“Goodnight, Nick.”
“’Night, Dean.”
Chapter 22
A few days had passed and I knew Max was impressed with me because he started giving me routine jobs. It made me feel good that I could help out and keep my mind off of my grief, because I was never one for just sitting around. Just like Nick and Lucas, I loved the action. Max had even given me some jobs close to the edge of the city which made Nick nervous. But I assured my brother that I wasn’t going to let a flesh eater take me out.
It was early in the morning and I decided to go for a jog. I threw on jogging pants and a t-shirt, and some good tennis shoes one of the guys had recently given me. I figured it was a great way to stay in shape and be alone with my thoughts. It was chilly so I made sure to wear a sweat shirt jacket. I strapped on a knife and hand gun, then took off. It felt good to run and it felt good to just have some time to myself with nobody around.
When I came back, I ran into Rachel near the front of the building. She looked cute with her blonde hair blowing around in the wind.
“Looking good,” she said.
Sweat rolled down my face and back, and I had to admit I was kind of embarrassed. I leaned over to catch my breath. “Thanks. I just needed to get out.”
“See any zombies?”
“Nope.”
“So what’s with the big work out this morning?” she asked. “Did you need some fresh air?”
“Yeah, but I need to stay in top shape too…because I want to be a zombie’s worst nightmare.”
She smiled. “Got it. But there is a small gym in apartment 306. Val and Claire have been using it. It might be a little safer than jogging out here all by yourself. I mean, ‘cause you just never know.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. But don’t worry. I was really careful.”
“We both know that doesn’t matter. You can be careful as you want, but in this new world, you’re bound to run into trouble, accidents happen. Anybody can die in this town, and if that happens, then that makes that person a dangerous brain-eater. A stray zombie can dart out of the bushes and take a chunk of your arm before you knew what hit you. Just because the rotten shamblers can’t get inside the city won’t save you from the zombies that can be born the second somebody takes their last breath.”
“You’re right,” I said.
“If you need a jogging buddy, then just call me or Ed. But please don’t come out here by yourself.” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m just worried about you, that’s all. But why get attached, right? I hear you’re leaving soon anyway.”
“It’s all up in the air,” I said.
“We’d really love for you to stay.”
“I know Val wants too.”
“But I understand about wanting to get home. I’m from Arkansas myself. Just kind of ended up here with my dad a while back.”
“It’s funny where we all end up.”
“Bet you thought you’d never end up here.”
“No, not a chance.”
“I knew something like this was going to happen,” she said. “Not the zombies. But I knew there was a virus spreading around.”
I raised a brow. “Really?”
“Yeah. Especially when 100,000 drum fish suddenly died in the river.”
“I heard something about that. It was in the news.”
“That was totally odd, but then something even odder happened.”
“What?”
“On New Year’s Day, over one thousand red-winged blackbirds fell dead from the sky. I mean they were everywhere from lawns and streets to rooftops and sidewalks. My dad and I knew something was up. Those could’ve easily been the first signs before the virus mutated.”
“Are you sure they’re connected because this virus focuses on human hosts.”
“Maybe it mutated once again and it’s going back to its original roots, animals.”
“In this day and age, I say anything is possible.”
“I’d say so too.”
We chatted a little more and then I went inside to get a drink. Val and Claire were all excited over a few jars of peanut butter they held in their hands. Two bags of groceries and a huge bag of dog food sat on the table. I knew our dog was going to be a happy camper.
“Where did you get groceries?” I asked.
“We found a house with goodies being stored behind a false wall. The owner was a zombie and we had to take him down.”
Claire put a clump of peanut butter on her finger, then held it near my mouth. She laughed as I licked the peanut butter off her finger.
“Get Dean a spoon,” Val laughed.
She handed me a spoon and I dug in, then washed it down with a bottled water.
