SHTF (NOLA Zombie Book 0) (6 page)

"
S
O your little
sister didn't come home last night?" Lena asked. She had pulled on a pair of shorts and stood in the doorway to the kitchen with a concerned look on her face. She had straightened her hair out a bit and was looking more put together, but still a little ruffled.

"No, she didn't. She told my brother's wife that she was sleeping here. Obviously that didn't happen." I slammed the door to the refrigerator a little too hard and winced as all the glass jars clashed together.

"That's not good. You're going to try and track her down?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I want to talk to you about your plans first and set you up with anything you need. I'm not going to just leave you. You think about what you're going to do yet?"

"I was thinking about that this morning. Since they shut down the airports in the infected cities, I'm pretty sure New Orleans will be next. Not to mention I don't want to be at ten thousand feet with someone like that woman last night. Not my idea of safe travel. My best bet is to rent a car and drive to Colorado. I can make it in two days. I'm used to staying up for long periods I wouldn't have to stop. Plus, it would be good for me to have a little alone time, I haven't done that in a long time."

"It's logical, but I don't like the idea of you driving alone like that. Especially on just a little sleep. A lot can happen on an open road by yourself and you'll be crossing through a lot of desolate areas. Maybe we can get you a train ticket or something. At least with that you’re a bit safer."

"I think it might be just the same as an airplane, just not as high up. I can do this, I can make the drive. I've done it before. I drove from Colorado to L.A. when I was eighteen. By myself, with five hundred dollars in my pocket and a suitcase of all my worldly possessions."

"You really want to do this? You can come with me and my family, you know that, right?"

"I can't do that, you're not responsible for me, Romeo." She smiled but looked away quickly.

"I don't feel responsible for you, Lena, but I do feel like I have to help you out, it's that pesky hero complex I have."

"Hero," she laughed. "Is that what it is?"

"Something like that," I smirked. "But, really, Lena, I talked my brother and his wife into going with me to the MJ training compound. It's out in the swamp and secluded. Zach and Blake would put you up in one of the client houses, no questions asked. You don't have to leave the city by yourself."

"Thank you, really, Romeo. But I want to go home. I can’t think of a better place to be if the world is going to Hell.”

"Okay," I relented. "But if things get bad, avoid the major highways. On back roads you should be fine, use print maps in case you are out of range. I also want you to take one of my firearms. Do you know how to shoot?"

"You're making me paranoid now. Do you think it's going to be that bad?" she asked.

"I just keep seeing that girl from last night. She tried everything possible to get at me. If there was a group of them–well, it would be chaos." I shook my head and handed Lena a coffee mug, steaming hot with the brown liquid. She took a grateful sip and sighed.

"I'm trying to not think about that woman. That definitely topped my list of the scariest thing I've ever experienced. Was she really trying to bite you?"

"It took all my strength to keep her back. Now that I'm thinking back on it, she wasn't in there anymore. It wasn't her, just some driving need to attack and bite. I've never seen anything like that."

"Damn," Lena cursed. "Well, let's go get your sister and then could you bring me to a rental car place? Then I'll be out of your hair."

"I don't mind you being in my hair, sweetheart. Don't worry about being an issue or asking for help, I'll get you to where you need to go and if that doesn't work, we'll come up with another plan," I promised.

"Well, thank you." She touched my arm and smiled at me again. I was sort of getting used to her smiles and not so dazzled. Or so I told myself.

"I'll get dressed and then we can go. I'm sure you want to find your sister." She turned around and left me in the kitchen. I did want to find my sister, but I also wanted to help Lena out.

I was so pissed at Alicia right now for putting my brother through this, but, on the other hand, I was worried out of my mind. When I found her I didn't know what I would do to her– tear her a new ass or hug her and not let her go. I was tired of Alicia's bullshit, her typical teenage rebelliousness. I wanted her to get a clue, grow up, but stay young and naive. If she witnessed something like I did last night, she would be freaking out. She didn't handle stress and disaster very well.

I was also as much to blame for her actions as she was. I coddled her and I was pretty sure Hank and Barbara did too. The death of my parents had affected Alicia the most, being the youngest. We didn't want her to suffer, so we gave her whatever she wanted and let her rule us. It was fine when she was younger, but now that she was a teenager, doing whatever she pleased had serious consequences.

