My Zombie Summer (Book 1): The Undead Road (9 page)

Did Sam keep our guns in that room? Maybe. That woman was as transparent as crude oil in a fishbowl.

To make things worse, some doofus had to make life miserable for everybody else, just for kicks and giggles. Big Thomas was the undisputedly biggest kid in town. He had a few cronies who stood by him, like shucked cornstalks in comparison. He’d beaten them into submission early on, I bet. Together, they bullied the little kids, and the older kids if his chub outweighed them. It wasn’t long before they targeted my little sister, as if someone had written
Fresh Meat
on her forehead with a Sharpie. I found them during lunch. They were trying to pin her in a corner. Not on my watch.

“Look at her haircut,” Big Thomas snorted. “It makes her tiny face look like a—”

I shoved the punk before he could finish. “It’s a better face than you’ll ever have,” I said. He didn’t like that one bit. His sides jiggled a full ten seconds as he stared at me, like no one had ever stood up to him.

Why hadn’t the older kids, like Cody, put him in his place? Come to think of it, Cody didn’t go to school.

During my stare-off with the jerk-off, the teacher showed up and announced that lunch was over.

When it was only a few of us left, Thomas pointed his pudgy and portly finger at me. “I ain’t finished with you, pretty boy,” he threatened. “Watch your back.”

I’m not a fan of that expression. Have you tried to watch your back? It strains the neck like no other.

Interestingly enough, Big Thomas reminded me of a hypothetical scenario in the book that Mason had left us. Seemingly ordinary people, even kids, would use a zombie outbreak to go on an insane power trip. Adults, according to Mr. Booker, are the most dangerous.

The author published the book before I was born, before anything close to real zombies happened. It was a fun read, but the author was frighteningly thorough. He listed weapons and vehicles and environments where one could wait out an outbreak, along with the pros and cons of each. He even listed the symptoms of a zombie and the only way you can deal with them:

Aim for the brain.

We were doing that from the beginning, so that piece of information was easy enough to swallow. The one section that troubled me the most was his thoughts on Pain:
Once the pathogen compromises the infected person’s nervous system, they can no longer feel pain. Zombies are completely oblivious to touch and taste, although the subject of whether zombies can actually taste is still in dispute
.

I laughed at that part. The guy wrote himself like an authority on real zombies, as if he had researched them for years. When I finished the book, I was comfortable again. I could take on a horde of zombies on my own—except for the encounter that contradicted what I’d come to know of them; the Vector that Jewel had shot. When Kaylynn smacked him, he reached for his face. He fell back and retreated, in pain. I shook all over. If Vectors can’t feel pain, how come
that
one did?

It was after school when I decided to sit on the front porch and pick petals off a defenseless dandelion. Jewel was in the house with a PSP that Candice’s grandson had lent her. They were about the same age. Poor kid had an obvious crush on her. It made me protective of my sister, but it also made me wonder if my crush for Kaylynn was just as obvious. She was out of my league, but I liked her. And not knowing what she was up to drove me crazy. I had to go find her.

I plucked off the last dandelion petal. Since the tiny yellow things are a few cells more than microscopic, it took me almost an hour to pick them all. Flowers aren’t the best way to make choices, but I didn’t argue with it.

“Want to go for a walk, Jewel?” I asked through the opened door.

“Nah,” she said. “I’m about to slay the dragon!”

Already? She was quick. “You’ll be okay if I go?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. Just lock the door.”

I did, and I headed out, but not before I took a couple cans of beef stew and a can opener with me, in case Kaylynn was hungry. I minded the gnomes and made my way to the front gate. The guards gave me a little trouble when I asked them to let me out. They wouldn’t, so I waited for the next car to enter and snuck off. There was a golf course to the south, but I wasn’t about to play a few holes. I went north to the main road and strolled through the abandoned portion of town. The empty street tripped me out with cheeseburger wrappers and post-apocalyptic clutter everywhere.

