Chasing Colorado: (The Zombie Zovels #2)

by D. K Lake

  “Okay,” He leaned over and planted a kiss on my forehead.

  That was the most intimate we were going to get from now on, a kiss on the cheek or the forehead, still, I think Josh thought my forehead was reserved for his lips only as he death-stared Lane when he leaned back. I pointed at a tree, my way of saying I was going to use the bathroom. After I had emptied my bladder I went around to the back of the van to find a blanket but Lane was one step ahead of me and already had the door open, pulling out my blanket, it was the same one I kept in my cell and used every night. Lane opened the side door for me.

  “You know, I can still open doors, I'm not completely retarded yet.”

  “What, a man can't open a door for a lady anymore?” Lane smirked.

  “Since when was Alex ever a lady?” Luke said, rolling out a sleeping bag.

  “Goodnight, Lane.” I said, climbing in and signaling Stacey to move her ass.

  She slid across the seat.

  “I'm sleeping here, you can sleep in the back.” I said.

  “I need to pee.” she said, licking her lips, having just finished her food packet.

  “Then I suggest you get out and pee before Josh locks us in, I get the feeling he might.”

  “He's so protective of you. He hates me.” Stacey grumbled, scowling at me like this was all my fault she was in this predicament. “And Luke hates me.”

  “They don't hate you.”

  “Then why have they stuck me back in the van?”

  “Look, Stacey, Josh is pissed with you, so am I. You shouldn't have come. So yeah, Josh and Luke aren't going to be over the top friendly with you right now. And the only reason you're back in the van is because Luke is trying to protect you, not because he hates you. Why do you think I'm in here? Because they think it's safer for me in here, not out there. So be grateful you're not sharing a sleeping bag outside with a bunch of creepy crawlies and frickin' zombies. So stop bitching and go pee.”

  She slid the other door open.

  “And don't get eaten while you're gone.” I said, trying to rattle her.

  She wrinkled her brow and looked back outside a little wary.

  “I was joking. Just stay close to the group.”

  Josh was already on his way around to see what was going on.

  “Where are you going?” Josh asked.

  “I need to use the toilet, I've been stuck in this van since this morning.” Stacey replied, climbing out.

  “And whose fault is that?” Josh said, leading her away by the arm.

  I slid the door shut again, and laid down on the seat, building myself a pillow with my spare sweatshirt, and then I covered myself with my blanket. Five minutes later Stacey clambered back into the van, managing to clumsily climb all over me on her way into the back seat. I closed my eyes, listening to Lena and Evan laughing, and Luke cracking jokes. I could already feel sleep creeping up on me. At this rate, I would sleep my way into becoming a zombie, or a deadbie as Drew liked to call them. Stacey grumbled in the back seat for another five minutes about how uncomfortable it was, what she was really grumbling about was being left out of the group, I could just imagine her face was pressed up against the glass, watching the group. I didn't bother to turn around to see what she was doing and instead, I tried to ignore her. I got to hear about how she was going to have a bad back tomorrow. If she had actually thought about it for a minute she would realize sleeping outside on the hard ground would probably be worse for her back. I had to bite my tongue, all I wanted to do was to tell her to shut up, but she would most likely break down in tears and I didn't want to listen to it. I covered my ears and soon fell under and into the dream world of sleep, where people were people and nothing else, people were smiling and happy, I didn't know anyone but I didn't care as everyone I met was happy to see me, I randomly thought halfway through the dream that I had crossed over and I was dead-dead. Here there was no death, no zombies, no weapons, just flowers, flowers everywhere.

  A hooting owl woke me up some time later, pulling me from my very, very colorful dream, I sat up and looked around, no flowers, no happy faces, just the dark night and the hidden terrors lurking in the trees.

  Not dead yet. I thought.

