I shut the door and made sure it locked. “So, smart-aleck, where’d you learn that? How come I never knew about it?”
Carm shrugged and went to check out the kitchen. “Spence showed me. Never had a reason to use it ’till now. Hey, we’re in luck. There’s stuff to eat. Not much, just some crackers and cookies.”
“Enjoy yourself,” I mumbled, my bad mood growing.
Zoey wasted no time in wolfing down several chocolate cookies Carm dug from the back of the cabinet. My momentary jealousy was forgotten as I watched my cousin. Her quick change of subject made me wonder what else she might’ve kept from me.
The thought made me pause. I trusted Carm, I always had. My cousin was my rock. She’d always been there for me. I didn’t expect her to tell me about every single thing in her life, I mean we’re not clones or anything, but still…
We’d always counted on and helped each other, but the truth was I now needed Carm more than she needed me. That hurt.
I pushed the thought away and scanned the main room. There was a ragged, dirty chaise lounge under one bunch of sheets. At least one of us had somewhere to sleep.
Carm opened the fridge and held out a bottle. “Water and OJ. It expires next month. Whoever lived here hasn’t been gone long. I wonder why they left?”
Getting more annoyed, I took the bottle of water, filled it with protein powder and gave it a good shake. Half went down in a big gulp before I headed for the stairs. I really didn’t like how things were going. Zoey kept shoving junk in her mouth and ignored us. “As long as they didn’t leave a bunch of Zs behind, I don’t care. Let’s go. We have to check upstairs, get our stuff, and block the place off.”
“Now who’s kind of crabby?”
“Whatever.”
I clumped up the steps, not bothering to wait.
Crabby? Yeah, maybe I was.
My uneasiness grew. I didn’t like being stuck out here. Not good, either, if we were getting on each other’s nerves already. “We’re not camping out, you know.”
“Hey, cuz, I don’t like it any better than you. Just trying to make the best of it.” She turned and went back down the stairs. “You know what? You go. I’m goin’ to get our stuff and call Mr. J. again.”
“Fine, Miss Smiley Face, you do that,” I sniped.
Her leaving didn’t make me feel any better, but our yelling at each other told me we had nothing to worry about as far as surprises went. Nobody else was home.
The first bedroom was decorated all over with pink, pastels, and big flowery wallpaper. Stuffed animals covered the bed. Nothing out of place. Same for the bath, neat and orderly. Closet, ditto.
I flung open the next door and reeled back. The rotten smell of death and decay wafting smelling it. I grabbed a towel and held it over my nose, trying to breathe only through my mouth.
I gagged but continued in, hoping the source of the smell wouldn’t come after me.
Not this time.
On the floor at the end of the bed lay the lady of the house, or what was left of her after she’d become a hungry Z’s main course. Yuck.
Lucky for us, with no one else around, the thing or things ate and ran. “Fast food,” I muttered.
My eyes averted, I set down my gun, stepped over the body, and rummaged through the dresser drawers, glad to find a handful of cash and some nice jewelry. Real stones, too. I crammed them in my pockets. Never knew when we’d need something to barter. Why leave it for someone else?
A noise in the hall got my attention. I stopped rummaging. “Who’s there? Carm?” No answer.
I stepped over the body and searched for something to defend myself with. Idiot. I left my gun too close to the door. “Carm? Zoey? You out there?”
Why wasn’t anyone answering? Another noise in the hall. I had to see what was going on.
Taking a flying leap, I jumped onto the bed and grabbed the gun, my mental image of an action hero far different than my actual clumsy attempt.
Rolling over, I took aim at the doorway now blocked by Goth Girl whose stare made me feel like I had two heads. I wondered at her smirk, considering how I had the gun barrel pointed straight at her face.
My finger itched on the trigger. All it would take is a little squeeze and…
Ignoring me, Zoey shuffled over and took a good long look at the gory remains on the floor before heading for the dresser and rummaging in the clothes. “Cool. So what’s left you didn’t take?”
Ugh. She didn’t mean—?
I didn’t miss the way she smirked at me before digging in the drawers.
Jerk.
