Zombie Games (Book 4): Road Kill (20 page)

“Okay,” said Paige as Kristie kissed the top of her head.

“I’m going to tell Henry,” I
said, walking out the front.

“Tell me what?” he asked
, as I shut the door and joined him on the porch. Adria was in his arms and he was in my grandfather’s favorite rocking chair, rocking her gently.

“We’re going to MOA.”

He snorted. “Leave it to teenaged girls and shopping- not even a zombie apocalypse will stand in the way.”

“
Well, you heard that guy- there should be other survivors out that way. More people that we might know.
Maybe
even Allie and Kylie.”

“Maybe,” he said. “Well,
obviously I’m coming with you, too.”

“
No, you should stay here,” I said. “Get some rest.”

“Oh, I’ve got all eternity to rest,”
he said, holding the baby out to me. “Here, now, take little Adria, so I can go drop some kids off to the pool before we set sail.”

I looked down at the sleeping baby and felt an odd sense of peace. Here
, we were in the middle of an apocalypse, my sister and Kylie were missing, Billie had been bitten by a zombie, and we’d witnessed Nora’s father getting murdered by her zombie grandmother, but amazingly for the first time in weeks, I felt a wave of hope wash over me. Even with all of the obstacles we still faced, something told me that things were going to be okay.

Her eyelids fluttered open and she stared at me.

“Don’t worry,
Adria,” I whispered. “Things are going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Her little bow-tie lips curled up into a smile and som
ething told me that she believed it.

Cassie

“Hey,” said Bryce, grabbing my hand. “We need to talk.”

“I thought we already did,” I said, following him into the bedroom. He’d taken a shower and was wearing a new pair of Levis and a white T-shirt that hugged his
still very-chiseled pecks. I had to admit, even though he’d lost a little weight and had dark circles under his eyes, he still made my pulse race with that sexy little smile of his.

He closed the door and then turned to me. “We have talked, several times, but you never seem to really listen to what I have to say. So I’ve decided to try another approach.”

Before I could respond, he grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into his arms.

“What are you doing?” I asked, feeling my cheeks turn pink. “I don’t think we have time…”

“We don’t,” he whispered, staring into my eyes. “And that’s why we have to make every minute count.” Then his lips found mine and I soon found myself underneath him on the bed.

“I’ve mi
ssed you so much,” he said, pulling my shirt over my head.

“Me too,” I answered, gasping as his hands began moving around my body.

Four minutes and twenty-three seconds later, he was gasping above me and I was staring up at him in amusement.

He turned
onto his side and touched my lips with his fingertips. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Sorry,” he said, smiling sheepishly. “I know that was too fast, but I just lost control.”

“No, it was fantastic,” I said.
“Short and sweet. Kind of like those miniature candy-bars, where they’re so awesome that you just can’t eat one, but if you only have one, it leaves you still craving more.”

He
stared at me for a second and then burst out laughing. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I’m just saying…I wasn’t
… dissatisfied, I’m just still… craving you,” I said, kissing his lips.

“I don’t know what’s more disturbing, comparing me to a miniature candy-bar or reminding me that it just wasn’t enough to settle your craving. Both could be construed as rips on my manhood.”

I stood up and slipped my shorts back on. “Are you kidding me? You’re manhood is…just…awesome. I mean it’s the best out there, I’m sure.”

“Because you’ve had so much experience, you’d know,” he said, his eyes sparkling.

“I know that I’m more than happy and that’s all that matters.”

Someone began pounding on the bedroom door. “Hey, you two done talking about candy in there?”
hollered Henry. “Because we’re all waiting for you so we can leave.”

My face turned bright red
.

“Don’t worry,” whi
spered Bryce, kissing me, again, “he doesn’t know what we were up to.”

I bit the side of my lip. “Okay.”

After we left the bedroom, I overheard Henry teasing Bryce about adding a little more nuts to his candy-bars, and I had to leave the room so he wouldn’t see me laughing.

***

“Everyone set?” asked Bryce, starting the van. “You all have weapons and water?”

“Yeah,”
I said, buckling my seatbelt. Paige and I both had metal bats, Henry had his double-barrel shotgun, and Bryce had found a hunting knife along with one of my grandfather’s guns, a three-fifty-seven Magnum, in the basement. I couldn’t believe he’d left it.

“Take this, too,”
said Bryce, tossing me a pocket knife. “I feel better knowing that you have a backup if you lose the bat.”

“What about me?” asked Paige
, who was sitting next to me in the second row.

“
Well, you’re all set, girl. You’ve got that bat and a sharp tongue. The zombies don’t have a chance.”

She slapped his shoulder. “Not funny.”

“I wasn’t joking,” he said and then flinched when she raised her fist to club him.

“
Now, let Bryce drive, Paige,” said Henry. “You can beat the tar out of him later. Kick him in the Snickers.”

Page snorted.
“Snickers?”

“Well
from what I understand, they certainly aren’t Almond Joys,” chuckled Henry.

“
Okay, enough,” said Bryce. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“That’s right,” I said. “Besides, we need to focus on finding
the girls and not Bryce’s goodies.”

Paige wrinkled her nose. “Uh, I agree. Un
less you want me to hurl, don’t mention sex and Bryce in the same sentence.”

