“Why you ought to be,” she teased, tickling him.
Fortunately, the generators were running in the hotel at a bare minimum, and she was able to still have her coffee in the morning. That, along with the other small luxuries she’d enjoyed at the hotel, like warm meals and hot baths were a privilege. She knew they weren’t going to last if things didn’t change soon. The government, whatever was left of it, hadn’t been able to contain the virus or the zombies as of yet, Professor Schultzenheimer wasn’t having any luck coming up with a cure for the infection, and from what she understood, the generators ran on fuel and that had to be getting scarce. Luckily, the night before, some of the other survivors had been able to confiscate a fuel rig that had been abandoned just outside of town and bring it to the hotel. When that ran out, however, she wasn’t sure what would happen. She could only hope that Bryce, Henry, and the others returned soon.
Henry.
Admittedly, she had a soft spot for that old fart as well. He was a little past his prime, but he certainly had charm. And his stories, she could sit and listen to him talk about his days in the rodeo for hours. She hoped he made it back in one piece as well. She’d grown very fond of him.
“There,” pointed Bobby.
Belinda sat up straighter and stared at the tall headlights creeping toward them. Her eyes narrowed. “Now, who is that?”
“Friends,” said Bobby, with a wide smile.
Friends?
No, this had been a bad idea, she thought to herself as she reached under the seat and grabbed the revolver. What in the hell was I thinking, coming out here with the boy and the dog?
“It’s okay,” said Bobby as a black Sierra, with a large grill-guard in the front, pulled up to the curb on the opposite side of the road.
“I guess they haven’t noticed us yet,” said Belinda, watching the truck nervously. She pointed to the seat. “Why don’t you get down, Bobby.”
But Bobby had other ideas.
Before she could react, he threw open the door, jumped out, and ran over to the pickup.
“Bobby!” hollered Belinda, opening her door quickly and scrambling out.
Goldie, barking excitedly, leaped out and chased after the six-year-old.
She caught up to the boy and the dog just as the door opened up on the passenger side of the truck.
“Do you need help?” asked the middle-aged woman as she climbed out of the truck and scanned the streets nervously.
Belinda smiled at the stranger, who thankfully, looked about as threatening as Goldie. “No, we’re fine.”
The driver of the truck, a man with glasses and dark hair, leaned over and smiled wryly. “I take it the C.D.C. is closed for renovation?”
Chuckling, Belinda glanced at the building and nodded. “We wish. No, as you can see it’s been abandoned. Either the employees turned into zombies, or just plain took off.” She decided not to mention the professor, just in case these people weren’t as friendly as they appeared. Besides, the military was probably still looking for him, and from what she knew, he didn’t want to be found.
Goldie jumped onto the woman’s knees and began licking her hands.
“What a sweet puppy,” she said, bending down to pet and hug the dog. Smiling, she turned and looked at Bobby. “Is she yours?”
“No. I’m watching her for someone else,” he replied, gazing at the woman in fascination. “You miss yours, don’t you?”
She looked surprised. “Well, uh, you could say that.” She smiled sadly. “It’s certainly hard saying goodbye.”
Goldie, her tongue hanging out, decided she wanted more attention and leaped into the truck.
The man laughed and started petting her. “Never thought I’d get to see another dog,” he said as she licked his face. “Doesn’t she look like Maggie, Irene?”
Tears filled the woman’s eyes. “Yes… she kind of does.” She turned to Belinda. “Maggie was our last Golden.” Her voice grew thick. “She passed away last year, before any of this happened, thank goodness. She wouldn’t have made a very good zombie killer.”
Belinda smiled and pulled Bobby closer. “I reckon so. Where you from?”
“We’re from Minnesota,” replied the woman, brushing at her tears. “We came out here to find our family.”
Belinda’s eyes widened. “Oh really?”
“Yes. I just hope we locate them,” she glanced toward the C.D.C. “It’s not looking very promising right now. We thought for sure they’d be all over this thing. But, obviously, nobody has a handle on anything.”
