Zomb-Pocalypse 3 (12 page)

“You two are so
messed up,” Abby says, and Silas shoots her a crazy grin that will no doubt
cement her opinion, and that is exactly why he did it.

“I think you’ve
had enough for one day,” Silas suggests, and I shrug.

“Whatever you
think,” is my flippant reply, even though inside I feel like my very guts are
shaking. Silas lines the backseat with garbage bags that he finds underneath
the front seat, and we drive back to the cabin with all the windows down. I
know the smell is making Megan and Abby turn green, but they feel so guilty,
they don’t mention it.

I’m going to need
about ten showers to wash all this stuff off. Worse than the zombie guts, they
will all be ice cold showers since the cabin doesn’t have heat.

When we get home,
I catch a flutter of movement at the window, but it’s gone before I can look
twice. It’s probably someone that looked out here and saw me and then ran for
the hills!

Silas helps me out
of the truck so I won’t touch too much of the upholstery, and then we walk
towards the house as a group. Silas would usually head straight to the RV, but
I guess he feels like he’s going to owe someone an explanation. I don’t even
care right now; I just need a shower so I can wipe some of this toxic zombie
crap off of me.

Abby pushes the
door open and I follow closely, nearly running into her back when she stops
abruptly. “Happy Birthday, Jane!” I hear my Mom and Sunny shout in mismatched
harmony. There are even a few balloons hung up.

“What the hell?” I
hear Silas mutter just before my mom catches a glimpse of me zombie a la mode
and starts screaming her head off. Ryan, Regg, my dad, and even Barry are there
too, and they all start talking at once, but I don’t know what they’re saying.
I can’t hear anything over my mom’s screaming.

“I’m going to take
a shower!” I shout to be heard above the commotion, and then I slip away, or as
much as someone who is the entire focus of attention can slip away. I stare at
myself in the mirror for a moment, and it isn’t pretty. I’m covered head to toe
in black zombie blood, except for the perfect outline around my eyes where I
was wearing the glasses. It’s like the world’s most horrible tan!

Up until a minute
ago, I hadn’t even realized it was my birthday, but I still feel confident
saying—this has been the worst birthday ever.

Chapter Eleven

“It’s your
birthday?” Silas asks when I get out of the shower and return to the living
room.

“I guess so,” I
say with a shrug. I’ve actually lost track of what day it is, but if it’s my
birthday, then it’s November 25
^th
—exactly one more month until
Christmas. My heart sinks at the thought of a zomb-pocalypse Christmas. I will
definitely not be getting a new IPad this year.

“I heard what
happened kiddo,” Dad says, coming over to give me a hug now that I’m not
covered in infectious material. “Are you okay?”

“Happy Birthday,
Jane,” Regg says, coming over and giving me a smile. Him interrupting my dad,
who’s about to ask me every little detail and make me relive it, is the best
present he could have given me. I took down a zombie with a chainsaw; now I
just want to forget about it.

“Thanks, Regg,” I
say. I’m still having a hard time adjusting to calling him Chad, but he doesn’t
seem to mind. Being an army man, he’s probably used to hearing his surname more
than his first name anyway.

Mom walks out of
the kitchen with a birthday cake lit with seventeen candles, and my mouth drops
open. Everyone bursts into a gusty rendition of Happy Birthday, and I’m
actually grinning ear to ear by the time it’s over. “Make a wish,” Mom says as
she sets the cake on the table in front of me, and I close my eyes and blow out
the candles. I wish for the zombies to die off and for life to return back to
normal. Everyone cheers when the candles go out, and I realize that this is a
novelty for everyone, not just me. It’s the first truly normal thing to happen
since the zombies.

“How did you get
chocolate cake, and candles?” I ask my mom with a smile, and she grins
mischievously back.

“I had your dad
pick up a few extras on his supply run,” she confides as she starts dishing out
enormous pieces of cake. I let Sunny have the first piece, and the look on her
face is better than the first piece of cake could ever make me feel.

Mom has supper
ready after the cake. I can’t believe she let us have our dessert first. The
girls and I set the table, and then Mom brings out an enormous goose that Silas
shot yesterday. She was roasting it over the fire all day, and she serves it
with rice and canned vegetables that she stuffed inside the goose and cooked
with all its juices to add flavor. I eat until I’m stuffed and then push my
chair back to give myself some more breathing room. This day has been surreal.

“How about a game
of cards?” Regg suggests, and we all jump at the idea, not wanting the night to
end so soon. Regg teaches us girls how to play poker, Silas and Ryan claim that
they already know how, and we play for pennies. Abby’s parents kept an enormous
jar of pennies at the cabin, for some reason. My Mom plays with Sunny, bouncing
a balloon back and forth around the living room, and Barry and my dad sit on
the couch and talk. Barry has actually been pretty decent lately. I think the
whipping did him a lot of good and caused a complete three-sixty to his
personality. He’s really been trying to make up for what he did, and we have
all been slowly forgiving him.

