The Zombie Zovels (Book 3): Blood and Bullets

by Lake, D. K.

  "Be careful next time, you could knock someone out with that." Drew growled, glaring at Lane as he walked around us. I looked up at Lane and gave him a pointed look, and he quickly looked away and helped his brother move away from the deadbie so he could get some fresh air.

  We waited for Nick to get over his sickness feeling and we all assigned him his own water bottle because no one wanted to share with him after he puked. We started walking again, and I stayed behind Josh and Drew, and Lane stayed with his brother.

  "Do you think they made it back safely?" Josh asked and I picked up my speed to catch up with the pair of them, they walked quicker and I wanted to hear what they were saying.

  "Yeah, Evan's pretty resourceful and Lena's a slayer with a machete." Drew responded.

  "I wonder if Dan had any more accidents?" Josh laughed. "I can't believe he wet himself when he was cornered."

  "Dan's a pansy." Drew laughed.

  They were talking about Drew's friends that had gone back to Dodge Lake in Louisiana. Josh had traveled across the desert with them when they were making their way to Colorado to find us.

  "Do you still plan on going back?" Josh asked.

  Back? Back to Dodge Lake. Was Drew leaving?

  "Yeah. I don't really see anything worthwhile sticking around for." Drew said and his words stung me.

  "You know, it sure sounds nice. I love the warmer weather, minus the zombies." Josh said and they both chuckled like old friends.

  "You should come. You'd love the bayou, we spend hours out there in the boat, and it's totally safe and trust me, I wouldn't say that if I didn't believe it. It's very open and I think the marshland had a lot to do with the low number of deadbies coming in, anything that walks into them gets eaten by gators."

  "You keep reminding me about the weather and you just might change my mind."

  Drew chuckled just as I tripped over a stone. A stone!

  He looked over his shoulder having caught me eavesdropping. I thought I saw a flicker of regret on his face but he quickly tapped Josh on the arm and disappeared into the trees. Whatever. We didn't need Drew. I didn't need Drew. Screw him. Ok, we did need him but whatever.

  "Didn't see you back there." Josh smiled as I dropped into step beside him but I had to walk a little faster to keep up with him.

  "So you and Drew are rather chummy." I said, fake smiling.

  "Chummy?"

  "You know, friendly."

  "We spent some time together while you were in the laboratory with Dr. Deadbie, getting your spline removed and intestines rearranged."

  "Ok, I'm pretty sure he didn't do any of those things."

  At least, I hope he didn't. I wanted to ask him if Drew was planning to leave us but I didn't get the chance because Josh spotted a car in front and took off without me. If Drew convinced Josh to leave as well that would just leave Lane and me to protect Nick, and I didn't think we'd make it without Drew, to be honest. Not that I'd tell him that. He was the hunter, he knew how to get his hands on food if we were desperate and he always knew where to find water. And Josh was the muscle, he could take on a group of deadbies no problem. I trudged over to the green hatchback that Josh was already rummaging through. Lane and Nick hurried over and Lane didn't waste any time diving into the front and looking under the seats.

  Nick just stood by, looking uncomfortable as the trees creaked in the breeze. Lane and Josh were rummaging through the car like they were excited five-year-olds and someone had hidden a candy bar in there. I would have got excited if I had seen anything useful but the car looked empty from the outside, not even a spare tire, and all the windows had been smashed in which seemed pretty pointless.

  "Dibs on the gum!" Lane said.

  "I found a lighter and a pair of pink shoes. Alex, what size are you, do you think you could use these?" Josh joked, holding up a pair of neon pink stilettos with a silly grin on his face.

  "I'm good." I replied with a smile and Josh tossed the heels over his shoulder and dove back under the seat.

  I saw something move from the corner of my eyes and snapped my head up but it was only Drew. I was on super high alert now after walking into the last deadbie, literally. Drew strolled out of the trees and walked around to the hood of the car and placed something down. I moved closer and saw that it was a map he was rolling out on the hood of the car.

