Dark Realms (61 page)

“Is the military going to be able to contain
these things?” asked Kristie.

“Most of the military are zombies by now,
they were pretty much required to have them. The few remaining
soldiers who didn’t get the vaccine have their hands full as it is.
The point is, we’re pretty much on our own.”

“How long does it take for someone to turn
into a zombie?” whispered Kylie. It was the first time she’d spoken
since we’d found them. Kristie put her arm around her.

“Not sure, although I think everyone is
different, depending on their body mass. My aunt received the
vaccine and it took only twenty-four hours for her to change, she’s
pretty small. I’ve heard that others took much longer.”

“Wasn’t your aunt caring for your mom?” I
asked Bryce.

His lips grew thin and he nodded.

“Did you see your aunt when she was a
zombie?” asked Kristie.

“Unfortunately, I did. After work, I went to
check on my mother to see if she was doing any better. She’d
refused any medication at the clinic, including the vaccine. She
never believed in the flu vaccinations, that’s why Bobby and I have
never had shots either. Personally I think she just avoided any
kind of medical attention because of her drinking problem. Anyway,
when I got home, let’s just say they were both gone, but for
different reasons.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied softly.

He shrugged then got up from the table to
grab a bottle of water. His eyes were misty and he gazed out the
window while the rest of us finished our sandwiches.

“So, can the zombies infect others?” asked
Paige, breaking the silence.

Bryce cleared his throat and looked over.
“The military believes that they can infect others. So try not to
get bitten.”

“God, I’d give anything for a cigarette
right now,” mumbled Kristie as she rubbed her chin.

Paige’s jaw dropped. “Mom, you quit two
years ago. Control yourself.”

“Well, I think there’s a better chance of
getting killed by a zombie right now then dying of lung cancer,”
she replied dryly.

I pushed myself up from the table. “I need
to use your bathroom. Do you have any Vicks vapor rub?”

Kristie looked at me strangely. “Go ahead.
There’s some in the vanity.”

“What? It helps mask the smell of rotting
dead people,” I explained.

She smiled with amusement. “Good thinking.
How’d you come up with that?”

“CSI,” I said matter-of-factly.

“I see. Did you know that cigarette smoke
can also mask different types of smells? Bryce…do you happen to
smoke?”

“Mom!” groaned Paige.

I smiled as I went to the
bathroom down the hall. When I closed the door, I noticed Allie’s
favorite T-shirt was hanging on the back. It was bright pink with
the words “
Dare to
Dance
” scrolled on the front. She’d worn
it constantly at home.

I sighed.
I’m sorry I wasn’t there for
you
, I thought, grabbing the shirt. When I
closed my eyes, I could still smell her favorite lotion, some type
of strawberry scent. I slid to the ground and closed my eyes,
trying not to cry. Before long, someone began knocking softly on
the door.

“Cassie? Are you okay?” asked Bryce.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, sorry. I’ll be
out in a minute.”

He paused. “Okay.”

I stood up and caught a glimpse of myself in
the mirror. My hair was in disarray, streaks of mascara lined my
face, and my tank top was covered in something I didn’t even want
to consider. Sighing, I washed my face, neck, and hands, then
removed my tank top. I slipped on my sister’s shirt, wanting to be
closer to her. Then, I combed out my hair, grabbed the jar of
Vicks, and went back into the kitchen.

Kylie smiled sadly. “That’s Allie’s
shirt.”

I touched it and nodded.

Bryce looked down at his own shirt and
frowned. “You wouldn’t happen to have anything I can change
into?”

Kristie snorted. “You could definitely use a
new shirt. Let me find you something. I have some new T-shirts in
the closet down the hall. Throw that nasty thing away and follow
me.”

“Thanks,” he replied, removing his shirt,
displaying perfectly defined muscles and a hard, flat stomach.

“Work out much, Bryce?” asked Kristie as she
led him out of the kitchen.

I couldn’t help staring as he walked away.
The word “chiseled” didn’t do him justice.

“Wow,” whispered Paige.
“That dude’s got one
smokin’
body.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

Paige snorted and pushed me playfully.
“You’re such a horrible liar.”

