by Elle Klass
“I think you both like each other as more than friends.”
How perceptive! Was it that obvious? “I guess,” I answered, pushing myself off the floor. I didn’t feel like talking.
“My phone is officially dead,” said Sarah with a sigh.
I chuckled. “When we get to the boat you can charge it, but remember to turn off the GPS,” I warned in a voice mocking my father.
My mother narrowed her eyes at me then rolled them as she chose not to scold me.
“Right,” Sarah answered, resting her head on my shoulder as we sat together on my mat. Cat walked between us, purring like a motor boat, sticking his butt in the air as we pet him. He walked back and forth, rolling his head on our hands.
The rumble of the van told me Dad returned. I stood and marched to the back window, hoping, wishing that Bryce would be with him, but he walked out of the shed alone.
I opened the door for him. “Is the carrier gone?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, agreeing with his word. “Are you packed?”
“Yup.” I pointed to our cart. Between nine people we’d pretty much wiped out the supplies from Spain and what was in the cabin.
Within the hour we’d loaded the van in preparation to leave, walking carefully around the zombie body part trail. The skin and muscles started falling away from their bones. My eyes went directly to the grotesque sight. I’d never seen anything like it. Taking a small branch, I jabbed it into the female’s chest which split and fell to the sides around the puncture. The man’s body was mushier when I pressed the end of the branch into it.
The lion hadn’t returned since the day he scared me and Bryce. I hadn’t seen any animals; like they were hiding. The zombies gone, I expected them to return but they hadn’t. Was it the smell? Were their rotten bodies somehow affecting the environment? My thoughts brought me full circle to the few animal sightings we’d had and the idea that they were trying to warn or protect us.
I took one last look at my home for the past several days, when a vehicle crunching the dirt road made my heart stop cold in my chest, my breath caught in my throat and I stumbled backwards.
My dad’s voice interrupted my thoughts, “Hurry, Maddie!”
I blinked, then rushed toward him, taking one last glance around, I realized I’d zoned out. The house was empty and my dad held the lid of the bench up, everybody was already downstairs in the basement. As he closed the lid I heard a car door close outside.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Except for the light from a single flashlight, the downstairs was dark. The floor was concrete and the walls were unfinished. Squinting my eyes in the darkness, I spotted a bed in the corner and a large cabinet along with a long wooden table and a couple wood chairs. They looked homemade. Large jugs were stacked at the end of the wall.
Dust and something else mingled in the air, giving it an odor of something old like walking into a house that had been vacant for years. It was the perfect place for a monster or zombie to jump out of a shadowy corner like in a horror movie. Sarah grabbed my arm and planted herself next to me. My body shuddered as I grabbed onto her arm and we held tight to one another, our bodies so close I felt her heart beating against me.
We clung to each other as footsteps pounded the wooden floor above our heads. My parents stood only a few feet away, not far from the ladder that brought us down to the musty blackness. More footsteps pounded the floor of varying weights based on the hardness of their footsteps. One set was heavy, another much lighter, another one was panicky and ran around. A weightier step moved closer to the bench.
I wanted to sink into the darkness of the room. My dad cut the flashlight off and stepped backwards. He and my mom backed against the wall and slid closer to me. The chest lid opened and light streamed down into the room, surrounding the ladder and splashing sunbeams across the floor.
“Maddie,” called a deep male voice – Bryce.
Sarah and I jumped into the air and rushed toward the ladder. I tripped over my father’s feet and fell into the light beams beneath the ladder, the concrete floor rough against my palms and I knew I’d have fresh cuts and scrapes.
“Ouch!” grumbled my father.
“Are you Ok?” asked Sarah as she lowered herself, resting her knees on the floor.
“Sorry Dad. I’m alright,” I replied as the ladder rattled and the view of Bryce’s jeaned butt was above my head. Not a bad view, I thought.
Bryce stepped onto the concrete and knelt down, taking my hand. Jack’s face appeared at the opening. “Was a no go. Ship already set sail.”