  "Where'd you get that?" I asked and Josh heard me and sat up in the front seat and looked out the window at us before hopping out. Drew nodded his head to the bag he'd dumped on the ground. I hadn't even noticed he had a bag with him.

  "Found it on the back of a deadbie. Hiker or something, hiding in the woods. There's not much in there, the bag was undone and I think most of the supplies have fallen out but there was a map inside." Drew explained.

  I ducked down and undid the bag and had a rummage through and the first thing I saw was a First-Aid kit. I opened the box and found bandages, alcohol wipes, wound dressing pads, some antiseptic cream, and a pack of blister pads. I closed the box and dug through the rest and found a flashlight, plastic spoons, a pair of thick socks, a pair of black gloves, some kind of disposable rain poncho that looked like it had been made out of a garbage bag, half a pack of wipes, hand sanitizer, boiled sweets, and an empty flask. There wasn't much but we could use it, but there was something at that bottom that caught my eye. I reached in and pulled out the orange gun.

  "Whoa, careful with that!" Josh said, taking it from me.

  "Is that a gun?" Nick asked, unsure.

  "It's a flare gun." I told him. "And speaking of guns, when can I get mine back?" I pointed to my gun attached to Josh's waist belt.

  "Guns are dangerous, Alex. I think I should hold onto it." Josh replied.

  "Are you kidding me? I grew up learning to shoot. My dad ran a gun range, I'm probably better trained to use that thing than you."

  Josh sort of snorted and laughed it off and went to put the flare gun in his own bag but I snatched it away.

  "I'll hang onto this until you give me mine back, ok?" I said and quickly shoved it inside my bag so he couldn't have it. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I don't know how to take care of myself." I gritted out. I noticed Lane wasn't saying anything.

  "Alex, no one is saying you can't take care of yourself, but we're all here to look after you." Josh placed his hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. "You don't need to worry." he added.

  "No I don't, I took care of the last one all by myself like the big grown-up girl I am."

  Josh shook his head and left me to go and look at the map. Drew was watching me but quickly looked back at the map.

  "So where are we?" Josh asked.

  "Here. And we need to go this way." Drew said, running his finger along the map.

  Drew and Josh chatted among themselves and Lane stood beside Josh, listening and making suggestions. I stood at the edge of the road with Nick, feeling like I was being left out.

  "Ok, let's go." Josh finally said.

  Drew started off down the road and Josh folded up the map and put it back in his own bag and picked out everything else we could use and added it to his bag and slung it over his shoulder and started walking. Lane nodded his head for me and Nick to follow and Nick obediently trotted off to catch up with him and I was left wondering what the plan was as no one had even bothered to tell me where we were going. I huffed and started along the road holding onto my bag straps, hoping we would get lucky and find a car, my legs were really starting to ache.

  Chapter 15

  We walked for miles. My legs felt sore and one of my boots was starting to rub on the back of my heel and I knew when I finally got around to looking at the damage it would be bad. It didn't feel that bad at the moment, but blisters never did until half your skin had rubbed off and it was too late to do anything about it. I saw a sign for Kansas and Josh made a joke about following the yellow brick road, and he started calling me Dorothy. I wanted to throw my red slippers at his face. I found it slightly funny, watching the fo
ur of them as they walked in front, Josh, Lane, and Nick were on the road, and Drew was walking along the rough grass along the side of the road nearest to me. I could picture Josh as the Scarecrow that needed a brain because he seemed to think I couldn't look after myself anymore, and that I didn't know what I was doing with a gun and would shoot my foot off or something, and he looked like Scarecrow with his scraggly hair that sat like a mop on top of his head. I didn't know what the problem was, he never used to be this weird, yes he was always protective of me but since they came and rescued us from the lab, Josh now thought I was somehow different and needed to be coddled or some shit like that, but I didn't feel any different and I still knew how to take down a deadbie. I think Lane would be the Cowardly Lion that needed a little courage, I knew the deadbies still frightened him even though he put on a good front. And of course, Drew would be the Tin Man that needs a heart, because I sometimes wondered if he was missing one. He hadn't even said sorry for elbowing me in the face. I burst out laughing when I realized Nick was more like Dorothy than I was, all he needed was a little dog. Drew raised an eyebrow at me as I giggled all by myself but no one else seemed to hear me.

