she
was safely ensconced between the two shape shifters. “Are you sure you can
find this place, Cale? Because, I’m not seeing it.”
“It
looks different when it’s not the dystopia.” Caleb scanned the run down strip
clubs and bars, trying to find the Prowl Lounge. “And I usually have a GPS.”
“Do
you also usually have a tetanus shot?” Scotlyn adjusted her grip on Pucci’s pet
carrier and frowned at the dismal neighborhood. No matter what Cale said, even
before the end of the world, it had been a warzone. “I hate zombies.” She
reported. “I even hated them back when they were fake. I think Walking
Dead is completely overrated.”
“Well,
the graphic novel’s better than the show.” Zeke allowed. “Except for Darryl.
Darryl’s a badass.”
“You’re such a geek.” Caleb lamented. “How can a shape shifter grow up to be a
nerdy, dungeons-and-dragon-y, bookworm? I don’t understand it.”
“You
think Zeke’s a bookworm?” Scotlyn asked, momentarily distracted by that idea.
“He is a bookworm. He has a doctorate in folklore and mythology. It’s
embarrassing.”
Scotlyn
turned to look at Zeke. “You have a doctorate? ”
He
winced. “Only from UCLA. Most people don’t even count that as a real
college.”
She
stared at him in amazement.
“He’s
a dreamer.” Caleb continued. “Always has been. He once dug up the whole
basement of our house looking for buried treasure.”
“I
found twenty bucks and a gold ring.” Zeke retorted.
Caleb
nodded. “And broke the sewer line.”
Scotlyn
shook her head and tried to refocus. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by
anymore mind-blowing revelations. “My point is, even with my aversion to
zombie movies and TV shows, I know there should be more of them around. I’m
telling you, something weird is happening. I think we should get out of here.”
“We’re
almost to Prowl.” Caleb assured her.
“Darcy
might not even be there.” Zeke said, looking eager not to discuss his academic
success or archeological digs. “She’s not an idiot. She could’ve cleared out of
town at the first sign of zombies.”
“She
wouldn’t leave without us. She knows we’ll be trying to find her, so she’ll go
to where we’re likely to look.”
“If
she’s not here, we should just get out of Vegas.” Scotlyn recommended for the tenth
time.
“Once
we find the rest of the pack, we’re clearing out.” Zeke assured her. He
helped her over debris from a looted sex shop. “Of course, the highways are
gridlocked, so we might have to hike it.”
“Through
the desert?” A flattened inflatable doll got caught on her shoe and Scotlyn
kicked it off.
He
arched an “I’m open to suggestions” kind of brow at her. “Wanna try
motorcycles?”
She
slowly shook her head. “I think we need to steal a plane.”
“Can
you fly a plane?”
“Of
course.”
He
and Caleb both turned to look at her.
“One
of my foster fathers was a pilot. He taught me.”
“That’s
way more useful than a Ph.D.” Caleb decided.
“Researching
folklore has its uses.” Zeke’s eyes went back to scanning around for danger,
never resting. Her lackadaisical boss was so… focused in this environment. Or
maybe he’d always been this focused and he was just no longer bothering
to hide it from her.
“Before
we fly, we need to figure out a place to go.” Scotlyn continued.
“I
told you we’re going to head to Peru.” Zeke arched a brow. “You still have
that metal box I gave you?”
“Ummm….”
“Damn
it, Scottie, I told you not to lose that thing!”
“Well,
I’m sorry! I dropped it when I was selfishly trying not to die.”
He
blew out a long breath. “Alright. Sorry. Do you know where you
dropped it?”
“TGW.”
“Well,
we’ll have to go back and get it.”
“We’ll
do no such thing.” She retorted. “Whatever’s in it
was safely ensconced between the two shape shifters. “Are you sure you can
find this place, Cale? Because, I’m not seeing it.”
“It
looks different when it’s not the dystopia.” Caleb scanned the run down strip
clubs and bars, trying to find the Prowl Lounge. “And I usually have a GPS.”
“Do
you also usually have a tetanus shot?” Scotlyn adjusted her grip on Pucci’s pet
carrier and frowned at the dismal neighborhood. No matter what Cale said, even
before the end of the world, it had been a warzone. “I hate zombies.” She
reported. “I even hated them back when they were fake. I think Walking
Dead is completely overrated.”
“Well,
the graphic novel’s better than the show.” Zeke allowed. “Except for Darryl.
Darryl’s a badass.”
“You’re such a geek.” Caleb lamented. “How can a shape shifter grow up to be a
nerdy, dungeons-and-dragon-y, bookworm? I don’t understand it.”
“You
think Zeke’s a bookworm?” Scotlyn asked, momentarily distracted by that idea.
“He is a bookworm. He has a doctorate in folklore and mythology. It’s
embarrassing.”
Scotlyn
turned to look at Zeke. “You have a doctorate? ”
He
winced. “Only from UCLA. Most people don’t even count that as a real
college.”
She
stared at him in amazement.
“He’s
a dreamer.” Caleb continued. “Always has been. He once dug up the whole
basement of our house looking for buried treasure.”
“I
found twenty bucks and a gold ring.” Zeke retorted.
Caleb
nodded. “And broke the sewer line.”
Scotlyn
shook her head and tried to refocus. She couldn’t afford to be distracted by
anymore mind-blowing revelations. “My point is, even with my aversion to
zombie movies and TV shows, I know there should be more of them around. I’m
telling you, something weird is happening. I think we should get out of here.”
“We’re
almost to Prowl.” Caleb assured her.
“Darcy
might not even be there.” Zeke said, looking eager not to discuss his academic
success or archeological digs. “She’s not an idiot. She could’ve cleared out of
town at the first sign of zombies.”
“She
wouldn’t leave without us. She knows we’ll be trying to find her, so she’ll go
to where we’re likely to look.”
“If
she’s not here, we should just get out of Vegas.” Scotlyn recommended for the tenth
time.
“Once
we find the rest of the pack, we’re clearing out.” Zeke assured her. He
helped her over debris from a looted sex shop. “Of course, the highways are
gridlocked, so we might have to hike it.”
“Through
the desert?” A flattened inflatable doll got caught on her shoe and Scotlyn
kicked it off.
He
arched an “I’m open to suggestions” kind of brow at her. “Wanna try
motorcycles?”
She
slowly shook her head. “I think we need to steal a plane.”
“Can
you fly a plane?”
“Of
course.”
He
and Caleb both turned to look at her.
“One
of my foster fathers was a pilot. He taught me.”
“That’s
way more useful than a Ph.D.” Caleb decided.
“Researching
folklore has its uses.” Zeke’s eyes went back to scanning around for danger,
never resting. Her lackadaisical boss was so… focused in this environment. Or
maybe he’d always been this focused and he was just no longer bothering
to hide it from her.
“Before
we fly, we need to figure out a place to go.” Scotlyn continued.
“I
told you we’re going to head to Peru.” Zeke arched a brow. “You still have
that metal box I gave you?”
“Ummm….”
“Damn
it, Scottie, I told you not to lose that thing!”
“Well,
I’m sorry! I dropped it when I was selfishly trying not to die.”
He
blew out a long breath. “Alright. Sorry. Do you know where you
dropped it?”
“TGW.”
“Well,
we’ll have to go back and get it.”
“We’ll
do no such thing.” She retorted. “Whatever’s in it
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