“Apologies don’t mean anything if you’d do the same crap over again…and you would.”
He was right, and I couldn’t argue with that, so I kept quiet.
Nick paced in a circle, his brows drawn. I’d never seen him so mad…or scared. “We’re in North Carolina. And our original destination is 600 miles away. I say we head back home which is 500 miles away. It’s going to take us three times as long to get back because we can only go certain routes.” He shook my shoulder as his voice thundered again. “Do you have any clue how dangerous it is out here? Do you? Well, I guess you never had a reason to think about it, all holed up safe and sound on the other side of those city walls on an island.”
I pushed him back as hard as I could. “Death and gore…it’s all people have been talking about for months, but—”
His blue eyes were intense, and I knew with one flash of them how pissed he was at me. “But nothing! You have no idea. This land is crawling with zombies that want nothing more than to eat our brains. You’ve been sheltered in the city since the breakout of the virus. While you’re out flirting with girls, going to school, and trying to live a normal life, the other troops and I have been out here in…in hell. I’ve seen it up close and personal, and I can tell you it ain’t pretty. In fact, it’s probably worse than those stories you’ve been hearing.”
“You’re treating me like a kid,” I admonished; I hated when he did that.
“Fine. Well, if you want to grow up, now’s the time.” He thrust his gun into my hands. “You’ve always begged me to be part of the action. Here’s your chance. You’re eighteen now, and I’ve protected you from all this ugliness long enough.”
“I don’t need your protection, Nick. I can take care of myself—and of Val if I need to.”
“Spoken like a true idiot. But anyway, keep that attitude. Even if it’s a load of crap you tell yourself, you’re going to need a bit of that cocky nonsense to survive.”
“I know it’s a hard, cruel world outside the city, but I can handle it. I’m a survivor!”
“Love your attitude. I just hope you’re prepared because you’re going to have to fight like you’ve never fought before.”
“Fine. You want me to take down some zombies? I’m up for that.” It wasn’t that I’d had much experience at such a thing, but I was sure it couldn’t possibly be that difficult to defeat a mindless army of already-dead freaks who walked around stumbling over everything. I’d been taking lessons at the shooting gallery all year, and I’d pretty much amazed myself.
“You’ll have plenty of chances to mow down some zombies later, trust me. Right now, though, you have to get rid of our other little problem.”
“What problem?”
“You’ve gotta kill her. You have to kill the girl and put her out of her misery.”
“What the heck are you talking about? I’m not killing anyone unless they’re dead already and trying to gnaw on my leg like a drumstick.”
“But leaving her to her fate is just…it’s cruel.”
My heart lurched. “No way.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re such a liar. You didn’t just meet her. How long have you been hiding your secret girlfriend from us?”
Girlfriend? She’s pretty and everything, but that’s just wrong. “It’s not like that, man. I really did just meet her.”
“Here’s your chance to be a man, Dean. A real man has to make tough decisions—decisions that will save his own life and the lives of his trusted comrades. This girl—this Val—will kill you in a heartbeat, giving no thought to all your pillow talk or those cute little hearts she scribbled around your name in her diary. Leaving your friend here to face her fate is heartless and cold. If you care about her at all, whether you just met her or have been seeing her for months, please be a man and put a bullet in her head for all our sakes.”
I shook my head violently. He would never forgive himself, just like I wouldn’t.
“I’ve had to make hard decisions myself,” Nick continued, unfazed. “For goodness sake, I even walked in on my zombie girlfriend devouring a couple of my best friends. Shooting her was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do…but it had to be done, so I pulled the trigger.”
I shot him a hard look. “Who are you? You’re so cold, so heartless—not the big brother I grew up with. Protecting the city and killing zombies has made you a merciless killer.”
“We have to face the reality of the situation. I know what she’ll become. Except for the first night it happened, you’ve never seen it outside of television reports, but I have.”