  The fire was out, and Stacey was finally asleep. Her heavy breathing was borderline freaky, she wasn't snoring, just breathing really, really loudly, she sounded almost like one of the zombies. I peeked over the seat at her just to check I wasn't imagining things and it was definitely Stacey. She was flat out on her back, with an arm draped over the side of the seat. After all that complaining she did, she looked pretty comfortable now. I looked out the side window, the moonlight was faint but I could still make out the figures on the ground, all fast asleep, I counted six and picked out Lane easily enough, he was the longest one stretched out on the ground. There were three close together, I assumed it was Lena, and two of the boys. Another two sleeping bodies were sleeping opposite ends to each other but still close, which I could just make out were Josh and Luke. I saw movement in the trees just behind the group and temporarily froze, my eyes fixed on the spot. Whatever it was disappeared behind a tree and I started searching the van for anything, a bat, a knife, a shoe. But a faint tap on the window made me jump. I looked over my shoulder and saw Drew with a lighter in his hand looking back at me. He flicked it off and quietly opened the side door.

  “There was something in the trees over there.” I whispered, trying to see over his shoulder.

  “Yeah, it was me.” he replied in a hushed tone, leaning against the side of the van.

  I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Any sign of anything?”

  “No, nothing, just us and the trees.” he said, checking his pocket watch before sliding it back into his pocket.

  “An owl woke me up, and now I need to use the bathroom.”

  Drew lit a cigarette. “Not you as well, those things will kill you.” I said, climbing out but somehow ended up falling out.

  Drew just managed to save me before I face planted the ground.

  “Err, thanks.” I said, still holding onto his arm until I was able to stand up straight and not klutz over again like some moronic idiot.

  “I think the only thing that's likely to kill me around here is you.” he said, throwing a crooked smile my way.

  “Ha ha, well, Robin Hood, if I threaten to start biting people you can shoot me with ya bow thingy.”

  “Bow thingy?”

  “Yeah, your bow thingy.”

  “I think Robin Hood had a different type of bow to me, and anyway, I'm sure Robin Hood wouldn't shoot Maid Marion.”

  “I am no Maid Marion.”

  “I think your boyfriend and friends think differently. If you weren't that important they wouldn't be out here, risking their lives for you.” he said it in a way he didn't totally approve of it.

  “Just say it,” I said.

  “Say what?”

  “You think this is a wasted journey and they're all living on cloud nine if they think there's a cure.”

  “Yeah, but I wasn't going to say it out loud.”

  “Don't worry, I'm on the same wavelength as you, but Lane needs this. I don't know how well he is going to do when I'm gone.”

  “He'll manage, like the rest of us, you just find a way to go on, what other choice is there? And just for the record, I wouldn't ever shoot you, I'd just muzzle you.” he joked, walking back down the grass verge, around Lane's long legs and over to a log.

  I leaned back into the van and grabbed my bottle of water, I had even labeled the thing, Alex, so no one else would touch it.

  I gingerly crept around Lane, his snoring was on quiet mode tonight, if it had been anything like his usual snoring I'm sure Drew and the others would have ordered him to sleep in the van.

  I quickly ducked behind a tree to pee then I hurried back over to Drew and sat my ass next to his on the log. He sipped on his own water bottle then stuck his cigarette back in his mouth.

  I wrapped my arms aro
und myself, watching the trees around us.

  “You'd hear them coming. At night, they're not very graceful.” Drew said, following my line of sight.

  “So what's your story?” I asked, trying not to talk too loud as I didn't want to wake anyone.

  “I don't have one.”

  “Everyone has a story.”

  He didn't respond right away, instead, he thought about it and took another swig of his water.

  “What's yours? How did you end up at the prison?” he asked.

  “Um... I originally started off in Washington.”

  “It rains there.” he said.

  “Uh, yeah it does. And you're from Louisiana?”

  “Yep, southern to the core, but we weren't talking about me yet.”

  “Fine.” I smiled. “Well, from Washington, I traveled to Oregon, which is where I met up with Lane. But we actually went to school together-”

  “And you just bumped into each other in Oregon?” he interrupted me.

  “He was in a safe house before.”

