Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (57 page)

“He
was
going
to shower
and
rest.
That’s
all
I
know.
Mrs. Johnson set him up
in a suite
at
the
high
school.
She
also
told
Mark
to
have
someone
keep
an
eye
on him.
She
was
afraid
he’d
try
to hurt
you.”

“We
need
to know where
he’s
at.”

Kyle
stared
at
me.
“You
can’t
make
this a personal
mission.”

“I’m
not.
Liet
has to be
taken care
of.
If
anything
is
going
to
mess
up our
chances
of taking
out The
Families,
it’s him. He
knows
what
we’re capable
of,
and
he
knows
how to
fight
against it.
Once
he
finds out
we’re
missing,
he’ll
do
everything
in his
power
to
hunt us down.”

Kyle
looked
at
Bill,
who
sighed.
“What
do
you
want
to do?”

“We
need
to neutralize
him.”

“And
we
can,”
Pearl chimed in,
“but
now is not the
time. My
uncle
had a
plan.
Once
we
get
out of town,
I’ll contact
him.
He’ll
meet
us
and
let us know
what’s
going
on.”

I
pursed
my
lips. “Why
didn’t
you
mention
that
while
we
were
at
the
shed?”

“I
wasn’t
supposed
to
contact
him until
I
had
the
weapons.
There
was less
risk
of being
found
out.
But
since
we
can’t
get
the
guns,
we
have
to figure
something
else
out.”

I
balled
my
hand into a
fist.
Why
did everything
have
to be so
difficult?
Why
couldn’t
things
work out for
us like they
did in
North
Platte?
In
reality,
why
were
we
even
wasting
our
time?
We
could
easily
take
the
vehicle
back
to the
West and
disappear.
No one
would find us,
and
we
could
live out our
lives
in
relative
peace.
It
would
be
a
lonely
existence,
especially
without Quinn, but
we’d
be
alive.

“Stop
the
car!”
I
shouted.

Bill
swerved,
startled
by
my
outburst. “What?”

“I
said stop the
car.
If
Tanya
was
back
there,
we can
get
the
weapons.
We
don’t have
to
reformulate
a
plan.”

He
pulled
over
onto the
side of
the
road
and
stared
at
me in
disbelief.
“Do
you
really
think
walking
back to the
high
school
is such a
good
idea?
They’ll
find
you,
you’ll
get
recaptured.”

I
shook
my
head. “They
won’t
get me
again.
I
won’t
allow
it.
I’ll
go
back
and
see
if it
was
Tanya,
you
guys
contact
Pearl’s
uncle.
If
all
goes
well,
we’ll
meet
back
at
the
storage
yard
at
six
in
the
morning.”

“And
what
if it
doesn’t
go well?”
Bill’s
tone
bordered
on
furious.

“Then
I’ll
see
you
back in
jail.”

I
didn’t wait
for an
answer;
I
opened the door
and
jumped
out of the
car.
I
hurried
behind
a building
and
got
out of
sight.
I
pressed
my
back against the
wall
and
waited
until
I
couldn’t
hear the
car
anymore.
How
was
I
going
to
get
back to the
high
school? There
were
so many
lights!
If
I
were
in the
West, it wouldn’t
have
been
an
issue.
I
glanced
down.
Crap!
I
was still
wearing
my
bright
orange
jumpsuit!
Yeah,
that
wouldn’t
be
a
dead
give
a
way
at
all! I
needed to find
something
to cover up
with, and
quick.

I
side-stepped
to the
end
of
the building
and
glanced
around
the
corner. Streetlights
illuminated
the
sidewalk,
and
a
few
people
milled
around.
There was
a
park
directly
across
from
me.
It
was still
bright,
but there
were
at
least
trees
to keep me
hidden. I
waited
until the
couple
closest
to me
stepped
onto the
grass
before
dashing
toward
a
clump
of
trees.
I
placed
my
hand
on the
trunk
and
got
my
bearings.
The
high
school
was
three
blocks in
front
of
me. Lights
shone
on the
building,
lighting
it up
like
a
Christmas
tree.
I
doubted
Tanya
was still
there.
If
that
was
her I
saw, she walked out of
the
building,
which
meant
she probably
headed
back
to her
apartment
above
the
coffee
shop. Still, it
was
three
blocks
I
had
to
go.

Why
weren’t
people
in their
homes?

It’s
not
any
different
than
eluding
a
zombie,
I
told
myself.
In
fact,
it’s
easier.
Most
people
probably
wouldn’t
give
me
a
second
glance.
Once
they
noticed the
jail
attire,
they’d
go
find
help
instead
of taking
me
on. A
zombie
would hunt me
relentlessly.
I
could
do it. I
had
to do it.
Still,
the
least
amount of
attention
I
could
draw
to
myself,
the
better. I
headed
off
through
the trees.

It
took me
a
while, but
I
made
it to the
back
of the
coffee
shop. I
crouched in the
alley,
next to a
dumpster,
and
stared
at
the
second
story
window. Soft orange
light
drifted from
the
glass,
and a
shadow
moved
on the
ceiling.
Someone
was
in
there.
I
could only
hope
it
was
Tanya.
There
was a
fire
escape. Perfect.
I
snuck
over
to
it
and
grabbed
the bottom
step.
I
glanced
around
before
placing
my
feet
onto the
ladder.
Using
my
elbow
strapped
in the
sling,
I
secured
myself
to the
rungs. Pain
rippled
through
my
shoulder, but
I
tolerated
it to get to
my
goal.
With a
bit of
effort
and
some
grunting,
I
made
it to
the top
landing.
I
pressed
my
back
against
the wall
and
peeked
into the
room.