I shook my head. “No, too dangerous. Best if we strike first this time. Catch them by surprise like they caught you by surprise.”
Ginger lifted her hand up. “But how do we even find them? Or, more importantly, the leader?”
The silence, apart from the distant groaning, was very nearly deafening. Sadly, though, none of them had an answer. Which meant that it was up to me. And, yes, I had thought of something, but was dread to attempt it. In any case, I turned to Dara and took her hand. “Come with me.” And then I looked at the others. “We’ll be right back.”
All of them stared at the two us, confusion spreading across their expertly made-up faces. Still, they parted their ranks and let Dara and me walk by, until we were soon alone around the other side of the vessel and away from prying ears.
“I don’t like that look on your face,” said Dara.
I grinned. “Really? Isn’t it the same look that’s been locked on my face for more than three hundred years now?”
She shook her head. “Something new is there, something that’s making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. If, um, I hadn’t Naired them off before, um . . . well, you know.”
I stroked her hand. “I know. And, trust me, those hairs, nonexistent though they are, have every right to be standing up.”
“And I don’t like the sound of that any more than I like that look on your face.”
My grin promptly faded. “Trust me, it’s about to get a hell of a lot worse-looking.”
She squeezed my hand. “Fine. Lay it on me then.”
“What would happen if we went out into the throng?” Before she could protest, I added, “Alone, just the two of us?”
She paused before replying, clearly thinking it over. Because, in three centuries, we’d never attempted such a thing. Then she shrugged. “Nothing, I suppose, apart from getting the willies about a million times over. I mean, for all intents and purposes, we’re one of them, right?”
“For all intents and purposes, yes. And, without the humans with us, there’s no reason to attack. Zombies, as far we know, don’t eat other zombies.”
“But why go?” she then asked. “How will that help?”
I leaned against the wall and stared out to the city beyond. I knew what was out there waiting, smelled it, heard it, loud and clear. “The leader is out there, probably nearby, seeing as the undead don’t cover a lot of ground on our own. Guess it couldn’t hurt to at least go look, and if we run across zombies that don’t obey my orders, we know we’re getting close.”
“Then what?”
I shrugged. Sort of. Though it felt more like a flinch. “Play it by ear, I suppose.”
She chuckled. “Sounds like a reasonably thought out plan, dear one.”
“Got anything better?”
Her chuckling ceased. “Lots, but all of them involve going back to Utah. Suddenly, I miss your minions. And at least behind the fence we’re not mingling with the undead hordes. Call me a snob, but . . .”
“But you’re a snob, and rightly so.” I turned her way. “One day, that’s all. One day and then we have the queens pick us up back here. One day to do some recognizance, then figure out our next move. What could go wrong?”
“You’re kidding, right.”
I grinned. “Not without tips.”
“You want a tip? Fine, how about don’t play nice with zombies, especially ones that haven’t bathed in over three centuries and that might tear you limb from limb just for the fun of it, meal or no meal.”
Still I was grinning. “Are you done?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
I patted her shoulder. “Good. Then let’s get this over with. And no mentioning to the others what we’re up to, just in case.”
“Creature,” she said, “I don’t know what we’re up to.”
I kept patting. “See, you’re doing great already.”
Breadcrumb
The queens promised (pinky-swore and crossed every toe and finger and eye) to pick us up exactly twenty-four hours later. “Here,” said Flo, her diamond-encrusted watch slipped onto my wrist. “Then you’ll know when to come back.” And then said watch promptly slipped right off, clanking on the deck below. “Oops, guess my wrist is a bit, um, thicker than yours.”
“Just like your head,” said VaVa, who retrieved the watch and buckled it around my arm. At least there it stayed put. “Be safe.” She seemed to go to kiss my cheek, but then thought the better of it. Guess sisterhood only went so far, the boundary line clearly marked where life ended and death began.
Ginger then placed her wide-brimmed pink fedora atop my head. “To, well, to protect your, uh, brains.”
Dara giggled. “Yeah, that ought to do the trick. No zombie would dare bite through that.”
And then we were off, trudging down the metal walkway and not looking back—mainly because that would mean twisting our necks around and, geez, good luck with that. At the end of the plank there was a barred gate, beyond which stood the dense throng, the groaning so loud that I had to cover my ears, Dara quickly following suit.