Four (Their Dead Lives,1) (51 page)

She sat straight under the dark sky. Her legs had numerous scratches on them, luckily not one a bite. She thought about dipping her feet in the water, cleansing the wounds, but she feared leaving the alcove. They could be anywhere, she knew. But the snores struck her ears worse than death walker moans. So she left Oderly with his lover, Moonjava, and she went for the sea.
 

Sadie knocked off her leather black boots and slid her skirt down. Her black tank top dropped to the pile. In her dark demi bra and matching panties, she stepped in the water. Splashing up to her breasts, she noticed her glistening cleavage under the moonlight. She had never been insecure about her body, although her weight had fluctuated numerous times when she was younger. Most kids from Green Hills looked like models. Perhaps because of the drinking water, she laughed to herself.
I’m a model of the dark.
She would have loved to say looks meant
nothing
to her. But anyone who said that lied.
 

Crash.
 

She thought of Jeff again. How she wanted him to be at the alcove, waiting for her to make her warm.
I hope he is saving the world
. She shivered and turned for shore, wrapping both arms over her pale, shaking torso. She froze, water washing around her calves.
 

Crash.

Five shadows were standing around her clothing pile.
 

“We see you out there,” a deep voice said.
 

“Get out of the water. It’s fine,” a girl spoke next.
 

Crash.
 

Trust no one.
She saw weapons in some of their hands. However, two of them held surfboards. “What do you want?”
What else can I say?

“Just passing by and saw you in the water.” A light flashed at her eyes. She covered her breasts with one arm and her nether region with the other. She squinted against the light.
 

“Turn it off,” said Sadie.
 

“You infected?”
 

“I’m clean,” she called back.
 

“Nice,” she heard some douche say followed by a high-five. A girl in the group cursed at them.
 

Crash.
 

“Turn the light off her.” The girl approached. “I don’t want to get wet, so come out of the water. My name’s Carlin.”
 

Dive and swim for it? No, she wasn’t insane. “I’m Sadie.”
 

Crash.
 

Back at the alcove, they sat around a fire that one of the surfers had made. There were five in total including Carlin. Her boyfriend Declan kept watch at the alcove’s end with a man who went by the Baron Von Gnar-Gnar. They looked quite similar; crisp skin, brown hair with sun-kissed strands. Declan’s was much shorter than The Baron’s hair, which swung to his tight, mid-back.
 

Brothers, perhaps.
 

Around the fire, she sat next to Carlin. Very skinny, tan, bright blonde hair similar to Kelsey’s. Her face was quite narrow and her green and blue eyes gave off a lovely distraction.

The youngest, Timmy, must’ve been just under twenty. No stereotypical surfer vibe from him. Paler, a bit heavier, and silky dark hair pulled behind his ears, he had a cute boy-next-door look. He was wearing a purple and white striped shirt, its sleeves hanging almost to his forearms.
 

The last of the group, Kai, examined the wounded Moonjava. “Would’ve loved to strum this baby.”
 

“I miss her dearly,” Oderly said to him, petting the guitar.
 

Carlin touched Sadie’s knee. “So you came up from Green Hills. What’s it like living there? So nice, I’m sure.”

“It’s okay, lots of spoiled people. But good weather, good scenery, hard to complain.”
 

“I went there once,” said Timmy. “With Declan.”
 

“Doing what?” Carlin asked him.

“Surfing Lunada Bay.”
 

Declan walked over to the Baron Von Gnar-Gnar and whispered something, then returned to his side. He held a sawed-off shotgun, leaning it over his bare shoulder. Neither of them wore shirts, only board shorts. The Baron wielded a sub-machine gun, an Uzi, she believed.
 

Sadie turned to Carlin. “You were all surfing when this happened?”
 

“Yeah.” She pulled a joint from her very tight pink shorts, which rode to the top of her thighs. Kai tossed her a lighter. “My aunt has a place in Malibu. By the time we got back...” she drifted off, staring at the flames. “Well, it doesn’t matter. We traveled along the beach. Only had a few run-ins with the zombies.”
 

