Zomb-Pocalypse 3 (2 page)

Silas is striding
off towards the wood shed and I have to jog to keep up. He’s already inside the
building, which is about half full of split wood, when I get there. We’ll
definitely have to stock this thing up before winter. I watch him throw pieces
of wood inside an old wheel barrow that Abby’s parents always kept in the shed
for convenience, and my temper snaps. Even though we are the only two people
out here, he is still pretending I don’t exist.

“You’re avoiding
me,” I say baldly and watch as his back stiffens. For a minute I think he’s
going to ignore me again, but he turns around slowly, like it’s paining him to
do it.

“What do you want
from me Jane?” he asks, and it’s my turn to pause and think. I wasn’t expecting
that question. I shrug.

“I definitely want
us to go back to the way things were,” I tell him. “Being friends,” I clarify
when he doesn’t respond.

“Okay,” he agrees
quickly before turning his back on me again and going back to the wood. I watch
him with confusion. He’s agreed to my demands, but I feel like nothing has
really changed. I start to feel frustration bubble up inside me.

“No,” I say and
watch as he turns back around to give me an annoyed look.

“No what?” he
demands, and I put my hands on my hips.

“You kissed me,” I
accuse, “and now you are avoiding me like some…middle schooler.” Silas actually
lets out a humorless laugh at that analogy.

“Are you done?” he
asks, effortlessly making me feel like the awkward middle schooler.

“No,” I tell him,
refusing to let him cow-toe me into silence. “Why did you do it?” I ask. “Why
did you kiss me?” I clarify.

“I knew what you
meant,” Silas snaps as he shoves his hands into his pockets in agitation and
kicks at a piece of wood on the ground. “Look, Blondie—I’m sorry. I thought we
were going to die out there.” I nod. I had thought the same thing. “I just
wanted to kiss a pretty girl before I bit the big one, you know?”

“What?” I demand
incredulously. That wasn’t what I thought he was going to say at all.

“Yeah,” Silas
nods. “And since there wasn’t one of those around, I had to kiss you instead.”
My jaw actually goes limp and of all the crazy things, I feel hurt. Silas
catches the look on my face and frowns.

“Come on, Blondie,
you know I was joking,” he says, and I shrug.
Do I really know that?
Silas sighs in annoyance again. “You don’t need me to tell you how pretty you
are,” he says gruffly, and even in the dim light I can’t help but notice that
the tops of his ears have turned pink. I’m shocked, but only for a minute. Then
realization dawns on me and I recognize how much I am terrorizing Silas right
now with all this kissing talk. An evil idea pops into my head and I can’t
ignore it.

I take several
steps forward until I’m so close to Silas that I’m crowding him. “What are you
doing?” he asks, staring down at me in confusion. I shrug, stand up on my tippy
toes, and press my lips to his, and I can actually feel the shock run through
his body. He doesn’t pull away though—he kisses me back. I almost allow myself
to get caught up in it. It’s as good as I remembered…but I force myself to pull
away.

Silas wraps his
arms around me and tries to pull me back for another kiss, but I step back.
“What are you doing?” he asks, and I shrug casually.

“I just wanted to
kiss a good looking boy,” I tell him and watch as he blinks. “And since there
were none of those around, I kissed you instead,” I tell him succinctly as I
turn and walk towards the door. I look back at Silas and see he is still
frozen, right where I left him.

“I guess I
deserved that,” he admits, and I flash him a smile as I nod. Silas comes closer
and my heart hammers in my chest as I watch him walk up. He puts his hands on
my hips and for a brief moment I think he’s going to kiss me again, until I
realize he’s feeling up the empty holster around my waist. “What happened to
your gun?” he demands, and I almost burst out laughing. Here is the old Silas I
have missed.

“My parents took
it away,” I admit, feeling like a toddler, and he frowns.

“Are they crazy?
Disarming you with all the shit that’s going on?” He looks like he’s about to
blow a gasket.

“I still have my
knife,” I tell him, lifting my pant leg so he can see the handle sticking out
of my boot. He looks a little placated at that.

“Still…you would
have a hard time getting that knife out in an emergency,” he tells me, pulling
a handgun from behind his back and offering it to me. I stare at the shiny
black weapon in his hand; it is identical to the gun my parents confiscated.

“I don’t know if I
should,” I admit. I was never a rebellious child.

“Jane. Don’t be an
idiot. You know what’s out there. Do you really want to be defenseless?” Silas
demands, and I shake my head. I do know what’s out there and I do need
protection. My parents mean well, but they think I’m still the peppy
cheerleader I was when they left for New York—I wouldn’t have trusted that girl
with a loaded gun either. But she is not me. I’ve had training from Silas, and
more practice on moving zombie targets than I would like. I know how to handle
it safely, and I don’t think I’m a danger to anyone who doesn’t deserve it. My
fingers tremble as I reach out and take the gun from Silas’s hand. He’s right.

