Journal of the Undead (Book 1): Littleville Uprising (20 page)

“That’s just cruel. I’m very disappointed in you. I raised you better than that.”

“I know, Mom. I’m sorry. I’ll go set her straight, right now. Of all things, she believes the one lie I told her.”

“Evan,” Kate called, stopping him at the door. “Just one more thing. Why did Emma join the cheerleading team?”

“That would have been a question for Jillian,” Matt interrupted.

“Funny, I asked Jillian that same question a few weeks ago. She said maybe I should be asking my son,” Kate answered. “So, Evan, what do you know about Emma’s sudden interest in cheerleading?”

Unable to look his mother in the face, Evan stared at the floor as he recounted the events spanning the past few weeks. Occasionally Matt would interject in an attempt to defend his friend, but hearing Evan tell the story stirred up his own guilt. Kate breathed a heavy sigh as his story ended with their arrival home. Emma had watched flesh-eating monsters devour her boyfriend, tear apart her friend Tyler, and had lost her family, all in one day. It broke Kate’s heart to hear about Alan, and even Jillian. She couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been for Matt to pull the trigger or for Emma to watch as her father dropped lifelessly to the floor. Evan excused himself to go speak with Emma but Kate followed him down the hall.

“Mom, I’d really rather handle this on my own.”

“Be that as it may, I intend to make sure that you apologize properly. I don’t want Emma to have even the slightest doubt that she is and
always
will be welcome in our home.” Kate’s voice rang with authority.

It looked as though Emma had cried herself to sleep so Kate suggested that Evan wait until morning. Evan pulled the guest room door closed, softly, trying not to wake Emma.

“This is your mess, Evan, and I expect you to clean it up first thing in the morning,” Kate ordered as they walked down the hall.

Emma had been pretending to be asleep. She heard what Kate said and assumed it meant Evan was going to kick her out first thing in the morning. Evan’s lie, insisting that Kate hated her, compounded with terror and guilt, distorted her normally clear thoughts. Fear gripped her as she imagined being tossed into the streets filled with the walking undead. Horrifying images of being eaten alive or ripped to shreds raced through her mind until exhaustion won and sleep finally claimed her.

The clock on Evan’s wall ticked closer to midnight. He and Matt were still awake after deciding it was best to stand guard. Matt was rereading the
Survivor’s Guide,
while Evan silently dealt a hand of Solitaire. Suddenly, an ear-shattering scream cut through the air. In an instant, Matt tore down the hall to the guest room where Emma had been sleeping. Though still asleep, she was screaming and kicking as if she was being attacked.

“Shhh, Emma. It’s okay. It was just a dream,” Matt whispered.

He pulled Emma tightly against his chest and stroked her hair, trying to wake her from the nightmare. In the hazy state between consciousness and dreaming, Emma found comfort in Matt’s words.
Sure, it must have been a dream,
she decided. Zombies belonged in a Hollywood horror film, not in her safe suburban town.
Yeah, Matt must be right
. It was a long, very bizarre dream where she was a cheerleader and classmates were ripped to shreds then devoured by their teachers. Emma stopped screaming, convinced that it had all been a terrible nightmare.

“Oh, Matt, it was horrible,” Emma whispered, her voice still trembling.

Matt reached over and clicked on the bedside lamp, bathing the room in soft light. As Emma’s eyes adjusted, she realized she was not in her bedroom. Alarmed, she looked around trying to remember where she was and how she’d gotten there. Seeing Evan and Kate standing in the doorway, their faces etched with concern, jogged her memory.

“Oh my God! It wasn’t a dream.” Looking away, she whispered, “I’m so sorry to have disturbed you, it won’t happen again.”

She choked back her tears and wrapped her arms snugly around her chest to stop herself from trembling. Evan wanted nothing more than to take Emma in his arms and protect her. He was afraid his attention would only upset her more, so he kept his distance. Lucy pushed her way into the room and tugged on Emma’s arm.

“My daddy gave me this to hold when I have bad dreams,” Lucy said as she handed Emma her favorite teddy bear. “You can sleep with him tonight and he’ll protect you.”

