Eyes holding Mason in place.
The zombie and the rack began to fall forward, tangled together.
Mason jumped at the crash of zombie and rack to the cement floor.
As the zombie struggled to turn over and rise, Mason saw his opportunity. He reached out and grabbed another rack, dropping it on the prone zombie. He walked around the zombie, careful not to get his feet too close, and pushed an aisle rack down onto Delores, who was buried under a thin layer of shelving and racks.
“Sorry but I have to go find my sister,” Mason said to the waitress in apology.
He didn’t glance back as he walked away, glad he’d escaped.
Mason walked outside, into a bright cloudless day, and began the trek back to where he figured the railroad cars were. Maybe Emalee had returned.
Chapter Nine
Emalee had the sinking feeling she might be lost. She could no longer find the road, even though it was a major four-lane highway, and it felt like she’d stepped off it only a few minutes ago.
The woods were thick and the trees towered overhead. She’d been walking on a path that might be used by the squirrels or the deer but when she’d turned back to find the road again she couldn’t find it.
Face it… you’re definitely lost, Emalee thought.
She’d caught glimpses of Henny for the last few hours but never close enough she could catch the ghost. She didn’t want to yell and attract zombies so she kept her mouth shut and ran as fast as her legs would go. Mason always made fun of her because she was short and he said she had tiny legs, but he was only an inch or two taller than she was.
At least it was morning again. Walking throughout the night had been really scary and she’d cried for most of it, covering her mouth so she didn’t make a sound.
Luckily, Henny would adjust her course ahead, when she was visible, and Emalee realized she was guiding her away from any zombies in the area.
Emalee didn’t know where she was going or why her brother hadn’t tried to contact her yet and she was getting even more worried with each passing hour.
A twig snapped somewhere to her right and Emalee stiffened.
Someone was walking, very slowly, just out of sight. She couldn’t see through the trees and brush around her. She wondered if they’d heard her walking, too. Emalee had been walking across dried leaves and stepping on branches without thinking. Deep in her own thoughts.
She looked around for Henny, as another branch was stepped on. Now it sounded like more than one person walking, too.
“Henny, where are you?” she whispered and she started walking in the direction she thought Henny had gone but now she was panicking. Was she turned around and going the wrong way?
She heard more zombies coming at her from all sides.
They had to be zombies and they were going to find her and she’d never see Mason again and…
Henny was in the distance, beckoning with her hand to hurry.
Emalee began to run, covering her ears because the sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs was becoming unbearable. It sounded like shotgun blasts and tiny screams amplified all around her head, even as she ran and tried to escape.
She saw the fallen tree branch, sticking out from a bed of leaves, a split second before her foot caught it and she fell forward, face-first in the dirt and leaves.
The pain shot up her face and rattled around her head. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe through tears.
Emalee, because of her condition, wasn’t exactly body-strong. Before all of this mess in the world her mother had taken her for so many doctor visits she lost count. She’d had surgery after surgery to fix one problem after another and she sometimes got winded.
Her mother and all of the nurses and doctors had always made her feel special but now she was alone. Even Mason, for all of his teasing, knew when she wasn’t feeling well and helped her along if they were moving or found a good spot for her to rest for a few hours.
Emalee didn’t want to think about what would happen if she needed to see a doctor or needed more surgery.
Right now she needed to get up because the zombies were gaining on her.
She rolled over and wiped the dirt from her face and could see shapes moving in the distance. They weren’t as close as she had thought they were but she knew she couldn’t run if she had to. As she stood on shaky legs, she realized she couldn’t walk much faster than the zombies right now.
Her breathing was hard and she struggled to pick up her feet and move, sliding them instead.
Emalee thought of her mother and her brother and anyone who’d been nice to her in her life, trying to focus on positives and staying ahead of the monsters.
She found a natural path through the leaves. Probably what the deer and other animals used to get around. Maybe it would lead somewhere safe.
Emalee made sure to step over roots jutting from the forest floor.
She could hear the zombies keeping pace with her and kept hoping she’d find a house in the woods or maybe a tree she could climb up, even though she doubted she had the strength right now.
It was hard to breathe, the air too thick in the forest with so many trees blocking out the sun and clean air. Emalee felt stifled and she was making too much noise. She’d never be able to hide from the zombies.
I just need to get a little further away, she thought. Put some distance between us so I can catch my breath.
She walked another thirteen steps before she needed a break, leaning against a tree. She was expecting to see a horde of zombies within arm’s length but, when she looked, she was still alone, only the sound of their approach filling the noises of the woods. Even the birds had stopped chirping.
Emalee couldn’t stop for long or she’d be too tired to continue so she pushed away from the tree and started to shuffle again. She thought, if anyone was around, they’d think she was just another zombie the way she was walking.
Emalle burst from the woods onto the side of an abandoned highway, wrecked cars in both directions.
The zombies were still coming and she needed to run but didn’t know in which direction.