Silas shows me how
to tuck it in the back of my holster and cover the gun with my shirt. “You made
the right decision,” he assures me. I smile at him, and he actually smiles
back. I wonder if he’s going to kiss me again, but I never get the chance to
find out because our moment is interrupted by shrill screams of terror.

Silas whips
another gun from his hip and takes off at a run, and I follow without giving it
a thought. I almost reach for the gun but decide to go for the knife in my boot
instead. I can grab the gun easily enough and if it turns out to be nothing, I
don’t want my parents confiscating this one too because sooner or later Silas
will run out of handguns to give me.

We round the
corner of the cabin and I stop short when I see the zombie growling and hissing
as it advances on Abby and Natalie, who must’ve just walked out the front door,
neither of them has a weapon. Silas doesn’t hesitate as he raises his gun, and
his bullet punches neatly through the monster’s brain. The zombie goes down
like a sack of bricks, just as my parents and everyone else comes running out
to see what the commotion is all about.

Hank goes running
to Natalie and wraps her in a hug. “Are you okay?” he demands, and she manages
to nod even though she’s shaking like a leaf. My mom runs over and hugs Abby,
and my dad stares at Silas, who still has his gun out and is scanning the area
for any more threats. Nothing stirs though, and he tucks his gun back into his
holster.

Dad frowns when he
sees me standing outside, but he ignores me for a minute and turns to Silas.
“Good job, young man,” he says, and I feel a small weight come off my shoulders
at my dad’s approval of Silas. Ryan bursts out of the trailer; gun in his hand,
with a towel wrapped around his waist and looks around, frowning when he sees
the zombie on the ground.

“Damn it. I
thought we were safe up here,” he mutters, and it’s an echo of the sentiment we
are all feeling.

Damn it.

Chapter Two

“Jane, what on
earth are you doing outside?” Mom demands as she comes to stand on the porch
beside my father. Her eye snags on the zombie and she gasps.

“I was helping
Silas bring in some wood for the fire,” I tell her, and she frowns, though her eyes
are glued to the zombie so she isn’t really paying attention to me anymore.

“I didn’t think
they could get up here,” she moans. My dad puts his hand on her shoulder and
gives her a gentle squeeze.

“We don’t know
that they did,” Silas interrupts, and we all turn to stare at him. “This guy is
wearing hunting camo,” he explains. “He could’ve been out in the woods hunting
when he turned.” Everybody looks immediately relieved by Silas’ logic. “Or he
climbed up the mountain,” Silas says, reinforcing the idea that we aren’t safe
no matter how this thing got up here.

“We’ll have to
beef up security, that’s for sure,” Barry says. I hadn’t even noticed him
standing in the doorway behind my parents. “I’ll put it on the list, maybe we
can find some building supplies,” he says as he walks away, staring at a piece
of paper in his hand.

Mom wrings her
hands and motions for me to come inside. I glance at Silas as he starts to drag
the zombie away into the forest. “I’ll be fine,” he assures me, waving me away
with a grunt, and I’m left with no choice but to follow my mother into the
house. I see Ryan coming back out of the trailer fully dressed, and he rushes
over to give Silas a hand.

“Are you okay?” I
whisper to Abby when I enter the living room and see her sitting on the couch,
staring off into space. She nods, and I continue to stare at her until she
gives in and makes eye contact.

“That was really
close,” she admits, and I let out a shaky breath.

“I’m glad you’re
okay,” I tell her. She goes to get up and walk away, but I grab her hand,
remembering my pledge to myself last night not to let another day pass before I
work things out with Abby. “You know you’re my best friend right?” I ask her,
not really sure of anything anymore. Abby and Megan seem to have bonded, and
I’m not really sure of my place anymore.

Abby gives me a
grief-stricken look. “Of course I know that, Jay.” she says, leaning into me,
and tears start to fall down her cheeks. “It’s just so hard…” she trails off,
obviously not wanting to say that having my parents turn up alive makes her
heart ache even worse that hers will never show up and walk through that door.
I nod—she doesn’t have to say it. I understand completely. I sit upright with a
gasp, accidentally knocking Abby back on the couch. “What are you doing?” she
asks, wiping her eyes as she stares at me. She probably thinks I’ve lost my
mind.