Death walkers. Zombies—eh, something about the word.
“Where did you get the guns? If you don’t mind me asking.”
 

Carlin passed the joint to Kai. “Not at all. The shotty belongs to Dec. Uh, not sure where Gnar-Gnar got his.”
 

Sadie smiled. “Doesn’t really matter. Better we have it than someone else.”
 

“Agreed.” Carlin poked at the flames. Her face glowed orange in the firelight as she turned to Sadie. “So this restaurant you were at, Neptune’s, right?”
 

“Yeah.”
 

“We must be pretty close. Think it’s safe to return? We’re getting hungry.”
 

“More like hangry,” said Timmy. “My veins boil without food.”
 

“Preach on, brah.” Kai offered the joint, but Timmy refused, so Kai helped himself to some more.
 

Sadie poked at the fire with Carlin. “You all seem pretty relaxed for an apocalypse.”
 

Carlin dropped her stick, letting the flames dissolve it. “We’ve been trying to keep our cool. Declan and Gnar-Gnar are tough dudes. I mean, you have to be strong during times like these. You have to be strong right away. Or—”
 

“You get eaten,” finished Sadie.
 

“Exactly.” Carlin stood and went to the end of the alcove. She wrapped an arm around Declan’s slender waist and kissed his muscular arm.

“You single?” asked Timmy, staring at Sadie.
 

Kai thwacked him. “Too soon.”

Timmy shrugged. “Sorry, I mean no harm.”
 

“I’m single,” chimed Oderly. “A widower, actually. Lost my wife.”
 

Kai’s voice turned sympathetic. “Killed by them?”
 

“No.” Oderly froze, eyes on the fire. “An elephant stepped on her.”
 

The group fell silent. Flames crackled and spat embers.
 

Carlin returned, breaking the silence. “All right guys, come morning we head to Neptune’s Retreat, load up on food, and move from there.”
 

Sadie hoped the biker zombies had left.
 

They had.
 

Early the next morning, Sadie and the others reached the bar where dozens of bodies remained, most with bullets in their heads. Jacky’s reanimated corpse, ripped in half, still crawled along the highway, but the Baron soon smashed her skull in with a bare foot.
 

They spent several nights at Neptune’s Retreat. Sadie had been on edge most the time. After all, the death walkers had raided once, why not again? But it had been smooth sailing.
 

Until she arrived.

A Spanish woman, older than Sadie and the surfers, but younger than Oderly. Quite pretty, and she had started off friendly, but by the second night, she grew cold. Possibly because Declan and Kai had been flirting with her non-stop.
 

Carlin and Sadie had spent most of their time together. Timmy always lingered nearby but didn’t say much. He was shy, Sadie knew, and found it adorably attractive in a non-sexual way.
 

The Baron Von Gnar-Gnar had kept watch, his favorite thing to do, it seemed.
 

On her second night with them, the Spanish woman, Sofia, announced, “I should get moving.”
 

“Nonsense,” Declan whispered, moving closer to her on the bar. “You’re safer here with us.”
 

She gave him a bright smile and touched his arm. “You’re brave.”
 

Declan rubbed her chin, as Kai moved closer behind her.
 

If Sofia was uncomfortable, she was good at hiding it.
 

Sadie touched Carlin’s wrist. “Doesn’t this bother you?”
 

“Dec and I have an open thing going.”
 

“Still, it’s a jerk move to do it right in front of you.”
 

“There are worse things out there than stupid boys, Sadie.” She stepped off the stool and headed for the back porch. They had cleared all the bodies when they first got there, dumping them over the cliff. But Sadie still got a shiver every time she stared at the patio.
 

The death walkers — she’d been so close to joining them. Bitten, shredded, eaten, and killed. The teeth, the clawing, the saliva, the moans. All were key ingredients to her haunting nightmare. And she thanked the Dark Dragon for keeping her alive.
 

As she made her way to the restroom, Timmy called out for her. “Have a seat with me?”
 

