Territory of the Dead (Book 2): Phase Two: Evaluate (5 page)

“Oh, God,” a woman wails out. I feel her cool hands press against my face. They ground me. The floating sensation stops. “Has she been bitten?”

“I don't believe so, but I won't know until I get her inside.”

“Tabitha,” my mom continues, her voice trailing off into a sob. I desperately want to open my eyes and reassure her, but I can't. My mouth is swollen and dry, the nausea stronger than it was before.

“What's wrong with her?” My dad asks, his voice worried. “Why won't she wake up?”

“Unless you want to watch your daughter die in my arms, I need everyone to get the hell out of my way,” Kellan barks out, his tone rough and gravelly. The soft-spoken, tender man from my dream world was gone. The real Kellan was back, and it broke my heart.

Before I could examine the thought any further, darkness returns. I'm swept away to a black void where I know no more.

Chapter 4

They say that consciousness comes back slowly, but that wasn't the case for me. One moment I was out, the next moment I was awake. The illness I experienced before was gone but my mouth was dry and parched. It was late afternoon, the sunlight weak as it poured through the sheer curtains of the room I'd picked for my own.

Someone had moved chairs into the small room. My parents sat beside me, worry creasing their faces. “Mom,” I croaked out, my voice unrecognizable to even my own ears. “Can you get me something to drink?”

She stood up and moved to the small table next to the window. Within seconds she was back, a glass of my favorite pop fizzing in her hand. Her face was relieved.

I reached for it, surprised to see the IV in my arm. At my questioning look, Dad informed me, “You were extremely dehydrated when Kellan brought you in last night. Do you remember that? You've been pretty sick.”

I pushed myself up in the bed, resting my back against the headboard. Mom held the straw up to my lips, and I drank deeply before taking the glass from her. It did the trick. I sent her a small small of gratitude as I finished it off.

My body felt sticky from the heat and sweat. Someone had undressed me, leaving me in my panties and bra. I tucked the sheet underneath my armpits before pushing my tangled hair away from my face. I was alive, and that was all that mattered. “I don't think I've ever been that sick before.”

Mom sat back down, both of them watching me talk. “James left to go to the gun store, and that's when it all fell apart. A few minutes later, someone screamed. We thought it was James, so Jayden left to try to help. I nearly got bitten, but I was able to hide in the old insurance office behind the store. It was so hot in there, but I couldn't yell to the men when I saw them. There were too many zombies in between us, and I couldn't have put them at risk like that.”

I left a lot out, but it really didn't matter. I was sure James, Jayden, and Kellan had already filled them in.

Dad grimaced. “It's going to be a long time before I forgive James for putting my daughter at risk. In fact, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to. James might be my age, but he is an idiot. Not only did he almost get himself killed, but the rest of you, as well. Right now, the only person talking to James is his daughter. He's already caught hell from Kellan, but I doubt it will do any good.”

I couldn't disagree with anything he said. James was out-of-control. If Kellan were smart, he wouldn't be taking him back to Pleasant any time soon. I nodded at my arm. “Who put the IV in? Kellan?”

Mom nodded, beaming. “He's got a lot of medical experience. Kellan carried you in, checked you for bites, and immediately diagnosed you with severe dehydration. If it wasn't for him, we might have lost you.”

I choked on the drink. “Kellan undressed me?” I squeaked out as I coughed, completely mortified at the thought.

Dad shrugged, his voice stern when he answered me. “When it comes to your life, I don't care if the president has to undress you. Kellan was the only one with the medical experience needed to save you. Plus, we all know how adamant he is about ensuring nobody is bitten. It was completely impersonal, but necessary, to save your life.”

A brisk knock sounded at my bedroom door. The caller didn't wait, though. The door immediately swung open, revealing Kellan on the other side.
Speak of the devil,
I thought crossly to myself.

I wasn't quite prepared to see him. My mind needed time to sort through my broken memories. I wasn't a spur-of-the-moment type of girl. Instead, I preferred to mull things over. I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed to see him or grateful.

Kellan's eyes were indeed impersonal as they swept over me. To my relief, they didn't linger. He stepped in, nodding to my parents in greeting before announcing, “I need to examine Tabitha.”

It was a rather abrupt statement, but Kellan was an abrupt man. Straight and to the point, I wondered if he'd ever done anything as trivial as exchanging pleasantries or talking about the weather.
Impossible.

Here in Louisiana, life just seemed to move at a slower pace. It was one of the many reasons why I loved living in the south. In Pleasant, good manners mattered. Whether it was sincere or not was debatable, but here, people actually took the time to ask you how you were doing. Working as a cashier, it was a question I'd grown used to hearing at least a hundred times a day.

I sighed, my thoughts turning bleak. All of that was gone. Things would never be the same again, not in my lifetime. Everything about my small-town life was over. No longer would people stroll about the sidewalks, walking their dogs and enjoying the beauty of a warm spring day. And things like family reunions, sleepovers, or going out to the drive-in were nothing more than a part of history. 

And what about shopping? No longer could we run out to the nearest shopping center when we needed something. In the past, I'd never truly appreciated the convenience they represented. I could only imagine all of the people that were inside the largest stores when the apocalypse happened. Now they were zombies like everyone else, destined by fate to perpetually shop... But I was willing to bet the stores were out-of-stock for the live flesh the zombies were looking for.

Humans were no longer the top of the food chain. We were at the bottom, and the odds were stacked against us. How could a small group of survivors survive, when the whole world wanted to eat you?

