The Zombie Zovels (Book 3): Blood and Bullets

by Lake, D. K.

  I held on to Drew tightly and we drove as fast we could and kept going.

  Chapter 26

  The quad bike eventually ran out of fuel. And I felt the same. I just wanted to sleep.

  We had been walking for ages. Like, hours, I think. It was still dark and I had no idea what the time was. Midnight? One? Or maybe even two in the morning. I had no idea. We had followed the road on foot for some time but Drew wanted to cut into the trees for safety and to find somewhere to sleep, we were both tired and needed to rest. We crossed a small field and into a wooded area with lots of vegetation.

  "Are you leading me around in circles?" I asked, looking at a tree with funny looking branches that I swear I had just walked into ten minutes ago.

  "No, you're just disorientated because it's dark and you've probably inhaled too much smoke so you can't think straight. Drink some more water."

  "No, that's not it. I swear that's the same stupid tree I walked into not too long ago."

  "That was a different tree and I told you to duck and you didn't."

  He let go of my hand as we climbed over a fallen tree and I managed to get my bag hooked onto a branch that was sticking up and I got stuck.

  "This is stupid. Can we please stop soon." I sighed.

  "Soon. We need to leave enough distance in case the fire spreads overnight."

  "We drove for what seemed like hours at high speed. I don't think it's going to catch us anytime soon. You really think it will keep burning all night?"

  "Yes, not unless we suddenly have a downpour of rain. There's no one to put it out so it will probably burn for days and sweep through the fields and trees, so I'd prefer it if we kept moving for now."

  "Easy for you to say. I feel so tired. Like, ridiculously tired."

  "Here," Drew unhooked me and helped me down.

  "Please." I smiled sweetly.

  "Ok, let's see where these trees lead and then we'll stop."

  "They could go on forever, like some enchanted forest. If you had your way you'd make me walk all night."

  "Yeah, I would. And now you've got no excuse not to walk all night."

  "Just 'cause I'm not sick anymore doesn't mean I don't get tired. We don't know where we're going, it's dark, and we don't even know where we are. I never packed a stupid map back at that creepy store, did you?"

  "Nah. Who needs a map when you have a road to follow."

  "But we don't have a road to follow. Were lost in the woods." I stomped off.

  "Pretty!" Drew called and I turned around.

  "What?"

  "Look down."

  Huh.

  I looked down at my feet but it was dark so I couldn't see much.

  "What am I looking at?" I asked, confused.

  Drew came closer and scuffed his boot on the ground and I realized it wasn't earth. The leaves and weeds had covered most of the road so I didn't even know we were walking along one.

  "What kind of road is this?" I asked.

  "Driveway. There was a sign for Meadowlark View up there."

  "Must be a long driveway." I muttered because we had left the road behind us on the other side of the field.

  "Most be rich." Drew added and walked ahead of me.

  I followed Drew and we walked up the sloped driveway and onto the gravel parking lot. In front, there was an expensive-looking cabin, the kind you see in the movies and usually the rich kids live in them. There with a large wooden leopard statue next to the front door, and large empty flowerpots. The windows all looked intact but the place looked deserted. If there were survivors living inside then the windows would be boarded up. Drew craned his neck and looked up at the first-floor windows as he headed to the front door and I hurried after him as a gust of wind made the trees creak behind me. The wooden porchway was filled with leaves and empty packets of food that had blown inside and got trapped.

  "Looks empty." I whispered.

  "It sure does." Drew said, stepping closer and trailing his hands down my leg, all the way down to my boot.

  "Was that really necessary?" I said after he had finished groping me and found his pocket knife inside my boot. He could have just asked.

  "It's dark, I was making sure it wasn't a wooden post."

  "I'm sure you can tell the difference between my leg and a wooden post." I muttered as he jiggled the pocket knife in the lock and the door swung open a second later.

  "You're welcome." he said, handing the pocket knife back to me over his shoulder as he walked inside, holding his crossbow up.

