Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (24 page)

With
the rage I get from the bipolar, I turn into something not quite
human anymore. It scares me...though not as much as it scares
everyone else.

I
slide under the steering wheel and watch in the rearview mirror as
Will gets inside, then, finally, Dustin gets in. Will and Jake
enthusiastically encourage Dustin to get in the front with me and he
does, totally oblivious of the danger. As soon as his butt kisses the
seat, I floor the gas and wipe out every damn zombie in my path.

My
vision is tunneled, all I can hear is the ocean sound of blood
rushing in my head, and my entire body is tight and tingling. There
is a group of five zombies ahead of me. I open my mouth and scream.
It's filled with so much rage that all the guys scream too, but from
fear.

I
press heavier on the gas and the impact of the truck slamming into
them, flips and dismembers the zombies. One flies up into the
windshield and causes a single line of cracked glass to appear.
I'm
impressed!
If this had been a normal vehicle, the speed and the
impact of the undead hitting the glass would have shattered the it,
and the damn undead
thing
would have been in our laps.

The
tires squeal as I turn onto the highway that leads back to my
sister's and the silence is thick...so is the fear the men are
feeling. I shake for a few more miles, still seething, but it's
rapidly fading. Quick to begin, quick to end.
Scary, isn't it?

I
hear Maroon 5's song, 'Payphone' and search for my phone. I hadn't
taken it inside the house, hell, I didn't even know I had one! I
finally see the lights flashing in one of the storage slots on the
dash. I grab and open it-not even caring who is on the other end-just
knowing whoever it is, probably
isn't
someone I'm pissed off
at right now.

"Hello?"

"Hey,
Sis. Everything alright?" my sister, Rose, asks.

"Could
be better, but I haven't killed anyone who's not a zombie...
yet
,"
I answer, giving a pointed look in the mirror to the two men in the
back seat. They're smart enough to look away, fast.

"Yeah,
me either, but I'm damn sure close. Someone has got to do something
with this stupid bitch. I swear, Canada! One more time, one more
comment, and I'm gonna do it myself!"

"Am
I wrong in assuming you're referring to Sara?"

"Nope.
You're dead-freaking right."

"Well,
that's Jake's―"
I throw a nasty look at Jake, whose eyes
widen in fear
"―little problem. And he will be doing
something with her nasty-ass when we get back."

Rose
sighs with relief.

"That's
good, 'cuz I'm hardly exaggerating at this point. So, where are you
guys?"

"I
have no idea but we are heading back now. Maybe a couple hours before
we get there," I tell her.

"Ok.
See ya soon, Sis."

"Hey!
Wait. I'm not done." I laugh. "How are my boys?"

"Oh,
they're asleep. Pretty tired after the Halloween stuff they did. You
should see the decorations! The adults-well, all but
Miz
Thang
-though technically, I did say
adults!
-so each of
the
adults
went into a separate room in the house and the kids
trick-or-treated us. I got the bathroom." We both laugh at that.
"We got tons of candy in a couple of the big boxes from the
store in St. Thomas. But don't worry, we monitored the amount they
were allowed to have."

My
heart aches at missing that with my kids.
Damn these zombies and
the morons who made them!

I
finish up the call with my sister and drop the phone on the seat next
my leg. Giving a deep sigh, I clear my mind, determined not to let
myself get depressed.
Pissed
is ok. Depressed is not.

Dustin
clears his throat and I look over at him, raising a brow in question.

"Canada,
I don't mean to screw up your plans, but we have to get you to the
hospital, remember?"

Ah, shit.
But I don't wanna! I just wanna go home and be with my family, get
some space from the two dopes in the back, and sleep! Is that too
much to freakin' ask for?

But
right then, my foot takes a moment to remind me how much pain it's
in.
FINE!
Damn it all to hell!

I
call my sister back but it goes straight to voicemail, so I leave a
message about the delay in plans. Just as I end the call, it lights
back up and starts playing its song-which startles me and I almost
drop it, but I manage to hang on.

Before
I can even say hello, my sister's panicked voice fills the interior
of the truck. Apparently, I had hit the speaker button.

"You
have to go help Dad!"

"Which
Dad and what's going on?" I ask her.

"Dad
Rex! His entire shop is full of zombies and they know he's upstairs
so they won't going away. He could be stuck up there forever!"

"Rose,
calm down. He safe right now, though, right?"

"Yes.
He said other than that, he's ok."

"Alright.
Call him back and tell him we're on our way. Tell him we will call
when we get close and, in the meantime, he can pack up what he needs
to take with him. Then tell him to just stay calm, lay down, and
rest." I know that will be hard to do, but the man already has
health issues, damn sure don't need him getting sick on us.

"Ok.
I'll tell him. Thanks, Sis. I love you and be safe."

"I
love you, too, Rose. And I will. I left you a voicemail about having
to go to the hospital about my foot, but I'll go after we get Dad."

"Canada?
Sweety, I don't think you're going to find any doctors you will
want
to take care of that foot
there
," Rose tells me with
concern in her voice.

Oops!
Guess I forgot to mention Dustin.

"Do
you remember your neighbors up the road, Jim and Beth?"

"Of
course. They didn't make it, though," she says with sadness.

"Yes,
I know. Do you remember Jim's brother, Dustin?"

"A
little. Why?"

"Well,
apparently Dustin was the mysterious voice back at the store. He
followed me, Jake, and Will and met up with us at a house we had
stopped at. He's also a doctor. Did you know that?"

