Life After The Undead (Book 1) (18 page)

My
mind
drifted
to
the
guy
on the
transport.
Was
it a
coincidence
that
he
suggested
we
come to
Florida,
or did
he
know
something?
There
were
so
many
questions
and
no
answers.
It
gave
me a
headache.

At
ten
we
were
all
sent
to
our
rooms.
I said
goodnight
to
Pearl
and
then
took
my
shorts
off
before
scooting
under
the
covers.
The
sheets
were
stiff
and
a
little
scratchy,
but
they
were
much
more
comfortable
than
my
dirty
sleeping
bag.
I
clicked
off
the
light.
Taking
a
deep
breath,
I
closed
my
eyes
and
saw
Mom’s
face,
her
mouth
twisted open
in a
silent
scream,
blood
smeared
on
her
cheeks,
and
the
fleshless
hands
of
zombies
that
clawed
at
her
skull.

I
gasped
and
jerked
my
eyes
open.
I rolled
onto
my
side
and
folded
my
hands
under
my
head.
I
hadn
’t
had
any
trouble
sleeping
before
because
I
’d
been
so
exhausted.
When
I
actually
had
the
chance
to
relax,
I
also
had
time
to
think.
If
only
we
hadn’t
gone
to
the
complex.
What
was
Mom
thinking?
She
knew
as
well
as I did
that
Dad
was
dead. Did
she
really
expect
to
find
him
alive?
I curled my
hands
into
fists
and
clenched
my
jaw.
She
’d
still
be
alive
if
she
hadn
’t
been
so
stupid.
She
shouldn
’t
have
left
me
all
alone.
What
was
I
supposed
to
do?

I sat
up in
bed
and
stared
at
the
floor. I
wanted
to
cry,
to
mourn
the
loss
of
my
parents,
but
I
was
too
angry
to
muster
any
tears.
I
felt
abandoned
and
neglected.
Worst
of
all,
I
felt
as if
I
wasn
’t
important.
Of
all
the
things
they
were
concerned
about,
why
wasn
’t
I
their
first
priority?
We
should
have
never
separated.
I
snatched
the
remote off
the
nightstand
and
turned
on
the
TV.
Static
flickered
through
the
room.
I
turned
it
off
in
disgust
and
then
threw
the
remote.

If
they’d
cared
about
me
at
all,
I
wouldn
’t
be
in
this
mess.
We
’d
all
be
in Florida
together,
happy.

Well, as
happy
as
we
could
be
with
zombies
roaming
the
Earth.
I
stood
from
the
bed
and
paced
the
room.
Maybe
Tanya
was
right.
Maybe
we
shouldn
’t
dwell
on
it
anymore.
We
can
’t
bring
them
back,
and
if
we
could,
I
’d
tell
my
parents
to
go
straight
to
hell.

How
dare they
leave
me
alone!

I threw
myself
back
on
the
bed.
Eventually,
I
drifted
into
a
restless
sleep.
Visions
of
my
mothe
r’
s
demise
projected
themselves
onto
my
mind’s
eye,
but
they
no
longer
made
me
sad. She’d
gotten
what
she
deserved.

The
next
morning
Pearl
came
by
my
room
and
took
me
to
our
first
class.
Since
we
had
so
little
space
at
the
hotel,
each
grade
was
crammed
into a
separate
conference
room with
the
same
teacher
teaching
us all
the
different
subjects.
There
were
about
two
hundred
total
teenagers,
ranging
in
age
from
thirteen
to
eighteen.
We
learned
the
same
things
we
would
have
at
any
other
high
school,
but
there
was
a
sense
of
pointlessness
to
the
whole
process.
There
weren
’t
any
colleges
to
go
to.
Even
if
there
were,
where
would
we
find jobs
afterward?

I
found
out
the
majority
of
the
population
on
the
East
Coast
had
either
been
devoured
by
or
turned
into
zombies.
It
was
pretty
safe
to
assume
the
same
thing
was
happening on
the
West
Coast.
The
most
conservative
estimate
anyone
could
come
up
with
was
that
eighty
percent
of
the
population
would
be
obliterated
by
the
zombie
horde.
Where
they
were
getting
those
numbers,
I
had
no
idea.
I
wasn
’t
exactly
sure
who
“they”
were,
but it
was
the
talk
of
the
students
during
breaks.
It
was
tragic
and
devastating,
and
pretty
much
the
end
of
life
as
we
knew
it.
Those
of
us
who’d
survived
were
extremely
lucky.

Besides
being
taught
reading,
writing,
and
math,
all
the
teens
were
expected
to
help
around
the
complex.
Some
were
taught
farming
skills,
others
were
trained as
electricians,
there
were
construction
workers,
and
others
were
placed
in
the
service
industry.
I
wanted
to
go
into
the
electrical
field,
but
I
was
placed in
housekeeping.
My
main
duty
was to
make
sure
the
suites
where
one
of
the
five
families
lived
was
always
clean, but
I
was
also
expected
to
serve
meals
and
cleanup
afterward.
I
was
assigned
to
the
Johnson
family.
The
news
did
little
to
brighten
my
already
sour
mood.
I
was
a
glorified
maid.
The one
good
thing about
the
job
was
that
I
got
to
do it
with
Pearl,
who
was
highly
liked
by
the
Johnsons.
Since
money
was
obsolete
they
showed
their
appreciation
for a
job
well
done by
giving
her
things.
Pearl
had
her
own
personal
computer,
which
I
used
to
charge
my
iPod.
I
would
often
stick
in
my
earbuds
and
block
out
the
entire
world.
It
wasn
’t
much,
but
it
was
better
than
being
dead,
or
even
worse,
undead.