Something hopped up onto the rusting hood of a car.
It was one of the twins from the other day. Either Parker or Reading.
Emalee hoped it was Parker because he’d been the nicer of the two.
“I can control the zombies. A few at a time. Get into their weak minds and make them do whatever I want them to do,” the boy said to Emalee.
She could still hear the slow pursuit, from behind, in the woods.
“Then make them stop following us,” Emalee said.
“Maybe I don’t want to.”
Emalee shook her head. “You’re Reading, aren’t you?”
The boy smiled.
Something snapped a tree branch behind Emalee, only a few feet away. She turned but the woods were dense, the trees too close together and too many leaves and brush for her to see more than dark shapes moving. The sunlight did not penetrate past the tree line.
She knew they were coming and Reading wasn’t going to stop them.
Emalee turned back to the boy and forced herself not to cry. He’d really like that.
“Please tell them to stop. What have I ever done to you?” she asked.
Reading’s face grew red and he put his hands on his hips.
“Me and Parker were doing fine before you and your brother showed up. We were hanging out and doing our own thing. Now all Parker wants to do is find you again and be your friend. I don’t want to be your friend. I’ve lost too many friends already,” Reading said.
Emalee wanted to respond but her head was still pounding and now she felt a sharp pain behind her eyes.
The zombies were coming.
“What’s wrong with you?” Reading asked, beginning to climb off the car.
Emalee went down to one knee, her body twisting as she tried not to fall to the grass.
It didn’t work.
As Emalee
struggled to keep her eyes open and focused, she saw the first four zombies step out of the woods, their eyes locked on hers.
She passed out.
Chapter Ten
“I told you I didn’t kill her. Give me some credit,” Reading said, inches away from Emalee’s face. Her eyes were still closed. She’d passed out, the pain unbearable, and she didn’t know where she was now. She only knew the brothers were standing over her and fighting.
“She’s breathing too heavy. Does she have asthma?” Parker asked.
“How would I know?”
“Didn’t you talk to her? She almost got bitten because you’re a big jerk. You still don’t get it. We need her and her brother alive in order to do this. Without them we fail,” Parker said.
“Is her brother even still alive?” Reading asked.
“Let me check her mind.”
Emalee felt Parker trying to get inside her head and blocked it. He was much stronger than Mason but she’d had years of practice against her brother. Finally, after half a minute, the pressure ceased.
“You’re awake. Open your eyes and talk to us,” Parker said.
Emalee sat up and blinked a few times. She was feeling sluggish and tired but the pain had gone away for now.
“What’s wrong with you?” Reading asked.
“I’m sick. I get winded easily.” Emalee didn’t like the way Reading was looking at her. She knew she was different. Special. So was Mason. They’d never be able to just fit in with other kids because of prejudice like what Reading was showing. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to hear all of the awful derogatory comments about her developmental disability. Words she’d heard on the playground or even from adults when their mother would take them out shopping. People used offensive words, too ignorant to know how they hurt.
Reading was one of those people.
“Leave her alone,” Parker said.
Reading grinned. “Sorry. I forgot she was your girlfriend. Want me to leave the room so you two can kiss?”
Parker punched his brother, who looked really mad now.
“Stop it,” Emalee said. It was like dealing with two Mason’s. “Where are we?”
“A safe place where the zombies can’t get to us,” Parker said. “We’re on the fourth floor of a hotel. There’s only one way to get to the second floor and we block it off.”
“Why don’t you just tell her how much food and water we have, too?” Reading asked.
Parker smiled. “We have six bottles of water and a box of stale cookies and rice but we don’t know how to cook it properly. Can you cook?”
Emalee nodded her head. “My mother showed me how to boil water. I’m sure the bag of rice has directions on it. Won’t be too hard.”
“Then make me some rice. I’m starving,” Reading said.
“Not until you apologize.” Emalee wasn’t going to help the brothers unless she was treated better. She felt like Parker had shown up right as the zombies were going to kill her and Reading would’ve let it happen. “And help me find my brother.”
“Is he lost?” Parker asked.
“He’s probably dead by now. He didn’t look like someone who could survive long,” Reading said.
“I wandered away. I was, uh… following someone,” Emalee said.
“A ghost? Which one?” Parker asked.
Emalee shook her head. She wasn’t going to say anything until she figured out if they were friend or foe. She knew at least one of them was definitely an enemy.
“I can’t help you if you don’t help me,” Parker said.
“I don’t want to help your brother. Nothing against you but he tried to get me killed. I don’t like him very much,” Emalee said.
Parker nodded. “I can see that.” He turned to Reading. “Go take a walk. Make sure we’re still alone.”
Reading crossed his arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Fine.” Emalee sat up and rose to her feet. “Then I’m going.”
“You can’t leave,” Reading said.
“Why? Am I your prisoner?” Emalee asked. She was trying not to freak out. What if they weren’t going to let her go? What if she never saw her brother again? Even though Mason could be a dork, she didn’t want to lose him.