An early summer wind greeted me when I reached E. Street. I passed a county building, a US Bank, and a Subway restaurant. No signs of life, so I pressed on.

“Kaylynn?” I called for her at every intersection and building in between, hopeful that my voice wouldn’t attracting anything else. “Chloe?” The empty streets beckoned. Vacant buildings echoed back at me.

Then I heard a sound like music to my ears.

Thwack!

It came from one of four baseball fields next to a junkyard. I ran over the railroad tracks for a closer look. Kaylynn was standing on a pitcher’s mound, retrieving a baseball from Chloe’s mouth. She tossed the ball into the air and swung. The bat made contact, and Chloe chased after it. The ball slammed into the chain-linked catcher’s box. Chloe grabbed it in her mouth and brought it back. I watched Kaylynn do this five or six more times. If I wasn’t a creeper before, I was now.

I had to say something to her.

Psyching myself up, I left the cover of the trees and headed for Kaylynn’s diamond. Instead of giving the ball back to her, Chloe ran for me and dropped the ball at my feet. I knelt for it, smiling at the dog. Since I was down at her level, I had to tousle Chloe’s golden head a little. Kaylynn studied me while keeping her expression guarded. Her bat was swaying beside her leg. This was it, the first time I’d ever been alone with a girl, blocks away from anyone else. I had to speak up or die trying.

“Since when do pitchers bat the ball?” I asked.

I winced immediately. Man that sucked.

To my surprise, she smiled. “
All
players do.”

“Yeah, I mean, you know what I mean,” I said, trying to act natural. I never was a very good actor. My drama teacher could’ve told you that. “Is this where you’ve been all this time?”

“Sometimes. When the weather’s good.”

“Weather. Right.” I tossed her the ball.

She caught it with one hand. “Where’s Jewel?”

“In town,” I said. “She’s worried about you.”

Kaylynn glanced at the cans in my hand. “I’m glad she cares.”

“She’s not the only one; my mom, dad . . . me.”

Kaylynn threw me the ball. “Take my spot, Jay.”

She headed for home plate. It didn’t take long for me to figure out her game. Setting the cans down, I went to the pitcher’s mound and waited with the ball behind my back. She stood on the plate, her arms bent, and her feet spread. Kaylynn looked like a real pro.

“Pitch it!” she said.

I did, but the ball bounced on the ground before it touched home plate.

Kaylynn threw it back. “A little harder . . .”

Putting my back into it, I launched the ball her way.

She swung, and her bat made contact.

Chloe ran deep into left field, chasing after it. Kaylynn had her free hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. Even with the low sun, the light made her black hair shine, and her purple highlight stood out more. I pitched the ball a dozen more times. She hit them all. I hadn’t had that much fun in weeks. Like her bat, and my ball, I think we were finally making a connection.

“Chloe’s tired,” Kaylynn said. “That’s enough.”

“Where’re you staying?” Smooth, Jeremy. . .

She pointed at an abandoned granary. “That place locks from the inside, and there’s an office space with a cot on the second floor, too. Any distance you can find off the ground is best.” She walked to me, gesturing at the cans by my feet. “What’re those for?”

“I hadn’t seen you. Thought you’d be hungry.”

Kaylynn did something unexpected then. She took the two cans and sat by a nearby patch of grass. I sat with her and quietly enjoyed her company. She clearly wanted to keep her distance from other people, but she hadn’t turned me away. Yet. I figured if I waited long enough, she’d tell me why. Until then, I had the can opener. I opened both of them and handed one to her.

Crap . . . I’d forgotten spoons!

Kaylynn dug into hers without complaining. She dipped her fingers into the gravy and fed Chloe bits of potato and carrot. That was cool of her, letting others eat first. She had a cube of beef pitched between her thumb and finger, and she tossed it into her mouth.

She did this a few times. Curiously, she was saving the meat for herself. “You eating?” she asked.