Giving her one last glare, I slung the gun over my shoulder. If only she knew how close she’d come.
That I’d considered offing her without any hesitation did make me think, at least for a minute. The whole Z thing had hardened me, I knew, but I hadn’t expected having such a cold reaction to someone who was almost like me.
After awhile, being around those things, and being infected, must have a long-lasting effect, I suspected, and not a good one. I wasn’t raised to be like that. Hopefully Goth Girl would be on her way soon. I certainly didn’t need her getting any weird ideas about me.
A search of the closet turned up a couple extra blankets and pillows. As luck would have it, there was a small air mattress and a pump, too. Glad I didn’t need to haul a real mattress down the stairs after all.
Zoey ignored me and dug around in the dresser, pulling out a couple black shirts and a pair of pants. I headed for the door, tired of waiting for her to do something other than help herself.
“We’re sleeping downstairs so we can watch the door,” I mentioned, hoping she’d take the hint. “Better bring some blankets down for yourself.”
The way she turned and stared gave me the creeps.
“I’ll stay here. I’d rather sleep by myself. Anything coming up the stairs, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
I tried not to show any reaction when she pulled up one pants leg, giving me a glimpse of the giant knife stuck in a leather sheath wrapped around her calf.
Huh. I bet she would.
My arms full of blankets, I headed for the hall. My last sight of her dragging the sheet-covered body and shoving it in the closet was NOT one I wanted appearing in my dreams tonight. A weird Friday the 13th kind of grimace lit her face as she eased the door shut.
Okay. Enough.
I bounded down the stairs, dumped the blankets and called for Carm. I hoped she’d reach Mr. J. soon. Morning wouldn’t come fast enough.
Chapter Seventeen
Downstairs, I found Carm sitting cross-legged in a corner of the kitchen floor, bags and boxes of cookies and crackers around her. She sighed, clearly content.
I had to laugh. She was the image of a kid who’d found the key to the cookie factory. Hard to stay mad at someone having such a good time, even if I couldn’t join in.
She took a bite, brushed off the crumbs, and held up her phone. “I think the signal’s getting stronger. Maybe we won’t have to stay here long.”
“I hope not. This all our stuff?”
“Except the clothes. Didn’t think we needed ’em. Cookie?”
I shook my head at her offer and went for my bag among the pile on the floor next to the counter. “I’ll make myself a cranberry juice. Any visitors?”
“No Zs around, except…” She poked her head at the ceiling. “Where’s our hitchhiker?”
“Goth Girl’s staying upstairs. In the same room with the dead lady of the house…what was left of her.”
Carm glanced at me in horror. “Ugh, gross. How can she stand the smell?”
“Beats me.” I lowered my voice, filled a glass with water, and dumped in my protein powder. “Strange thing is I swear she liked it.”
Carm shivered again. “Ick.” She held up her phone again. “More bars. Almost all of them. I think I’ll get through soon.”
After our snack, we lowered the shades and checked that all the doors were locked. The lou
nge chair covered with a sheet and the air bed blown up, we got comfy, Carm with a puzzle book, me with a mystery paperback I’d found in my bag.
As the sky darkened, it was like every little noise magnified. The crickets grew louder. A frog’s chirp became shriller. I got up and shoved a chair under the front doorknob for extra security. All the windows made me wish we’d gone upstairs after all.
“Kind of creepy, isn’t it?” I asked, rubbing my arms for effect.
“Yeah. Did you try Mr. J. again?”
“I got two rings and then it shut off. Maybe next time.”
The room fell quiet and filled with shadows except for the circle of light around the small desk lamp I’d plugged in. It wasn’t much, but at least we weren’t sitting in complete darkness. Plus, I didn’t want to make the house too bright for fear of attracting unwanted guests.
Carm’s head dropped lower as she fell into a doze. I gazed at the book’s page, not seeing the words. It was going to be a long night.
We both jumped at the loud computer-like ding from Carm’s phone signaling a new text had come in.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know…”
“What’s it say? Carm?”
“It’s my mom! She’s asking where we are.” She fell silent and tapped in an answer. “East to Lawton, off Highway 50, right?”
