Love & the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1, Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy) (10 page)

Nevertheless
, true to the story of her life, once something went well, it crashed and burned to the ground.  Of course she’d find the man of her dreams on the eve of the end of the world.  Funny how things happened like that. 

“Can you hand me the
laptop?”  Adam asked Nicky.

Rachel and Cage descended the stairs, bot
h of them wearing the same clothes, but with wet hair and clean skin.  Selena envied their shower, but it would have to wait.  She wouldn’t leave her sister’s side until - she bit her tongue at the thought, but she knew it was true - until Vivienne died.

Nicky sank into the blue love seat and swung his feet over the arms.
He turned on the television and casually flipped through the channels, a handful of which had disheveled looking news anchors reporting from behind messy desks.

Cage
led Rachel to the remaining seat – a stiff looking blue chair.  She folded her legs underneath her and Cage sat on the floor in front of her like a guard dog.

Nicky stopped
on a channel with a pretty Asian anchor.  “Stay indoors.  Do not go outside.  Do not attempt to make contact.  I repeat, do not attempt to make contact with loved ones infected.”

“That’s their advice?”  Cage
stretched his legs out on the thin carpet.  “Stay inside?  Where’s the military?”

“Our military isn’t
big enough to help everyone.” Adam typed on the laptop. 

“The reporter
said infected?  Do they know what it is?”  Rachel combed her fingers through her wet hair.  It was a darker shade of blonde when it was wet. 

Selena watched Rachel
from the corner of her eye.  She was pretty.  Really pretty, but not the kind of girl who knew she was attractive.  She had big dark blue eyes like the
Precious Moments Dolls
, a tiny nose and thick full lips.  She envied Rachel’s youth - not that Selena was old at twenty-five, but you could never really get back that teenage glow once it was gone. 

Selena’s gaze
shifted to Cage.  He was leaning against Rachel’s chair watching television.  He was handsome.  Too young for Selena, but she could see why he’d be the popular boy in school.  Or what had Adam said before?  The star quarterback? That’s exactly what Cage looked like – the star quarterback.

Cage
’s dark hair was cut short.  He had startling hazel eyes.  He was big, too, taller than Adam, and his chest was filled out more like a man’s than a teenage boy’s.

“Is there a cure?”  Rachel
asked Adam.  “Did they say anything about how to cure them?”

“The news sucks.
” Nicky flipped the channel.  “It’s always wrong and always late.”

“
No news on a cure, but the internet is still working,” Adam said.

Selena couldn’t imagine how the
Internet would ever be down.  She had visions of zombies toppling over telephone styled-poles.  She knew the Internet didn’t work like that, but she never really understood how it worked.  Instantaneous information at the flick of a few keystrokes?  It was mindboggling if you thought about it, which most people didn’t.  They accepted it and relied on it.  If this outbreak was as widespread as Selena feared, millions of people would have to get use to the absence of luxuries like the Internet, television and safety.

“There are tons of videos and
blogs.  A few of the sites crashed, but mostly everything is still up and running,” Adam said.

“What do they say?” Rachel asked.

“It’s conflicting, of course, but it appears to be a domestic outbreak.”

“It’s only happening in
Flint?”  Cage asked.

Adam shook his head.  “D
omestic meaning America.  From what I can tell, it’s centered in the middle of the United States right now.  Chicago is burning as we speak.  People are saying it’s an all-out war zone.  Zombie outbreaks are spreading east toward New York.  So far, no reports of any activity west of the Mississippi or down in the Deep South.”

“Yet,” Nicky said.  “
How are they going to contain the outbreak?  Grab the military – most of which is already deployed overseas – and have them hold hands and make a human chain that sections off the middle and upper-right hand corner of America?  No way.”

“Actually,” Adam said
, as if surprised by Nicky’s non-sarcastic comment, “that’s exactly what they’re trying to do.  There’s heavy military activity in St. Louis, all the way to Raleigh, North Carolina.  They’re trying to form a military border.”

“W
hat about us?” Selena smoothed the wrinkles out of her pale green dress.  She ignored the specks of blood that covered the silky material.  Just like she ignored that she was barefoot – she’d left her favorite heels at the bar during the attack.  “What about the area that’s already crawling with zombies?  Why don’t they send the military north?”

“There’s not enough
resources,” Adam said. 