“We have other goodies too,” Claire said. “We got lots of beef jerky, hard candy, beans, almonds, walnuts, canned meats, deviled ham, noodles, chili, rice, zip-lock bags, and sports drinks. And uh, do you like dried fruit? Because we’re all stocked up with raisins, cherries, and prunes.”
“You guys rock,” I said, reaching into the bag and grabbing a long package of beef jerky.” I tore the plastic off and took a bite. “Mmmm. Man, this stuff is delicious.”
“Bet you thought you’d never miss things like peanut butter and beef jerky,” Val said.
“I’d kill for some bread,” Claire said. “I’d love to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“We might not have bread, but we do have,” Val held up a jar, “Ta-Dah…instant coffee.”
“Nick’s been dying for coffee,” Claire said.
I smiled. “Yeah, he’s going to love you guys.”
“Especially when he sees how many jars I got,” she replied. She pulled out a jar of honey. “We also got something for a sweet tooth.”
“How long does honey last?” Val asked.
“A long time,” Claire said. “I heard that honey was found in a tomb back in Egypt 3,000 years ago, and it was still good. So it’s perfect for a long time disaster.”
Val started unpacking the rest of the groceries. “Let’s just hope the zombies rot out and this won’t be a long time disaster.”
We all nodded. I really hoped that was the case, but at this point I wasn’t sure of anything.
Later that day, I volunteered for guard duty and was just about done when I glanced up at our window. A lit-up jack-o-lantern, with a carved spooky face, sat in the window. I couldn’t help but smirk.
Just then, Ed approached. “Hey, like your pumpkin?”
I smiled. “I love it.”
“It’s a great idea,” he said. “Nick thought of it. I’m to going to do one too, to keep October alive. I mean, isn’t that what Halloween’s all about?”
“Yep. I always loved Halloween.”
I chatted with Ed, then ended my shift and went upstairs. Everyone smiled as I walked in.
“You like?” Lucas said, pointing to the newly carved pumpkin.
“Love it!” I said. “I saw it glowing from downstairs.”
“I carved it,” Nick said.
“Yeah, he got the fun part,” Val said, “while the rest of us cleaned it out.”
“It makes the apartment feel like home,” Claire said. “If we’re still here for Christmas, I’m going to chop down a pine and put up a Christmas tree. Found a box of ornaments in the closet too.”
“I have no doubt you’ll deck out the place,” Lucas said.
“And in that same box, I found a tape recorder with Christmas music,” Claire continued. “But I still have to find batteries. But don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll find some before the holiday.”
“No!” I said. “No corny Christmas music. I just might feed myself to the zombies.” They all laughed and I continued. “But the pumpkin…”
“It brings back lots of memories,” Nick said.
“Yeah, remember when Dad slipped and our pumpkin flew in the air and landed in the swimming pool?”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, we spent countless hours carving it. But hey, it proved to everyone that
pumpkins can float.”
“Or how about that time you put all those toads in Mrs. Turner’s pumpkin next door?”
Nick burst out in laughter. “Yeah, I took out the candle and loaded the sucker with huge frogs. The pumpkin started moving and she swore the thing was possessed.”
“She even came out with the crucifix,” I said.
We all chuckled.
“I guess boys will be boys,” Val said, smiling.
“I was like twelve years old,” Nick said.
Halloween was so much fun. My mom used to roast pumpkin seeds, bake pumpkin pie, and make candied and caramel apples. We’d tried to come up with the best costumes, most unique pumpkin carvings, and the spookiest decorated house on the block. And then there were all those wicked Halloween tricks we’d play on each other. Nick had hung a glow in the dark dancing skeleton in my closet and I about had a heart attack. I got him back really good the next year. The war waged on every Halloween. And even though we were in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, I’d still remember to check my closet this year. I wouldn’t put anything past Nick.
I kept thinking my brother was the coldest monster, but he carved out that pumpkin for me. I swallowed hard trying to choke down the emotion. Maybe Nick wasn’t so bad after all.
I went to bed, tossed and turned for a while, then finally fell asleep.
