The Zombie Zovels (Book 1): Zombie Suburbia (20 page)

We ate dinner together finishing off our water bottle so Lane could use it tomorrow. When we had
both used the bathroom (behind the nearest tree), we shut the van doors and lit a few smelly
candles. I couldn't believe how excited I was to be sleeping on a mattress again. The previous
owners looked like a clean bunch so I didn't mind sleeping in their bedding so much. Three weeks
in the woods was too long. We played a couple of board games, but didn't stay up too late, we were
both exhausted and looking forward to an undisturbed sleep. I never felt completely safe in the
trees. We usually talked late into the night and early into the morning, afraid of what the night
would bring. Lane always fell asleep first, and I only passed out when I could no longer keep my
eyelids open. I still worried myself awake, checking Lane was okay every half hour. Looking after
him had become a 24/7 job.
I woke up in Lane's arms. I was sweating I was so hot, the heat coming from his body was insane. I
pushed him off me and checked my watch 10.42 am. This was the latest we had woken up since
we'd been at the motel.
“Hey,” I said, nudging him awake.
He stretched his arms above his head. “Am I dead yet?” he joked.
“Yep, welcome to Hell.” I said, returning his smile.
“What time is it?” he asked.
“10.40-ish.”
“Really?”
“Yeah I know right, we're usually up with the birds.”
He sat up beside me, stretching again.
“Sooo good.” he said, referring to his sleep, and probably the bed.
“Even if you can't get the van working today, I may possibly consider staying here for a few more
days so we can catch up on sleep and get some rest.”
“Sounds good. But I
will
have this van running by the afternoon.”
“Okay, whatever you say.”
Lane playfully shoved me back onto the mattress and pressed himself on top of me, trapping me,
and trying to kiss me.
“Don't, I haven't even rinsed out my mouth yet.” I said, trying to avoid his lips.
“You worry too much.” He kissed my forehead and let me up.
We gathered our stuff for our trip to the river. Lane was eager and was already waiting by a tree for
me, impatiently tapping his leg with his bat.
“Hold your horses,” I said, ducking back into the van and retrieving the spray can.
I closed the doors, not wanting to come back and find a zombie squatting in our new
accommodation or more realistically an animal raiding our food supply. “How exactly are you
going to find your way back to the van?” I asked, crossing the road.
He frowned and scratched the back of his head.
“You hadn't even thought about it, have you? Good job one of us has their head screwed on
properly. We never end up back in the same location we walked from. Here,” I threw the can to him.
“Leave enough of a mark so we can find our way back. You think you can manage that?”
“I don't know, it sounds like an impossible task.” Lane said, removing the lid, smiling.
I just happened to look over my shoulder and spotted a zombie wandering in and out of the treeline.
“You see that?” I asked.
“Yup, do you think it's from that pack we saw the other day?”
“I don't know. Let's go before it sees us. It should be gone by the time we get back.”
We made it to the river in just over an hour, longer than I thought it would have taken. I was glad I
had talked Lane out of it yesterday. We both washed up in the river and I took a little longer
washing my hair, much to Lane's annoyance, but my hair badly needed a wash, I was seriously
considering chopping it off. I'd always loved my long hair, now it was just a pain in the ass to
maintain. I washed our underwear and socks and rolled them in our damp towels. Lane filled the
water bottle up and we headed back, following the marked trees.
I left Lane fiddling around under the hood, while I hung up our damp laundry inside the van, using
my rope as a washing line. I was still trying to de-tangle my hair when I walked around to see Lane.
He had taken off his T-shirt (it wasn't even warm outside) and hung it over the hood, and was using
it as a rag to wipe his hands on. Good job I had spares.
“I've decided to cut my hair off.”
“Uh-huh,”
I rolled my eyes and leaned against the van, he wasn't really listening, too busy doing... something
with his tools.
“Right, let's give it a go,” he said, straightening up, wiping grease across his forehead.
I tried not to laugh.
“What?”
“You have a little something on your...”
He walked around and looked in the side mirror, flashed me his not impressed look, and rubbed it
away with the back of his arm. Then he hopped into the front of the van. I could see him patting his
pockets down.
“Problem?” I said.