  "Alex, you need to keep up. You're on a go slow today." Josh said, dropping back to walk next to me.

  "No, I think I got a blister."

  "Do you need to stop?"

  "In a minute probably."

  "There's a gas station up ahead, do you think you can make it there?" Josh pointed to a sign.

  "Sure." I pushed through the sudden pain coming from my heel, I didn't want to slow Josh down anymore, he was on supercharge mode, power walking along the road to get to the gas station.

  I plodded along behind them and they veered off to the edge and stood hidden in the trees, watching the gas station. I crouched down next to a tree and had a look. There was a small box-shaped building which looked only big enough to hold a cash register and a magazine stand and not much else but there might be something. It was so quiet out here I was hoping that not many people had passed through and we'd find some leftover nonperishables but my hopes were dashed when I saw the broken window and I knew the place had probably been emptied. There was another building next door with large windows that were still intact and there was a freaky-looking stuffed bear in the window but the sign had fallen off and was face down on the ground so I wasn't sure what the place was.

  "Do you think there's anyone in there?" Josh asked.

  "Doubt it, it's too small to fit any more than a couple of people inside. We should check around back first." Drew replied.

  Josh nodded and told us to wait while he and Drew crept around back. Lane stayed back with us and crouched down next to the tree and kept his eyes on the gas station. I wiggled my foot around, wanting to get my boot off and sort out my heel.

  "You ok?" Nick asked.

  "Blister." I said, sucking in a breath as I put my foot back on the ground. Now we had stopped moving it hurt even more.

  "My legs are really starting to feel it." Nick said, rubbing his hands on his thighs. "Running on a treadmill is one thing, walking all day is something else."

  "You get used to it." I assured him.

  "I really thought we would have seen more zombies by now. When you told me stories about your time outdoors you made it seem like they were lurking everywhere."

  "They usually are, but we're out in the woods and there's a lot of land for them to roam and get lost in. Trust me, if we were anywhere near a town you'd know, there would be lone deadbies all over the place. They tend to be drawn to the towns." I explained.

  "See that still makes me rethink the whole brain-dead thing. There must be some sort of intelligence going on in their heads that draws them back to the towns, like possible familiarity, the stores, the houses." Nick mused.

  "The food supply. A lot of people still hide out in the towns and they know, they can smell them." I said.

  "I don't think they can smell people to that extent, they don't have heightened senses...at least that's what I thought but I could be wrong."

  "Ugh. Let me guess you cut one open?" I said as Drew appeared on his own and walked straight past Lane, blanking him. He came over to me and ducked down next to me.

  "Uh..." Before I could ask him what he was doing he stuck his hand in my boot and found his pocket knife and left without a word. Lane watched him walk away with a growl on his face as he disappeared around the corner of the gas station.

  "Yes. I did." Nick said.

  "Huh?" What were we talking about?

  "I also monitored another for any brain activity but zilch. They're brain-dead but they still have the urge to feed, it's strange."

  "Whatever, I've seen them when they're hunting in a group, they walk around with the noses in the air as though they can smell you."

  "Hmm...interesting, maybe they can. If so it would be very unfortunate to be a female trying to stay alive."

  "And why is that?" I asked confused. What was he babbling about now?

  "Well, the unfortunate thing about being a woman stuck in the zombie apocalypse is her monthly menstrual cycle."

  "Ew. Really, Nick?" I cringed and checked both sides of the trees again while Lane kept his eyes on the gas station.

  "I'm just stating the obvious. They hunt for food, and if blood does draw them, it's just unlucky if you've got your monthly cycle."

  "Nick, enough of the grossness." I warned while Lane was trying not to laugh.

  "It's just as well you don't get yours at the moment. At least if we run into a herd it won't be your womanly ways that get us killed."

  I glared at him and he quickly shut his mouth.

  "What? Why don't you get your period anymore?" Lane stood up and faced me, looking me up and down. "Are you pregnant?" he deadpanned.

