Love & the Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1, Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy) (14 page)

“Like us,” Nicky said.

“It was your suggestion.”  Selena sighed. 

“I told you
it was a stupid idea,” Lindsay said.

Rachel climbed over Nicky
’s lap and pushed open the door.  She hopped outside.  “It’s my fault.  I made the call.”

“It’s no one’s fault
, Rachel.  The car died,” Adam said.

Rachel shrugged.  “It is
, what it is.  Let’s walk.”

“Walk?” 
Lindsay’s hand shot to her heart.  “You want me to walk outside?  With those things out there?  Absolutely not.”

“The car’s de
ad.  I have to get Morgan.  If anyone has a better idea, let’s hear it.”

“We can walk.  It’s not too far and m
aybe we can find another car.” Cage crawled over Lindsay and jumped out.  He opened the hatch to the Suburban.  It was packed full of ammunition, first aid kits, food and water. 

“I’m not walking,” Lindsay said.  “I refuse.”

“Okay.” Rachel slung a backpack over her shoulder. “See you later.” 

“In
the woods?”  Selena laid a hand on Adam’s arm.  “Shouldn’t we stay near the road?”

“I’m not twisting in between those cars, so
one of those things can jump out and grab me,” Rachel said.  “Once we get far enough past this wreck, then we can walk beside the road.” She walked down the grassy slope using the baseball bat as a hiking stick.

Adam
slung a bag over his shoulder.  “Lindsay, are you coming with us or are you staying in here by yourself?”

Lin
dsay glared at Cage.  She hopped out of the car and stalked down the hill.

“Wait!” Cage said. 

She spun around with lifted eyebrows. “What?”

Cage held up a bag.  “You hav
e to help carry supplies.  We can’t afford to leave anything behind.”

“I’m not hiking through the woods and carrying a bag,” Lindsay said.

“You are if you want to eat tonight.” Adam helped Selena out of the car.

Lindsay tore the bag from Cage
’s hand and marched down the hill.

“What were you thinking?
  Why on earth would you ever date her?  She’s horrible,” Selena said to Cage.  “If the zombies don’t kill her, I might.”

“Be my guest
,” Cage said.

“You have some
serious making-up to do, my friend.” Adam grabbed one of Selena’s bags from her hand. 

“What do you mean?” Cage asked.

Adam pointed to Rachel marching at the front of the group.  “You’re in the doghouse.”

“
Me?  But I didn’t do anything,” Cage said.  At least, he didn’t think he did.  Hadn’t Rachel and him hit it off at the fire station last night?  Sure, Lindsay had unexpectedly shown up, but they weren’t together anymore.  Was Rachel really angry with him?

Selena made a face and
Adam pointed to her.  “The fairer sex says you have.”

Cage curs
ed and jogged ahead.  He rushed by Nicky flirting with Lindsay and caught up with Rachel near the forest line.  “Hey.  How are you doing?”

“I’ve been better,” Rachel said. 

“How does your arm feel?” 

Rachel looked down at her bandaged f
orearm.  “It still hurts, but I think the antibiotics are working.  The skin isn’t as tender around the bite.”

“We s
hould get there soon.  We’re only a few miles from the U of M.”

“I hope we make it befo
re sunset,” Rachel said.  Cars had crashed into the first line of trees, but the area was clear a few yards into the forest.  She stepped over a tree branch. “Why’d you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Shield me with your body before the crash.”  She kept her eyes forward, pushing limbs and braches out of the way.

“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“What about Lindsay?”

Cage shrugged.  “I
didn’t think.  I just reacted and I wanted to protect you.”

“Why?  You don’t
know me.  She’s your girlfriend.  You should’ve protected her.”

“She’s my ex-girlfriend.”

Rachel shrugged.  “It’s all the same.” 

“Actually, it’s n
ot the same.  That’s why there is an ‘ex’ in front of the word.  Meaning ‘no more.’  It’s in the dictionary.”

“But you know her, right?
  You don’t know me.”

“I’ve known Lindsay
most of my life.”

“Figures,” Rachel said.

“I don’t understand why you’re upset.” Cage reached for her, but she stepped aside.  His fingers grazed her arm. 

“I’m not upset.”

“Yes, you are.”

Rachel flashed a fake smile
.  “See, this is me not being upset.”

Cage sighed.  “I don’t know what you want me to say.  I’m sorry I wanted to protect you?  I’m sorry Lindsay is my ex-girlfriend?”