“Um... have you seen the keys?”
“Why? Are they not in the ignition?”
“I didn't want to leave them in there.”
“Why not? It's not like anyone was going to steal it.”
“Stop being a smart ass and help me find them.” he said, checking around the floor under the seat.
“No need. I have them. They dropped out of your pocket when you were doing a strip show for me
down by the river, remember?”
I pulled them out of my back pocket and handed them to him.
“See, what would you do without me?” I smirked.
He slid the key in and we both waited anxiously. He gripped one hand on the wheel, took a deep
breath and turned the key.
The van grumbled... but didn't start.
“Wait, one more try,” Lane said.
He tried again... this time the van roared to life and didn't cut out.
“You did it!” I squealed in excitement. The thought of not having to walk for a few days was
extremely exciting to me.
He held his hand up to me for a high-five.
“Get your stuff and let's get out of here.” He grinned.
I dashed around to the back of the van and tidied the candles back into the box, they were glass and
I didn't want them getting broken. I picked up my bag to take into the front with me, Lane came
around to the back and slid the toolbox in. He closed the doors and we both walked around to the
front.
I froze on the spot for a moment when I saw one... two... three zombies heading toward the van.
I slipped inside the van and closed my door the same time as Lane closed his.
The zombie in front hurried forward and crashed into the hood, it bounced straight off, and landed
on its ass. It stood back up and looked at us, I recognized it as the zombie from this morning. The
other two were taking their sweet ass time as if they were off on a stroll in the park. One got
distracted and wandered off to the side.
“What's it doing?” Lane asked, still staring at the zombie in front of the windshield.
“I don't know, but it's freaking me out. It looks like it's trying to figure us out. Just drive, maybe it
will move.”
“You know it's not going to move. It doesn't seem that hungry.”
“It's probably still stuffed on rotten deer.”
Lane put the van in reverse and we rolled backward. It slid off the hood and landed on the road.
Lane pressed his foot on the gas. The zombie had only just made it back onto its feet when we
drove forward. Lane swerved, but managed to clip the zombie and it spun around and landed on the
ground again. The other zombie watched us drive by, looking confused, I waved goodbye, and
zombie number three had disappeared into the trees and was gone. We hadn't gone far when zombie
number four ran out of the trees like a streak of lightning, but it was no match for the van and it
soon became a tiny dot in the side mirror.
I leaned forward and fiddled with the car radio, wondering if there was a CD inside. To my surprise,
Fall Out Boy
came on when I pressed
play
.
Lane reached over, pressed the
skip
button and turned the volume up. The song
Centuries
pumped
out through speakers.
“You like
Fall Out Boy
?” I asked.
“Who doesn't like
Fall Out Boy
!” he answered, looking sideways at me, smirking.
I slid along the seat next to him.
“We're gonna be okay, Alleycat.” he said, reaching up and ruffling the back of my hair.

Another week past. Another week without seeing any other survivors. I was starting to think there
weren't any. We were lucky enough to come across a ranch, not too far from the main road. The
zombies hadn't got to it and it had a pantry full of non-perishables and plenty of liquids. To say we
got lucky was putting it mildly. We filled the van with food, fresh bedding, and any toiletries we
found. We stayed for awhile, keeping everything we wanted to take with us in the van and we
always slept in the van at night. The ranch still had running water, which was cleaner than the river.
There wasn't much in the house, I think it had been a vacation home before, but I didn't complain, it
restocked our supplies and it had a cabinet full of liquor. We had recklessly gotten drunk a few
nights in the back of the van.
After the supplies started to grow smaller we reluctantly said goodbye to our ranch retreat and got
back on the road. The weeks started to blur together and we camped where we thought was safe
(nowhere was ever really safe). We got clever and learned how to siphon gas, making sure we never
got low, and there was no shortage of the stuff in the towns, we just had to be careful. Abandoned
cars lined the streets in the towns, and for another tankful of gas, it was always worth the risk. The
van was starting to feel like home. And just when I thought the van was on its last legs Lane
managed to repair it, finding other vans to take parts from, we even stopped at a garage in one of the
towns so he could work on the van. The world felt like a lonely place. Picture this... you're standing
in the middle of a street, in a town that was once buzzing with life, only now the only things that
move are the leaves around your feet as the blustery wind picks them up and scatters them into the
air. That's what it was like sometimes. Every time we found a new town I was hopeful of finding
life... only it was never the life I was looking for. Humans had just disappeared. But we kept
driving, we had no real home, nowhere to go, no destination, just a road... and we always followed
it... hoping for a miracle.

