“Good night, sweetheart. Enjoy the rest of the night,” she said to Max before turning to Kirstin. “Look after my boy. He can be a bit thick sometimes.”
Kirstin smiled. “I will.”
Elise had volunteered to babysit, and Martin now led the way to their wedding present, a three bedroom house with a lush garden and gorgeous views. He unlocked the front door with a flourish and waved inside. “I know it isn’t much, but it’s all yours. Max told me you love roses.”
Julianne frowned. “Roses?”
Martin backed away. “You’ll see.”
Suddenly, Breytenbach swept her up in his arms and carried her inside. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
She giggled, feeling like a school girl. “It’s nice.”
He let her down and pulled her close for a lingering kiss. “Want to see what our new home looks like?”
Breathlessly, she nodded. “Yes.”
He switched on the lights, and room by room showed her the house. Julianne said not a word as they walked, her lips pressed together to keep them from trembling. When he showed her the backyard, though, she swallowed on the sudden tears that threatened to burst free.
“It…it’s perfect,” she whispered, clutching the wooden railing of the porch overlooking the garden.
Steps led down to a stone path that wound its way through thick banks of rose bushes, each plant carefully tended and manicured. The season was wrong, so there were no blooms, but she had no problem imagining it in the summer. The scent, the riotous colors.
“You like it?” Breytenbach asked, looping his arms around her middle.
“I do. What about you, though? Won’t you miss all the action? You’re raiding days?”
Breytenbach shook his head. “You know what? I’ll never miss it again. Not while I can be here with you, and Meghan, and Sam.”
“I’m glad.” Julianne leaned back in his arms and closed her eyes, taking it all in. She reflected she’d been given a second chance at happiness, and she wasn’t about to waste it. Not this time.
Epilogue II - Nadia
Nadia watched the double wedding from the edges, drifting through the crowds with little purpose or joy. Inside her chest was a hollow void, one that shied away from the happiness so evident on the faces around her. Not even the high of the medicine Jonathan kept forcing on her could take away the raw agony that burned inside her chest.
She found herself plastering on a fake smile for the benefit of others, but couldn’t fool herself. She didn’t belong. Not anymore. Had she ever really belonged, or had she been kidding herself all this time?
“Are you all right, Nadia?” Max asked, abandoning his bride for a few seconds to talk to her.
“Of course. I’m fine,” she said.
He studied her face. “You don’t have to pretend. Not with me. Logan was my friend, and Caleb…I didn’t know him that well, but I can imagine what it must be like for you.”
“Can you?” she asked, a bitter note stealing into her voice. “Can anyone?”
Max sighed with regret. “Probably not.”
She swallowed and pushed aside the anger that swirled within her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“No, you’re right. It was a thoughtless thing to say.” Max shook his head. “I’m not very good at expressing myself.”
Nadia gave him a half-smile. “Neither was Logan. Nor Caleb.”
“Yes.”
They stared at each other for a few more seconds, before Nadia turned away. “Be happy while you can, Max. It never lasts.”
She pushed her way through the crowd and slipped away unnoticed. On silent feet, she made her way to the small flat she shared with Cat, Lisa, and Vera. She’d have to hurry if she wanted to push through with her plans. The wedding was the best chance she’d ever get.
Nadia grabbed a backpack from the closet and filled it to the brim with her clothes, personal items, toiletries, an extra blanket, a water bottle, protein bars, travel mixes, and a first aid kit. She tied a bedroll and umbrella to the bottom, tucked a box of matches, a torch, and batteries into the side pocket and pulled out a hat.
She stripped off the silly outfit the others had made her wear for the wedding and put her regular clothes back on: Biker boots, torn jeans, sports bra, a mesh vest, and a leather jacket. She tied her growing hair into a ponytail, having given up on dyeing it further, and slipped on her belt with her t-bar spikes, a hatchet, and a pistol.
A quick glance in the mirror revealed a pale face. One with huge blue eyes brimming with pain and uncertainty. She pressed her lips together. “It’s for the best.”