Rachel shook her head.  “Forget it.  It doesn’t matter.  The accident looks clear from here, we should head back to the highway.”  She cut in front of him and hiked up the hill. 

Cage raced a
fter her.  “Slow down, will you?”

“We have to get Morgan.”

“I know, but we need to stick together.  You’re walking too fast for the others.”

Rachel glance
d over her shoulder.  “Fine.  Sorry.”

“And it does matter.”

“What?”

“You said it didn’t matter and for me to forget it,” Cage said.  “I don’t want to do that.  It does matter to me.  You matter to me.”

Cage and Rachel reached the top of the hill where the grass met the highway.  They’d passed the majority of the wreck. An ambulance and an abandoned fire truck were parked a few feet away. The others were just coming out of the forest.

Rachel
tugged the strap on her backpack.  “Listen, Cage, I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me.  I really do.  I’m grateful that you’re helping me find Morgan, but let’s not fool ourselves, okay?  We just met - like twenty-four hours ago. We don’t know each other.  There is no way that I can matter to you.  So can we please drop it?”

Rachel turned
before Cage could reply and marched down the side of the highway.  He was about to chase after her, but then the zombie jumped out of the fire truck and tackled him to the ground.

Chapter Twenty

“Cage!” 

Cage wasn’t sure who’d screamed his name.  He was too busy trying to keep the zombie’s jaws away from him. One minute Rachel was basically telling him to buzz off and, the next minute, he was lying on the highway trying not to get his face chewed off.

His
shoulder was sore from the crash and each squeeze from the female zombie’s hands was like razor sharp needles stabbing his nerves.  Leaves and bits of flesh were tangled in her fiery strands of hair.  One icy blue eye hung from the socket, the orb dangling near Cage’s face like a yo-yo on a string. 

“Cage!” 

A swoosh cut through the air followed by the sound of a bat smashing the redhead’s skull.  The force of the blow knocked the zombie off him.  Rachel shattered the zombie’s skull with a second swing and then she fell to her knees beside him.  “Are you okay?  Did she get you?”

Cage recognize
d a high-pitched screech.  Lindsay was on the other side of him screaming at the top of her lungs.  Rachel ignored Lindsay and patted his chest and arms.  “Did she get you?”

He
shook his head.  “No.  I don’t think so.”

“Cage, Cage, C
age,” Lindsay sobbed.  “The zombie almost bit you.”

Nicky towered over
Lindsay.  “Dude, what the hell?  Didn’t you hear that zombie?”

“What?
No,” Cage said.

“
She came flying out of the truck like a wrestler soaring from the top rope.  I don’t know how you didn’t hear it.  I heard it from down the hill.  You must’ve been zoning out or something,” Nicky said.

Rachel
rose to her feet. 

“Are you al
l right?”  Adam reached the top of the hill with Selena.

“
I’m fine,” Cage said.  “Rachel saved me.”

Lindsay
wiped the tears away with her hand. 

“
Lindsay, I’m okay,” Cage said.  “Really.”

Nic
ky helped Cage off the ground. 

“Quick reflexes,” A
dam said to Rachel.  “We need to stay close together for that very reason.  Anything can jump out at us.”

Cage glanced down at t
he zombie.  The woman’s head was bashed into the cement.  That was a close call.  He needed to pay better attention to what was going on around him. 

Nicky slapped
his arm.  “Damn mosquitos.”  His jaw fell open.  “Do you think I can get the zombie disease from a mosquito?”  He slapped his arms and legs.  “I can’t die because of a mosquito!”

“I doubt it,” Adam said.  “
Let’s keep moving before more zombies show up.  I want to get to Ann Arbor before night falls.”

“Doubt it?” Nicky asked.  “Y
ou’re not sure?”

Lindsay’s face was
puffy from crying.  “You’re such an idiot, Nicky.”

~     ~     ~

Selena’s feet were killing her.  She didn’t complain, of course.  She was grateful to be wearing an old pair of Mrs. Vance’s shoes – she’d found them in the back of the Suburban when they unloaded the car.  She’d been barefoot since the zombie attack at the Wooden Barrel.  You couldn’t really run for your life in high heels. 