Voices stirred me awake.
Just a dream.
I thought.
The only other real voice I had heard in the last six months had been Lane's... and the one inside my
head.
Definitely a dream
.
I rolled over, I was still in that in-between phase where you're not quite awake but still sleepy
enough to doze off again.
“Thom, look, is that a packet of
Oreos
?” said a girl's voice.
I sat bolt upright. I wasn't dreaming. I turned around and looked at the hatch. It was shut, but I could
see movement on the other side through the gaps. Someone was inside the van.
What the hell?
I looked down at myself, I was still half naked. I grabbed my vest top and yanked it on, not
bothering to look for my bra.
I shook Lane and he made a grunting noise. I quickly clamped my hand over his mouth. His eyes
shot open and I pressed a finger to my own lips. He frowned, then we both heard rustling.
Whoever was in the front was helping themselves to my packet of
Oreos...
which I'd been saving.
Even Lane wasn't allowed to touch them.
“Try the keys, Thom.” said the same voice.
Lane sat up. “
Who the fuck is that
?” he mouthed.
I shrugged, and quietly pulled on my jeans. The van's engine grumbled and music blared out of the
speakers.
“It works,” shrieked the girl. “And we have music!”
“Colorado here we come baby.” said a male voice.
Lane leaned over and grabbed my gun.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
Lane pointed at the hatch.
The volume of the music decreased. “Just gonna take a piss, then we'll roll.” said the male.
“What's this?” asked the girl, rattling the hatch door. I was glad I had locked it last night.
“Hmm... dunno. Let's try the back doors.”
The engine died and a moment later I heard the voices at the back of the van.
Lane was waving his arms and pointing. I had no idea what any of it meant, so I shrugged and he
rolled his eyes at me. He stepped off the mattress and pushed me behind him just as both the doors
opened.
I peeked around Lane. The two strangers clocked on to Lane pointing a gun at them.
“Oh, shit!” said the boy, protectively angling himself in front of the girl.
The girl screamed and Lane pointed the gun at her.
“Shut up!” Lane ordered. “Zombies, remember?”
“We did-didn't know the van-the van was already ta-taken.” the boy stuttered.
“Back up,” Lane said.
The two of them walked backward and Lane jumped out from the van (only wearing his boxers
might I add).
“Keys,” Lane said, holding his hand out for them.
The boy obligingly chucked them to Lane.
“We're sorry!” cried the girl, then she started sobbing.
I pulled on my boots and jumped down beside Lane.
Lane looked at me unsure what to do. I looked back at the pair of them. The girl was a mess, crying
into the boy's arms. She had black hair cut short into a pixie cut, dark make-up (that was running
down her face... and who wears make-up in a zombie infested world. What's the point?). Her
clothes were all black, black trousers, oversized black jacket, black choker around her neck, the
only thing that wasn't black were the red
Dr. Martens
on her feet. I noticed even her nails were
painted black.
The boy was taller than Lane and really skinny, not a muscle in sight. He had light brown hair
(greasy was not the word). Ugh! He was wearing a long-sleeved red T-shirt (with various stains)
rolled up at the elbows, a hoodie tied around his waist, and jeans splashed with dried blood. I also
saw the skin condition on his hands and arms.
“Don't suppose you guys can give us a lift?” the boy asked.
No-No-No-No!
I thought.
Then I caught Lane looking at me. Crap, not that look, the pity look.
“What is your name?” he asked the boy.

No, don't ask them that.
They'll assume we want to be friends. I don't want any friends, especially not the kind that eat all
my
Oreos
.
“My name is Thom, and this is my girlfriend, Crystal.”
Crystal turned in his arms and did a little wave at us, and I saw something wriggling under her
jacket, followed by random noises.
Lane looked at me, then back at Crystal.