  “Let me guess, his parents were Doctors?”

  “One was a Doctor, one was a University Professor.”

  “What about yours?” he asked.

  “Just a stay-at-home mom and a dad that was crazy about guns.”

  “Can you shoot?” Drew asked.

  “Yep, but I've had my gun confiscated at present.” I said, looking at Josh as he fidgeted around in his sleeping bag.

  “So... he has a thing for you as well?” Drew said, looking at Josh.

  “I don't really know what he has for me. But.. I guess he cares about me.”

  “And the kid?”

  “Stacey?”

  “No, the little kid, I saw you with her before you went into town.”

  “Oh, Ozma, um, she's not mine, but I was caring for her.”

  “You miss her?”

  I nodded.

  “Do you have any kids?” I asked, but regretted it as soon as the words had left my mouth. What if he did have kids, kids that were no longer alive.

  “Nope, no kids. So where did you go from Oregon?”

  “Idaho then onto Utah.”

  “Did you walk, run, drive, fly?”

  “We walked a long way but we had a van for a long while which was a nice break from walking.”

  “Did you start looking after Ozma when you arrived at the prison?”

  “No, we met these two... carefree potheads, and one got bitten...and I shot the other one in the head after he had kissed his girlfriend and coated himself in her blood and zombie saliva. But please don't repeat that to anyone, the only other person that knows I shot Ozma's dad is Lane.” I looked sideways at him, he took a drag and turned to look at me.

  “Well, there's no point in prolonging it, if it's gonna happen it's gonna happen.” he said.

  “So I should just shoot myself now?”

  “With what?” Drew chuckled. “Boyfriend number two is holding your gun hostage in his pants.”

  I laughed, a little louder than I should have and Lena stirred and rolled onto her side.

  “So how old are you?” I asked.

  “I thought it was rude to ask someone their age?” he replied, stubbing out his cigarette on the log.

  “I think that only applies to women, old women.”

  He grinned and flicked his butt end into the trees in no rush to tell me.

  “Okay, fine, if I was to guess, I would say late twenties, maybe thirty, possibly early thirties, but I'd be really surprised if you're any older, but you might have aged well, though.”

  “Let's just go with thirty.”

  “Thirty?”

  “Yeah, thirty. What are you losing your hearing as well now? I didn't know that was a symptom of a deadbie.” he said jokingly.

  “Shut up.” I playfully shoved him.

  “And you?” he asked.

  “Nineteen.”

  “Still a teen.” he said, screwing the cap back on his water bottle.

  “How do you know these guys?” I asked, referring to Lena and the two boys that were either side of her.

  “I used to go shooting with Evan, and buy his ammo for him 'cause he wasn't old enough back then. The first time I met him, he walked up to me in a convenience store parking lot and asked me to go inside and buy him a six pack of beer... threatening to slash my tires if I refused.”

  “What! Did you?”

  “Yeah I did, and we've been good friends ever since.”

  “And Dan?”

  “He grew up with Evan and they went to school together.”

  “And Lena is Evan's girlfriend.” I said.

  “Yep.”

  “So... did you leave anyone important behind in Louisiana?”

  “Just my sister, she was fine when I left, and I like to believe that she's still fine.”

  We both heard a rustle behind us coming from the trees.

  “Stay here!” he ordered, grabbing his crossbow and disappearing into the trees in a blink of an eye.

  I stayed on the log, listening for any sounds or movement, straining my ears. I had no weapon but I could see Lane's bat lying next to him, I knew I could grab that if I needed to in a hurry.

  Drew reappeared and came back over to the log.

  “It was just a couple of rabbits.” he said, lifting a leg over the log.

  I shivered a little from the coldness, I was still fully dressed in my black leggings, boots, and wearing a hoodie but there was a cool chill in the air.

  “Here,” Drew jumped up and came back over with a sleeping bag.

  He unzipped it and I started shaking my head. He playfully mimicked my shaking head and rolled it out on the ground in front of the log.

