Foamers by Justin Kassab Page A

few car
lengths away, with her rifle still tucked to her shoulder. Kade sent her a nod.
    Kade studied the red foam at the corner of the woman’s mouth. “A foamer.”
    “A what?”
    “Sixty percent of the people who got the vaccine turned into those things.” Kade
straightened his legs and made his face go slack, emotionless. He knew it was a foamer,
but it still looked like a dead person to him. At least from this encounter they
could deduce that a foamer didn’t have the dexterity or thought process to open
a door. Kade would have to gather notes on these monsters to learn their strengths
and weaknesses.
    “Are you some sort of scientist?” Will asked.
    “No,” Kade said. “But my brother is the Dr. Frankenstein behind these monsters.”
    “Where is he?”
    “I wish I knew. He’s out there somewhere.”
    “Then how do you know about … foamers.”
    “He sent me a letter. Day late to save the world, but at least able to save a few.”
    “Are you a man of fate or a man of luck?”
    “I’m a man of bad luck,” Kade said.
    “You should revaluate that sometime, but it seems like we have a situation we didn’t
expect with these creatures. Trapped in their cars they are pretty defenseless it
would seem, and I know you probably aren’t too keen on giving me back my gun, but
I’ll volunteer me and my brothers to putting down the threat,” Will said.
    Kade wiped his hand. “Don’t make me regret it.”
    They split the group into three teams. The first team, Ashton, Grace, and Victoria,
had been given the easy job of clearing the cars that were still functional. They
were able to drive some of those out of the life-sized Tetris grid, though most of
the cars either didn’t have keys or weren’t running. Those that didn’t have keys,
but could still roll, were put in neutral and pushed along the road until the team
could get enough space to dump the cars into the parking lots.
    The Wilson brothers hunted and killed the foamers trapped inside the cars. Kade could
hear their gunfire echoing through the silent world, followed by hyena-like laughter.
The amusement they took in putting down the foamers gave Kade goose bumps. Monsters
they may be now, but once they were people. However, Kade figured folk like the Wilson
brothers were the type that would thrive in the Primal Age, and it was better to
have them on his side.
    Kade, Tiny, X, Mick, and Lucas prepared to roll the two car frames that had fused
into charred skeletons from the accident. None of them were looking forward to the
work, but they had no other option if they were going to keep the convoy traveling
to Houghton. Argos was lying on the pavement. The rain soaked his fur, while he
watched the team with contented amusement. They lined up along the destroyed car.
Half of the group squatted and grabbed the bottom of the frame, while the others
faced the wreck with their hands on the upper frame.
    Kade placed his back against the remains of the car. “One. Two. Three.”
    A collective grunt rose from the group. Kade’s legs flexed as he gritted his teeth.
The cars lifted off of the ground until all of the team was standing tall. One at
a time, they switched to help push the cars over. As they lifted the frame, the wreck
passed the apex and gravity crashed the cars onto the pavement.
    All of them lined up and went through the process again.
    By the time they were on the last flip, Kade couldn’t tell his sweat from the rain.
His mind wrestled with a decision on the Wilsons. They had their own vehicle packed
full of supplies, most of which he hadn’t thought to bring. With them, they would
have a solid fortress and would increase their chances of having plumbing and electricity.
The brothers had weapons and weren’t afraid to use them. Plus, Ashton would be livid
with him if he sent away her friend.
    The only reasons he hesitated to accept the Wilsons was their initial attitude. He
had trouble holding that against them. After all, guns had been