“What’s for the best?” a voice asked from behind her.
“Shit!” Nadia yelped, spinning around with her heart in her throat. Three faces greeted her. Cat, Lisa, and Vera. “You scared the crap out of me. What are you doing here?”
“We could ask you that same question,” Cat said.
“Yeah, it looks like you’re going somewhere,” Lisa added.
“Maybe,” Nadia replied with a defiant shrug. “I can do as I please. I’m not a prisoner here.”
“You’d leave without saying goodbye?” Cat asked, her tone one of disbelief.
Nadia sagged. “I’m sorry, Cat, but I couldn’t face you. This is hard enough as it is.”
“Where are you going?” Vera asked.
“Away from here. I don’t belong anymore. I never did, not really.”
“What are you going to do?” Vera shook head. “You know what’s out there.”
“I know, but I can’t stay,” Nadia replied. “Maybe there’s some purpose out there for me. Something better than losing myself in a bottle or at the end of a knife.”
Nadia stared at her sleeves which hid her old scars. She couldn’t go back to that place. Couldn’t start with the cutting and pills again. She owed Logan that much. He got her off the stuff in the first place, and she knew that if she stayed, she’d succumb. I’m already dangerously close with Jonathan’s meds.
“Well, you’re not going alone,” Cat said, her mouth set in a stubborn line. “I’m coming with you.”
“What?” Nadia dropped her bag on the bed. “You can’t.”
“Why not?” Cat said.
“What if you get hurt? I’d never forgive myself.”
“It’s not up to you. I can make my own decisions.”
The two squared off against each other, each more stubborn than the other. Cat with her dark hair and eyes, set in a pale but hard face. Nadia with her skunk look, the roots blonde and the ends black while her blue eyes sparked outrage.
“Looks like a stalemate,” Vera remarked.
“Not for long. I’m coming too,” Lisa said, breaking the stand-off.
“What?” Nadia and Cat cried in unison as they both turned to look at her.
“You as well?” Vera asked before shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m out. Clara needs me.”
“That’s okay,” Cat said. “Could you look after Juan and Tessa for me? I’ll miss the little buggers.”
“Of course, but you shouldn’t be leaving in the first place,” Vera said. “It’s too dangerous, and you could be of real use here.”
“Perhaps, but I’m not letting my best friend go out there alone. I’m going with her, and that’s that.”
Vera shrugged. “You’re funeral.”
“It might be,” Nadia said.
“It won’t,” Cat replied.
“Whatever. There’s nothing for me here either,” Lisa said. “I’m tired of letting others decide my destiny for me. It’s my life, and I’ll live it the way I want to.”
Nadia slumped down on the bed. “So you’re serious? Both of you?”
“We are,” they said in unison.
“Well, you’d better get packed then. The wedding is the best time for us to make a break for it. You know what Max, Breytenbach, Julianne, and the rest will do if they find out.”
“I know,” Lisa said. “We’d better hur
ry.”
Cat and Lisa rushed around the rooms, packing their things and getting ready for an extended stay while Vera watched them with a worried frown. When they were ready to go, she gripped Cat’s shoulders and asked, “Are you a hundred percent sure about this?”
“Yes, I am.”
“We’ll miss you, you know? All of us. We’re a family,” Vera said, sniffing when a sudden wobble in her voice betrayed her.
“I know, Vera. I’ll miss you too. All of you, but this is the right thing to do. For me, at least. Say goodbye to everyone, please.”
“All right. Now go,” Vera said, brushing her tears away. “I’ll cover for you until morning.”
“Thanks.”
Nadia slipped out of the flat and into the cold evening air, followed by Lisa and Cat. While it had never occurred to her to take them with her, she was suddenly glad they’d joined her. It would be a lot less lonely with them by her side.
“So, any ideas on how to get through the gates?” Cat asked.
“I nicked a pass from Martin’s desk earlier today. It gives us permission to come and go as we please, and I can even commandeer a vehicle.”
