Love in the Time of Zombies (21 page)

“Oh
for fuck’s sake…”  Caleb groaned.  “It’s Scotlyn’s cat.”

“
What?
”

“She’s
gotten loose in the building and Scotlyn’s frantic.”  Darcy reported.  “We have
to find her.”

“Who
cares about a damn
cat?!
”  Joseff roared.

Darcy
gave an elaborate shrug.  “Scotlyn does.”

It
was like this entire experience was designed to test the limits of Joseff’s
limitless patience.  There was just no other explanation.

“We
gotta take out the lower levels of the stairs with dynamite.”  Brew interjected,
his attention on the invasion below.  “Stop those armed bastards from getting
any higher.  They’re coming up too fast.”

Joseff
glanced at him.  Christ, when Brewer Macready started making sense, you knew it
was the end time.  “You have dynamite on you?”  With Brew it was always a strong
possibility, although Joseff was irritated that his men hadn’t confiscated it. 
Allowing prisoners to have TNT seemed stupid even for them.

“Hell
no, I don’t have any dynamite on me.  Would I still be here if I had goddamn
dynamite
on me?”

“Without
dynamite how do you suggest we take out the stairs with dynamite?!”

“I
don’t know!  It’s just a good idea, is all.  Do I have to think of fucking
everything?
”

God,
how he hated the shifters.

“Joseff,
what are you doing?”  Darcy shouted.  She was dangling so far over the railing,
it was a miracle she wasn’t careening forward and landing on her head.  Dark
hair hung down in a waterfall around her worried face.  “Hurry
up!
”

He
glanced back at her and then down at the things in white.  They couldn’t prep
the helicopter and take off in time.  He knew it.  Not unless something slowed
the advance.  Contrary to Hollywood’s opinion, enough bullets killed anything. 
Even vampires.  No matter how Joseff ran the scenarios, they all ended in his
death.  This was a losing battle for him.

Luckily,
Joseff didn’t remain unconquered by worrying about the individual battles.

He
just wanted to win the war.

“Caleb,
get my mate out of here.”  He said flatly and shrugged of his tailored jacket. 
He needed to buy Darcy enough time to escape. 
That
was all that
mattered. 
That
was victory.

“What
are you doing?”  Caleb demanded.

“They’re
just humans in some kind of protective gear.”  The outfits looked like the CDC
suits scientists wore to protect them from germs mixed with high-tech Kevlar.  “I
don’t need explosives.”  Joseff handed Caleb the walkie-talkie and swung
himself onto the railing, his jaw firmed in determination.  The fall wouldn’t
kill him, but it would be hell on his knees.  “I can kill enough humans with my
bare hands to slow them down.”

Caleb
really was a White Hat.  Despite everything, the boy grabbed Joseff’s arm,
trying to stop him.  “Don’t you
dare! 
There are other ways to stall
them.”

Joseff
shoved him back and prepared to drop into the fray.

“
Stop!
” 
Darcy screamed from above, seeing his intentions.  “Joseff, please!
 Don’t
leave me!
”

Joseff
hesitated, his whole body jolting at her words.

…Which
gave Caleb enough time to catch hold of him, again.  “You’re not breaking my
sister’s heart, you dick.”

“I’m
saving her
life
.”

Caleb’s
eyes went up to Darcy and he swore under his breath.  “Alright.  We’ll do this
as a team.”

That
was so absurd that Joseff could only blink.  “A team?”  He’d been kidding
himself earlier.  It was utterly impossible to understand how the shifter’s
mind worked.

“Scotlyn
says we’re all a team, now.”  Caleb was talking fast.  “Her and Zeke and Me and
Darce.  We’re in this together.  You want to be part of it or not?”

Joseff
stared at him.  “No.”  He said incredulously.  “Of course I don’t.”

“
I
wanna be on the team.”  Brewer put in.  “How come no one asked me?  Why am
I always the last to get invited to do stuff?”

