Journal of the Undead (Book 1): Littleville Uprising (26 page)

When she received no response, Emma groaned.
Oh no.
She climbed over a pile of rubble to reach the woman. Gently shaking the woman’s shoulder, Emma again asked if she was okay. The woman’s head flopped lifelessly to the side. With two fingers, Emma pressed against the woman’s throat, feeling for a pulse that was not there. The baby continued to suckle, unaware that its mother was dead.

Emma’s eyes welled with tears as she lifted the infant from its dead mother’s arms. It broke her heart knowing the poor little one would have no memory of his mother.
At least I have that
, Emma thought, mourning their loss. Supporting the neck, Emma gently scooped the child up. The baby turned his head and moaned. She glanced down at the infant and shrieked. The baby’s gray-green face was thickly smeared with his mother’s blood. The realization that zombie infants had their own twist on breast-feeding made Emma queasy. Slowly, the tiny monster had been gnawing a tunnel through his mother’s chest cavity. Horrified, she threw the baby down onto the hard concrete before slamming the butt of her rifle into the baby’s skull.

Evan rushed to Emma’s side, skidding to a halt as she pulled the baby’s blanket over its crushed head. Together, they checked the rest of the stores for survivors. After disposing of the remaining zombies, Evan started a fire to destroy the remains. As flames licked at the pile of rotting flesh, Evan escorted Emma back to the truck. Cruising down the road, Emma remembered the injured man.

“What happened to those two guys?” Emma asked.

“They told me they were headed to one of those Quick Care Clinics just down the road. They didn’t waste any time getting out of here, that’s for sure.”

Emma hoped that the men would be all right but the odds were not in their favor.

After a long, exhausting day, a new challenge was on the horizon. In his mind, Evan debated the pros and cons of stopping for the night. They had lost so much time on the turnpike and he sensed that everyone else was just as exhausted as he was but he pressed on, trying to regain as much ground as possible.

After polishing off another sandwich, Matt volunteered to drive so Evan could rest. A few miles later, he was serenaded by snores as everyone drifted off to sleep.

***

A smile crept across Emma’s sleeping face. In her dream she was wearing a flowing white dress with a long train. Evan, in an elegant tuxedo, was waiting for her at the end of a long aisle. Matt escorted Emma, walking in sync with the music toward the altar. Evan reached for her hand just as a pain unlike anything she had ever felt shot through her stomach. Screaming, Emma reached for Evan but she was whisked away. She wanted to find Evan but the pains were coming faster and faster. A bright, blinding light was shining into Emma’s eyes and she couldn’t see. An unfamiliar voice was telling her to push.
Push
, Emma thought,
push what
? As her eyes grew accustomed to the light she saw Evan by her side and holding her hand. A voice kept telling her to push as violent pain rippled through her body. Emma looked up and saw a doctor and nurse, masked and gowned, looking between her legs under a blanket. Her stomach was massive and swollen. Embarrassed, Emma looked away but Evan cupped her face in his hands. He looked older and somehow more like his father.

“One more,” the dream Evan told her. Suddenly, there were cheers and applause.

“It’s a boy!” the nurse exclaimed.

Emma begged to see her baby. A tiny wriggling body swaddled in a thick, soft blanket was placed in her waiting arms. Emma smoothed the blanket back from the baby’s face. Her newborn son turned his head and she looked into his lifeless eyes. His skin was rotted, sloughing off, and a terrible moan bubbled from his blood-filled mouth …

Emma jolted awake. It took a moment for her to remember where she was. Panicked, she clutched her flat, tight stomach. She exhaled and smiled at her own silliness. At ease again, Emma’s heavy eyelids drooped closed again and she drifted off to sleep.

***

The squeal of tires and the glare of headlights reflecting off of guardrails made her jump. At first Emma thought she was dreaming, but the truck was spinning out of control. The acrid smell of burning rubber stung her nostrils and made her eyes water. The front bumper clipped a road sign as the truck came to a screeching halt. There was only a split second of silence before the shouting began. Evan was furious.