Bryce and I stepped aside as everyone went back upstairs. He held my hands as we waited and whispered in my ear. “I’m glad it was gone. I didn’t want to leave; to leave you.”
His warm breath against my face sent tingles coursing over my body and his hands strong and firm around mine. I was glad too; I didn’t want him to leave. We had a connection that was beyond human explanation.
By the time we got upstairs, my dad and Jack were deep in conversation while Melissa was happy to see Cat and he purred as she picked him up. His feet dangled beneath her lower arm but it didn’t bother him, instead he rubbed his head against her chest. We had an otherworldly connection to him as well, something I couldn’t explain. It was like the three of us had to stay together.
“When we got to the dock the boat was already several miles off shore so we jacked a car and came back,” said Bryce, shoving his hands in his front pockets.
Jack jumped in, “It’s heading straight west, probably to Norfolk, Virginia.”
My dad cupped his chin in thought. We stood silent as each of us considered his words, then Bryce spoke, “I think maybe we should follow it, see where it’s going and what they’re doing with those people.”
“I need a lab,” said Heather, her voice straight and serious. “Whatever caused the disease, we don’t want it to come back or evolve into something worse. I don’t want to turn into a flesh-eater.”
What was worse than most of the human population of the world becoming flesh-eating deaders? Stupid question, the entire population would be worse.
Out of the blue, Katrina mumbled something then her eyes widened into starships. “Wetland Environment and Conservation,” she said it again, then added, “WEAC. We need to get back to the states.”
Bryce’s face lit up, “The company dad’s company contracted with. Mom, do you think they have something to do with this?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. He was overseeing an environmental testing that involved mosquitoes. Something must have gone wrong, why else would he choose it as his last words? We need to find out.”
The room was again silent, then my mother, who rested on a homemade wooden chair, stood. “We need to do both. Split up. Jack can follow the carrier and take a couple of us with him. Katrina,” her gaze shifted to Bryce’s mom, “you, me, Melissa, Bill, and Heather will go back to the states and figure this out.”
She didn’t mention me going with her. Does that mean I have permission to go with Jack, or choose? Was she beginning to see me as more than her little girl in this dangerous new world? “What about me and Sarah and Bryce?”
She smiled, filled with warmth contradicted by her lowered brows. “You are all nearing adulthood and I think should decide for yourselves.”
Katrina’s and my father’s eyes narrowed as they stared at her in anger and surprise. “Honey, they’re still children,” my father stated. Katrina nodded her head in agreement.
“Yes, and they have proved they can survive in this world. They are only children in biological age and Bryce is almost eighteen. Mentally, they are adults and have acted like adults.” She gave him the don’t-argue-with-me stare.
Sarah’s eyes blazed at me then shifted to Bryce. Our eyes met and spoke silently. “I’m going to the States. I want to know what caused this thing and I hold part of the answer inside me.”
Sarah spoke next as she took a couple steps forward, “I’m going
to the states too, with Maddie. I was bitten yet never got sick. I want to know why and help.”
My parents’ eyes filled with love and beamed pride with our adult decisions.
Bryce’s gaze bore into mine and I knew his decision even before he spoke it. “I’m going with Jack. I’ll be more help to him.”
Katrina closed her eyes and sniffled. A single tear dripped over her cheek bone and rolled down her face. She only nodded. Her boy was nearly a man. I’d miss him too and wish for his safe return, but I respected his decision and so did Katrina. She walked up to her son, wrapped her arms around him and whispered something in his ear.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We reached the dock after making a pit stop for supplies. We’d pretty much wiped out the supplies and food we picked up in Spain and what was left in the cabin. When we reached the boat, it looked even larger during the day. Bennet didn’t greet us, not right away. I set my bags of groceries on the table when he entered the room.
His choice of clothing was better, at least his blue polo matched his gray sweatpants, but the sliders still looked out of place, at least on him with his oddball shaped toes. He half-smiled and shifted nervously when I introduced him to everyone. He was a strange bird. I left everyone to get acquainted.
