Life After The Undead (Book 1) (93 page)

He protectively placed a
hand
over
his
weapon.
“Why
can
’t
I
watch
your
back?”

I
pushed
my
eyebrows together
and
huffed.
“
I’m
five-foot-two
and
weigh
a
hundred and
ten.
Do
you
really
think I can
get
the
cap
off?”

Ben
frowned.
“How
do
I
know
you
’r
e
not
going
to
shoot
me
and
leave
me
out
here
to
die?”

“Ben,” I
kept
my
voice
as calm
as
possible,
“if
I
wanted
to
harm
you,
I
could
have
pushed
you
out
of
the truck
when
you
were
sleeping.”

He stared
at
me
for
a
moment,
his
eyes
wide.

It
took
a
little
convincing,
but
I
finally
got
him
out
of
the
truck.
It
took
us
fifteen
minutes
to
get
the
hoses
set
up
and
another
couple
hours
to
fill
the
tanker.
Ben
ran
into
the
building
during
that
time
to get us food. We
feasted
on
beef
jerky,
canned
meat,
warm
soda,
and
stale
chips.
We
sat
in
the
cab
and
kept
our
eyes
open
for
the
undead.
Luckily
for
us,
we
only
saw
two,
and
that
was
as
we
finished
the
job.
I shot them both before we continued on our way.

Once
we
were
a
quarter
of
a
mile
down
the
road,
Ben
let
out
an
ear-piercing
holler. It
was
so
unexpected,
I jerked
the
wheel
and
almost
flipped
the
tanker.

“
Woo-hoo!
That
was
exciting!”
  He
punched
the
dashboard
a
few
times
with
both
his
fists
in
rapid
succession.
“You
never
knew
when
those
SOBs
were
going
to
strike,
and
when
they
did,
pow
,
pow
,
you
took
care
of
them.
How
’d
you
learn
to
shoot
like
that
anyway?”

My
heart
pounded
in
my
chest,
and
I
took
a
couple
deep
breaths
to
calm
down. “Practice.”

“It
was
amazing.
I
’v
e
never
seen
anyone
shoot
like
that
before.”
His
mouth opened
into
a
wide
yawn
and
he
shook
his
head.
“Uff,
I
’
m
tired.”

I
looked
at
him
out
of
the
corner
of
my
eye.
“Why
don’t
you
get
some
sleep?
We’ve
a
way
to
go,
and
I’ll
wake
you when
I
need
you
to
drive.”

Ben’s
head
bobbed
forward,
and
he
caught
it
before
his
chin
hit
his
chest.
Sluggishly,
he
crawled
into
the
back.

I
turned
the
tanker
truck
onto
a
secondary
highway,
which
we
followed
for
another
hour,
then
turned
down
a
dirt
road.
The
landscape
changed
from
the
flat
desert
into rolling
hills covered
with
juniper
trees,
then
into
steep
cliffs
with
pines
and
red
rocks.
My
stomach
fluttered
with
excitement,
and
I
tapped
my
fingers
on
the
steering
wheel.
I
had
the
truck
going
as
fast
as I
safely
could,
but
it
seemed
to
be
taking
forever.
I wanted
to
squeal
when
the
gates
to
the
ranch
opened,
and
I
pulled
the
truck
inside.

Quinn
waited
for
me
on
the
porch
as
I
exited
the
truck. I
wrapped
my
arms
around
his
neck
and
told
him
how
much
I’d
missed
him.
He
squeezed
me
back
so
hard
I
lost
my
breath.
Our
gazes
met
for a
brief
second
before
we
locked
lips in
a
hard,
long
kiss. After
we
released,
I
buried
my
face
into
his
chest,
and
he
placed
his
chin
on
the
top
of
my
head.

“He
gonna
be
out
for a
while?”
  Quinn
nodded
toward
the
truck.

I
didn’t
look
up.
“He
should
be.
I
slipped
some
sleeping
pills into his
drink
while
we
filled
the
tanker.”

He
pulled
back
and
lifted
my
chin
. Smiling,
he
planted
another
kiss
on
my
lips
before
we
walked
through
the
house.
We
went
into
the
back
room
and
opened
the
secret
door
that
hid
the
entrance
to
the
cave.
Generally,
the
stone
room
was
filled
with
boxes
of
Christmas
decorations
and
clothes
that
no
longer
fit,
but
those
had
been
moved
out
and
replaced
with
boxes
of
ammunition,
rifles,
shotguns,
handguns,
and
any
other
weapon
we
could
get
our
hands
on.
A
few
of
the
others
followed
us,
and
we
grabbed
as
many
weapons
as
we
could
carry.
After heading
back
outside,
the
group
hid
the
weapons
on
the
truck.

Once
we
were
done,
I
kissed
Quinn,
then pulled
the truck
back
onto
I-80.
Ben
snored
behind
me.
By
the
time
he a
woke,
the
truck
was
parked
on
the
shoulder
and
pointed
east,
the
sun
directly
overhead.
We
placed
him
in
the
drive
r’
s
seat
and
handcuffed
his
hands
to
the
steering
wheel.