Serious consequences like pregnancy and venereal diseases and being labeled a slut and shunned by her peers to name a few. I might want to be the cool brother, the one that didn't lay down the law when she stayed over, but I drew the line at boys. I was a teenage boy once. I knew what was going through their heads at all hours of the day. At fifteen I wasn't an angel, or a virgin for that matter–so I knew exactly the kind of boy she needed to avoid. The boys like me.

B
ARBARA texted
me with the address of the Marcus kid. I wanted to put the fear of God into this brat, so I dressed like I was on the job. Not a job where I had to wear a suit...but one where I was going for intimidation and mind-fucking. And technically I was since I was still escorting Lena around the city and then I would be escorting my family out of the area.

I was focused on confronting a boy that might or might not have put the moves on my little sister, I was seething. I didn't want to think about the infected, or the fact that she might not be at this house, she might have been caught out in the city and stumbled upon someone infected. That thought couldn't take root in my head or I would lose my shit. Nope, this was all about a boy and the fear of God I was about to put into him.

The kid lived in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans, so it took me ten minutes to get there. At eight on the nose I was pounding on his door. It was a hell of a way to wake up on a Saturday morning, but if Alicia was in there I wasn't playing nice.

A young teen, no older than sixteen, opened the door. He wasn't wearing a shirt and if I breathed on him wrong he looked like he would fall over.
Skinny ass mother– what did my sister see in this sapling
?

"Are you Marcus?" I asked. I stuck my foot forward so he couldn't close the door on me.

"Yeah, who are you?" he asked with a bit of defiance in his tone.
Ballsy fucker
. I already didn't like him.

"I'm Tim Voiter, Alicia's older brother. You know Alicia, right? Is she here?"

"Um, no, she's not," he said, but he looked down and away, so I knew he was lying.

"Alicia, get out here now!" I hollered into the house. If his parents were home, screw it, they shouldn't let a young girl sleep over anyway.

The boy backed away and held his hands up. He knew he was busted. "She just slept in my little brother's room, man, she was pissed at her brother, the other brother, not you," he hedged, looking at me with fear in his eyes.

"Go. Get her now," I said, steel in my tone. He tripped over his baggy pants and nearly fell on his ass trying to get away from me. I hoped he pissed his pants. He righted himself and scurried back, leaving the door wide open for me. I walked into the hallway and looked around.

"A-A-Alicia," he called and I heard their murmured voices in the background. I would give her sixty seconds before I rushed into his house and dragged her out.

"What do you want?" She came to the door wearing jeans and a tee so I felt a modicum of relief. At least she wasn't half naked like dick for brains.

"Alicia, you've made your point. This has gone too far, get in the car, I'm taking you home."

"I'm not going anywhere." She stomped her foot like the spoiled brat she was.

"So, what? You’re moving in with this kid here? What do you think his parents will say about that? Are they here?" I looked at the boy. "Are your parents here, Marcus? Can you go get them now?"

"They aren't here, sir," he said, looking guilty.

"Fabulous. I'll be sure to let them know that Alicia spent the night here while they were away. Alicia, get in the car." I went to grab for her arm and she pulled away, glaring daggers at me.

"I hate you!" she screamed and rushed out of the house. Her sense was somewhat intact though because she made a beeline for the car. She stopped when she saw Lena in the passenger seat and then looked at me with a haughty look. "And now I have to hang out with one of your sluts? Great. Way to set a good example, Tim."

"She's a client, Alicia, reign it in." I marched to the car and opened the back door, glancing behind me and pointing a finger at the boy who was still hanging in the doorway. I made sure my jacket opened and he got a good look at what I was packing.

"If this happens again, kid, I won't be so friendly." I opened the door and slammed it after Alicia slid in.
Teenagers
.

A
LICIA was subdued
as we made our way across town. She sat in the back of the car and sulked. I much preferred sulking to the glaring accusations and backtalk that I had been getting from her lately.

My head was spinning, caught between worry over what was going down in the city and worry over my sister going down the wrong path. I was all over the place in my head and not much for conversation. Lena spent most the time on her phone, texting back and forth with people. She was probably making plans with her family in Colorado. I didn't want to pry, she had made her decision. She would be fine. Or so I hoped.