We were okay, for now, but how long would that last? What would happen to us when we ran out of gasoline, and the fuel sources went bad? The same could be said for canned goods, medicines, personal hygiene products, and even toilet paper. And God forbid one of us should get something life-threatening like cancer. I never realized how much I relied on technology, but I did now. And this was only the beginning. What would the quality of our lives be like, five years down the road?

But I was being optimistic. In all likelihood, we wouldn't be alive for that long. None of us had what it took to survive in this new world we'd found ourselves trapped in. At least none of us but Kellan, and possibly Jayden.

“Tabitha,” a man's voice hissed, close to my ear. I jerked guiltily, my skin prickling with heat. I'd been so lost in the monstrosity of my thoughts I had completely missed the conversation around me.

I looked up to see three pairs of eyes watching me. Two of them were concerned, one just looked irritated. “I asked if you were feeling anything unusual?” Kellan repeated, checking my eyes for any abnormalities.

“I'm fine,” I replied, brushing his question away. My parents looked relieved at my words. Nodding at the IV, I asked, “Do you think we could take this out?”

Kellan nodded. Straightening my arm, he inspected it before pulling off the tape that held it in place. “You were dehydrated, dangerously so, but I think you'll be fine. This might sting for a second,” he warned, an instant before pulling the needle out.

Immediately, he pressed a cotton ball against my arm. “Hold this in place. I'm going to dispose of the needle.”

I smiled up at my parents, glad to have it gone. “Everything is fine,” I told them, despite the fact that I felt the complete opposite. Physically, I was okay, but our reality was eating away at me. I decided to change the subject. “How's Jayden doing?”

Mom sat down on the edge of the bed, a happy smile on her face. “He's fine, but he's pretty eager to see you.”

Dad chuckled before adding, “That's an understatement. The boy has almost worn the floors thin, pacing in front of the door here.”

The thought filled me with a pleasurable warmth. It was flattering and touching. I tried not to let it go to my head, though. When it came to Jayden, my feelings were complicated.

Kellan walked back into the room. “Would you mind if I talked to Tabitha by herself? There are some things we need to go over.”

My dad shot him a puzzled look, but he nodded. My mom patted my leg again before standing up. Silently, I groaned when she smiled at Kellan with watery eyes. “I didn't have the chance to say this before but thank you for saving our little girl.”

Kellan's lips twitched as he watched me in amusement. His response was simple, though. “It was my pleasure.”

My parents walked out of the room, my mom shutting the door closed behind her. I swallowed again, but this time in nervousness. I wasn't afraid of Kellan but being alone with him was a bit unsettling. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Straight to the point, I see,” he drawled out softly, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. “I like that in a woman.”

“I just bet you do,” I retorted, surprising myself by saying it out loud. As a rule, I wasn't quite so outspoken. His eyebrow arched up, but he remained silent. It was obvious Kellan expected me to continue.

Trying not to sound snappish, I added, “I've noticed you're awfully abrupt with people. I know we are all under a lot of pressure, but I don't think that's it. If I were to guess, I'd say you've always been that way. It wouldn't hurt to slow down some and actually say something that isn't an order or a demand. We're not in the military, you know?”

To my surprise, Kellan chuckled. Throwing his large right foot over his left knee, he leaned back in his chair and studied me. “For an eighteen-year-old, you're pretty astute. And more honest than a lot of women twice your age.”

And he was pretty clever. It didn't escape my notice that he hadn't confirmed or denied my assessment. Flattery was nice, but it wasn't enough to make me lose my train of thought. “And another thing, how come you've never told us your last name? I mean, the only people I know that go by one name are singers or actresses. Are you trying to be like Madonna or what?”

“Does my last name really matter?” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “How many men do you know named Kellan, especially now? It's not likely you'll get me confused. When you need to know it, I'll tell you. Don't hold your breath, though.”

He had a point. Kellan wasn't a man to be forgotten. I rolled my eyes. “There you go again, being abrupt. Just say what you have to say. I'm eager to get out of this bed and out of this room.”

“To Jayden?” He asked, his voice suddenly hard. There was a tension in the air that hadn't been there a moment before.

“Yes,” I replied slowly, not getting it. “I would like to see Jayden.”

His blue eyes narrowed on my face. “Tread carefully when it comes to him, Tabitha. Don't rush into anything you'll regret later on.”

I scoffed at his words. “Who says I'll even live long enough to regret anything, Kellan? You just don't seem to get it. I spent the last few years living for the day I'd graduate from high school. I wasn't one of those popular girls that loved every moment of it. No, I disliked everything about school, from the restrictions that were placed on us, to the boys that were my classmates. I just felt like it was childish, that they were all childish. Maybe I have an old soul, but I was beyond all that. I just didn't belong there, and I knew it.”

I turned to look out the window. It was bright outside, they sky clear and a beautiful shade of blue. It was a sight I'd seen a million times before, but not one I'd necessarily appreciated. I did now, though. Despite the safety of our current location, our days were numbered.

“You want to talk to me about regrets, Kellan? I don't need to wait to experience those, I already do. I regret that I've never met someone I
really
wanted to date. I regret that I've never fallen in love and experienced what that feels like. Instead, I looked forward to graduating. I honestly believed that once I got out of high school, my life would change. I'd meet someone great, and I'd fall in love. But it's not going to happen. Not now.”

I turned to look back at him. He was watching me with a frown on his face as if my words disturbed him. I blushed. What had I been thinking, telling him all of that? He wasn't exactly the type of person you'd want to confide in... Or the type that would want to hear it. “Okay, my rant is over. Sorry you had to listen to it.”

To my relief, Kellan didn't acknowledge it, one way or the other.
Maybe his abruptness had its benefits, after all.
In a deep voice, he got to the point of his visit. “We need to go back to Pleasant.”