Mail Horror Bride (One Nation Under Zombies Book 1) (12 page)

Cruz frowned at her. “Help with what?”

“Navigating? Now that we’re off the expressway I figure you could use some help with the map, or maybe you’d like someone to take over? You’ve been driving forever.”

“I’m fine.”

“You have to be tired, at least a little bit.”

“I don’t sleep much. I’m fine. Why don’t you go to sleep?”

“Ya know, I’m not the reason why we had to get off the expressway and Jeremy and I haven’t done anything to you. You can get rid of the attitude.”

Cruz’s frown deepened then he laughed. The action surprised Raven. “You actually know how to laugh?”

“Sometimes, yeah.”

“What’s so funny?”

“You. I’m not used to people talking to me like you do.”

“You mean you’re not used to people who don’t kiss your ass.”

“Exactly.”

“Well, get used to it. I doubt your Oscars are going to impress anyone now.”

“I don’t have any Oscars.”

“Good. I doubt you deserve any as hard as it is for you just to act like a decent human being.”

Cruz laughed again. “Am I really that much of an asshole? I haven’t thrown you two out.”

“Only because you know I’d use my katana on you.”

He smiled. “Where are you from, really?”

“Kentucky.”

His eyebrow raised.

“What? Got something smart to say?”

“No.” He shook his head. “You’re a long way from there. Were you vacationing or trying to make it in the biz?”

“Vacationing. I’d rather yank out my own eyeball than work with arrogant prima donnas all day.”

This earned another chuckle. “Yeah, I feel like that myself some days. So what do you do?”

“Well, I did work in a restaurant but now we all pretty much do the same thing, don’t we?”

He nodded. “You think this will all blow over? Eventually?”

Raven shrugged. “I don’t know. When the outbreak first happened I never thought it would get this bad. This is fiction come to life, you know? And in the books and movies, I don’t think it ever gets better. You just fight until you’re the last man standing.”

“But this isn’t fiction and these people aren’t zombies, really.”

“What the hell else do you call the walking dead?”

“Well, we can call them zombies but they weren’t created by some mysterious cause like in the movies, or some toxic spill or whatever else. We know how they were created and now that we know it’s a blood thing I’m sure scientists are already working on a vaccine.”

“And just how are they going to apply that vaccine? These people are already dead. They can’t un-zombie them.”

“No, but they can inject the uninfected with a vaccine that keeps us from getting the virus.”

“That’s not going to save us from getting eaten.”

“No, it’s not, but it will give us a higher chance of surviving. We’ll beat this. I’m sure of it.”

“Still, I don’t think the world will go back to what it was. I don’t think we will.”

“Why?”

“How long has it been now since the outbreak? Three weeks? I already feel like the girl I used to be is dead.” That girl had a sister, a sweet, innocent sister. She had a life, dreams. Now all she had was an ache in her heart and the knowledge that she could kill if necessary.

“We can’t just give up. We’ll rebuild and we’ll survive.”

Raven watched an infected woman raise herself up from where she’d been kneeling on the side of the road. Her clothes were torn and bloody, her hand covered a mottled bite on her arm. She reached her arms out to them and cried out for help. Cruz barely glanced in the woman’s direction as he drove past her.

“But we’ll be very, very different people,” she said, watching the woman in the side view mirror without any urge to go back. “We already are.”

“Maybe what we are is what we need to be in the here and now. I’m really not trying to be a jerk.”

“It just comes naturally?”

“Something like that.” He grinned. “When the outbreak first hit, I had a few run-ins with fans. They wanted me to save them like I was the guy I play in the movies.”

“They get killed?”

“Yes. They were too busy fawning over me and trying to look cute. No survival skills whatsoever. I don’t mind helping people but not when they’re going to turn into airheads around me. I can’t be a knight in shining armor. People have to put a little effort into their own safety.”

“I can understand that.” Raven thought back to the hotel. She’d tried to save Sky but her sister kept screaming, drawing them closer. It wasn’t her fault. She was just a scared little girl, but she knew how hard it was to protect another person. “You don’t have to worry about that with me and Jeremy.”

“You, no. Her, I don’t know about. She seemed a little star struck, and not as prepared for this as you are.”

“She’s just a kid, but she’ll make it, and no worries about the star struck thing. Once you opened your mouth and let your attitude out, I think you cured her of that.”

He laughed. “You sure?”

“She’s already killed one of the infected in order to survive. She’s struggling to deal with that but she’ll shake it off.”

“I hope so. All it takes is one person in the group to get frozen in fear for everything to go sideways.”

“She’ll be fine. This isn’t something anyone can actually be prepared for, you know?”

“You seem to be doing fine.”

“Things happened pretty quick after the outbreak. I had to learn how to shove away my fear and other useless emotions and just focus on moving forward. Others might need a bit more time. I lost everything important to me at the start.”

Cruz looked at her with compassion in his hazel eyes. Raven looked away, unnerved. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like that. I don’t want your pity, or your condolences. I just want to keep moving.”

He nodded. “If you ever want to talk about—”

“I don’t.”

“Got it. If you change your mind, the offer stands,” he said before letting out a yawn.

“Seriously, Cruz. I’m a good driver. I promise I won’t wreck if you catch some sleep.”

His jaw clenched but after a moment he pulled over to the side of the road. “Just keep heading straight. According to the map, we have a long way to go until we need to make any turns.”

Raven nodded and waited for him to climb back to the middle seat and recline as much as he possibly could with Damian taking up half that seat.