“Uh, yeah,” I said, having forgotten about my own can. Maybe it was the light from the low sun, but I couldn’t help but notice that her skin wasn’t pale, as it was before. “How come you’re only eating the beef?”

She took another bite. “It’s the only thing I’m hungry for.”

I respected that. When you crave, you crave.

Something orange and black flew around Kaylynn and me. The buzzing of small wings made me scurry back. Kaylynn stayed still. My skin itched as the insect landed on her arm. It flexed its legs. It moved its antennae. Its mouth was pinching. Why did I have to confront my most irrational of fears at that moment?

“What’s with you?” Kaylynn asked.

“There’s a bee on you. I hate bees.”

She looked at the insect like it wasn’t a big deal. “You allergic or something?”

“Well . . . no,” I said, feeling stupid. “They have it in for me. They’ve done nothing but sting me since I was two.” I told her of the bee that flew into our car when I was a toddler. It landed on my nose and stabbed me with its butt—my earliest memory. From then on, bees just terrified me. I ran away and they followed. One way or another, they found me and did their business. “Even dead ones have it in for me,” I added. “I can’t go barefoot in the grass. How are you so calm?”

“It’s no wonder they sting you,” Kaylynn laughed. “You’re scaring them.”

“
I’m
scaring
them
? How does that work?”

“Well, bees are very sensitive. They react to fear.” Kaylynn picked a clover from the grass and held it in front of the bee. “When people freak out, they release a scent—a pheromone. Bees like it. So when you run, they follow. If you swat at them, they get scared.” The bee made its way up Kaylynn’s arm and onto the clover. She guided the little creature onto a small blossom and left it alone to inspect the white petals. “They won’t harm you unless you let yourself become afraid.”

“Since when did you become a science girl?”

She laughed again. “I’m not bad at science.”

Baseball, biology,
and
a knockout. Jackpot!

“Listen . . .” She had her lips pressed together, looking as nervous as I felt. “I like your family. I bet you’re a great guy—not many sisters get along with their brothers like you two.” The bee flew away. Was she confessing? Did she like me, too? I hoped, but then she looked down. “It’s better if you don’t come again.”

And there went my hopes. Why was she pushing me away? I was about to ask when Chloe growled.

“Look!” Big Thomas said. “Two turds in the park!”

I can’t remember the last time I turned around so fast. Kaylynn stood up, looking just as pissed off. Thomas walked up to us with four of his lanky goons.

I was compelled to reach for Kaylynn’s bat.

“I didn’t know the new kid had a girlfriend,” Thomas continued. “Aren’t they the cutest couple?”

“You have your boyfriends here,” I said. “I’m not making a fuss about it.”

I can be a real smart ass when I want to be.

Thomas’s face went pink. “What’d you say?”

“You should clean the lard out of your ear.”

Kaylynn took my hand. “He’s not worth it, Jay. Let’s go.” Her advice—and her hand—made more sense than anything. I returned her grasp as she led me to the fence. Big Thomas wasn’t about to give up. His posse had funneled us to a stop. He was clearly trying to bait me into a fight, but I knew better than that.

“We didn’t see any of you at Sunday service. You people atheists or something?”

He pushed the right button. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,
seriously
. You deaf or something?”

Kaylynn gripped my arm too late. “Nope. My ears are fine. And if you must know, I’m agnostic.”

Big Thomas let out a belly laugh. His goons joined in with forced gusto. “That’s atheism for pussies!”

I snorted back. “Said the fatty with his flunkeys!”

That sent me to the ground faster than a lead brick. Thomas had me pinned next to the dugout, his cronies cheering as he punched my face faster than I thought he could swing. Chloe barked as Kaylynn tried to stop Big Thomas, but the others kept her from interfering. I had no leverage to defend myself. I was dizzy. Done for.

Just when I thought I would die, the others cried as they scurried back. Thomas suddenly jumped off me.