"Selenaaa!" he cried as she disappeared into the mob. he cried as she disappeared into the mob.

Chapter 7.

Selena wanted to close her eyes as the monsters surged in around her, grasping, clawing, desperate.

So desperate.

But she didn't. She willed herself to remain still, steady, strong; not to give in to the fear and pain. Every time, it seemed to get more difficult ... every time they seemed to be more violent, more desperate.

As they swarmed, the stench from the creatures seemed to sink into every one of her pores, to clog her nostrils and make her eyes water ... and then there was the sagging, rotting, gray flesh brushing against her like thick, dry snakeskin. Flesh that had once been tight and smooth, white, black, olive, mahogany ... and every shade in between.

The eyes were burning orange, but empty inside ... until they saw the crystal.

She held it steady in front of her. Its rosy-red glow illuminated only a small circle around them, but they seemed to sense it from a great distance. And it burned. As if it were on fire.

One of the zombies cried out in a long, low wail that sounded nothing like ruu-uuuthhhh ruu-uuuthhhh but was more like but was more like meeeeee-noowwwww. meeeeee-noowwwww. And she-it was a female-swiped toward Selena with her awkward, lethal paw. And she-it was a female-swiped toward Selena with her awkward, lethal paw.

Trembling and shuddering, Selena closed her fingers around the female's thick, wrinkling wrist and covered the hot crystal with her other hand. Immediately, the shock bolted through her, deep and ugly, dark and strong-and she gasped at the pain, at the blinding surge.

The female cried out and their eyes met. And in that moment, Selena saw her humanity. The flash of her soul ... being released from the jail of a body that had contained and controlled her for half a century. For as long as Selena had been alive.

Her orange eye-glow burst bright, and then was extinguished. And the female buckled to her knees, crashing to the ground. Dead. And free at last.

Tears p.r.i.c.kling her eyes, Selena had no time to recover, for there was another zombie there, reaching for her, and another, and too many of them, clawing, grasping, tearing in a frenzied bid for what they knew was safety and freedom.

Like beggars, like a mad crowd, like feral animals, they surged and groped, staggering into each other, pushing and b.u.mping. She did it again: closed her fingers around sagging flesh and allowed herself to be the conduit for the crystal's power, accepting the breathtaking bolt of pain and anguish, the flash of memories, and freeing the human inside.

And again.

A searing pain over her shoulder burned when a desperate monster reached for her, and another b.u.mped into her, jolting her, and the aches mingled with the white-hot shock and the abhorrent stench and the closeness. She couldn't breathe, could hardly think. The world spun and closed in, became dark and then rosy light, and was filled with s.n.a.t.c.hes of memories, of humanity. Keep going. You can. One more- Keep going. You can. One more- "Selena!"

She thought she was dreaming the sound of her name. Another monster grabbed at her and she took his hand, looked into his eyes, and released his soul. The shock battered her again and her knees buckled, but the closeness of the mob kept her from falling to the ground.

"Selena!"

Something bright slashed through the air, arcing overhead. And then there was an explosion, just beyond them, causing the zombies to rear back-and then to surge even closer, even more reckless now, pummeling her with their awkward bodies, even more lethal with their nails.

"Selena!"

She couldn't focus, could hardly move or breathe. But it sounded like Theo. Theo. Theo. Oh, G.o.d, no ... no. Oh, G.o.d, no ... no. She had to be dreaming. She had to be dreaming.

But then suddenly, he was there. Impossible. Impossible. But he was. Somehow, pulling and beating at the monsters that crowded around her. Tearing through them to get to her. But he was. Somehow, pulling and beating at the monsters that crowded around her. Tearing through them to get to her. Oh, G.o.d, Theo. Oh, G.o.d, Theo.

She couldn't think what this would mean, now. Not now. Later.

"Selena," he shouted, as he found her with his eyes from outside the ring he shouted, as he found her with his eyes from outside the ring. "Come on!"

He swung something large and heavy-a ma.s.sive branch-and it crashed into the skull of one of the gangas gangas. Selena cried out in horror as bone crunched and the creature staggered back, collapsing onto the ground. Dead.

But still trapped.

"No!" she shouted at Theo. "Stop!"

Tears stung her eyes, her battered body wouldn't move ... she couldn't breathe but she had to stop him before he killed any more of them. "No, please," she cried, trying to make her voice work, even as she grabbed the hand of a creature close to her.