“Fine, okay, it was pretty…spectacular.”

“You know, I think he’s graduated from being
your karate instructor. The rules have changed.” She sighed and
looked out the window. “The world’s changed.”

I pushed my hair behind my
ears. “Well, a relationship isn’t really at the top of my
‘
to-do’
list
right now.”

“I’m just saying…”

Bryce and Kristie walked back into the
kitchen. This time he was covered in a new white T-shirt.

“Sorry, girls, I had to cover him up so he
wouldn’t distract the female zombies.”

“Or the gay ones,” replied Kylie.

Kristie’s jaw dropped.

“You know, you ladies are starting to make
me feel really uncomfortable,” said Bryce with a straight face.

“
Kylie? What do you know
about being gay?” asked her mother.

“Mom, I learned about sex in fifth grade.
Come on!” she replied.

“Okay, seriously…what do we do now?” asked
Paige.

“Well, I want to check around the
neighborhood,” I stated. “I need to find out what happened to
Allie. Find out if she’s trapped out there, somewhere, and needs
help.”

Bryce nodded. “I’m coming with you.”

“I think we should
all
stick together,”
said Kristie. “If there are zombies walking the streets, we need
each other.”

“That’s a good idea,” replied Bryce

Kristie grabbed her keys. “Let’s all pack
into Dan’s Escalade and go for a drive then.”

We found a large cooler and filled it with
water, soda, chips, and granola bars. Bryce and I grabbed our guns
while Paige grabbed her metal bat.

“This might come in handy,” said Kristie,
holding up a war hammer she’d found in the garage. It had a sharp
spike in the back and hammer head. It looked pretty deadly.

“Yeah, that could do some damage,” I agreed.
“Where’d you find that thing?”

“From this renaissance convention that Dan
visited last year. He collects medieval stuff like that. Or…he did,
rather,” said Kristie. Her eyes became moist and she smiled sadly.
“Poor Dan. He was a little bit of a dork, but I loved the man. He
didn’t deserve to die this way.”

“Nobody deserves this,” I said.

Kristie cleared her throat. “I’ll let you
drive,” she said to Bryce, handing him the keys. “I’m not sure how
rational I’ll be if I see one of those things on the street.”

It turned out that the street was crawling
with zombies, some of them walking around aimlessly in a state of
confusion, while others were actually attacking their own kind.
From what I could tell, the zombies that were at a farther stage of
decomposing seemed to be the most vicious. They’d actually feed on
zombies that looked like they’d just turned, somehow sensing that
their victims still had some fresh protein available.

“How in the hell are we going to get out of
here? I can’t imagine they’ll just move out of the way for us,”
said Kristie.

“We’re not going around them,” said Bryce
tightening his grip on the steering wheel. “We’re going through
them. Sorry, Kristie, but you may need a little body repair after
this.”

Kristie snorted. “Just get us out of here
safely, screw the paint job. Dan’s not going to be around to
complain about any scratches.”

“Okay, everyone, keep your windows up and
lock your doors,” he said.

We started driving slowly onto the road
towards the crowd of zombies who were beginning to take notice of
us. As we approached, some actually did move out of the way while
others decided to get a closer look.

“It’s odd how some are pretty docile while
others are so violent,” Paige said.

“I think it depends on what stage there at,”
I replied. “The ones who are crazy and more violent have probably
been zombies longer. At least that’s my opinion.”

“Now we know why some of them are so bloody
and torn apart. They’ve been attacking each other, too,” said
Kristie, who looked rather ill.

When we reached a point where we couldn’t
move the SUV anymore, zombies were standing all around the vehicle,
running their hands all over it. Some stared with longing at us and
eventually began climbing onto the hood.

Bryce sighed. “Okay, I’ve had enough of
this. Close your eyes if you have a weak stomach, kids.”

The SUV barreled forward, jerking some of
the zombies off of the hood. I covered my ears to block out the
groans of the zombies and the sounds of their bones crunching under
the tires.

“Oh, my God,” gasped Kristie, holding firmly
onto the dashboard. “This is…I’m going to throw up!”