“But this is America,” Selena said.
  “This is the most powerful country in the world, right?”

Adam frowned. 
“The military is probably trying to contain the spread of infection as opposed to search and rescue missions over a span of thousands of miles.”

“N
o help is coming,” Rachel said flatly.

Silence lingered
in their tiny circle. 

“Nope.
” Nicky flipped the channel.  “We’re screwed.  Do you really think they’re going to send help to a small town like Flint?  Adam said
Chicago
– Chicago is like the third biggest city in the country – is burning to the ground.  We’re on our own.”

“The
military can’t contain the outbreak,” Cage said.  “Like Nicky said, they can’t watch the entire invisible border of half of America. Zombies will slip by and look how fast Flint was overrun.”

The
news anchor introduced an older man wearing a yellow bow tie and tweed jacket.  His name flashed on the screen beneath him.  He was a scientist from the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia.  “It appears to be viral in essence,” Dr. William Zeta said.  “The transfer of fluids via bite, scratch or other means will infect a healthy human.”

Selena squeezed Vivienne’s hand.

“Once infected, the virus kills the host and reanimates the cells after death.  Once the viral host is reanimated, the person is no longer who they once were.  From my limited experience with these… viral hosts, I’ve noticed that parts of the temporal lobe are no longer functioning.  The brain has reverted back to the most basic primal instincts – hunger and the urge to spread the virus to others.  For lack of a better analogy, one must think of a rabid dog, which is no longer able to reason or properly function.”  The camera zoomed in on Dr. Zeta’s wrinkled face.  “The rate of infection, if not properly quarantined, could rise exponentially as we’ve unfortunately seen in our northern states.”

“We’re so screwed
,” Nicky said. 

“That’s one way to put
it.” Cage shook his head. 

“W
e’re not talking old school Romero zombies, either,” Nicky said.

Rachel tugged
the bandage around her forearm.  “What does that mean?

Nicky
looked at Rachel.  “You know, the kind of zombies that rise from the dead – pushing up gravestones.  Clawing out of coffins.  Didn’t you ever see the George Romero film,
Dawn of the Dead
?  Where the guy says, ‘
When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth
.’ How do you guys not know this?  What planet are you from?”

“Y
ou’re saying viral zombies are worse?”  Rachel asked.

“Most definitely,” Nicky said.  “Viral zombies infect you if you get
bit or clawed or if any of their fluid gets into your system.  Old school Romero zombies only turned once the person was actually dead.”

“
Do they know what started the virus?” Cage asked.

“The
blogs are saying it’s a terrorist attack,” Adam said.  “Some form of biological weapon.”

Selena blanched.  “You mean
someone purposely did this?”

“I’m afraid so
.”

“I
t’s going to wipe out America and spread all over the globe,” Selena said quietly.  “Millions of people are going to die.”

Nicky stretched his arms
high above his head.  “Like I said before, we’re screwed.”

Chapter Thirteen

“They are human beings!”  The news anchor screamed.  “We cannot murder American citizens!” The heated debates regarding the moral and legal aspects of killing zombies were on every channel. 

Rachel tuned it out.  She wa
s still in shock over her brush with death from the enormous shower zombie and she felt sick to her stomach now that she had confirmation that the outbreak wasn’t an isolated incident.  She’d hoped it was only happening in Flint, but zombies were terrorizing towns all over the northern half of America, including Ann Arbor.

T
he worst part was – no help was coming. 

She stifled a yawn.  She was physically and mentally
exhausted.  The dog bite on her arm throbbed, her legs felt like Jell-O from all of the running and the back of her head was sore where she’d banged it on the bathroom floor.  Not to mention her chest, stomach and legs were bruised from the weight of the heavy zombie.

If Cage hadn’t come whe
n he did, Rachel would be dead by now, or worse - reanimated.  Cage sat on the floor in front of her chair.  She’d watched as he’d slipped the police officer’s phone out of his pocket and dialed home.  After holding the phone to his ear for about two minutes, he slipped it back into his pocket.

Rachel
wanted to comfort him.  She wanted to run her hand through his dark hair, but instead she tucked her hands under her legs.  He’d acted strange in the bathroom.  First, he saved her life and rushed to her like she was the most important person in the world.  Then, after she showered, he’d pulled away from her.  He’d avoided eye contact and barely said a word.  Finally, when Cage walked out of the shower stall shirtless, the awkwardness between them reached a fevered pitch.  It was a whole bundle of mixed signals and Rachel didn’t know how to read them.   

