Chapter 9

Ivy's POV

I went to the window and looked down. Robert's white sedan was parked under the streetlight.

I tied them all up with rope, taped their mouths shut, and stuffed them into heavy woven sacks. I packed clothes and ceramic pots and bowls into the gaps until the sacks bulged and you couldn't make out the shape of a person inside.

Then I fished the car keys out of Robert's pocket and opened a moving-help app on my phone.

"Hi, I need two people to carry some fragile stuff downstairs and load it into a car. It's parked right out front."

Then I mopped the floor.

The man and woman who'd taken the job showed up soon enough. They spotted the heavy sacks on the floor and took an end each.

As they lifted the first sack, the dishes inside rattled.

"Man, this is heavy. You got every pot and pan in the house in here or what?"

The woman rolled her eyes at him. "Well, yeah. You take everything when you move so you don't have to buy it all over again. Last time I moved, I tossed a few good baking dishes and spent weeks wishing I'd kept them."

I gave her a little smile. "No point paying for the same stuff twice."

As they carried the sacks down the stairs, my neighbor stepped out onto the landing.

"Ivy, what are you doing?"

I dropped my gaze and kept my voice flat. "My uncle says my cousin's getting married, so I've got to move out."

"I knew they'd get their way. You poor thing." She sounded sympathetic, but I could see how much she was enjoying it.

I didn't bother explaining. I went downstairs with the movers.

With the back seat folded down, there was just enough room in the sedan for all five sacks.

I drove out to that unfinished subdivision on a hillside at the far edge of the suburbs.

It was way out of town. It was supposed to be a high-end development, but the place had been falling apart since construction stopped.

I drove through waist-high weeds all the way to the back of the development.

The road was full of potholes, and the car bounced over them.

I checked the rearview mirror and kept going.

When I reached the spot, I opened the driver's door, got out, and walked around to the back of the car.

Then I cut the sacks open one at a time.

"Quit playing dead. I know you're awake. You can get out on your own."

Robert wriggled out of his sack. The others stumbled out after him, their hands still tied behind their backs.

The moment Robert saw me, the gentle look fell away and his face darkened.

Amber glared at me. With her mouth taped shut, that was about all she could do.

Before they'd found their feet, I brought the baseball bat out from behind my back and smiled.

"You and Aunt Deborah had plenty to say back at the condo, Uncle Robert. What's the matter? Nothing to say now?"

I stepped up and swung the bat into Robert's mouth while the others stared. He screamed through the tape.

The others recoiled. I went down the line and gave each of them one hit. I didn't skip anybody.

Blood ran from their mouths as they strained against the ropes, trying to get away. The moment any of them moved, I swung the bat again.

Cody had only just come around. He took one look at the others and passed out again.

I crouched down in front of Robert.

"You know, Uncle Robert, I used to trust you. I thought we were family, and I thought you were the one grown-up in the world who treated me best. I guess we really are family. We've got the same mean streak, don't we? You can stop shaking. I'm not going to kill you. If anybody died, the cops would come straight to me, and you're not worth the trouble. I've been holding this in for years. I just needed to get some of it out."

That's when I noticed the light from his phone in his pocket. He had a recording app running.

I took it out, looked at the screen, and put it back.

"Go ahead and keep the recording. You can use it to shake me down later. I'm about to marry into the Castillo family. I won't exactly be short on cash. I'll be waiting. We don't have to like each other to make a deal, do we? You're a smart man. I'm sure you can figure out what that recording's worth."

I jingled the car keys in my hand, then got back in the car and drove away.

They had no idea they'd never get the chance to come after me with that recording.

By the time it mattered, zombies would be everywhere, and there'd be nobody willing to listen to it.

I knew I had to keep them alive for now.

If they all turned up dead, the cops would look at me first. Everybody knew I had reason to hate them, and an investigation would ruin my plans to stockpile supplies.

Robert was still dreaming about holding that recording over me for the rest of my life. They wouldn't live long enough to use it.

By the time I got back to the condo, word had spread all over the complex. Everybody seemed to think my uncle had kicked me out.

As I reached the building entrance, the voices behind me got louder. Nobody even bothered to whisper anymore.

I ignored the looks and went straight upstairs. I packed my belongings into the storage space and got ready to leave. I'd find another place to rent.

I remembered how it started. The rain came first as the hurricane moved in.

It poured over Florida for three days and three nights, harder than anything we'd ever seen. In parts of Miami, the water rose to the fifth or sixth floor.

I had no idea how the other cities had fared. I'd stayed in Miami the whole time, and everything I heard about what was happening elsewhere came from TV or the internet.