She hesitated, then made her way to the wooden table. He sat on the booth side, and she turned the chair as she sat across from him.
Please don’t hit on me.
“What’s up?”
 

“The other night you were talking in your sleep.”
 

I thought I quit that habit.
“What about?”
 

“Some dragon thing?” He smacked the table. “A dark dragon.”
 

“Must’ve been a dream.”
He won’t understand my beliefs...not yet.
 

“Yeah, a recurring one. Last night you mentioned it again. What’s the deal?”
 

Sadie shrugged, deliberately playing dumb. “I really don’t know.”
 

“Right.” His finger slid off the table. “Anyway, I just wanted to say, you can trust us.”
 

“Who says I don’t trust you?”
I don’t.
 

“You’re always on your guard.”
 

Sadie smiled. “We’re in an apocalypse, Tim. I’d have to be an idiot not to be on guard.”
 

With that, she left him, secluding herself in the women’s restroom. She lit a candle she’d found in the kitchen earlier, keeping the orange flame close. She shut her eyes.
I hope you look over them. My family. Kelsey. Nicole. And Jeff. Keep them safe with your fire. Keep them pure within the dark. And I shall always be yours.
 

The orange flame flickered as someone knocked on the door. “I’ll be out in a second.”
 

The door opened. She leapt to her feet, ready to throw the candle at anyone dangerous.
Declan?

Timmy.
 

She said, “What the hell are you doing?”
 

His voice shook. “I’m scared. You seem so brave.”
 

She was cornered in the stall as he stretched both hands across the opening. “Get your shit together and you’ll be fine.”
 

“You pray to that dragon. I heard you before, late at night. And I hear it in your sleep. You seem at peace every time.” Timmy backed away, pressing against the sinks. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you or anything. I just, I want to feel as safe as you feel.”
 

Sadie stepped from the stall, lowering the candle to the counter. She grabbed Timmy’s soft hand.
Too soft.
“The Dragon does protect me.”
 

“How?”

He may be fucking with me, or maybe he does want to believe.
“I’ll show you.”
 

Maybe.

KALE
 

Kale’s adolescent dreams died as he dropped the body off the cliff. It spun down, becoming a mere dot before vanishing beneath crashing waves.
I’ll see you, Alec.
 

Kale turned. The Embracer from high school was standing before him. A black hood shadowed the old creature’s face, revealing only a grey beard.
 

“Now what?” said Kale.
 

The Embracer said nothing, only watched.

“I did what you wanted. I killed him for you. So, tell me what to do.”
 

The Embracer turned its back to Kale and walked toward the highway.
What the hell? “
Jeff and the others will return to the clinic soon, we should ambush them,” he suggested.

He received a nod, but nothing more.
 

“Are you a mute? What’s your name? How did you become like this?”
 

The Embracer paused. Still silent.
 

“Should I give you a name, then? How about Beardsy?”

The Embracer kept walking.
 

“Okay, that name sucks.” He stared at the fluttering black robe as he sped. “Cloaky? Cloak? Yea, Cloak is an awesome name.” He felt no disagreement on Cloak’s part. Perhaps it liked the name. Or perhaps it wanted Kale to shut his mouth.
I suppose it doesn’t matter.
 

They went to her.
 

Nicole was bound to a tree, arms tied around its trunk by a filthy piece of rope. Her skin was stained with dirt and cuts. Her eyes opened, her head weak on her heavily bruised neck.
 

Kale glanced at Cloak. “You left her here alone? What if the zombies came for her?”
 

Typical, Cloak didn’t answer.
 

Maybe the Eradicator kept them off her.
Kale stepped to Nicole, unsure of what to say, not that it really mattered.
 

Her chapped lips broke open. “Kale?”
 

“Nicole.” He nodded. They had removed the bandage on her head. A large healing gash ran under her hair. Collateral damage during the yacht attack. Light brown strands of hair were plastered to her face. Kale brushed them off her cheek with his blood-stained hand. She shivered at his touch. “I won’t hurt you.”