Caleb
slanted him a glare.  “Let me just deal with this jackass and then…”

Joseff
gave the kid a whack on the shoulder, regaining his attention.  “Your job on
the team is to take care of my mate.”  He ordered.  “Concentrate on that.”  Despite
his better judgment, he looked at Brewer.  “You can have my seat on the
chopper.”

“You
mean I didn’t have a fucking seat
before?
”

“This
is crazy.”  Caleb snapped.  “You said yourself our family is up there waiting
for us, Joseff.”

“I
know they are.  That’s the whole point.”  He met Caleb’s eyes.  “Get out of the
stairwell and find another way to the roof.  And tell Darcy I’m sorry.”  Not
giving Cale a chance to respond, he jumped over the railing.

The
last thing he heard before the chaos swallowed him was his mate screaming his
name.

Bright side
to the zombie apocalypse:

The retirement plan you never set up
suddenly doesn’t seem so important.

Scotlyn
wasn’t a dog person.

That
was the root of the whole problem.  A cute little poodle wouldn’t have done
this to her.  It would’ve played with rubber balls and wagged its pompom tail
and obediently gotten into its seventy-nine dollar designer pet carrier when
she asked.  Instead, Scotlyn had adopted a cat and now she was going to die.

She
chased Pucci into a hotel room.  The door had been left ajar when its former
occupants fled, so the cat easily slipped through the crack.

“Pucci!” 
Scotlyn called, hurrying in after her.  “Come on, sweetie, we have to go.  Zeke
is getting really annoyed at you.”  She scanned the room, looking for telltale
gray fur.  “I know you’re in here.”

“Scottie…” 
Zeke came stalking in behind her.  “This is ridiculous.  I’ll find you
another
cat.  I promise.  A better one.  But, we have to go, now.”

“Just
give me two seconds.”  Scotlyn dropped down to the floor and peered beneath an
armchair decorated with purple mountains majesty.  Sure enough, she instantly
spotted Pucci crouching in the far corner, glaring with all the hatred in her
feline soul.  Scotlyn smiled in relief.  “
There
you are.”  She crawled
forward to snag hold of the cat’s collar.  “Come on, kitty.  You’ll be fine.  I
swear you’re not going to the vet.”  She dragged Pucci out and glanced at
Zeke.  “She associates the pet carrier with going to the veterinarian for
shots.  That’s what the problem is.”

“The
problem is we’re dealing with a psychotic cat in middle of the end of the
world.”  Zeke corrected.  He glowered at Pucci as Scotlyn wrestled her into her
pink cage and got to her feet.  “I have no idea what you see in that vicious…”

The
zombie caught them both by surprise.

It
crawled out from under the bed and attacked so fast that Scotlyn didn’t even
have time to cry out.  As she passed, its arm shot out from beneath the
mattress knocking her to the floor.  The creature had once been a teenage boy. 
She glimpsed it briefly as yanked her backwards.

She
saw Zeke’s eyes widen in horror.  Felt her fingers automatically scrape across
the floor trying to find purchase.  But there was nothing either of them could
do.

The
zombie’s teeth sank into her leg.

“
NO!
” 
Zeke shot the creature.  He emptied the entire clip into it, as a matter of
fact.  But, it was too late.

Scotlyn
stared at her bleeding calf and knew she was going to die.

“No,
no, no, no, no.”  Zeke dropped to the carpet beside her, wildly surveying the damage. 
It wasn’t even that bad.  Just a few small puncture wounds.  It was going to
kill her in the worst way possible, though.

They
both knew it.

Scotlyn
closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  “Go.”  It was the only choice.

“Oh
God.”  Zeke seemed dazed.  His hand went to the bite as if he could somehow
erase it.  “No.”

“Zeke,
you have to
go
.”  She reached over to snag Pucci’s carrier and thrust it
at him.  “Take care of my cat for me, alright?”

“What?” 
He asked uncomprehendingly.

“Get
to the roof.  You can still make it.”