Adam stood up.  “I’m going to
sleep.  We don’t know if we’ll have another opportunity to stay somewhere relatively safe.  We should take advantage.  I’ll get some blankets and pillows from the bunks upstairs.”

Rachel curled her feet under her.  She was ti
red, but she didn’t think she could sleep. Too much adrenaline was pumping through her system.  She glanced at the others.  Nicky typed on the laptop with an amused grin – there was no telling what he was looking at. 

Selena had shifted into a praying position in front of her sister.  Vivienne didn’t look conscious,
but there was still a slight rise and fall of her chest.  Rachel felt bad for Selena.  She couldn’t imagine the heartbreak of seeing your sister die in front of your eyes. 

Rachel shook her head.  She couldn’t think about that without
getting hysterical and she didn’t want to cry anymore.

Adam appeared with blankets. 
He handed an armful of bedding to Cage.  Nicky was sprawled out on the loveseat.  Vivienne, of course, had the couch.  It looked like Rachel was sleeping on the floor tonight, because the chair was incredibly uncomfortable.

Cage
looked at her.  “Where do you want me to put these?”

She didn’t want to be too far away from the others, but she
wanted some privacy.  “How about behind the chair?”

Cage made
a soft bed of blankets on the floor behind the chair.  Instead of putting one pillow down, he arranged two side by side.  He lowered himself to the makeshift bed and looked up at her.  “You coming?”

Rachel
nodded, completely at a loss for words. 
Play it cool
.  She glanced away from those damn eyes of his and prayed that Cage couldn’t hear the rapid thump of her heartbeat.  She crawled onto the blanket and laid her head on the pillow beside Cage. 

“I hate that we’re not leaving now,” Cage
whispered.  He propped himself up on his elbow.  “But, this is pretty comfortable and I’m dead tired.”

“Bad choice of words.” 

He smiled. 

Rachel
wrapped the blanket around her.  Despite the heat outside, the fire station’s air conditioners pumped out cold air like it was going out of style.  She was freezing.  “I want to apologize.”

His forehead
wrinkled.  “For what?”

“I was nasty to you after
we were carjacked.”

Cage shrugged.  “Heat of the moment.  Besides, you we
re right.  I should’ve gunned it, but I was worried that they’d shoot through the windows.  I didn’t know if standard vehicles came with bulletproof glass these days or only presidential and rappers’ cars.”  He smiled.  “Don’t apologize.”

“W
e’ve been through so much and it’s only been a few hours.”

Cage’s
eyes dulled.  “I think my parents are dead.”

“What?  No,” Rachel said quickly.  “They’re not dead.  They’re hiding or -”

“I’ve been calling all night with that police officer’s cell phone. There’s no answer at my house.”

“T
hat doesn’t mean anything.”

“They’re old,” Cage said.  “Really old.  They adopted
me when they were in their mid-forties.”

Rachel
couldn’t believe her ears.  Cage Vance was adopted?

He lowered
his voice.  “They’re too old to get around and my mom has a bad leg.  If one of those things came near them -”

Rachel placed
her hand on top of his.  “Don’t.”

“But -
”

“You can’t do it, Cage.  You can’t dream up all of these scenarios.  Trust me, I know exactly how you feel.  I keep thinking of
a hundred ways that Morgan could be dead and it kills me to think about it.  You can’t do it.  It will eat you up inside.  You have to stay strong, so you can get to them.  Hold on to the hope that they’re okay.” She was surprised that she’d grabbed his hand, but now she felt awkward that she was touching him so intimately.

He didn’t move his hand
.  “How did you become so wise?”

She smiled.

“We’ve met before,” Cage said.  “Haven’t we?”

She started to pull
away from him. 

He slipped his hand
out and placed it on top of hers.  The warmth of his skin sheltered her frigid fingers.  “Haven’t we?”

She didn’t say anything. 

Cage searched her face.  “When we met at Cecilia’s Pizzeria, I saw the recognition in your eyes and it’s not because I’ve been in the newspaper for football a few times.”

Rachel
regained some of her composure.  “A few times?  I’m surprised the City of Flint hasn’t constructed your monument yet.”