Emma looked cautiously from Matt to Evan to Kate, unsure of what she should do. Kate nodded approvingly so Emma reached out, accepting Lucy’s offering. Touched by Lucy’s kindness, Emma could no longer hold back her tears.

“Thank you, Lucy.”

Lucy smiled sleepily at Emma then, with a yawn, shuffled back to bed. For a moment, Matt watched Emma with uneasiness. As he walked out, he tossed Evan’s copy of
Journal of the Undead: A Survivor’s Guide
onto the bed beside her.

“Here, educate yourself.”

Evan started to enter the room but Kate shook her head and whispered, “Not now.”

Emma assumed she had a reprieve for the night but she was terrified she would be on her own by morning. With no desire to sleep, Emma plunged into the book, absorbing as much information as possible. There was no way she was going out there unprepared.

She was only halfway through the book when the first rays of sunlight broke through the darkness. Dread filled the pit in Emma’s stomach. She wondered how much longer it would be until they tossed her out into the street. Her only hope was to prove that she could be a useful asset. She was a better than average cook and she was more than willing to clean. Maybe if she promised to stay out of sight and worked really hard, they would let her stay. Emma put the book aside, got dressed, and crept out into the hallway.

She remembered that Lucy had an extra rope ladder for her treehouse hidden in her bedroom closet. Emma attached the ladder where the stairs used to be then climbed down to the first floor. The book stated very clearly that all fresh foods should be used before the loss of electricity. Emma started by making breakfast. The refrigerator was well stocked so Emma began frying bacon and scrambling eggs. She filled a sack with plates, cups, a bottle of juice, and utensils. Once everything was cooked, she packaged it into containers and added those to the bag.

Upstairs, Evan had tried to stay awake but he drifted in and out of sleep. The smell of bacon wafted into his dreams. Matt jerked awake, thankful to leave behind the images of his dead parents and classmates lumbering through his dreams.

“Man, what a weird dream,” Evan yawned. “I swear it was so real, I can still smell the bacon.”

“Wait, I smell bacon too and my dreams had nothing to do with breakfast,” Matt said.

Just then, Kate tapped on Evan’s door. She and Lucy entered.

“Good morning. Did you boys sleep okay? Lucy was hungry so we came to see what you were making for breakfast.”

“We weren’t making breakfast, Mom, but there’s granola bars in the crates.”

“But aren’t you making bacon?” Lucy asked.

As they exchanged puzzled looks, a bag slid through the partially opened door. Lucy pulled the door open and Emma froze. Four pairs of eyes were staring at her quizzically.

“The book said to use up fresh foods as soon as possible in case the power goes out,” Emma explained. “I thought you might like some breakfast.”

“Thank you, that was very thoughtful of you,” Kate replied.

“Come eat with me, Emma.” Lucy pleaded.

“I can’t. I still have to clean up the kitchen. I just wanted to bring this up while it was still hot. Cold eggs are gross,” Emma answered, but her eyes never left the floor. “I’ll come back up later to collect the dirty dishes.”

“Emma, you have to eat,” Evan insisted.

“I ate downstairs.”

Evan wanted to go after her but his stomach growled violently. He decided to eat first then go talk with her. While the others ate, Emma hoped breakfast was the first step to proving that she could be an asset. She busied herself by prepping vegetables that she added to a slow-cooker for a hearty beef stew dinner. Once all of the ingredients were bubbling away in the crock-pot, Emma wiped down the counters and swept the floor. She had just plunged her hands into the soapy dishwater when Evan entered the kitchen with a stack of dirty breakfast dishes.

“Thanks for making breakfast, Emma,” Evan said as he carried the dishes to the counter.

“I was going to come up for those; you didn’t have to bring them down.”

“It’s no big deal; besides, I kinda need to talk to you.”

Emma’s heart sank.
This is it
. She was positive Evan was about to kick her out. Panicked, Emma wondered where she would go.

“Well, you see, the thing is …” Evan started.