She smiled and shifted her jacket around, rolling the top down for us to see. A small head popped
out.
Crap-crap-crappy-crap!!!
Now we would have to give them a ride.
“Is that a baby?” Lane asked.
I looked at Lane wondering why he had felt the need to ask them that, of course it was a baby.
The small child turned its head to look at us. It wasn't a baby, I didn't know how old, though.
“This is Ozma,” Crystal said.
“I'm Lane and that's Alex.” he said, sticking his thumb at me, like I was one of his buddies.
That's Alex?
Hadn't I earned the title role of girlfriend yet?
Lane looked at me again...
Oh, I see, I have to make the decision.
He was waiting for me.
If I had my way we'd get back in the van pronto, and drove off. My conscious scolded me.
Who had I become? I couldn't believe those thoughts were knocking around inside my head. My
mother would be so ashamed of me.
“What happened to your hands?” Lane asked Thom.
“Um... it's a skin condition. I've had it since I was young. It keeps flaring up and, well, there isn't
exactly a drugstore around here. Don't worry, I'm not turning into a zombie.” Thom laughed.
“C'mon guys, help us out. Survival is better in numbers, right?”
“Can I have a moment with my friend?” Lane said.
Thom nodded and Crystal whispered in his ear. Lane grabbed my arm, turned me around and
walked me away.
I crossed my arms, sniffed and wrinkled my nose. Lane stared at me like I had all the answers.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I dunno...
friend
?” I replied.
“Alex, not now, I'm not getting into an argument with you right now. What do you think is up with
his hands and arms?”
“Definitely zombie leprosy.”
“Shit! Really?”
“No, you idiot. It's eczema. Pip used to get it on her arms all the time growing up. Still, he should
cover it up, that's open to infection from anything.”
“Should we give them a ride?” he asked.
“Do we have a choice? We'd be horrible human beings if we said no.”
“Wasn't this the point?” he said.
“What?”
“To find other survivors?”
“Yes, I meant finding another safe house, not random hitch-hikers.”
“Do you think they're dangerous?”
I looked back at the pair of them. The girl looked malnourished and the boy looked like he didn't
have a clue how to look after either of them. They didn't even have a weapon on hand. Unless they
had a gun hidden in her bag.
“Alex?”
“Sorry, I'm thinking.”
“And?”
“I think you should get dressed. You can drive and I'll sit in the back with them.”
“No, I think you should sit in the front with me.”
“No dummy! What if she pulls a gun out of her bag and blows through the hatch? It's not like I can
ask to search through her bag.”
But I should.
We walked back to them. Thom held Crystal's hand tightly, biting his fingernail on his other hand.
“You can come with us. But you have to ride in the back for now.” Lane said.
“And no stealing our food supply.” I sounded like a real bitch. “I'll ration you out some if you don't
have any of your own.”
Not that I wanted to.
Thom nodded. “Cool. For a minute there I thought you were going to drive off and leave us.”
“You might want to cover those arms, they could get infected.” I said, and Thom rolled down his
sleeves.
Lane handed me the gun and climbed back into the van to get dressed.
I caught Crystal eyeing the gun in my hand.
“Where are your weapons?” I asked. “You do carry one, don't you?”
Crystal grinned and produced a skillet from her bag.
“I've found it quite effective.” she said.
I really hoped she didn't plan on using that on Lane or me.
Maybe that was what they did, finding survivors (victims) and stealing whatever they wanted. We
had a lot to lose. Food, a vehicle (which also had my bed inside of it), a gun, clean water, and a
collection of board games. The board games were the only things that kept us sane some days.
I realized I hadn't said anything and was staring at them like a lemon.
I smiled, it felt forced.
“You have really nice hair,” Crystal said.
“Oh, thanks,” I mumbled. “It was a lot longer, but I had to cut it off.”
My hair now hung just above my shoulders. I hated it at first, but I don't put off washing my hair
anymore.
“I can braid it for you if you'd like?” Crystal said.
“Maybe later.” I smiled, wondering when she last had contact with another girl.
“So have you two been together since the start?” I asked.
By
start
, I meant the beginning of the virus before it spread and the world changed to a big pile of
crap.
