Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (75 page)

“You
made
it!
I’m
so
glad
you’re
here.”

She
pulled
away.
“Thanks.
But
I’m
not so
sure
I’m
comfortable
out
here.”
She
wrapped
her
arms
around
her
chest. “We’re
so close
to
zombie
country.”

I
waved
my
hand nonchalantly
through
the air. “You
have
nothing
to
worry
about.
We’ll all
make
sure
you’re
safe.”

She
glanced
at
the
crowd.
“I
appreciate
that.”
She
forced
a
smile.

“So.” Bill
stood
and
brushed dirt off
his butt. “How
did it
go?
Did
you
get
them?”

Quinn
nodded
enthusiastically. “Sure
did.
Five
crates. You
wanna
go
test
them
out?”

“Yeah,” Kyle
chimed
in. “Can
we?”

“Test
what
out?”
Pearl
wondered.

“The
guns
we
just acquired,”
I
told
her.

“How
do
you
plan on doing
that?”

I
grabbed
her arm.
“Oh,
it’s
gonna
be
fun.
C’mon.”

We
headed
back to town,
where
the
courthouse
used
to be.
In
its place
were four
helicopters.

“Quinn,
you
guys
go
get
some
guns,
I’ll
find the
pilots.”
I
barely
got
the
words out
before
running
off.

Pearl
and
Pam
were
left
standing
in
front
of the
birds. A look of
horror
crossed
Pearl’s
face.

We
all
returned
a
while
later
with the
things
we
needed
to collect.
Bill
and
Pam
climbed
into one
helicopter,
and
Kyle, Pearl,
Quinn,
and
I
climbed
into the
other. Pearl
was
pale.

“I
don’t
think this is such a
good
idea.”
Her
voice
was
drowned
out
by
the
engine
as
the
blades
spun
to
life.

“Don’t
worry,
it’s
fine.”
I
patted
her
head
before
taking
my
place
near the
open
door.
The
barrel of
my
gun
pointed
outward.

The
copters
gained
momentum,
and
we
zoomed over
the
fence and
guard
towers,
heading
straight
for
zombie
territory.
I
glanced
at
the
horizon
and
thought
about
my
parents.

“You
thought
I
was
crazy,”
my
dad’s
voice
said in
my
head,
“but
maybe
my
advice
wasn’t so far-fetched
after
all.
Maybe
your
mother
and
I
have
some
idea
what
we’re
talking
about.”

He
usually
made
it a
point to say
that
after
things
worked
out.
But
he
was
right;
they
did know what
was
going
on.
Back
in the
day,
I
would
have rolled
my
eyes
and
walked
away.
At that moment,
I
smiled to
myself.
All
along,
they
were giving
me the
skills
I
needed
to
survive.
While
they
probably
never
dreamed
I’d
use
them
against
zombies, the
lessons
for survival
were
all
the
same. And
in the
end,
all
that
mattered
was
my
parents
could
send
me out into the
world
and
I
would be
able to
survive
on
my
own. They had
taught
me
well.