“No!” cried Kylie. “Don’t throw up or you’ll
make me do it too.”

When we finally got past the mob of zombies,
we drove down several streets to try and find my sister. Most of
the neighborhoods were quiet, without any signs of life. Even the
park was empty. It was frustrating and I knew there was no way we
could search all of the homes, it was too dangerous. When our gas
tank started getting low and the zombies started getting even more
zealous, we had to leave.

“Sorry, Cassie. I wish there was more we
could do to find your sister,” said Bryce.

“Me too,” I sighed, looking out the window
towards the community’s front entrance gate.

“Hey,” Kristie gasped, pointing ahead of us.
“There’s someone trying to run over there. Oh, my God, it’s a girl
and she needs some help!”

My heart began to pound and I opened my
window to see if it was my sister. Unfortunately it wasn’t, but I
did recognize the mass of vibrant red hair.

“Eva King,” I mumbled.

Chapter
Seventeen

“Is she a zombie?” asked Paige, lifting her
bat.

I snorted. “No.”

Paige sighed and laid her head back against
the seat. “Do we really have to stop?”

“Paige…” said Kristie, looking back at her.
“That’s not nice.”

Two zombies were edging closer to Eva, who
looked annoyed more than anything. In one arm she held a pink dog
carrier and in the other an oversized Louis Vuitton tote bag.

“Stay here,” Bryce said as we skidded to a
halt. He jumped out of the SUV carrying his rifle, and in less than
five seconds, both zombies lay motionless on the ground and Eva
looked like she’d just found Jesus. She stared with adoration at
Bryce as he lowered his gun and moved towards her.

“Would you look at Eva? She’s smiling at
your man like he’s a bowl of cream and she’s a cat dying of
thirst,” said Paige dryly.

“Paige, he’s
not
my man. Besides,
she’s just thanking him,” I replied. I had to admit, though, I felt
a twinge of jealously when she threw her arms around him and kissed
his cheek.

Paige raised her hands in exasperation.
“There you go! She just left her nasty, smelly mark on him.”

Kristie chuckled. “Okay, enough, Paige.”

I watched as Bryce took the dog carrier and
she leaned on him for support as they made their way back to the
SUV.

“Hi, Eva,” said Paige with a smirk when
Bryce opened the back door. “Did you hurt your ankle?”

Eva blinked in confusion. “Paige?” she said,
biting her lower lip. “Yes, I think I sprained it back there.”

“You can sit in the third row seating,”
Paige said as she adjusted the seat to let her in. “With your
cat.”

“Oh, okay. This is Chi Chi, he’s actually a
Chihuahua,” she replied, climbing in.

I turned around and faced Eva, who, as
usual, was draped in expensive designer clothing and overpriced
heels. She must have gotten up early to do her hair and makeup,
because she looked the total opposite of me; fresh and
feminine.

“Hi, Eva,” I said. “Poor little guy’s been
through a lot I bet.” Chi Chi appeared to be trembling more than
any animal I’d ever seen.

“Oh God, yes,” Eva said,
rolling her eyes. “This has been
the
worst morning of my life! My
mom’s chauffer was supposed to pick me up a half hour ago and take
me to the airport. Obviously that incompetent idiot didn’t show up.
My mom isn’t answering any calls, which is so typical of her when
something goes wrong and I need her. I was so frustrated that my
eyes started watering and I lost both contact lenses. Then,
finally, I almost get mugged by those two creeps! I was so scared.
I don’t know what would have happened if you all hadn’t shown
up.”

“So you didn’t get a good look at those two
guys?” I asked incredulously.

She wrinkled her nose. “No but they smelled
horrible and were making some really disgusting noises. Thank
goodness your cute friend stopped in time. If you ask me, they
deserved what they got.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You
know, I think they were going to rape me.”

I looked at Paige who was biting her lip to
keep from laughing. I shot her a look and then turned to Eva. “Eva?
What were you doing over in this area anyway?”

“We just moved into my mom’s fiancé’s house
across the street over there,” she said, motioning to a giant
colonial. “I was on my way to speak with the security guard in the
booth when those two hoodlums started racing towards me. I don’t
think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.”