forehead as she reached down and picked up her stun gun.
Nick resumed his previous brisk pace.
The girl rushed to keep up. “I’m Jackie.”
My brother kept moving but shot her a glance. “Nice to meet you. I’m Nick, and this is my brother Dean.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, stepping carefully over a few moss-covered logs. If I took one wrong step, Val would fly right out of my arms.
Jackie stomped down on a large fern in her path. “It’s nice to meet you too. And this is my cousin, Claire.”
I turned my attention to the redhead standing behind her, wondering how I could’ve missed her before. The girl was in her early twenties. She wore a sundress with a low V-neck and was pretty cute herself. Though she didn’t speak, the look on her pale face told me all I needed to know: She was scared to death.
Nick broke through a patch of vegetation. “I wish we coulda met under better circumstances.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Claire said, pushing aside a dangling branch.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay now,” I said trying to ease her nerves.
“Yeah?” she said. “That’s what the last group of people told me. You know what? They’re all dead now.”
“Really?” my brother mocked. He hated being underestimated. “Well, maybe next time, they should consider more powerful weapons than stun guns.”
As we walked, Nick turned to meet the redhead’s gaze. “How many zombies were on your tail?”
“A bunch—not sure how many, but there were a lot. It sucks so much. We’ve been safe for months. We had the perfect hideout, a mansion just south of here. We had food, clothes, supplies, everything, but they bombarded it yesterday.”
That explained why the girls weren’t wearing cargo pants and combat boots like Nick and I. Those sandals wouldn’t do them any good if they stepped in a puddle of blood or had to climb over a few dead corpses. They’d made the mistake of getting comfortable, something no one could afford to do in Zombie Land. The only safe place was in a sheltered city, with a military force backing it up—or even better, an island like the one I lived on back in Ohio.
Claire frowned as she peered from me to Val, who was still lying unconscious in my arms. “Who is she?”
“We survived a helicopter crash,” I said.
“That’s horrible,” Claire said. “I’m so sorry. I’m glad you were able to get out before it exploded.”
“That was you guys?” Jackie said as she briskly walked along. “We saw the flames and smoke at the bottom of the hill after we hiked up it, and then the helicopter—yours, I guess—burst into flames. We hoped nobody was hurt.”
“That crash is nothing compared to what we’re about to face,” Nick said.
We kept walking for a few minutes, following the road I hoped would lead to somewhere. Eventually, we rounded a bend and stopped to peek at a large, contemporary, two-story glass mansion. It seemed to catch the sunrays from every angle. Who did it belong to?
“We can hide in there, right?” Claire anxiously headed in that direction.
Nick darted after her. “Wait. I need to know exactly how many of those things were after you. ‘A bunch’ doesn’t cut it. Can you give me a more specific number? Five? Fifty? If it’s a herd, hiding in that house would turn out to be a suicide mission. We’d be trapped with no way out.”
“There were about four or five of them,” Jackie called back to him.
“Cool. That’s not a problem at all. I can definitely handle four or five,” Nick said, sounding sure of himself.
“Good thing we ran into you then.” Claire smiled shyly, her eyes taking him in. Clearly, had circumstances been different, she wouldn’t have hesitated to make it clear that she liked him, but flirting days were over. In the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the very hungry undead, there was little time for exchanging phone numbers. It was more important to tell each other how to avoid a zombie
Nick resumed his previous brisk pace.
The girl rushed to keep up. “I’m Jackie.”
My brother kept moving but shot her a glance. “Nice to meet you. I’m Nick, and this is my brother Dean.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, stepping carefully over a few moss-covered logs. If I took one wrong step, Val would fly right out of my arms.
Jackie stomped down on a large fern in her path. “It’s nice to meet you too. And this is my cousin, Claire.”
I turned my attention to the redhead standing behind her, wondering how I could’ve missed her before. The girl was in her early twenties. She wore a sundress with a low V-neck and was pretty cute herself. Though she didn’t speak, the look on her pale face told me all I needed to know: She was scared to death.
Nick broke through a patch of vegetation. “I wish we coulda met under better circumstances.”
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Claire said, pushing aside a dangling branch.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay now,” I said trying to ease her nerves.
“Yeah?” she said. “That’s what the last group of people told me. You know what? They’re all dead now.”
“Really?” my brother mocked. He hated being underestimated. “Well, maybe next time, they should consider more powerful weapons than stun guns.”
As we walked, Nick turned to meet the redhead’s gaze. “How many zombies were on your tail?”
“A bunch—not sure how many, but there were a lot. It sucks so much. We’ve been safe for months. We had the perfect hideout, a mansion just south of here. We had food, clothes, supplies, everything, but they bombarded it yesterday.”
That explained why the girls weren’t wearing cargo pants and combat boots like Nick and I. Those sandals wouldn’t do them any good if they stepped in a puddle of blood or had to climb over a few dead corpses. They’d made the mistake of getting comfortable, something no one could afford to do in Zombie Land. The only safe place was in a sheltered city, with a military force backing it up—or even better, an island like the one I lived on back in Ohio.
Claire frowned as she peered from me to Val, who was still lying unconscious in my arms. “Who is she?”
“We survived a helicopter crash,” I said.
“That’s horrible,” Claire said. “I’m so sorry. I’m glad you were able to get out before it exploded.”
“That was you guys?” Jackie said as she briskly walked along. “We saw the flames and smoke at the bottom of the hill after we hiked up it, and then the helicopter—yours, I guess—burst into flames. We hoped nobody was hurt.”
“That crash is nothing compared to what we’re about to face,” Nick said.
We kept walking for a few minutes, following the road I hoped would lead to somewhere. Eventually, we rounded a bend and stopped to peek at a large, contemporary, two-story glass mansion. It seemed to catch the sunrays from every angle. Who did it belong to?
“We can hide in there, right?” Claire anxiously headed in that direction.
Nick darted after her. “Wait. I need to know exactly how many of those things were after you. ‘A bunch’ doesn’t cut it. Can you give me a more specific number? Five? Fifty? If it’s a herd, hiding in that house would turn out to be a suicide mission. We’d be trapped with no way out.”
“There were about four or five of them,” Jackie called back to him.
“Cool. That’s not a problem at all. I can definitely handle four or five,” Nick said, sounding sure of himself.
“Good thing we ran into you then.” Claire smiled shyly, her eyes taking him in. Clearly, had circumstances been different, she wouldn’t have hesitated to make it clear that she liked him, but flirting days were over. In the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the very hungry undead, there was little time for exchanging phone numbers. It was more important to tell each other how to avoid a zombie
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