The surge bolted through her, and this time it brought her gasping to her knees. But she held the gaze of the old man until the orange glow went out and he was freed.

"Go, Theo," she cried when she caught her breath. "Let me do this!"

"I'm not leaving you," he shouted back, and whaled again at the zombies. Another one fell when he caught it at the back of its knees, but its brain was intact. Still safe.

"Please!" she pleaded. "Theo, stop! stop!"

She touched another of the trapped humans, the red-veined crystal burning into her hand as she stared into the female's eyes, wondering why there still seemed to be so many of them. So many. So many.

Never-ending.

Selena dimly realized that Theo seemed to have gone. He'd listened to her. Thank G.o.d. Thank G.o.d.

And then she looked up to find him there, again, somehow pulling through the mad mob, yanking back the creatures trying to get to her.

"Don't hurt them!" she screamed, trying to make him understand. "Don't ... hurt ... them!"

She was sobbing now, her face wet; and through the tears, she met his stark, horrified eyes in the rosy glow. The next thing she knew, he was there, somehow, with her, next to her.

He didn't speak. He just closed his arms around her and enveloped her from behind, pulling her up against his solid body.

"I'm here," was all he said. "I'm not leaving until this is done."

Theo held on to Selena as the zombies fought through to them, slamming against him, pummeling her in their need to get to her. What is this? What is this?

He held on to Selena, protecting her from the slashing nails, holding her upright as she battled whatever it was that compelled her to be here. He wasn't certain what was going on; he dared not think about it right now.

Instead, he focused on breathing without inhaling the wall of putrid stench, on holding himself steady and keeping Selena upright; on easing them back, to bring the whole mob of monsters with them so he could protect their rear with the nearest car. This circle of madness, of wailing cries and greedy hands, of empty glowing eyes paralyzed him.

They had to get out of here. He had to fight through them ... and then he realized what a fool he'd been. He had had a way to drive them off. a way to drive them off.

His power surge. His "let me charge you up, baby!" His f.u.c.king after-the-Change superpower. Something he'd never used in hand-to-hand combat with a bunch of gangas gangas ... because he'd never had to. He'd never been trapped in a mob of them. He'd never gotten this d.a.m.n close. ... because he'd never had to. He'd never been trapped in a mob of them. He'd never gotten this d.a.m.n close.

Theo closed his eyes as a renewed wave of zombie weight surged into Selena, sending him staggering as he fought to hold her up. She was sagging even more in his arms. How much longer could she last? Why wouldn't she let him get her out of here?

There weren't that many left-Four of them. No, five.

The rest of them seemed to be dead.

He had to concentrate now; he could fight them off with a shock-stun them for a moment, get away ...Don't hurt them! Selena had cried. Selena had cried.

He'd f.u.c.king hurt them, all right, if he had to get her out of here safely. She was putty in his hands, and not in a good way.

Theo grabbed at the arm of the nearest monster, touching the dry, wrinkling, peeling flesh of the creature. Pieces of skin shifted beneath his hand, separating like dried mud and exposing layers beneath, sending a new blast of rank odor into his face. He closed his eyes, focusing, gathering the power that rested somewhere within him ... that germinated from the little integrated circuit embedded in his back ... ready to send a shock into this creature, to send him staggering away ... for at least a moment of relief.

The mob of five beat and pushed and cried, flailing and staggering, and Theo concentrated, blocking them out, pulled his power from the depths, waited for the little tingling surge . ..

And nothing happened.

Nothing happened.

His eyes flew open and he released the zombie, staring at his hand even as he swung up and out with his other elbow to keep one of the others from falling into them. Nothing? Nothing?

Stunned, Theo tried to ignore this new development in the interest of saving their a.s.ses. He couldn't spare the thought or time to consider the reasons now.

Selena hung in his arms, her face tilted up, her lips flat and grim. Even in the low light, he could see the gray of her skin. Her breathing was rapid and shallow; he could feel her torso move. But her eyes were open and she held on to that crystal around her neck as she reached for another monster.

She can't last much longer.

He held on to her, trying to drag her closer to the cars behind them. The zombies couldn't climb ... maybe they could find refuge there.

But it was slow going, and she kept seizing the monsters one by one-and he realized she wasn't going to stop until she was finished. He watched her, held her, felt the jolt through her body when she touched the creatures. He felt her weakening, heard the little gasp that came after.

And at last ... the final zombie buckled to the ground. And all was silent but for Theo's rasping breathing.

For a moment, she didn't move. Just stayed there in his arms, shuddering, dragging in breaths.

