Plague Town (20 page)

Pure bliss. Hooray for the enhanced taste buds. Guess it didn’t always suck to be a wild card.

For the next few minutes I ignored everything to
focus entirely on eating. The hot rolls were probably just Brown’n Serve with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter or something like that, but home-baked and freshly churned never tasted so good.

I was nearly through my first steak and contemplating a second one when someone sat down next to me, on the left. I didn’t have to look to know it was Gabriel; that side of my body suddenly went on hyper alert, all warm and tingly. A moment later I saw Lily and Kai heading toward the table from the other end of the cafeteria.

I turned and smiled briefly, noticing that he looked much better, then focused on my food again during the hullabaloo of greetings.

Kai plopped himself down in-between Tony and Sgt. Gentry, and Lily sat on my right, setting a copy of the
Zombie Combat Manual
next to her plate.

“More homework?” I asked.

She nodded. Without saying a word, she opened the book with one hand and picked up an ear of corn with the other, munching as she flipped through pages, thoroughly ignoring the rest of us. Our death-dealing extrovert had evidently retired for the night.

“Hey,” Gabriel said to me under cover of the babbling going on around us. It was amazing how much awkwardness could be conveyed in one syllable.

“Hey, yourself,” I replied, going for three times as much awkwardness.

“Enjoying the food?”

I nodded.

“Maybe it’s just ’cause I was starving—” I took another sip of wine. “—but I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything so delicious. I mean, if you like this sort of thing.”

Gabriel gave a half smile.

“Don’t worry. No lecture today—not after everything you’ve been through.”

“Glad those zombies are good for
something
.” I kept my tone neutral—maybe flirting just a little. I checked
out his plate, piled high with baked potatoes, salad, rolls, and corn.

“No offense,” I said, “but where are you getting your protein from? Seems like you’d need some, after... well, after everything.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Haven’t you heard of tofu?”

I wrinkled my nose.

“Gross,” I said. “It’s all white and wriggly and kinda weird.”

“This from a woman who just waded through zombie entrails.” Gabriel poured himself a glass of wine.

“Yeah, but you didn’t see me eating them, did you?”

Gabriel chose to ignore that.

“Ever had a tofu hot dog?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“I’ve always equated it with non-alcoholic beer,” I said. “I’d rather have the real thing.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

I noticed something red sticking out from under a pile of salad on his plate, something that looked suspiciously like a small piece of exceptionally rare steak. Gabriel looked down, and frowned.

“Doctor’s orders,” he said. I could tell he was pissed off at being caught.

Not long ago I’d have read him the riot act. Now I grabbed another roll from the basket.

“God, I love bread and butter.” I cocked my head and looked at him. “Does being a wild card mean I can eat as much butter as I want without getting fat?”

I felt him relax.

“Only if you continue to work out the way you have been.”

“So once the zombocalypse is over, then it’s fat city, huh?”

Before Gabriel could respond, Gentry started laughing from across the table. Suddenly I realized that everyone else had gone quiet, and had been watching us.

Shit.

“Zombocalypse,” Gentry said. “You just come up with that?”

I shrugged.

“Makes it sound kind of manageable, don’tcha think?”

“I like it,” Tony said. I could tell he’d had his share of the beer, and maybe more.

“‘Course you do, bro.” Kai patted him on the shoulder. “Doesn’t hurt that Ashley thought it up, does it?”

Uh-oh.

Kaitlyn sniffed audibly.

“Trust Ashley not to take things seriously,” she said into her plate.

And trust you to take any opportunity to be a bitch.
I took a few deep breaths, not wanting things to escalate. I felt Gabriel tense up beside me, but to my surprise, Lily snapped first.

“Back off, Kaitlyn,” she said. “Just because you don’t have a sense of humor doesn’t give you the right to be a bitch to someone who does.”

Whoah!
Unleash the attack kitten!

Kaitlyn looked as if a Smurf had just bitten her. It was enough to shut her up, though, and let the rest of us enjoy our meal. I noticed that she was the only one who wasn’t indulging in beer or wine.

“So if we can’t have cool team names, what about our own code names?” Tony suddenly declared. “You know, like Snake Eyes or Matador.”

Kai was all over that.

“You can be Ash,” he said to me.