His
eyes widened as he realized what she was saying.  “
I’m not leaving you!
” 
He roared, leaping to his feet.

“Yes,
you
are
.”  Scotlyn snapped.  “There’s nothing you can do for me, now. 
Save yourself.”  In that second, it was the only thing she could process.  “First,
you’re going to shoot me and then you’re going to
go
.  Alright?”

Zeke
backed away from her like she’d lost her mind.  “No.”

“Damn
it.”  Scotlyn stood up and jabbed a finger at him.  “You really want to spend
my last minutes alive arguing?  It’s the only way and you know it.  Just hurry
up and do it.”

“No.”
 He whispered, again.

“I
don’t want to turn into one of those things!”

“I
won’t shoot you!”

“Fine. 
Give
me
the gun, then.”  She held out a hand.

He
put the weapon behind his back.

“
Give
me the gun, Zeke.
”

He
shook his head.  “I’ll die first.”  He said simply.

“You
stupid, stubborn, son-of-a-bitch!”

“No.” 
It was barely a sound this time.  “I can’t let you go.”  She met his eyes and
saw they were glistening with tears.  She was the one about to become a zombie,
but Zeke was the one falling apart.  “No, Scotlyn.”

Shit.

He
wasn’t going to budge.

Scotlyn
sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.  Emotions were hitting her so fast
she couldn’t sort them out.  “Alright.”  She ran a hand through her hair and
tried to think.  “Well, what do you suggest we do, then?”

“Let’s
chop off your foot.”  He said desperately.  “Maybe the virus doesn’t spread
fast.  Maybe we can stop it before it infects all of you.”

“I’ll
die of blood loss.  Even if I didn’t, this building is on fire.  We don’t have
time.”

“How
long does it take it chop off a fucking foot?!”

“Longer
than we have.”

“No.” 
It was a denial of the entire situation.

“Zeke,
I’m dead.”  She couldn’t make it any plainer than that.  “It’s
over
. 
You said yourself that your pack leaves behind anyone who can’t keep up.”

“
No.
 
There has to be a way.  I can’t lose you.  I
need
you.”

“Zeke…”

“You’re
my goddamn
life
.”  He roared.

“You’ll
still have a life.”  Scotlyn had to get through to him.  “You can still
survive.
”

He
stared at her for a long moment, growing strangely calm.  It was as if the
reality of the situation finally hit him and he knew what he had to do.  “I
don’t want to survive.”  He decided.  “Not without you.”

The
certainty of his tone made her panic more than the zombie bite.  “I don’t care
what you want.  You
have
to live.  You think I’m going to let you kill
yourself?”

“How
are you going to stop me?”

She
had no idea.

Zeke
moved to sit next to her on the mattress, stepping over the dead zombie.  “We
all gotta die sooner or later.”  He shrugged as if everything suddenly made
sense.  “Now’s as good a time as any.”

“How
very John Wayne of you.”  She got out around the lump in her throat.

“I
think it might be from
Die Hard
, actually.”

“No,
it’s not.”

He
snorted.  “How would you know, Little Miss Art House?  Have you even seen
Die
Hard
?”

“Yes! 
With you.  About sixteen times.  That line is not in the movie, you idiot.”  Scotlyn
gave him a push, trying to get him moving.  “Now, I’m telling you to
go
.”

“Go
where?
  You think there’s anything out there for me?”  Zeke snorted.  “I
have
nothing
without you.”

She
wiped at her eyes.  “You have Darcy and Caleb.  They need you.”

“They’ll
be fine.  I’m sure of it.  I told Joseff where to take them.”  Zeke leaned back,
obviously settling in for the duration.  “I’ll just stay here, thanks.  You and
me in a hotel room…  There are worse ways to go.”

She
let out a shaky breath.  All her life people had been leaving her, starting
with her parents.  Now that she wanted someone to go, he was stubbornly
sticking around.  “When I become a zombie, I’m going to kill you.  At the
moment, I’m actually looking forward to it.”

They
sat in silence for a moment.