Girl Z: My Life As A Teenage Zombie (19 page)

“Who is it?”

“I don't know…”

“What's it say? Carm?”

“It's my mom! She's asking where we are.” She fell silent and tapped in an answer. “East to Lawton, off Highway 50, right?”

I rattled off directions and the house number. “Tell her to watch for the red mailbox.”

Her thumbs and fingers flew over the keypad. “How'd you remember that?”

I knew she didn't expect an answer. The text sent, Carm relayed her mom's message that things would be okay and they'd try to get here soon. She jabbed the redial button and waited.

“It's ringing. Mr. Jensen? It's Becca's cousin, Carm.” Her voice rose in alarm. “I can't hear you. We ran out of gas. Come get us. We're by East Drive on Lawton, the house by the red mailbox, number nine, what's the rest, Bec?”

She repeated the directions I gave and ended the call. “I don't know if he heard me. I hope he did.”

I gave a big unhappy sigh. “So do I.”

Several hours later, Carm's light snores filled the room while I sat and stared at the walls. I wished the shade was up so I could watch everything outside. I fought the urge to go sit on the porch knowing the less attention we put on ourselves, the better, but it sure was boring staying safe.

I must've dozed off or something as I jolted awake at the loud crack. Well, it sounded loud to me. Carm muttered something and moved to her side, sound asleep.

Not sure what I should do, I crept forward, grabbed the edge of the shade, and peeked out. Nothing moved. Even the frog had stopped its nightly serenade. I was about to drop the shade when I saw something move behind our car.

There. Someone—or some
thing
—was there.

I picked up the gun and touched the trigger lightly by habit, my eyes trained on the end of the car. Again, something moved. I could ignore it, but knew I shouldn't.
Where there was one, there was one too many.

The idea of
them
crawling all over the porch, staring in windows, breaking glass and trying to get at us, or at least try to get my cousin, wasn't an option. Best to attack before they did.

Keeping my eye on the end of the driveway outside (easy to do with one eye determined to stay pointed for once in the right direction), I carefully pulled the chair out from under the doorknob. I slid the lock and pulled the door toward me as quietly as possible.

“Cuz, what're you doing?” Carm whispered and yawned sleepily.

My voice low, I tried not to sound panicked and set her off. “Somebody's out there, by the car. See?”

Carm tiptoed to the other window and peered out at the edge of the shade. “Yeah, I see it. Something moved. If we stay quiet, it won't know we're here.”

“You're kidding?” I questioned, my patience disappearing. “Or the Z radar will go off and all their friends will come for dinner. I'd rather be the one doing the attacking first. I'm opening the door, okay? Get ready to shoot. One…two…three!”

Flinging the door open, we jumped onto the porch and aimed, ready to shoot, when a voice cried out. “Wait, don't shoot! Don't shoot!”

My annoyance went up a notch at finding Zoey hanging out the upper window. “The guy by the car's like us, but he's not all bloodied up.
Mmm,
he's not bad-looking, either.”

“How can she tell that?” Carm asked, her voice low.

I shrugged and stepped off the porch. “Hey, what's your name? Say something or I'll turn you into a target!”

“Don't shoot,” he yelled. “Rebecca, don't shoot!”

Stunned, I lowered my gun a few inches. “Who's there? How do you know me? Walk forward, slowly, hold your hands up.”

A minute later, a young man emerged out of the shadows, hands held over his head. “Becca, it's me—”

He got no further as Carm gave a shocked squeal. “Jimmy? Jimmy Churlin? What're you doing here?”

I cursed. Knowing who it was, especially him, didn't make me feel any better. “What do you want?” I asked, my voice icy.

“Hey, I texted you,” he answered. “You didn't message me back, so I texted your cousin. She said it was okay to come by…”

Carm's face went white. Her voice pitched even higher. “Me? Bec, I didn't know…” She turned back to him, her eyes narrowed in angry slits. “I wasn't paying attention to who it was. I thought you were my mom. You didn't say anything. You tricked me!”

“I thought they locked you up?” I asked. “I heard there's some weird stuff going on, you know, with kids like us.”

