Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) by Erica Stevens Page B

parents may still be out there, there is a chance you will see them again,” I elaborated , gently pulling my hand away from Bret’s . “ At least we know t here were other survivors that moved through this town.”
       “And we had better get moving too,” Lloyd said. “If we want to try and get to the hospital before sunset.”
       “Just let me say goodbye to my aunt,” Jenna said, spinning swiftly on her heel.
       “Who?” Lloyd asked in surprise.
       “Her aunt. She’s frozen,” I explained.
       Lloyd’s eyes widened, his mouth dropped as he gaped at me. “ What is she!?” he demanded sharply.
       I glanced nervously at Bret, thinking that Lloyd had flipped, that perhaps something in his mind had snapped. Lloyd knew about the frozen people, we had done nothing but encounter them for the past month. Hell , they had been nearly impossible to avoid , in the beginning , if we moved further than five feet at a time. How could Lloyd possibly have forgotten about that , and why was he looking at me as if he w as abo ut to strangle the life from me?
       I took a frightened step back. I had become more competent with weapons , and fighting over the past few weeks, but I sure as hell didn’t want to take on a man that was highly trained by t he army for at least a year. “ What is she!?” Lloyd demanded again, but this time his voice was low and gravelly.
       “She’s frozen, you know one of the frozen people,” Bret said slowly obviously as weary about Lloyd’s strange reaction as I was .
       Lloyd let loose with a flurry of curses that would have caused even the most hardened truck driver to blush. They sure as hell made me gape , and even question what a few of the things he said meant. “We need to go!” he declared sharply at the end.
       “We’re going in a moment,” Bret told him.
       “No! Now! We need to go now !”
       Lloyd shoved roughly past me, he stormed down the hall at a rapid pace that left Bret and I staring after him in disbelief. “What the hell was that ?” I whispered.
       “No idea,” Bret responded, shaking his head slowly. “Let’s hope our trained killer hasn’t flipped his lid though.”
       “Bret…”
       My words were cut off as Jenna began to protest vehemently from the bedroom. Lloyd ignored her protests as he pulled her forcefully from the room. His hand was wrapped firmly around her upper arm as he began to drag her down the hall toward us. “Move out!” he snapped.
       “Lloyd what is going on?” I demanded . I was unwilling to go anywhere with him until I knew where his sudden , and seemingly irrational , fear had come from.
       “We can talk as we move. Now move !”
       I turned and hurried down the hall, more frightened by the look in his eyes than by his behavior. He was speaking like he was angry, like he was on the verge of snapping completely, but there was pure terror blazing from his eyes. I fled down the stairs, Lloyd’s fear propelling me rapidly forward. Bret followed close behind and Jenna had stopped protesting by the time I reached the bottom floor.
       I rushed into the kitchen, realizing only belatedly that I had been too distracted by the note to check inside the fridge. I didn’t think there was much hope for anything in there, but it was worth a peek. I flung the door open and froze. The power hadn ’t gone out in this area of town so some of the food had managed to stay good, but there was green ooze seeping from the crisper and an awful smell assaulted me. T here were also two boxes of Cheerios, one of Special K, and a Raisin bran sitting on the shelf amongst the mess. In front of them was a post-it that read Jenna.
       “Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Howe,” I whispered. I didn’t know why the hell her parents had placed them in the fridge, perhaps they’d hop ed to keep them fresher, but I didn’t care. I swung my backpack forward and began to shove the boxes inside as the other three