The Zombie Chronicles - Book 5 - Undead Nightmare (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (25 page)

“Hey! You better can it, mole, or I’ll throw you back down in the hole with the other rats.”

I smiled at their banter and looked away, wondering if I’d ever have my own happily ever after. Grief swarmed through me as I thought about Jackie and her condition. I felt awful knowing that she was sedated, stuck in a jail cell, but we had little choice. I was also saddened about my sister and Claire, and I was worried about Kate and Asia. As I thought about my team, I had to swallow a lump in my throat once again.

As we walked back under the moonlight, I looked sideways at Ed. “I thought you said there weren’t many zombies in the drains.”

The kid shot me an innocent look. “And you believed me?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Didn’t you wonder why the adults wouldn’t come with us?” Ed asked. “Why they dismissed Steven's idea?”

“I did think that was strange, since it was the quickest route to get to Rachel,” I replied.

“Well, now you know.” Ed walked briskly to keep up with me. “We just lucked out that we didn’t run into any packs on the way there.”

Steven shook his head. “I was sure he’d figure it out when he didn’t see any rats.”

A deep chill ran through me as I tried to make sense of his words. “You
knew
,” I said, “and you didn’t warn me?”

He met my gaze as he tilted his head slightly, his eyes sad. “Maybe I shoulda been a little more forthcoming, but I was afraid if I told you how bad it was, you wouldn’t come with me. Ed’s great as a navigator, but I needed somebody to cover me.”

I pointed down at another random manhole and stomped down on it. “Down there, what we just went through, all those zombies…that’s the story of my life.”

“What do you mean?” Ed asked.

“Every time I leave the safe confines of my environment, I find myself caught in a life-or-death battle, fighting those freaks!” Anger flooded through me as I gripped his jacket and threw him up against a lamppost. “Ed’s just a kid, so I can’t really blame him, but you? You should have warned me!” I thundered. “I was willing to put my life on the line to save
your
girlfriend, and I had a right to know what we’d be up against.”

“Let him go!” Rachel demanded.

“I’m sorry,” Steven apologized.

I loosened my grip and sucked in a calming breath. There was so much pain, anger, sadness, and worry lurking in my thoughts, and I knew I was taking more of it out on him than I needed to.

“I should have been up front with you, man,” Steven said. “I’m really, really sorry. I was just afraid you wouldn’t—”

“I would’ve come with you anyway,” I said. “I would have, but I wouldn’t have let a thirteen-year-old go with us. You had no right to risk a kid’s life like that. He’s only thirteen.”

“Nobody knows the sewer like Ed,” he shot back.

I motioned toward Ed. “You lured him into a pit of vipers, and he didn’t even have a real weapon to defend himself.”

“Not true,” Ed said, shaking his head. “I had a crowbar.”

I turned to face him. “What if four had come at you at once, kid? You should have had a gun. No, better yet, you should be back on my island, safe and sound, living the life a thirteen-year-old should be living.”

Ed crossed his arms. “It was
my
idea, not Steven’s. You keep calling me a kid, but I’m way more grown up than you think.”

“My point exactly,” I said. “You shouldn’t have to be. You shouldn’t even be thinking about life-or-death decisions and search-and-rescue missions at your age. You had to decide whether to hide or go into another drain. One wrong move, and we would’ve all been dead! That kind of thing shouldn’t be on a kid’s shoulders.”

Steven then gazed into Rachel’s eyes. “Ed’s plan was dangerous but brilliant. I love this girl, and I’d do anything to save her life. From what you said to me, Dean, I thought you could understand that.”

She smiled. “I love you so much, baby. Thank you. You know I’d do the same for you.”

I let out a breath. “I get it. Love conquers all. I’ve got a girl in my life, too, and I’ve gone to extremes to save her.”

“So why are you yelling at me?” Steven asked. “What if it was your girl stuck on that statue?”

I rolled my eyes. The kid was in love, and nobody knew how awesome that felt more than me. “I guess you’re right, but I still deserved a warning.”

“You’re right, and I’m sorry,” he repeated. “How can I repay you?”

“For starters, I need you to keep this little underground excursion a secret. If my brother or Lucas find out about it, I’m dead meat.”

“Your secret is safe with us,” Steven said with a smile. “I can’t thank you enough, man. To make up for all the trouble I put you through, I’ll let you drive my brand new red Ferrari.” He reached into his pocket and handed me a set of keys. “Take it out sometime in the next few days. It’s not like I’m going anywhere. I think Rachel and I will be chilling out indoors for few weeks.”

“Yeah, trotting around the city almost got me killed,” Rachel said. “I’ve learned my lesson.”

I tightly gripped the keys.

“The best part is, there won’t be any traffic or cops to worry about,” Steven said. “I know I can never fully repay you, but—”

I smiled. “It’s definitely a start.”

***

Days passed. Rachel was safely back in the facility, and she and Steven couldn’t stop thanking me for my help and support. Lucas and Nick didn’t come back until late that night, and they had no idea I’d even left the lab. The group of men that had tried to rescue Rachel hadn’t been able to break through the zombie street gangs, so I felt some sense of accomplishment that I’d done something several grown men couldn’t.

I sat in the lobby and stared out the huge windows. No zombies were pacing up and down the street, and it looked like any street in any city.

“Are the monsters gone?” a squeaky voice asked.

I spun around and saw a five-year-old boy with red hair and blue eyes, holding a blue ball in his hands. “I don’t see any monsters,” I answered.

“My name is Ben. What’s yours?”

“Dean.”

“Hi.”

“Hey,” I said. “Nice to meet you, little guy.”

“Can I go outside and play ball?”

I knelt down. “It’s not safe, buddy.”

“When will it be?”

“That’s the question of the century.”

“Will the monsters break in if they come back?”

