The Year of Second Chances (A Sunnyvale Novel Book 3) by Jessica Sorensen

zombie whose face is painted to give the illusion of rotting flesh. “Have you seen the girl who was on this course?”
    The zombie dude shakes his head, and I curse before continuing down the wall, the text replaying in my mind as I frantically search for her.
    Beware of the zombies. Not all of them are here to play.
    Does that mean the person who’s harassing Isa is hiding in the midst of the zombies below me? Is it my dumbass brother like I suspect?
    “Kyler, I’m so going to kick your ass if this is you.” I slam to a halt and scan the light on each of their faces. Most of them appear stunned and lost, while some are wandering back toward the starting line, chatting to each other. None of them seem threatening.
    “Fuuuuck.” I grind my teeth as I hike down the wall again. “Come on, Isa. Please, please, just say something—”
    The lights illuminate across the course again, and l blink fiercely against the brightness.
    “Sorry about that, everyone.” A static voice flows from the intercom. “We had a temporary power shortage, but the power is back on now.”
    No shit, genius.
    I shake my head and jog along the top of the hay wall, running the entire length of the maze. By the time I reach the end, there’s still no sign of Isa anywhere.
    My panic skyrockets as I hop down from the hay bales. As I reach the exit of the maze, I spot a purple metal object in the middle of the doorway. My heart sinks when I realize what it is.
    Isa’s paintball gun.
    Worry lashes through me as I snatch up her paintball gun then push my way through the mob crowding the entrance.
    “Get out of my way.” I not-so-nicely nudge people out of my way to get up to the front counter.
    The guy who checked us in —Jay, as his nametag declares—is messing with the computer while a middle-aged woman with jet-black hair reams him for the power shortage.
    “I don’t want a voucher.” She pounds her fist against the counter. “I want my money back. Do you know how dangerous it is to have the power go out like that and not have any backup lights? In fact, I’m pretty sure it breaks a lot of codes.”
    Usually, my motto is all about being chill, but with Isa missing, any calm vanishes in the snap of a finger.
    “She’s right.” I drop the paintball gun down on the counter. “It breaks a shit ton of codes.”
    “Look, I just work here,” Jay replies, tapping keys on the keyboard, seeming frazzled. “And this place just opened. The boss is still working out some kinks.”
    “Your boss has a way bigger problem than that,” I tell him, “because, right now, my friend’s missing, and the last place I saw her was on the course.”
    He glances up at me with his brows knit. “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m talking about how the last time I saw my friend was when we started the course,” I snap. “Now I can’t find her anywhere, but I did find her gun lying in the doorway.”
    “Did you try to call her?” he asks, casting a nervous glance at the growing crowd.
    “She doesn’t have her phone on her,” I say.
    He stares at me like I’m a moron. “Well, maybe she bailed on you, you know. Girl’s do that sometimes.”
    I’m about to go all Fight Club on him when someone bumps into the back of me. I turn around and shove the closest person to me, a guy around my age and height with brownish-red hair. “Back the hell off.”
    He rolls his eyes then gives me another shove. “You back off, asshole. You’re holding up the line.”
    He looks vaguely familiar, and I wonder if maybe I go to school with him. Normally, I’d put him in his place, but I have bigger problems to worry about right now, like finding Isa.
    Reality crashes down on me hard, sharp, and painful. Isa might really be missing. Someone might have done something to her.
    I reel back toward the cashier. “Look, I don’t give a shit what you think. My friend’s missing, and you need to find a way to search the building to look for her. Or maybe check the