Life After The Undead Omnibus

by Pembroke Sinclair

  The zombies were taken down quickly, and a few soldiers worked on putting out the fire. I holstered my weapon. Quinn, Bill, and Kyle headed to the scene. I took one step forward when something grabbed my hair. At first, I thought it was the wind or maybe someone running by, but when they started pulling, that made me angry. I reached over my head and grabbed the person’s wrists. I went to throw them over my shoulder, to teach them a lesson about grabbing people from behind, but they slipped out of my grasp as their skin peeled freely from their bones. I ducked and pulled away as the creature was about to chomp down on my shoulder, leaving a hunk of my hair in the zombie’s hands. The creature moaned, and I flipped out my arm sword. With a swift movement, I took off the creature’s head. I glanced around. Movement behind the house caught my eye, and I took off running. I jumped over the waist-high pickets and scanned the area. Nothing. I turned to my right and headed through the gate that connected the neighbor’s yard and stopped in my tracks.

  The grass was stained red with blood, and a group of seven zombies crouched next to their latest kill. Half the body had already been consumed, but the head, chest, and arms still lay on the ground. The eyes of the man stared blankly at the sky, and his intestines were strewn between three creatures. I grabbed my weapon and started firing. I took down two before the rest of them noticed me and converged on my position. I went to the back of the house, and with a quick jump and some help from a tree, I was on the roof. The zombies followed me, but since they couldn’t climb, they moaned and pounded on the side of the house. I took the opportunity to pick them off one by one.

  After I finished, I did a quick survey of the area. From my vantage point, I couldn’t see any more creatures, but that didn’t mean they weren’t lurking in a house or some other enclosed space. I hurried to the front and climbed off the roof. Liet yelled at another soldier as I approached.

  “And get the bodies to the pyre!” His face was red with exertion. He glared at me. “Where did you go?”

  I pointed at the house. “I was taking care of some undesirables in the backyard. What happened?”

  Liet shook his head. “I don’t know, but when I find out, there’ll be hell to pay.” He averted his attention to someone behind me. “What are you doing? I said quarantine the entire area.”

  I turned to see a soldier helping a family carry some belongings.

  “Nothing goes. Drop that stuff right now!”

  The woman did as she was told and escorted the family down the block.

  “What are you doing with them?” I wondered.

  “Everyone within a three-block radius is being taken to holding pens on the other side of the wall. If someone else turns, they’ll be shot on sight. Everyone else is on strict lockdown. I won’t have this epidemic spreading through my town.”

  “You can’t lock them down. You don’t even know where the plague started.”

  He stared at me. Rage burned in his eyes. That was the Liet I knew. Surprisingly, he spoke in an even tone. “I’ll do what I have to do. What are you still doing here, anyway? I thought I sent you to get more supplies.”

  “You needed my help.”

  “I didn’t need anything! My soldiers could have handled it fine. You just thought we needed your help.”

  I felt my face flush with anger. “Oh, yeah, who destroyed seven zombies in a backyard that your soldiers didn’t even know about? Without me, they could still be wandering the street.”

  Liet stuck his face inches from mine. “Why do you think it’s all right to go looking for danger? Don’t you realize you could have been killed? We would have found them eventually.”

  “Yeah, but by then it might have been too late.”

  “Why is everything a constant battle with you?”

  “Why can’t you see I don’t need you to protect me?” I screamed. “Why can’t you see that I can take care of myself?”

  Liet’s jaw muscles tightened. “I know I said you could go on the trip, but I’ve changed my mind. You’re grounded. Get to your room right now.” He grabbed my arm, but I backed out of his grasp. My foot caught on an uneven part of the street, and I fell onto my butt.

  “Hey!” A voice called off to my right.

  Quinn approached at a fast pace. I jumped to my feet and stood between the two guys, holding my hands out in front to stop Quinn.

  “Here comes your boyfriend to save the day.”

  “Quinn, stop, please. I’m fine.”

  Quinn stopped, his hands on his hips and his teeth grinding together.

  Liet grabbed me by the arm and spun me around. “I told you to go to your room.” He pushed me toward the courthouse. “You, hero, get out of my sight.”

  I stormed off, but I didn’t go to my room. Instead, I climbed into the truck with Quinn and we headed west. I stared out the window, avoiding Quinn’s gaze, as he sat in the driver’s seat, fuming.

  “Stupid jerk! I wish I could take him out now. Put one between his eyes.” I slammed my fist into the side of the door.

  “Even if you take him out now, Florida would send another to replace him. We have to time this perfectly if it’s going to work.”

  I glared at him. “And what were you doing? What were you expecting to do to Liet on the street back there?”

  Quinn shrugged. “I don’t know. It upset me to see him do that to you.”

  “Do what? I tripped. I don’t need you to fight my battles for me either.”

  Quinn opened his mouth to say something, appeared to think better of it, and took a deep breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He paused. “Liet’s going to be pissed when he realizes you’re gone. I hope he doesn’t take it out on the workers.”