I rattled off directions and the house number. “Tell her to watch for the red mailbox.”
Her thumbs and fingers flew over the keypad. “How’d you remember that?”
I knew she didn’t expect an answer. The text sent, Carm relayed her mom’s message that things would be okay and they’d try to get here soon. She jabbed the redial button and waited.
“It’s ringing. Mr. Jensen? It’s Becca’s cousin, Carm.” Her voice rose in alarm. “I can’t hear you. We ran out of gas. Come get us. We’re by East Drive on Lawton, the house by the red mailbox, number nine, what’s the rest, Bec?”
She repeated the directions I gave and ended the call. “I don’t know if he heard me. I hope he did.”
I gave a big unhappy sigh. “So do I.”
Several hours later, Carm’s light snores filled the room while I sat and stared at the walls. I wished the shade was up so I could watch everything outside. I fought the urge to go sit on the porch knowing the less attention we put on ourselves, the better, but it sure was boring staying safe.
I must’ve dozed off or something as I jolted awake at the loud crack. Well, it sounded loud to me. Carm muttered something and moved to her side, sound asleep.
Not sure what I should do, I crept forward, grabbed the edge of the shade, and peeked out. Nothing moved. Even the frog had stopped its nightly serenade. I was about to drop the shade when I saw something move behind our car.
There. Someone—or some thing—was there.
I picked up the gun and touched the trigger lightly by habit, my eyes trained on the end of the car. Again, something moved. I could ignore it, but knew I shouldn’t. Where there was one, there was one too many.
The idea of them crawling all over the porch, staring in windows, breaking glass and trying to get at us, or at least try to get my cousin, wasn’t an option. Best to attack before they did.
Keeping my eye on the end of the driveway outside (easy to do with one eye determined to stay pointed for once in the right direction), I carefully pulled the chair out from under the doorknob. I slid the lock and pulled the door toward me as quietly as possible.
“Cuz, what’re you doing?” Carm whispered and yawned sleepily.
My voice low, I tried not to sound panicked and set her off. “Somebody’s out there, by the car. See?”
Carm tiptoed to the other window and peered out at the edge of the shade. “Yeah, I see it. Something moved. If we stay quiet, it won’t know we’re here.”
“You’re kidding?” I questioned, my patience disappearing. “Or the Z radar will go off and all their friends will come for dinner. I’d rather be the one doing the attacking first. I’m opening the door, okay? Get ready to shoot. One…two…three!”
Flinging the door open, we jumped onto the porch and aimed, ready to shoot, when a voice cried out. “Wait, don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”
My annoyance went up a notch at finding Zoey hanging out the upper window. “The guy by the car’s like us, but he’s not all bloodied up. Mmm, he’s not bad-looking, either.”
“How can she tell that?” Carm asked, her voice low.
I shrugged and stepped off the porch. “Hey, what’s your name? Say something or I’ll turn you into a target!”
“Don’t shoot,” he yelled. “Rebecca, don’t shoot!”
Stunned, I lowered my gun a few inches. “Who’s there? How do you know me? Walk forward, slowly, hold your hands up.”
A minute later, a young man emerged out of the shadows, hands held over his head. “Becca, it’s me—”
He got no further as Carm gave a shocked squeal. “Jimmy? Jimmy Churlin? What’re you doing here?”
I cursed. Knowing who it was, especially him, didn’t make me feel any better. “What do you want?” I asked, my voice icy.
“Hey, I texted you,” he answered. “You didn’t message me back, so I texted your cousin. She said it was okay to come by…”
Carm’s face went white. Her voice pitched even higher. “Me? Bec, I didn’t know…” She turned back to him, her eyes narrowed in angry slits. “I wasn’t paying attention to who it was. I thought you were my mom. You didn’t say anything. You tricked me!”
“I thought they locked you up?” I asked. “I heard there’s some weird stuff going on, you know, with kids like us.”