“Yeah, big stuff.” He shrugged and for once got serious as he edged closer. “Carm, sorry, I was so secretive. I needed to be around somebody I knew, why I'm here. Those guards at the school took me in some back room. Lucky for me, they ran out on some emergency. Didn't lock the door. I couldn't stick around my house, figured they'd be searching for me. I had to go somewhere. I even ducked in the trees a couple times to avoid those military guys. Good thing I still had both your names in my phone yet. Lucky, huh?”

“Real lucky,” I murmured, not sure if I believed him, not sure if after our last encounter I wanted him hanging around, especially if he smelled like he did before.

Making himself comfortable, he folded his arms and leaned against his battered car. “Hey, nice digs. We staying here long?”

I tried not to act too annoyed. “We? Me and Carm are waiting for a friend to bring some gas, then we're leaving.”

The familiar leer came back on his face. “Hey, Becca, you know I'll take you anywhere you want to go. Anywhere. Say the word.”

As luck would have it, I didn't have to say the word I had in mind when he got distracted.

“Wow, who is she?” Jimmy gave a low whistle and jerked his chin in Zoey's direction. “Say, baby, I think you and me got some things to talk about.”

Zoey grinned and waved hello, doing her best to simper at him and make sure he got a good look at her dimples and whatever else. Minutes later, she came outside. The two of them whispered together like long-lost pals. He trailed his hand down her arm and caressed her leg. Goth Girl hung on Jimmy, her mouth at his ear.

Ugh. I backed away. Bad enough Jimmy still had a terrible odor even I could smell. The scene before me was like a bad accident; I hated to gawk, but I couldn't resist. I fought the urge to puke. Enough already.

“Carm, let's go in,” I barked. “Those two can go hang out in Jimmy's car or come inside. I'm locking the door before anyone else joins us.”

We bustled in, with Zoey wasting no time. She zipped past us and pulled Jimmy upstairs with her. I bid them good riddance and relocked the front door. “No explaining some people's tastes,” I muttered.
(Actually I was glad he'd found someone else he could stalk instead of me.)

Carm made a big show of opening a box of chocolate cookies. “Now I know she's weird. Want one?”

“Quit asking, already. You know I can't eat that junk.”

Her frown made me feel bad for being so “snappy,” but I had good reason. This whole thing was getting to me, big time. Talk about weird. It was like the longer I was the way I was, the crankier I got, or maybe it was the whole transforming thing gone haywire. The real problem is I didn't like the idea of Jimmy sticking around. Bad enough Goth Girl was sleeping with the dead upstairs. Now the two of them…

I tried to free myself of any thoughts about the odd couple upstairs. Ick.

All I knew was I felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin. If Goth Girl and our freaky invader said the wrong thing, I was afraid what might happen.

The gun felt heavier in my hands. I caressed the trigger, my mood growing darker by the minute. Muttering a curse, I tossed the gun aside and threw myself on the chair. I snuck a couple chicken nuggets from the bag and wolfed them down, followed by another big gulp of protein drink.
Blechh
. Disgusted, a quick yank had the sheet over my head.

As if things weren't bad enough, now I was developing a real hate-on for everyone. Especially her, I realized. This was the second time I'd pictured our “housemate” dead and sizzled.

All right, I admit it—I can't stand her. So what? I didn't have to like everyone, did I?

The answer in my head sounded
mucho
like my aunt. Great. “
No, you don't have to like everyone, honey. But I thought you were better than that. You should be your brother—or sister's—keeper, right? You don't have to like her to help her, but you can be kind, comprende?”

Sí,
I whispered to my imaginary aunt. Okay, okay, I give. I'll help her, but just enough to help her out the door and out of our hair, especially if Jimmy keeps hanging around. Can't stand either one of them, don't think I ever will, and I sure don't trust the two of them, especially not together.

Vowing to control my anger more and try to tolerate them, at least a little, I settled in for some rest. I sniffled, swiped at my eye, and gave myself a good whack on the side of the head. I waited for the dizziness to pass as my other eye spun and finally came to a stop. I had a lot of nerve looking down on other people, didn't I? Now who was the freak?