“Wow, you’ve really thought this through,” Lisa said.
“I have.”
“Any idea where we’re going?”
“We’ll work it out,” Nadia said. After a few more steps, she paused and turned to face the other two. “Are you sure about this? I mean, really?”
“I’m not backing out,“ Cat said.
“Me neither,“ Lisa replied.
“No regrets?” Nadia pressed. “We’re stealing a truck here, lying to those who took us in, and setting out into zombie-infested country.”
“You’re not dissuading us, so stop trying,” Cat said.
“Fine.” Nadia stuck out her hand. “From now on, it’s just us three. Deal?”
Cat put her hand on top of Nadia’s. “Deal.”
Lisa added hers. “The three musketeers!”
Nadia grinned. “How about, the three zomketeers.”
Cat scoffed. “That’s stupid.”
“Is it? I kind of like it,” Nadia said, resuming her walk.
Cat shoulder bumped her. “That’s because you’re an idiot.”
“Hey!”
“I like it too,” Lisa said. “It has a certain ring to it.”
Cat rolled her eyes. “I am not calling myself a zomketeer.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll do it for you.”
“Will not.”
“Will too.”
With a grin playing on her lips, Nadia reflected there were worse things in life than setting out on a grand adventure with two of your best friends. I might have lost a lot, but I’ve also gained a lot, and I’d better not take it for granted ever again.
The End.
Death’s Children
Cat’s Eye - Chapter 1
“Catherine Thompson. Please pay attention in my class unless you want detention.”
The shrill peal of Mrs. Marais’ voice cut through the haze of boredom surrounding Cat, and she straightened up in her seat amidst snickers from her classmates.
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she replied with a respectful, “Yes, Ma’am.” The last thing she needed on a Friday afternoon was detention.
Forty-five excruciating minutes later, the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Benches and chairs scraped across the floor as kids ran for the exit, jostling each other in their haste to get out. Cat imagined it looked a lot like a prison break.
She took the time to fish her phone out of her bag first and checked her messages. Three from Chris, her boyfriend, one from her best friend, Nadia, and a voicemail from her mother. On auto-pilot, Cat slung her school bag over her shoulder, picked up her hockey stick and walked out of class while checking Chris’ texts. They were pretty generic. Standard stuff for a Friday.
“Hey, babes. What’s up?”
Little kissy faces.
“Wanna come over tonight?”
Cat sighed. Instead of butterflies in her stomach, all she felt was leaden dread. For her, the relationship with Chris had soured after the fifth weekend spent watching rugby with his friends.
The entire time was passed glued to the edge of the couch next to Chris and his buddies. They’d cheer and shout enthusiastically at the TV, discussing the score and players during half-time, while she sipped on the homemade lemonade his mom forced down her throat.
Her thumb flew over the keys as she replied. “Maybe next time. Got things to do.”
Next, she checked Nadia’s message. “Hey, Cat. How’s it going, girlfriend? Have you seen the stuff on YouTube? People are going crazy about it. Freaky Friday!”
Cat frowned. She hadn’t looked at her phone all day. By rights, she wasn’t even allowed to take it to school but had put it on silent and hidden it at the bottom of her bag.
Her feet carried her out of the gates of High School Kroonstad. After crossing the busy street filled with irate parents and happy kids, she set off for home. She lived only three blocks from the school, so her mom had decreed that she walk every day. Cat didn’t mind, though. She liked the solitude.
Cat sent Nadia a reply. “What stuff? Haven’t seen a thing. By the way, can you come visit this December holiday?”
“Check YouTube and Facebook. Crazy stuff! It’s all over SA and even overseas. As for a holiday, no can do, sister. My mom’s been kinda out of it lately, and Dickhead bitched about the money for the bus ride.”
Cat frowned at that bit of news. When had Nadia’s drug-addict mom not been out of it? All her life she’d watched her best friend be pushed around and mistreated by her alcoholic mom and abusive step-dad. When Nadia’s little brother Bobby drowned, that had been a new low. To top it off, six months later they moved to Upington, and Cat despaired of ever seeing her best friend again.