“Yes,” Reading said.
“No,” Parker said louder. “We’re not holding you hostage. We just need to talk to you. I promise. You won’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“This is stupid. She’s stupid,” Reading said.
Emalee lost it. One second she was standing still and the next she was charging Reading, after hearing him call her stupid. No one got away with it. If Mason was here, he’d punch Reading in the face and try to bust his nose.
Since she didn’t think her punches would do much damage, Emalee used her foot.
She kicked Reading right between the legs, where her mother said never to kick a boy unless he really deserved it.
Reading deserved it.
Parker tried to hide his smile with his hand but he couldn’t help it.
“Shut up,” Reading said and rolled around on the floor.
“You asked for it,” Emalee said. “You don’t call people stupid.”
Reading looked like he was about to call her stupid again but, when Emalee lifted her foot off the ground a couple of inches, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
“I’m leaving. Don’t try to stop me,” Emalee said.
“We need your help,” Parker said.
“I’m not doing anything if there’s a we involved,” Emalee said and pointed at Reading. “I don’t like him.”
“I don’t like you, either,” Reading said as he tried to sit up.
Emalee walked past both brothers, expecting them to try and stop her. When they didn’t, she started walking faster, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. She really hoped she never saw them again.
They’d tried to get her killed. They had made fun of her. They were mean boys.
Wait until I tell Mason this, she thought. He’s going to want to beat them both up. I hope he does.
Emalee decided against telling her brother. It would be better to never go near Parker and Reading again.
She glanced back as she walked down the hallway, expecting to see either of the brothers following but she was alone.
“Good riddance,” she mumbled as she got to a door at the end of the hallway. “If I never see you again, it will be too soon.”
Emalee needed to find Mason. She needed to find Henny, too. Maybe the ghost would be able to find Mason. Maybe she already knew where he was or had been leading Emalee back in a circle to their safe haven in the train yard.
Or maybe she was hopelessly lost.
Emalee opened the door and looked out onto something so unexpected she nearly fainted.
Chapter Eleven
The train station and rail yard were just as Mason had left them. Falling apart and lonely.
He made his way back to the train car they’d slept in but Emalee wasn’t inside, curled up and snoring softly.
He’d give anything right now to hear her snoring.
Mason did another search with his mind for Emalee but came up empty, which got him upset and then angry. He missed her. He was supposed to protect her. His mother would be so mad right now, if she were still alive. He’d been given the task of watching over his little sister and he’d failed.
He was also really hungry. He hadn’t scraped enough off of the mini-van floor to satisfy his hunger and now, after walking so long just to get back to where he’d started, his stomach was rumbling.
Mason wanted to go out in search of food and water but was afraid he’d leave and Emalee would return, not see him, and move along again. He had the sinking feeling, while he’d wasted so much time in the gas station, she’d been back. When she didn’t see Mason anywhere she might’ve panicked and who knew which way she’d gone?
He couldn’t sit in a hot rail car all day and starve to death. As
much as he hated to do it, he’d need to leave. He decided to leave a note for his sister so, if she came back, she’d be able to find him.
Mason found a dark rock on the ground. He sniffed it. Maybe it was coal? He had no idea. All he knew is it would make a great writing instrument. He began writing on the side of the metal rail car, taking his time so, when he was done, she’d be able to read his writing.
Em. Going South. Follow me. Miss you
He wanted to erase the last two words, feeling embarrassed, but didn’t want to risk smudging any of the words and having to start over.
Mason had no real idea what going south would do but he’d made a decision and now he had to do it.
The writing’s on the wall, he thought and laughed at his own corny joke.
As he turned to leave, he heard someone walking behind him on the tracks, kicking up gravel.
Mason turned with a smile, ready to run over and hug his sister.
Only… it looked like Emalee, a young girl who’d been turned into a zombie. She was wearing a faded dress and only had one shoe on. Her hair was stringy and caked in dirt and covered most of her face.
Mason shook his head.
There was no way this was happening. They’d come too far together for it to end like this.
She was a zombie.
Mason started to cry. He didn’t want to put his sister down but would if he had to. He didn’t want her hurting anyone.
As the zombie got nearer, Mason started to see her clearly through his tears and he felt embarrassed. It wasn’t Emalee. The zombie was too tall. She was wearing a gold chain around her neck, which Emalee didn’t have.
It was just another kid zombie.
Mason didn’t want to deal with the zombie if he didn’t have to. While his sister had always talked him out of confrontation and trying to stop a zombie from following, her answer was much simpler: we can outrun and out-walk them. There was no reason to waste energy fighting.
He took the words to heart and increased his pace. He hated being out in the open and knew he wouldn’t be going too far. Just a few miles in the direction he thought they would’ve headed if they hadn’t run into those brothers and Emalee hadn’t been drawn away for some reason.
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