Generation Z (Book 6): The Queen Unchained
Page 57
“By that logic, we should keep Corsairs around as well,” Deanna said. She shot a look at her husband. He was suddenly very interested in a not so interesting cloud. “Were you in on this, too, Grey?”
She called him Grey as she used to, something he was having trouble with after so many years of being a nameless freak. Out of habit he checked the mask that covered half his face before answering in a guilty voice. “Who me?”
“Do you see anyone else named Grey around here?” Emily raised her hand and received a glare of her own.
Grey grinned, happier than he could remember since the first time he had held his daughter. “I just want her to be ready. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that anything can happen. We should give her as much leeway as possible, but I want her chained to a rock when this ship pulls away. I know you want to go with them. I see it in your eyes.”
The lure of stowing away in The Courageous had been growing in her as the day of departure loomed, but after her last adventure she was able to resist. “I’m happy to go home. The truth is I miss my bed, and I miss mom’s grilled cheese sandwiches.”
The talk turned to food and everything they would eat when they were home and not fighting for their lives every second. Grey missed bread; Deanna wanted an apple pie; Troy wanted lamb chops; Mike, who was still only able to eat soft food, wanted anything he could sink his teeth into, and Neil hungered for any meat as long as it was still warm and bloody; he kept the last part to himself.
Bishop Wojdan, who had been queasy ever since Eve stomped the Black Captain into a sickening stew, wanted only a salad. Donna Polston said she wanted to sip tea in front of a fire when she really wanted to sip a martini in front of a fire, preferably with a handsome man. Shaina Hale misunderstood the conversation and said she liked cats, especially the small ones.
“Kittens,” suggested Emily.
“Yeah, them. They’re my favorite.”
Only the Queen remained silent. She had taken one thing of Joslyn Reynolds to heart and she no longer only wore black. Now that they were not at war it made sense to wear brighter colors. As well, she was tired of wearing only pants. She figured that a queen shouldn’t just be allowed to wear dresses, they should be required.
On that morning she wore an ankle-length powder blue dress. It came in sharply at the waist and flared only gradually at the bottom. She accented it with silver heels of moderate height and a silver jacket that came to her midriff. In the old world it was easily a thousand-dollar outfit, in this one it had to be dusted off.
She kept silent because she feared she would beg Jillybean not to go. Jenn had been nothing before she had met Jillybean. She had been an outcast in her own community. Only Jillybean had seen her for what she could be. When Jillybean looked at her, she had seen a queen. Jillybean wasn’t just her best friend, she was her only friend. She was the only person who understood the loneliness of being a queen.
“It’s time,” Mike whispered, nudging her. He could sense the tide turning by the smallest ripple.
Jenn stood and straightened her dress, stopping the conversation. “It’s time.” Everyone stood and formed a line to say one last goodbye. Jillybean was hugged and Neil shook hands; he wore a single glove for the occasion. Jenn was last.
“My queen,” she said to Jillybean.
“I’m nobody’s queen.”
“Will you settle for being my sister?”
Jillybean had not expected this and it took her back. “But my last sister…”
“That was your last sister. I will be your new sister and if we’re lucky maybe we will find a third or maybe a fourth. Just remember that no matter what happens out there, you’re still loved here. You always have a home with me. No strings attached. No questions asked.”
A rush of happiness suddenly filled Jillybean. It made her face feel hot and tears sprang to her luminous eyes making them look like bottomless blue pools. There had been too much death and too much misery, and she had been the reason for much of it. Whether it was for the greater good or not, it still hurt. It still had filled her with darkness.
Even after she had slain the Black Captain, when others had found happiness, she had been alone. Alone except for the endless patients she saw, and alone except for Neil, who spent his days doing his best not to eat people. It wasn’t the same.
Now she wasn’t alone. Even if she was leaving forever, she wouldn’t be alone.
She grinned, feeling young for once. “You know if we’re really sisters then Neil would technically be your dad too.” Jenn snorted laughter. Jillybean stuck out a pinky. “If you want to make this official, you have to pinky swear.”
“Do we cut each other or is it spit?” Jenn asked, confused, holding out her little finger.
“You’ve been spending too much time around Shaina,” Jillybean said, grabbing Jenn’s hand and hooking her finger. “You can’t undo this by the way. You’re now officially Jenn Martin, Queen of the Southern Coast.”
“No offense, but I like Lockhart better.”
“So do I.” Still clutching that little finger as tightly as she could, Jillybean turned to Neil and told him, “My new name is Jillian Lockhart. What do you think about that?”
He hadn’t been paying attention. He had been looking at Shaina and the thought: she’s as skinny as a chicken wing, had set off all sorts of illicit images inside him. Stifling the guilt and the new pang of hunger that came with it, he glanced at the two girls. They wore matching smiles, laughter in their blue eyes. “You two could be sisters. Anyone ever tell you that?”
The End.
Author's Note:
Thank you all for taking the time to read my stories. I certainly hope you’ve enjoyed them.
