my Stones T-shirt. No good deed, eh?
    The bus had managed to really pick up speed now, and Nicholas and I were almost flat to the roof to avoid being blown off by the G-force.
    “Still playing?” Nicholas laughed, and he vaulted off. I looked back and saw him take out a horde of zombies attacking a book shop. He was a blur as he moved inside. Within moments, he was running behind the bus with three more people. Josh must have seen them, as the bus lurched to a halt so they could catch up. They boarded, and off we went again.
    Nicholas pulled himself up beside me again. “I do believe three is the winner,” he said through a grin.
    “The bus had to stop for you . It doesn’t count.”
    “That’s not the rules.”
    “When did we set the rules for bus-surfing survivor saving?”
    “There are always rules , Britannia.”
    “Whatever.” I raised an eyebrow and caught a glimpse of my winning hand.
    I threw myself onto a nearby lamppost then swung down in a move that would have made Tarzan jealous. Defending a fast food place was a gang of six youths. They all had blood-stained hoodies and weapons. I made short work of the thirty or so zombies lined up trying to order the gang-topped pizza. When I was done, I looked over my shoulder to see that Josh was about to stop the bus. I waved him to keep going.
    “Let’s go!” I yelled at the little gang.
    They looked at one another. I stepped back and tore the driver door off the nearest delivery van. I hot-wired it, just like I’d seen Josh do. Unfortunately, the roar of the engine was like a dinner call, and about a hundred zombies seemed to appear from every direction.
    “Get in!” I yelled.
    The gang flooded into the back. When I heard the doors shut, I floored it and headed after the bus. I caught up and flashed my lights at it. Josh flashed