“Wow, that’s original,” I replied.

“No, really,” he said. “Like for Ash in the
Evil Dead
movies. He totally kicks ass.”

“My point remains the same,” I said. But I actually kind of liked it.

Tony waved a hand.

“Whaddya want?” he asked. “Killer Barbie?”

I shot him the look he deserved.

“I’ll take Ash, thanks.”

Kai grinned.

“And Tony’s gotta be Joystick.” But “Joystick” looked less than thrilled.

“Aww, jeez,” he said, “It makes me sound like a vibrating dildo.”

Kai shrugged.

“If the shoe fits...” he said.

Gentry leaned back in his chair, causing it to creak. We looked at him, and he grinned.

“I ain’t saying a word.”

“How about X-Box?” Lil offered shyly.

“Better than Joystick,” Tony admitted.

“Wii would work, too.” Kai smirked, ducking before Tony could put him in a headlock.

“Mack can be Postman,” I suggested. “The movie sucked, but Costner makes a good action hero.”

Mack nodded his approval.

“At least I’ll remember it,” he said.

“I’ll be Ladies’ Man,” Kai announced.

“In your dreams
,”
Tony shot back.

“Even better,” I said, “Lando.”

Kai looked pleased.

“Gorgeous and geeky,” he said. “Gotta love it.” Then he and Tony turned their attention on Kaitlyn. She scowled back.

“Don’t even
think
about it.” Wisely, they dropped it.

“What about me?” Lily said, a hint of eagerness in her voice. I was glad to see her coming out of her shell—especially for something other than zombie killing.

“Cutie Bunny?” Kai suggested. She punched him on the arm, and it didn’t look as if she held back much. “Damn!” He rubbed his arm. “Okay, not so cute.”

“Gremlin?” Tony made sure to move out of Lily’s range. She chucked her copy of the
Zombie Combat
Manual
at his head, and he barely ducked in time. Scooping it up, he protested, “It’s just so wrong to use this book against a fellow wild card.”

Lily looked to me for help, but I was drawing a big old blank. Feeling a bit light-headed, too. Problem was that she
was
cute, so all of the wrong names were suggesting themselves.

Finally Mack held up his hand.

“I got it!” he said proudly. “Diamond Lil. Just Lil for short.”

“I like it,” she said, “But where does it come from?”

“Diamond Lil was Lillian Russell, an actress and singer from way back. Beautiful and tough.”

Lily nodded, favoring Mack with one of her rare smiles.

“Even cooler,” Tony said, “she’s a super hero!”

“Oh, well then...” Mack looked amused.

“In the comics,” Tony continued, getting into it. “Sometimes she’s a super villain. “She’s also, like, a mutant, hits twice as hard as a normal person. Totally kick ass at street fighting.”

That should do it.
Sure enough, Lily beamed.

“What about Gabriel?” Captain Gentry said, grinning with the pleasure of someone who enjoys stirring the pot. “He needs a code name, too.”

Gabriel’s look was deadly.

“That’s not necessary,” he said flatly.

“Easy one,” I said, wiping a sheen of sweat off of my forehead. “Tofu.”

“Tofu” shot me a glare. I just smiled back sweetly.

But Tony wasn’t done. He turned his attention to Gentry.

“You’re next, dude.”

“Yes,
Willard
,” Gabriel said. “I think it’s your turn.”

“Ooh, cold, Tofu,” Gentry said, sounding wounded. “Very cold.” But he didn’t seem particularly upset, really.

“Willard?” Kai grinned hugely. “Like the rat?”

“That was Ben,” Tony corrected. “The rat was Ben. Willard was the dude who controlled the rats.”

“That works,” Kai said, “since he’s in charge of
your
team.”

Mack cleared his throat and put on a look of mock pain. Kaitlyn shot a glare, and she wasn’t pretending.

Kai flushed.

“Sorry.”

Mack just grinned.

“Actually, you wanted a nickname for the team,” he said. “How about Rat Patrol?”

As everyone laughed, a sudden wave of heat swept across my face, neck, and chest, and I felt nauseous. I wondered if I’d gotten a bad piece of steak—like I really needed another case of food poisoning. My stomach roiled and I decided it was time for an emergency trip to the bathroom. I stood up, and was unsteady on my feet.

