by Nord, K. C.
Norah dropped her fork and looked at Celeste in distress, "did I do it again?"
Celeste reached out and squeezed her hand in sympathy before turning to Grandma, "Norah sometimes has premonitions. It's not something that she can control, but she's almost always right. Do you have any way to contact Riley?"
"I should be able to get her on the shortwave tomorrow morning. But tell me more about these premonitions; I've never met anyone with that talent before."
"This is a fairly new development for Norah, and she's not yet comfortable talking about it," Celeste explained.
"Oh, of course, please excuse my nosiness," Grandma said with a sympathetic look at Norah, who was starting to look more miserable by the minute.
"that's ok," Norah said with a half-hearted smile and scrunched down in her seat a little. And it was apparent that she wished herself any place else but here.
Just then, the awkward moment was broken by laughs all around the table when Moose let out a mournful little whine from his spot under the table.
I noticed with some interest that Norah's eyes now appeared to be blue again, but before I could comment on it, Moose let out another long and, if possible, even more, pitiful moan.
"I think that somebody needs to go for a walk," Celeste laughed.
NORAH AND I WALKED Moose around the backyard and played fetch with him until he finally collapsed on the ground at my feet with a happy little grunt and started chewing on a stick. I poked him with my foot, but he completely ignored me, concentrating all of his attention on the stick.
I sat down on an old stone bench by a fish pond in the rose garden and took a deep breath of the rose-scented air. " Everything is just so beautiful here," I remarked to Norah, who was sitting on the ground and petting Moose.
"It is beautiful, but before long, it will be hotter than hell, and that's not even mentioning the mosquitoes and snakes," she replied.
"I guess everything has a downside."
"That it does, but even with the mosquitoes and snakes, there's still no place else I'd rather live," Norah replied.
"Have you ever lived anywhere else?" I asked curiously.
"No, I was born here," she replied with a laugh before changing the subject. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure, I guess," I replied cautiously because, in my experience, any time that someone asked me that it usually ended up being something that I'd rather not answer.
"What's it like being the daughter of Riley Black?"
"I would imagine that it's pretty much like being anyone's daughter."
"Your mom is a legend around here," she explained, noticing my puzzled look. " She's the greatest zombie fighter that ever lived. Almost every little girl I've ever known wants to be just like her when they grow up."
I looked at her in surprise, " I had no idea that she was so famous. Oh, I know about the zombie fighting, but that's something that she's always done." I walked over to the fish pond and stared absently at the koi swimming around. "Mom was gone a lot when Lucas I was young, and in many ways, she was more like a bossy older sister than a mom. Grandma was the one who took the most care of us."
"Wow, I had no idea. That must have been hard," Norah replied.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I think that Lucas and I had a pretty good childhood, but yeah, sometimes it's hard. Mom is always so good at everything that she does, and I feel like I can't always live to her expectations."
"What about your dad?"
"Dad, he's almost as busy as Mom. But he's a great dad and always tries to do fun stuff with us when he's home, like playing board games and baseball. And sometimes mom will play with us as well."
"That sounds nice," Norah said with a smile. " I never knew my dad, and my mom died when I was very -" suddenly she turned to stare out into the dark band of trees in the corner of the yard.
"What is it? Do you see anything?" I asked in concern.
"No," she said with a frown. " I just have that creepy feeling that you get when someone is watching you."
"Are you sure? Moose doesn't seem to notice anything."
"Yes, let's just go," she said with an agitated look before crossing over to the kitchen door.
I cast one look behind me as I followed her inside and froze for an instant. There, in the corner of the yard, and deeper in the shadows of the trees, it looked as if someone was standing there; Watching me, I blinked, and it was gone, leaving me to wonder if I had imagined the whole thing. Because nothing, human or animal, could move that fast, it just wasn't possible.
I called Moose, and he followed me inside, bringing the stick with him; he seemed to be completely unconcerned. But, he was still a puppy, so you really couldn't count on him like you would with a fully-trained adult dog.
WHEN I AWOKE THE NEXT morning, Grandma and Celeste were both down in the kitchen; I knew immediately from the tension in the air that something must have happened.
"Is Mom ok?" I questioned nervously.
"I wasn't able to get a hold of her on the short-range, but I'm sure everything is fine. She's probably just busy," Grandma replied.
I gave her a look of disbelief, " stop trying to protect me; I'm not a child anymore, and we both know that she wouldn't miss your call for no reason."
Grandma sighed, "you're right. Riley is always telling me that I need to let you grow up."
I poured a cup of coffee and sat down at the table across from her, "So what's the plan?"
"Well," Grandma took a breath. " I'm a little torn as to what to do; But, probably the best thing to do would be for me to go to Atlanta to check on your mom. While you and Lucas stay here so that he can take the cure."
I nodded and took a sip of my coffee, "I think that's the best way to handle it."
Grandma smiled, "have I told you lately just how proud I am of you?"
"It's been at least a couple of days," I replied teasingly.