Jack climbed onto a sailboat, larger than Earnest Earl. It was also newer and more stream-lined, like it was built for speed. I watched from the dock as the two of them searched the boat.
Katrina and Melissa joined me after several minutes. Bryce and Jack exited the boat’s cabin. Jack stayed onboard but Bryce joined us on the dock. “What do you think?”
“Nice,” I answered. Everything was nicer when you had your choice and didn’t need money. I thought of the trinkets I stole in Spain, from the zombies, that were still in my pocket.
Bryce picked up his chubby-cheeked, golden-haired sister. He twirled her above him and she giggled. The motor of Jack and Bryce’s stolen boat caught and purred.
A warm hand curled around mine. “Thank you, for everything. Saving us in Italy and knowing what to do when the zombies attacked us. You saved Melissa’s life.”
It was the right thing, the only thing to do. I wasn’t a heroine, just a fifteen-year-old girl surviving in a ruthless world that took no prisoners. My lips tugged upwards at the corners. “They’ll be alright, you know.” Her green eyes like shiny jade stones watched Bryce and Melissa.
She nodded. “And so will we. I’m glad you’re coming with us.”
I didn’t expect that from her, but squeezed her hand in response as confirmation. Melissa scurried back to her mom and waved at Bryce as they strolled toward the boat. My dad fired the engine that was even quieter than the other boat.
The ash clouds were finally clearing and the sun beamed on our heads as Bryce walked towards me. He took my hands in his. “I’m going to miss you, Zombie Girl.”
I gave him a sideways smile as my hands melted inside his like streusel glaze on cinnamon rolls. “I might miss you too.” I sighed.
“We’ll find each other.” He lifted a hand and brushed it against my chest, lifting the compass. The touch of his skin against mine lingered.
I smiled and used my empty hand to grab onto a belt loop of his jeans. It felt natural to stand there with him, our bodies so near each other. He took a step closer and brushed a stray hair behind my ear, his mouth dangerously close to mine. The heat from his breath rushed across my face as he lowered his head. His mouth parted and his soft lips touched mine, sending tingles through my body.
Electricity raced through me as his tongue entered my mouth. Instinctively, my tongue met his and they swirled together. The world around us disappeared and it was only us in what was my first actual kiss from a boy.
“Take care of them,” he whispered as he pulled away, our hands still clutched together until it was just our fingers and then the tips.
My hand dropped to my side. “I will.”
“Time to go, Maddie,” hollered my mom from the deck. She winked, her lips pulled upwards in a smile. I felt my face go flush. Did she see us? How long had she stood there?
I scurried towards the boat and climbed on. As our boat pulled out, I watched Bryce and Jack until they were a tiny dot on the horizon. We were heading to Jacksonville, Florida and they were heading to Norfolk, Virginia or where ever the USS America was going.
We snatched four sets of long-range walkie-talkies and Bryce jacked another compass and set of binoculars. Their boat a blip on the watery horizon, I strolled inside. Everyone was in the cabin, mingling, except my dad. He was driving the boat and probably fiddling with all the cool gadgets on the bridge. Bennet shifted uneasily and contorted his lips as he watched everyone, then his eyes enlarged into footballs staring at something behind me.
One by one, everyone stopped talking and turned, staring wide-eyed at something or someone behind me. I heard two sets of footsteps behind me and instinctively whipped my head around.
If you enjoyed Premonition and Infection then don’t miss Retribution -- Zombie Girl finale!
The Vampires Next Door
The Bloodseekers Book 1
St. Augustine Novellas
Prologue
St. Augustine, 1823
Cara shivered, the stone cold floor beneath her. Shrieks sliced through the air above her, echoing through the stone walls. A moldy stench, thick in the surrounding air, drifted up her nostrils. The temperature dropped several degrees as a breeze touched her head. She dared to open her eyes and stare into the darkness surrounding her, peeling one eye open and then the next.
