Life After The Undead (Book 1) (20 page)

The
elevator
doors
opened,
and
Pearl
and
I
headed
to the
kitchen.
Olivia
Johnson,
the
head
of
the
Johnson
family
and our
employer,
grabbed
my
arms
and
pulled
me
to
the
corner.

“Krista,
darling,
where
have
you
been?
The
genealogy
department
called.
They
found
some
of
your
family.”

My
eyes grew
wide
and
my
heart
fluttered.
“Really?
Who
is
it?”

“Your
second
cousin.”

My
excitement
faltered
a
little,
but
I
was
still
curious. “Where
are
they?”

Mrs.
Johnson
smiled.
“Well,
my
dear,
it so
happens
your
family
is the
new
general.”
 
She
patted
me
on
the
shoulder
and
left
the
kitchen.

I stared
after
her,
mouth
agape.
This
was
too
good
to
be
true.
I
willed
myself
to
fly,
just to
make
sure
it
wasn
’t
a
dream.
I
didn
’t
pinch
myself
as
you
’r
e
supposed
to,
mainly
because
I
still
feel
pain
in
my
dreams.
For
some
reason,
no
matter
what
I’m
dreaming,
I
can
make
myself
fly,
so
that
was
the
test
I
used.
I
couldn
’t,
so
I
was
awake.
This
was
turning
out
to
be
the
best
birthday
ever.
I
opened
the
kitchen
door
and
stared
at
Liet.
I
saw
him
clearly,
but I
didn’t
recognize
him.
I
racked
my
brain,
but
had
no
memory
of
him.

I put
my
iPod
in my
pocket
and then
carried
a
tray
of
food
into
the
dining
room.
It
was
crap
that
I
still
had
to
do
my
job
and
Mrs.
Johnson
didn
’t
introduce
me
to my
family,
but
business
was
more
important.
As
usual,
my
happiness
would
have
to
wait.

Mrs. Johnson
sat
at
the
head
of
the
table,
and
Liet
sat to
her
right.
They
talked
softly
about
their
plans
for the
wall.
All
I
heard
was
that
they
needed
more
workers,
and
that
the
ones
they
had
at
the
moment
needed
more
motivation.
I
set
the
plate
in
front
of
Liet,
who
looked
up
and
smiled.
I
hesitated
for a
moment
before smiling
back.
I
felt
Mrs.
Johnson
’s
gaze
upon
me,
so
I
hurried
out
of
the
room.

I
stood
by
the
door,
hoping
to
hear
more
about
their
plans
and
waiting
to see
if
Mrs.
Johnson
would
introduce
us,
but
they
switched
their
conversation
to
construction
supplies,
which
was
boring.
I
turned
my
music back
on
and
waited
until
it
was
time to
clear
their
dishes.

I
was
in the
kitchen,
scraping uneaten
food
into
the
garbage
can,
when
it
felt as if
my
earbud
fell
out.
I
went
to
grab
it
and
was
surprised
to
feel a
hand.
I
turned
abruptly
and
looked
up
at
Liet.

He smiled
and
folded
his
hands
across
his
chest.
“Sorry.
I
didn’t
mean
to
scare
you.”

I
turned
my
music
off.
“It’s
all
right.”

“I’m
General
Liet.”
He
held
out
his
hand.

I
shook
it
briefly.
“Krista.”

“I
suppose
they
told
you
we
are
related.”

“Mrs.
Johnson
mentioned
something
, but,
I
have
to
say,
I
don
’t
remember
you.”

Liet
smiled.
“The
last
time
we
would
have
seen
each
other
was
at
the
family
reunion
twelve
years
ago.”
  He
reached
into
his
pocket
and
pulled
out
a
folded
piece
of
paper.
He
handed
it
to
me.
“That
photo
was
taken
at
the
picnic in
the
park.”

I
unfolded
the
paper
and
stared
at
the
smiling
faces
of
my
family.
I
instantly
found
my
five-year-old
self
and
my
parents.
I
also
recognized
several
aunts
and
uncles
and
my
grandparents,
but
there
were
also
several
people
I
didn’t
know.
Liet
moved
so
he
stood
next
to
me.

“Tha
t’s
my
mom
right
there.”
He
pointed
to
a
woman
with
frosted
blonde
hair,
holding
a
beer
and
smoking
a
cigarette. “She
would
have
been
your
mom’s
first
cousin.
And
tha
t’s
me.
I
was
fifteen
at
the
time.”
He
pointed
to
a
skinny
kid
wearing
short blue
basketball shorts
and
a
Led
Zepplin
t-shirt.
“It
was
our last
family
reunion
because
we
moved
to
Louisiana
shortly
after.”

I
squinted
at
the
picture,
then
glanced
at
the
man
before
me.
There
was
definitely
a
resemblance,
but
Liet
had
come
a
long
way
from being
the
thin
kid in
the
picture.
I
folded it
and
tried
to
hand
it
back.
He
held
up his
hand
and
shook
his
head.