Zombies Don't Forgive (28 page)

“Yes, Dane, I know that perfectly well, but couldn't
they have installed just one toilet when they built this place? I mean, just in case?”

“I can't imagine they were ever planning on inviting humans inside, Dad.”

“Yes, well, as the first human to ever become a Sentinel, I hope to make a few more changes around here before I'm done.”

“Okay, Dad.” I groan, rolling my eyes at Dane. “We just stopped by to see how you were doing.” I start to get up.

Dad motions me back down. To Dane he says, “Son, could you go check on Hector for me, please? Make sure he's not starting a fire with the bedsheets again?”

Dane chuckles and winks at me. The doors hiss behind him as he walks back into the lab.

“Dad, obvious much?”

Another dismissive wave. “Dane doesn't care. Besides, how much can you two see of each other anyway? Twenty-four hours a day isn't enough? He can spare your old man a few minutes, can't he?”

I shrug. I really do need to spend more time with Dad. Ever since we dragged him back to the center, we're both knee-deep in work during the day. And since he still has to sleep, he's always zonked out by the time I actually have an hour or two to hang out with him around, say, three in the morning.

I smile.

“So how are you, really, Maddy?”

“I'm good, but I'm used to all this. How are you doing?”

“I'm still working with dead bodies. Only, these ones are walking around.”

“I'm sorry it turned out this way. I tried to keep you out of it. Really, I did.”

He shrugs. “I got tired of you keeping me out of it. Frankly, I'd rather have a zombie for a daughter than no daughter at all.”

“Ah.” I crack a joke, if only to not choke up. “That's the nicest thing a human ever said to me.”

We chuckle.

“You talk to many humans lately, Maddy?”

We make small talk for a minute or two, just like back home. He looks so comfortable with his rumpled lab coat and his coffee mug. I can't help but be happy to see him here. Time will tell if he'll ever be happy, but … was he ever?

Even back home, with his house rules and his concerned face, the only time he seemed really happy was when he was reminding me how scary, creepy, and unhappy the real world is. Now he knows there's a real world beyond the real world, and that's given him even more reasons to be happily unhappy.

Jingling a key chain from the top of his desk, he says, “Do you want to see how Val is doing?”

I shrug.

He stands and leads me through the lab, motioning for Dane to follow. “Hector?” he shouts, pausing before the double doors.

“Going strong, sir.”

Dad shoots him a frown.

Hector shakes his head. “Sorry. Going strong, Doctor.”

“Better,” Dad says, mostly to himself.

Dane and I follow dutifully as Dad leads us down the hall toward a green door marked Keep Out.

“Ignore that,” Dad says, sliding in his single key. It's about the same size and heft of the one I stole from Vera to escape to Barracuda Bay.

Inside are two doors. One is a cell, the other clear Plexiglas. Val is in the cell, strapped to a bed. She turns her head toward us, blonde hair no longer spiky but extra greasy instead. Though her eyes blaze a healthy, angry yellow, her mouth is covered by a thin leather strap locked tight at the back of her head.

“We had to muzzle her,” Dad explains. “I can't imagine why, but she kept trying to bite me.”

“She didn't, did she, Doc?” Dane says with a mock-worried expression.

Dad slaps his shoulder.

I roll my eyes, though it's nice to see them getting along. Dad was always Team Stamp, after all.

“How is she doing?” I say. “I mean, really doing?”

Dad frowns. “She's not taking to the therapy as well as Stamp, obviously. Frankly, I'm not sure she'll ever be completely Zerker-free.”

“Is that what this is for?” I turn to the second door, the Plexiglas one that fronts the second mobile spray tanning booth from the Cabana Charly's warehouse.

Dad looks at it regretfully. “I suppose so. I was against the Sentinels moving it here when we left Barracuda Bay, but apparently they're trying to isolate the avotoxia chemical and use it in some kind of anti-Zerker weapon.”

Dane nods toward Val, who's suddenly gone quiet. “Are you sure you should be sharing trade secrets in front of her, Doc?”

Dad smirks as he hustles us both from the room. “Val? Look where she is. She's not getting out anytime soon.”