Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (31 page)

Tanya
got
up and left the
room.
She
wanted
to shout,
to
tell
him they
did do it. They
knew they
couldn’t win,
they
knew they
were
outnumbered,
so they
sent their
backup
plan. The
original plan
was
to
attack
at the
same
time. They
knew it
was
impossible, so they
took over
North
Platte
and
decided
to
even
the odds.
If
the majority
of
Florida
were
zombies, they
would
be
easier
to
take
down.

She
paced
back
and
forth
in her
bedroom.
It
made
sense.
Florida
was
the
only
safe
place,
and
they
were
trying
to
take
it
away.
It
wasn’t
fair.
Just
because
they
wanted
to live
in
zombie-infested
lands,
that
didn’t
mean
everyone
did. And
why
did they
have
to kill
her
dad?
What had he
ever
done
to
any
of
them?
She
was
going
to
get
even.
She
was
going
to
make
them
pay.

She
headed
out the
front
door.
Bill
or
Kyle
called
after
her, but she
had
a
mission. She
made
her
way
to the
Johnson
High
School.

“Hi,”
the
girl
behind
the
front
desk
said.
“How
can
I
help
you
today?”

“I
need
to see
Mrs. Johnson
immediately.”

The
girl’s
eyes
grew
wide.
“Hey,
aren’t
you
the
girl
from
the
news?”

Tanya
didn’t
answer.

The
girl
picked
up the phone,
and
Tanya
was
on the
elevator
a
few
minutes
later.

“They
said they
weren’t
going
to hurt them.”
Tanya
moved
closer
to
me,
her
hand
outstretched,
close
to
my
knee.

I
felt
repulsed
by
her
presence.
I
wanted
to
slap
her
hand
away,
but
I
knew
if
I
moved,
I
would do more
than
slap.

“They
said they
were
just
going
to ask
them
a
few
questions. Then,
they
told me if
I
wanted
to make
it up to
them,
I
had to do
something.”

She
was
close,
within inches. I
couldn’t
look
at
her
face.
I
was
focused
on her
hand.
I
knew if she
touched
me,
I
would
burst
into flames or
get
some
horrific
disease.
I
tried to move
away
without
her
noticing.

“They
told me if
I
came
here
and
captured
you,
I
would be
forgiven
for
stashing
the
guns.”

Pam’s
laugh
was loud. I
looked
at
her.
What could
she possibly
find
so
funny?
Tanya
betrayed us.
She
turned
in
Bill
and
Kyle,
and
she
was
going
to
take
me
back
to
Florida,
probably
to
my
execution,
all
because
she
lost
her
father
and
her
mind.

Pam
collected
herself.
“And
you
believed
them?”

Tanya
looked
hurt,
like Pam just told her
that
her
favorite pet
had
been
run
over. “At
the
time,
yes.”

“Wow.”
Pam
stifled
a
few
more chuckles.
“You
do
realize
they
were
hoping
you’d
die,
right?
It
was
all
part
of
their
plan
from
the
beginning.”

Tanya
sniffed
and
pulled
her
hand
back.
“I
realize
that now.
I
was
so stupid.”
She
punched
her forehead.
“Stupid,
stupid,
stupid!”

Part
of
me
knew
I
should probably
stop her from
hurting
herself,
but the
other
part
wanted me
to
let
her
do
it. She
needed
some
punishment, why
not
let
her
give
it
to
herself?

“Well,
you
can’t
change
it now.”
My
voice
was
low,
menacing.
I
didn’t mean
for
it to sound so
evil,
but
what
she
did
was
unforgivable.
It
was rotten.
She
sentenced
two of
our
best
soldiers
to
death.
Quinn
was
going
to be
pissed.

She
stopped
hitting
herself
and
stared
at
me.
“I
know.
But
I
want to make
it up to
you.”

“How?”

“I
want
to
help
you
invade
Florida.”

I
scowled.
“And how
are we
going
to do
that? We
have
no
weapons.
No way
to
fight
them.”

“I
have
an
idea.”
Her face
lit up as she
spoke.

There
was
something
in
her
eyes
that didn’t make
me
comfortable.
A
glint
or spark of
treachery.
How
could
I
trust her
after
what
she
did? Maybe
she
was
truthful
about
wanting
to help, but she
was
going
to have
to
prove
it to
me.

“You
know,”
I
snarled,
“I
think
I’ve
heard
enough
from
you
for
one
night. We
can
handle
the
planning
of
Florida.”
I
stood
from
the
fire. “Pam,
keep
an
eye
on
her.”

Tanya
huffed,
“I’m
not
going
anywhere.
C’mon,
hear
me
out.”

I
stared
down
at
her. “Maybe tomorrow.
And don’t
say
anything about
what
you
just told me to
Quinn.” I
pointed
my
finger
at
both
of
them.
“He
will kill
you.”
I
turned
and
stomped into the
cave.

I
found
a
place
to
lay
down
and
stared
at
the
ceiling.
I
still didn’t
understand
why
everyone wanted
to kill me.
How
did
I
go
from
being
a
nobody
to being
the
country’s
most
wanted? Granted,
there
weren’t a
lot of people
left,
but they
all
seemed to be
gunning
for
me. I
rolled
onto
my
side
and
placed
my
hand
under
my
head. How
was
I
going
to
get
myself
out
of
this
mess?