What is this?
I’d only had two glasses of wine. Or maybe three.

“You okay, Ashley?” Lily smiled up at me with a slightly unfocused gaze.

“I’m fine,” I lied. “I’ll be back in a few.”

I carefully made my way across the cafeteria and into the hallway, heading to the nearest ladies’ room. Once I got there, I spent a few minutes deciding whether or not I was going to throw up.

But I didn’t.

I splashed cold water on my face and on the back of my neck, cooling off what had to have been an alcohol-induced hot flash.

Maybe it’s a side-effect of the hyper-senses,
I thought through the receding nausea.
Wouldn’t
that
be a rip-off?
I hoped my fabulous new wild card powers included dodging a hangover, though, and decided to down some ibuprofen with a big glass of water, just in case they didn’t.

Drying my face off with a paper towel, I turned and pushed the bathroom door open, smacking right into someone on the other side.

“Crap!” I yelped, giving out the kind of sound small dogs make when they’re stepped on. Then I stumbled back from the impact—whatever I’d hit must have been a brick wall on two legs.

Pushing the door open again, slowly this time, I found Gabriel standing there, looking pissed.

“Jeez friggin’ Louise,” I growled. “What were you trying to do, scare the crap out of me?”

“Just checking to make sure you’re okay.” Now he looked both pissed off and embarrassed.

What the hell was going on?

“Well, next time see if you can do it without giving me a heart attack.” I’d have said more, but I was hit by
another hot flash, spiking my temperature a couple of degrees and leaving me flushed and dizzy.

I shut my eyes and swayed on my feet.

“Watch it,” Gabriel said, reaching out and steadying me with both hands.

“Yeah. Just...” I just started babbling, without knowing what I was saying. “Y’know, I think I should have stopped after one glass of wine.” I opened my eyes to find him peering intently at me. “Seriously, I’m okay. Other than whatever years were taken off my lifespan from the shock.” But there was no anger now. The hot flash seemed to have burned all of it away.

“Were you...” I started, but I wasn’t sure how to ask. “Were you looking for me?”

“You didn’t look too good when you left the table,” he said, and he was still holding my arms. “I wanted to check on you. The scaring you to death bit wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Just a little bonus, huh?”

“Something like that.”

An awkward silence fell between us, the tension palpable.

“Is this about the whole tofu thing?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“I could have lived without it.” There was an edge to his voice that surprised me.

“Well, you know what they s—”

I gasped in shock. Without warning, his hands tightened painfully on my upper arms and he pushed me up against the wall, his body pressed against mine. His eyes darkened so much I thought I must be imagining it.

My breathing quickened as his hand shifted from my arms up to my face, fingers twining through my hair. Anger and desire warred in his gaze. Heat coiled in my stomach even as fear shuddered up my spine.

I tried to shake my head, but his fingers held it in
place as he muffled any protests by covering my mouth with his.

Fingers massaging my scalp, he slowly increased the intensity of the kiss, his tongue entering into play as he tilted my head back and slid it in.

I felt like I was following along in a dance, being led by someone who knew the steps much better than I did. I discovered that I was content to follow, matching the pressure of his lips with mine, letting my tongue play with his as he pressed his body into me, emphasizing the move with with a low, throaty sound.

He was definitely packing heat, and it wasn’t his sidearm.

I gasped and arched against him, arms going around his body to pull him closer. He made another sound—one that was half low laugh, half growl—and took a quick step back out of the circle of my arms, only to seize my wrists with one hand and pin them against the wall above my head. I pulled against his hand, testing his strength, but he restrained me without even trying.

It was kind of scary... and incredibly sexy.

He insinuated a knee between my thighs, then kissed me again, all gentleness out the window, tongue exploring my mouth as his knee rubbed back and forth against my most sensitive areas. His free hand crept up beneath my shirt and he rubbed his palm over the peak of one nipple, pinching it.

I gasped in a combination of pain and ecstasy. My breath came short and fast as I rocked my hips against his knee, my tongue doing some exploring of its own, teeth biting his lower lip. He moved his mouth from mine, down my jaw to my arched neck. He bit it, teeth on either side of the pulse that throbbed there, hard enough to hurt in the most pleasurable way possible.