The Zombie Chronicles - Book 2 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) by Chrissy Peebles Page B

I’m going to Hollywood!” she whispered in my ear.
    I laughed at the American Idol reference and wrapped my arms around her in a hug.
    Nick grabbed my arm. “We gotta hurry up and get outta here, before they figure out our bait-and-switch.”
    The nurses wished us well, and we hurried to the truck, with our stamped orange cards in hand.
    “ Looky what I’ve got,” Lucas said, pulling out a brown glass vial.
    “ You snagged it from the clinic?” I asked.
    “ Yep,” he said.
    “ What is it?”
    “ Chloroform.”
    Claire jumped into the back of the pick-up truck. “How did you pull that off?”
    Lucas chuckled. “That nurse shoulda known better than to leave me alone. I sneaked across the hall and invaded the medicine cabinet. I knew they’d have something to send Val to Dreamland for a little while.”
    “ You’re lucky you didn’t get busted,” I said.
    “ Me? Busted?” He grinned. “Never.”
    “ Great work,” Nick said. “Now we can keep her calm and controlled until she’s cured.”
    “ Wait…that stuff works on zombies?” Jackie asked.
    Lucas poured some of the liquid on a white cloth. “Only newly turned ones.” He clamped the chloroform -soaked rag over Val’s nose and mouth until her eyes fluttered shut and she fell limp.
    I hated doing that to her, and my heart ached. Lucas sat in the front seat and put Val on his lap. I covered her body with the blanket so they wouldn’t see the ropes. “Snuggle her face into your chest. From the back, she’ll pass as human.” I shifted the gear and drove slowly over the gravel to the guard station. Rolling down my window, I handed him the six orange papers that granted us permission to stay for two days.
    “ Oh, babe, I love you too,” Lucas said, pretending to flirt with Val. “No, I can’t kiss you in front of military soldiers. They might arrest us for public display of affection.”
    The military officer rolled his eyes. “You two need to get a room.”
    “ We plan on it, sir,” Lucas said smartly.
    The soldier rolled his eyes again and handed a document to him. “Don’t lose this. You’ll need it to stay at Hotel Breakers. The address is located on the bottom. Best of luck to you. You’re gonna need it.”
    “ What’s that supposed to mean?” Jackie asked.
    The soldier elbowed another one, coughed, then cleared his throat. “This is the most boring place on Earth for a bunch of young people, that’s all.”
    Nick glanced up. “After all we’ve been through, boring is perfect.”
    “ Welcome to Kingsville,” the soldier said.
    I couldn’t help but notice the fake smile plastered across his face. I nodded as soldiers opened up the towering, barbed-wire gates and motioned for us to pass. Following a paved road and signs, we found the center of town. We drove down the busy streets and passed restaurants, pubs, and shops. I was amazed at how normal the people tried to live, and it reminded me of home back on the island in Put-In-Bay. The place had a charm about it, and its rural atmosphere reminded me of towns I’d visited on vacations whiling growing up. It looked like the perfect place to live if one wanted to stay safe in the midst of that horrible epidemic the whole world was facing.
    “ We can’t stay the night here,” Lucas said. “They flipping asked me if anybody knows I’m here.”
    “ And what’d you tell them?” I asked, wondering if he’d answered the same stupid way I had.
    “ I told them everybody knows.”
    “ It was really weird for them to ask that,” I said.
    “ Yeah, they asked me the same thing. Why would they even ask that?” Jackie said.
    “ Remember the lady in there looking for her missing sister?” Claire asked. “Do you think that has something to do with it?”
    Lucas let out a long breath. “We don’t have any proof of anything. For all we know, the deal with that woman might be something totally unrelated. I say we stay on guard, find Tahoe, grab the vials, and get outta here as