Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (59 page)

“I
wouldn’t
do
that
if
I
were
you,”
I
whispered.

She
clicked
on the
light
next to
her
bed.
Her
eyes
were
wide,
wild.
Recognition
sparked,
and
she
visibly
relaxed.

“Oh,
my
God,
Krista!
You
scared
the
hell
out of
me!”

Footsteps
sounded in the
hall.
Running
footsteps.
I
slid up
her
legs
so
I
was
on
her
thighs,
placing
the
knife
against
her
neck.
I
didn’t
have
another hand,
and
I
didn’t
want
to risk
Tanya
getting
away.
I
hated
my
back
being toward
the
door,
but
I
didn’t have
another
choice.
I
glanced
over my
shoulder.

At
first,
the
only
thing
I
saw
was
a
gun,
the
barrel
pointed
directly
at
me.
I
pressed
the
knife
into
Tanya’s
flesh.
She
squeaked.

“Krista?”
The
voice
was
familiar.

“Pam?”

Pam
lowered
her
gun.

“What
are
you
doing
here?”
Confusion
crept
through
my
body.

Someone
moved
behind
her.
I
averted
my
gaze
to
the
new
person.
The
knife
dropped
from
my
hand,
my
breath
caught
in
my
throat.

“Quinn?”
I
barely
got
the
name
out of
my
throat.

He
smiled
and
stepped
into the
room.

I
was
afraid
to move. I
thought
if
I
stood up,
I
would
actually
wake
up
and
he
would
fade
into mist.
He
walked
to the
side of
the
bed
and
placed
his
hand
on
my
cheek.
It
was
warm.
The
calluses
scratched
my
skin. I
closed
my
eyes
briefly
and
reopened them. He
was
still
there.
I
sprung
to
my
feet
and wrapped
my
good
arm
around his
neck.
I
pulled
back
and
touched
his
face
with
my
fingertips,
tracing
his
eyebrow,
down his
cheek,
and
across
his lips. He
leaned
forward
and
kissed
me. I
wrapped
my
arm
around
his
neck
once
again,
pulling
him
tight.
I
didn’t want to let
him
go.

“I
thought
you
died,”
I
whispered.

“I
would
have
if it
weren’t
for
you.”

I
pulled
back
and
looked
into his
eyes.

“Liet
shot me,
there’s
no
denying
that.
But
when
you
bumped him, the
shot hit
my
midsection.”
He
stepped
back
and
lifted
his shirt. A
white
bandage
circled
his
stomach. “Thankfully,
it
was
the meaty
part.
Missed
my
vital
organs.
I
think it
was
a
twenty-two.
Anything
larger
would
have
torn me
up.
Still hurt
like
hell,
though.”

“We
dragged
him out of
the
cave
as
soon as
you
and
Liet
disappeared
into the
trees,”
Pam
explained.
“We
tried
to
convince
Quinn
to
stay
behind, to
heal
up,
but he
refused.
We
warned
the
people
at
camp about what
happened
and
took a truck. We
figured
he’d
bring
you
down
here.
We
had to fix
Quinn in the
car.”

“It
was
a
nasty
patch
job,”
Tanya
interjected,
“but
we
stopped
the
bleeding.”

“We
found
some
pharmacies
along
the way
and
got
me some
antibiotics. I’ll
have
a
scar, but
I’m
no
worse
for
the
wear.”
Quinn
smiled
at
me.

“How
did
you
get
past the
border
guards?”
I
asked.

“That’s
where I
came
in.”
Tanya
stood from the
bed, placing
the
knife
on the
night
stand.
“I
was
sent out to
capture
you,
remember?
The
guards
at
the
gate
knew to
expect
me,
and
those
two
hid in the
back
of the
truck. We
drove right
in.”

I
glanced
from
her
to Quinn,
eyes
wide. He
wasn’t
supposed to know.
He placed
a
hand
on
my
shoulder.

“It’s
okay.”
He
nodded, as if the
action
would
reassure
me.
“She
confessed
to me on the
way
down.
She
had
to. We
wouldn’t
have
gotten
in
otherwise.”
He
stared
at
her. “I
almost
left
her
on the side
of
the
road.”
Anger
burned
in his pupils, but
I
knew
he
didn’t have
another
choice.
He
focused
back
on me.
“We’re
here
now.
We’re
going
to make
everything
all
right.”
He
chuckled,
“Of
course,
we
did think we
were
going
to
have
to
rescue
you.
This
kind of
changes
our plans.”

I
hugged him
again.
I
still
had
trouble
believing
he
was
in
front
of
me.

“What
are
you
doing
here
anyway?” Pam
questioned.

“After
Pearl
helped
us
escape,
we
were
driving
by
and
I
noticed
Tanya at
the
high
school.” I
focused
on
Tanya. “What
were
you
doing
there
anyway?”

“Just
telling
Mrs.
Johnson
I
was
back.”

“Did
you
tell
her
about
the
guns?”

She
shook
her
head.
“No. I
told her
I
was
tired
and
would talk to her
about
them
later.
She
waved
me
away,
said
it didn’t
matter.
She
said they
had more
important
concerns
to worry
about
at
the
moment.”

I
turned back to Quinn and
Pam.
“I
came
here
to
make
her
tell
me where
the
weapons
are
stashed.”