Grandma reached out and tousled my hair before sitting her empty coffee cup in the sink. "It looks like you have things under control here, so I would like to be on the road within the hour." She started to leave the room but paused at the door, " Oh, I almost forgot about Trevor and Stephanie -"
" Don't worry about it; I can take the cure up to them," I soothed.
" And I'll go with her; we can take my jeep." Norah, who had just walked into the kitchen, added with a reassuring smile at my grandma, who still looked slightly nervous about leaving Lucas and me.
"Ok, then. I should probably go get everything ready, Grandma replied.
"Are you going to drink that?" Norah asked, indicating my rapidly cooling cup of coffee after Grandma had left the room.
"Nope," I said and wrinkled my nose in disgust before pouring the coffee down the drain. "I was just trying to look more grownup."
"Well, it certainly worked, I thought that you looked to be at least 20 with that cup of coffee in your hand." Norah laughed and handed me a cup of hot chocolate. "You might like this better."
"You have chocolate!" I exclaimed and took a small sip of the rich, delicious beverage, almost closing my eyes in joy when the dark chocolate hit my taste buds. "Coffee isn't bad if you load it up with cream and sugar. But there's nothing like a delicious cup of hot chocolate."
"That's one of the perks of living here in New Orleans," Celeste replied as she sat a tray of beignets on the table. "One of my friends has family in Mexico who grow cacao, and they run a route up here every six months."
"I could get used to this," I replied and helped myself to one of the warm, delicious pastries on the table, before going upstairs to help Grandma finish getting ready for her trip to Atlanta.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next morning, we were on our way bright and early with Moose sitting happily in the backseat with his mouth open and head hanging out the window. He loved riding, but he loved all of the scents and the occasional bug that he could catch in the wind even more.
"So just how are we supposed to administer this cure to Stephanie in
the first place," I asked Norah, who looked back to wave at Celeste as we pulled out of the driveway.
"Well, since zombies don't drink water or usually even eat unless they are trying to kill a human. We're going to have to inject it into her."
"What," I burst out in shock. "How in the hell are we going to do that?"
"It won't be easy," Norah replied. "But we do have a plan."
"Ok, what is it?" I asked dubiously.
"We're going to throw a mesh net over her, and then while you and Travis hold her down, I'll inject her with the cure. This has to be done once a day for three days, so we're going to be there for a while."
"That still sounds dangerous, even with the mesh net." I protested.
"Anything involving zombies is always dangerous, but we'll also be wearing protective gear, so everything should be fine," Norah said soothingly. "Besides, I've already done it a couple of times before with no problems at all."
"So, you've done this before?" I questioned dubiously.
"Yes, a couple of times. And it was even done to me a few months ago."
Shocked, I stared at her in silence for a few moments, " wait, you were a zombie?"
"No, not exactly. I was infected, but Celeste administered the cure right at the moment of death. And as far as I know, I never actually turned," Norah replied quietly.
From the look on her face, I could tell that talking about it was bothering her, but I still had to ask. "Do you remember anything that happened after you were infected? What was it like?" Her gaze was haunted, and I instantly felt ashamed and wished that I could take the questions back.
"It was horrible," she said hollowly. "I wish more than anything that I could just forget it, but I can't."
"Oh no," I breathed in remorse. "I'm so sorry for being so nosy."
She attempted a half-hearted smile and took a deep breath, "It's ok; you didn't know."
"There will be no more awkward questions from this point on."
Norah managed a more sincere smile, "when I'm ready to talk, you'll be the first to know."
This helped me to feel a little better, but I still felt terrible about questioning her like that. Norah always seemed so calm and self-possessed that I'd never dreamed she was hiding such a deep dark secret.
WE ARRIVED AT TREVOR'S place early that afternoon when I received my first clue that something was wrong. As soon as we drove up, a very nervous looking Trevor immediately rushed out and started hurrying us indoors without wasting any time on introductions.
"Hey, hold on a minute, I need to walk Moose before we go inside," I protested, digging in my heels and refusing to budge.
Trevor grimaced, looking around nervously, "ok, but make it fast before they come back."
"What are you talking about?"
Trevor took a deep breath and agitatedly brushed back his hair, " It's the townspeople, they found out about Stephanie, and now they want to kill her."
"Things like that are hard to keep secret," Norah commented.
"It's all my fault," he agonized. "If I hadn't been talking about it on the radio, nobody would even know about it."
"Let's just go inside and figure out what to do about it," I replied as Moose finished up with his potty break and started chewing on a stick that he'd found on the ground.
Once inside, I took a seat and waited as Trevor locked and then bolted the door before questioning him on what had happened.
"Well, I didn't think that anyone even listened to me on the radio, but someone must have because a couple of people from the town showed up today and demanded to see Stephanie."
"Two people shouldn't be all that hard to handle," Norah said soothingly to Trevor, who was looking more upset by the minute.
"That's just it; when I refused to let them see her, they said that they would be back with reinforcements."
"Most likely, they won't show up until dark, so we should probably get on with Stephanie's first treatment," I stated.
Norah looked at me, quizzically, "what makes you think that they'll wait until dark?"
