Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (7 page)

Quinn stood in the
middle
of the
floor,
his hands on
his hips as he
scanned
the
room.
He
found
a
bag
and
grabbed
it.
“What
do
you
want me
to put in here?”

I
shook
my
head.
“Nothing.”

“C’mon,
now.
You
have
to
take something.
Some
clothes,
a
coat.”

“Then
you
decide.” I
walked to the
bed
and
sat
down.

With a
sigh,
Quinn
sat
next to
me.
He placed
a
hand
on
m
y
kn
e
e
.
“Leaving
can
be
difficult.
Maybe
a
little
scary.
And
it’s
hard
to know
what
you’ll
need
out
there. But
whatever
you
leave
behind, we
can
replace.”

“It’s
not the leaving
that’s
hard,”
I
spoke
softly,
my
gaze
focused
on
my
lap. “I
actually
can’t
wait to get the
hell
out of
here.”
I
looked
at
his
face. “It’s
figuring
out
what’s
important.
I
mean, do
I
need
my
CDs?
In
the
scheme
of
things,
when
will
I
ever
listen
to
them
again?
What kind of
clothes
do
I
need? Besides,
they
all
remind
me of
Liet.
Do
I
need to
take
that memory
with me?”

Quinn
placed
a
hand on
my
cheek
before
leaning
forward
and
kissing
me. When he
pulled
away,
he
rested
his
forehead
against
mine. “No,
you
don’t.
We
can
make
some
memories
of
our
own,
and
we
don’t
need
these
things
to do it.
If
you
want
to
leave
it
all
here,
fine
with me. We
can
find other
stuff.”

“And
what
are
we
going
to do with
Liet?
Killing
him
would be
the
best
option,
then
we
wouldn’t
have
to worry
about
him
ever
again,
but
I
know
we
can’t.
The
zombies
have
caused
enough
death, we
don’t
need to add to the
toll. And he
could
come
in handy
later.”

Quinn
sighed.
“I
don’t
know,
Krista.
I
just
don’t
know.
Right
now, we’ll
take
him to
Dashton.
After
Florida
is
taken
care
of, then
we’ll
decide
what
to
do with
him.”

“Okay.
Sounds like a
plan.”

We
stared
at
each
other for
a
while
longer.
I
didn’t
want
the
moment
to
end,
but we
had
a
lot of work
ahead
of
us.
Plus,
my
shoulder
ached
and
I
needed
some
pain
pills.
After
I
took those,
I
would be
ready
for
bed. Quinn
sensed
my
discomfort, and he
pulled
away.

“I
should
go
and
see
if
anyone
else
needs
help.”
He
hesitated,
perched
on the
edge
of the
bed, but eventually
he
stood.

“Let
me
walk
you
to the
door.”

He
stood
at
the
open
apartment door
and
leaned
against
the
jamb.
He
took
my
good
hand
in his.
“Even
though
everything
seems
uncertain
right
now,
just know
that
I’m
going
to be
right
here
with
you.
You
don’t
have
to
go
through
this
alone.”

His
words,
even
though
kind of
corny,
meant
a
lot.
From
the moment
I
lost
my
parents
until
I
came
to
North
Platte,
I
did
feel
like
I
was
alone,
like
no one
knew
what
I
was
going
through.
It
was
silly,
I
know,
because
we
were
all
in the
same
situation.
Every
one
of
us
was
threatened
or
affected
in some
way
by
the zombie
horde.
But we
all
experienced
it differently,
and
it
was
nice
to know
I
had
my
very
own
support
group.
I
placed
my
hand
on
his
face.

“And
I’m
here
for
you.”

He
leaned
forward
and
kissed
me
before
heading
out.

I
closed
the
door
and
turned
toward
Tanya.
She
snored
on the
couch.
I
grabbed
a
blanket and
covered
her
up. I
stared
at
her for a
moment,
feeling
sorry
for
her.

She
wanted
to be
a part of
the
revolution,
but
I
highly
doubted this
was
what
she
had
in mind.
I’m
sure
she
wanted
her
dad
alive,
to
be
proud
of her, to tell
her
what
a
good
job
she’d
done. I
knew how
hard it
was
to lose a
parent,
especially
because
of some
stupid
decision
or
act.
It
was
going
to take
her
a
long
time to
get
over—
if
she
ever
got
over
it. I
hoped she
was
like
me
though,
and
I
hoped
she took
all
of
her
anger
and
resentment
and
sadness and
focused
it on one
task.
Preferably
taking
down
Florida
or
maybe
destroying
the
zombies
in the
West.
Either
way,
she
needed
something
to
occupy
her
mind.
It
was
the one
thing
that would
keep
her
going.

It
was the
only
thing
that
kept
me
going.

CHAPTER
3

It
was easy
getting
the
workers
and
the
former
guards
organized
to
leave
North
Platte.
They
didn’t have
much,
so it didn’t take
them long
to pack. Once
everything
was
ready,
Quinn
gave
them instructions of
where
to go.
He
wanted
the
town empty
for
our
final
task.
Even
though
he
didn’t think
anything
was
going
to
happen,
he
didn’t
want
to
take
the
chance.
There
were
still a
lot of
bad
feelings
toward
Liet
and
the others who
refused
to
convert.

