Suspending Reality (17 page)

“We were just trying to get a position on the zombies,” Jackie said. “Do you think we’d leave our friends behind?”

My gaze became harder and colder, signaling I wasn’t scared of him.

Earl narrowed his gaze. “We
are
working together. You help me ward off any zombie attack, and I’ll spare your lives…for the time being. Sure sounds like cooperation to me.”

“Right. Sounds like a great deal…for you.” I snorted. “What makes you think we’ll have your back the moment those zombies barge in here?”

“What makes you think they’ll barge in here at all?” Tahoe said, speaking for the first time.

For some reason, the younger gruff one seemed to feel safe, as if the zombies were no threat and couldn’t possibly get inside the glass house. I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t a military fortress. I marveled how young he seemed. On closer inspection, I realized beneath the facial hair hid a wrinkle-free face.

He stepped closer as he stared at us. “You have yet to answer my question. What are you all doing in our house?”

Val picked up a family portrait and ran a finger across the dust. “Funny. You don’t look like these happy people, and pictures like these are plastered all around the house.”

Earl’s mouth twitched at the corners, as though her sarcasm amused him. “They’re all dead. Zombies got ‘em. So we figure since they don’t need the place anymore, and we were the first ones to get our hands on it, it’s our house now—at least as of two days ago.”

His eyes sparkled, making me wonder as to the validity of his story.
Did zombies really get the poor inhabitants, or was it these two?
I bit my tongue hard so I wouldn’t comment and risk their wrath. After all, they were still the only ones holding weapons.

“We’re not monsters,” Tahoe said, reading my disgusted expression. “We didn’t kill ‘em. They were dead long before we arrived. Can’t you tell from all the dust in this place? Nobody has been here for ages.”

He had a valid point, and I hoped they weren’t murderers. Just because they didn’t kill the inhabitants of the house didn’t mean they wouldn’t kill us.

“Fine. You’ve claimed the house,” Val chimed in. “Just let us go, and we’ll be on our merry way. You can have your home sweet home all to yourselves.” Of course she forgot to mention the part about us loading up all their food and water in their vehicles.

“Sure. You’re welcome to go, as soon as the zombie threat is over,” Tahoe said. “Don’t worry. We got four strong men here. Besides, they’ll never break in.”

I was almost inclined to believe him when a loud
thud
echoed through the room, startling us. Urban legends about zombies touted their slow reaction time and their inability to form coherent plans, but they were just that: legends. No one knew for sure whether they still had any morsel of humanity in them. For all we knew, their brains retained some ability for reasoning and possibly for their own survival. If they did, which was pretty obvious from their attempts to get in, then we were screwed; it would only be a matter of time before they would double and triple their efforts and succeed.

“We have to go, even if it’s on foot,” Nick said with a glance toward the hall. “Trapping ourselves in this house is suicide. I don’t know about you, but we’re leaving.”

“And going where?” Claire yelled. “Zombies will rip us to shreds!”

Nick shrugged and shot her a hard look. “I don’t care. I’d rather die trying than to sit around in here doing nothing.”

“I’m sorry, Claire, but I’m with him. The faster, the better,” Jackie whispered.

For a second, I felt like hugging her. I was so proud of her for standing up for herself, even if it meant defying her cousin’s wishes.

“You don’t know anything for sure,” Claire said. “None of you do. Maybe we should hole up here until those things leave. They’ll get bored and go eventually, and we can leave in a few hours, once the coast is clear.”

Jackie shook her shoulder. “No, Claire. Waiting is a horrible idea!”

“You’re safe here,” Tahoe said. “There are a lot of them, but they can’t bust through these walls. And like Claire said, they’ll get bored after a bit and move on for easier prey. I’ve seen it a million times before.”

“I agree,” Earl said. “It’s best to hide out here until they leave. It’s stupid to engage them, but if they break in, of course we’ll fight with everything we have.” Earl shot me a look. “You owe me for saving your lives.”

“What?” I asked. “If you would’ve let us leave, we would have been long gone already.”

Earl gave me a cocky grin. “Wrong, my boy. What you’d be is dead. I’m offering you protection here, and when this is all over and done, I expect to be paid for it.”

“Paid? With what? We don’t have any money,” Claire said. “We only came with the shirts on our backs.”

Earl smirked. “Who said anything about money? I just want one of you cute gals to keep me company tonight. Is that so much to ask for the price of saving your lives?”

Nick’s hands balled into fists. The vein on his forehead throbbed so hard that I prayed he wouldn’t do something stupid, like try to hit the guy. Fortunately, he either came to his senses on his own or the rifle pointed at his face made him reconsider.

I grabbed my brother’s arm, just in case, and hissed, “Don’t let him rile you up. We gotta leave with our heads still attached to our shoulders.”

Claire scowled at Earl. “Our lives are on the line! How can you blackmail us like this?”

“Mmm. Feisty. And I love redheads.” Earl looked her up and down, then inched closer. “I bet we could have a lot of fun, you and me.”

“You’re sick!” Val shouted but didn’t inch closer.

I glared at Earl. The man was a disgusting sleaze ball and an absolute idiot. Zombies were literally knocking down our doors, but all he could think about was bedding down with a helpless girl.
Maybe we can find a car in town,
I considered. Zombies were prowling out back, but I was willing to take my chances if it meant keeping all three of the girls as far away from Grizzly Adams as we could.

Nick straightened his stance. “No deal, jerk! Move out of my way because we’re leaving.”

“Fine. You boys can go,” Earl said.

“We boys?”

“Yep, but we’re keeping the women. You owe us for all the dead corpses I’ll have to clean up in the front yard tomorrow morning.”

Jackie gasped.

