On Our Own
Page 21
But she doesn’t come. I hug my bear tighter and eventually, finally, I fall asleep again.
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I wake up and the sun has risen enough that I can see streaks of pink across the sky.
I sit up and the pain is all gone.
I am zombie.
Chapter 88
I died sometime during the night. I know that now, but I just don’t know when it happened.
I hold my arms out in front of me and they’re shot through with silver. I take off my shoes and socks and the silver winds up my feet, just under the skin. I run my hands over my face even though I can’t see it. I don’t feel any cracks.
I had the last batch of The Shot. The last batch, the one that came closest to achieving that evil executive’s goal.
Something quickens in my chest, and then slows down.
Did I really die?
I hold my hand against my heart but I don’t feel anything. And I was never any good at checking for a pulse.
I don’t know. I’ve definitely changed; the silver showing through my skin proves that.
I think of the girl in the lab, the coldly-smiling girl I now resemble. It hurts to think of it because of Sam, but at some point I think I might want to go back to the base. Talk to her, see what she knows.
I gather up my things and put them all in the backpack. I’m not hungry. I’m not thinking of brains, and I’m not thinking of eating people.
I know I’m different, but I don’t know how.
The question is – am I safe to be around?
“Delilah!”
That weird sensation happens in my chest again and I drop my bag. Surely not. Surely I’m hallucinating. She would know better, wouldn’t she? She would know better than to come after me.
“Delilah!”
But no, she’s there, running toward me with Sunshine by her side.
“Cassie?”
She stops about ten feet away, but I can tell she’s been crying. Her hands clench her backpack straps.
“Have you –”
“Changed? Yes.” I nod. “Last night. But –”
“Something’s different.”
“Yes. Cassie, there’s something I meant to tell you, about The Shot –”
She holds up her hand, cutting me off. “Are you hungry? Do you feel like eating people?”
“No.”
“Good.” She drops her bag and runs toward me, even though that’s a really stupid thing to do. Cassie, my risk-taker.
I drop to my knees, open my arms and she almost bowls me over with a hug. We’re both crying and laughing at the same time.
“Oh, thank God,” she says. She hugs me until I choke, then she pulls back. “Wow.” She runs her fingertips lightly over my arms, following the silver. “Does it hurt?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Cassie, you shouldn’t have risked this. You should have stayed in the town, safe.”
“I couldn’t help it. I had to check. That woman held onto me for hours until they finally made her stop so I could eat dinner. And then I asked if they had a lab and explained about the research. Delilah, they took away my key fob. Said it was too important for a kid.”
She’s right; her necklace is gone.
“And you were gone, too. And I decided screw it, I didn’t want to be around dumb adults anyways.”
“What were you going to do if I was a flesh-eating zombie?”
She shrugs. “Didn’t happen, so it doesn’t matter.”
“Cassie.” I shake my head again, but it’s hard to lecture her when I’m so glad she’s here. I take off my USB drive and drape the necklace around her neck.
“You keep this until we get to a lab. Because it is important enough for a kid. Look at what the adults did to the world anyways.”
She hugs me again, then breaks off to grab her backpack and dab at her eyes. “C’mon, Sunshine.”
I pick up a stick and throw it, and Sunshine runs after it with a bark.
“Delilah?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for being my somebody.”
For a second I think about denying it, shrugging it off, but we both know the truth.
“Glad to,” I respond, and take her hand. “C’mon, let’s go find that lab and save the world.”
Thank You!
Thanks for reading On Our Own. If you have a few minutes, I’d really appreciate a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Your review can help another person decide whether they might like to read this book. Thank you!
Interested in more books or stories that I’ve written? Get my latest updates at www.ldsilver.com
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A little bit about me:
I’ve been an avid reader since I was a little kid. I’m the type that read before class started, and I still read during commercials. I would say that ereaders have increased the time that I read, but really they’ve just removed some weight from my back.
I started writing stories when I was eight years old. I’ve had long stretches of time where I didn’t write. After I moved to Colorado and started commuting on the bus, though, I started using that time to write.
At the moment I write fantasy and horror. I’m fascinated by zombies, robots and magic. This can change at any time though.
Acknowledgements
I originally posted this novel online as a weekly blog. I received help and insights from readers and bloggers, and that input greatly changed the novel. I can’t express the amount of gratitude I have for the people who read and commented on that blog. Your insights, kind words and encouragement had a great impact on me and helped me finish the book.
I also want to thank Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers for making this novel a finalist in the Colorado Gold contest (under the title “In A World of Orphans”). They increased my confidence and gave me an opportunity to meet with an agent.
Thank you to the editors at Hot Tree Editing. Their suggestions helped me improved the book and provided some good insights.
Thanks to my friends and parents for the love and support they give me. And thanks to Chris for all of the discussions we had about this story.