My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road (14 page)

Blood was splattered all over her hoodie.

My
hoodie.

I should’ve helped with getting the doors open, but Kaylynn had my full attention. She jumped into the air and kicked an overweight Vector in the chest. Then, without skipping a beat, she launched at a teenager with a missing nose. She knocked him in the ear and twirled around to her next target like a master of Tae-Kwon-Do.
Bat-Kwon-Do
, more like it. With the last Runner on the ground, Kaylynn looked up, her red eyes still glowing. Sam was right. Psychotic, but right. Kaylynn may have been infected, but she was awesome about it.

The Vectors ignored her as she pummeled them, but I didn’t give a crap. Kaylynn was the coolest girl in the world. It would take more than Vector cooties to keep me away. Her hungry face appeared. She charged at me with her bloodied bat, and she swung. I ducked, unaware that her real target was behind me. Kaylynn grabbed my hand and pulled me up. Like big rubies in a furnace, she stared at me with those intense eyes.

In that horrifying moment, I’d fallen in love.

Kaylynn swayed and let out her breath before she leaned on me. Just like at the ballpark, she went unconscious. I caught her before she could crash to the street, and I helped her to the car. The endless moans of approaching Stalkers shivered my nerves, causing me to sweat as I half-carried Kaylynn back. Lifting her to her seat should’ve been a challenge, but she was lighter than I remembered. Practicing each one of those workout tips in that survival book must’ve helped.

“I’m out!” Jewel cried. “They’re getting up!”

As I closed Kaylynn’s door, every Vector she’d hit was on their feet. She didn’t kill them, just slowed them down. The barricade swung open. Cody returned and drove a knife into the socket of an oncoming Stalker. He hopped in the driver seat, and I opened my door.

Just then, Big Thomas screamed behind us. “Don’t go without me!” he cried. “Please, wait!”

Between the three Runners chasing him, and how far away they were, Thomas might as well have been a rolling jelly donut. The Vectors would nab him long before he reached the tiny intersection. As I grabbed my Beretta, what Sam had said finally hit me. They were infected—not necessarily dead. If we shot them, as we had, did that make us murderers? I raised my arm and aimed, and hesitated for the first time. I just couldn’t pull the trigger. When I finally did, my lousy, unfocused shots hit their chests. They grabbed Tom and sank their teeth into him. I’ll never forget the way he screamed.

I leaned over and said good-bye to my stale lunch.

“Jeremy!” Jewel cried through my door. “Get in!”

Wiping my mouth dry, I dived in and slammed it shut. We zoomed down the road before the horde could touch our bumper. Cody had to swerve around another large group from the west. But after that, it was over for us. The more blocks we drove down, the quieter—and darker—it became. Cody turned down the highway, running over the speed-bump corpses without slowing down. Kaylynn’s body caught some air. I never had the chance to put her seatbelt on. Her head landed, coincidently, next to Cody’s shoulder. He turned his face a little and looked at her, as if wondering what she was doing. He didn’t seem to mind.

“What’s with her?” he asked. “How can she be asleep after all that?”

“She passed out,” I said, which was the truth. “Not sure why.” Not exactly the truth, but close enough.

Something warm crept onto my lap. Chloe laid her head on me, just as Jewel’s hand took hold of mine. The smell of smoke rising from her gun washed away the stench of blood that we had tracked in. Mom would kill us if we smeared Vector guts all over the upholstery.

“If Lincoln’s safe, we’ll stop there,” Cody said. “I know a place.”

“What place?” Jewel asked, her jaw trembling.

“You’ll see it when we get there.” Cody glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Another flash of light burst behind us. “Sons of a bitch,” he said. “I can’t believe we got out of there alive!”

I wasn’t sure if letting Cody tag along was a good idea, even though we never would’ve made it out alive without him. Lincoln was the capital of Nebraska, so I assumed it was the most populated city in the state. It was also one of the areas on Dad’s map. Judging by the chaos that we’d just escaped from, the Vectors in bigger cities may have run out of things to eat. They were now roaming the country in large packs. David City was gone because of it. I felt more hopeless than ever.

It wasn’t long before Jewel dozed off, holding close to Chloe. I nearly fell asleep myself when I saw Cody wrapping his massive arm around Kaylynn’s shoulder.

His eyes were scanning every inch of her.

“Hey,” I said.

Cody saw me in the rearview mirror.

“Both hands on the wheel,” I warned.

Cody shook his head. “Okay, boss.”

His arm moved back to the wheel, where it belonged. Kaylynn shifted away and leaned against her side. If I wasn’t worried about Kaylynn before, I certainly was now. Cody had made his opinion about Vectors all too clear. No matter what stage of Vector someone happened to be, it’s open season. If he found out about Kaylynn, there was no telling what he’d do.

I had to stay awake, just in case.

Six Flags is a great place to throw up.

It beats the porcelain throne, anyway.

Nothing says entertainment like watching people ditch their lunch, surviving the loops of the
Viper
or the spinning tracks of
Ragin’ Cajun
. It wasn’t the rides, or puke, that made the park special. It was an excuse for our family to be together and have a good time. Mom always bought a photo after we got soaked on
Roaring Rapids
, and Dad kept us shivering with ice cream pellets that froze on our tongues. The sun was shining. Pigeons scavenged the grounds for popcorn and hotdogs.

I lived for memories like that—and then Kaylynn entered the scene. Right away, I knew she didn’t belong there. She was by the fountain, standing in a pool of her own blood. This wasn’t a memory. I had fallen asleep.