Blisters
sprouted and freely bled, making her feet wet and sticky.  They’d been walking on the highway for over two hours, supposedly closing in on Ann Arbor.  The heat made the journey worse.  The sun blazed high in the sky and burned Selena’s skin.  They only had ten bottles of water– what they’d taken from Cage’s house – and Selena didn’t want to think about what would happen when the water ran out. 

No food.  No water.  No car. 

Adam walked beside her, carrying three bags, one of which was hers, but he insisted on carrying it.  Everyone was quiet because they didn’t want to attract any zombies.  Especially after the redheaded one jumped out of nowhere to attack Cage. It was a good thing Rachel was such a bad ass and saved Cage in the nick of time.  Selena wished she could be as useful as Rachel.  Selena had killed a couple of zombies, but she knew she was a burden in the group.  She had to be protected - just like that annoying Lindsay.  They were both in the same boat - one hundred percent useless. 

Not Rachel.  She moved with a fierceness that Selena hadn’t seen i
n any woman.  She was quick and cold and assassin-like.  Well, maybe an assassin was a little too generous of a categorization, but it wasn’t far off the mark.

“Thank goodne
ss,” Lindsay sighed.  “That’s the Ann Arbor exit.”

Nicky crammed a
granola bar in his mouth and mumbled something.

“What?” 
Selena stuck a finger in the back of her shoe.  The skin was rubbed raw. 

Nicky swallowed.  “We have to stop by Gianni’s Pizzeria on the way.”

“Seriously?”  Selena looked at Nicky.  “You want to stop at a restaurant?  To grab a beer and a slice?”

“We don’t have time.
” Rachel sped up when they reached the exit ramp.  “It’s almost dark.”

“
All the more reason to eat.  It’s on the way,” Nicky said.  “I’ll slip inside and grab some food.  It will take two seconds.  I’m starving and if I’m starving, then I’m a bad zombie killer, which means I’m useless to you all.”

“I’m hungry, too,” Lindsay said.

“If we pass it, then you can run inside really quickly.  We should get supplies every chance we get,” Adam said.  “As long as it’s not dangerous.”

Rachel didn’t say anything.  Selena could tell she wa
s irritated, but after Nicky had mentioned food, Selena’s stomach had started growling.  She hadn’t eaten anything in over a day.  Visions of pasta, bread and wine filled her head.  She squeezed Adam’s hand.  “Too bad we never made that date at
Bellissimo’s
.”

Adam’s mouth lifted in a lopsided grin.  “You don’t know how bad I
was looking forward to that date.”

“Well,” Nicky said.  “You don’t know how bad I’m looking forward to a slice of
Gianni’s pizza.” 

“
I work at
Bellissimo’
s,” Rachel said.  “Well, I worked there.  Guess I don’t anymore.”  The group ran the length of the exit ramp to the street above the highway.  “Which way?”  Rachel asked.

“This way.
” Lindsay bumped her shoulder as she passed. 

Selena ha
d never been to Ann Arbor.  She’d never had a reason to – she didn’t go to college and she didn’t follow college sports.  She never really understood America’s obsession with football. 

I
t looked like the quintessential “college town” - beautiful homes, tree-lined streets.  The cute downtown was full of bars and restaurants.  It was exactly how she’d imagined Ann Arbor – if it wasn’t the end of the world, because half of the town was on fire and the other half was deserted.  Black plumes of smoke rose from the city.  Trash littered the street.  Sirens blared in the distance.  A horrible stench filled the air – a burning smell that made Selena’s stomach churn. 

“Campus is
over there.” Lindsay pointed down the street. 

“S
tay close together,” Adam said.  “No stragglers.  Stay in a tight group and everyone keep their eyes peeled.” 

Adam put Selena in
the middle beside Lindsay.  Selena pushed down the nagging thoughts of being useless.  He was looking out for her –
that was a good thing.
  Rachel and Cage took the front, while Nicky and Adam pulled up the rear.

S
unlight was fading fast.  Deep shadows stretched out from the houses.  Selena squinted her eyes, convinced that zombies lurked in every dark corner. She’d yet to see one zombie.  Maybe Ann Arbor wasn’t hit as badly as Flint?  Maybe the military handled the situation? 

They ran down the
center of the road, past a cluster of abandoned cars, and turned the corner.  The road sloped at a steep angle.  From this vantage point, you could see the downtown Strip (the street lined with college bars and restaurants) and the University of Michigan. 

Selena’s stomach sank. 
Standing in between them and the university were thousands of walking dead.