“Seriously? I can’t even take a quick nap without everything falling apart” Evan growled, berating Matt for his driving. “Reckless driving is unacceptable!”

“I wasn’t driving recklessly,” Matt bellowed back. “Something ran out in front of the truck so I swerved to miss it.”

“
Really
? Something
ran out
, huh? Funny, I don’t see anything out there. You fell asleep at the wheel, didn’t you?”

Kate was trapped, sandwiched between the boys as they hurled insults back and forth. She tried to keep the peace but, in reality, she was merely the buffer preventing them from throwing punches. Frightened by the shouting, Lucy inched closer and closer to Emma. As the argument raged on, Emma noticed something stirring in the shadows. She hoped it was just the glare from the headlights playing tricks with her eyes. When a couple of flesh-eaters shuffled directly into the light, she could no longer hope. Placing a hand on Matt’s shoulder, Emma tried to get his attention. She needed the boys to quit bickering long enough to annihilate the monsters. Instead, Matt turned his attack on her, accusing Emma of taking Evan’s side. Astonished, she tried to get Evan’s help but he behaved just as badly.

Irritated by their irrational behavior, Emma decided she would need to handle it herself and snatched up the nearest rifle. She popped open the moon roof, released a stream of profanities, and opened fire. It was harder to aim in the dark and Emma wished she had paid more attention to Evan’s instructions for the night vision scope. After a few extra shots, she was able to hit the marks. As Emma slid back inside, she noticed an eerie silence. Her torrent of vulgarities had shocked everyone. Stunned, they were all staring at her.

“If the cat-fight is over,
ladies
, can we get the hell out of here?” Emma asked sarcastically.

Lucy gasped; her eyes were wide as saucers. “Emma said bad words.”

“Thank you, Lucy. I heard,” Kate replied calmly. Flicking on the interior light, Kate spun around to face Emma. “Emma Wexley, I am surprised at you! That kind of language is completely unacceptable. If I ever hear words like that coming out of your mouth again, you won’t be able to sit for a week!”

Evan tried to intercede but Kate cut him off.

“As for you two,” Kate said pointing to Evan and Matt. “You’re supposed to be friends, yet here you are, at each other’s throats. Neither of you shut up long enough to listen. Emma tried warning us that those
things
were out there. You should all be ashamed of yourselves,” Kate continued to rant, turning back to Emma, “and you, young lady, you should thank your lucky stars that you’re not spending the rest of this trip with a bar of soap wedged in that dirty mouth of yours! Now, Matthew, if you would … please get us back on the road.”

They rode in silence for several miles. Suddenly, Matt blurted out, “Jane.”

Startled, they all looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

“Emma’s middle name. It’s Jane. I just figured you should know if you ever need to bawl her out again,” Matt told Kate. “That’s standard parenting protocol right? The full name means you’re
really
in trouble.”

Kate laughed. Then everyone else joined in, except Emma. To her, having Kate disappointed or worse, angry, was the worst possible punishment.

“Aw, c’mon, Em,” Matt said. “Don’t pout. Jane isn’t a bad middle name.”

“So, does that mean I can call you Em Jay now?” Evan’s eyes lit up at the prospect.

“Well, if you ever want me to answer, True Believer, then I suggest not!” Emma replied.

“
True Believer
,” Evan repeated. “No way! I can’t believe you said that.”

“Yeah, I got your dorky comic book reference. Big deal. Everyone knows who M.J. is.”

With the mood noticeably lighter, their playful banter continued as Matt cautiously cruised down the dimly lit road. Up ahead, a huge vacancy sign flashed like a beacon. As they drew closer, the independently owned motel looked cozy and inviting. There were two small buildings; each had two floors and every room had its own outside entrance. Swallowing his pride, Evan suggested that maybe they should stop for the night. Relieved, Kate hastily agreed. It was too risky to drive through the night and they were all exhausted.

They stepped inside the main office, expecting to see a manager, but no one was there. They looked behind the desk and even shouted ”hello” multiple times to alert an employee to their presence. Too tired to wait any longer, Matt hopped over the counter and searched for keys.

