Lipstick & Zombies (Deadly Divas Book 1) (26 page)

The gunshots didn't even register in Sadie's head before their two guards had jerked back and fallen to the ground.

It was bad.

EUREKA! SOCIAL STREAM

They were here! Just now! The Deadly Divas were at the wall!

Just met the Deadly Divas! Gerri signed around my nipple!

They're even cuter in person!

They're so loud. They're so real.

Did that really just happen? Is this real life?

Chapter Twenty-three

JO

She counted five armed people outside the trucks before she dove over the middle row and dragged her body into the driver's seat. Luckily, the guard had left the van running. She flicked down the locks on the doors, like that was going to do anything, and jammed the thing into reverse. Jo punched the gas before checking behind her. "Get down," she told the others.

Driving in reverse wasn't ideal, but there wasn't time to consider turning around.They were about to round a corner when the guns started going off again. She kept her head down as much as she could, but getting away trumped not getting shot.

This was so very bad.

The shots stopped after they got around the corner.

She assumed they were still coming after them, so Jo kept up the pace, but moved her head up warily so she could see over the seats better.

"Check the side panels for guns," she told them. "Under the seats, in the walls, tear it up!"

The girls immediately followed her directions.

She wasn't sure how much good a gun would do. She hadn't caught much in her quick look, but she saw enough to know they had on Kevlar vests and gloves. That meant planning. That meant she wasn't so confident they could handle them, guns or no.

Gerri was talking on a phone. Calling for help—not something Jo would have thought of, but oh, so smart.

"WE ARE BEING SHOT AT!" Gerri screamed. "WHAT USE ARE YOU?" Pieces of the phone scraped Jo's hands when it shattered against the dashboard. "Sorry," Gerri grumbled.

Jo just missed hitting a tree, and swore at herself about how she really should have turned this thing around already. There weren't any good pull-offs, and she wasn't sure how long it would take her to whip it around on the two lane road, but she was scared it was too long when you were being chased by people attempting to kill you.

She turned another corner, and two cars were coming at them. "I'm not stopping!" Jo said. "I don't know who that is."

"No arguments," Gerri said.

Jo said a prayer to whatever was out there, and swerved into the empty lane. "Everyone down!" The cars moved further into the other lane, so they probably weren't their enemies, but she wasn't taking any chances. It occurred to her to warn the other drivers what was up ahead, but she had enough problems of her own for the moment. Wasn't their car going backward enough of a red flag?

Dee started screaming. Jo checked all angles and found nothing new, so it was either the new cars, or events catching up with her. She was gasping for the air to fuel her cries. "Distracting," Jo said, and Gerri murmured something that turned the volume of Dee's screams down a notch.

The cars stopped at the bend in the road and soldiers popped out. They pointed their guns around the corner where Jo couldn't see. A small pull-off presented itself, and Jo took the opportunity to whip their SUV around.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Carrie asked.

"Did you find guns?" Jo asked. "Do we have bulletproof jackets and military training?"

"Um, no," Carrie answered.

"Military base it is." With the road straight in front of them, Jo crept the SUV up to speeds she'd always wanted to hit. It seemed like it would be more fun if she could breathe.

WATM NEWS

"With their debut concert only days away, Deadly Divas have taken time from their grueling schedules to cheer the spirits of those who need it most: our young soldiers at the wall." The camera zoomed away from the reporter's face, showing the wall towering above him, and then went back in to show him stepping to the side of a crowd at the south elevators.

"It has been reported by Last Chance Records that the Deadly Divas left the wall hours ago, but many are hoping those reports to be false as dozens of people have crowded this entrance and the others in the hope of catching sight of the young group.

Earlier today, several soldiers took to online forums to recount their visit from the band.”

It shows the Deadly Divas aren't just in it for the money. That they truly care about us and our lives.

They are so much hotter in person. Not scary in a bad way at all—not even the survivalist. She barely even looks like one. Can you be half-survivalist?

She kissed me! Gerri kissed me!

What. A. Liar. Asshole!

{824 comments}

Who's hottest?

{1987 comments}

I hope this changes things. I hope more people see what it is our soldiers are doing, and respect them for it. I hope more people sign up for the military. My son, too wide-eyed and naive by any standards, died outside that wall after signing up for the military. He really believed in what he was doing, even if he told me most of those kids don't. He couldn't do it alone. I never even got a box with his remains. If we had an army like him, maybe more of them would live. An army of soldiers who believe in the cause could change history—change what's left of our world. I wasn't so sure about it, but after seeing these girls going out of their way to meet our kids on the wall, I think we all have to believe.

"So there you have it, Fort Atlas! On a personal note, this reporter would just like to commend that last commenter on their sacrifice. What do you say, viewers? Do you believe Deadly Divas will make a difference? Do you believe in their message? Let us know, and be sure to check out our ongoing poll on the hottest Deadly Diva!

“Stay tuned for Carter Halliwell, who's here to tell you how to perfect each of the Deadly Divas' looks, from your nail polish to the weapon you'll just have to have!"

Chapter Twenty-four

GERRI

"And you're seriously telling me you have no idea why they were shooting at us?" Sadie asked.

"Or who they were?" Carrie added.

"Did anyone else think they looked like survivalists?" Dee asked. "No offense, Jo."

Jo shook her head. "They did, but they weren't."

"So who were they?" Gerri asked.

