Love in the Time of Zombies (7 page)

Zeke
reached the emergency exit and leaned up to shove it open.  An alarm blared. 
He ignored it and peered out into the darkened rear parking area.  The back of
the store and the gas station behind it seemed deserted, the firefight in the
front drawing all the zombies’ attention.

“We’re
–what?-- two blocks from your apartment?”

How
did he know that?  He’d certainly never come visiting.  “Yeah.  Go left and
you’ll run right into the luxurious Green Palms.”

“Good. 
So, start running and don’t stop until you see the tacky neon sign.  And throw
those ugly shoes away before you break an ankle.”

“These
cost me eight hundred dollars!”

Zeke
squinted at them.  “You’re kidding me.”

“They’re
Christian Louboutin.”

“I
have no idea who that is.”

“That’s
because he doesn’t advertise on the SyFy Channel.”  Scotlyn hesitated at the
doorway, listening to the fight rage in the front of the building.  “You’re
right behind me?”  He’d already promised her, but she needed to hear it, again. 
A childhood spent in foster care left her with an undeniable sense that
everyone was going to leave her and she’d be all alone.

Zeke
gave her a strange look, like he was exasperated and amused and deadly serious
all at the same time.  “Scotlyn, where else would I ever be?  You’re the only
person I have in the world.”

Well,
she couldn’t argue with that.  No one else was going to help either of them out
of this mess.  It was Scotlyn and Zeke standing at the edge of a parking lot
and looking into oblivion.

Scotlyn’s
eyes narrowed.  If she was going to die today --which seemed damn likely-- she
wasn’t going out playing it safe.

“Alright. 
We’re a team.”  She tugged the air mask off her face and then reached over to
pull Zeke’s down, as well.  “I just need to do this first.”  She barely processed
his confused look as she grabbed his shirtfront and yanked him down.

“Scottie,
we need those masks…”

Her
lips found his and he stopped arguing.  For half a second, Zeke froze as if he
couldn’t believe she was actually kissing him.  Scotlyn’s mouth opened against
his and Zeke gave a low animalistic growl.  His hands suddenly seized her
waist, dragging her against him, and he took control of the kiss.  His tongue
surged into her mouth, plundering and claiming and taking everything she
offered and more.

Scotlyn
was swept under by the passionate force of his response.  He kissed her like
he’d been dying with want.  Like he’d been dreaming about it forever.  Like she
really was the only person in his world.

God,
she’d known it would be like this.

Scotlyn
went up on her tiptoes and kissed him back with everything she had.  Every
straight-A-student, home-by-midnight, nice girl molecule of her body wanted to
ravish him right there in the doorway.  What the hell had rule following ever
gotten her except for regrets?  All her life, she’d been patiently waiting for
the kind of man you’d marry.  She’d leave this world kissing the completely
inappropriate, selfish, immature jackass who she wanted more than she’d ever
wanted anyone.

“Wait…” 
Zeke pulled back, panting.  “Trix, it’s dangerous.  We gotta…”  Her teeth
nipped his lower lip and he gave up arguing.  “Oh,
Christ
, you’re sweet.” 
She dragged his mouth back down and his hand found her hip, urging her even
closer.  The hard length of him pressed against her and she rubbed against it. 
This time it was a deliberate invitation.

His
answering snarl of lust was absolutely beautiful.

The
police were still shooting.  People were still screaming.  The world was still
ending.  But, for and handful of seconds Scotlyn was kissing Zeke and it was
better than she’d even imagined.  And she’d had
a lot
of wrong and
interesting fantasies about him.  Lying alone at night and thinking about his
smile and body and his hands touching her as she cried his name.  The man…

…still
had the gun.

Scotlyn
jolted out of her sensual trance as Zeke raised his revolver and shot a zombie
without even lifting his head.  She staggered back in panic as its body toppled
over next to the egg cartons in the dairy case.  “Jesus, Zeke!”

“Well,
it didn’t give me much choice.”  He retorted.  “It was getting too close.”

