Life After The Undead (Book 1) (79 page)

Bill
reached
into
his
bag
and
pulled
out
a
first
-aid
kit.
“Here,
take
a
couple
Ibuprofen.”
  He
handed
the
pills
to
Quinn.

“Thanks.”
He
popped
them
into his
mouth and
chased
them down
with
bottled water.

“If
you
need
any
more,
let
me
know.”
  He
grabbed
a
lantern,
stood,
and
looked
at
his
brother.
“C
’m
on,
Kyle,
it’s
time
for
bed.”

Kyle
bid us
good
night
and
followed
Bill
into
the cell.

I
looked
at
Quinn.
He
still
rubbed
his
shoulder.
“Would it
help
if
I
massaged
it a
little?”

“It might.”

I
positioned
myself
behind
him
and
placed
my
hands
on
him.
His
muscle
was
hard
and
sinewy
with
a
small
bulge
at
the
base
of
his
neck.
I
rubbed,
and
he
flinched
away
from
me.

“Sorry.”
I started
again
more
gently.

The
muscles
loosened
as I
worked
on
them.
The room was eerily silent. It made me slightly uncomfortable—and I wasn’t sure why. It was probably because of the change in Quinn’s and my relationship status. I was nervous.
Was
that
why
Bill
and
Kyle
had left?
Were
they
purposefully
trying
to
give
us some
time
alone?
I was sure my nerves stemmed from the fact that
I
didn
’t
really
know
how
to act. Or
give
a
massage.
It
was
all
so new
to
me.

Quinn
gently
touched
my fingers,
and
he
looked
at
me
over
his
shoulder.
“Are
you
all
right?”

“I
don’t
know.
I’m
still
a
little
nervous
about
you
and
me.
To
tell
you
the
truth,
Quinn,
I’v
e
never
had
a
boyfriend
before.
I’
m
not
sure
how
to
act.”

Quinn
turned
to
face
me. “The
last
girlfriend
I
had
was
in
first
grade.
I’m
not
really
sure
what
to
do
either.”
He
placed his
hands
on
my
knees.
“We
can
figure
it
out
together
, but
one
thing
is
for
sure,
I’m
still
your
friend.
That
doesn
’t
have
to
change.”

“Except
now
we
’re
friends
who
get
to
kiss.” I
smiled.

“Mmm,
speaking of…”
He
leaned
forward
and
our
lips
connected.

We
kissed
for
several
moments
before
Quinn
pulled
away.
He
arched
his
back.

“I
hate
to
break
this
up ‘cause
I’m
really
enjoying
it, but
I
think
I
need
to
get
an ice
pack
from
Bill.”
  He
stood
and
gave
me
one
last kiss.
“Good
night,
Krista.”

“Good
night,
Quinn.”

I lay
in bed
for a
long
time
thinking
about
him. Part of me was relieved that he ended the night when he did. I was anxious about massaging and kissing him, even though I enjoyed it. Anything beyond would have totally freaked me out. But in time, I was sure I would get more comfortable. I was thankful we were taking it slow.
Just as
I
was
about
to
drift
to
sleep,
disappointment
enveloped
me
because
I
didn
’t
have
anyone
to
tell
about
my
new
boyfriend.

CHAPTER
20

After
we
filled
both trucks,
we
headed
to
the
ranch
to
hide
the
guns
in
the
supplies.
Then
we
went
to
North
Platte
where
Liet
waited
for us.

His gaze was hard and directed
at
Quinn
as
we
approached.
I
prepared
myself
for his
wrath.

“What
the
hell
happened
to
you?”

“I fell
off
the
top
of
the
truck.” His voice was tense, but I could tell he tried his hardest to be cordial—and he was doing a great job.

“You
fell
off?
How
did
you
fall
off
the
top
of
the
truck?”

“We
were
up
there
cleaning off
some
zombie
blood,
and
I
didn’t
know
there
was
one
behind
me,
so
as I
wrestled
with
it, I
rolled
off
the
side.”