***
Claire shook me awake, and when I tried to speak, she put her fingers over my lips. “Shh!” She motioned me to follow her to the living room.
Yawning, I shuffled across the floor behind her and sat down. Sparkles jumped on my lap, but I wasn’t really in the mood for a spit-bath from a little dog. Half-asleep, I petted her head and tried to convince her to get off of me.
Noticing my frustration, Claire picked the little dog up. “C’mere, girl,” she said sweetly.
I arched an eyebrow. “So…what’s up with the wakeup call, Claire?”
“I had a nightmare,” she said.
“Do you want me to get Nick?”
“No!” she said. She met my gaze. “Let me cut to the chase. I dreamt that Jackie was being dissected. Maybe they aren’t doing hybrid testing like you originally thought, but I have no doubt that they’d experiment on Jackie if they could. We can’t let that happen, Dean. She’s my cousin and my best friend.”
“What do you want to do?” I questioned.
She walked to the closet and opened it, then pulled out two shovels.
Wide-eyed, I said, “Val said we should wait till the herd moves out. She said she’d help us, and I promised I wouldn’t leave on some crazy mission without telling her.”
“Do you always do what you’re told?” she retorted. “What are you, five?”
“Actually, I’m eighteen,” I answered, seeing her point. “But still, the cemetery isn’t safe. We should at least wait until daylight.”
“If we do that, Nick will do everything within his power to stop us. Besides, we’ll be back before then. How long can it take to dig up a grave?”
I stared at her hard, unable to answer.
She continued, “I just need answers.”
“Me too, Claire. I loved Jackie too.”
“Then let’s go,” she said, handing a shovel to me. “I’m tired of waiting around for answers no one seems to be giving us.”
“If Lucas’s hypothesis is right, those scientists have other hybrids to experiment on. They might have left Jackie alone.”
“Then how come we’ve never seen one?” Claire fastened her belt and holster, then slipped her gun inside. “We don’t know for a fact that they have hybrids. That’s just something Lucas came up with, and you know him. He’s always telling stories with that imagination and crazy head of his. For all we know, they’ve only got Jackie, and if they do, they’ll go back and dig her up after a little time passes and everyone settles down.”
“That’s a big if. We really don’t know anything for sure. Everything is based on conjecture.”
“Which is exactly why we need to find answers for ourselves.”
I pondered it for a moment, then finally nodded. “Ya know, I think that’s a great idea.”
“Good. I know the guards. We’ll just tell them we can’t sleep and that we wanna blow off some steam with shooting practice.”
“That would sound ridiculous in any other day and age, but I guess nowadays, it makes a whole heck of a lot more sense than counting sheep.”
“Well, they’d probably be zombified sheep anyway.”
“Yeah, and that would be baaaaaad,” I joked.
Claire didn’t seem to have time for puns as she blurted out, “We’re taking Josephine’s car. I’ve got the keys.”
“Boy. You really had this planned out.”
“I’ll never give up on Jackie. The thought of those scientists slicing her up like filet mignon doesn’t sit well with me. It gives me the creeps.”
“More than going to a graveyard at three a.m. to dig up a body?”
“Way more.”
* * *
We were both dressed perfectly for the grim occasion, in all black, hoping to remain as inconspicuous as we could. My grave-robber ensemble consisted of black cargo pants and a t-shirt and jacket. I jingled like a Christmas ornament when I walked, though, because every pocket was generously stuffed with ammo.
Since it was her friend’s car, Claire drove.
As she did, I quietly questioned my sanity more than once. “Why are we really doing this?” I asked.
“Because we’re body-snatchers.”
“No, really.”
She clutched the steering wheel hard. “Because we have a lot of time to kill?”
I chuckled.
She continued. “Look, Dean, I’ve walked in both worlds, this hellish one we live in now and my old one, a life I used to love. I know now that I belong to neither.”
“You belong in this world…with us.”
