Flesh-Eater (Book 1): Fear the Fever by Stacey Broadbent

skin of her face.  “You have to wake up now, okay?”
    Zeke grabbed one of her hands, feeling the coolness of her skin.  “She’s so cold,” he whispered, “Why is she so cold?”  Rubbing his hand back and forth over hers, he tried to warm her up.  “She was burning with a fever and now… Come on, Millie.  Please wake up.  You can’t leave me.  Not you too,” he pleaded.  “I can’t lose you,” he sniffed, “I won’t.”  He grabbed Harper’s arm, making her look at him.  “We have to do something.  Do you know CPR?”
    She wiped her tears from her face, nodding.  She tilted Millie’s head back, pinching her nose.  “Ready?” she asked, taking a deep breath.  Zeke positioned himself over her chest, ready to start compressions.  Harper lowered her mouth to Millie’s, sealing her lips around her sisters, she puffed out two short breaths.
    “One, two, three, four, five…” Zeke counted aloud while pumping on her chest.  They went through the same sequence again before checking for a pulse.
    “Anything?” Harper asked hopefully.  Zeke only shook his head.
    “Again,” he demanded.  Harper turned back to her sister’s lifeless body and once again, blew into her mouth.  “Come on, Millie!”
    They worked together, each doing their part, for another twenty minutes, before Harper finally placed her hand over Zeke’s.
    “Enough,” she said sadly.  “She’s had enough.”  Her hand shook as she began to sob silently.  “Goodbye my beautiful angel.  Fly free.”
    “Fly free?  How can you say that?  She’s not free!” Zeke screamed at her.
    “You don’t know that.  She might not turn into one of them,” Harper challenged.
    “How can you be so naïve?  After everything we’ve been through?”  He shook his head, turning his attention back to Millie.  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you,” he whispered, as he pressed his lips to hers one last time.  “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”  He buried his head in her chest, as he fought back tears.  “I love you,” he murmured.
    “She loved you too,” Harper snivelled, placing a hand on his back.
    “I know.  She loved everyone.”  He smiled through his tears.  “She had the biggest heart.  The world needs more people like her, if only I could’ve protected her.”  His eyes welled up and Harper pulled him in to her.
    “Shhhhhh.  You did everything you could,” she cried with him.
    “I just wish it could’ve been enough to save her,” he gulped, “what am I going to do without her?  She was my light.”
    Harper nodded.  “Mine too.”
     

Zuckerman
    T he house was empty.  He had searched every inch of the place in case whoever had shot that woman, was hiding.  The last thing they needed was for one of them to get shot too.
    Knowing it was only a matter of time before someone came along, he got to work looking for any kind of clue as to what may have started this nightmare.  He was rifling through the kitchen drawers when Chad and Tammy came through the door.  He glanced up at them, noting how distraught they both looked.
    “I’ve checked the place.  Doesn’t appear to be anyone in here,” he said as he continued his search.  “You guys wanna look through the bedrooms while I keep going in here?”
    “Okay, I’m not really sure what I’m looking for though,” Tammy said apologetically.
    “Just anything that seems out of place, I guess.”  Chad suggested.  “There’s a barn out there too.  We should check that out when we’re done in here.”
    “Mmhmm.”  Zuckerman moved onto the cupboards under the sink.  “We should look for anything we can use as weapons.”  Chad nodded in agreement while Tammy stood beside him, a look of apprehension on her face.  She shuffled closer to Chad.  He noticed her unease and reached out to grab her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
    “Don’t worry,” he said, “it’s just in case we run into any trouble.  We don’t