“Well. We’ll just have to make a plan,” she sent back. If there was one thing that could be said of Cat, it was that she was stubborn. Even if she had to bribe Nadia’s step-dad, she’d do it.
“Hope so, C. Catch you later. Branden and I’ve got a date.”
“Have fun,” Cat replied before listening to the voicemail her mother had left three hours earlier.
“Catherine, I’m going to be late tonight. We’re swamped with patients today, and the boss wants us to work in. There are leftovers in the fridge. See you later, sweetheart.”
Cat sighed and tucked her phone away, resigned to a night spent in front of the TV with a bucket of ice cream. It wasn’t unusual. Her mom worked as an admin assistant at a local doctor, and she often stayed late when it got busy.
About halfway home, Cat’s attention was caught by a man staggering down the road. He had a full head of dreadlocks, topped with a Rastafarian beanie and wore a long trench coat. At first, Cat paid him no mind and continued walking.
There was something odd about him, though. He stumbled along haphazardly, moaning in an eerie way. The front of his coat was stained with what looked like black tar. A light breeze brushed over her face, lifting the hair off her neck and carrying a sickly sweet smell with it. She gagged, pulling her shirt over her mouth. “What the hell?”
Cat eyed the man she assumed to be either homeless or stoned and quickened her pace, hoping to slip past unnoticed.
No such luck.
When he spotted her, he raised his hands towards her, growling in a way she’d ordinarily find hilarious but now didn’t seem quite so funny.
Cat stopped and backtracked, raising a hand to ward him off. “Hey, back off, buddy. I don’t have any money.”
He ignored her and kept coming. As he got closer, the smell intensified until it rolled across her senses in a tidal wave of rot. She could now make out the smaller details of his appearance through watering eyes.
His bottom lip was missing, exposing the lower teeth and jaw, pink flesh and white bone shining through clotted blood. Her stomach rolled as her eyes fixed upon the stain on his clothes
. The black stuff she’d thought was oil, now looked more like old blood. Bits of hair and other things were matted into it. Her stomach heaved. “Oh, God, is that…a tooth?”
Cat screamed, stepping back as he reached for her with hands that had turned into claws, the nails crusted with dirt. She swung her hockey stick and hit him, dancing on her toes to put distance between them.
He regained his footing, and she whacked him over the head again, the sound hollow to her ears. Her school bag swung like a pendulum, pulling her off balance. With a cry, she fell.
Her bare knees hit the asphalt, sharp pain flaring up her legs. She shrugged it off, rolling away when he reached for her. He tripped over her bag and fell in a tangle of limbs. Cat ripped the strap off her shoulder and scrambled away on all fours, gravel digging into her palms. Her heart banged in her chest, air whistling in and out of her lungs as her throat closed.
Not now, she prayed.
Cat lunged to her feet and whirled, brandishing her hockey stick. Like a loathsome crab, the homeless guy rose from the ground, joints cracking as he scuttled toward her.
“Leave me alone,” Cat cried, wheezing for breath.
He kept coming, teeth snapping like a rabid dog. Cat danced away like a boxer and hit him again, harder this time. His head swung, but he kept coming.
“Bugger off!” Spots danced in front of her eyes as the tightness in her chest increased. It was a feeling both familiar and unwanted, like a distant family member who overstays their welcome at Christmas.
Cat skipped sideways and swung the hockey stick like a baseball bat, putting all her strength into the blow. The edge connected with his temple, and she heard the sound of cracking bone. He fell to his knees, and she hesitated. Blood streamed from the cut on his scalp, but it looked odd. Thick and sluggish. Once again, the smell that emanated from his form assaulted her senses.
“Stay down,” Cat whimpered. “Please, stay down.”
A low growl vibrated from between her attacker’s clenched teeth. He lurched forward, crawling towards her. With a wordless cry, she swung again, aiming for the same spot as before.
Children of the Apocalypse: Mega Boxed Set Page 91