“It’s been so
crazy since we got here, but I have something for you,” I tell her, remembering
the stuff we picked up from her house when we drove through. I feel kind of
like a jerk for waiting this long, though I have had a lot on my mind with the
zombies and discovering my parents are alive. “Come on,” I tug her to her feet
and head for the front door, but she balks.

“We aren’t
supposed to go outside, Jane,” she reminds me, and I can see her point. She did
just run into a zombie outside these very doors.

“I just have to
run out to the RV. I’ll be right back,” I assure her, and she looks indecisive.

“Okay, I’ll come
with you,” she relents as she steps up to the door and looks carefully out the
window before letting me open it.

The camper is
parked in the driveway, and I give a cursory knock but no one answers. “They
must be getting rid of the body still,” I tell Abby as I grab the door handle
and pull.

“Are you sure you
should go inside?” Abby asks hesitantly, and I shrug.

“I’m sure they
won’t mind,” I tell her, and she grudgingly follows me inside. I scan the
camper; it is a lot messier than the last time I was in here. The boys have
their clothes and stuff scattered everywhere. I head to the back bed, and Abby
hesitates outside the small sliding privacy door.

“Whose room is
this?” she asks, and I shrug. I’m actually not sure. I haven’t been in here
since the day we got to the cabin.

“It was mine before,”
I tell her, like that will ease her nerves about trespassing. The bottom half
of the bed flips up and there is storage underneath. I lift it up, relieved to
see my stuff still packed underneath. I pull out the garbage bags filled with
Abby’s stuff and pass them over to her. Then I grab my own pink rolling
suitcase, and we head for the door.

“What is this?”
Abby asks, poking the bags like she expects them to bite her, and I grin.

“A surprise,” I
tell her, and she smiles nervously at me.

“I’m not sure
about your surprises, Jane,” she tells me, and I laugh. You put a plastic snake
in someone’s birthday card one time—and they never let you forget it!

“No snakes,” I
promise her as I throw open the door and find Ryan with his hand on the door
handle. “Just getting our stuff,” I tell them even though they can see that for
themselves. They step out of our way and we make it back to the cabin without
incident. I notice that both Ryan and Silas purposely hang around outside the
trailer until we are safely back inside.

We drag our stuff
upstairs to Abby’s room, and I’m instantly jealous of their space. I need to
get away from my parents.

“We have an extra
air mattress,” Abby says when she sees me looking around. Megan is sitting on
her own air mattress reading a book and Sunny is sitting on a small futon
playing with some dolls.

“It’s tempting,” I
admit as I follow Abby over to her own bed and we sit down with the bags
between us. “Open this one first,” I tell her excitedly as I hand her the bag
with her grandmother’s quilt in it. She tears the bag open and goes still when
she sees the first piece of material poking out.

“Jane,” she
whispers as she touches the quilt gingerly with her fingers. “How did you get
this?” she asks, pulling it all the way out of the bag and hugging it to her
chest. Her reaction is exactly what I had hoped for, and that makes everything
I went through to get it worth it.

“We drove through
Pennsylvania on our way back,” I tell her. “I brought you some clothes too,” I
say, tossing her the other bag, and she rips it open and dumps it on her bed.

“This is amazing.
I never thought I’d see these jeans again,” she exclaims as she hugs her
favorite pair of jeans.

“I tried to only
grab the stuff that made sense,” I admit, in case she’s pissed I didn’t grab
the dress she wore to Jr Prom, or something equally crazy.

“You’re the best,”
she tells me as she leaps across the bed and hugs me, and I’m glad we are back
to normal. Everything has felt off since we got to the cabin. Abby pulls away
and there are tears in her eyes. I know what’s coming before she even asks.
“…Did you see them?” she asks, and my heart breaks for her.

Tears well up in
my own eyes as I nod, and she starts to sob. I reach into my front suitcase
pocket and my fingers find the cold jewelry. I’m suddenly not sure if I should
do this or if it will make things worse, but I press it into her palm anyway—I
know that I would want it.

Abby wipes her
eyes before she looks down. Her hands shake when she sees both of her parents’
wedding rings and the necklace her grandmother always wore before passing it
down to Abby’s mother. I took them off their zombie bodies after I got Silas to
kill them.

“Oh, Jane,” she
whispers before breaking down.

“I’m sorry,” I
say. “Maybe I shouldn’t have…”

Abby shakes her
head. “No, I’m glad you did.” She takes several deep breaths before she can
speak again. “Does this mean that they are...” She can’t bring herself to say
it.

“They aren’t
zombies anymore,” I tell her, holding her hand. “They’re at peace, and they
were together…” She nods as the tears leak down her face. Megan sets her book
down and comes over and hugs Abby as well.

“That was really
nice, Jane,” Megan tells me, and I duck my head.

