Controlling the Dead (12 page)

“Kan! I’ve been looking for you, little lady,” Reece bellows, striding up to me.

“Not now, Reece. I’m supposed to be resting.” I sound a little snappish.

He pauses as if he forgot. “Yeah, that’s right. You are. So, what have you been doing?”

“Nothing. Walking. I got restless,” I blurt too fast to be believable. We reach the fire escape stairs to my loft. He stops me with his tattooed arm.

“With your bow?” An eyebrow cocks over his sunglasses. “And your guns?”

“Reece, if the outbreak taught me anything, it’d be
you never know
.” I can practically see his narrowed eyes through the shades.

“I won’t tell, if you don’t.” He grins and gets to his point, “Just wanted you to know, Julie is having her baby.”

That’s how I end up in the Clap Trap drinking at the bar in the middle of the day. Celebrating, of course, because that’s what you do when new life comes into the world.

“Hey, Kan. Glad to see you’re doing better.” I glance down the bar to see Dalton before snapping my eyes back.

I raise my glass of moonshine to him, eyeing the nearby zombie warily. It’s watching me. I know it. I down my gasoline. “Glad to hear those women and children are in a safe place.”

A smile lights up his face. “I know. Me, too.”

Curiosity gets the better of me. “What happened to the men?”

Dalton’s eyes cut sideways to me. “You don’t want to know.” He drinks the rest of his liquor and stands. “I need to go get some sleep. I’m getting a new assignment soon and I’m heading out to Birmingham with Mac as soon as that baby is born.

“You got time for another then.” I flag Bart down. “Joshua’s dad showed up here. As a zombie,” I mention, more for small talk than anything.

Dalton stares at me. “Jeremiah wasn’t the twins dad, Kan. He picked them up after the outbreak. Ten year-olds needing protection and all that.”

Bart slides glasses our way as Dalton’s words hit home. “Ten?” My stomach turns when I add that up to fourteen. Joshua was only fourteen when he shot his own twin brother. I down the glass and choke up. Tears blur my eyes as Dalton keeps talking, not noticing my changed demeanor, but Bart does. He immediately gives me another drink.

After a few more, my Eau de Zombie Charm doesn’t bother me as much, and neither does anything else. I get Dalton to play a few rounds of cards. He doesn’t normally get to, so I don’t blame him for his over-consuming. By the time it’s all said and done, we’re shit-faced.

I try to make my way to sleep it off. When I go to the courtyard, it’s still daylight. I find my fire escape and crawl up the stairs. They wobble my whole way up. I’ll be damned if falling and breaking my neck will be my demise.

*

Someone shakes me. I put a pillow over my head. “Go away,” I slur.

“Naughty girl, you’re drunk. You smell like old man Haney’s moonshine still,” I hear a muffled Mac say from the other side of the pillow. Mac? I stick my head out. It’s dark now. I’m fully clothed on top of the bed covers with no fire. My fingers are frozen stiff. The bright light turns on from the lamp and hurts my eyes. I puff out air. “You need an electric heater. You are ice cold.”

“Nah, moonshine kept me warm,” I say, looking around for the sunglasses and finding them on the other side of the bed.

He laughs and goes about starting a fire. “I’m sure it did, but not now.”

“I should have done that already.”

“I’m glad you didn’t. Could have burned the whole building down.” The fire catches, and he puts a chair close to it. “Come here.” I hobble up as he pulls the blanket off the bed. He sits me on the chair and cocoons me in the blanket. “You’re freezing. Can’t leave you alone for any amount of time.”

 “Julie have her baby?”

He pulls another chair over and sits down. The smell of tobacco floats in air around him. Has he been smoking? “Yeah, all over. I didn’t have to do or see anything. Thank God. I can go my whole life and say I’ve never seen her hoo-ha.” I laugh. “She screamed a lot though. Rudy and I were in the hall the whole time.”

“Really? Rudy was?” I would have thought he’d hold her hand at least.

“Yeah, she didn’t want him in there. I think he was worried about having to coax her through it and was relieved when he didn’t.” Oh. He would have if she wanted it. Why did she opt out of his comfort?

“She was going to break off the engagement with him before the outbreak,” I say.