"Yeah,
I did. That's cool that he remembered you and can help you. Tell him
hi for me and I'll see him when he gets here. I gotta get off here
and go pee."

Dustin
calls out, "Hi, Rose. I'll see you soon."

"You
witch! Do you have me on
speaker
?"

I
laugh. "Well, not on purpose. Ok, gotta go. Someone will call
when we get Dad."

"Ok,
Sis. Love you and be
safe
! And hi back, Dustin."

Safe...what
exactly is the definition of safe, anymore? I have to guess it means
just don't turn into a zombie, because I'm pretty sure I have no idea
how to actually be
safe
, if it means to not get hurt.

The
two guys in the back work on reloading guns and getting the other
weapons ready. Jake holds out a gun to Dustin and Dustin puts his
hand up, shaking his head.

"I
don't use guns."

Is
he frikken joking?

"Come
on, Dustin. Are you trying to tell me this
whole
time
that you haven't used a single gun and never plan to?"

"I'll
not use a gun. They kill people."

I
stare at him, open mouthed.

"You
do realize, don't you, that
that
is the whole point? What do
you plan to do? Slap them to death?"

"People
can get hurt with guns or shoot other living people..." He gives
a pointed look at Jake and then back at me.

"Alright.
You made your point." I turn my full attention to the highway
and ignore them all, until I hear Dustin ask Will to hand him his
bag.

Will
finds a huge black sports equipment bag in the very back of the truck
and struggles to get it up front without knocking me out with it.

"Where
did that come from, Dustin?" I ask him.

"I
threw it in when I moved the truck. It's got my own weapons in it,
although I haven't had to use them very much since trying out the new
skin."

Ugh! Gag!

Curiosity
growing, I watch as he unzips and opens up the bag. Then he pulls out
a medieval club-like weapon that has a long spike on the top and
several smaller spikes sticking out around the longer one.

"A
mace?" I ask.

"A
type of mace. This here is a Morning Star. And this," He pulls
out a thick wooden handle. When the four chains and spiked metal
balls that are attached to it come out of the bag, I gasp in
surprise. "...is a Quad Ball Medieval Spiked Mace. Whatcha
think?"

"That...is...frikken...
awesome
!
I wanna try it!"

I
make a grab for it and he pulls it out of my reach.

"Just
drive. Besides, a little woman like you can't handle something like
this," Dustin says.

I
hear Jake and Will gasp at the very stupid and dangerous thing Dustin
just said to me. I look in the rearview mirror and see that they are
looking at Dustin as if he were about to leave his cell for the last
time in Death Row. Because of their reaction, I decide to surprise
them and play it cool.

"Yeah,
you're probably right. I'd most likely hit myself."

Now,
that was hard!

I'd
much rather hit
him
with it than let him get by with saying
something so idiotic. But the confused looks the two guys in the back
are giving me now are totally worth it! And to be honest, I probably
couldn't
kill anything with it, but I never said I wanted to
kill with it. I only said I wanted to
try
it.

We
are now approaching the city limits of the small town where my dad
lives and I try to see ahead to his shop, but the curve in the road
and the hill we will have to drive up prevents it. It would have been
nice to see what we are going to be up against before we actually get
there, because as soon as we top that hill, his shop is just a fourth
of a block away.

I
pull over and stop the truck just before the hill.

"What
are you doing?" Will asks me.

"Well,
I think we need to scout it out before we just charge up there."

I
explain the location of the shop to the top of the hill to Jake and
Dustin and they all three agree that I'm right.
Always!

Dustin
volunteers, considering he can walk around undetected. Jake insists
on going, too, and I'm relieved he is. I'm still pissed at him and
I'm not sure I'll ever trust him again. I'm still not sure I believe
he hadn't seen Will back at Ma's house, either. If I ever find out
for sure he
did
, I might just kill him myself.

He
and Dustin get out and disappear in the darkness. Will moves up front
with me and I sigh, wishing I were totally alone and could have some
time to just regroup, get my shit back together. But apparently, Will
wants to make up.

"Honey,
I'm sorry. I overreacted and what I said was stupid. I don't want
Jake to have you and I don't want our marriage to end," he says.

I
sigh and look over at him.

"Well,
that's good because our marriage can't end," I tell him.

Will
laughs and says, "I know, 'cuz there's no divorce court anymore,
right?"

I
just stare at him for a few moments, not joining in his laughter.

"No.
Because I haven't killed you...
yet
. But give it time."

His
laughter dies abruptly and he hangs his head.

"You're
really pissed at me, aren't you?" he asks me.

"I
am. I love you, Will. I really freakin' do, but all this drama..."
I shake my head. "And I'm not talking about just you. I'm
referring to all three of us; you, me, and Jake. I think it's time we
all grow up and start putting surviving and protecting at the top of
our list. As for our marriage, just try to get out of it. You, the
boys, and the rest of our family are top priority for me."

Will
says, "Me, too." Then he grabs and kisses me. I put my
forehead against his and close my eyes. I'm exhausted but I know
there will be no sleep for awhile, as we must first save Dad and then
fix my stupid foot.

The
door opening startles both of us and we turn to the back and see Jake
and Dustin getting inside.

Jake
tells us, "It's bad. My best guess is at least two-hundred,"
I gasp, "but
Dusty
here says he thinks it two hundred and
five
." Jake rolls his eyes and when I see how serious
Dustin's expression is, I bust out laughing. But my laughter dies as
abruptly as it started when the numbers of the undead echo in my
head.