Crapatollie.

I wanted to wake up before the dream turned into a nightmare. No one noticed or cared about the blood, not even my family. When I called to Kaylynn, everyone stopped. Their heads turned. Their sunken faces stared at me, including the Looney Tune mascots. They meandered our way, moaning with their outstretched, decaying arms. My instincts told me to grab Kaylynn and make a run for it. I held her tight, ready to dash through the dead when her eyes flashed. She grabbed my head with both hands and lunged for my face.

“Rise and shine, pretty boy!”

I gasped for breath and opened my eyes. Cody had his hands on either side of my head, watching me before he gently slapped the sleep out of me.

The light of dawn had filled the sky.

“Wake your sister up,” Cody said, sounding more like an order. “We’re stopping here.”

I shook my head from his hands, feeling sick. Every Vector encounter was like adding fuel to the nightmare centers in my brain. Even if the army showed up and mowed them down, I feared that these dreams would never go away. It would take many powerful images to erase the post-traumatic stress points that Jewel and I had racked up. I nudged her, but it was Chloe’s licks that made her stir and laugh. Laughter’s the best medicine, they say. I was overdue for a dose.

“How’d you sleep?” Kaylynn asked.

The big smile on her face surprised me. Her eyes were normal again, her chin resting in her folded arms on the back of her seat. Specks of blood had soaked and dried into my hoodie. She had the hospital gown under it. As far as I knew, she had nothing else on.

“Sleep?” I cleared my throat. “Like a rock.”

Jewel giggled. “This is a Dodge Ram, not a Chevy.”

“Or a bulldozer, with all that snoring,” Kaylynn added.

I rubbed my eyes. Terrific. She’d heard me snore. Now Jewel was rolling in her seat with laughter.

“I snore when I’m really tired . . .” I grumbled.

I unbuckled myself and reached for my bag. Jewel toned it down and stretched her neck. Cody had already stepped out. Besides abandoned cars and a black semi-truck, we’d stopped in a nearly vacant parking lot. In front of us was a large beige building with A/C units sticking out of each white-trimmed window—a Holiday Inn Express. I could’ve used a hot breakfast right then.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“My cousin managed this place,” Cody said. “He said to come anytime.”

“Your cousin?” Kaylynn’s lip squirmed. “Do you think it’s safe here?”

“Should be. There’s a hundred rooms with deadbolts in there.” That didn’t guarantee us a safe room. There was no electricity. Even if we found a card key, they wouldn’t work. If Cody really wanted to be the leader, he would have to switch his brain on. I explained the problem to him. Smirking in response, Cody reached into his dark denim jeans and held up a set of master keys. “He said I could use any room any time I wanted.” He gave Kaylynn a sly wink. “Just in case.”

My jerk alarm had turned into a sleaze ball meter.

“I’ll check the perimeter. You kids get your shit together. We’ll go in and find a place to rest for a bit. Hurry up. We don’t want to attract more attention.”

He stepped away and scanned the parking lot with his bow drawn while I collected my
shit
. So did Jewel. Before we reached for our door handles, my gut told me to speak up. “Cody doesn’t know about Kaylynn.”

The girls stopped what they were doing and looked at me. “Doesn’t know what about her?” Jewel asked, but then her mouth gaped open when Kaylynn locked eyes with her. “Are you really infected, Kaylynn?”

She stared at the empty space between us. “I don’t know—I could be?”

“You can’t be.” Kaylynn looked at me when I said that. “You’re not sick.”

“That’s just what I don’t get.” Kaylynn turned away. “I just change.”

“A ‘
you-won’t-like-me-when-I’m-angry
’ kind of change?”

“Something like that, Dr. Banner.”

I didn’t think she would catch my Incredible Hulk reference. Kaylynn was definitely a keeper.

“I dream about them, too. I think I can see what they see.” Her eyes met mine after she said that. “You know why I wasn’t afraid of that Vector after you found me? I knew he was close. He was following your car.”

“No way!” Jewel cried. “You saw us in your sleep?”

Kaylynn smiled as she nodded at my little sister.

“That is
sooo
cool! What’s that called again?”

“Telepathy?” I asked. Kaylynn shrugged.

Could she really see things in her sleep that were actually happening? I couldn’t believe it. Even in that book I was reading, the author said zombies can’t have telepathic powers. In his opinion, being undead can’t give someone something they didn’t already have. Why would Kaylynn be the exception? If I had extra-sensory perception, I would’ve pranked Jewel ages ago.

I didn’t have an ounce of telepathy, obviously, but I didn’t need zombie powers to know what Kaylynn was thinking. Once you’re infected, you eventually turn into one of them. No wonder she wanted to be alone. She could change into a Vector at any time she wanted.

If she were to lose control, would she turn and snack on the nearest person?

Potential snack or not, I couldn’t let this happen to us. Or her. “I don’t care if you’re infected.” The girls turned to me. “Our parents left to find that cure. If we find them, I know they can help you.” I glanced out the front. “We know what Cody thinks of the infected. You’re as good as dead to him.” A lump welled in my throat. “He can’t know you’re infected, Kaylynn.”

Both girls nodded. They caught exactly what I was pitching them. “I wasn’t going to tell him,” Jewel said.

The corner of Kaylynn’s mouth smiled. “Same.”

I could stare at her smile all day.

“There’s something else,” Kaylynn said. “I don’t know how to explain it, but for a while, I didn’t want to leave David City. Even with all those things around, I wanted to stay in the health care place. Weird, huh?”

Totally weird, and I wasn’t able to ask about it.