“Yeah, big stuff.” He shrugged and for once got serious as he edged closer. “Carm, sorry, I was so secretive. I needed to be around somebody I knew, why I’m here. Those guards at the school took me in some back room. Lucky for me, they ran out on some emergency. Didn’t lock the door. I couldn’t stick around my house, figured they’d be searching for me. I had to go somewhere. I even ducked in the trees a couple times to avoid those military guys. Good thing I still had both your names in my phone yet. Lucky, huh?”
“Real lucky,” I murmured, not sure if I believed him, not sure if after our last encounter I wanted him hanging around, especially if he smelled like he did before.
Making himself comfortable, he folded his arms and leaned against his battered car. “Hey, nice digs. We staying here long?”
I tried not to act too annoyed. “We? Me and Carm are waiting for a friend to bring some gas, then we’re leaving.”
The familiar leer came back on his face. “Hey, Becca, you know I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. Anywhere. Say the word.”
As luck would have it, I didn’t have to say the word I had in mind when he got distracted.
“Wow, who is she?” Jimmy gave a low whistle and jerked his chin in Zoey’s direction. “Say, baby, I think you and me got some things to talk about.”
Zoey grinned and waved hello, doing her best to simper at him and make sure he got a good look at her dimples and whatever else. Minutes later, she came outside. The two of them whispered together like long-lost pals. He trailed his hand down her arm and caressed her leg. Goth Girl hung on Jimmy, her mouth at his ear.
Ugh. I backed away. Bad enough Jimmy still had a terrible odor even I could smell. The scene before me was like a bad accident; I hated to gawk, but I couldn’t resist. I fought the urge to puke. Enough already.
“Carm, let’s go in,” I barked. “Those two can go hang out in Jimmy’s car or come inside. I’m locking the door before anyone else joins us.”
We bustled in, with Zoey wasting no time. She zipped past us and pulled Jimmy upstairs with her. I bid them good riddance and relocked the front door. “No explaining some people’s tastes,” I muttered. (Actually I was glad he’d found someone else he could stalk instead of me.)
Carm made a big show of opening a box of chocolate cookies. “Now I know she’s weird. Want one?”
“Quit asking, already. You know I can’t eat that junk.”
Her frown made me feel bad for being so “snappy,” but I had good reason. This whole thing was getting to me, big time. Talk about weird. It was like the longer I was the way I was, the crankier I got, or maybe it was the whole transforming thing gone haywire. The real problem is I didn’t like the idea of Jimmy sticking around. Bad enough Goth Girl was sleeping with the dead upstairs. Now the two of them…
I tried to free myself of any thoughts about the odd couple upstairs. Ick.
All I knew was I felt like I wanted to jump out of my skin. If Goth Girl and our freaky invader said the wrong thing, I was afraid what might happen.
The gun felt heavier in my hands. I caressed the trigger, my mood growing darker by the minute. Muttering a curse, I tossed the gun aside and threw myself on the chair. I snuck a couple chicken nuggets from the bag and wolfed them down, followed by another big gulp of protein drink. Blechh. Disgusted, a quick yank had the sheet over my head.
As if things weren’t bad enough, now I was developing a real hate-on for everyone. Especially her, I realized. This was the second time I’d pictured our “housemate” dead and sizzled.
All right, I admit it—I can’t stand her. So what? I didn’t have to like everyone, did I?
The answer in my head sounded mucho like my aunt. Great. “No, you don’t have to like everyone, honey. But I thought you were better than that. You should be your brother—or sister’s—keeper, right? You don’t have to like her to help her, but you can be kind, comprende?”
Sí, I whispered to my imaginary aunt. Okay, okay, I give. I’ll help her, but just enough to help her out the door and out of our hair, especially if Jimmy keeps hanging around. Can’t stand either one of them, don’t think I ever will, and I sure don’t trust the two of them, especially not together.
Vowing to control my anger more and try to tolerate them, at least a little, I settled in for some rest. I sniffled, swiped at my eye, and gave myself a good whack on the side of the head. I waited for the dizziness to pass as my other eye spun and finally came to a stop. I had a lot of nerve looking down on other people, didn’t I? Now who was the freak?
Girl Z: My Life As A Teenage Zombie Page 14
