Life After The Undead (Book 1) (16 page)

“What
about
the
president?
Where
is
he?”

“If
he’s
not
dead,
he’s
probably
holed
up
in
that
secret
mountain
of
his.”

“What
about
the
people
from
other
countries?
Why
haven
’t
we
asked
them
for
help?”

Tanya
stared
at
me.
She wasn’t even going to attempt to answer. I fought back the urge to scream at her. I
was
getting nowhere.
I
needed
to
find
someone
who
knew
what
was
going
on.
We
stared
at
each
other
for a
moment,
our
eyes
narrowed
to slits.
Eventually,
she
turned
away.

“C
’m
on,
girls,
let’s
go
find
someone
cooler.”

The
three
of
them
headed
toward
the
lake.
Pearl
paused
for a
moment
and
stared
back
at
me.
I
threw
my
hands
into
the
air
before
stomping
to
my
room
and
slamming
the
door
shut. After flinging myself
onto
the
bed,
I
buried
my
face in
my
pillow
and
screamed.
How
could
they
be
so
stupid?
The
world
was
slowly
spiraling
into
chaos
and
they
pretended as if
nothing
was
wrong.
It
was
frustrating
and
maddening
and
ridiculous.
I
sat
up
on
the
bed.
It
was
also
something
I
couldn
’t
spend
my
time
worrying
about.
If
they
wanted
to
pretend
nothing was
going
on,
fine.
That
was
their
problem,
not
mine.

I
went
to
the
bathroom
and
stepped
into
the
shower.
It
was
human
nature
to
try
to
pretend
bad
things
didn’t
happen.
It
helped
ease
the
stress.
The
brain
was
actually
very
sophisticated
when
it
came
to
burying
bad
things.
In
some
cases,
it
even
created
alternative
personalities
to
deal
with
the
hardship. Of
course
those
suppressed
memories
never
actually
went
away,
they
manifested
in other
ways.
Some
people
drank,
others
became
killers.

I
doubted
that
what
Tanya
and
the
rest
of
Florida
experienced
was
that
serious.
I
guessed
they
were
probably
afflicted
with
acute
stress
reaction,
which
arose
from
a
traumatic
or
terrifying event.
I
tried
to
remember
exactly
what
the
symptoms
were,
but
without
my
psychology
book
in
front
of
me, it
was
a
little
difficult.
The
initial
stage
was
the
subject
going
into a
type
of
daze
and
then
they
could
either
withdraw
further or
become
highly
agitated.

I
washed
my
hair
as I
thought
about
it,
and
I
stopped
abruptly.
Of
course!
Why
hadn
’t
I
seen
it
before?
My
parents
showed
classic
symptoms.
I
probably
hadn’t
seen
it
because
I
was
more
than
likely
experiencing
a
little bit
of
it
myself.
It
almost
gave
them
a
good
excuse
to
justify
their
actions,
but
it
wasn
’t
enough.
They
should
have
been
able
to
pull
themselves
out
of
their
daze
and
focus
on
the
important
things.
Like
making
sure
their
only
daughter
was
safe.

I
rinsed
out
the
shampoo
before
slamming
the
water
off.
I
dried
off,
heading back
into
my
room
to
pull
on
a
clean
pair
of
shorts
and
a
t-shirt.
I ran
a
comb
through
my
hair,
then
lay
down.
I
stared
at
the
ceiling.
It
was
unfair
for
me
to
be
mad
at
my
parents.
After all, it
was
their
brain
forcing
them
to
react,
but
I
couldn’t
help
it.
They
should
have
been
stronger. They
should
still
be
t
here.
I
rolled
onto
my
side
and
stared
at
the
wall.
I
had
to
stop
thinking
about
it. I
was
going
to
drive
myself
crazy.
I
couldn’t
change
the
past.
I
took
a
deep
breath
and
closed
my
eyes.

A
while
later, I
heard
a
soft
knocking
on
my
door.
I
rolled
over
and
looked
at
the
clock.
Six thirty
pm.
I
rolled
off
the
bed
with
a
groan
and
then
opened
the
door.
Pearl
stood
before
me,
and
I
set
my
jaw.

“I
thought
you’d
like
some
company
for
dinner.”
Pearl
lowered
her
head
and
grabbed
her
left
arm
.
“I’
m
sorry
for
the
way
Tanya
acted
earlier.”

“You
don’t
have
to
apologize
for
her.”

I
eyed
her
suspiciously. Pearl
seemed
different
from Tanya,
as if
she
actually
had a
brain,
but
they
were
still
friends,
so
I
didn
’t
know
what
to
think.

“I
know
, but
she
really
is
a
nice
girl.
She’s
trying
to
get
on
with
her
life.”

I closed
the
door,
and
we
headed
toward
the
elevator.

“Everybody
has lost
someone
to
the
zombies,
you
know.
And
Tanya
thinks
the
sooner
we
quit
talking
about
it,
the
sooner
they
’l
l
go
away.”