Sadie Walker Is Stranded (37 page)

Whelan’s flashlight moved over the works of art. Some had been taken out of their frames, but all had been covered with a thin plastic sheeting to keep the dust and dampness from compromising the integrity of the canvases. “This is more than I expected,” I said.

“What were you expecting?” Whelan asked. Shane darted beneath my arm, skidding to a stop in front of a startling blue Monet.

“Not this.”

“What do we do with all of it?” Shane asked, crouching down to get a better look at the Monet.

“Get it somewhere safer, that’s what,” I said.

“Portland?” Whelan suggested, wandering into the vault. “’Couver? Colorado?”

“I say LV, but all three are possibilities.” I pulled a flimsy square from my back pocket. “I just hope they’re ready with the van.”

Whelan and Shane began shifting the paintings and boxes out into the hall. I knelt down beside one of the sketch boxes, lifting the dusty lid to find a ruffle of cigarette paper to catch the moisture. A layer of parchment paper waited beneath that, and underneath, priceless sketches, each protected from the next. Moritz had done an amazing job. That these had survived so long was incredible; that they had endured in such good shape was even more exciting.

“Good work,” I said softly. “Really amazing stuff.”

The wrinkled old Polaroid hadn’t fared as well as the sketches and paintings. Even so, I put it inside the box, right on top of the cigarette paper, and replaced the lid. He’d get to travel to our next destination in style, on a bed of lovingly preserved masterpieces.

“Yoo-hoo.”

I stood, turning to find Andrea jogging down the lower maze of the bank toward me. She was wearing her pink hat today and it slid to the side as she slowed to a walk. “Nate’s outside. You won’t believe the van we found. I think it used to have shag carpeting in the back. We hit pay dirt?”

“All ready to go,” I said. From inside the vault, Whelan and Shane began giggling.

“Probably found the booby paintings,” Andrea muttered, fixing her hat.

She was right. I reached back and banged twice on the vault door. “Come on, boys. It’s time to get the hell out of town.”

Who knows? Maybe Colorado would be pretty this time of year.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I want to thank my family, for their support and love and for putting up with me typing away on my laptop during holidays. Mom and Pops—thanks for calling and sending snacks. Tristan and Julie—thank you for taking me shooting. Trevor, thanks for cracking the whip and making me kebabs. I’m so glad we got that teaspoon/tablespoon thing sorted. Andrea, Jessy, and Louisa—thank you for reading my work and having the stones to be honest. The Beloit College Library provided a safe haven to work, and I thank them for letting me use their computers when mine died.

I also want to thank everyone at St. Martin’s/Macmillan for their hard work and dedication, especially Monique, Holly, and Mallika. To Kate McKean, the biggest thanks of all, for being a miracle worker and friend.

Also by Madeleine Roux

Allison Hewitt Is Trapped

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MADELEINE ROUX received her B.A. in creative writing and acting from Beloit College. Shortly after, she began the experimental fiction blog
Allison Hewitt Is Trapped
. She lives in Wisconsin, where she is preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Visit her on the Web at
www.madeleine-roux.com/blog/
.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

SADIE WALKER IS STRANDED.
Copyright © 2012 by Madeleine Roux. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

The Library of Congress has catalogued the print edition as follows:

Roux, Madeleine, 1985–

Sadie Walker is stranded : a zombie novel / Madeleine Roux. — 1

           p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-65891-5 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-4299-3842-6 (e-book)

  1.  Zombies—Fiction.   I.  Title.

PS3618.O87235S23 2012

813'.6—dc23

2011033801

e-ISBN 9781429938426

First Edition: February 2012