“It looks that way. I’m Belinda, by the way,” she said, holding out her hand.
Before the woman could take it, Bobby introduced himself. “I’m Bobby De Luca,” he said proudly, extending his hand like his brother had been teaching him.
The woman smiled and shook it. “Hi Bobby, I’m Irene Wild and that’s my husband Steve.”
“See,” said Bobby, turning around to look up into Belinda’s eyes. “Friends.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” whispered Belinda.
***
“They went back?” repeated Irene, wiping fresh tears. Belinda had brought them back to the hotel, to try and find a way to soften the blow. Unfortunately, there had been no easier way to tell them that their granddaughters were on the road.
Belinda nodded, hating to bring them more bad news. It was horrible enough that she’d had to inform them that Dave and Kris had died, but now to find out that their grandkids were somewhere between Atlanta and Minnesota, it made everything that much worse. “Yeah, a couple of days ago. Hopefully they’ll be back soon, but it’s hard to say. It’s not like we have a way to reach any of them.”
“Oh, I just can’t believe they did that,” sighed Irene. “With so much danger on the roads.”
Grief-stricken, Steve sat down on a club chair, the news of Dave and Kris’s death still sinking in. “I just can’t believe it,” he replied, his voice husky. “Dave left me a message a few days ago, saying that they’d made it out here. Now you’re saying that they were murdered, and not even by the damn zombies?”
Belinda swallowed. “Um, yes. That’s right. The ones who did it were part of the mob,” she said, leaving out the fact that she’d been related to one of them. “But, Dave and Kris, they saved a lot of people. You should be very proud of them.”
“We always have been,” sighed Irene, stepping over to her husband. She grabbed his hand. “Haven’t we?”
He nodded tearfully.
Belinda raised her index finger. “I’m sure you’re aware that Allie beat the virus after getting bitten, but your other granddaughter did as well. Cassie was sick for a couple of days, but she also pulled through.”
“He never mentioned anything about Cassie,” said Irene, looking relieved. “They both pulled through and there were no complications?”
Belinda nodded. “Yes. They were very lucky girls.”
“Or maybe it’s something else,” said Steve. “Some kind of immunity to the infection.”
“You know… that that might also explain how Victoria survived getting bitten, too, Steve,” said Irene, turning to him. “Maybe our family has some kind of immunity?”
“Maybe all of the remaining survivors have some kind of built-in immunity,” he said.
“Or they just didn’t get the vaccine,” she answered.
“Who is Victoria?” asked Belinda.
“Our other granddaughter. She’s in Texas right now, staying at a zombie fallout shelter with some friends. We were going to check on her next. Tell her the news about her parents.”
Belinda frowned. “Where they killed?”
Irene sighed. “We believe so. They’d been on a cruise with Judy, Steve’s ex-wife, and… well, we haven’t heard from either of them. It’s not looking good.”
“It’s certainly not a good sign,” sighed Belinda.
“No,” said Steve, looking beaten. “It’s not. As you can see, the grandchildren are all we have left.”
“What a nightmare, huh?” said Belinda.
“Much worse than a nightmare,” he replied. “You can’t wake up from this.”
Irene rubbed her forehead. “I just can’t believe the girls took off like that. When we heard that everyone had made it here, we just assumed that Allie and Cassie were safe.”
“Nobody is safe,” said Belinda, glancing at Bobby. “Not here. Not anywhere.”
“I know,” she replied. “And that’s why I’m so scared.”
He patted her on the back. “Irene, it’s okay. We’ll find them.”
She looked up at him. “I hope so. We can’t lose anyone else.”
“We won’t,” he said, his voice cracking.