“Okay, that’s one room, two queen beds, and one rollaway,” Matt said in an exaggeratedly professional voice as he reached for the closest key on the pegboard. “Here ya go, Room 110.”

“We’d be better off with a room upstairs, Matt,” Evan corrected.

Matt saluted and snatched up another key. “Okey-dokey, Room 210 then. Anything else you folks need?”

“We’re fine, thanks,” Kate answered while Emma shook her head at her brother’s silliness.

It didn’t take long to unpack the truck and cart everything upstairs. At Evan’s recommendation, they even lugged their bicycles up to the room. If they had to make a run for it, they would have adequate transportation. The snug room was clean and cheery but very crowded. Feeling claustrophobic, Emma hovered outside the door, looking up at the stars.

“The sky sure is clear tonight,” Kate said softly as she stepped outside.

Emma stammered feebly, attempting to agree. She still felt awkward knowing Kate had been displeased with her. Struggling to apologize, Emma could barely construct a coherent sentence. Kate pulled Emma into a strong embrace.

“If I didn’t love you like a daughter, I wouldn’t be so strict. Lucy idolizes you so I’m afraid you’re going to have to behave more like a role model.”

Emma promised to do a better job before they squeezed back inside their room. Calling dibs on the bathroom, Emma gathered her toothbrush and a pair of pajamas. Matt had volunteered to take the first watch so he situated himself in a chair by the window. Kate and Lucy were snuggled in one of the beds while Evan flopped onto the cot. He was too much of a gentleman to make Emma sleep on the small, lumpy rollaway. Emma’s head had barely touched the pillow before she was asleep.

When she finally woke, there was a faint hint of light creeping up from the eastern horizon. Emma sprang from the bed. She had slept straight through and missed her shift on guard duty. Kate was sitting by the window in the chair Matt had previously occupied.

“Go back to sleep, Emma,” Kate whispered.

Tiptoeing over to the chair, Emma whispered back, “I was supposed to be on watch but Evan never woke me.”

Kate smiled. “I know. I told him not to.”

Before Emma could reply, Kate pressed a finger against her lips. She motioned for Emma to follow her outside. Gently pulling the door closed behind them, Kate explained, “There. Hopefully we won’t wake anyone. I told Evan not to wake you. Now, don’t look at me like that, honey. It’s not because I don’t think you’re capable. This was the first time since the uprising that you slept soundly without being haunted by nightmares. You’ve been through so such and I just wanted you to have a good night’s sleep.”

Emma had to admit that Kate was right; she felt much better. To make up for her missed shift, Emma took over while Kate showered. She sat quietly and watched the sun rise until the bathroom was free. She had showered and dressed before the others woke. Captivated, Lucy watched as Emma pulled her hair into a tight braid. Wanting to be just like her idol, Lucy asked to have her hair braided too. Kate watched closely and realized that for safety reasons, she ought to learn how to do a French braid. It seemed odd to her that Emma knew how to braid hair because despite her brief foray into cheerleading, Emma was not exactly a ‘girly girl.’ When Kate asked about it, Emma chuckled.

“I had to learn because of gymnastics,” Emma explained. “One year, I had a really strict coach who insisted that the whole team needed the same hairstyle. All of the other girls had moms who could do their hair. I didn’t, so I had to learn to do it myself.”

Laughing, she continued, “One time, my dad tried to do it for me. It was a disaster. It was so bad that the coach told me if I ever showed up for a meet looking like that again, I’d be kicked off the team.”

Kate’s heart broke. She had been an adult when her own mother had passed and it had been devastating. She could not imagine how difficult it must have been for the Wexley twins to lose their mother so young. Emma and Matt had been Lucy’s age when their mother died.

It didn’t take long to pack up and get on the road again. To Evan’s relief, the streets were barren. Whether people were just hiding inside their homes or they had fled was unclear, but there was no sign of life. The radio signals were dead and even though he kept trying, there was nothing but static coming through the speakers. The television in their motel room had the same static snow storm on every channel. On a whim, Evan tried to use his cell phone but the call never connected.