Life After The Undead (Book 1) (99 page)

“You
cowards!”
Liet
screamed.
“You
worthless—”

Quinn
smacked
him
in
the
back
of
the
head
with
his
gun,
and
he
fell
unconscious
onto
the
ground.

The
soldiers
were
lined up
next
to
the
fence,
their
hands
behind their
heads
and
their
eyes
averted
to
the
ground.
Workers
paced
around
them
with
weapons,
daring
them
to
step
out
of
line.
A
few went
so
far as
to
thrust
the
butt
of
their
guns
into
the
soldiers’
stomachs
or
smash
fists
into
their
noses,
but
Quinn
always
pulled
them
back.

I
relished
our
victory,
despite
the
pain
in
my
shoulder
and
the
overwhelming desire
to
pass
out.
Part
of
me
was
actually
surprised it’d
worked.
I
wanted
to
see
the
wo
rkers’
smiling
faces
and
the
looks
of
defeat
on
the
soldie
rs’
,
so
I
attempted
to
ignore
the
pain.

“I
see
it
didn’t
take
much
for
you
to
convince
the
workers
to
rebel,”
I said.

“Are
you
kidding?”
Quinn
chuckled.
“When
we
got
into
town,
the
workers
who
’d
been
in
Thedford
had
already
recruited
half
the
city.
They
waited
for
us to
show
up
so
they
could
get
their
guns.”

“What
about
McCook?
Did
you
send
someone
up
there
so
reinforcements
don’t
find
us?”

He
nodded. “Yeah. Some
of
my
men
took
a
group
of
workers
down
there.
They
should
be
back by
nightfall.”

“How
many
were
killed?”

“I
don’t
know.
We
still
don’t
have
a
number
on
that
yet.
There
are
some
wounded
who
’v
e
gone to the
hospital.
I
suggest
you
do
the
same.
C’mon.
I
’l
l
help
you.”
He
wrapped
his
arm
around
my
waist
and
pulled
me
close.

I smiled
and
leaned
most
of
my
weight
against
him.
We
hobbled
to
the
hospital.
A
few
people
waited
for treatment,
but
not
nearly
as
many
as I’d
expected.
A
nurse
grabbed
me
immediately
and
placed
me in
a
wheelchair. Quinn
kissed
me
gently
before
they
took
me
inside
and
placed
me
on
a
gurney.
I stared
into
the
large
examination
light
and
let
unconsciousness
take
over.

CHAPTER
25

I
awoke
later
that
night
in a
bed
connected
to
IVs.
My
shoulder
had
been
bandaged,
and
it
was
still
sore.
Quinn
sat
on
the
chair
across
from
me.
He
came
forward
and
sat
on
the
edge
of
the
bed.
He
pushed
the
hair
out
of
my
face,
resting
his
hand
on
my
cheek.

“Did
you
get
in a
fight
with
a
cat?”  He
chuckled.

I playfully
pushed
his
hand
away.
“At least I
have
some
battle
scars.
Were
you
even
involved
in the
fight?”

“Hey,
that’s
not
fair.
My
wrist
still
hurts.”
He
held
up his
arm
so
I
could
see
the
brace.

I
rolled
my
eyes.
“It’d
mean
more
if
it
’d
been
injured
in
the
battle.”
I
grabbed
his
hand
and
held it
.
“How many
were
killed?”

“About
ten.
And
tha
t’s
including
soldiers.”

“Not
bad.
It
could
have
been
a lot
worse.”

“I think
most
of
them
were
tired
of
the
life.
I
mean,
you
saw
how
quickly
they
surrendered
once
Liet
was
captured.
I
think
fear
kept
them motivated.”

“What
are
we
going
to
do
with
them?”

Quinn
shook
his
head.
“Nothing.
Those
who
want
to
will
be
integrated
back
into
the
population.
We’ll
figure
out
what
to
do
with
those
who
don
’t
want
to
integrate
later.”

“Have
you
heard
anything
from
Florida
yet?”

He
shook
his
head.
“No.
We
won
’t
let
on
that
there
has
been
a
rebellion. If
they
come
looking
for
Liet,
we
’l
l
tell
them
he
’
s
busy.”

“Where
is
Liet?”

“We
locked
him
in
one
of
the
holding
cells in
the
jail.”
He
leaned
forward
and
kissed
me
on
the
forehead.
“Get
some
rest.
I’ll
see
you
tomorrow.”

I lay
back
on
my
pillow
and
sighed.
After
Quinn
left, I
drifted
into
a
deep
sleep,
dreaming
of
horses
and
western
sunsets.

***

Life in
North
Platte
became
more
tolerable.
The
soldiers
who
could
be
integrated
into
the
community
without
incident
were,
while
the others
were
placed
in
holding
cells
in
the
courthouse.
We
still
didn
’t
know
what
we
were
going
to do
with
them,
but
we
had a
while
to figure it
out.
Soldiers
and
civilians
worked
together
to
continue
building the
wall.
They
no
longer
worked
on
it
in twenty-four-
hour
shifts,
but
guards
were
in
the
towers
at
all
times,
and
everyone
was
responsible
for
killing
any
zombies
that
came
near
the
city.
Quinn
and
his crew
trained
those
who
wanted
to
learn
fighting
techniques
and
marksmanship
so
they
could
head
into
the
West
and
kill
zombies.
For
the
first
time
in
a
while,
there
was
a
sense
of
hope.

I
’d
been
out
of
the
hospital
for
three
days.
I
learned
that
I
’d been
in
surgery
for
two
hours
while
they
dug
out
the
bullet. My
shoulder
blade
had
been
broken,
but
the
bullet
had
missed
the
major
arteries
in
my
arm.
The
doctor
said
I
was
lucky.
I
was
going
to be
in a sling
for
six
weeks.
I’d
had
to
spend
four
days
in
the
hospital.
They’d
wanted
me to
stay
longer,
but
I
had
stuff
to
do.

I
sat
at
Lie
t’s
desk
and
looked
through
a
pile
of
papers.
I
squinted,
shook
my
head,
then
set
the folder
down
before I
grabbed
another.
The
door
at
the
end
of
the
room
swung
open,
and
Quinn
walked
in.
I
smiled,
then
directed
my
gaze
back to
the
file.

“Ho
w’
s
it
going
in
here?”
Quinn
asked
as
he
stepped
up
behind
me.

“Look
at
this.”
I
showed
him
the
information.
“Liet
documented
when
they
went
to
the
bathroom.
Can
you
believe
it?”

Quinn
shuffled
through
the
folders.
“How
many
of
those
are
there?”

“One
for
every
person
who
has
ever
come
through
North
Platte.”

“I
thought
you
were
looking
up
the
supply
manifests.”

“I
did.
Liet
kept
the
count
down
to
the
can.
It
didn
’t
take
very
long
to
go
through
those.”

“How
are
we
looking
for
supplies?”

I
shrugged. “If
we
continue
to
ration,
we
should
be
fine,
but
I
don
’t
think
we
want
to
anymore.
Most
of
these
people
are
starving.”

Quinn
nodded.
“I
can
get
a
group
together
and
we
can
make
a
run.
We
should
be
able
to
stock
the
shelves
pretty
well.”
 
He
sat
on
the
desk.
“I
also
wanted
to
let
you
know
we
fixed
the
fences
at
the
north
and
south
ends
of
the
city
and
placed
guards
in
the
towers.
We’re
set
if
anyone
tries
to
get
in.”