“Yes, we managed to make it out of Salt Lake City before it got completely swamped. I dunno how
we survived there for so long amongst the chaos.” Thom said.
“I can imagine. The virus probably spread like wildfire in that place.” I said.
“How about you two?” Crystal asked, stroking Ozma's curly black hair.
“Um, we sort of found each other last year.”
“Where are you guys headed?” Thom asked.
“We don't really have a destination. Just looking for some place safe with other people. We found
one place, but... the people weren't that friendly so we moved on, and we've been on the road ever
since.”
“I heard most of the safe houses are hidden in the mountains. We've been searching too, and still not
found anything.” Crystal said.
“Where'd you hear that from?” I asked.
“From an official source.” Thom said.
“An official source?” I said, wanting to know where they were getting their information from.
“We met a couple of military guys back in the city before we left, and they said the majority of safe
houses in Idaho are hidden in the mountains and deep in the forests.”
It was probably true, we were yet to come across one.
“So why are you going to Colorado? I overheard you before.”
“We came across a small group of travelers, they had come from Colorado, and they told us the
military were handling it very well that way. And all are welcome there and there are no restrictions.
They have opened their safe houses to everyone.”
“Then why were the people you met leaving if it was a safe place?”
“They were traveling to find family members across the country, we happened to meet them. We
haven't seen anyone else except you two in over five months.” Thom said.
“Colorado huh?” Lane said, jumping out of the van. “My brother was sent there just after the virus
started to break.”
“You never told me that,” I said.
Lane shrugged. “Why was he sent there?” I asked.
“My brother was a medical research scientist.”
“Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?”
“It's not like it matters, he's probably dead already, so there was no point bringing it up.”
Lane and I had shared everything in the last six months, and he hadn't once told me about his
brother. I didn't even know he had a brother.
“I need to pee.” Crystal interrupted our awkward exchange.
“Yep, me too.” Thom said.
“Me too.” I muttered walking off.
I ducked down behind a tree and took a much needed morning pee. I stayed there for a few extra
minutes. I was secretly upset Lane hadn't bothered to tell me about his brother, maybe he had more
than one, who knew? I let it go. He was probably right, his brother was likely to be dead by now.
I peeked around the tree. Thom was leaning against the van chatting to Lane, holding his arm out
for Crystal so she could twirl around underneath it like a small child would do. These two were the
most unprepared human beings I had ever seen. How had they survived this long?
I wandered back over and avoided Lane's eyes glaring at me.
“So Colorado it is.” I said.
“Yay!” Crystal squeaked, before planting a huge kiss on Thom's lips... I saw tongue and had to look
away.
Really?
They better not do that the whole way there and they better not get any ideas about renting out the
back of the van.
Ugh! Calm, Alex.
Lane was staring at me. He knew what each of my expressions meant, and right now I was pulling
my crazy face, where my eyes darted around while I had a conversation with myself inside my
head... and it happened a lot. I was the only other person to talk to apart from Lane.
Maybe we did need some company.
I climbed into the back and sat near the partition, closer to Lane. Crystal and Thom hopped in and
Lane closed the doors.
“This is kind of nice, kinda cozy,” Crystal said. “A little love shack.”
“Babe, they said they were just friends.” Thom said.
“Okay, if they say so,” she smiled at me, unbuttoning her jacket.
Lane not me. Lane labeled us, not me.
Friends?
Pffff! Friends, I'll remember that next time he tries
to get into my panties.
“Where'd you guys get all your food from?” Thom asked, eyeing the box in the corner.
“The last town we drove through, we hit every house we could.” Lane said, poking his head through
the hatch door.
“The place was deserted so we made the most of it. The van helps. Before we could only take what
we could carry.” I said.
“Where'd you find the van?” Crystal asked.
“We got lucky in Oregon, and Lane managed to get it running. It's only let us down a few times,
thankfully not when we were trying to get away from a mob of zombies.”
Thom helped Crystal take off her jacket. Underneath she had Ozma sitting in a baby carrier. She
pulled her out and sat her on the mattress while she untangled the baby carrier from her arms.
“How do you keep it running?” Thom asked.
