Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (23 page)

"Well...you
saved my life...and didn't attack me. Maybe the shock of that kept me
from shooting. I don't really know why I let you go. I'm glad now I
did. But why didn't you say something then?"

"I
had just found my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces and nephews.
When before the kids wanted me to stay for dinner, this time they
wanted me to stay and
be
dinner. I just wasn't in the mood for
a reunion."

"I'm
sorry," I whisper, ducking my head. He coughs and I raise my
head again, and look at him.

"So.
Looks like you've got a problem," He nods at the other guys.
"What happened to them?"

"Will-my
husband?" he nods and tells me he remembers him. "He fell
down the stairs and has a pretty big goose egg on his head. Jake
here...well...I kinda shot him."

Dustin
gives a snort and a short bark of laughter.

"Did
he deserve it?"

I
give him a dirty look for making a joke about it and then drop my
head. Looking back up at him through my eyelashes, I say, "Well,
not at that particular moment."

Dustin
laughs and then moves toward us. I scoot closer to Will, still
protective, but Dustin ignores me. I watch as he checks Will's head
and then turns Jake and removes the scarf. I start to protest but his
confidence and demeanor makes me pause. And then a memory surfaces
from when he was first introduced to us...he's a
doctor
!

I
suck in a sharp breath and Dustin quickly turns his head to me,
probably wondering what I was freaking out about now.

"Dustin!
We have nurses but no doctors in our group, except my nephew, but we
don't think he's coming...if he's still alive." I swallow hard,
praying he
is
still alive.

"Please
join our group," I beg him.

He
looks at me thoughtfully for a moment.

Finally,
he says quietly, "I think I might like that."

I
give him a big smile and he smiles back at me. Then he continues
checking Jake.

"What
are you doing here, Dustin? And how did you get here?"

"After
you all left, I followed you in my truck. I stayed quite a ways back,
but I still figured I'd be seen. I watched as you all went into the
grocery store and was about to go help you when that zombie came
after you, but the other two guys got to you first. Then I followed
you all out of town." He stops and gives a short laugh and
shakes his head. "Leave it to me to run out of gas too far out
of town to walk back. So I kept walking in the direction you three
went. Eventually, I saw a house and made my way to it, surprised to
see zombies surrounding the house and your truck sitting outside. I
walked in, up the stairs, and you know what happened after that."

"Damn.
I bet you're freezing and tired by now."

"Naw,
I'm good." Typical man-gotta be a badass.

Dustin
finishes looking at Jake's head and sits back on the floor.

"Well,
I have good news and bad. Good news is, they will both be ok. Bad
news, they are both going to have one hell of a headache. You only
took a good few layers of skin off this one's head. Head wounds bleed
like a bitch, but he's ok."

My
body sags with relief. Dustin manages to get Will woke up and helps
him to a sitting position. Will holds his head and moans in obvious
pain. After a few minutes of getting some sense back, he looks up at
me and then notices Dustin and his body stiffens. Will pushes me
behind him and I fall over to one side, catching myself with my arm
on the floor-unprepared for the sudden forced movement.

"Will!
He's ok. We know him." I pull on his shirt as I try to get back
up. Once I do, I catch him up.

He
looks hard at Dustin and then apologizes and shakes Dustin's hand
once he figures out he
does
know him.

Dustin
turns back to Jake and wakes him, too.
How the hell does he do
that?

Jake
sits up slowly and asks what happened.

Sheepishly,
I tell him that I accidentally shot him. Will bursts out laughing,
but quickly ends it and looks away when I give him a dirty look. Jake
just stares at me in shock.

"Seriously?
You
shot
me? What the
hell
, Canada!"

"It
was an
accident
! I was trying to keep you from becoming the
main course for a zombie but your dumb ass stuck your head up just as
I fired," I pause for a few seconds. "It's really
your
fault, you know."

Jake
stares at me with bugged-out eyes. He slowly shakes his head and
gingerly feels the line of missing skin on his skull. Dustin informs
him he'll be ok but the headache will suck. Jake grunts, still giving
me a funny look, and asks about Dustin. So we have to explain who
Dustin is all over again for Jake's benefit.

"Ok.
So how the hell do we get out of here?" I ask them.

Everyone
but Dustin shrugs. I look at Dustin, who gives me a wide grin.

"I'll
be right back," He tells us.

He
pulls out a tube of glue and winks at me. Picking up all the pieces
of zombie skin he had removed, he reattaches them. I gag.
Can't
help it!
And then he walks out of the room without a further
word.

The
guys and I look at each other, all of us wondering what Dustin plans
to do.

"I'm
not putting zombie flesh on myself. If that's his plan, he can damn
well forget it!" I declare without a trace of uncertainty.

The
guys nod in agreement.

Ten
or fifteen minutes later, Dustin comes back in the room.

"I
would try to kill them all, but there are way too many, so I moved
your vehicle close to the porch. We're going to have to go out the
window, but be very careful. The porch is high enough they can reach
you if you get in their range."

We
stare at him.

"Um,
there's at least one problem with that plan, Dustin." I look at
my useless foot. "I can't walk and I damn sure can't jump!"

Dustin
finally notices my foot wrapped in the pillow. How he missed it, I
don't know!

He
comes over and drops to one knee in front of me. I want so badly to
move away from his disgusting appearance but force myself to stay
still-although I do start breathing through my mouth. He lifts up my
leg to remove the pillow-and in doing so-raises the sheet too,
showing off what I'm trying to keep hidden.

