The Living Dead Boy (2 page)

“Yeah, well, sometimes parents are stupid,” Josh answered grimly.  His mom never wanted to hear anything about zombies or his theories on a government conspiracy to hide their evil experiments that had created the zombies. “And they can be total douches.”

That brought on some snickers of agreement then his friends were out the gate and into the alley.  The brothers lived two houses down, Arturo three.  Most of the houses didn’t have fences and the boys ran shouting and laughing toward their homes, cutting past their neighbors backyards.

With a sigh, Josh shut the gate and locked it.  His Paw Paw had built the fence when the neighbor kids had kept running through his garden.  Now the garden and Paw Paw were gone, and Josh felt cut off from the rest of the world whenever he looked at the tall oak fence.  He liked that.  It was a good defense against zombies.  Of course, all his Mom could talk about was how it made it safe for them to play outside.

Josh thought this was a joke.  Just because they were living in a tiny town in the middle of Texas Hill Country, that didn’t mean they were safe.  He’d rather be living back at Fort Hood with all his old friends, surrounded by soldiers and their weapons.  Instead they were living in Paw Paw and Mee Maw’s old house, and it was so old the floors were kind of slanted.  His Dad said it was because the house was settling.  Josh was pretty sure it was going to fall apart.  Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.  Their old house in Killeen, Texas would have withstood a zombie assault for at least a few days.

With a sigh, he trudged across the spacious backyard toward the house painted in light blue with dark blue trim. Both the Texas and American flags hung on a flagpole just inside the fence in the sideyard. Paw Paw had been a patriot.  He had been ecstatic when Jamie, Josh’s dad, had enrolled in the Marines. He’d been in the Marines during the Vietnam War and had been very proud of his service.  When he had died, Josh had been impressed by his burial. An honor guard had attended the funeral and had presented
Mee Maw with the flag that had been draped over his casket.  It wasn’t until later, when his Dad had been in Iraq, that he had understood the significance of the flag and his great-grandmother’s tears.

The screen door swung open and his mom stared down at him.  “Stop dawdling.”

“I’m not dawdling, Mom.”

“You’re dragging in here because you know you’re in trouble.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Josh answered defensively. He yanked off his cap as he entered the laundry room that led into the kitchen at the back of the house.

The delicious aroma of simmering chili mixed with the pungent smell of silver cleaner.  An entire silver serving set was on the kitchen table, half of it polished to a brilliant shine, the other half grungy and mottled green.  It reminded him of zombie skin.  He had a feeling his mom was upset not because of Drake acting like a brat, but because she was selling off family heirlooms again to pay the bills.  Since
Mee Maw and Paw Paw died within two months of each other, Josh knew that they were in a bad financial crisis.  He hated it.

“That’s right.  You didn’t do anything to keep your brother entertained while I cooked dinner and tried to get this stuff ready to mail off to that lady who bought it on eBay.  I told you I have to get this done.”  His mother swept her hair out of her face, her huge blue eyes glimmering with tears.

A cool breeze was wafting through the open windows, but it was still humid in the kitchen from the cooking chili. His mother looked flushed, and, though he had denied it to his friends, his mom really was pretty.

Drake sat in the middle of the kitchen floor slamming his toy trucks together into a violent crash over and over again.  His blond curls and rosy cheeks made him look like one of those baby angels, but Josh knew better.  His brother was annoying and a devil.  As if on cue, Drake looked up at him and gave him a huge smile.

“We were zombie training, Mom.  I told you that. I’m trying to get everyone ready for when they come.”

His mom didn’t answer him.  She just stood with her hands on her hips, staring down at him with a tired expression on her face.

“Seriously, Mom.  On the forum last night, there was this story about a guy in San Antonio that the cops reported as dead.  And they called in the coroner, but by the time he got there, the cops said the guy was alive, but incoherent. Out of control.  And then nothing.  A zombie, Mom.  A zombie.”  Josh tried to make his voice as strong and firm as possible.

Sighing, his mother motioned toward Drake.  “Take him into the living room and put on a movie.  Not one of your movies, but one of his.  I can’t stand another night of him waking up and telling me that Paw Paw is trying to eat him.”

Josh did feel bad about that and he felt his anger oozing away.  He hated seeing his Mom look sad.  He thought that would be over once his father had returned from Iraq.  But then Paw Paw had died, and once Mee Maw died, it just seemed to stay bad.

“Okay, Mom,” he said quietly, then threw his arms around her waist.

Her body relaxed as she leaned over him, crushing him against her chest, and kissing his forehead.  “I love you, Josh.  I’m sorry to snap at you, but I gotta get this done.”

“It’s okay, Mom.  I’ll take better care of Drake.  Even if he is annoying.”

“Thanks, Josh,” his mom said gratefully.  She sat back down at the table and reached for a cleaning rag.

“C’mon, shorty.  Let’s go watch
Shrek
.”

“I want to see Buzz Lightyear.”

“Okay, whatever.”  Josh pushed the heavy wood door to the dining room open and Drake stomped past him, clutching his trucks to his chest.

“
Turd head,” Drake whispered, an evil little grin on his cute face.

Resisting the urge to hit him, Josh followed.

Chapter 2

Josh shoved Drake onto the couch along with his battered, stuffed dinosaur and turned on the TV.  He ignored Drake as the toddler kept changing his mind as to which movie he wanted to watch and shoved the old videotape of
Shrek
into the ancient VCR.  Most of Drake’s moves had been bought at a second hand store in Killeen and his parents couldn’t afford to buy new versions on DVD. Considering how rough Drake was with the tapes, it was probably a good idea to have them in the outdated VHS format.  Most of Josh’s zombie movies were second hand, too, but he had managed to get them on DVD.  They were carefully stored in his room far away from his annoying brother.