  I quickly found my lighter and luckily there was a large chunky candle on the display table just inside the front door that I lit and picked up. We moved through the house quietly, but it was empty and no one had been here before us. The place was immaculate and untouched, just dusty. Everything looked super expensive, including the piano in the corner of the foyer room, and there was floor to ceiling windows overlooking a barbecue area and a small swimming pool that had a slime topping with lots of leaves and what looked like a dead cat floating in it.

  "Get away from the windows with the candle." Drew warned and he quickly shut the blinds and pulled the gold curtains closed. We wandered around the rest of the house, two living rooms with plasma TVs and games consoles, a small library, a laundry room, a dining room with a twelve-seater glass table, a kitchen with all the appliances, a marble fireplace and an immaculate living room with a large shaggy rug, and when we found the pantry full of non-perishables it was like we had hit the jackpot.

  "I must be dreaming." I said, walking inside, placing my candle on the side and rifling through the shelves. Drew did the same, searching the shelves and ripping open a packet of Cheetos.

  "Chocolate! I love these people! How has this place not been raided before now?" I tore open the wrapper and took a massive bite and probably looked very unladylike.

  "Drew, they have Pop-Tarts!" I squealed.

  "Obviously nobody knows it's here." he said with his mouth full of Cheetos.

  I stopped grabbing stuff and froze. "You don't think someone still lives here, do you?"

  "No. The windows aren't even barricaded."

  At the same time, we both heard the ceiling floorboards creak and I blew out the candle.

  "What was that?" I whispered in the dark.

  "Stay here." Drew said in a low tone and pushed the packet of Cheetos into my hands and then he pulled the door shut, leaving me in the pantry.

  I shoved another piece of chocolate into my mouth and put my ear up against the door. What else was I going to do? He did tell me to stay here after all.

  I waited and waited, and sometime later I heard footsteps coming down the wooden stairs. The door flew open and Drew stepped inside, catching me in the middle of stuffing chocolate into my bag.

  "Really?" he said, trying not to laugh.

  "Don't judge me. You know my chocolate addiction is real. And I'm hungry. So did you find anything?"

  "Nope, just the floorboards creaking, and I think there's a possum in the roof but that's about it, it's ours for the night."

  "Awesome. What are the beds like?" I asked, dragging my bag out of the pantry.

  "Huge."

  "Perfect."

  "Look what I found." Drew picked up a crate off the floor.

  "Where'd you find that?" I asked, looking at all the beer bottles.

  "There's another room down there that we missed, it's full of wine and all sorts in there. Do you want one?"

  "Uh, ok." I picked out a bottle, found my candle, and lugged my bag upstairs and into the first bedroom I found. The bed was a super-king with white sheets and a fluffy throw. I dumped my stuff on the floor and put the candle on the bedside table and walked over to the large windows and quickly shut the blinds and closed the drapes. Drew followed me in and dropped the crate on the floor with a loud clank.

  "Drew!" I scolded and walked into the adjoining bathroom and found more candles which I lit and scattered around the room seeing as it looked like we were going to be
staying in here for the night. I opened my beer and went back into the bathroom to test the water but the pipes were dry.

  I sipped my beer and walked back into the bedroom and found Drew with his dirty boots on the bed.

  "You're putting dirt all over the sheets." I said.

  "So? Here, look what I found under the bed." Drew held up a Playboy magazine.

  "Ugh. Go and find another room if you want to look at that."

  "Nah, I'm good." Drew tossed the magazine into the corner of the room.

  "You know this is my room, I called dibs. So find you're own." I said.

  "We shared a bed in the last cabin, remember?" he said, trying to make me uncomfortable.

  "That's because it was the only one. There's probably another three in this place. Go and find your own."

  "But I don't want you to wake up and get scared." he teased.

  "I won't."

  He placed an arm behind his head and leaned against the leather headboard, watching me, his green hair falling into his eyes.