  "No, of course, I'm not pregnant! Are you insane? Do I look pregnant?"

  Lane thought about it and obviously realized that wasn't possible. For a start, I'm sure Nick would have picked up on something like that.

  "When I got really sick and Nick was treating me it obviously affected my monthly cycle, and it hasn't returned, ok?" I explained to put Lane at ease.

  "Dramatic weight loss and severe illness can cause a woman's menstruation system to shut down." Nick elaborated.

  "But she's put weight on?" Lane said confused.

  "Wow, thanks, Lane." I muttered.

  "No, what I meant was you're not underweight." Lane quickly corrected himself when he saw how pissed off I looked.

  "Not anymore, but before I lost a ton of weight. I was like a bag of bones when I got to Nick."

  "Alex's body is still adjusting and recovering, it may take some time before her period returns." Nick said.

  "Ohmigawd! Can we please stop talking about my period?!"

  "You got your period?" Josh asked, popping up behind Nick.

  "No. And, I'm not pregnant before you get any ideas." I crossed my arms and felt my cheeks burning.

  I suddenly felt self-conscious about being the only girl here. Why did Nick have to be all weird and bring up women and their monthly cycles? Now they were all looking at me strangely.

  "So is there anyone in there?" I asked.

  "No. The place is empty and has been cleared out but we did find this." Josh held up a plastic carrier bag that was full of sour cream and chive potato chips.

  "Yum." I said. At this rate, my few extra pounds of weight would soon drop off again. "What about next door?" I glanced over at the dark windows.

  "It's all sealed up which is why we think it would be a good idea to stay the night." Josh said.

  "Really? But if a herd comes along we'll be trapped." I reminded him.

  "They won't know we're in there unless we alert them we are, and there's an exit at the back if we need to get out in a hurry." Josh said, looking back at the building.

  "What is that place anyway?"

  "I dunno, I think it's one of those weird museums that are full of stuffed animals for the tourists, and they se
ll little trinkets and stuff."

  I grabbed Nick's arm and pulled his wrist in my direction so I could see the time. 5.25 pm. I didn't know we had been walking for so long, it was no wonder my feet hurt. It wasn't really that late but if we didn't stop for the night here we might end up sleeping out in the open which was worse. I liked sleeping up the trees and on roofs, but the store hadn't been raided and had somehow survived and been left untouched, I'm sure it would be safe for one more night, right?

  "Can we get in without breaking the glass?" I asked, looking around for any wandering deadbies.

  "I already picked the lock." Drew said, walking toward us and chucking me his pocket knife.

  I caught it and just held onto it because I wanted to get my boots off once we were inside. Josh led us around to the back of the building and Lane ducked inside the back door that was slightly smaller than the average door. Nick walked in after him and I was about to follow him when I turned around and saw Drew walking off into the woods.

  "Where's he going?" I asked Josh.

  "To see if he can find something to eat. I don't think potato chips are gonna cut it."

  "It's better than nothing."

  Josh smiled and ushered me indoors and I stepped inside, eating my potato chips. I was so hungry. It was dark and I couldn't see much once Josh had shut the door. There was a little light filtering through the doorway from the front of the store and I could see there were boxes piled up everywhere.

  There was a door to the right and I carefully pushed it open and let the door glide open and hit the wall. Inside was a small toilet room and wash basin. I walked in and pulled the chain and it gurgled as the water whooshed around the toilet pan and went down, then I tried the water faucet but the water looked dirty as it ran down the drain.

  "Yeah, no one can use that." I said, walking back out and inspecting a box. "What's in all the boxes?" I asked, tearing into the one nearest me.

  "I wouldn't get too excited." Josh said but I ignored him and dove into the white foam packaging, chucking handfuls out everywhere so it looked like it was snowing. Josh flicked on a flashlight and shone it over the box. My hand found something buried in the packaging and I pulled it out and frowned at the small hand carved wooden owl. I dropped it back in the box and kept digging but just found more owls. I tore open another box, a smaller one, and found plastic keychains with different animals on.