“Watch this and shut up,” Josh ordered.

“I’m gonna tell Mommy you’re mean.”

“What else is new?”  Josh threw himself onto the loveseat beside the school bag he had discarded earlier when he had come home from school.  Grabbing it up, he pulled out a battered copy of a zombie book he had found at a garage sale.  The cover had lots of zombies. He wished it wasn’t so wrinkled and stained.   With a sigh, he opened it and started to read.  Homework was for after dinner, when his mom and dad could help him.

Drake squirmed around on the couch, trying to get comfortable, dragging Rex, his stuffed dinosaur, around with him.  Josh sighed and ignored him.  He resented having to babysit his younger brother, but knew his mother and father needed him.  Being the oldest child had its perks, but dealing with Drake was a real pain.  He had wanted a brother so badly for so long. He never dreamed he would resent the very thing he had desired.

“I don’t like this movie.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I want to see
Transformers
.”

“Dad says you’re too young and it will give you nightmares.”

“I hate you.”

Josh sighed and tried to read his book.  He was just getting into the story when the book was pushed downward and Drake’s cherubic face came into view. His chubby hand was bending the cover.  Frustrated, Josh gave him a light shove.

“Lay off!”

“I want to see Transformers!”

“Dad said no!”  Josh frowned as he raised the book. “Now shut up.”

“You’re mean,” Drake pouted.  “Rex is gonna eat you.”

“Well, I hope zombies eat you,” Josh responded scornfully.

The scared look on his younger brother’s face made him feel even guiltier, but Josh was too far into his bad mood to do anything more than raise his book and continue to read. Looking close to tears, Drake hurled the dinosaur onto the sofa and crawled up next to it. Stuffing his fingers in his mouth, he stared at the TV.

Josh tried to concentrate on the text, but he kept losing his train of thought.  He began to feel bad for his behavior, but anger had a good grip on him.  It wasn’t his fault that his Dad didn’t have a good job or that his grandparents had been stupid.  He resented that he had to babysit Drake and pretend everything was okay as his Mom sold off family heirlooms and his Dad paced the creaky wood floors late at night.

The doorbell startled him and he tossed the book aside. “I’ll get it, Mom!”

“Thanks, honey,” her voice answered faintly from the kitchen.

Drake continued to stare at the TV, sucking loudly on his fingers.  His silence was accusing and terrible.

Ignoring him, Josh hurried to the door and yanked it open.

Corina, the love of his young life, stood on the doorstep. Three inches taller than him with long chestnut hair and clear gray eyes, she stared down at him through her glasses. One hand set on her hip, the other clutching a wad of dollar bills, she looked as annoyed as he had felt just a few seconds earlier.

“Hi,” Josh managed.

“My mom said to bring this over to give to your mom. It’s for some lame quilt or something,” Corina drawled.

Pushing the screen door open, Josh reached out for the money.  “Okay, I’ll give it to her.”

“Don’t spend it on lame zombie stuff, okay?”

Josh could feel his face flushing and he had trouble finding his voice.

“Josh wants zombies to eat me,” Drake said from beside him.

“I...uh...err...”  Josh mumbled as his fingers gripped the roll of dollar bills.  For a second, he could feel her soft skin and the tips of her sharp nails.

Corina let go of the money abruptly, as if knowing he was relishing his brief moment of touching her hand, and dropped to her knees.  “He did!  That’s so mean!  Josh, you’re a meanie!”

Drake threw his arms around Corina’s neck and sobbed softly against her.  “He is a big meanie.”

As he always did when around Corina, Josh lost his voice and senses.  He could only stare at her and wonder if she would wait for him to grow a few inches taller and a few years older so he could ask her out. She was two years older, but it felt like a million. She was the forbidden older woman, the love of his short life, and he felt stupid whenever she looked at him. Of course, this was only made worse by the fact she had been his and Drake’s babysitter before his parents decided he was old enough to take care of Drake.

Ruffling Drake’s blond curls, Corina kissed his brow. “It’s okay, Drake. Zombies aren’t real.  But if they were, they would eat Josh for being a meanie.”

“Actually, they would just eat me for being...uh...meat.” Josh faltered as his eyes trailed to her neckline.  He could see down her shirt. Her small breasts were tucked into a pink bra.

Noticing his gaze, Corina stood up, holding Drake, and gave Josh her darkest look.  “Well, Drake has immunity to zombies, so they’re going to eat you. Right, Drake?”

“Right!”

“That’s not how it works,” Josh began to protest. “Zombies eat because-”

“Your brother is a nerd,” Corina said, smiling at Drake.

With a sigh, Josh shoved the money into his pocket.

“Yeah!”  Drake looked pleased and snuggled into Corina’s arms.

“Make sure your mom gets that, okay?  Cause my mom will kick my butt if you don’t.”  Kissing Drake’s cheek, she set him down.

“Yeah, I will.  Promise.”

“You guys really moving away?”  Corina pushed her glasses up on her nose.

“My dad is going to go to Austin and try to become a police officer there. So, yeah, we might move away.”

“Austin is cool,” Corina assured him. “But it will suck to see you move away.”

Josh tried not to smile too wide at her comment. “Yeah, well, you know there is
, like, the internet and stuff to talk.”

“Yeah. I’m sure the Cowboy brothers will keep in touch and stuff with you.”

“My screen name is “livingdeadboy,” no spaces.”  Josh tried to sound casual, but he was sure he sounded desperate.

Corina just smiled and kissed Drake on the cheek again. “Hope your dad gets the job. This town sucks anyway.”  She hopped off the porch and headed back to her home next door.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Drake informed Josh, shoving past him.

“Whatever, shrimp,” Josh answered, closing the screen door slowly.  He tried to keep an eye on his beloved until she disappeared into her house.  With a sigh, he shut the door.