  "You need a haircut." I said, taking off my boots.

  "Well, my hairdresser isn't here." he replied, meaning Lena.

  "Are we safe here?" I asked, looking at the curtains.

  "Pretty, no one has been here in years, look at this dust." Drew ran his finger along the nightstand.

  "I know, but what about deadbies?"

  "They won't know we're here. Just try and relax for the night, yeah? And I'll be right here." He patted the bed to say he was spending the night in here.

  "Fine." There was no point in arguing with him, he would stay in here no matter what I said, and to be honest I would feel safer if he was next to me.

  "So what do they keep in here?" I asked with a smile, walking over to the mirrored doors. I sipped on my beer and tried to work out how the doors opened.

  "I can't get the d-"

  Drew was already standing next to me and pushing on the door and it slid to the right.

  "Ah, sliding doors. Oh, clothes!" I said and started pulling things out. They were ladies clothes, all floral dresses and summer tops, and smart pants. The tops weren't too bad, I could use a few of them. Drew slid open another door and pulled out a hanger and held the garment against his body and I burst out laughing.

  It was some kind of sexy lingerie, possibly something you would wear to bed, soft and silky fabric in dark green with black lace.

  "It's not my size." He smirked and chucked it to me and I looked at it.

  "It's not very practical either." I said and tossed it back into the closet.

  "You should try it on." he threw over his shoulder.

  "Yeah right." I muttered, my face turning bright red.

  He popped open another beer and walked across the room, opening and closing drawers and I tried to ignore him.

  "Hey, Alex,"

  "Hmm."

  I looked to see what he wanted and saw him holding up a pair of lacy knickers.

  "Panties." I said excitedly and hurried over to look in the drawer.

  Drew moved along and found a dresser full of mens clothes and had picked out a few t-shirts and laid them on the bed and now he was looking through the boxers and socks. Drew started laughing.

  "Here, catch!" Drew said and threw something into my hands.

  "Eww. Drew!" I cried when I realized what it was.

  I dropped the vibrator and it vibrated loudly across the wood flooring. I had to grab the thing to turn it off and then I threw it back in the drawer. Drew was still in hysterics.

  "I hate you." I scowled playfully.

  "No you don't." he said, brushing past me and flopping onto the bed, then he leaned up on his elbow and went through the nightstand drawer.

  I carried the things I wanted over to the bed and dropped them on top of Drew.

  "Pretty!" Drew cooed as he closed the drawer.

  "What-No!" I said automatically as he chucked something else at me and I refused to catch it this time and let it fall to the floor by my feet. I looked down at the box of condoms and then back at Drew and found him wiggling his eyebrows at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and kicked the box of condoms under the bed and stubbed my toes on something.

  "Oww! Mother-"

  "What's down there?" Drew leaned over the side of the bed and stuck his head underneath.

  I moved out of the way so he could pull the trunk out. I walked around the bed and sat down to rub my toes. He popped the lid open and started laughing again.

  "What is it?" I asked curiously.

  He pulled out a racing crop used for spanking and a black PVC face mask.

  "Ohgawd! Put it back! Who are these people?" I laughed but he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and raised an eyebrow at me.

  "Don't even think about it." I told him.

  I finished my beer and heard the trunk lid shut and he slid it back under the bed, and a second later something tickled my ear and I turned around and he tickled my face with some kind of feather tickler. I snatched it away and threw it on the bed.

  "This must be a second home. All this woman owns is sexy lingerie and too many summer dresses, and a box of toys."

  "Nothing wrong with sexy underwear, Pretty."

  "Shut up. Don't be weird."

  He sat on the other side of the bed and threw a pair of panties I had picked up at my face and I caught them.

  "You're weird." he teased, trying to reach over to tickle me.

  "Ah, no, Drew!" I tried not to squeal as he grabbed me and dragged me onto the bed and disabled me in seconds as he tickled me. I tried to squirm away from him but he quickly pinned my hands above my head as he straddled me. Drew plus alcohol equals playful Drew.