  I hesitated for a moment. I hadn’t thought about that. All I was worried about was proving to Liet that he didn’t control me. Maybe that explained why he was so calm when I got back from Florida. Maybe he’d already taken all his anger out on some poor innocent victim. It softened my mood and made me feel slightly guilty.

  “Besides, if you had attacked Liet, he would’ve killed you.” I shrugged. “Well, maybe not him, but his soldiers would have.” I folded my hands on my lap and stared at them. “Thanks for trying to come to my rescue.” I smiled feebly.

  He pulled the right side of his mouth up. “Sure.”

  We traveled for a while in silence. How did the zombies get into the city in the first place? They had such stringent rules about checking the workers, someone should have noticed a bite mark. Whoever dropped the ball on that one was going to pay dearly. I felt sorry for those who were being quarantined. If someone else did turn, then everyone who was in the cage with them was fair game. Being in one alone had to be scary and stressful. I couldn’t imagine also having the extra worry if one of your friends was going to turn. What else could they do? It wouldn’t be very cost effective to build separate cages for all of them. It was a shame it had come to this.

  The truck bumped on the road and pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked out the window and noticed a herd of undead crossing the street. Quinn pressed down on the accelerator. I grinned.

  “You enjoy this way too much.”

  Quinn smiled. “I enjoy watching you wash the truck.” His mouth snapped shut after he spoke, and his face turned red.

  I cocked my head to the side and looked at him with feigned anger. “Oh, so now the truth comes out. What part do you enjoy the most? Seeing me get covered in undead crud or how I react when a zombie attacks my leg?”

  Quinn pressed his mouth shut and shook his head. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”

  “No, no. I want to know. You’ve piqued my interest.”

  He cleared his throat. “I like to watch you. Since the moment we first met, I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind. When you told me earlier that Liet thought we were dating, the first thing that popped into my head was that you should date me to validate his feelings.”

  I was stunned silent. My intention was to tease him a little to lighten t
he mood. I had no idea it’d take an even more serious turn. It made me wonder if Pam and Liet had noticed Quinn watching me, if that was what had tipped them off to the fact we might be together. I always caught myself staring at him, wondering what it was like to kiss him and if we’d ever be a couple. Now that the topic actually came up, I was too embarrassed to talk about it.

  Quinn forced a chuckle. “Hey, whatever you want to do is fine. I couldn’t go another trip without saying anything. At least you know where I stand.”

  I wanted to tell him that I felt the same way, but the words stuck in my throat. All I could do was stare out the window, smiling to myself. Quinn ran into another zombie and blood and puss flew over the hood, coating the windshield like someone threw a bucket of the goo. He turned on the windshield wipers and smeared the viscous fluid all over the glass. He pulled the trigger to release the cleaner fluid, but nothing came out.

  “Crap,” he muttered under his breath.

  Quinn slammed on the brakes. I braced myself against the dash.

  I took a deep breath and steeled my nerves. “Quinn, I want you to know that I feel the same way, but I don’t know how well things will work out with Liet.”

  He looked at me, a serious expression on his face. “I’m not afraid of Liet.”

  I stared at him for a silent minute. “I know, but I think maybe we should keep this between us. A secret. Just for a little while.”

  “If that’s what makes you comfortable.”

  I nodded. “It does.”

  We stared at each other for a long time.

  “What changed your mind?” I finally asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Last time we talked about boyfriends and girlfriends, you told me that Kyle was available.”

  Quinn laughed. “I was trying to gauge your interest. I didn’t know if you liked me, and I was too embarrassed to say anything, so I told you that so I wouldn’t look like an idiot.”

  A horn honked behind us. We broke our gazes and glanced out the window. In the rearview, the horde we’d passed on the road was slowly limping to our location.

  “I suppose I should take care of the windshield.” Quinn sighed. “I’m sure Bill and Kyle are wondering what’s going on.”

  “Looks like it’s going to have to be a quick clean job from the roof.”

  Quinn shrugged. “I have to be able to see. Will you watch my back?”

  “Of course.”

  Bill and Kyle pulled up next to us.

  “What are you doing?” Bill yelled.

  Quinn grabbed the cleaning fluid and a rag. He turned toward the other truck and pointed at the bottle.

  “What is taking so long?” Bill snapped.

  “I couldn’t find the rag,” Quinn said. He turned to me. “Oops.”

  We both chuckled, then I climbed onto the roof. I waved at Kyle.

  The zombies were pretty far back, so we had some time. I stood with my gun out, keeping an eye on the area, while Quinn wiped off the windshield. I thought about the fact that I had a boyfriend, something that had never happened before. I tore my gaze from the horde to look at him. I noticed him look back, but I didn’t follow his gaze to see what he looked at. My mind was focused on how things would change now that we were a couple. When he yelped and started kicking, then I turned to see what had happened.

  The creature’s mouth latched on to the bottom of his shoe, and Quinn couldn’t get him off. I flipped out my arm sword to take off its head, but before I could get there, Quinn rolled off the top of the truck, taking the zombie with him. I dashed over to the side. He got the undead off his foot, but that gave it the perfect opportunity to moan, alerting the others in the area. I turned to see a new horde coming over the hill on the left and moving toward us. This one was close. It’d be at our location in a few minutes. There were even a few of them in the ditch on the side of the road. They must have been hanging out, unaware of our presence, but they knew we were there after the moan. Bill and Kyle climbed out of their truck and shot into the crowd. I took out a few who were closest to me, then turned to see what had happened to Quinn.