  “Hop in.” he said.

  “No, I can't, that's yours.”

  “I think it will be okay, unless you dribble uncontrollably all over it.”

  “I'm not a dribbler.”

  “Then you have no excuse not to get in it.”

  I took the edge of the sleeping bag and slid inside, and leaned up on my elbow to face him while he got comfortable on the log again.

  “What do you miss the most?” he asked randomly.

  I smiled before answering, taking a moment to picture my mom and dad. I never spoke about my parents or anything from before.

  “My mom, my dad, my best friend, Pip, bubble baths, my bed, my mom's dodgy Indian cooking, my stereo, oh and Netflix.”

  “I miss the weekends.” he said, resting his crossbow across his lap.

  “The weekends?”

  “Yeah, I used to work all week and look forward to the weekends... now there's nothing to look forward to anymore.”

  I tucked my arm under my head and thought about how right he was, I used to look forward to the weekends as well, the two days I got to be away from school and be with my family.

  I closed my eyes for a second and wondered why Drew's sleeping bag smelled of the ocean, like a sudden burst of refreshing sea air, somewhere along that trail of thought I fell asleep and straight into dreamland. I was never a dreamer before, yes the odd dream here and there, but not two in one night. I found myself moving from dream to dream, from school corridors to flowery meadows, and finally to a sandy beach, and Drew was there with me. While I was looking down at my feet and thinking how soft the sand felt between my toes, Drew scooped me up into his arms and carried me into the sea. He gently lowered me into the water, it was warm and felt like silk against my skin. I dipped my head under the water and when I came back up, I opened my eyes to the morning sunshine, and people moving around. I was back in Zombie-land. I sat up and realized I was still in Drew's sleeping bag. I wriggled out and quickly took off my hoodie and tied it around my waist, I had overcooked in the sleeping bag and was now a sweaty mess. I grabbed my water bottle and was only going to take a few mouthfuls but my throat was super dry and my glands felt slightly swollen this morning. I ended up downing half the bottle. I looked around for Drew and found him chatting to Dan a
t the top of the grassy verge, I wondered where he had slept as I had fallen asleep in his bag. As I stood up and stretched my legs, I saw three bodies face down on the road. Three dead bodies. Three deadbies.

  Chapter 7

  Day 3

  Sore throat, like a raging cold is on the horizon.

  “Hey, what were you doing in Drew's sleeping bag? He said you got cold.” Lane said, walking over to me.

  “Huh...no, I had to... um, use the bathroom in the night and then I got chatting to Drew while he was on watch.”

  “You should have kicked me out of my bag.” Lane said with a hint of jealousy in his tone.

  “Lane!” Luke called.

  Luke had the hood up, and grease all over his hands and arms.

  “Yeah, comin'.” Lane called back, and begrudgingly left my side and jogged back to the van.

  I followed him back to the van where the rest of the group was spread out.

  “Hello,” Drew greeted me when I reached the van.

  “Hey.” I replied.

  Dan didn't say anything to me and turned to Drew and carried on their conversation as if I was invisible.

  I joined Lena and Stacey sitting on the road, I was surprised Josh had even let Stacey out of the van.

  “What did you have to do to get them to let you out?” I asked, sitting down next to Lena.

  “I have to stay in sight.” Stacey mumbled.

  “And if she wants to use the potty she has to ask nicely and one of us will take her.” Josh said, walking over to us.

  “So what's going on with the van?” I asked.

  “They're just trying to see if they can get it to start.”

  “How's it lookin'?” Evan asked, walking out from a bush on the other side of the road.

  “Not great, Luke thinks it's dead.” Josh said, but his face changed and his eyes bolted to me, panicking he had said the wrong word...dead.

  “We should start organizing everything we need to carry.” I said.

  Josh nodded. “We've got an extra donkey now.” Josh said, looking at Stacey.

  “You can carry the water bottles.” he added.

  “Okay, give it a go.” Luke said, tilting his head to the side to look at Josh.