“You’ve changed, Nick. When you suited up for the Army, you became…different. You talk about her becoming a monster, but maybe you should take a good look at yourself.”
He cocked a brow. “You’re calling me a monster? Really?”
I nodded. Even though I could see the way he clenched his fists, I kept going. “Just look at you. You’re somebody else. I don’t even recognize you anymore.”
His eyes narrowed into slits, as if he might argue for a moment, and then they softened with the pain of the truth. “Well, yeah. I guess being out here all the time…well, it changes you.”
I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I just wanted to get Val and get out of there before the army of the undead showed up. “Val’s coming with us, and that’s final.”
“Dean, come on. Don’t you get it? Once she dies…” He threw his hands up in the air to make his point. “Look, I’ve seen it myself. When they come back—when she comes back—they aren’t people anymore. Give me the gun, and I’ll do it myself.”
“Don’t you dare!” I shouted. I wanted to pound the idiot so hard. “Listen—”
Grabbing the gun out of my hands, he cocked it and pointed down at Val’s head. “We’re doing her a favor. Besides, she’ll try to eat us the second we fall asleep. Is that what you want, little brother? I mean, I’m sure you would love her to nibble on your ear and all, but not literally.”
Ignoring his attempt at sick humor, I jumped into the path of the gun.
“You’re pathetic,” he shouted. “Just move out of the way.”
I flung up my arms like a madman. “No! Put down the gun! You can’t kill her.”
Nick shook his head. “You’re emotional, not thinking straight. She’s as good as dead anyway.”
I hadn’t gone through all of that just to watch my brother murder the girl before my very own eyes. I lunged at him, but Nick twisted and dodged me; his military training had paid off. I lunged again and shoved him hard, and he threw me full force on to the ground. Crap!
Cool, calm, and collected, my brother aimed the gun at Val’s head. Obviously, it wasn’t his first time, and I was sure it wouldn’t be his last.
“You can’t do it,” I shouted. “She’s…”
“What, Dean? Why is this girl so important to you?”
I couldn’t believe he was being so cruel, so nasty. “She’s…we can’t kill her because Val is our sister!” And just like that, I’d played my trump card. Even worse, I’d broken my promise to Mom not to say one word to my brother.
He lowered the gun as confusion washed over him. “What? Our sister? Either you’re lying or you hit your head harder than I thought when we crashed.”
“It’s the truth, I swear.” I sat up carefully, but I didn’t inch any closer. I didn’t want him to flip out and shoot her just because he felt threatened or even more pissed. “You pull that trigger, and you’ll be murdering our flesh and blood, our very own sister.”
The gun trembled in his hands. “I…I don’t believe you.”
“I know it’s a lot to swallow. I just found out this morning. Mom and Dad have been keeping the entire thing a secret. You just can’t—not now that we know who she is.”
Nick met my gaze. “How do you know this is true? You got any proof?”
“For starters, look at her. Who else do you know with blue eyes and brown hair in those exact shades?”
He shi
fted his stance. “There are a lot of blue-eyed brunettes in the world. That doesn’t mean we’re all related.”
“You know what I’m talking about. Look at her! She looks just like us!” I shouted. “Just look! She has Mom’s nose and Dad’s chin. Take a real good look. Deep down, you can’t deny it. Just open your eyes for once and ignore the rules and protocols. Some things aren’t so black and white, and you can’t just kill your sister because it’s in the rule book.”
He stared down hard at her, as if taking in every feature. “You’re…you’re right. She’s the spitting image of us. If it’s true, why didn’t Mom and Dad tell us? Why did they keep her a secret?”
I let out a long sigh. “They gave her away when they were teenagers. She’s two years older than you.”
“Two years, huh? That makes her twenty-four.” He pushed the gun into his waistband and then ran a hand through his hair as emotion overwhelmed him. “You shoulda told me right off the bat.”
“Like I said, I just found out. Besides, I promised Mom I wouldn’t say anything. She wanted to tell you in her own way…later today.”
“So how did you find out?”