“Every time we see an abandoned vehicle Lane checks for gas.”
“You guys have got it sorted.” Thom said, looking around the van.
“Just trying to survive like everyone else.” I said.
Lane started the van and cranked up the music. Crystal's eyes lit up and she started bouncing around
on the mattress.
“We haven't heard music in quite some time.” Thom said as Crystal knocked shoulders with him.
Thom pulled out a tin. “Do you guys mind if I smoke?”
Great! Just when I got Lane to quit.... again.
Every time we found a gas station with smokes he stocked up. He had no self-control and smoked
the things one after the other until they were all gone, then he'd get in a strop about it and I'd have to
put up with his ratty moods for weeks or, until, we found more cigarettes. I was starting to think
he'd never quit.
“Um,” I was about to say not in the van, but Lane talked over me.
“Do you have one going spare?” Lane asked.
Typical!
I thought.
There are days when Lane conveniently doesn't hear me (even when I'm standing right next to him
and ask him to help me with something), oh, but, he heard Thom over the music and all the way
back here.
“Sure do, it's the least I can do to repay you guys,” Thom said, holding out a cigarette for me to pass
to Lane.
“Do you want one?” he asked me.
“I don't smoke.” I replied, gingerly taking the cigarette from him, not impressed he was okay with
smoking inside the van where Ozma was. I stood up and poked it through one of the gaps.
“Here's your death stick,
friend
.”
“Do you need a light?” Thom yelled.
Of course Lane doesn't need a light. I think he was born with a lighter, he probably shot out of his
mom and smoked a whole pack within the first hour.
“Nah, I'm good.” Lane called back.
“Are you hungry?” I asked Crystal, trying not to stare at her tiny frame.
“A bit. You sort of get used to not eating. I don't feel that hungry anymore.”
“When was the last time you ate? Minus the
Oreos
.”
“Um...? I don't know.”
“What about Ozma?” I asked, watching her crawl all over Crystal.
“I'm still breastfeeding, and I've got her on a bottle in-between. Bottled water and I just add sugar,
she loves it, but I have been introducing her to solids. Her favorite is chocolate cookies.”
“How old is she?”
“Twelve months.” Crystal answered, tickling Ozma's tummy.
“Was she planned?” I asked.
I mentally cringed.
Why did I ask that?
Who gets pregnant in a zombie apocalypse? What was wrong with people?
You'd think if people didn't have contraception they'd keep their legs shut. At least, that's what I
did... even if Lane harassed me some nights... we usually did other stuff instead. There was no way I
was going to risk getting pregnant. I was already a slow runner, if I took on extra weight I'd get
eaten for sure.
“I'm sorry, that just slipped out.” I said.
Crystal smiled and pulled Ozma onto her lap.
“No, she wasn't planned. We couldn't always find contraception. Well, you know how it is. I mean,
what else were we supposed to do?” She winked at me.
Not-Have-Sex!
I wanted to tell her exactly what I thought, but I had to bite my tongue, and smiled instead.
Crystal kept the conversation going, asking me all sorts of questions about where we'd come from
and the different places we had traveled through. Thom was quiet and kept Ozma amused most of
the time. It was weird seeing such a small child. It made me think about Amy and Jo. They would
have both had their babies by now. We made a few stops for the toilet, mainly for Crystal, I wasn't
so sure if she wasn't pregnant again. We stopped for lunch at the side of the road, and Thom
stretched his legs walking Ozma up and down the road. I didn't really know how I felt about seeing
the child out in the open. It didn't feel right, I wanted to tell Thom to put her back in the van. Thom
and Lane had plenty to talk about, PlayStation, Xbox, what music they were into.
I warmed up to the pair after awhile, they were what they seemed, young, in love, and not prepared
for anything.
After lunch Thom sat in the front with Lane, we had been following the signs for a town, but we
had taken a few wrong turns, we were lucky to find another vehicle with gas to top up the van.
“Alex?” Lane called.
“Yeah,” I replied, standing up and going over to the hatch.
“There's a town coming up.”
“Okay, you know the drill, drive straight through, if it looks quiet we stop, if not we don't risk it.”
“You've done this before?” Thom asked, looking over his shoulder at me.