Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (49 page)

He
let out a
sigh.
I
didn’t know if it
was
a
sigh
of
relief
or
disappointment.

“It’s
not
worth
it,” I
continued.
“All
the
betrayal
and
murdering,
what’s
the point in helping
others? We need
to
forget
them
and
focus
on
ourselves.”

“Not
everyone
is like that, Krista.”
Bill
stepped
closer
to the
bars.
“There
is still
good
in the
world.
You
can’t
fight
for
what’s
right without
sacrifice.”

I
pushed
myself
away
from the
door.
“I’m
tired
of
making
sacrifices.
I
don’t
want
to
fight
for
what’s
right.
Let
them
fend
for
themselves.”

“You
don’t
mean
that, Krista.”
Kyle’s
voice
was
soothing. “You’re
grieving.
Think
about
what Quinn
would
want,
what
he’d do.”

I
huffed
and
headed
to my
cot.
What did
they
know? They
didn’t know
how
I
felt,
what
I
was
going
through.
They
didn’t know
what
I’d
given
up, the
things
I’d
lost.
Or
did
they?

CHAPTER
15

Quinn,
Bill,
and
Kyle
knew
about
sacrifice.
They’d
done
more
for
the
country,
for
strangers
in
North
Platte,
and
for
me
than
anyone
I’d
ever
known.
They
didn’t have
to
answer
Liet’s
initial call.
They
could’ve
stayed
on the
ranch,
living
out their
lives,
ignoring
the
rest
of the
world.
They
weren’t
bothered
by
zombies, so
why
should they
care
about
a
few
ingrates
who
refused
to
take
care of the
problem?

Bill
was
right.
Quinn wouldn’t
have wanted
me
to
give
up. He
would’ve
wanted me
to
fight
to the end.
But
he
should’ve
been
standing
right
next to me,
supporting
and
fighting
with
me.
How
was
I
supposed to do
it on
my
own?

Why
couldn’t
Liet
have
shot
Pam?
Or
Tanya
for
that
matter.
If
anyone
deserved to
die,
it
was
her. Ungrateful,
back-stabbing
traitor!
But their
deaths
wouldn’t
have
upset me
as
much.
Liet
didn’t
have
a
personal
vendetta
against
them.
He’d
wanted to kill Quinn
for
a
long
time. I
hated
that
he
got
his chance. And,
technically,
if
given
the
chance,
he
would have
shot
Pam
and
Tanya
too.
He
didn’t
have
time.

Quinn’s
death
made
me
think of
my
parents,
but his
murder
was
totally
different
from
theirs.
All
three
of
them
were
unexpected, but at
least
Quinn
wasn’t
doing
something
stupid. We
were
all
in the
cave,
trying
to
figure
out
what
it
was
for, how
were
we
supposed
to know
Liet
used it
as
a hiding
place?
I
told
my
parents
it
was
dangerous
to
go
to
the
military
base, but they
didn’t
listen. They
walked into
trouble
and
deserved
what they
got.
Quinn
was
a
victim of
circumstance.

The
pain
from
Quinn’s
death
was
intense,
but
it
wasn’t
nearly
as
deep
as
when
my
parents were
killed.
Yes,
they
deserved
it, and
yes,
it made
me
angry,
but
I
knew
them
longer.
They
raised
me,
took care
of
me.
They
were
my
parents
for
crying
out loud!
Quinn
was
just
a
guy
I
met that
I
recently
started
dating.
I
wanted to
get
to know him
better,
I
probably
could
have
fallen
in
love
with
him, but
that
time
had
passed.
I’d
never
get
the
chance.
And
I
couldn’t change
it.

Was
I
being
callous? Uncaring? Maybe. It’s
not
that
I
didn’t miss him,
I
did. I
was sad he
was
killed,
but
not
devastated.
It
was the way
of life
in zombie-infested
lands.
People
were
killed or
turned
into the
undead.
I
had
to
get
used to
that.
The
best
way
to honor his
memory
was
to finish
what
he started.
Save
the
people
of
Florida.
No
matter
how
much they
didn’t deserve
it
and
would
probably
resent
us for
it.

I
got
up from the
cot
and
headed
back to the
door,
placing
my
hand on the bars.
“If
you
have
any
ideas of
what
we
could
possibly
do
to
get
out of
here,
I’m
listening.”

Bill
shook his
head.
“I
have
no clue.”

I
clenched
my
jaw.
“So,
you’re
just hoping
something
will happen?”

“Liet
had every
opportunity
to kill
you,
and
he
didn’t.
Maybe
we
can
use
that to our
advantage.”

“There has
to be
a
way,
Krista,” Kyle
interjected.
“It
can’t
end like this.”

I
opened
my
mouth to
speak,
but
was
interrupted
by
a
door
opening.
Private
Lamb
Chop
stepped
into
the
hallway
and
approached
my
cell.

“Mrs.
Johnson would
like
to see
you.”

“They
didn’t send
you
back to the
border?”
It
was
more
of
an
observation
than a
question.

A
small
smile
covered
her lips.
“General
Liet
personally
requested
I
stay
on
as
your
guard.”
A hint of
red
crept
into her
cheeks.

My
stomach
knotted.
I
should’ve
said something to
warn
her,
tell
her
about
his mood
swings
and
multiple
personalities,
but,
again,
she
wouldn’t
have
believed me.
She
would
have assumed
I
was
making
things
up,
telling
her
lies
because
I
was
a prisoner,
because
I
had
a
bad
experience
with
Liet. Best
to let
her
find
out on
her
own.

“Oh,
how
nice for
you.”
It
was the
only
response
I
thought
of.

She
looked
at
me
sideways.
My
tone
had
a
bit of
cynicism
in it.
Thank
goodness
she
picked
up on
it. The
door
buzzed
and
slid open. She
held
out the
handcuffs,
and
I
let her snap it
around
my
wrist.
She
clicked
the
other
side
onto her
arm.

“You
know,”
I
observed,
“it’s
awfully
trusting
of
you
not to
secure
my
other arm. What if
I
decide to
attack
y
o
u
?
”

She
scoffed
and
led me
down the
hall.
“I
saw the
x-
rays.
You
don’t
have
the
strength.
Plus,
I’m
sure
the
pain
would be
unbearable.
How is
your
arm
feeling,
by
the
way?”