“I overheard Val talking to Mom. I couldn’t believe it.” I pulled out a vial from my black satchel; it contained the precious green serum.
“You stole for her too?”
“She’s not just any girl. She’s our sister. Should we give her some and see if it works? Doc seems to think it will do the trick.”
“It could kill her, like the last guy,” he snapped. “I don’t know what to say, what to do. I do know we’ll never make it to a city before she turns into a full-fledged monster. Wouldn’t that look great on the front of the family Christmas card? Yeah, she’ll make a lovely addition to the family reunion next year.”
“We have to do something. Like you said, we can’t just leave her to her fate.”
He crossed his arms. “You hold the possible formula in your hands, right?”
“Right.”
“So why haven’t you put it to good use already?”
“Well, Doc says it won’t work during the transformation. We can’t give it to her until she actually becomes a zombie. That’s how the formula works. The problem was, General Lofters planned to execute her right away, as soon as he found out she’d been bitten. And you know darn well there’re no exceptions.”
“So what do you propose? We wait, invite her to lunch, and then hand her a cup of tea? She’ll rip our heads off as soon as she turns. I’ve seen how these things work…and eat. They’re almost unstoppable.”
“She couldn’t wait to meet you,” I said. “You’re her little brother.”
“Yeah, right. You mean she couldn’t wait to eat me.” He shook his head. “Play the guilt card, why don’t you?” Then he swiftly picked up Val and cradled her close. “It’s not safe out here.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“Well, what are you waiting for? I’ve got sister dearest, so let’s go.”
I nodded and swung the black bag of vials over my shoulder. “You’re going to love her when you meet her.”
“Maybe, as long as she doesn’t get hungry.”
Chapter 4
Nick and I took turns carrying Val. My arms clasped beneath her body to hold her in place. I struggled along the woody path, intent to keep up with Nick, even though he didn’t seem to want to make it easy on me. Granted, he was still pissed that I hadn’t told him about our sister right away, but knowing I had saved her life was my personal redemption and justification. I released a long, settling breath and moved the thicket out of the way; still, the deeper we moved into the woods, the denser the thicket became. To make matters worse, Val’s long hair almost trailed down to the ground, and I had to be mindful of it so it wouldn’t get caught in anything and hurt her. It seemed to me that she should have woken up already, but as the seconds and minutes ticked by, I began to worry that she might not ever wake up again.
“Are you okay?” Nick asked hesitantly after what seemed like an eternity. I noticed his worry lines straight away as his gaze shifted from Val to me then back to Val, as though he couldn’t make up his mind whether to forgive me for the sake of our sister or keep being a jerk about it. “Let me take her,” he muttered, grabbing her out of my arms.
I opened my mouth to thank him, but he’d already turned his back on me, leaving me standing in the middle of nowhere while he continued his march.
For the next hour, Nick carried Val without complaint. The bulging veins in his arms and neck told me his muscles were nearly at their point of fatigue.
Unable to watch his struggle any longer, I put my arms under her. “Hey, man. It’s my turn again. Take a break and let me carry her for a while.”
He jutted out his elbow, and ignored me as if I was nothing more than some pesky fly.
We spotted a trail and decided to follow it. It was a brilliant stroke of luck, because we soon came to a clearing, and our pathway ended at an overgrown dirt road. Nick was hopeful that there was a city nearby, so we started to walk off to the side.
I tried not to worry about Val, but it was difficult to put her failing condition out of my mind. “I wonder when she’ll wake up,” I said.
“Don’t go getting all worked up over it. This is completely normal.” He shrugged, as though he’d seen it all before—and he had. “During transformation, she’ll have these long sleeping spells.”
I nodded and then pointed at a green metal sign. “Next town’s just a mile away. We need to get our hands on some emergency supplies.”
“Yeah, especially food and water, but also a car and gas, if we can get our hands on any.”
“Guns and ammo too,” I chimed in.