Liet’s
gaze
flicked
up
and
down.
“At
least
you
didn’t
turn
into
a
zombie.
I
guess
you
should
be
thankful
you
didn
’t
get
more
hurt.
That’s
a
pretty
long
fall
from
the
top
of
one
of
those.”

“Tell
me
about
it.”

The
breeze
changed
direction,
and
Liet
wrinkled
his
nose.
He
glanced
at
Quinn
and
me.
“You
guys
stink.
Didn’t
they
make
you
shower
before
you
came
in
here?”

“Yeah,
but
they
don’t
wash
our
clothes.
We
had
some
issues
with
zombies.”
 
Quinn
rubbed
the
back
of
his
neck.
“If
you
think
we
’r
e
bad,
you
should
smell
the
truck.”

“I’l
l
pass.”

Liet
turned
on
his
heel
and
headed
into
the
courthouse. The
four
of
us
followed.
He
went
to
his
desk
and
glanced
at
a
file.

“We
’r
e
going
to
need
medical
supplies.
After
that
little
debacle
with
the
zombies
in
town,
we
’
ve
depleted
most
of
our
resources.”

“What
did
you
find
out
about
that?”
  I
expected
Liet
to
explode
in
anger
at any
moment.
In
fact, I
would
have
preferred
it.
His
calmness
creeped
me
out.
I
thought
back
to
the
hug
he’d
given
me.
I
couldn’t
endure
another.

Liet
leaned
back
in
his
chair. “Apparently,
one
of
the
workers
who’d
had
corpse
cleanup
duty
stepped
on
a
zombie
that
wasn
’t
quite
dead.”
He
paused
for
a
moment.
“Tha
t’s
probably
not
the
right
choice
of
words,
but
you
get
my
meaning. From
what
I
could
gather,
he
stepped
on
its
torso,
and
it
flipped
up
and
bit him
on
the
thigh.
Since
he
was
covered
in
blood
and guts
from
moving bodies,
no
one
noticed
his leg
was
bleeding.
The
soldier
on
duty
that
day
decided
to
forego
the
mandatory
strip
search
because
it
was
beginning
to
rain,
and
he
waltzed
right
into
his
home.
Obviously,
he
turned
and
sought
out
other
victims.”

“How
many
people
were
turned?”

“About
forty.”

Forty?
That
was
a
lot.
No
one
had
noticed
one
or
two
people
getting
sick?
The
disease
spread
fast,
but it
was
odd
that
no
one
had
reported
it
sooner.
The
carrier
wouldn
’t
say
anything.
I
hadn’t
when
I’d
had
to
go
through
the
line
and
all
I
had
was
scratches.

“Who
was
the
soldier?”

Liet
smirked.
“You
don
’t
need
to
worry
about
that.
It’s
been
taken
care
of.”

I
shivered.
The
incident
led
to
the
soldie
r’
s
death,
perhaps
even
a
little
bit
of
torture.
I’d
witnessed
how
mad
Liet
had
been
when
we’d
left, so
I
doubted
the
man
got
off
easily.
Knowing
Liet, he’d
probably
fed
him
to
the
zombies.

“I
suspect
you
’l
l
want
to
leave
first
thing
in
the
morning.”

I
nodded. “Of
course.”

I breathed an internal sigh of relief. Liet hadn’t said anything about me running away
and
he was letting me go out again. I wasn’t going to question it. I was going to let it ride.

The
four
of
us
headed
up
to
the
apartment,
and
I
was
never
happier
than
when
I
took
off
my
jeans
and
t-shirt.
I
thought
about
throwing
them
in
with
the
other
dirty
clothes,
but
then
tossed
them
into
the
fireplace.
I
shampooed
and
soaped
up
twice
in
the
shower.

After
dinner
that
night,
I snuck
into
the
storage
yard
where
the
trucks
were
parked.
Most
of
the
supplies
had
already
been
unloaded,
so
I
set
to
work
recovering
the
guns
we
’d
hidden.
I
stashed
them
in
a
storage
shed,
and
was
about
to
head
back,
when
I
ran into
Liet.

“What
are
you
doing
out
here
this
time
of
night?
Are
you
planning
on
running away
again?”  He
glanced
over
my
shoulder as
if
looking
for
someone.