The laughter and thumps finally ended upstairs. I settled in, tried to shake off my bad mood and get my mind fixed on good things. I pictured piles of
Tia's
yummy home-made tamales, no, forget it. Can't eat 'em, so why get aggravated? An image of
mi madre
and
Tia
in the kitchen came to mind. Nope, no good either. I sniffled again, wondering what both of them were doing. So much for making myself feel better.

Carm's deep breathing filled the room. She murmured and turned in search of a more comfortable spot. I envied her. I had one spot now, usually sitting up or lying back, eyes open, except for the occasional five minutes here and there where I blanked out.

If this keeps up, I'll need a hobby.

Maybe I should have
Tia
teach me how to knit or crochet. I could make baby blankies for the hospital preemies, or for really sick kids.

At least I'd do something useful with my life other than gripe and feel sorry for myself.

Something I decided to talk to my aunt about when I went home. I squirmed around in an attempt to get comfortable when a muffled ding across the way got my attention. Carm's phone!

I slid off the chair and hurried to where my cousin sprawled on the air mattress, only part of her head visible under the blanket. I rummaged among her discarded shoes and other belongings. She had stuff all over.
Arggh
! Who could find anything?

No longer worrying about making a mess, I dug around before the sound woke her. She needed the sleep more than I did. Carm mumbled to herself and turned over when the phone dinged again. Darn! Where was it?

Finally, I saw the phone's light flash under a shirt. Grabbing it, I ran to the hall and answered in a whisper. “Hello? Mr. Jensen, am I glad you called. I'm whispering so I don't wake my cousin.” I held back a curse. He said he couldn't come get us for a few hours and he didn't want to get stopped by the Guard. Darn. Guess we'd have to wait. “All right,” I answered even if it wasn't. “No, we're inside, we're safe. We're, uh, at a friend's house. We'll watch for your car.”

The phone off, I didn't feel any regret about my little lie. The clock on the wall glowed, the hands at three o'clock. Mr. J. mustn't sleep much either.

I ignored Carm's murmurs while I put the phone on top of her bag and grabbed her puzzle book. I jumped and let the book fall when the phone buzzed a minute later. Maybe Mr. J. had changed his mind? Then I saw the message from Jesse asking Carm where she was. I stopped myself from reading the rest, but was surprised at my next thought—was his brother still with him?

The book in hand, I stretched out on the chair and made myself comfortable. Having had no real sleep at all yet, I thought doing something might make me tired. If I was lucky, I'd maybe get at least an hour's shut-eye before Mr. J. showed up. Wishful thinking.

I swatted at the persistent tug on my arm and finally bolted upright at the sound of someone calling my name. My eyes blinked open to find Carm standing there, the annoyance on her face reminding me of a teacher I once had.

“How come the alarm went off on my phone?” she asked. “It's so early.”

With a yawn, I got to my feet and began to shove stuff in the bags. “I talked to Mr. J. a little while ago. He should be here in a half-hour.”

The bags packed and our stuff piled by the door, Carm hurried to brush her teeth and pin back her hair. I did the same, though a quick braid was a better way to keep my hair in place and more importantly, kept my small bald spot from showing.

The door unlocked, I followed Carm out to the car and tossed the bags in the trunk.

Thinking it best, I hurried back inside to wait. We'd decided it would be easier if Carm handled Mr. J. first since he didn't seem to like zombies. We didn't want him getting mad and stomping off or something. It was best if he and I met on more neutral ground or later when he was in a better mood.

I peeked out the window as an old gray sedan rounded the curve. Mr. Jensen was here. He wore his usual grimace when he took two red gas cans from his trunk and filled our car's tank. Carm suddenly turned and motioned to me while Mr. Jensen put the cans away. I didn't understand what she meant until I saw him get back in his car and wait. Uh-oh. “What's he doing?” I asked when Carm came in. “Did he believe you?”

“I guess. He muttered the whole time he filled up the tank and scowled when I told him we were stopping at your mom's friend's house first in case they were there or left a note. He insisted on taking us there, said we should follow him.” She paused and studied me. “He asked about our friend here. What friend?”