I will be starting a new series set 150 years after a zombie apocalypse/nuclear war. With the zombies trying to hide among the general population and politicians declaring the threat is finally over, special teams have to take the creatures out without anyone catching on. It promises to be fun and bloody!
If you would like to read along, chapter by chapter as I write the story you can. All you have to do is go to my Patreon page (Here) and support my writing. The tier levels are exceedingly generous with freebies running from autographed books, video podcasts, free Audible books, signed T-shirts, and swag of all sorts. At a high enough tier you will even get to meet me in person as I take you and three friends out to dinner.
Patreon a great way to help support me so I don’t have to go back into the coal mines…back into the dark.
Another way is to write a review of this book on Amazon and/or on your own Facebook page. The review is the most practical and inexpensive form of advertisement an independent author has available to get his work known. I would greatly appreciate it.
Now, that you’ve gone to my Patreon page and left your review—thank you very much—I would love for you to take a look at the series that is the genesis of the new story: The Apocalypse Crusade.
Forget what you think you know about zombies...
Forget the poorly acted movies and the comic books. Forget the endless debates over fast and slow walkers. From this day on, all that crap will fade away to nothing. America is on the precipice of hell and not for a moment do you believe it. You have your cable and your smartphone and your take-out twice a week and your vacation to Disney Land all planned, and you tell yourself you'll drop those ten pounds before you go.
But you aren't going anywhere.
In one horrible day your world collapses into nothing but a spitting, cursing, bleeding fight for survival. For some, the descent into hell is a long, slow, painful process of going at it tooth and nail, while for others it's over in a scream that's choked off when the blood pours down their windpipe. Those are the lucky ones.
But you will live, somehow, and you'll remember day one of the apocalypse where there was a chance, in fact there were plenty of chances for someone to stop it in its tracks and you'll wonder why the hell nobody did anything.
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br /> At first light on that first morning, Dr. Lee steps into the Walton facility on the initial day of human trials for the cure she's devoted her life to; she can barely contain her excitement. The labs are brand spanking new and everything is sharp and clean. They've been built to her specifications and are, without a doubt, a scientist's dream. Yet even better than the gleaming instruments is the fact that Walton is where cancer is going to be cured once and for all. It's where Dr. Lee is going to become world famous...only she doesn't realize what she's going to be famous for.
By midnight of that first day, Walton is a place of fire, of blood and of death, a death that, like the Apocalypse, is just the beginning.
What readers say about The Apocalypse Crusades:
"DO NOT pick this up until you are ready to commit to an all-night sleep-defying read!"
"WAY OUT WICKED"
"...full of suspense and intrigue, love, both innocent and romantic, hate, both blinding and unnatural, non-stop action, and a very real gripping and palpable fear.”
PS If you are interested in autographed copies of my books, souvenir posters of the covers, Apocalypse T-shirts and other awesome Swag, please visit my website at https://www.petemeredith1.com
PPS: I need to thank a number of people for their help in bringing you this book. My beta readers Joanna Niederer, KariAnn Morgan, Kari-Lyn Rakestraw, Doni Battenburg, Monica Turner, Shamus McGuigan, Victoria Graves Haugen, Mindy Wilkinson, Ginger Dailey, Corrina Marie, Virginia Morrison Keim, Susan Hanek Troelsen, Mindy Grindstaff—Thanks so much!
Fictional works by Peter Meredith:
A Perfect America
Infinite Reality: Daggerland Online Novel 1
Infinite Assassins: Daggerland Online Novel 2
Generation Z
Generation Z: The Queen of the Dead
Generation Z: The Queen of War
Generation Z: The Queen Unthroned
Generation Z: The Queen Enslaved
Generation Z: The Queen Unchained
The Sacrificial Daughter
The Apocalypse Crusade War of the Undead: Day One
The Apocalypse Crusade War of the Undead: Day Two
The Apocalypse Crusade War of the Undead Day Three
The Apocalypse Crusade War of the Undead Day Four
The Apocalypse Crusade War of the Undead Day Five
The Horror of the Shade: Trilogy of the Void 1
An Illusion of Hell: Trilogy of the Void 2
Hell Blade: Trilogy of the Void 3
The Punished
Sprite
The Blood Lure The Hidden Land Novel 1
The King’s Trap The Hidden Land Novel 2
To Ensnare a Queen The Hidden Land Novel 3
The Apocalypse: The Undead World Novel 1
The Apocalypse Survivors: The Undead World Novel 2
The Apocalypse Outcasts: The Undead World Novel 3
The Apocalypse Fugitives: The Undead World Novel 4
The Apocalypse Renegades: The Undead World Novel 5
The Apocalypse Exile: The Undead World Novel 6
The Apocalypse War: The Undead World Novel 7
The Apocalypse Executioner: The Undead World Novel 8
The Apocalypse Revenge: The Undead World Novel 9
The Apocalypse Sacrifice: The Undead World 10
The Edge of Hell: Gods of the Undead Book One
The Edge of Temptation: Gods of the Undead Book Two
The Witch: Jillybean in the Undead World
Jillybean’s First Adventure: An Undead World Expansion
Tales from the Butcher’s Block