Trying not to laugh, I changed the subject.
“I hope they can handle Billie if he becomes a zombie,” I said, remembering how volatile Eva and Austin had become when they’d both went through their changes.

“I think No
ra can handle him along with a dozen other zombies,
at
the same time,
with
her eyes closed,” said Paige.

I stared out the window and smiled
. “Yeah, she’s one person I’m glad to have on our side, that’s for sure.”

The rain started and everyone became silent. Bryce
turned on the wipers as they turned onto the highway.

“Looks like this one is going to be another doozy,” remarked Henry, staring up at the dark clouds. “Mo
ther Nature’s been pretty moody these last few days. So unpredictable.”

“It’s been like that for a while,” I said. “Nobody’s noticed it as much because we’re all focused on staying alive.”

“True,” said Henry, lowering his hat over his eyes. “At least we don’t have to worry about earthquakes in Minnesota. That last one in Atlanta was a little unnerving.”

Bryce snorted. “You spoke to soon, Henry. There was one yesterday.”

I leaned forward. “What? An earthquake in Minnesota? Seriously.”

Paige nodded. “Yeah, we had a couple of them yesterday. Nothing major but you could tell it was a quake.”

“That is so weird,” I said.

“Billie and Tiny think it’s the end of the world,” said Paige.

“Huh. Well, it’s not the first time we’ve heard that statement in the last few days,” I said. “Is it Henry?”

“Nope.”

“The nuns we met the other day also claimed the same thing. Said it was ‘The End of Days’.”

“Okay, please clarify exactly what that means. End of everything, shorter days, what
?” asked Paige.

“Well,” I said, “if you’ve ever read the bible-.”

“No, can’t say that I have,” she replied, smiling sheepishly. “But I’ve watched the history channel quite a bit. There’s more stuff on there about our rocky future then what happened yesterday.”

“
I know. So, um, what did the nun say, again, Henry?”

He cleared his throat.
“Oh, she mentioned the seven signs of the apocalypse.”

“What are they?” asked Paige.

He sighed. “Deadly plagues, hunger and earthquakes. Then the sky will turn dark and the water will turn to blood. Finally, Satan will emerge to fight the final battle between good and evil.”

“Billie said the same thing,” replied
Paige.

“Well, at least the water hasn’t changed color,” I laughed. “Then I’d be a little more paranoid.”

Paige’s looked at me. “Seriously, you did
not
notice the lake by your grandparent’s house?”

“
Uh, I guess not.”

“Bryce, tell them.”

“The lake wasn’t red, Paige, it was pink,” he replied.

“See, there you go,” said Paige.

“Like I said before, there could be a number of reasons,” said Bryce. “We already went over this.”

“Yeah, well what about the river?” said Paige.

He shrugged. “Same thing.”

I raised my eyebrows. “The river was red?”

“It was just pink,” said Bryce. “And it smelled awful so I’m sure it was contaminated. Somehow.”

Paige groaned. “God, that man of yours is so close-minded.”

His jaw clenched. “It’s not the end of the world and I’m not jumping on that band-wagon. The world is going to hell but it’s because of us and what
we’ve
done to it. Nothing spiritual or based on religion. I mean, come on.”

“Do you believe in God?” she asked.

I held my breath. I hadn’t even asked Bryce and now that we were engaged, I was a little unnerved of what his answer was.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t
really know. Obviously I want to believe that there is something else out there and not just us.”

“Are you talking aliens or God?”
smirked Paige.

Bryce sighed. “Okay, let me re-phrase my statement- I
hope
that there is a God. I hope that all of these people that were killed, the ones who became zombies, are not just… lost forever.”

“What about you Henry?” asked Paige.

Henry didn’t answer, he was too busy snoring.

“Cassie?” she asked me.

“You know how I feel,” I said to her.

“Not really. It’s not like we sit around talking about religion and what shade of lip-gloss looks the best under the chapel lights.”

I smiled. “You goof.”

She stared at me. “Seriously, tell us.”

I pulled my hair to the side. “I’m a Christian, what more can I say? What about you?”

She sighed. “Me too and that’s why I
’m scared to death of what may or may not be happening.”

“Paige, any one of us could die at any moment. I mean, who knows, we could be walking into some kind of trap at MOA,” I said. “Hell, after getting kidnapped
more than once these last few weeks, I’m not discounting anything.”

“In other words, this could be another suicide mission?” she asked, a horrified look on her face.

I sighed. “I’m just saying that you shouldn’t dwell on something that may or may not happen. Live for now and quit worrying about ‘signs’ and bloody rivers and lakes.”

“You’re seriously not freaked out about any of this?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, what I’m worried about more than anything, is finding our sisters.
Alive
.”

Henry stretched his arms and yawned. “What you all should be worried about is finding me a hopper. I don’t
know what I ate, but you kids are going to
wish
for merciful death if we don’t do something about it real soon.”

Bryce swore under his breath. “I thought you went to the bathroom before we left the house?”

“I did, but that doesn’t mean I got it all out. Sometimes things get stuck on the edge and don’t slip out until later.”

I shuddered. “Okay, T.M.I., Henry. Bryce, j
ust find a place for him to go.”

Henry began rolling down his window
. “Oh, false alarm. Just a little gas. Pardon me, ladies.”

We
all rolled the windows down.