When ten-thirty
rolls around, my parents disperse our game and tell us to go to bed. My mom
already tucked Sunny in over an hour and a half ago. They say goodnight and
head to bed themselves. Regg has wiped the floor with all of us, including Ryan
and Silas, so our game was pretty much over anyway. I only have three pennies
left to my name.

“You can give us a
chance to win back our money tomorrow,” Megan tells Regg flirtatiously, and we
all laugh. I had a lot of fun tonight, and in a world void of TV or internet,
gambling might just be the next big thing.

Ryan walks over
and gives me a hug. “Happy birthday, Jane,” he tells me, planting a kiss on my
lips before I realize what he’s going to do, and I pull away quickly. I glance
over at Silas and see that he’s watching us with a scrutinizing look, and I
blush.

I stare at Ryan
and feel some of my happiness from earlier melt away as guilt takes its place.
“Ryan, we need to talk,” I say, and he gives me a small smile.

“It’s okay,” he
says, and I stare at him in confusion.

“What’s okay?”

“I know what
you’re going to say,” he tells me. “I’m not blind, I know you’ve been pulling
away from me lately.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal, but I can see the
hurt in his eyes. “We didn’t make any promises to each other. We clung to each
other because we were on the road, but now we’re as safe as we can be and we’re
building a life here and I know that you don’t feel the same way you used to.”
Tears prick my eyes at his understanding words. Why does he have to be so
amazing? It’s not even that my feelings for him have changed; it’s just that my
feelings for Silas have grown so much stronger—and I feel like a terrible
person because of it.

“I am so sorry,” I
gush. “You know that I love you, and I never would’ve survived if it hadn’t
been for you,” I tell him honestly. “You came with me to try and find my
parents and you didn’t have to. You risked your life for me, and now I feel
awful that this is happening.” Ryan wraps me back in a hug, but this time he doesn’t
try to kiss me, and I don’t pull away.

“Jane, just
because we aren’t going to be boyfriend and girlfriend doesn’t change the way I
feel about you. We will always be friends, and I will always protect you and
want to see that you are happy.” His words make me feel like the worst.

“I will always
protect you too,” I promise, and I mean it. I wouldn’t hesitate to give my life
protecting anyone in this cabin—well, I’m actually on the fence about
Barry—but everyone else—I wouldn’t even have to think... “You’re one of my best
friends,” I tell him, and Ryan smiles.

“You too,” he says
as he lets me go and steps back. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” he says,
and I nod.

“Good night.” Ryan
turns away from me to face the rest of the group. Megan and Abby are talking to
Regg. Silas is standing with them, but he isn’t paying attention to what
they’re saying. He’s watching me. I wipe my tears away and turn my back on the
others so they won’t see as Ryan says goodnight. Regg joins him and the two
walk out to the camper parked in the driveway.

Megan and Abby
look at Silas, who’s still hanging around, and they quickly excuse themselves,
heading up to bed so we can have a little privacy. Silas approaches and stares
down at me for so long that I start to get uncomfortable. “I told Ryan that we
couldn’t be anything more than friends,” I say to break the silence, and Silas
looks at me critically.

“Is that what you
really want?” he asks, and I nod.

“It is.”

“Then why are you
crying?” he asks softly as he steps closer and uses the pad of his thumb to
wipe the tears from my cheeks. It’s a strangely nice gesture, coming from
Silas, and I smile even though my face is wet from tears.

“I feel bad,” I
admit. “Ryan did so much for me, he came with me to find my parents and he’s
saved my life so many times.” I shrug. “I guess I just feel like I’m a terrible
person for abandoning him now that we’re safe. I do care about him still, just
not like that.” My voice is nearly a whisper when I finish, and Silas nods like
he actually understands.

“We are never
safe, Blondie, not anymore. If that is why you feel guilty, then you
shouldn’t.” His words don’t have the reassuring quality that he probably
intended. I frown and he leans in and kisses me softly before pulling away.
“I’m glad you did it,” he admits, and I look up at him in surprise. Silas has
kissed me a few times, but I really wasn’t sure if he would care that I broke
up with Ryan, not that we were ever technically dating... Silas is so hard to
read, with the exception of confessing he liked me when he thought we were
going to die, he’s never acted like my relationship with Ryan bothered him.
This is my first peek into his mind, and I’m intrigued.