"I'm not the police," Meghan said. "I've told you all they've told me. I don't know what you want me to do for you. I
assume
they were just some extremists who want to stop the band. You aren't going to let that stop you now, are you? Not after everything we've gone through?"

"No one's saying that," Gerri said. "But really, honey, what if their friends come around to kill us?"

"We increased security at the venue, of course, and from now on if we go anywhere we'll be sure to have added security, but seriously, girls, it's still altogether possible that they weren't even after
you
. Very few people in the company, and only a few members of the military, even knew you were going there. That road only goes to the military base. The military has these kinds of attacks all the time."

"They do?" Sadie asked.

"Yes, they do," Meghan said.

"Why?"

"People angry at the military. Just one more reason what you're doing is so important: to change the public perception. Now, are we ready to get back on schedule?"

"Yeah, right," Gerri said. "Right?"

The rest of them nodded. Gerri wasn't sure when she'd become someone who would ask their permission, instead of just telling them what they were doing, but she kind of thought she liked it.

"Another big day ahead of us. Our biggest yet." Meghan readjusted her cardigan. "Tomorrow is the concert. It's easy to focus on yesterday, but we need to focus on right now if we're going to make tomorrow great."

Teegan shoved through the door, her arms full of drinks. "They didn't have any lemonade, but I went across the street and found strawberry lemonade, does that work?" She put the drinks down on the makeup table. "I saw your photos from your visit yesterday. You all looked perfect, of course. My mom's bragging about how I have this job now. If you'd only heard her last week—" Teegan cut off her sentence the moment she saw Meghan. After two seconds of frozen horror, she scurried back out of the room. Gerri'd have to remember to tell her that strawberry lemonade was what she was going to want from now on, now that she knew it was an option.

"As you can see, some of the staff is off their game today. I need you five to set the example. Now, everyone should be out on the stage waiting. Are we ready?"

Gerri raked her fingers through her hair. She'd gotten away with not letting them style her hair today. She loved it like this. She kept it cut short, just a few inches long, and loved letting it just be. Someday, when she clawed some of these people off her back, she'd make that a bigger part of her style. Wild. Free. Less made-up.

"What are you all waiting for? That question should be answered by you running out of this room. My god. The lot of you could learn a thing or two from that drink minion. Places!"

"Teegan," Gerri corrected.

"Move!" Meghan yelled.

The five of them left the room, quickly, but slow enough to grate on Meghan's nerves.

If they'd managed to style Gerri's hair, it would have been wrecked within a few hours. She didn't care what kind of guarantees they made, she was sure of it. Her hair was drenched with sweat. She was sliding around in her shoes. She didn't want to think about what she smelled like.

And it was awesome.

She already knew everything the trainers were drilling into them. The whole day was singing and dancing and losing herself in work she actually liked doing. Even with all the sweat, and the drain of doing their whole set multiple times through, she was having fun. They'd been doing it so much lately that she wasn't even that worn out anymore. She wouldn't even be sore the next day. And the next day? There would be people out there. She'd always been an entertainer, whether it was the dining room table at home or the lunch room at school. And now she'd have a real audience.

Even the groaning zombies at the edge of the stage didn't make it on her radar anymore. There was now. There was dancing and singing. And tomorrow there were fans. Everything else was irrelevant.

The rest of the Divas seemed to feel the same way. All of them had plopped down on the stage, bodies splayed out and breathing heavy, staring up at the blue sky peeking through the scaffolding. Teegan brought them waters and strawberry lemonades and eventually a tray of sandwiches with vegetables and dips.

"Do you hear that?" Sadie asked.

"I'm trying not to," Gerri said.

"Meghan was right. The crew is all in fits today. You'd think they got shot at yesterday," Sadie said.

"Who cares?" Gerri asked.

"I look like a freak," Dee said. Her and Carrie usually used their bathroom breaks to fix up their hair and makeup with more effort than the rest of them put in, but none of them had bothered so far that day. "I can't handle being this sweaty. It's so gross. And—"

"Shhh," Carrie said. "We're pretending it's not happening."

"I like it," Gerri said.

"Um, ew," Dee said.

"It's a sign we're alive," Gerri said. "All natural. The zombies don't really sweat, have you noticed?"

"Um, no. Mostly I notice they want to eat me," Dee said.

"Is that true?" Carrie asked. "Do they not sweat?"

"I don't know, I've just never seen it," Gerri said. "Does it matter?"

"I guess not. Just curious." Carrie sat up and shaded her eyes. "Did you notice they're extra lively today?"

"Agitated," Jo agreed.

"It's in your head," Gerri said.

"I don't think so," Carrie said. "I think they're picking up on how stressed everyone is."

"Is this more of your voodoo?" Sadie teased.

Carrie shrugged and laid back down.

A cloud blocked the sun just as a light breeze blew through. Mother nature's air conditioning kicking on. Gerri's wet skin prickled with the cold. She'd once found a book that took place before the world changed. The guy had traveled across the sea on a boat. He'd described lying on the deck of the boat, watching the sun's rays reach across space to glitter across the water. The breeze blew across that same water, keeping him cool. He'd spend his afternoons like that, until the boat rocked him to sleep for a nap.

It sounded peaceful, that world.

"Can you believe the show's still happening?" Sadie asked.

"Of course it is," Dee said.

"Why would someone do that?" Carrie asked.