Life After The Undead (Book 1) (76 page)

“There
are
a
lot
of
wounds.
It’s
hard
to
tell
if
any
of them
are
bites.
He
didn’t
break
his
arm,
but
his
wrist
is sprained.”
He
met
the
gaze
of
the
others.
“He
’s
resting
comfortably
right
now.
I
’l
l
take
the
first
shift.
Kyle,
you
take
the
next. If
he
turns in
twenty-four
hours,
you
all
know
what to
do.”

I
chewed
my
thumbnail.
I
felt
nauseous
and
my
hands
shook
uncontrollably.
It
was
going
to
be
the
longest
twenty-four
hours
of
my
life.

CHAPTER
19

I sat
on
the
couch
next
to
the
fireplace and
stared
off
into
space.
My
palms
were
sweaty,
my
mouth
was
dry,
and I
still
felt
nauseous.
What
would
I
do
if I lost
Quinn?
I
really
liked
him. He
was
the
first
boy
whom I
didn’t
think
had
serial
-
killer
tendencies.
And
he
was
the
first
boy
who
liked
me
back.
Why
was
it
that
the
good
ones
always
died
early,
but jerks
lived
forever?
Why
wasn
’t
Liet
lying
in
that
bed?
If
it
was
Liet,
I
would
haul his
butt
out
into
the
desert.
If
he
made
his
way
back,
then
he
wasn
’t
a
zombie.
I
knew
life
wasn
’t
fair,
that
became
painfully
evident
after
my
parents
died,
but
I
didn
’t
know
why
it
felt
as if
it
had
to
make
me
completely
miserable.
Hadn
’t
I
suffered
enough?

Kyle
sat
next
to
me
and
offered me
a
plate
with
a
hamburger,
chips,
and
baked
beans.
I
shook
my
head,
and
he
set
it
on
the
coffee
table
in
front
of
us.

“You
doin’
all
right?”

I
shook
my
head
again. “Have
you
ever
seen
anyone
change?”

Kyle
nodded.

“What’s
it
like?”

“We
really
should
try
to
focus
on
the
positive.
He’s
going
to
be
fine.”

I
stared
at
him.
“Wha
t’
s
it
like?”

“It starts
out
kind
of
like
the
flu.
They
get
a
really
high
fever,
they
throw
up a
lot,
and
then
they
drift
into
a coma.
Their
skin
takes
on
a
gray
tone,
and
the
area
around
the
bite
turns
black
with
black streaks
leading
away
from
the
wound.
Once
they
wake
up
from
their
coma,
they
lash
out
at
anything
near
them.”

My
stomach
tightened.
“Has
Quinn
exhibited
any
of
those
symptoms?”

Kyle
shrugged.
“I
don
’t
know.”

“How
long
after
the
bite
does
it
take
for
the
symptoms
to
appear?”

“Depends, but
everyone
turns
within
twenty-four
hours.”

Bill
came
into
the
room
at
that
moment
and
asked
Kyle
to
join
him
upstairs.
My
heart
sunk,
and
I
buried
my
face in
my
hands.
This
was
part
of
my
life.
There
was
no
denying
that
eventually
someone
close
to
me
was
going
to turn into
a
zombie.
I’d
been
lucky
that
I’d
never
seen
anyone
turn,
but
luck
always
ran
out.

Why
did it
have
to
be
Quinn?
What
did
he
ever
do
to
anyone?
For
that
matter,
why
did it
have
to
be
any
of
those
innocents
living
in
North
Platte?
It
was
one
thing
for
an
adult,
but
children?
It
was
almost
unfathomable.
It
was
as if
we
were
being
punished,
but
for
what?
I
drove
myself
crazy
thinking
about
it.

I
stood
from
the
couch
and
walked onto
the
porch,
hoping
some
fresh
air
would
relieve
my
nausea.
A
slight
breeze
blew,
and
I
folded
my
hands
across
my
chest
to
ward
off
the
chill.
A
few
people
still
milled
around
the
ranch
and
finished
their
chores,
but
the
majority
of
them
were
in
their
homes,
eating
dinner. They
had
families
to
take
care
of.
I
didn
’t
have
anyone.
There
was
one
point
in
time
I
thought
it
was
better
to
be
alone,
especially when
the
alternative
was
Liet,
but
Quinn
had
changed
all
that.
A
dark
depression
fell
over
me,
and
I
sat
on
the
porch
swing.

Ever
since
my
parents
had
died,
I
refused
to
get
close
to
anyone.
I
had
friends,
but
how
close
was
I
to
them?
I
didn
’t
talk
about
my
feelings
to
anyone.
I
lashed
out
at
Liet,
but
he
deserved
it.
Somewhere
at the
back
of
my
brain, a
voice
told
me
not
to
get
too
close.
It
was
supposed
to
be
easier
that
way.
Make it
simpler
if
they
were
ever
turned
into
zombies.

It
didn’t
make
it
simpler.
In
fact,
it
made
it
worse. There
was
so
much
I
could
learn
from
Quinn.
If he
turned
into
an
undead,
I
’d
spend
the
rest
of
my
life
regretting
that
I
didn
’t
get
to
know
him
better.
And
what
if he
was
the
one?
What
if
he
offered
me
complete happiness?
We
decided
in
the
truck
to
start
a
relationship,
but
why
didn’t
we
talk
about
it
sooner?
Why
did
we
have
to
be
so
stubborn
and
shy?