I shrugged, "in all of the books that I've ever read, the mob always shows up after dark with lighted pitchforks." I frowned for a minute, "how would you even go about lighting a pitchfork?"
Norah rolled her eyes, " I think that it's torches and pitchforks."
"Oh, that makes a lot more sense," I replied.
When Norah explained the procedure to Trevor, he wasn't thrilled with how it had to go down but was eventually mollified when she said that Stephanie shouldn't be able to remember anything afterward. And despite my earlier fears, things went fairly smoothly when we administered the cure to Stephanie; I'm not saying it was easy, though, because zombies are pretty strong, and it took all of our strength to hold her down while Norah gave her the shot in the back of the neck. Stephanie, who wasn't at all happy with her treatment, protested loudly with snarls and growls.
We left Stephanie alone with her thoughts or whatever it is that zombies do, and I got the idea that she was sulking as she just stood there and stared at us with what looked like silent condemnation as we left the room.
"Well, now that's over, why don't you start doing some damage control," I suggested to Trevor.
"What do you mean?"
"I think that you should get back on the radio and say that your story of Stephanie turning into a zombie was just a stupid joke."
Try to make it as believable as possible just in case they are listening to your show," Norah added.
"Right," I added. "The main thing is that you need to go on with your life as usual and act as if nothing has changed."
"All right," he agreed. "I'll get on it right away."
"I sure hope this works," Norah said to me as we listened to Trevor in the broadcast room. And I have to admit that it did sound believable as he talked about making up a story about his girlfriend turning into a zombie as a joke. But unfortunately, she was really annoyed by the joke, so he came on to set things straight.
"Me too, but, if it doesn't, I do have one more idea," I replied as we listened to the end of the show.
"So you see guys, it was just a silly joke, and I'd appreciate it if nobody mentions it around Stephanie because, well, she's still a little mad about the whole thing. Thanks again, and that's all for tonight."
APPARENTLY, THE LOCALS either didn't believe or listen to Trevor's show because we were awoken early the next morning before the sun was even up to the sound of loud banging on the front door. Moose jumped up from his spot at my feet and started barking loudly. I took a peek out of one of the barred windows and saw that there were five armed townspeople on the front step.
"It looks like the horde is here," I announced to Norah and a half-asleep Trevor who'd just stumbled from his bedroom.
"W-w- what do I do?" He stammered in panic.
"Talk to them through the door, but don't open it because they might try to storm the building."
Trevor opened the small window that was eye level on the door and peered through, "what do you want? He called to the men outside.
"Nobody has to get hurt," the one in front replied. "Just let us have the zombie, and we'll be on our way."
Trevor nervously cleared his throat, "there's no zombie here; it was all just a joke."
"Well then, let us inside, and we can see for ourselves," the man said firmly.
Trevor closed the window and stepped back from the door, "what d-d-do we do now?" he whispered.
"Give me a minute to think," I whispered back, feeling a headache coming on as they again started pounding on the door, and Moose started frantically barking and growling.
"Do any of these people know Stephanie?" I whispered to Trevor.
"No, she's from Texas and hasn't met many of the people around here."
"I have an idea," I whispered. "From a distance, Norah and Stephanie look quite a bit alike. They both have the same long dark hair and are around the same height, so maybe Norah could fool them into thinking that she's Step
hanie."
"I think it might work," he whispered and reached for the door.
"Wait," I said and put my hand over the door handle. "First, make them move back into the driveway. If something goes wrong, we'll have time to get the door closed."
I looked back at Norah, who was hastily brushing back her sleep-mussed hair and straightening her rumpled t-shirt and shorts, "are you ready?"
"I'm about as ready as I'll ever be," she replied with a grumpy look as we heard Trevor ordering the men outside to move back before we opened the door.
"I'll cover you," I said and took up a position just behind Trevor and Norah, where I had a good view of everything but wouldn't be in the way if we had to beat a hasty retreat. I ordered Moose to my side where surprisingly enough, he stood on silent guard. You never knew for sure what you were going to get with Moose, but times like this did give me hope for him.
Norah and Trevor walked hand-in-hand out on the porch where she glared at the men in the driveway, "what in the hell is wrong with people? Do you know what time it is?" she scolded.
"Stephanie?" one of the men questioned.
"Yes, I'm Stephanie." she snapped. "As you can see, we're all perfectly fine here."
"I'll be the judge of that," the tall man in front who was the spokesman of the group took a step forward.
I raised my shotgun, and Moose gave a low growl looking fierce with his hackles raised in reaction to the threat.
"How dare you," Norah spat. "I want all of you people off my property this instant. You have no right to be here, and I would be well within my rights to shoot your ass full of buckshot."
The men in back lowered their weapons, and a couple started snickering as all of them broke out in grins that they were unable to disguise.
One of them coughed a couple of times in an effort to compose himself before speaking, "I'm sorry to bother you, Ma'am, please accept our apologies, and it won't happen again."
Norah simply nodded her head at him, and we waited quietly on the porch until they had all left.