“If we’d been smart, we’d have brought pillows.” Raven laughed at that as she positioned herself in the driver's seat and situated the open map on the passenger seat, finding the angle that would allow her to view it as she drove.

“You won’t need that. When we get to a point where you have to make a decision just wake me up and I’ll take over.”

“You need more sleep than that. I can handle this.”

“Just wake me up,” he said, retrieving the two prescription bottles he kept in the side pocket of his cargo pants.

Raven watched him swallow the pills dry and frown as he looked down at the second bottle, jostling it a little to count what was inside.

“Are we in trouble when you run out of those?”

His response was a glare darker than any she’d seen him give. His hand clenched tight around the bottle.

“I’m not trying to pry,” Raven quickly assured him. “I just meant that if you have a medical condition, we need to make sure you have what you need. Zombies aren’t the only danger we’re facing now that the whole country’s shut down.”

Cruz stared back at her for a moment before stuffing the bottles into his pocket and getting as comfortable as he could. He closed his eyes before saying, “If we see any pharmacies we should stop.”

Well, that didn’t sound bad at all, Raven thought as she pulled the SUV back onto the road and headed North, curiosity eating at her. Maybe he was one of those actors taking prescription medicine for non-medical reasons and she had nothing to worry about. Whatever he was taking it for, it couldn’t be more dangerous than the virus.

She hoped. 

“What happened to the girl’s family?”

Hal glanced over at the woman who’d perched herself in the passenger seat after Angela had crawled into the back to sleep. She seemed alright but something tripped his inner alarm. Not loud enough to warrant an immediate execution, but it was pinging just enough to let him know she couldn’t be fully trusted. Granted, in times like these, he doubted he’d run across many people who he could trust. This was a war between good and evil and anyone who lasted had to be a warrior, and being a warrior did things to a person. It played with their minds, hardened them in ways they never imagined they could be hardened. Some people used that hardening for good. Some lost themselves to it.

Maura Seton looked like a woman who’d already lost part of herself. It was there in her eyes, the cold way she looked at everything, and in her voice. No infliction. She either had no feelings left or she was doing her best to pretend they didn’t exist.

“They died after the outbreak.”

“How?”

“How’d your fiancé die?” he questioned her instead.

“One of those Russian skanks bit him.”

“Skanks?”

Her lip curled in disgust. “What else do you call a woman who makes a mockery of marriage in order to gain citizenship?”

“I see.” Hal sighed. This woman was going to be a pain, so full of hatred. “While I’m sure those cases exist, I can’t believe every single woman from a foreign country who marries an American man is doing it just to get citizenship here. I mean, marriage is a major deal.”

Maura laughed, a horribly patronizing sound. “You’re thinking of these women as if they have morals. They’re no more than prostitutes, only instead of trading their bodies for dollars, they’re doing it for a marriage certificate and a green card.”

“Every one of them?”

“It’s their culture.”

“So you’ve been to Russia?” Hal asked, straining to keep his voice neutral.

“What? Hell, no. Why would anyone want to go to that godforsaken country? Their own women are marrying men thirty years older than them just to get out,” she added with a laugh. “I know people who know people though and you can find everything on the internet. These marriages are all a sham. The only ones that last are the ones where the man is too stupid to know the woman is cheating, or he’s rich enough to keep her. Oh how these skanks love money. Nothing is ever good enough for them. Oh, and the ones where the woman is completely dependent on the man. Those men keep their women uneducated and afraid. Those last, but the rest? Not a chance.”

Hal considered this. “If this is all true, why does it anger you so? Why concern yourself with what women men find their happiness with?”

“Happiness?” Maura scoffed. “In case you haven’t noticed, the happiness these men imported from Russia brought a deadly virus with it. This whole thing could have been avoided if men didn’t go shipping in wives from other countries, believing all the bullshit they’ve been fed about them being better wives.”

“Russia would have found another way to send the virus here. They obviously wanted to destroy us. This was just the easiest way for them to do it.”

“Are you defending them? Wait, let me guess, you think Russian women are perfect too?”

“I don’t think anyone’s perfect,” Hal answered. “I just don’t judge an entire country’s women based on stories of what a few have done. Maybe it has to do with all the times I’ve been called a thug or a worthless nigger based on my skin.” He gave her a pointed look.

Maura dismissed his words with a wave of her hand. “Don’t get racism twisted all up in this. I have no qualms against the color of these people, nor any people. I’m speaking of their culture. Culture is a way people are brought up to act, it defines their beliefs. Racism is completely different.”

“So you’re saying prejudice is fine, as long as you’re not hating on a person’s skin color?”

“I’m saying these specific people have a specific way of life, and it’s not good. They’re immoral people and they’ve brought a virus into our country. Excuse me if I don’t defend them. Why are you?” She eyed him suspiciously. “These women killed that girl’s family. How can you possibly care about her, about her family, and feel anything less than hatred for the she-devils who destroyed it?”

“Paul was my best friend and he was a good man, a great man, full of honor,” Hal said as he navigated the minivan through the dark roads, keeping watch for what roamed the streets during the quiet night. “His first wife died quite a few years back, leaving him with just Angela. I don’t know how he found his second wife, or what it was about her that made him propose, but I know any woman he married, any woman he trusted around Angela had to be a good woman. Elena was from Russia and I will not accept that she intended any harm against Paul or his family.”

“Oh brother.” Maura rolled her eyes and stared out the passenger side window. “Trust me, the woman wasn’t a good woman. Not even close to it.”