It takes a while for this to sink in. He sighs, “I’m not surprised. I bet he knows it, too. He doesn’t say much, but there’s a lot going on in that head of his. They have known each other since they were kids, you know? Family.” Might explain why he puts up with it, but I have a feeling there’s more to it. “Speaking of, Rudy will be here with some hot food.”

That snaps me into awareness. “What?” I jump up and stumble backwards. Mac catches my arm to keep me from falling into the fire. He exhales heavily. “He’ll know I’ve been drinking. That was the deal.”

“What really matters is that you eat. I’ve never seen you so skinny. You’ve been through a lot, and contrary to what you believe, you’re not handling it well. I bet you haven’t eaten since the eggs this morning. Not that you ate any of them.” He checks around for any sign that contradicts his statement.

I think about telling him about the zombie this morning, but decide against it. I’d be locked up for sure. Picking up a bag of the popcorn I looted from New Orleans from my box, I wag it before opening it. He watches me with amusement as I toss some into my mouth.

Chewing, I ask, “You’re not mad?”

“What? About your rejection?” He tries to smooth a wrinkle from his pants. “I’m not used to it,” he says in a dry tone and looks at me. “But maybe you’re right.”

The door opens and Rudy, Glinda, and Reece stroll in carrying various items.

“Hey Suga! Brought yew some bean soup.” It doesn’t sound that appetizing. She doesn’t know I lived on beans, rice, and oatmeal for four years. Rudy knows and is currently sporting a small smile like he knows something I don’t, but he eyes Mac and I.

“Thanks, Glinda.” I sit at the table, grateful to have a hot meal at all.

Rudy puts a platter down and lifts a towel to reveal grilled veggie skewers. My stomach growls. Throwing Rudy a relieved grin, I pick one up and start on a potato piece. After I start eating, everyone else does, too.

Glinda’s a dainty eater so she chats the whole time we eat. “Yeah Suga, yew should see that lil’ baby girl. Sweet lil’ thang.”

“I’m glad she finally had her, maybe her hormones will go back to normal and she’ll stop being a bitch,” I state around a piece of tomato and a bite of cornbread, hoping it covers the slur of it. Mac almost chokes on whatever he is eating. I peek at Rudy as he tries to hide a smile by drinking some water, but I can see it in his eyes. I need to eat more, before I say anything else the alcohol lets loose.

“Oh, Suga. Be nice.”

“I think she has every right to say what’s on her mind. Julie has been an ungrateful bitch to everyone,” Mac says with no tact. Same as ever. Reece perks up.

“I agree with you, Mac,” Rudy speaks up. “She’s been… hard to get along with.”

“No shit, Sherlock.” This comes from Reece. He never speaks badly about anyone, especially if it isn’t his business. It makes me wonder if Julie has ever said anything to him. Rudy stares at him, surprised at his outburst. Glinda changes the subject.

“So Suga, what did Dalton say? I saw you talkin’ to ‘im in the Trap.” Not a subject I would have chosen, but a different one all the same.

Four pairs of eyes settle on me. “I asked him what happened to the men from the cult.”

“Oh, they use them for lab testing and whatever else no one wants to do, like clean toilets—on good behavior,” Mac says, as if he didn’t just say something completely foul.

Rudy looks at his food and drops his fork. “What do you mean by lab testing?”

“Medicinal, surgical, and a whole lot of zombie testing,” Mac replies, with no concern or thought.

“Zombie testing?” I croak, losing my appetite. Even Glinda is a little green.

Mac finally catches on and glancing between all of us. He swallows his food. “Zombies are changing. We need to try and figure out why. I’m almost sure they will be testing those vials, too.” Silence breaks out around the table. Mac leans back. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Those men are horrible human beings who were taking advantage of the situation.” He looks to me, “Have you forgotten what happened to you?”

“Comparing me to the others, I don’t think I had it as bad. I wasn’t there long enough, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget.”

He stares at me. “Were you raped?”

Everyone holds their breath and peers at me. Leave it to Mac to be blunt about it. I try to keep my cool. “Joshua did not have his way with me, if that is what you’re asking.”

Rudy and Reece exchange a glance, and they are probably wondering about Gray since they walked in on the scene. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure it out, so I’m almost positive they already know.

Mac stands abruptly. “Shit. I need a fucking cigarette.” He leaves without another word.

