Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (56 page)

“Are
you
all
right?”

I
shook
my
head.
“I
don’t
know.
I
think
I
might
be
dreaming.”

“You’re
not
dreaming,”
Pearl
assured
me.
“This
is
very
real.”
She
hugged
me
again. “When
I
saw
you
chained
up to
Mark,
I
couldn’t
believe
it. I
thought
for
sure
someone
had made
a
mistake. Then,
I
heard
Liet
telling
Mrs. Johnson
about
the
rebellion.
I
remembered
our
conversation
on the balcony
the
last
time
you
were
here,
and
how
much
of
a
rebel
you
actually
are,
and put
two
and
two
together.
I
couldn’t
let
you
die
for
doing
what
you
believed
was
right.”

“Who’s Mark?”
I
knew
it
wasn’t
the most
important
question
I
could’ve
asked
at
that
particular
moment, but it
seemed
like the
only
one
that
mattered.

“Mrs.
Johnson’s
bodyguard.”

“Ah.
How
did
you
get
the
private
to
help
you
out?”

“Abby
has
been a
friend
for
a
long
time.”

“I
thought
you
didn’t want to
get
involved in this sort
of
thing.”

The
wrinkles
on her
forehead
deepened. “What
sort
of
thing
are
you
talking
about?”

I
gestured
with
my
arm,
forming
a
circle. “This.
Aiding
and
abetting
traitors. Helping
with the
rebellion.”

A
pained
look
crossed
her
face.
“Why
would
you
think that?”

“Because
the
last
time
I
talked
to
you,
you
told me
you
never
wanted
to leave
Florida.
You
said
you
were
content
living
the life
you
were
living. You didn’t
understand
how
I
could
live
my
life
right
next to
the
zombies.”

“I
was
afraid,
I
admit
that.
And
you
can’t
blame
me.
There’s
a
lot out
there
that
I
don’t
know. But
I
can’t
let
justice
and
what
is
right
be
trampled
on.
Especially
when
it
comes
to
my
best
friend.”
A
small
smile
crawled
across
her
lips.
“Besides,
my
uncle is
sympathetic
to
your cause.
He
wants
to
help.
He’s not the
only
one.
There are
others
who
share
your
vision of taking
back our
country.”

Bill
and
Kyle stepped
forward.
“How many?”
Bill
asked.

“Well,
not as many
as
there
had
been. A lot of them
were
sent to
North
Platte, but
there’s
still
enough
to
launch
a
formidable
attack.”

“Do
you
have
a
plan?”
Kyle inquired.

The
smile on
her
lips grew
wider.
“We
do.
And
now
that
you’re
free,
you
can
help.”

CHAPTER
17

I
needed
time to
figure
things out, to ask
questions,
but
I
wasn’t
going
to get it.
We
had
a
small window of
opportunity,
and
we
needed
to
act.
We
were
already
branded
as
traitors, it wasn’t
going
to be
long
before
they
discovered
we’d escaped, too.
Then,
everyone
in
Florida
would hunt us. I
had
to set
my
doubts
and
suspicions
aside.
Even
if
I
died
trying
to free
the people from
tyranny,
at
least
it wouldn’t be in
vain.
And if Abby
or
Pearl
tried
to take
me down,
I’d
make
sure I
didn’t
go
down
alone.

“So,
where
are
they?”
Pearl
asked.

“Where
are
what?”

“The
weapons.
When
Tanya
came
into Mrs. Johnson’s
apartment
and told her
about
Bill
and
Kyle,
she
said
she
stashed
some
weapons for
the
rebellion.”

“Well,
I
would
assume
Mrs. Johnson
confiscated
those
weapons
for
her
personal use.”

Pearl
shook
her
head.
“No. She told
Mark
to leave
them
where
they’re
at.
A
secret
stash
in case
they
need
them
later.”

My,
that was awfully
convenient. Who knew
what
she
planned
on doing
with
them.
I
wouldn’t
put anything
past
that
woman.

