The closest zombie reached for my arm.
Yuche moved before it touched me.
A strip of metal tore from the frame of a broken storefront sign and flashed through the air, slicing cleanly through the zombie's wrist. The hand dropped to the pavement, fingers still twitching.
The zombie didn't even look at the stump.
It reached with the other hand.
I stared at it.
Then smiled.
Not nicely.
"Oh," Lingyun said quietly from beside me. "I know that face."
Good.
At least someone did.
The baby vine lifted from my wrist, its little head turning toward the approaching zombies like it had finally decided this situation had become interesting.
"You don't get to touch me," I said softly.
The zombie stepped closer.
The ground trembled again.
Stronger.
A deep groaning sound moved beneath the street, not loud enough to be a roar, but big enough that the nearest building windows rattled in their frames.
And there it was.
The root.
Not plant roots.
Not actual roots.
The starting point.