“And
you couldn’t have warned me?!”

“You
were busy.”

“I’m
never so busy that I don’t want to know a zombie’s about to attack!”

Lavender
eyes glowed hot.  “Don’t worry.  I can protect you and make out at the same
time.  Multitasking.  Don’t they teach that in business school?  You should be
happy.”

“I
should have my head examined.”  Scotlyn pulled her mask back down.  “Let’s just
get out of here.”

“Really?

“
Really.
”

He
wasn’t convinced.  “Because, you could go back to kissing me if you…”

“It
was just the stress of the situation!  I’m over it.”

Zeke
arched a brow.  “Uh-huh.”  He turned and headed out the door.  “The next time
you feel stressed, just let me know, because I am always willing…”

The
attack caught Scotlyn completely by surprise.  Arms grabbed her, pulling her
backwards into the dairy section.  Scotlyn screamed as a zombie knocked her to
the ground, its hands clawing at her skin.  The gun skidded out of her hand. 
Scotlyn struggled against the creature’s grasp, trying to avoid the teeth that
were inches from her face.  It tried to bite her and hit the plastic of her gas
mask.

Jesus,
she was going to die at Wal-Mart.

Zeke
couldn’t shoot it without hitting her, as well, and it wasn’t like he
physically could wrestle it away without getting bit himself.  The creature was
too strong and Zeke was nobody’s hero.  He wasn’t stupid enough to jump on a
grenade for her.

It
was the end.

The
zombie pinned Scotlyn to the ground, looming above her.  It had once been a
normal guy dressed in a polo shirt.  Now, dead eyes met hers and Scotlyn knew
there was no way she could fight the monster off.  It was going to rip her
apart and make her bleeding corpse into a zombie and she’d never even seen the
ocean…

Wham!

Scotlyn
couldn’t see what happen, but she felt it.  A massive force slammed into the
zombie, ripping it away from her.  The terrible, barbarous sounds of a life and
death struggle filled her ears.  Scotlyn instinctively scrambled away from the
fight, staggering to her feet.  Her head whipped around and she spotted…

A
werewolf.

Fighting
a zombie.

A
wolf-like creature had its jaws locked around the zombie’s throat.  The zombie
let out an inhuman scream and clawed at the thick black fur, but the wolf
wasn’t letting go.  Scotlyn cringed at the terrible sound of the bones in the
creature’s neck snapping in the wolf’s jaws.  The zombie’s head rolled free of
its twitching body, coming to rest at Scotlyn’s bare feet.

Blood
pooled all over the linoleum floor.

Bullets
continued flying.

Shouting
from the parking lot filled the air.

Scotlyn
didn’t even notice.  All her attention was on the animal staring back at her.  It
looked
like a wolf, but it wasn’t.  It was too… human.  The animal’s lavender
eyes met hers and her day got even weirder.  Scotlyn’s head tilted, so deeply
shocked that she couldn’t say anything beyond… “Zeke?”

The
wolf was Zeke.

He
regarded her with something like sadness.  Like he knew he’d never see her
again.  The giant animal took a step towards her and staggered to the left.  He
seemed as if he was having trouble standing.

Scotlyn’s
racing heart started pounding even faster as he fell.  “Zeke!”

He
collapsed in a huge, furry heap.  Those beautiful eyes closed and he went still. 
The wolf form faded like something out of a Hollywood effects studio and he was
Zeke, again.  Naked and unconscious, but unquestionably Zeke.

Scotlyn
stood there frozen for a moment.

Her
boss was a werewolf.  Zombies were real.  She was trapped in Wal-Mart with the police
shooting outside.  What the hell was
happening?

Her
life was fucking
normal
.  She had perfect eBay feedback and nothing but
Diet Pepsi in her fridge.  Her biggest problems were dodging debt collectors
and having an unrequited crush on her stupid boss.  She couldn’t deal with any
of this insane crazy shit.  She just couldn’t do it.  It wasn’t happening.  It
couldn’t be.  She needed to just take a breath and…

A
spray of bullets cut through the milk case and gallons of the stuff exploded in
a geyser.  Scotlyn ducked down, her dazed fog lifting as she was drenched in 2%. 
She gave her head a clearing shake.