Of course, he
clams up immediately afterwards. “Happy Birthday,” he tells me as he pulls away
and heads for the door. I stare after him, my mouth agape a little. He stops
and looks back at me, and my heart leaps. “Don’t forget to lock this door,” he
cautions me, and I frown at him—that wasn’t exactly what I thought he was going
to say.

“I will,” I snap,
and he grins at me like he knows he’s messing with my head, and he grabs the
door handle like he’s going to leave. Typical Silas. I cross my arms over my
chest, waiting for him to leave so I can lock the door and head up to bed to
dissect every little piece of this conversation and try to figure out what in
the heck is going on inside Silas’s head.

Silas doesn’t
leave though; he just stands at the door for a minute with his hand on the
handle. “What are you doing?” I ask, and he spins around at my question,
striding towards me. He kisses me so hard my head spins and my knees go weak. I
wrap my arms around his neck and hold on to keep from collapsing. After a
minute, he pulls back and rests his forehead against mine. “I like you, Blondie,”
he says, and then he really does turn around and walk out the door. I grip the
couch and stare at the door for a minute with a big grin on my face.

“Are you going to
lock the door?” Mom asks, making me jump. I turn around and face her, a blush
on my cheeks, though hopefully she won’t be able to see it in the dim
firelight.

“Did you see
that?” I ask, and she nods.

“The end of it,”
she admits.

“Do you still not
like him?” I ask her, wanting her approval.

Mom thinks about
it for a minute. “I like him just fine. Your dad told me about how protective
he was of you when you were out on that Wal-Mart run. Your dad really likes
him, and I think it’s nice.” She pauses and walks across the room to lock the
door herself. I watch her click the lock into place, and she comes over and
gives me a hug. “I just want you to be careful,” she cautions, and I brace
myself for her speech. “Having a boyfriend now is a little different than
before.”

“How so?” I can’t
help asking. I mean, sure we can’t go out to the movies or anything, but I’m
not really sure what other differences she’s talking about. Did the rules of
dating change when the zombies arrived?

Mom hesitates.
“Well, for starters, you can’t really go out on dates, and you are practically
living together.”

“He lives out in
the camper,” I object, but my Mom rolls her eyes at me.

“The driveway is
really not a separate residence,” she counters. “Besides, I’m sure those boys
will have to move inside this winter when it gets too cold out—it’s probably
too cold out there now.”

“They still have
some propane left for heat,” I tell her, since I’d just heard Regg mention it
the day before.

“Alright. I just
worry about you. Teenage pregnancy is not something I want for you,” she says,
making me flush red with indignation. “It wouldn’t have been ideal before, but
a baby right now, with the zombies.” Mom shudders, and I’m pretty sure we are
both thinking about Natalie.

“Mom!” I splutter.
“I’m not going to be doing...that!” I tell her. “Geez!”

Mom stares at me
for a minute before she nods. “Okay, I just want you to really think about the
consequences of things.” She stops and sighs, “I guess this is a conversation I
should be having with all three of you girls, not just you.”

I jump at my
chance of escape. “Yeah, okay, that sounds good. Save it for another day,” I
agree as I start edging towards the stairs.

“Jane,” Mom calls
me back, and I stop and turn around to face her.

“What?”

“Happy Birthday.”

“I wonder what we
would’ve been doing today if the zombies hadn’t come?” I ask before I can stop
myself.

“You would’ve been
bowling and getting an IPad,” Mom answers without even having to think about
it.

“What?” I
splutter. “How do you know?”

“Because I
reserved the bowling alley for you and your friends ages ago, and I bought you
an IPad,” she tells me in a matter-of-fact way.

“Today was still
great,” I tell her, and she beams.

“Sweet dreams,”
she calls after me as I start up the stairs, and I tell her that I love her.

Abby and Megan are
waiting for me when I get upstairs. “What happened?” they whisper, not wanting
to wake up Sunny.

I grin and jump
next to them on the bed. “Silas kissed me,” I confess, and they squeal with
excitement. “And then my mom saw us,” I say with a groan, and they laugh.

“Only you could
find love during the zombie apocalypse,” Abby teases, and I blush.

“I’m not sure it’s
love,” I say, with a huge yawn emphasizing my words, “But he does give me
butterflies.” Megan and Abby grin at that.

I check the
light-up watch on Megan’s wrist and see that it’s nearly midnight, which isn’t
too bad for a normal teenager, but we have to be up early tomorrow, chopping
wood, and we were up early today and I’m exhausted. We each crawl into our own
beds, and I don’t even get that chance to think about Silas; I’m too tired.

Sunny’s shriek
startles all three of us awake. I leap out of bed, half-asleep, and make my way
over to her bed. Megan is already there, and Abby stumbles over a minute later.