Camille and Lucia were out doing a perimeter check. Anna and Michelle had become much more comfortable allowing them to do it because they’d proven themselves to be quick thinkers and quite good at killing zombies. They would rather keep them safely inside the house at all times but knew that was unreasonable and unrealistic.
Joey and Damon came through the front door, interrupting everyone’s thoughts. “Look what we found,” Damon said excitedly as he started pulling packages of meat out of the bags.
“Wow, you did good, kiddo,” Anna said.
“Let me have it so I can season it up, and then you can take it to the guys out back so they can throw it on the grill,” Michelle said. Any excuse to do anything in the kitchen made her happy and distracted her mind from other thoughts.
As she was getting the meat ready, Camille and Lucia came in from their perimeter check. “Everything looks good,” Lucia said.
“It smells amazing out there,” Camille added. “The whole time we were walking around, all we could think about was the smell coming from the grill.”
“It made me hungry again,” Lucia said with a laugh. She noticed the meat Michelle was seasoning and piling onto a tray, and her eyes got big. “Oh, that looks so good! I didn’t think we were going to have any more real food.” Her smile shone brightly.
“We’ll go ahead and take it outside,” Camille said as Michelle finished up. The girls both took the trays out back so Max and the guys could cook it and then came back inside to hang out with everyone else.
Out back, Max, Frank, and Junior were having fun standing around the grill talking and having a few beers. It felt like a typical night.
“Maybe tomorrow morning we can start bringing all of the water inside,” Junior started.
“Let’s not worry about it right now. This is the first good night we’ve had since this whole thing started,” Max said. “Let’s just take it easy and enjoy tonight, and tomorrow we can worry about everything else.” The night air smelled of great food, and the smoke rose in the dark sky. For the first time since the world went to hell, they were able to enjoy the moment without fear of what tomorrow might bring.
Epilogue
“I said they’re having a fucking party!” A man’s voice came over the radio.
There was silence on the other end, and then a gravelly voice replied, “How many of them did you say there were again?”
“The boys counted seven of them out picking up supplies, and I saw four kids back at the house,” the man continued. “There were three pickup trucks filled up.”
“They did two different supply runs, and both times they filled up the trucks,” A third voice said over the radio. “They probably have enough supplies to hole up in there for quite a while.”
“They’re grilling out back like it’s a damned cookout. The fucking smell is making me hungry, damn it!” The first man was becoming agitated.
“Calm your ass down, Brad,” The gravelly voice said. “Eleven of them can’t handle the crew, especially if they ain’t expecting us,” the voice chuckled. “Let ‘em eat and enjoy the moment. It won’t last long. We’ll be there soon.”
Author's Note
Thank you for reading! If you have a moment, please leave a review on Amazon. Reviews help us indie authors more than you may realize. Each and every review helps to generate more exposure for the Chronicles of the Undead Series, creating more opportunities for other readers to discover and read the books.
Look for Chronicles of the Undead Book 3 this winter!
About The Author
Jaime Hernandez
Jaime Hernandez is a lover of all things horror, animals, zoos, tattoos, reading and writing. Born and raised in Ohio, she met her Texan husband online in a FB group, married him, and moved to Dallas. She has two amazing daughters and four crazy dogs. She's a proud stay-at-home mom and author. In her past life she was the owner of a pet sitting business, but her true passion has always been writing. She's a huge fan of the zombie apocalypse genre in both books and on the big screen.
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Books By This Author
Chronicles of the Undead Book 1: Urban Gridlock
Chronicles of the Undead Book 2: Suburban Jungle
The Zombie Road Fan Fiction Collection (Anthology)
SUBURBAN JUNGLE: A Post Apocalyptic Zombie Survival Thriller (Chronicles of the Undead: Book 2) Page 26