“Right! A heck of a lot of ammo!”
A smile spread across my lips as my mind began to race, searching for ways we might get out of the predicament we found ourselves in. “If we can’t find guns and ammo, there’re always chainsaws. We could check garages.”
Nick shook his head. “Nah. They’re too noisy and might attract more zombies. Besides that, chainsaws weigh around ten pounds, compared to two-pound weapons like machetes, crowbars, trench spikes, or baseball bats. Remember, we’re looking for anything that can crush or decapitate a skull in one blow. If it can’t, there’s no use lugging it around.”
I was impressed; Nick sure knew his business. “Great tips, Mr. Zombie Hunter,” I said with a laugh.
“This is serious stuff, Dean. Let your guard down once—just once—and you’re a dead man. Even worse, you might get others killed in the process. Got it?”
I nodded, even though Nick’s back was still turned on me.
We walked as fast as we could, remaining silent. My nerves were on edge, and my ears strained to pick up any unusual sound, but the only noise I could hear was the steady thump-thump of my heart, beating like a drum in my ears.
I broke the silence first. “So, we’re gonna get ourselves a cool set of wheels? I like that idea.”
“It’s not exactly a shopping spree. Going into town at all is risky. Our goal has to be to get in, get what we need, and get out—as quickly as possible. You got that?” Nick said without turning.
“Yeah, I got it.” His camouflage shirt stuck to his sweaty back. I wished he’d let me take a turn carrying Val.
We walked for another minute or so before footsteps thudded behind us. I swung around, ready to battle whoever it was. As I squinted against the glaring sun, I made out two figures in the distance, running straight toward us. My first thought was to run away, but then I came to my senses. Zombies can’t run that fast. Who could that possibly be?
“Quick, take Val!” Nick handed our sister to me and whipped out his pistol.
I could only make out long hair, so I figured we were being approached by women. “It looks like a couple of girls, running from something. Put the gun down, Nick!”
Ignoring me, Nick held his weapon steady. “No! One of them has a weapon. Don’t you
know the first rule of survival out here in Zombie Land?”
“Huh? But—”
“Take no chances!”
“Don’t shoot!” a female voice shouted.
“Drop your weapon!” Nick shouted.
She dropped it on the ground and raised her hands in the air. “It’s a stun gun.”
I craned my neck to get a better glimpse as she inched closer. Fear mirrored in her wide, green eyes. Her dark hair hung over her skinny shoulders in long, disheveled clumps. From the looks of her, she’d fallen in the mud while running. A pair of sandals dangled from her hands, and her bare feet were black and dirty.
“Please don’t hurt us!” she yelled again. “We’re already being followed by zombies.”
The cute brunette with blonde streaks was a teenager about my age. In spite of being sweaty and dirty, she still looked hot in plaid shorts and a black shirt that showed off her tan midriff and navel piercing. I tried not to stare, but she was gorgeous.
Nick refused to put his gun down. “Have you been bitten or scratched in any way?”
She gasped for air. “No! I swear we haven’t.”
He slowly lowered his arm, but hesitation was clearly written on his face. “C’mon then, we need to keep moving.”
The girl sighed relieved. “Thanks.” A frown appeared across her forehead as she reached down and picked up her stun gun.
Nick resumed his previous brisk pace.
The girl rushed to keep up. “I’m Jackie.”
My brother kept moving but shot her a glance. “Nice to meet you. I’m Nick, and this is my brother Dean.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, stepping carefully over a few moss-covered logs. If I took one wrong step, Val would fly right out of my arms.
Jackie stomped down on a large fern in her path. “It’s nice to meet you too. And this is my cousin, Claire.”
I turned my attention to the redhead standing behind her, wondering how I could’ve missed her before. The girl was in her early twenties. She wore a sundress with a low V-neck and was pretty cute herself. Though she didn’t speak, the look on her pale face told me all I needed to know: She was scared to death.
Suspending Reality (Five Fantasy Stories) Page 8