“Yeah,” I say. “But now that he ran away...”
“You don’t think he’ll come if you call him?” Enrique asks.
“I think he’ll run away if he even smells me.”
Jonathan clears his throat. “I think Stanley’s right.”
I look at him. “Do you think Enrique would scare him off, too?”
Jonathan shrugs. “Dude, I really don’t know. On the one hand, they’re both cats.”
“And on the other,” I say, “Enrique is like ten times as big.”
Jonathan nods. “I guess we’ll just have to track him, but not get too close.”
“But first we need to find Meredith,” I say.
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
I pull it out.
“THE GATEWAY IS NOW OPEN. :)”
“This gateway... You don’t think...” I say. “I mean, with all the digging for the mall?”
“Dude, I don’t know what to think,” Jonathan says. “And all those new vampire friends of Karen’s have to be coming from somewhere, too. They can’t all be students. They know too much.”
My phone buzzes, again.
“THE RIDERS RIDE FORTH.”
“You got an enchanted cell phone there or what, Stanley?” Jonathan asks.
“I don’t know. I got a message from Zach a little bit ago,” I say. “Now I’m worried about Max. And Meredith.”
“And we promised to keep an eye on Carolina,” Jonathan says.
“We need our stuff,” I say.
Enrique points to the backpack on his back. “Everything’s in here.” He smiles. “Including extra flashlights and an extra pair of shorts.” Then he hands Jonathan and me our backpacks.
“Shucks, Enrique,” Jonathan says. “That was sweet. You didn’t have to pack for us.”
Suddenly, I smell something. Not Max. I hope he’s far off. He has to survive this, and if we don’t find him soon, I’ll never forgive myself.
But now I have no time to think. Out there in the dark, something moves.
“They’re coming back,” Jonathan says.
“Let’s get them, then,” I say, holding up my flashlight.
We walk toward the approaching shamblers.
Chapter 31: A SACRIFICE FOR REWSIN
We set our flashlights on high beam, but the shamblers seem unfazed now. That’s when I realize there’s something funny about them.
They’re wearing sunglasses. In the dark.