“I
have
no idea
where
Tanya
kept
them.
I
left
and
never
planned
on coming
back.
Did she
tell Mrs.
Johnson
where
they
were?”

Pearl’s
shoulders
slumped
forward. “No. Tanya
said
she’d
tell
her
when
she
came
back.
How
are
we
going
to
find them?”

Not a
bad
plan on
Tanya’s
part. Insurance
that
nothing
happened
to her
once
she
came
back
with
me.
And if
something
happened to
her,
they’d
have
to
tear
the
place
apart to find them.
Perhaps
raising
suspicions.
Maybe
she
wasn’t
an
idiot
after
all.

“Maybe
she kept
records
in her
coffee
shop,”
Kyle
suggested.

Pearl
brightened
slightly. “Maybe.
We
should
check
it out.”

“Is
it really
that
good
of
an
idea
to be traipsing
around
this town looking for
guns?”
I
asked.
“I
mean,
once
they
figure
out we’re
gone,
it’s the
first
place
they
are
going
to send the
soldiers. Mrs. Johnson
knows
about
them, so
she’ll
assume that’s
where we’re
going.
We
need
to be
unpredictable.”

“How does
she know where
to send them if she
doesn’t
know where
they
are?”
Pearl
wondered.

The
three
of
them
stared
at
me.

“Good
question.
I
don’t
know.”
Oh,
yeah.
We
did
have an
advantage.
Still,
it
seemed
risky.

“Okay,”
Bill
said.
“What do
you
suggest?”

I
shrugged.
“I
don’t
really
know. I
just know
we
need
to
figure
something
else
out.
First
and foremost, we
need
to find a
place
to hide. Preferably
outside
of
city
limits.”

They
all
nodded.

“There’s
some
cars in
storage
over
there.” Kyle
pointed
to his
right.
“We
could
hotwire
one
of them and
head
out.”

“Good. Let’s
do it.”

We
stepped
out of the
storage
shed
and
pulled
the
door
down
as
quietly
as
we
could.
Keeping
an
eye
on our
surroundings,
we
hurried
across
the
storage
yard.
It
took
slightly
longer
than
we expected,
but we
got
an
old
Cadillac
running.
On our way
out of town, we
drove
past
the
high
school.
I
glanced
at
it with
disdain.
We
were
going
to
take
them down.
Even
if
we
had to burn
all
of
Florida
to the
ground.
Someone
stepped
out the
front
door
as
we
drove
by.
If
I
didn’t
know
any
better,
I
would
have sworn
it
was
Tanya.
I
spun in
my
seat to
get
a
better
view,
but she
was
out of
sight.
I
turned
to the
others.

“Did
you
see
that?”

Kyle
looked out the
back
window,
and
Pearl
stared
at
me.

“See
what?”
Bill
looked
through
the
rearview.

“I
swear
I
just saw
Tanya.”

They
stared
at
me,
confusion
covering
their
faces.

“But
it
couldn’t
be,”
Pearl
said.
“Isn’t
she
still out West?”

I
tried to do the
calculations
in
my
head.
How
long
would it
have taken
her to
get
here?
If
they
left
right
after
Liet
and
I
did, she
could
have
made
it
hours
after
we
did.
But
why
would she
come
down
here?
She
failed
at her mission. She
didn’t
bring
me
back. Besides,
she
had
nothing
to offer
The
Families.
Liet
knew
where
the
others
hid, he
could
lead
the army
there
himself. Maybe
having
me
captured
was
good
enough.
Maybe
she
could
still
come
back
and
live
in
comfort.
I
couldn’t
worry
about
it. We
had
other
things
to do.

“Hey.”
I
looked
at
Pearl.
“What
happened
to
Liet?”

I
couldn’t
allow
him to continue
to run
free.
He
was
a
threat
to us, no
matter
what.
If
we
were
going
to
take
Florida
down,
Liet
had to
go
with it. And this
time,
he
wasn’t
going
to
get
away
with his
life.