As Belinda stared at them, she couldn’t help but feel slightly responsible for the turn of events her dysfunctional family had created. All her life she’d had to put up with their crazy, violent ways, and she’d longed for the kind of relationship that these people had. Now, ironically, it was her family that had ruined theirs. She reached over and placed a hand on Irene’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“We’ve all lost,” replied Steve. “I’m sure you’ve lost plenty of family yourself.”
“Yes, but yours is nothing compared to mine.” She glanced at Bobby, who was looking at a picture book on the floor and felt nauseated at the thought of losing him. “That little guy, however, I don’t know what I’d do if he ever got hurt.”
“Oh, is he yours?” asked Irene, turning to look at the small boy.
“Actually, he’s your granddaughter’s future brother-in-law.”
“What?” they gasped in unison.
Belinda chuckled. “I take it you’ve never met Bryce De Luca?”
Irene shook her head. “No. Cassie is engaged? Seriously?”
“Seriously. He’s a nice guy, too,” said Belinda. “Handsome, strong, a real fighter.”
“Well, she’s a little young to be engaged,” said Steve, frowning.
“Maybe, but Bryce adores her, and believe me, he won’t stop searching for Cassie until he finds her.”
“Let’s hope he finds Allie and Kylie, too,” said Irene.
“He did,” said Bobby, out of nowhere.
They turned to him.
“What was that, Bobby?” asked Belinda, walking toward him. She bent down. “What did you say, honey?”
“Bryce gave this to me” he replied, holding up his book. “He loves me.”
“He certainly does,” agreed Belinda, ruffling his hair. “We all love you, kid.”
“Well, what do we do now?” asked Irene, turning to Steve.
“We go back,” he replied, picking up his rifle. “Find our granddaughters.”
“I’m coming with,” said Bobby. He stood up and walked over to them. “Let’s go. Right now.”
“Honey, you have to stay here,” said Belinda.
“No,” he said. “I have to go and save the baby.”
The adults looked at each other, surprised at his response. “Baby, what baby?”
“They call her the ‘Chosen One’,” he replied.
“The ‘Chosen One’?” asked Belinda.
“Yes,” he replied. “And she really needs me.”
“Oh, Bobby… I’m sorry, honey, but you’re not going anywhere,” said Belinda. “It’s much too dangerous to go on a road trip right now.”
“They’re going,” he replied.
“That’s different,” said Belinda.
“Linny, please, I have to leave with them.”
She knelt down next to him again. “Bobby…”
His eyes took on an intelligence that shocked her. “Belinda,” he said evenly. “You don’t understand. We are running out of time. All of us.”
2
Allie and Kylie
“Did you hear that?”
“No,” whispered Allie in the cold, musty darkness.
“I think someone’s coming.”
It had been a few hours since the girls had been taken to an old house somewhere in Minneapolis by Billie. There, they’d been welcomed by a small group of people, who were now holding them prisoner in a bedroom up in the attic.
Allie sat with her back against the wall, staring down at the quiet baby in her arms, who surprisingly, hadn’t slept or fussed for hours. In fact, Adria gazed up at her intently, and she almost felt like the baby was trying to somehow console her.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered down at her. “I’m scared too, but I haven’t given up yet. Neither should you.”
“Hey, did you hear me?”
Allie sighed. “Yes,” she replied, trying to remain calm. As much as she wanted to remain positive, the truth was that they were being held prisoner by a bunch of psychopaths, and nobody knew where to find them. Not Cassie, Kristie, or even Bryce. “Well, maybe they’ll bring us some food, I’m starving.”
The noises out in the hallway drifted away and Kylie crawled over to them. “I wouldn’t trust eating their food. They might poison us or something. Anyway, we have to try and escape, before they hurt Adria.”
She held the baby closer. “I’m surprised they haven’t tried taking her from us.”
“I think they’re afraid to touch her.”
“Good. Crazy whackos. Do you really think that Adria is what they say she is?”
Kylie lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling. “The ‘Chosen One’?”
“Yeah.”
She paused for a few seconds. “Oh, I don’t know. Heck, I don’t even know what being the ‘Chosen One’ really means.”