“Jonathon told me these windows are unbreakable, so you should be completely safe from robbers, a hurricane, a tornado or—”

“Monsters?”

I patted him on the head. “You’re too young to be worried about stuff like this.”

“But I hate it. I can’t even play outside.”

“You know what? You’re right. Kids need sunshine.”

“Will you take me outside, Mr. Dean?” he squealed.

I gripped his hand and laughed. “No mister, kid. It’s just Dean. C’mon.” I opened the stairwell door and headed upstairs.

“But I thought we were gonna go outside to play,” Ben said, stomping up the stairs.

I smiled. “We are.”

We climbed up the stairs until we reached the roof. The sun felt wonderful on my face, and I took a deep breath of fresh air. I had always loved the outdoors, and I couldn’t blame the kid for missing it.

Ben looked around in complete disbelief. “I’ve never been up here,” he said as the wind ruffled his hair.

It was a shame that he couldn’t go to the playground outside and was forced to play on the roof, where I knew I could keep him safe, but that was the way of the world now. We bounced his ball back and forth. I’d never heard a kid laugh so hard, and his giggles made me smile. It was a good feeling to see that someone could still be happy in the world, and I wondered if I’d ever be that carefree again. He was just a child, though, naïve to the dangers outside those walls—kind of like I was before I left my island home. When I thought back on that life, I realized I had been just as naïve as that little boy. But now I knew there were monsters, and they were just beyond those walls.

Back on the island, I’d been a senior in high school. While so many people in the world were dying and suffering, I was slow-dancing at my prom. I stood there and drank punch with my date, laughing and listening to music, all while people outside my little bubble of comfort were fighting to live another day.

As I thought about it, I realized I couldn’t blame Nick for being so upset with me when we first crashed. I was absolutely clueless to the horrors beyond my tiny life. The people on the island strived to make kids’ lives as normal as possible, and they protected us from the horrors at all costs; we weren’t even aware of what was really going on. Most of them didn’t lie, but they certainly downplayed the truth. Nick often told me how bad it was, but I didn’t believe him, and I accused him of exaggerating just to get attention and glory.
Boy, was I wrong!

After we played for a while, I took Ben back downstairs and grabbed a lawnchair I’d seen in the junk room. I took it back up to a corner of the roof, where I made myself a little quiet spot, a place where I could think and ponder in the fresh air and sunshine. Being cooped up in the lab was stifling, and I hated it, and my strength and hope were removed when I stepped outside those four imprisoning walls.

Day after day, night after night, it was the same routine, and as I sat in my quiet place on the roof, I wondered,
How much longer do we have to wait for answers?

Chapter 20

I’d been boxed up all day at the lab and was going stir crazy, but an idea struck me. I smiled and gripped the keys tightly in my hands, the ones I’d swiped from Jonathon’s coat before he went to bed. I sneaked out the front door and scanned the streets for any activity. When I saw that the coast was clear, I hurried across the street, gazing up at the night sky as the moon peeked from the clouds. I went inside the courthouse and raced to the jail cells.

Jackie was sleeping, but I said a few loving words to her anyway. When she didn’t respond, I said them again, but she still wouldn’t answer.

I slowly walked over to Claire’s cell. “Claire?”

No answer there either.

“Claire!” I said louder, hoping to wake her up out of her dead sleep.

“She can’t hear you,” Val said from the next cell.

“Val? You’re awake!”

“Claire hasn’t been sleeping well, so they gave her some sleeping pills. She’ll be out cold for at least eight hours.”

“Guess it’s just you and me then.” Walking over, I dangled a set of keys.

“Dean, what’s going on?” Val asked.

I opened the cell. “I swiped these, so—”

“Swiped?”

“You make it sound so dirty, sis. Let me rephrase it. I
borrowed
them.”

“You’re breaking me out?”

“Yeah, something like that.” I gripped her hand and pulled her along.

“Wait.” She went back and threw a pile of clothes on the bed in the shape of a body, then slung the covers over. “There. Now they’ll think I’m sleeping if they come to check. A lot of them have keys to this cell.”

“Good thinking.”

“Where are we going?” she asked.

I grinned. “You’ll see.”

“Dean,” she said, running down the corridor to keep up with me, “I know you haven’t known me long, but I hate surprises.”

“You won’t hate this one,” I said, locking the door behind me. I reached deep into my pocket and pulled out two keys on a silver keychain, the ones that would fit in the ignition of Steven’s sports car.

Scanning the lonely streets for any zombies, I pointed my gun. “It’s clear,” I said. “C’mon.” I led her to the red Ferrari, a sporty, two-passenger coupe, and opened the passenger door.

“No way! This is a dead-drop gorgeous car!” She ran her hand across the hood, smitten, then jumped inside and admired the leather seats. “Who does this beauty belong to?”

“Steven.”

“Who?”

“Jonathon’s son. He’s sixteen, and we’re friends. He said I could take it for a spin.”

“Why would he—”

“Well, let’s just say he owes me one. I did him a big favor.”

She smiled. “Some favor, huh?”

“A very big one, and a dangerous one at that.”

She arched a brow.

“You don’t wanna know.”

“Right.”

“You wanna go on a joy ride or what?” I asked.

“You better have it back before midnight, or else it might turn into a pumpkin.”

“Actually, we don’t gotta have it back that soon—as long as it’s back in the parking slot before his dad wakes up in the morning.”

She smiled. “Can I drive? I’ve got a need for speed, little brother, and I’ve heard these things can go over 200.”

“Can you handle 700 horsepower?” I asked. Her excitement was contagious, as I’d never driven anything that could go that fast. Like all guys, I’d dreamt of driving a high-performance Thunderbird, Corvette, Lamborghini, or Porsche, and now I had the keys dangling in my hand.