 I fiddle with my bracelet and avoid Rudy and Reece’s stares. Glinda stacks everything and gives it to Reece in a big pile. “Yew two need ta go. I’ll stay with Suga tonight.”

Rudy’s mouth opens as if to argue, but she gives him
the look
. He stands, grabbing half of Reece’s load.

“See ya, little lady,” Reece says softly.

“You too, Peanut Butter.”

Glinda gives Reece a kiss not made for TV, and I open the door for them. Reece leaves first, and Rudy leans down to me. “I’ll see you soon.” His breath is warm on my cheek before he kisses it. He slips Glinda a huge smile and takes his leave.

Glinda sighs. “All this space, and I can tell yew feel smothered.”

I give her a small smile. “They can’t help it. I haven’t been myself.” In fact, I haven’t ever been myself.

“I know, Suga. Time will help, but if yew want ta be alone, just say so.”

“Thing is, I thought I did, but I don’t.”

Glinda curls up with me after that and we talk some things out. I tell her some details I haven’t told anyone else.

“Can yew stomach the thought of being with someone, Suga? Yew know…intimately?”

“Glinda, I haven’t thought about it much.”

“I think yew will be fine, given time. Just eat. Get some rest. We have time before Mago shows up.”

I sigh. “Hey Glin?”

“I ain’t gonna tell anybody. Yew should know, they already suspect.”

“Thanks.”

She does make me feel better. My eyes start to droop without any nasty thoughts turning through my mind. Maybe Glinda is right and time is what I need.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

A snail can crawl faster than this week is going. Glinda has stayed with me for three nights, today being our third morning. I’ve managed to avoid everyone else. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she said something to keep them away. We went on walks, cooked food with a burner I acquired from the marketplace, and kept the fire blazing. She talked and I listened as we both tried to keep my words to a minimum. Mainly though, I slept more than I ever have.

I’ve managed to avoid going outside the fence. Last night, famished were at the fence as we walked by. No one noticed, but they stood there following me with their eerie scrutiny—reminding of the zombie in New Orleans and the zombie that had attacked Reece when we were looting for furniture. Luckily, Guido’s guys shot them down. I came right to the loft and have been here ever since. I don’t know what I’m going to do when my time is up. How am I going to keep this from people until I figure out what it is?

This morning I woke up feeling the best I’ve felt in a long time. My limbs are no longer heavy. I’d go on a run if I didn’t attract zombies.

Reece eats breakfast with us this morning, and I swear, he is flirting with Glinda and vice versa. I guess they can’t take much more of spending nights apart. It makes me feel bad for taking her attention away.

I’m pushing around my food and feeding bits to Dex when she does this giggle-groan thing. Several different scenarios and positions featuring them two flash through my mind. I squeeze my eyes tight when Reece chuckles deep in his throat.

“Okay, that’s it. Both of you. Get out.” I point my arm toward the door. Glinda’s face shows amusement as she twirls a golden strand around her shiny red fingernail, but I ignore it and continue, “I need to focus on the laptop today. The damn thing isn’t coming up with a sequence, and I definitely don’t want to be picturing both of you going at it doggy style.”

Reece’s eyebrows shoot up, and he tries not to grin.

“Let’s go, Reece.”

Damn them and their easy stress-releasing antics.

After they leave, I glance out the window. The sun peaks through all the clouds. Someone is working in the greenhouse, trimming the trees. I hope I never have to work in a greenhouse again.

A few hours go by as I try to tune up the laptop, hoping to make it a little faster. I should have done it before, but I had been happy that it worked at all. I sigh as I restart the program and it starts all over.

Since I’ve had a lot of time to think, there’s something else I need to do, and I can do it now while no one is paying me any mind. I’m more worried about zombies than anything else, but I’ll manage.

After gearing up, I head out to the parking lot, thinking I can take the jeep. A few of Guido’s men are at the gate as Rudy’s truck pulls in. Where has he been? I move behind other vehicles to avoid being seen. Climbing inside the jeep, I can do nothing but stare at the empty gas gauge. Maybe if I make this a looting trip for Guido, he’ll supply me some gasoline.

My plan is short lived, however, because Rudy watches me get out as he leans against the back of the jeep. The fence a few yards away jiggles, and Rudy peers over to the famished there. His eyebrows screw up at their weird behavior. I try to take the heat off the famished and me in one go. “Where have you been?”