“What about the ‘End of Days’ thing you were talking about before? The signs of the apocalypse and all that?”
Kylie sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, they never mentioned anything about a baby or any other kind of person saving the world. This just doesn’t fit in to what it is supposed to say in the Bible.”
“Have you read it?”
“No. I’m just going by what I saw on cable.”
“I haven’t read the Bible either. It just looked so long and confusing. What else did it say on that documentary show?”
Kylie sat back up. “Well, from what I remember, there would be a lot of bad things happening, like the seas turning red, earthquakes, volcanoes, and then complete darkness. There were also supposed to be two evil men who would join forces. One of them gets possessed by Satan, making him the Antichrist. They referred to all three of them as the ‘Unholy Trinity’.”
“Now that’s confusing,” said Allie, wishing she would have gone to church more. To her, church had always made her sleepy and even a little bored.
“I know. You’ve heard of the ‘Holy Trinity’, right? Father, Son, Holy Spirit?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, this ‘Unholy Trinity’ is supposed to be Satan’s mockery of that. So, it’s Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.”
“Is the Antichrist supposed to be Satan’s son or something?”
“Not sure. I think that Satan takes over his body though, or something later.”
“Oh, well what about the False Prophet? Where does he fit in to all of this?” she asked, now really getting the chills. All of this talk about the Devil was freaky.
Kylie thought back to what they’d said. “Um… oh yeah, I think the other dude is supposed to try and turn people away from God or something. That’s why they called him a ‘False Prophet’.”
“Oh.”
“This just doesn’t seem right, though. This isn’t happening the way they explained it. And I definitely don’t remember anything about a ‘Chosen One’.”
Allie rubbed Adria’s back. “Honestly, the more I think about it, the harder it is to believe that a small baby could have that kind of power and be able to save the world.”
“Well, those people in the next room obviously believe that she is a real threat. I think they’re planning something for her and I’m getting some really bad vibes about it.”
Allie studied Adria�
��s face. All she could see was a pretty baby blowing bubbles and making gurgling noises. “Adria can’t even crawl yet, how is she supposed to be a threat to anyone?” she replied as the baby tried to grab a lock of her blond hair.
Kylie reached over and touched the baby’s head. “I know. Obviously, they’re all wacked in the head and all of that talk about the End of Days happening right now is really just a bunch of crap. We have to keep her safe from those delirious freaks. No matter what.”
Voices on the other side of the doorway startled them. Kylie and Allie stood up and backed away from the door.
“Ah… here are my girls,” said Billie, turning on the light.
A younger woman stood behind him, carrying a metal tray. She smiled pleasantly.
“Why are you just sitting around here in the darkness?” asked Billie. “There’s a generator, you know. The lights actually do work.”
Neither girl responded, just stared in unease as the couple stepped closer.
“We brought you some food. I’m sure you’re famished,” he said, motioning toward the tray as the woman set it down on the old pine nightstand next to the bed.
Allie stared at the cheesy pizza and cans of grape soda; her stomach growled.
“See, you’re hungry,” said Billie. “You girls must like pizza? Am I right?”
They both nodded.
He grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Just what I thought. As you can see, there is a lot of cheesy goodness on the pizza, and it’s probably one of the last ones edible on this planet.” He inhaled. “Smell that sauce? Let me tell you, I had a piece of this earlier, and it’s to die for.”
Kylie glanced at Allie, her eyes wide.
“Come on now, don’t let this treasure go to waste,” he prodded, lifting one of the plates. He held it under Allie’s nose and smiled again as she bit her lower lip. “It’s all yours. Don’t be foolish and waste such a treat.”
Allie, unable to take the smell or the hunger tormenting her inside, turned to Kylie. “Maybe one piece wouldn’t hurt? We haven’t eaten for such a long time.”
Kylie frowned. They’d just talked about this. “Allie.”
Allie sighed.
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