Waking Up Dead eodl-1

by Emma Shortt

  “Someone I am eternally thankful to. I only wish—” He paused and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “That you’d found it sooner?” Pete asked. “That we’d all managed to hole up there?”

  Luke dropped the rag and turned his back on his friend. A nasty feeling slithering through him. How the fuck could he say that Lily was busy holing up there? That she’d found the bunker. Was probably even now trying to find a way in on the off chance that someone might be in there? No it was impossible. Would hurt his friend immeasurably to mention it, and yet…Lily was still around, and Luke had no idea how.

  “What happened?” he asked slowly. “With Lily I mean, after. You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too much,” he added. “But…”

  Pete sighed and kicked the tire of the Hummer. “Knew you were going to ask me this.”

  “Tell me to mind my own fucking business if you want.”

  “She was your friend too,” Pete said. “You remember all those nights we went out to dinner? She wanted to set you up with her cousin, Martha. You dodged a bullet there, bro.”

  “I vaguely recall her mentioning that name.”

  “I put her off. Told her you could find a wife of your own well enough, but that was Lily. She wanted everyone to be happy and settled.”

  Luke nodded, even as the image of her snarling face filled his mind. Lily was the only zombie he’d seen that he’d ever known personally. There had been some he recalled from around the area. A customer here, a shopkeeper there, but Lily was the only one he’d really known, and he couldn’t quite fit the two together. The woman she had been versus the thing she’d become.

  “I couldn’t do it,” Pete said after a moment.

  “Do what?”

  “Kill her. When she turned, and she was there trying to eat me, even then I couldn’t.”

  It was as Luke suspected and he reached out to place a hand on the other man’s shoulders. “I understand.”

  “It was still her,” Pete continued. “But she wouldn’t have wanted this. She was so fucking scared, so worried. I should have done it. Should have killed her and then turned the gun on myself, but I couldn’t.”

  “Pete…”

  “And then I was fucking trapped,” he added, as if he hadn’t even heard Luke’s whispered word. “I couldn’t off myself then, knowing she was still around somewhere. I didn’t know what else to do but head south. Charlie Foxtrot all around.” He kicked the tire again. “Assuming another zombie hasn’t taken her down, my wife is still out there somewhere, and she’d try and kill me the moment she saw me.”

  “Look—”

  A beep sounded and Luke halted his words. Pete held up a hand, turned around, and strode over to the workbench. His walkie was on there, it crackled some, and Pete gave it a shake before heading to the garage doors, mouthing the word signal as he did so.

  In a way Luke was grateful the conversation had been halted. Should he have told Pete he’d seen the Lily zombie? He wasn’t sure. Which would hurt the man more? Knowing or not knowing? Luke frowned. How would he feel if Jackson were ever to…he shuddered…that was not an option. Even the thought of it made something inside of him twist.

  “We have an issue,” Pete said, striding back into the garage.

  Luke looked up and immediately noticed the change in his friend. Whatever feelings he’d been battling for Lily were now buried. “What kind?” Luke asked.

  “Couple of packs of zombies over in Concepcion, small town not far from here. We tend to keep it cleaned out as it’s our drop-off point.”

  “So…”

  “So I need to take a couple of teams and clear it out. You okay here?”

  Luke nodded. “Of course. Go.”

  Pete was out the door a second later, talking into his walkie as he did so. Luke grabbed his tool bag and placed it on the workbench, before taking a swig of water from the large bottle there.

  It was long before their meet time but he decided to go see Jackson. At the least she’d want to know about the zombies Pete was planning to go kill. Hell, she’d probably want to go help. His almost laughed at that thought and he hurried from the garage and across the courtyard. Jackson had spent forever trying to find this camp. No way would she want to head back out again so soon. She was full of questions. Was probably finding someone to answer them for her—maybe even Nancy. He imagined the two women together and smiled. They’d be friends in no time.

  He nodded to himself and sprinted to the house that was now part theirs. If he was very lucky she might even still be at home. Maybe curled up in bed, sleeping. Christ knew she needed to. He’d die a happy man if she would sleep ten hours straight.

  His heart thumped as he imagined her in just her vest and panties. Or better yet naked as she had been in his arms this morning—the purple panties no more. She was so fucking beautiful. Would he ever get enough of her?

  Doubtful.

  I know what this is…because he did. Luke knew exactly what it was between them, had known it from the moment he’d given her that too-brief hug in the garage. It was the two of them now. Even surrounded by three hundred-odd others, it was still just the two of them.

  He grinned as he pushed open the door to the room slowly, so that she’d have ample time to realize it was him. She didn’t like surprises.

  “Hey,” he said.

  But no one answered, because Jackson wasn’t there.

  …

  Sebastian had indicated that the drive to the shack would take fifteen minutes at most. More than twenty minutes later—courtesy of the watch he had strapped to his wrist—and Jackson was having serious doubts about the doctor’s time-keeping skills.