Will
swings his head to find Jake getting an eyeful. I'm desperately doing
my best to get enough extra sheet to push down between my legs but
it's all under my butt.

"Put
her fucking leg down!" Will snaps at Dustin.

That
,
of course, causes Dustin to look down to see just exactly what he's
exposed. He drops my foot in surprise and it bangs on the floor.
Dustin hadn't yet taken the pillow off but it still hurts like hell.
I scream and give him a cussing he's probably never had before.

Embarrassed,
he apologizes to both Will and me, and then helps me adjust the sheet
so that I'll be completely covered. I glare at Jake, who's wearing an
amused look on his face.

Dustin
removes the pillow and examines my foot. He tells me it needs an
x-ray and if it's broke, it will have to be put in a cast.

"We
need to get to a hospital so I can get it done. The hospital I worked
at isn't too bad. Most all the zombies on the bottom floor have gone
on to search for food. If we block the doors to the stairs and the
outside, we should be alright, since everything I need is on that
floor. Sound good?"

"Sounds
great, " I say. "
If
I
could leave this house, I would be more than happy to go to the
hospital. Unfortunately, we still have that little detail to work
out."

Dustin
thinks for a moment then says, "Well, we can't hand you down or
use a sheet because that will put you too close to the zombies. Let
me think."

The
men are quiet as they think of a way to get me down to the truck. I
look around the room, waiting.

Oh, hell
yeah!
My brilliant mind saves the day once more!

"Hey
guys? What about the door?"

They
look at me in confusion and I sigh.
Do I have to be the
only
one who thinks outside the box?

"If
we slope the door-which is thick and should be strong enough to hold
me-to the roof of the truck, I can slide down."

Dustin
says, "I can't believe I didn't think of that myself."
I
can.

Jake
says, "I was just thinking about that."
Frikken
bet
you were!

Will
just wraps his arms around me and pulls me back to his chest.

He
lays a kiss on my head and says, "Brilliant idea, Baby."
And
that
is just one reason I love this man!

So
the guys bust out the window and its frame, and then take the door to
the porch roof. Jake drops down onto the roof of the truck and guides
the door into position. When they're ready, Will and Dustin help me
out the window and to the edge of the roof. I'm shocked at all the
hands I see reaching around the door.
Ok, if I stay in the middle
as much as I can, I should be alright.
But they're making the
door shake and move!

What
if they tip it over?
What if my fat ass doesn't leave me room
on that door to stay out of their reach?

I
look up at Will, who's standing next to me, holding my right arm. I
have fear written all over my face and I know it.

Apparently,
Dustin thinks of the possibility of them tipping me over, as well,
because he tells me he will put his weight on the top of the door and
Jake will do the same at the bottom. He repeats this to Jake and Jake
nods, getting into position.

Dustin
also gets in position, sitting on the end of the door, and Will helps
me over to him. Dustin helps me climb in between his legs, and when I
look down, that jackass Jake is looking straight up my
sheet...
again-
and grinning at me. I throw a glance at Will,
but his attention is on the zombies, not Jake. I pull the sheet down
and tuck it around my legs like a pair of shorts and Jake gives me an
exaggerated look of disappointment. I roll my eyes and mouth "S
top
it.
" He just grins bigger.
What a freakin' asshole!

The
zombies distract me from Jake as my heart jumps into my throat. I
start down the door, terror increasing with each slide of my butt.
I'm close to where the hands can reach and I freeze. My body starts
shaking in fear. I look down at Jake, who's waiting for me, and he
reaches out his hand for me, encouraging me to keep going. I suck in
a deep breath and slide a little further.

The
hands are all so close, but one hand is
too
close. It grabs
hold of my sheet and even though I struggle to pull it from him, he's
too strong. He starts to pull me to the side using the sheet and in a
desperate attempt to survive, I undo the sheet and let him have it. I
slide as fast as I can and finally get within Jake's reach. He grabs
me by my wrists and pulls me up. Then he lifts me up in his arms and
holds me tight.

I
hear Will growl, his Leo side coming out. Jake ignores him-and my own
protests-and carries me to the opening of the hatch. He places me on
the roof, then jumps down inside the truck. When he holds his arms up
to me, I scoot over and dangle my legs in the hole-my only thought is
of me being naked and wanting the clothes from inside to cover me.
Careful of the hatch opening ripping into my butt, I ease inside and
slide right into Jake's arms.

As
fast as I can, I manage to get my one-footed balance and attempt to
push Jake away. But he won't let go!

"Kiss
me," he says as he brings his lips toward my own.

"Jake!
Damn you! Just stop," I give him a harder push, which throws off
my balance. I fall and, of course, I fall on Jake. And
then
,
of course, whose head pops through the hatch at just the wrong time?

Yep.

"That's
it! You can have each other." Will's face is red with anger.

I
violently push Jake away from me and all the best of my bipolar rage
comes out in one solid punch to Jake's face. Blood sprays the window
beside him as his nose explodes and his head jerks to the side.

Jake
brings his hand up to his nose and his already shocked look gets even
more so when he sees the blood smeared across the back of his hand.

I
look up at Will, who's wearing an equally shocked look, and scream,
"As for you, kiss my ass and open your damn eyes. I don't want
either one of you pieces of shit!"

With
anger causing my entire body to shake, I reach over the back and grab
my fatigues. I throw them on and climb in the front seat, not even
feeling the pain in my foot when I bump it going over.