red hill - jamie mcguire

Cooper yelled again. “Zoe! Behind you! Run!”
Zoe stopped turning, but her back was to the creature behind her.
“Zoe!” Nathan yelled as he ran. “Listen to me! Run to me, baby! Run to daddy as fast as you can!”
Zoe looked at her dad quizzically, and then turned around, seeing the infected approaching. She
didn’t move. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, like a dream. No matter how fast I ran, I
couldn’t get to her fast enough. My heart felt like it was about to explode, between the fear and me
pushing my legs as fast as they could go.
I could hear the low groan, the sound they made when they were excited. The only thing they got
excited about was satisfying their constant hunger. He reached out for her, but Zoe didn’t move.
“Run, Zoe!” Nathan screamed, his voice breaking. I knew he was crying. I was, too.
Just as the creature bent down to grab at Zoe, Cooper used his entire body to tackle him to the
ground. Zoe went with them.
Nathan screamed again, waving his arms, still a good twenty feet away. When we finally came
upon them, Zoe was on her back, staring up at the sky, and Cooper was pummeling the infected’s skull
with the butt of his rifle.
Nathan stood Zoe up and checked her over. “Were you bitten” he said, inspecting her arms and
legs, and then lifting up her shirt to look at her back. He grabbed her jaw and turned her head from
one side to the other, looking at her neck.
Zoe began bawling then, and Nathan took her into his arms. Skeeter and I slowed to a stop, just in
time to see the mess Cooper had left. He met my eyes, and that was when I saw the bright-red blood
on his shoulder.
Cooper looked at his wound, and then fell to the ground. I kneeled beside him to inspect the
mangled mess of torn skin and muscle. A large gouge had been bitten from the front part of the
shoulder, all the way to the bone.
Skeeter yanked his shirt over his head and wadded it up, handing it to me. I pressed down, hard,
but I knew just like everyone else that it was just for show. Cooper winced from the pressure, and
then his eyes met mine.
“Cooper” Ashley called, still distant. Her voice had an edge of fear. She knew something was
wrong.
Cooper looked at me. “Don’t let her see.”
I nodded, looking up to Skeeter. “Keep her away.”
“Tell her I love her,” Cooper said, his lip quivering.
My sight blurred as tears filled them. “She knows, Coop. You showed her every second of every
day.”
He smiled and nodded as Ashley yelled at Skeeter, cussing him for holding her back. “He’ll be
okay!” she yelled just out of sight. “Scarlet! He’ll be okay! Don’t hurt him!”
“She’s going to hate me,” I said.
Cooper leaned forward, touching his forehead to my face, hugging me the only way he could. “I
don’t want to risk turning and attacking any of you. Do it now.”
Nathan lifted Zoe into his arms, and then wiped his eyes. “Thank you, Cooper. You saved my little