Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (30 page)

That
actually
explained quite
a
lot. I
always
wondered
how she
got
from
Florida
to
Nebraska
in
Bill
and
Kyle’s
car
by
herself. She
didn’t
have
any
weapons.
Where
did she
stop for
gas?
I
didn’t have
time to
dwell
on it
though,
we
had
more
pressing
matters
to attend to.

After
her
confession,
I
knew she
didn’t have
to worry
about
it. She
drove
from
one
military
outpost to the next
until she
found
us.

“I
know
you
hate
me. I
know
you’re
mad
at
me,
but
I
didn’t know
what
else
to
do.
And if
it
makes
you
feel
better,
it took me a
couple
hours
before I
said
anything.”

Oh,
yeah,
that made
me
feel
tons
better.

“Why
don’t
you
tell us what happened?”

Thank
goodness
Pam was
there.
She
read
my
mind.

I
was
afraid
if
I
opened
my
mouth,
I
would lose
it
and
yell
at
Tanya.
That wouldn’t
get
us
anywhere.

“It
was
right
after
the
incident with
my
dad.
I
went
back
to the
coffee
house,
in
shock.”

She
crossed
the
street
in
my
mind, making
her way
to
a
table
and
sitting
down
heavily.
She
stared
at
the
table
top, her
hands
folded
in her
lap,
wondering
if
what
happened
actually
happened. She
told
herself
it
was
a
dream.
All a
dream. Bill
came
downstairs
to
get
a
drink
and
noticed
her.
He
asked if she
was
all
right,
but
she
didn’t
hear
him. He
touched
her
arm, jerking
her
back
into
reality.

“You
all
right?
You
look
pale?”

“I…I’m
fine,”
Tanya
squeaked
out. She
wanted
to
say
something,
tell him
what
happened,
but she
couldn’t
find the
words.
She
felt
if
she
said it out loud, it would
make
it
real,
and she
still
wasn’t
sure
if it was.

“Well,
if
you
need
anything,
you
just
let
me
know.
Kyle
and
I
are
going
to have
to
head
back soon,
though.
We
can’t
stay
here
forever.”

Tanya
nodded
mechanically,
focusing
her
gaze
back
on the
tabletop.

That
night,
while
they
settled
down
for
the
evening,
Tanya
turned
on the
TV,
hoping
to
get
her
mind off the
events
of the
day.
An emergency
news
bulletin
took over
all
the
channels.
The
story
was
about
the
semi that
returned
from
North
Platte, the
semi with the
zombies
in
it.

“It’s
outrageous!”
The
newscaster
was
on the
brink
of
yelling.
“They
are
jealous of our
existence.
They
want to wipe us out.”
He placed
his
elbow
on his
desk
and
leaned
forward,
his
right
hand
pointing
at
the
screen.
“They
tell
you
they
want
to
make
the
world
safe, they
want
us to be
able
to leave
Florida,
but they
can’t
guarantee
your
safety.
They
have
no
control
over
the
zombies, and
they
have
no
way
to kill them. This
wall,
this
drain
on our
resources,
was
supposed
to
keep
the
creatures
at
bay,
but it won’t,
and
hasn’t,
worked.
The
people
in
North
Platte
are
probably
already
dead. The
only
safe
place
left
is
Florida.
Think of
your
children.
Think of
your
neighbor.
Do
you
really
want to
go
out
there?

“We
take
you
now to the
recorded
carnage
of
what
happened
earlier
today.
A convoy
returned
from
North
Platte
with
a
truck
full of
supplies to find that clothing
and
food
were
not the
only
things
stored in the
back.”

The
scene
cut
away
to the
back
of the
truck
and
the
workers
unloading
the supplies.
They
carted
the stuff
away
on dollies
when
a
muffled
scream
rose
from the
trailer.
They
ran
to the
back to see
what happened.

Within
seconds,
they
moved away
from
the
truck,
more
screams
filled the
air,
accompanied
by
moaning.
A
girl
ran
to the
truck,
ready
to
jump in, but she
was
stopped.
The
camera
switched angles,
and
Tanya’s
shocked
face
filled the
screen.

Bill
and
Kyle
focused
on
her. Tanya’s
tears
rolled
down
her
face.
She
tried
to
convince herself
it hadn’t
happened,
but watching
it on TV
made
it
impossible
to
deny.
She
wanted
to scream, to throw
things,
to punch a
wall,
but she
couldn’t
get
off
the
couch.

“The
people
in North
Platte
didn’t do
that,”
Kyle’s
voice
broke through
her
sadness.

She
looked
at
him, but she
didn’t
really
see
him.

“They
would never do something
like
that.”

She
sucked
in a
deep
breath,
and the
tears
stopped
flowing.
Her sadness was
replaced
by
a
near
uncontrollable
rage.
She
clenched
her
jaw
and
balled
her
fists. How
did they
know if
North
Platte
sent
the
zombies
or
not? They’d
been
down in
Florida.

“You
don’t
know,”
her
voice
came
out in a
whisper.

“Yes,
I
do,”
Kyle
said.
“They
would never do something
like
that.”