She shook her head. “I know it sounds like something out of a 1960s hippie song, but I’m desperate to find myself. I don’t know if I have or not, but what I do know is that I’m not the same girl I was before. The Claire you met is gone, and there’s nothing left but a shell of my former self, filled with rage. Sometimes I don’t care if I live or die, as long as I take a few of those slimy cannibals with me.”
“Please don’t talk like that. You have so much to live for.”
“Only to take out as many of those cursed things as I can before I leave this world,” Claire said, clearly still stricken with grief, another thing she and Nick had in common.
I didn’t know what to say, as comforting people wasn’t exactly my thing. I couldn’t tell her that everything was going to be okay, because that didn’t seem like it would be the truth. I couldn’t start singing the theme from Annie, because there were no guarantees that the sun would come out tomorrow.
My foot stepped on another toy. “This kid has toys everywhere,” I said.
“Josephine has four little ones running around.” She then shot me a glance. “I know this isn’t the fancy car you and Val took out for the night.”
“Are you still upset we didn’t take you?”
“You broke Val out of jail and…well maybe I wanted a get-out-of-free-jail card too.”
“And you were more than welcome to come. I tried to wake you up but you were snoring like a chainsaw.”
She laughed. “I don’t snore.”
“And how would you know?”
“I’d know.”
We both laughed.
“I haven’t been in a graveyard in years,” Claire said.
“Are you scared?” I asked.
“Nope. I trampled my fear the day this world decided to take Jackie away from me.”
“Are you afraid of ghosts?” I asked, trying to lighten the somber mood.
“Ghosts are the least of our concerns. I’m more worried about the dead.” She gripped the steering wheel even tighter. “Ghost, zombies, slime-balls—I don’t care what you ca
ll them. I’m gonna pound every single one of ‘em who stands in my way.”
I leaned back in the seat. “Some attitude you got there, Claire.”
“It’s called survival.”
“Well, scared or not, you gotta admit that it’s pretty freaky knowing we’ll be walking above dead, decaying bodies.”
“Nah, I’m more freaked out by the ones above the dirt, the living dead. Fighting death might be trickier, but they all go down the same way when their brains are smashed in.” She drove a little farther, then stopped the car. “This is it, the line in the sand. If we cross it, that’ll be it for our free pass.”
“Are you ready to cross over?” I asked.
“It won’t be into the eternal light,” she said in a dramatic tone. “It’ll be into the darkness, with monsters who live for nothing other than to taste our flesh.”
“Fine. Are you ready to visit…hell?” I asked dramatically.
“I’m ready to take any zombie herd on.”
“I feel a high-five coming on,” I said.
She gave me a high five with one hand as she drove. “Yep. They’ll regret the day they ran into me. I know they can’t think, but if they could, I’d want them to realize just how dangerous I am to their kind.”
“Well, let’s go then. Floor it!”
She pressed down on the gas pedal, and we flew off into the unknown. We left the safety of Fairport behind, and I’d never felt more exhilarated in my life; it was a wonderful experience not to be held back by my big brother and sister, a taste of freedom I hadn’t had in a long time. I really didn’t care what Nick said, and Val had promised to help but had just kept putting my concerns on the back burner.
We pulled into the empty parking lot, and Claire sucked in a deep breath. “So far, so good. I don’t see anything.”
“Good. Let’s hope it stays that way. You ready?”
She nodded, then reached for an axe, a shovel, and a flashlight.
I shut the car door as quietly as possible and looked around. A full moon peered out from behind fluffy nighttime clouds. The moonlight cast an eerie glow as shadows flickered and danced. I studied the hilltops and wondered how many zombies were lurking in those woods. Mist swirled all around me, and it was eerily quiet. Bones and skulls were scattered across the ground. Did people die here? I wondered, looking at the bones that seemed to have been picked clean. I pointed my gun ahead just in case something popped out. I wondered if death was awaiting us there, but I hoped that ominous feeling was just my imagination.
The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 14