Life After The Undead (Book 1) (67 page)

“Sure.”

“Great.
See
you
in
a
bit.”
  She
turned
and
headed
to
the
shop.

“You
sure are
popular
down
here,”
Pam
remarked.

“I
guess,”
I
replied.

After
they
finished
unloading the
truck,
we
went
to
the
shop.
Tanya
stood
behind
the
counter
and
smiled
as
we
walked
in.
She
grabbed
some
coffee,
gestured
to
one
of
the
tables,
and
we
all
sat
.

“Have
you
seen
Pearl
yet?”

I
nodded.
“Yeah,
we
stayed
with
her last
night.”

Tanya
clicked
her
tongue.
“She
hasn
’t
changed
much,
has
she?”

I
shook
my
head.
“Nope.”

“You
know,
I used
to
believe
if
I
pretended
the
zombie
attack
wasn
’t
happening,
then
it
would
stop
happening
or
just
happen
to
other
people.
When
they
started
migrating
west,
I
thought
it
was
the
best
thing
that
could
happen
to
us.
I
didn
’t
realize
there
were
far
worse
things.
Unlike
Pearl,
my
eyes
were
open.”

Curiosity coursed through me
.
“What
do
you
mean?”

“She
believes
all
the
hype.
She
thinks
if
we
leave
Florida,
we
’re
sacrificing
ourselves.
Lambs
to
the
slaughter,
if
you
will.
I
know
she’s
wrong.
She
has
to
be.
I
mean,
you
’r
e
still
alive.”

I drank
as
she
spoke
and
almost
choked
on
the
liquid.
I
decided
to
probe
further
and
played
a little
dumb.

“What
hype
are
you
talking about?”

“Oh,
the
crap
The
Families
bombard
the
airwaves
with.
They
tell
us
if
we
leave,
we
’re
going
to
wind
up
dead.
Or
worse,
undead.”
Tanya
leaned
forward
and
lowered
her
voice. “They
tell
us
that
so
they
can
keep
control.
If
everyone
spreads
out
into
the
East
Coast,
they
lose
their
grip
on
society.
They
don’t
want
to
leave
Florida.
I
t’s
their
only
safe
haven.”

“Eventually
they
’r
e
going
to
have
to
go
somewhere,”
Pam
interjected.
“Florida
can’t
sustain
population growths
forever.”

“I
know
that,
and
they
know
that.
They
don
’t
want
to
make it
easy.
Until
they
can
figure
out
how
to
enforce
their
power
outside
the
Florida
border,
they
’r
e
going
to keep
us
here
as long
as
they
can.”
She
turned
to
me.
“You
were
smart.
You
got
out
of
here
when
you
got
the
chance.”

I
laughed. “Yeah,
my
life
has
been
a
cakewalk
since
I
left
here.”
I
glanced
at
Pam,
and
we
chuckled.

Tanya
shrugged.
“Maybe
not,
but
at
least
you
’r
e
doing
something.
Most
people
here
are
biding
their
time
and
waiting
to
die.”

“Isn’t
that
what
Florida
’
s
always
been
for?”
Pam
smiled.

Tanya
either
didn’t
catch
the
sarcasm
or
chose
to
ignore
it.
“I
think
it’s
wonderful
you
’v
e
gotten
out
and
decided
to
do
something.”

“It’s
not
too
late
for
you
to
leave,
you
know.”
Tanya
was
really
weirding
me
out.
What
happened
to
make
her
change
her
mind?

Tanya
shook
her
head.
“I’m
not
going
anywhere.
I’v
e
been
reunited
with
my
dad,
and
he
wants
to
stay
here.
After
watching
my
mom
and
sister
die,
he’s
extremely
overprotective.
I
can’t
blame
him,
though.
I
don
’t
really
want
to
leave
his
side
either.
There’s
no
way
I can
go
to
North
Platte.
He
started
this
business,
and
everything
has
been
great.
It
does
make
me
sad,
though,
to
think
I’ll
never
be
able
to
experience
the
world
like
we
used
to.”

“You
can’t
change
the
fact
that
zombies
attacked. The
world
is
different,
no
matter
how
you
look
at it.”

“I
know
, but it
’d
be
nice
to
once
again experience
what
it’s
like
to
live
free.
To
not
be
ruled
by
tyranny.
If
I
could
change
that,
I
would.”

Pam
stood
abruptly
from
her
seat.
“Coffee
’s
going right
through
me.
Where
is
the
bathroom?”

Tanya
pointed
to
the
other
side
of
the
room.
I
waited
until
the
door
closed,
then
leaned
forward
and
folded my
hands
on
the
table.

“How
far
are
you
willing
to
go
to
ensure
change?”

Tanya
lowered
her
voice
to
a
whisper.
“I
shouldn
’t
say
anything
because
if
someone
overhears
me,
I’m
on
a
one-way
trip
to
Nebraska,
but
I
’d
love
for
The
Families
to
be
taken
out.
We
can
’t
live
in
fear.
If
we
’re
going
to
reclaim
the
land,
then
we
need
to
get
off
our
butts
and
do
something about
the
zombies.”