“Cara,” sounded a soft voice, almost a whisper. A warm touch caressed her hand, a shadowy figure flashed before her eyes. “You need to leave.” The soothing voice didn’t elicit fear but warmth and love. Her eyes searched for whom it belonged to. A breeze brushed against her and the voice whispered in her ear. "You need to go. I can lead you.”
She tilted her head and gazed upon a transparent woman, no more than twenty. Her flaxen hair fell across her shoulders, circling her heart-shaped face. “Who are you?” Cara stammered.
“I’m Alda, once like you. They’ve been here for centuries, before the pirates, before the first settlement. The true first inhabitants of this continent.”
“Who are they?”
“They are Bloodseekers. Come now!” The urgency in her voice resounded inside Cara. She jumped to her feet and followed the apparition. Alda’s white bodice hugged her torso, the black hem grazing the stone floor.
Light from candles illuminated the darkness as they wound through a narrow passageway, as one candle lit ahead of them, the one behind went dark. The brightness of each light cast a glow on the shadow beside it, lighting the faces of each ghost. One apparition after another, men and women, blood drenching their shirts and bodices from the fang marks in their necks. The chilly air sent waves of shivers spiraling through Cara’s body. She lifted her arm to touch a girl, no more than twelve, but her hand went through the child’s face.
They came upon a fork in the passage, Alda motioned for her to stop. Quickening footsteps sounded from the right. “Plaster yourself against the wall, into the shadows. They see heat, our lack of it will protect you.”
Cara did as asked. Not questioning Alda. She knew the footsteps belonged to a Bloodseeker. One had come into her home and killed her family, draining them of every drop of blood. She tried to escape, to run, but he was too quick. His dark eyes bored into hers. And a voice inside her head commanded her to stop. Her body froze in place. She tried to move but his mind controlled the core of her brain and she collapsed, waking up on the stone floor.
Her mind swarming back to the present, she pressed herself against the wall, the shadowy apparitions swarmed around her, blanketing her in darkness, shielding her from the Bloodseeker. His footsteps halted at the fork, as if deliberating which direction to go. He turned and followed the corridor leading to the room she’d left, he halted. His black eyes glowed through the shadows surrounding h
er. She closed her eyes tight, to avoid his mind commands and held her breath. Cara stayed as motionless as possible, controlling the tremors threatening to shake her body.
Her sense of hearing heightened with her eyes squeezed shut, she heard his footsteps walk away from her and continue through the corridor. She popped her eyes open and watched his form through the corner of her eye. When he disappeared around the corner, Alda motioned for her to follow. He’d know she wasn’t there. He’d look for her. The apparitions parted as Cara moved away from the wall.
Alda floated up the stairwell as Cara followed with gentle footsteps, careful not to draw his attention. A wooden door appeared before Cara as she reached the top of the stairs. Alda motioned for her to open it, the hinges creaking as she pushed it.
Moonlight from the crescent moon streamed through the parted heavy curtains, bathing the room in enough light that Cara could see. Dozens of ghosts swarmed the room. Now, able to see them clearly, she gasped. Their skin tones and origins varied - black, white, and varying shades of brown. None older than her. Their styles of dress told her many lived centuries before her. A young black ghost hovered in front of her, clothed in a thick graying dress. Her gentle brown eyes sent a burst of warmth through Cara’s quaking, goose-pimpled body.
Alda soared towards a bookshelf and pointed to a nondescript brown leather book. “Pull it.”
Cara hurried towards the shelf and lifted the book, the shelf easing back to reveal another room.
“Take the book inside the room. The door will close behind you.”
Cara didn’t argue. Thundering sets of footsteps pounded the floor behind her, only moments from catching her she dived into the room. The book case closed, leaving behind all the ghosts except Alda. A Bloodseeker rushed towards it, catching it with his hand. He forced the heavy door open. Cara scooted away from his grasp.