“The boys helped,”
I admit, feeling uncomfortable getting all the credit.

Megan and I stare
down at Abby awkwardly. “Why don’t I show you where that air mattress is?”
Megan says, and I leap at the chance to give Abby some time alone.

“Sure, thanks,” I
say. I will deal with my mother later. I toss my suitcase in the corner of the
room and follow Megan to the hallway closet. It’s jammed full of tennis
rackets, extra sheets and blankets, camping gear, board games, and a blue
inflatable air mattress on the top shelf, still in the box. I reach up on my
tippy toes and grab it.

“Score,” Megan
says when we see that it comes with a foot pump.

Sunny looks up
from her dolls when we come back in and start setting up the bed. “You’re
sleeping with us?” she asks, clapping her hands in excitement and making me
smile.

I nod, and Megan
and I figure out the pump. We almost have the bed fully pumped up when there’s
a knock on the door.

My mom pokes her
head in the room with a plate of store-bought cookies on a plate. She frowns
when she sees me pumping up the mattress. “I brought you girls a little snack,”
she says, coming into the room and setting the cookies down.

Sunny pounces
before my mom has barely gotten her hand out of the way. Mom glances over at
Abby, who’s curled up with her Gran’s blanket, and looks worried. I shake my
head at her, so she won’t go over and start asking her a million questions.

“Can I talk to you
for a second in the hall?” Mom asks me, and I nod, grabbing a cookie from the
plate as I follow her out.

“Wish me luck,” I
mutter to Megan, and Sunny gives me the thumbs up.

I shut the door
with a click and lean against the wall. Mom is pacing already. “What’s going
on, Jane?” she asks, and I shrug.

“I want to sleep
up here with the girls,” I say at last—might as well just rip the Band-Aid off
and get it over with. My mom looks instantly hurt, and I feel guilty.

“I don’t know if
that’s the best idea, Janey,” she tells me, and I shake my head stubbornly.

“I love you guys
and I am overjoyed that we found each other. I was lost when I thought we’d
never see each other again,” I tell her, and she starts to well up. “But, I
need a bit of space too,” I complain, knowing I sound like a spoiled kid right
now, but she’s my mom and I am a kid. “Besides, being upstairs is a lot safer
than downstairs,” I point out, and I can see that she is considering my
argument. “I’m not a baby,” I say, and she finally nods.

“I know you’re
not,” she admits, and I smile. This was a lot easier than I thought it would
be. “I will try and loosen the reigns a bit,” she promises, and I give her a
big hug.

“Thank you,” I
tell her sincerely, and she nods, biting her lip.

“Why don’t you go
back and hang out with your friends—you’re all very lucky to have ended up
together,” she tells me, and I hug her again, knowing she is thinking about her
own best friend. Mom clears her throat. “Why don’t you girls come down in an
hour and give me a hand with supper,” she suggests, and I promise that we will.

I go back in the
room and give the girls a smile. “I can stay,” I tell them, and Megan and Sunny
cheer—even Abby looks up from her bed and smiles a little. I look over the room
at my hard won freedom and feel bored. What is there to do?

Megan holds out a
magazine to me and I take it, lying down on the inflatable bed so I can spread
out and see what the latest Hollywood trendsetters were wearing. They are
probably all zombies now, and that thought takes a lot of the fun out of it.

It’s only been a
few weeks since the world changed and fell apart, but already it feels wrong to
just sit around doing nothing.

I sit and stare at
the magazine without really seeing it. My vision blurs and my mind starts to
wander…

Abby, shaking my shoulder
startles me from my daze, and I look up in surprise. “You’ve been staring at
that same page for an hour,” she accuses me, and I give a small shrug.

“Is it already
time to go downstairs?” I ask, and she nods. Megan is helping Sunny put away
her dolls, so I follow Abby downstairs. There isn’t a lot to do when you don’t
have a lot of food. We have the MRE’s, but the “adults” have decided that we
don’t want to use them up in case it’s a lean winter. I see their point, but my
mouth still waters when I think about the hearty beef stew and chocolate
brownie I could be eating.

Mom is boiling
pasta on the camp stove when we walk in. I spot a couple jars of spaghetti
sauce and some mixed veggies. We mix it all together in an enormous pot.
Everyone grabs a plate and forms a line in the kitchen to get their share. We
all eat in the living room in front of the huge stone fireplace. The adults
claim the couch, and us kids sit cross-legged on the floor. It isn’t the most
delicious thing I’ve ever tasted—there isn’t any meat—but it’s hot. I wolf it
down so quickly that I burn my tongue, earning a reapproving look from my mom
when I yelp, and a grin from Abby. I slow down a bit after that.