“What do you need us for, huh?” Val spat. “Let me tell you, mister, if you come anywhere near me, I’ll bite just as hard as those zombies will. You might lose something really valuable if you go waving it around at me!”

Tahoe cleared his throat, as if he was trying to stifle a laugh.

Val took a step toward him, her eyes darting in my direction, signaling something. She was trying to get their attention so we could devise a plan.

Nick must’ve realized it, too, because he nudged Claire. “You still got that stun gun?” he whispered.

She nodded, wide-eyed, and touched her pocket.

Nick bobbed his head slightly. “Good. On the count of three, stun Earl while Dean and I tackle the other guy. Then stun him too.”

“And then we run,” Jackie said.

I moistened my lips and signaled that I was ready.

Claire wrapped her fingers around the stun gun just as the zombies from the back of the house moved onto the front lawn. They were shuffling everywhere. The scratch of their cracked, yellowed nails raked against the glass. There were so many that I had no idea how we’d get past them without being attacked. We had lost our precious opportunity, thanks to Earl and Tahoe.

Nick grabbed Claire’s arm and whispered into her ear, “Wait! Hold off. The house is surrounded now. There’s no way can we just walk out the front door.” He glanced at me. “If zombies break in, we’ll need the mountain men to help us fight them off.”

I nodded, and Claire slipped her stun gun into her pocket. Our plan was ruined, and it was too late for us to make an escape. We all knew we should have run the second we saw the zombies entering the back yard, but the two sasquatches had foiled that little plan. We could’ve been in the Jeeps, long gone before the zombies had come around to the front of the house, but that chance had slipped away. Now Nick was right: We needed the mountain men conscious so they could help us battle the undead. On our own, we might not make it out alive.

“What the…” Earl said, locking the door. “We’ve never had to fight this many before.”

“I tried to tell you!” Jackie said.

Earl rubbed his chin. “I thought there might be a group of them running around, but I never would have imagined anything like this…and it’s all your fault!”

“What!?” Val screamed, furious.

“That’s right. Y’all brought them here to my doorstep! Look at all those corpses in my front yard. I bet you idiots used a gun, attracting them from everywhere!”

The banging and scratching sounds made my stomach churn. Twigs snapped under their rotting feet as they shuffled around the place, hammering against the glass in various locations with various body parts. Something began to shatter, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure whether the sound was coming from the walls or the door. I even heard muffled footsteps somewhere at the back of the house, or maybe it was the basement. They were fighting their way in, and that meant only one thing: We had to fight our way out, and the front door was out of the question.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a zombie licking and clawing at the glass in front of me. His decomposed face with black and brown muscle wrinkling over the skull stared at me as though he had already chosen his main course for the evening. I didn’t want to be trapped while those monsters fought their way in, but just walking out there and hoping for the best wouldn’t work either. I looked out the glass wall of the living room and saw zombies dotting the entire front yard.
Earl’s right. I bet the gunshots we fired off earlier attracted the herd. We’ll have to be way more careful next time…if there is a next time.
The dead army surrounded the entire house, like some kind of scene straight out of
Night of the Living Dead.
The only thing that kept us safe from them for the time being was a towering sheet of glass. I shuddered and vowed to never set foot inside a glass house again; that was one nightmare I wouldn’t soon forget. “I need a weapon!” I shouted.

Earl thrust my gun into my waiting hands, then handed Nick and Jackie their weapons.

“Hey, girl, catch! You look like you know how to use this,” Tahoe called out a moment before he tossed Val a rifle.

My sister caught the gun in midair and wore a proud smile.

My rifle was already packed in the Jeep, but I still had my handgun. My grip tightened around it, even though I doubted it’d do any good against an entire herd of zombies.

A
crack
echoed in the air a moment before the door splintered and the hinges burst. I froze in place as countless zombies fought with each other to get first pick.

Chapter 9

The penetrating howling noise outside the house grew to ear-splitting levels. My finger found the trigger of my weapon as my gaze steadied on the door. Recklessly determined to sooth their constant hunger, I knew the zombies would find a way in. The fact that we were having such a near encounter with so many in such a confined space wasn’t exactly confidence-boosting, but I vowed to fight until my last breath.

My gaze focused on the door a moment before it splintered open from the weight of countless zombies leaning and pushing against it. Some of them fell headfirst on the floor, gnawing and thrashing. Horrible odors of rotting flesh seeped into my nose, making me want to bend over and puke my guts out. Their unearthly moans echoed in the air, and I shivered at the thought of them tearing through my flesh, devouring me little by little.

I waved my arm, beckoning the others to follow me upstairs. “C’mon! This way!” My voice reverberated from the walls, but it didn’t quite manage to drown out the zombies’ hungry calls.
Without waiting for an answer from the others, I bolted up the spiral staircase, jumping two steps at a time, faster and faster. My boot glided on the smooth surface, and I tripped.
Crap! This is not the time to panic and lose your cool or your balance, Dean!
I scrambled to my feet but stumbled again, nearly losing my grip. As I hung on to the railing, I peered down.
No flipping way!
The door had been broken in completely, but the opening was too narrow to fit them all through. The zombies who had managed to squeeze in had gathered in front of the doorway in a messy heap, pushing and pulling and attempting to get up, while the ones coming from behind kept tripping, making any ascent impossible. I gawked at the way they had buried themselves, thankful for the tiny distraction that might just buy us a few minutes to get upstairs and find the safest room.

“Come on, boy! Move!” Earl yelled. “You’re in my way. If you don’t move your butt, I’ll personally shove you down there to get acquainted with those things.”

I didn’t need to see his face to know he meant every word he said. The edge in his voice betrayed his sincerity. So, my legs rose under me as I pushed up the stairs, focusing on my feet so I wouldn’t trip again.