  My heart stopped when I looked over the edge and he wasn’t there. I fell to my hands and knees and scanned the area, calling his name. A zombie came around the front of the truck and grabbed at my face. There was no way the creature could have gotten me, it was instinct that I jerked back.

  “Kyle, have you seen Quinn?” The panic rose in my chest.

  Kyle quit firing and stared at me. “What?”

  “Have you seen Quinn?”

  “I can’t hear you!”

  Something clanged on the opposite side of the truck. I turned to look. A group of zombies pounded on the side and somehow had opened the passenger door. I realized at that moment that zombies could climb into trucks.

  “Krista, jump!”

  Kyle waved his arms for me to jump to the other truck. Close to two hundred zombies came into our location. We had to leave. I took a deep breath, a couple steps, and jumped onto the top of the other cab. We all climbed in, and Bill threw the truck into gear. I glanced out the window and watched as the zombies covered the truck. My heart sank as I imagined Quinn being devoured. My bottom lip quivered and I bit it so no one would notice.

  Bill looked over his shoulder. “You all right? You get bit?”

  I shook my head, dumbfounded. “No. I don’t think so.”

  “What about you, Quinn? You bit?”

  I turned in surprise and looked into the sleeper cabin. Quinn was pale, covered in blood, and grabbed his arm. Relief flooded into my body.

  “I don’t know.” His voice was soft, shaky. I climbed in next to him.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get you to the ranch as quick as we can,” Bill said.

  I cradled his head in my lap. Tears flowed freely from my eyes. “You’ll be okay. We’ll get you some help.”

  “I think I broke my arm.”

  “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” The words caught in my throat. I wanted to believe it, I really did, but the odds weren’t in my favor.

  It took us an hour to reach the ranch. By then, some color had returned to Quinn’s face and he was able to climb into the house of his own accord, but he didn’t look good. Bill took him into the bathroom and helped him clean up. Kyle, me, and the others at the ranch paced the front porch until Bill came out. He stared at us somberly.

  “There are a lot of wounds. It’s hard to tell if any of them are bites. He didn’t break his arm, but his wrist is sprained.” He met the gaze of the others. “He’s resting comfortably right now. I’ll take the first shift. Kyle, you take the next. If he turns in twenty-four hours, you all know what to do.”

  I chewed my thumbnail. I felt nauseous and my hands shook uncontrollably. It was going to be the longest twenty-four hours of my life.

  CHAPTER 19

  I sat on the couch next to the fireplace and stared off into space. My palms were sweaty, my mouth was dry, and I still felt nauseous. What would I do if I lost Quinn? I really liked him. He was the first boy whom I didn’t think had serial-killer tendencies. And he was the first boy who liked me back. Why was it that the good ones always died early, but jerks lived forever? Why wasn’t Liet lying in that bed? If it was Liet, I would haul his butt out into the desert. If he made his way back, then he wasn’t a zombie. I knew life wasn’t fair, that became painfully evident after my parents died, but I didn’t know why it felt as if it had to make me completely miserable. Hadn’t I suffered enough?

  Kyle sat next to me and offered me a plate with a hamburger, chips, and baked beans. I shook my head, and he set it on the coffee table in front of us.

  “You doin’ all right?”

  I shook my head again. “Have you ever seen anyone change?”

  Kyle nodded.

  “What’s it like?”

  “We really should try to focus on the positive. He’s going to be fine.”

  I stared at him. “What’s it like?”

 
“It starts out kind of like the flu. They get a really high fever, they throw up a lot, and then they drift into a coma. Their skin takes on a gray tone, and the area around the bite turns black with black streaks leading away from the wound. Once they wake up from their coma, they lash out at anything near them.”

  My stomach tightened. “Has Quinn exhibited any of those symptoms?”

  Kyle shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “How long after the bite does it take for the symptoms to appear?”

  “Depends, but everyone turns within twenty-four hours.”

  Bill came into the room at that moment and asked Kyle to join him upstairs. My heart sunk, and I buried my face in my hands. This was part of my life. There was no denying that eventually someone close to me was going to turn into a zombie. I’d been lucky that I’d never seen anyone turn, but luck always ran out.

  Why did it have to be Quinn? What did he ever do to anyone? For that matter, why did it have to be any of those innocents living in North Platte? It was one thing for an adult, but children? It was almost unfathomable. It was as if we were being punished, but for what? I drove myself crazy thinking about it.

  I stood from the couch and walked onto the porch, hoping some fresh air would relieve my nausea. A slight breeze blew, and I folded my hands across my chest to ward off the chill. A few people still milled around the ranch and finished their chores, but the majority of them were in their homes, eating dinner. They had families to take care of. I didn’t have anyone. There was one point in time I thought it was better to be alone, especially when the alternative was Liet, but Quinn had changed all that. A dark depression fell over me, and I sat on the porch swing.