  We stared at each other for a second, breathing hard, and it got weird, and the way he was looking at me I knew he was going to kiss me and I didn't know if I could trust myself to not kiss him back this time. Being alone made it harder, there was no one here to interrupt us tonight. I broke eye contact and managed to knee him (gently) in his private parts and he let go of me and I pushed him off of me and he rolled onto the bed, holding his crotch.

  "Don't tickle me. I will kill you." I warned.

  "Lesson learned." he grunted a laugh.

  I picked up a candle and walked to the door and leaned back in to look at him.

  "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

  "To raid the pantry some more. You coming?"

  "Only if you kiss it better." he said, looking down at his crotch.

  "See ya!" I walked off and I heard him jump off the bed and chase after me, and he skidded on the floor next to me with his crossbow in his hand.

  We headed down to the pantry and I looked around for something to put my supplies in.

  Drew picked up a bucket and looked at me with a grin on his face.

  "What?" I said.

  "Maybe you could use this one to piss in." he teased.

  "Shut up. Don't be a jerk. I couldn't help it that I needed to pee, just because you have a steel bladder." I said, snatching the bucket to use for my snacks and remembering the time we had spent in a cleaning closet together.

  "So if we don't find the others can we forget the whole D.C. thing and go home?" Drew said randomly.

  "We will find the others."

  Drew didn't say anything and disappeared out the room and a few minutes later he came back with a bottle of something.

  "Champagne?" he said in a funny voice.

  "I don't know if I like it. I've never had it before."

  "You've never had champagne before? Not even at a wedding?"

  "The last time I went to a wedding I was eleven. You're like really old compared to me." I teased. "How old are you? You still haven't told me."

  "I told you I was thirty."

  "Yeah, was thirty, how long ago was that." I smiled.

  "Don't disrespect your elders, little lady." He spanked my ass as I walked out. He was in such a good mood right now.

  "Wait, do you think it would be wasteful if I us
ed some of the water bottles in here to clean up with?" I said, eyeing the many water bottles on the floor.

  "We can't carry all that water and how many people are going to find this place? Just use what you want, I don't think you'll get through all that in one night anyhow."

  "I'll make sure to leave enough for any other survivors."

  "Does that go for the chocolate bars as well?" he asked, watching me as I snuck another two into the bucket.

  "Shh." I smiled and Drew grabbed two of the large water containers and followed me out of the room where I grabbed two glasses and we hurried upstairs.

  Back in the bedroom, I ducked into the bathroom to clean up and filled the sink with bottled water. It was cold but at least it was clean. I washed my face being extra careful of my dressing. Then I washed my hair. I had only just washed it the other day but now it reeked of bonfire smoke. I washed and conditioned my hair using the expensive products and then wrapped my hair in a fluffy towel and refilled the sink with bubbles. It was a little awkward trying to wash over a sink and I flooded the floor but it's not like anyone was going to tell me off. This place had everything to make me feel amazing, I found creams and lotions under the sink and a new razor and shaving cream. There were even new toothbrushes still in the packets. Drew knocked on the door twice to see what was taking so long. I shaved my legs and moisturized my whole body, brushed my teeth, and then spritzed on some perfume. I slipped on some clean lacy underwear and a baggy red t-shirt I had taken from the drawer to wear to bed. I opened the bathroom door and Drew stopped sipping his beer and stared at me. I pulled on the bottom of the t-shirt and hurried over to the bed to grab the furry blanket and threw it around my shoulders.

  "You took hours." Drew said, still staring at me.

  "I wanted to wash my hair. It takes time." I said, blotting my leg where I had caught it shaving and Drew smirked at me.

  "What?" I said.

  "Nothing."

  I noticed Drew had brought some magazines up from downstairs, crossword puzzles and word searches, and he was currently filling in a dot-to-dot that was for children.