Chapter 17: Shambles

Again my sleep is uncomfortable and uneasy. I know I've caught a few bits of rest here and there. Part of it comes from being segregated from the others. Not that I'm completely surprised. They all found a place far from me when they'd finished eating what Beckett fed them from the sack. He retrieved the golden puppy Poppy has named Shine and brought it to me.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "It's not your fault. But they've been through so much."

He won't meet my eyes. I try not to be hurt. But it's hard.

Now that they've settled, I catch myself starting at every noise, every breath of air, even when Shine and his sister, now called Shade, murmur in their puppy sleep. I wish I had someone to watch my back. It isn't until I groan at last and roll over on my side I remember I'm not alone after all.

Deep, dark eyes watch me, a wet nose wiggling slightly as the dog sniffs. Poppy hasn't named him yet, I think waiting for me to do it. For some reason it doesn't feel right to put a name on him, when he has no say in the matter. I'm not sure why I'm surprised he's so close to me, but I am. He's practically right up against me, body stretched out full. The two puppies sigh and squirm against his side and I soothe them with a soft touch, settling them to rest.

The dog allows me to scratch his ears, even stroke the soft fur of his muzzle. I lie there for a long time, looking into his eyes and he into mine, wondering how much he really understands. When I finally close my eyes again, it's with greater ease.

He's there to watch over us all.

It seems I've just closed my eyes when I'm opening them to the dog's teeth closing on my throat. I pull back, terrified, striking out at him even as he growls low in his chest, eyes not on me. He tries to grab me again, but this time I understand-he's reaching for my collar, tugging at me. The puppies are already gone.

What is he doing?

Someone moans. I glance over my shoulder, wondering what disturbed whoever made the sound. And freeze.

Dark shapes shuffle through the room. Two hunch over one of the kids. A scream builds inside me, my heart beating impossibly fast as one of the shuffling forms rises from the ground and turns toward the window and the light. The girl's face is slack and vacant, her eyes empty shells, seeing past me, skin as pale as death.

There is blood around her mouth. Running down her throat and chest. She is chewing. Something.

"Beckett!" The scream escapes at last. I'm on my feet, the snarling, snapping dog at my side, while the invaders turn on me as if I've triggered some instinct. They are already moving my way, groaning and moaning in horrible voices, arms reaching out for me, grasping fingers and gnashing teeth.

I see the others rise, some of them running, escaping, leaving me to face the Shambles. That's who they must be, the zombie-like remnants of the Sick. I see Beckett's stricken expression, hear him shouting, but I can't hear him past my terror and the moans of the Shambles.

It's not just them, their slow-motion movements, the horror of their existence, keeping me locked into place. It's the sight of the kid they'd killed, the source of the blood, body wrenched open by greedy hands, steaming entrails exposed, lungs, heart, half a cheek missing to eager mouths, blood and more blood pooling and pooling.

I feel as if I will go mad.

Teeth clamp on my sleeve, pulling me backward, breaking my freeze. I scramble away, just in time, feeling the softest of scrapes as a fingernail grazes my cheek. I follow the dog, weaving through the pack of grasping creatures. He whines once and I understand completely when he stops. The puppies are scooped from the hiding place he secreted them, tucked inside my coat again as I run on.

The whole place is filled with Shambles, it seems. I hear my name, turn to see Beckett calling for me, one arm around Dauphine as they run, Nico ahead of them. She forces her way past me, abandoning everyone, even trips one kid by accident on her way. She doesn't stop to help the girl to her feet. Not just any kid, I realize as I grasp her hand and jerk her back out of the reach of a Shamble, but Poppy.

Poppy sobs once, but keeps her head. I can't carry her and the puppies and we have to hurry. The two wriggling babies are dumped in her arms before I swing her up in mine and run.

A Shamble boy reaches for us as we dart past, but Poppy shrieks and lashes out with her sneakers. I can hear Beckett calling for us, but my terror is too strong, my calm nowhere to be found.

The building goes on and on and I run deeper into it.

***