I was going to drop Lena off at the rental car place and make sure she was settled and ready to go. Then Alicia and I were going to go to Hank and Barbara's and head out of the city. I was hoping that it would be an easy transition, just grab and go, but my logical brain was doubtful. It was never easy with my family. Things always got complicated.

We pulled up in front of the car rental place and I uneasily assessed our surroundings. The place was dead. There was hardly a car on the street. It was early on a Saturday morning, but there was always movement in this city.

"Come with us," I said to Alicia, not trusting that she would stay put as I secured a vehicle for Lena. We had pulled right up into the driveway of the rental agency and I held the door as both girls shuffled in. There was only one clerk and her eyes were glued to the television when we walked in. At first she gave us some trouble about renting a car since Lena was only twenty-two and they had a policy of twenty-five or older to rent, but when she pulled out her black Amex and flashed her grin, the clerk put two and two together and started stuttering when she realized who Lena was.

In under five minutes, the clerk had a fancy SUV idling at the front of the storefront and Lena was all set to go.

"I'll make arrangements to have your luggage forwarded to your L.A. address," I said as I walked her to the front of the store. I waved Alicia off when she started making faces at me and jumping up and down behind Lena's back, she had just realized who my client was. I had to teach that girl to be more aware of her surroundings.

"You don't have to do that, I'll have one of the assistants pack me up. You've done too much already, Romeo." Again that dazzling smile. If we had a few more hours I would have thrown that bodyguard-client issue out the window.

"Alright, but please, I want you to call me when you get to Colorado. Hell, call me when you make your first stop." I pulled one of my business cards out of my wallet and then thought of something. I scribbled the address of the company compound, a place where we trained personnel and ran drills for MJ Security. It was where I was bringing my family and one of the most secure locations I could think of. "This is a secure place. I'm spending the whole weekend there with my family, just to be sure. If you run into any issues, come here. It's out of the way and there is plenty of room. James and Miller have this island off of Lake Catherine, it was slated to be a new subdivision, but the money ran out and they scooped it up. They have a few luxury houses on it, so you'll be comfortable. Please, go there if you can't get to Colorado. And here,” I handed over a lockbox with my extra .22 in it.

“The combination is set to eight five six one, there’s extra ammo in the safe. I read your dossier, so I know you can handle this one. It’s a small one, you’ll have to hit them a few times to take them down, but it’s a good one for you. If everything blows over, just lock it up and get it sent by courier back to the MJ office. I just can’t have you unarmed on the road like this.”

"I will, thank you again. You've done enough, I'll be fine." She got behind the wheel of the SUV and rolled down the window, putting the lockbox on the seat next to her.

"This goes against my principles as an Alpha male to let you leave on your own," I laughed.

"You'll survive," she laughed too and then leaned forward. This time, she didn't kiss me on the cheek. It was still chaste, but it held promise. She pressed her lips to mine. They were soft and tasted of coffee. It was nice to not have the goal of sex or a conquest hovering around a kiss for once. I really didn't want her to leave after that. I wanted her to stay, I wanted to deepen the kiss, I wanted to declare myself her protector and force her to come with me. But, I let her go. She pulled away from me and started the engine.

"Be safe, Tim.” She reached out and gripped my hand which I had resting on the edge of the window and squeezed it gently.

I just stared after her as she put the big SUV in gear and drove away. I wanted to tell her to stop. I wanted to tell her it wasn't safe. That she was safer with me, safer with my protection. But I was just being paranoid. She would be fine. This whole thing would blow over and we'd be laughing about it in a couple of weeks. I shook my head and turned to my sister, who was staring at me with her mouth hanging open.

"Did you just French kiss Selena Devay?" she squealed when I walked over to her.

"If you think that was a French kiss, I don't have to worry about what you did with that boy last night." I grabbed her by the shoulder and squeezed, smiling down at her.

"We just talked!" She was suddenly blushing and stuttering as I opened the passenger door for her

"Yeah, that's what I used to tell our parents, too," I laughed.

"I swear, Tim. We only talked. He's a really nice guy. He's my friend. You just never believe me." And the pouting began again as we headed in the direction of my brother's house.