Suddenly Emma’s stomach lurched and she ran to the bathroom, leaving Evan mid-sentence.

While Emma vomited in the powder room, he rushed upstairs. Evan sent his mom down to check on Emma while trying to keep his own breakfast from coming back up. Kate climbed down the ladder and patiently waited outside the powder room door for Emma to come out.

When enough time had passed and she didn’t emerge, Kate tapped on the door. Emma was on her knees scrubbing the floor and toilet.

“Emma, what on earth are you doing?” Kate asked.

“I was just cleaning up.”

“Well, I think you’ve done enough. Come on,” Kate urged.

“But I can be useful!”

“Of course you can, dear,” Kate’s tone was bewildered as she escorted Emma to the ladder.

“But I haven’t finished washing the dishes yet.”

“I’ll take care of those later. Now, come with me. I want you to go upstairs and lie down. You’re going to need your rest.”

Emma climbed the ladder slowly, thankful that she wasn’t being sent away immediately. Yet Kate’s words worried her. ‘You’re going to need your rest’ sounded ominous.
How long until I’m chucked out into the street
?

“I’m really not very tired.” Emma insisted. “I could finish cleaning the bathroom first.”

Kate was not convinced. Cupping Emma’s face, she said, “What you really need is something to take your mind off of everything. Then you’ll be able to rest. Evan has a bunch of books in his room. Go ahead and grab one for yourself. Just try to be quiet though, he’s sleeping.”

She opened Evan’s door and motioned for Emma to go inside.

***

Emma tiptoed to the bookshelf then checked to make sure Evan was asleep. The shelf above his desk was packed with books but it was the leather-bound book lying on Evan’s desk that caught her eye. The rich burgundy leather and gold leaf trim was slightly worn, but there was no title on the cover or the binding. Emma opened the book and then, realizing it was Evan’s journal, she quickly snapped it closed.

Evan was pretended to be sleeping. He heard his mom and Emma talking followed by Emma’s soft footsteps on the floor. He surreptitiously stole glances at her through partially closed eyes while silently willing her to read his journal. Finding the right words to say to her in his apology was difficult, but he desperately wanted to tell Emma how he felt. The journal would kill two birds with one shot. Not only would Emma know that she was welcome and Kate did not harbor ill feelings toward her, but she’d see that Evan was still very much in love with her.

It won’t be as awkward as having to admit it out loud
, Evan thought. Continuing his ruse, he faked a soft snore. Curiosity got the best of Emma and she thumbed through the first few pages as she nervously glancing over her shoulder. Unable to resist, Emma turned to the day Evan asked her out.

September 18
th

There were three more cases of ‘Swine Flu’ reported in the paper today. I suspect this ‘flu’ is a cover up, but Dad says if I keep it up, he’s going to start monitoring what I read. I loaned my copy of Doc’s book to Matt. If I’m right, we could be looking at an outbreak soon and we need to be prepared. Anyway, I finally asked Emma out. I probably would have chickened out again if it hadn’t been for Tyler and the other Neanderthals pushing me. How could they ever think someone like Emma would fall for their pitiful pickup lines? They’ll probably skip out on the bet but I don’t care, that’s not why I asked her out. I’m just glad she said yes. I wasn’t expecting Matt to approve but he said he’d rather see Emma with me than those other guys. If it wasn’t for Matt, I wouldn’t be able to take her out anyway. I can’t believe he’s giving me the money to fix my car, but I’m definitely going to pay him back. I searched online and found a nice restaurant and maybe if we have enough time we can check out the art exhibit at the University. I can’t wait!

Emma was surprised to see that Evan had actually wanted to ask her out before the bet. She resented how Whitney had twisted the truth about Matt paying Evan to date her. Emma peered over her shoulder to make sure Evan was still sleeping. Pressing on, Emma scanned through a few random dates until she hit the day of cheerleading tryouts. Evan’s disgust could not have been any clearer. In a truly masochistic move, Emma turned to the night Jake and his friends attacked Evan. Any hopes Emma had that Evan
didn
’
t
hate her vanished as she read the entry.