Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (42 page)

“What
other
choice
do
I
have?
You
broke
the
rules.
You
have
to
pay
the
consequences.
But
I
can make
sure
you
aren’t
killed
for
what
you’ve
done.”

“Really?”
I
made
my
voice
rise
unnaturally
high.
“You’d
do that for
me?
Oh,
Liet,
I
don’t
deserve
you.”

He
glanced
at
me
sideways.

“You
can
shove
it up
your
butt!” I
snarled. “I’ve
never
needed
you
to do
me any
favors.”

His lip
curled
into a
snarl. “Fine.
Suit
yourself.
I
was
trying
to
give
you
one
more
chance.”

I
rolled
my
eyes,
but he
didn’t see
it. I
slouched down into
my
seat,
turning
my
back on
him
as
best
as
I
could.
I
wanted
to
spend
the
rest of the
trip in
silence.
It
would take
days
for us to
get
to
Florida.
Not talking
to him would
make
it slightly
bearable.

“So,
what
do
you
think went on in the Army
base?”

Thank
goodness
Liet’s
split
personalities
could
still
come
out
and
play.
It
wouldn’t be
a
family
gathering
without everybody
there.

I
didn’t respond.

“I
think they
studied
zombies
there.
Maybe
created
them.”

“Then
where
were
they?”

“What
do
you
mean?”

“I
mean,
if
they
studied
the
undead
or
even
created
them, wouldn’t
there
be
some kind of
evidence?
Wouldn’t the
creatures
still be in the
cells?
They
couldn’t
get
out of those
rooms.”

“What
do
you
think happened?”

“I
don’t
know,
Liet.
I
wasn’t
there.
You were
in
there longer
than we
were,
what
did
you
find?”

“Nothing
but those
crates
of
guns.
And
a
few
roaming
zombies. All civilians.
No
military
people.”

“Then
I
guess
we’ll
never
know
what
happened.”

“That
place
is kind of
like
Area
Fifty-one, isn’t?
Buried
deep
in the
mountain, unknown to the
vast
majority
of people. Anything
could
have
gone
on
in
there.”

“Maybe
it
was
a
safety
shelter.
You
know, like
Cheyenne Mountain.”

Liet
sat
quietly
for a
moment.
“Maybe. But
I
didn’t
see
any
living
quarters in
there.”

“Then
maybe
it was just a
storage facility.
Maybe
they
were
going
to take
creatures
there
but never had the
chance. Maybe
they
turned
before
they
could
get
the
zombies
imprisoned.”

“It
would make
sense. I
mean,
you’d
want to make
sure
you
were
stocked
to
the
gills
with
weapons
before
bringing
in a
dangerous
creature. It
would also explain
the
few
civilians.
They’re
probably
the
ones
who
left
this
baby
there.”
He
patted the
steering
wheel. “Not
that
I’m
complaining.”

“Are
you
done
speculating?
I
have
a
huge
headache.
I’d
like
to
rest.”

“Oh,
sure. Sorry.
I
forgot
I
whacked
you
pretty
hard
with
my
gun.
When
I
stop for
a
break,
I’ll
get
you
something
for
that.”

I
responded
by
getting
as
comfortable
as
I
could
and
closing
my
eyes.
The
pain
subsided
slightly,
almost to a
tolerable
level.
I
tried not to think
about
my
situation. I
didn’t
want
to think
about
Liet
and
his
twisted
idea
of
family
and
the
actions
he
thought
he
needed
to do
to
accomplish
his
goal.
I
especially
didn’t
want
to think
about
Quinn
because
I
knew
I
couldn’t
keep
my
emotions
in
check
forever.
The
last thing I
wanted
was
for
Liet
to
know he
hurt me.
If
anyone
was
going
to
get
hurt, it
was
going
to be him. I
didn’t
know how
or
when
I
was
going
to do it, but I
was
going
to
do it.

The
tires
vibrated
and
sound
rumbled
through
the
Hummer.
I
opened
my
eyes
as
Liet
pulled
over
onto the
side of
the
road.

“Where
are
we?”

“I
don’t
know.
Somewhere
in
Colorado,
I
think. I
need
a
break,
though.
And
I’m
sure
you
could
use
some
water.”

He
opened
the
door
and
walked
to the
back.
He
returned
a
few
minutes
later
and
held
out a
bottle of
water
and
two
ibuprofen.

“Are
you
kidding?
How
do
you
expect
me
to take
that?”

“Oh,
yeah.”
He
placed
the
pills into
my
right
hand,
then
turned
the top of
the
bottle.
“You’ll
have
to
bend
down.”

“Or
you
can undo the cuffs.”

Liet
chuckled.
“Yeah,
right.
You’re
resourceful.
You’ll
figure
it out.”
He
took a swig
of his own
water.

I
stared
at
him, hard, hoping
he
would burst into
flames. Sadly,
he
didn’t,
and
I
desperately
needed
water.

I
lifted
my
hand
as
high
as
I
could,
then
bent
my
head to
meet
it.
It
probably
didn’t look
pretty,
but
I
accomplished
my
goal. Liet
finished his
water
before
tossing
the
plastic
bottle onto the
ground.
He
climbed
back
into his
seat
and
headed
down the
road.

“What
do
you
plan on doing
with
me
when
I
have
to
pee?”