"Selena," he said finally, turning her to face him. Shock and confusion made his mind dart in infinite directions, unable to settle on one train of thought or question. Something trickled down his bare back-blood, maybe sweat-and her face was streaked with tears, grimy with dirt and sc.r.a.pes from the mob.

She drew in a deep breath and pulled away from him. The fact that she wasn't looking at him didn't bode well, but Theo was still too horrified and stunned at the experience that he couldn't formulate a question. As he watched, she lifted the glowing crystal on its long leather cord and slipped a little pouch over it. The glow disappeared and she tucked it down her shirt.

"I have to burn them," she said in a voice weary and taut. "I can't leave them ... like this."

"Sit down, dammit," Theo said, a wave of fury turning him cold. Numbness spread through his body. "Just sit down for G.o.d's sake, Selena. You can hardly stand up. Jesus. I'll take care of it."

"Thank you," she whispered, and sank down on the warped, rusted hood of a car.

Theo worked off some of his anger and confusion by dragging the twelve zombie bodies into a pile some distance away. By the time he was finished, he was breathing roughly-but not from physical exertion.

No, it was nothing to move the horrible bodies into a makeshift funeral pyre.

It was what lay ahead: the murderous anger burning inside him, the confusion, the questions and answers. The reality that would come with tomorrow.

That was what burned and curdled inside him, and left him with a hollow heart.

He lit the second bottle bomb and tossed it onto the pile of corpses. As the explosion lit the night, he turned to Selena.

"Let's go," was all he said.

Chapter 8.

Selena awoke the next morning to a blast of sunshine streaming through her window.

She opened her eyes with no problem, but when she tried to move, her body protested. Pain, aches, throbbing-everywhere. But that was nothing compared to the dark memories, the remnants of that night's terror.

She blinked, pushing them away with relative ease, and looked outside. By the height of the sun, she knew it was late in the morning.

She lay there for a moment, digging around the wisps of nightmares and benign dreams and trying to retrieve the memories. Her own memories.

Theo had brought her back after. He'd insisted on carrying her, and she wasn't a fool. She let him. He'd helped her clean up, put salve on her old wounds that had reopened and on the new ones that, fortunately, weren't as bad, thanks to the protective shirt she'd worn. He'd made her drink something, eat something, drink something else, and then he tucked her into bed.

All the time, speaking very little except to give her orders.

And then had, obviously, left.

Something unpleasant sc.r.a.ped deep inside her, but she ignored it. The shock and disbelief, even betrayal, had been all over Theo's face. In his eyes.

Even anger was there.

Just as it had been with Brandon.

But, she told herself, forcing her body to cooperate and pull upright, the whole situation with Theo was worlds different than with Brandon. The only comparison was that both had included great s.e.x.

Although calling last night "great s.e.x" would be an understatement. Her lips actually moved in a smile, and a little flutter awakened in her belly at the memory. But she didn't have enough energy to appreciate it any more than that.

Someone knocked on her door, and her attention whipped toward it. "Come in," she called, dread filling her heart. Theo? What am I going to say to him? Theo? What am I going to say to him?

A sandy brown head poked around the entrance. "Mom ... how are you feeling?"

What did Theo tell Sam? "I'm ... fine," she said carefully. Wondering how bad her face looked. "I'm ... fine," she said carefully. Wondering how bad her face looked.

Her son came in, looking so much like Brandon-except for the mouth-that she stilled in surprise. She hadn't noticed how much he'd come to resemble his father. He was carrying a tray with food and drink on it, and a vase with a flower. A flower. flower. "Mom. Theo said you got hurt last night and that you needed rest." "Mom. Theo said you got hurt last night and that you needed rest."

Oh my G.o.d. How could he? "What else did he say?" She tried not to sound panicked or accusatory. Then in a desperate attempt for diversion, she gestured to the daisy. "Nice flower. Was that your idea or Vonnie's?" "What else did he say?" She tried not to sound panicked or accusatory. Then in a desperate attempt for diversion, she gestured to the daisy. "Nice flower. Was that your idea or Vonnie's?"

Sam's expression of worry vanished, replaced by one of indignation. "It was mine! Geeesh."

"Thanks, love." She took the tray and saw that it had Vonnie's fingerprints all over it-except for the touch of the flower, of course. Tea with lemon and honey, a bowl of cut pears, a dish of almonds, crusty bread and b.u.t.ter, and a neatly folded yellow napkin.