I
stood outside the
door
t
o the holding
c
e
lls,
m
y
shoulder
aching
more
than
normal
as
I
thought
about
facing
my
cousin.
Quinn, Pam, and
Tanya
stood behind
me.

“You
sure
you
want to go in
there
alone?”
Pam
asked.

I
nodded without looking
at
her. “Yeah.
We
need
to
subdue
him
first.
He
might
get
the
others
riled
up.” I
couldn’t
tear
my
gaze
away
from
the
closed
door.

“If
anyone
is
going
to rile
him up, it’s
going
to be
you.
You’ve
always
been the
focus
of his anger.”
Quinn’s
voice
made
it possible to
break
my
stare.

I
looked
at
him.
“Well,
I
guarantee
if
you
go
in
there,
it will definitely
upset him.
Same
with
Pam.
I’m
pretty
sure
he
won’t
hesitate
trying
to kill
you.
With any
luck,
he’ll
show
some
restraint
with
me.
He
doesn’t
know
Tanya,
and
she’s
unaware
of
what
he’s
capable
of, so
I
don’t
want
to
send
her
in
there.”
I
took
a
deep
breath.
“This is really
the only
way.”

Pam
placed
a
hand on my
good
shoulder. “We’re
right
here
if
you
need us.
Don’t
hesitate
to
call.”

Quinn
nodded.
“We
can
be
in
there
in a split
second.”

Tanya
stared
at
me,
her arms
crossed
over
her
chest,
the look on
her
face
told
me she
was
undecided about
coming
to
my
rescue.
I
didn’t
blame
her.
We
told
her
some
stories
about
Liet,
I’m
sure
she
was
scared
to
death.
I
smiled
at
the
others.

“I
won’t
hesitate
if
something goes
wrong.”

Taking
another
deep breath,
I
turned
and
grabbed
the
handle
of
the
door.
I
pulled
it
open
and
stepped
inside.

The
cells
lined
the
right
side of
the
room.
They
were
a
lot like
the
cells
we
stayed
in in
Casper.
The
doors
were
constructed
of
metal bars, while the
other
three
walls
were
concrete
blocks. I
looked down the
rows
of
black
bars.

The
only
sound was
my
own
breathing.
Hands
poked
into
the
halls,
resting
on the bars,
and
eyes
watched
me,
waiting
to see
what
I
was
going
to do.
In
all,
about
fifteen
guards
didn’t
want
to be
integrated
into society
and still
held
loyalty
to
Liet.
They
weren’t
much
of a
threat to the
city,
but to the
four
of us,
it
could
be
detrimental.
Our
best
bet
was
to
take
the
leader
out
first,
make
sure
he
couldn’t
inspire
them to riot, then the
others
should
fall
in
line
nicely.
At
least,
that’s
what
we
hoped.
That’s
what
I
hoped.
But
I
knew
Liet
wasn’t
one
to
go
quietly. We
placed
him in the
last cell at the
end
of
the
hall.
Even
though
he
was able
to talk to the
others,
we
hoped
the
distance from
them would
deter
him. So
far,
he
seemed
to
keep
to himself.

I
made
my
way
down the
hall,
well
aware
of the
loud
squeaks
my
shoes made on the
linoleum
floor. My
heart
rate increased
and
thumped
in
my
ears. I
wondered if
others
could
hear it, too. I
kept
my
gaze
forward,
my
head
high,
trying
to portray
a
confidence
I
didn’t
feel.
I
watched
them from the
corner
of
my
eye,
thinking—hoping—they
wouldn’t
try
anything.
In
reality, if
they
wanted
to
grab
me, nothing
stopped
them. The
room
was
just big
enough
that if
I
pressed
myself
against
the
wall,
they
couldn’t
reach
me.
But
I
wasn’t
pressed
against
the
wall.
I
walked
down the
center
of
the
floor. All
these
people
knew
was power,
and
if
I
attempted
to portray
it,
maybe
they
would believe
it.
After
all,
we
already
overthrew
them. They
were
the ones
behind
bars.
If
I
skimmed
against
the wall, they
would sense
my
fear
and
pounce
on it. I
needed
to
remain
in control, even if it
was
an
illusion.

I
stopped
in
front
of his cell.
Liet
sat
on the
edge
of
his bed,
wearing
his
green
fatigue pants
and
a
ribbed
white
tank
top. I
was
aware
of the
pin-up
girl
tattoos
on
his
forearms,
but
I
had never
seen
the
ones
on his
upper
arms.
His
right
arm
was
toward
me,
and
his shoulder
was
covered
with the
branches of a
leafless
tree.
I
followed
the lines of
the
branches
with
my
eyes,
around
his
shoulder
blade,
until they
were
covered
by
his shirt. I
figured
the
rest
of the tree
covered
his
back. From
one of
the limbs on his
arm
hung
a
guy.
His body
was
limp and
his
eyes
bulged, but his mouth
was
curled
into a
sinister
smile. I
shuddered. Liet
stared
at
me.