Once Upon a Twist by Michelle Smart, Aimee Duffy Page A

the middle.
    She staggered back a step, and another, until she heard a grating moan behind her. Spinning, her heart almost burst out of her chest as her blurry vision took in three men, although men was pushing it. They didn’t have lips. Their skin was a dark grey, blackened where the flesh had been removed and their eyes glowed yellow, the same color as the creature’s. They reminded her of those who’d had the disease, but that wasn’t possible. Everyone had been cured. It said so on the news.
    But, impossible or not, she was surrounded. She backed up to the door, but the thing inside hit it again, jolting her a step forward and the wood splintered this time. The men hulked closer, their limbs awkward as they moved but they weren’t slow.
    “You’re supposed to be dead.” Her whisper was lost in the sound of a gunshot.
    One of the men’s heads exploded. Bits of blood and brain and skull flew through the air in every direction. She covered her face with her hands as the cold, wet flesh rained on her.
    “Red, get over here!”
    Ruby barely registered her old nickname, nor could she move. Her chest had constricted so tightly it was an effort to breathe. The husky demand jolted through her skin, sinking into her pounding heart and breaking it all over again. Tears stung her eyes and she wondered if her mind really was that cruel. Playing tricks on her so soon after her witnessing all this.
    A shot sounded just as the door behind her groaned in protest at the force of the creature’s attack. She could give in. Best case scenario, the thing would kill her, but she knew if the man-like creatures got anywhere near her she’d become one of them.
    Another shot echoed in her ears. The men were close and the bullet took them both out. She closed her eyes against the sight of brain and blood and yuck. Once had been enough.
    “Now!” he demanded.
    Without thinking, she took off down Grandma’s garden path, ignoring the bodies on the floor. The sound of the wood splitting made her push her legs faster as she headed for the forest.
    A muffled curse sounded to her left. She turned in time to see him running toward her, a shot gun aimed directly at her head. Her heart missed a few beats. She stopped immediately.
    “I’m not…I’ve not been bitten. I—”
    “Behind you!”
    She spun around. Another few of the infected were at the edge of the forest. He let off another shot and her ears rang with the sound. It didn’t muffle the crack of more wood splintering, or the snarl that came from the creature which had managed to make a hole in the door big enough for its head to get through. Snapping jaws gnawed at the gap, trying to create a way out.
    He caught her around the waist and picked her off the ground with one arm, pressing her close to every hard, unrelenting muscle of his body. His scent engulfed her, and his rough skin comforted her.
    Anger and gratitude rippled through her, as well as something she didn’t want to think about. She bit her tongue to distract herself, but the tears streaming down her face reminded her that Grandma was gone. Her breath choked out on a sob. Hisarms squeezed tighter around her.
    Ruby pushed at his chest. “Don’t touch me, put me down!”
    He lowered her to the ground, his jaw tense, his sharp features so severe she probably imagined the flash of hurt in his black eyes. Eyes she’d once happily fallen into. Eyes that had once made her forget everything else in the world. Eyes she’d wanted to gouge out for betraying her in the worst way possible.
    “We need to get out of here.” His voice tore her back to the present. She heard the creature tear another chunk of wood from the door. “Now.”
    She reached for his outstretched hand, but hesitated. “Grandma.” Her voice broke around the word.
    They had to go back, what if there was still a… Ruby stopped the thought dead. Even she knew hoping was ridiculous. Still if they could get her to a hospital… She snatched her hand