Jesus,
Zeke had been right before.  Freaking out would have to wait.  Whatever she did
in the next few minutes was going to determine whether the two of them lived
through this.

Scotlyn
crawled over to him, her whole body trembling.  “Zeke?”  She gave him a shake,
trying to wake him up.  Werewolf or not, he was still
Zeke
.  Nothing
mattered beyond getting him to safety.  “Zeke, open your eyes!”

His
eyelashes didn’t even flicker.  He didn’t seem physically hurt, but he was out
cold.

Scotlyn’s
gaze went to the emergency exit and then back down to Zeke.  She couldn’t carry
him to her apartment and she wouldn’t leave him behind.  She looked around,
trying to find some sign as to what she should do next… and spotted the
illuminated figure of the ladies’ room at the back of the store.

Well,
that was a sign alright.

Scotlyn’s
jaw firmed and she quickly gathered up the duffle bag, the shotgun, and the gas
mask that Zeke had dropped when he’d changed into the wolf.  His clothing
looked shredded beyond repair.  She put the mask over Zeke’s face again and looped
the bag around her shoulders.  Her purse and that metal box he’d handed her
back at the golf course were long gone.  She was pretty sure she’d dropped them
back in TGW’s parking lot when he told her to duck.  Not that it mattered. 
VannaFan4Eva was probably not worried about receiving that handbag, anymore.

Grabbing
Zeke beneath the arms, she dragged him towards the bathroom.

It
took her ten minutes of adrenaline fueled struggle, but she finally got them
secured inside the windowless room.  The bathroom lock needed a key that she
didn’t have, but there was a rubber doorstop on the floor.  She jammed it under
the door and then sat back breathing hard.

Okay.

Now
what?

Scotlyn’s
eyes went back to Zeke.

The
guy was a werewolf and passed out from a zombie fight, but mostly he was just very,
very naked.  Attractive, distracting, weirdo, liar.  She grabbed some paper
towels to cover him.  Better.  Then, it occurred to her she still had the tarps
of plastic sheeting and duct tape that Zeke had shoplifted.  Okay, that was
something she could do.  She set about sealing up every crack she saw, so the
pink dust couldn’t get in.

Then,
she sat next to Zeke and waited.

Trying
not to think of anything beyond the steady rise and fall of his chest.

She
could hear shouting and gunfire outside, but she was beyond terror, now.  Scotlyn
had no idea how much time passed.  After a while the sounds from the outside world
faded.  The lights went off, leaving her in the dark.  She didn’t process that,
either.  She just listened Zeke breathe, not even noticing when tears started
falling down her cheeks.

The
world of yesterday would be vastly different than the world of tomorrow.  How
could it not be?  There was no going back.  Not for anyone.  In just a few
hours, everything she’d ever accepted as normal and secure was gone.  All she
had left was Zeke.

He
wasn’t waking up.  Why wasn’t he waking up?

Scotlyn
lay down next to him, her head on his shoulder.  Her body huddled beside his in
the darkened room and she tried to will him back to her.  Zeke had to open his
eyes. 
Had
to.

He
was the only person she had in the world.

Even
if he wasn’t exactly a person.

Bright
side to the zombie apocalypse:

When the
world ended at least you had the newest iPhone.

That
counts as victory.

A
day and a half later, the phone rang.

At
first, Scotlyn didn’t even understand what was happening.  She just sat there
in a stupor until the sound finally penetrated her dazed mind.  She’d been
hiding in the bathroom with her unconscious boss for so many silent hours that
the sudden sound caused her to jolt.

Someone
was calling her?  No.  Calling Zeke.  She recognized the John Williams ring
tone.  She blinked and glanced around.  Zeke’s phone had been shoved into the
pocket of the duffle bag.  It took Scotlyn a minute to find the damn thing and,
when she finally did, she saw a text message.