“When and where
did we meet?”

Rachel sighed.  “
I can’t distract you with flattery?” 

“Nope. 
You’re not squirming out of this one.”

“We met
at Flint Prep.  I transferred in late freshman year.  A few of those glossy rich girl friends of yours tried to make me feel welcome in the cafeteria,” Rachel said.

Cage’s face paled.
“They were flinging food at your table.”

“More like
flinging food at me and less like at the table.”  Rachel wanted to turn around and go to sleep, but Cage held her hand. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, nice friends you have.”  She’d meant to say it lightly, but the words came out prickly.  “Anyway, you told them to leave me alone.  Then you came over to talk to me.”

“
I asked if you’d like to eat lunch with me outside, away from them,” Cage finished. 

“Yes.”

“But you wouldn’t.  You didn’t say anything.  You gave me a look and walked away.  I never saw you again.”

Rachel shrugged. 

“How did you manage to dodge me at school for the next two years?”  Cage asked.

“I was only a
t Flint Prep for a few weeks before I was transferred again and I’m extremely good at dodging people.”

“A few weeks?”

“I’ve moved around a lot.  I wasn’t going to be at your school for long.  It was only a matter of time, so I laid low from you and your friends and then I was gone.”

“A matter of time before what?”  Cage asked.

“Before Morgan and I were passed on to the next foster home.”

“You didn’t always live with that man from the Wooden
Barrel?”

“Morgan and I’ve been in six
foster homes over the last ten years.”

Cage’s eyebrows lifted.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”  She tried to gently pull her hand back, but he wouldn’t let go.  She didn’t want to talk about her life.  It was almost as depressing as a world full of zombies.

“I’m sorry abou
t those girls.”

“That’s
high school.” Rachel shrugged.  She didn’t want sympathy from Cage and she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.  He looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but he didn’t press the matter. 

“Where did you learn to swing a bat like that?”  Cage asked. 

The tension rolled off her shoulders with the change of subject.  “I watch a lot of Tiger games.”

He smiled.  “Do you think anything will ever
go back to normal?  Will we ever be able to sit on the couch and watch a baseball game again?”

“I don’t know.”

Cage’s eyes roamed over her face.  “I’m glad I met you.  Again.”

“I’m glad I met you, too, Cage Vance.
”

“Even though you rejected me
the first time we met.”

Rachel grinned. 
“I didn’t reject you!”

“It was absolutely a rejection.” 
He grabbed a piece of her hair and twirled it between his fingers.  A ghost of a smile played on his lips. 

“Tell me
what you’re thinking,” Rachel said. 

“When we first met, you told me that you ran into
Cecilia’s because you heard a woman screaming for help.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Most people wouldn’t have stopped – especially after knowing what was really going on.  That’s pretty amazing.  I’m glad you did, because we never would’ve met again if you hadn’t come running in, as Nicky would say, like a warrior princess.”

Rachel laughed. 
“Funny how things work out, right?”

“Very funny. 
We should get some sleep,” Cage said.  “Adam’s right, tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

She nodded.  “Goo
dnight, Cage.”

“Goodnight, Rachel Cole.”

A thrill ran over her when he said her last name.  She rolled over – hoping she wasn’t blushing - and pulled the covers to her chin. 

Cage
moved behind her.  “If I put my arm here, are you going to reject me again?”  He said it playfully, but Rachel thought she heard a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“
There’s a fifty-fifty chance.” 

He hesitated.  “Fair enough.”  Cage
placed his arm around her waist and scooted her backward.  She fit perfectly against him with her back to his chest and her head tucked under his chin. 

It wasn’t a move.  H
e wasn’t trying to hook up with her – it was just for comfort.  Surprisingly, despite everything that happened that night, she felt comforted.  She allowed herself to relax against the solidness of his chest and the rapid beating of his heart. 

Something
fluttered inside her stomach. 

Great. 
I’m falling for him
.  Like she needed more on her plate: saving Morgan, survival, the end of the world and now she had to deal with love and the zombie apocalypse.

Despite the nearness of Cage,
Rachel fell asleep.  Deep into nightmares of flesh eating cannibals.  The dreams were so life-like and horrifying that it took a moment to realize that the screaming she heard wasn’t playing out in her dreams. 

The screa
ms were real and incredibly close.