  “Is it much farther?” she asked.

  He frowned and pulled on the stick shift. “I don’t know. I’ve never driven here myself before. Someone else usually drives and I get on with some work. So maybe it might be a little bit longer. I don’t know.”

  She shook her head and cast him an exasperated look. Nancy was right. Sebastian was a bit kooky, but he was also honest to the point of blunt and she respected that about him.

  “I’m starting to wonder about the wisdom of this, Sebastian,” she said. “I’m also starting to wonder why I let you talk me into it, and I should have told Luke what we were up to.”

  “You have to check in with him?”

  “No, of course I don’t, but he’ll be worried if he gets back to the room at midday and I’m not there. We said we would meet up.”

  “Everyone meets up at midday, so I wouldn’t worry. He’ll have plenty of people to talk to.”

  “That’s not quite what I meant.”

  She thought of Luke busy in the garage, fixing things up, and suddenly regretted not checking in with him. She didn’t want him worrying, but in truth, she just hadn’t thought things through at all. She was lost and feeling a bit like a third wheel and Sebastian’s need for her help had seemed like a godsend. Despite the fact she couldn’t drive, he’d insisted they needed to make one quick trip—and he’d been so goofily persuasive. He’d do the driving if she was willing to be guard. Before Jackson had a chance to ask what the hell he was talking about, or anything else for that matter, he’d dragged her off to find Nancy and pass it by her.

  Nancy had sighed when Sebastian told her his plan, but had nodded before taking Jackson aside.

  “He’s a bit odd, but the work he does is of the utmost importance, Jackson. It’s fairly safe from here to the shack, so you’ll be fine, and I don’t doubt you can take care of yourself. You might come up against a stray zombie or two, no packs around here, though I doubt you’ll even see that. I’ve got several teams out doing sweeps as there’s an issue over by Concepcion, but that’s not in your direction. That does mean, of course, that I can’t really spare anyone else to go out with Sebastian, not with the internal checks we’re doing, and it’d be just like him to go on his own and get himself in trouble.”

  “The shack?”

  Nancy si
ghed again. “Best to see it. You’ll understand what it’s all about then.” She shook her head and gave Jackson a long look. “I’d really appreciate it if you’d do this for us. We need you.”

  How could she refuse that? A role, a way to contribute. She couldn’t—it was exactly what she needed at just the right time. But then there was Luke. She needed to be back by midday. She’d have to be quite stern with Sebastian about that. It would be hugely unfair to leave him worrying. I should have checked in, damn it.

  “We’re back by midday, okay? I don’t want Luke to worry.”

  Sebastian frowned and pressed down on the accelerator. “I get the impression you can take care of yourself, Jackson. Which is why, as you put it, I asked you to do this. But don’t worry, we’ll be back well before then. We’ve got hours and hours.”

  “I’m having serious doubts about your math skills. It’s already after ten. We’ll have to turn around as soon as we get there.”

  “I only need to make a quick check,” he insisted. “Besides you’ll be glad I talked you into this, believe me. I’ve never understood why everyone at camp stops work in the middle of the day. For my work, at least it is the perfect time. It’s hot, which means the wakers are at their most sluggish.”

  “The wakers? Do you mean the zombies?”

  He nodded. “I do.”

  “So why not call them that?”

  “Because of my work.”

  Jackson frowned. Once again he wasn’t really making sense, and yet she sensed there was something important going on. Answers to her questions maybe. “You still haven’t told me what your work is.”

  “And I won’t. Like I said, you need to see it to appreciate it. All you need to know right now is that I need your help. Really need your help.”

  “Well at least Nancy knows what we’re doing. I don’t want everyone thinking I’ve upped and left already!”

  He grinned and pressed the accelerator too hard. They jerked forward. “Ah here we are.”

  In the distance, on the edge of a long field, Jackson could see a large building. It might have been a warehouse once, or some sort of depot. Her first thought was that it was the perfect place for hiding zombies.

  “Do you do a security sweep when you arrive?” she asked.

  Sebastian shot her a look and shrugged. “Whoever comes with me handles that, I guess. I haven’t ever. That’s your job.”

  “I think one is most definitely in order. That place is huge and they could be hiding.”

  “No they don’t hide. Their intelligence may be increasing at an alarming rate, but I don’t think they’ve quite got the patience for that yet. Besides it’s all locked up.”

  “Luke and I have seen some things. Including them disabling locks.”

  Sebastian actually smiled, as if the idea pleased him. “Really? Well that is interesting. Almost as interesting as how the wakers got Sammy to do what they want—which I’ve yet to find out. Mack won’t let me speak with her.” He shook his head, clearly annoyed. “But actually, Jack, can I call you Jack? You haven’t seen anything yet.”

  He pulled the car up in front of the building and made to get out, not even pausing to park properly. Jackson laid a hand on his arm to halt his progress. “How about you wait here while I check stuff out.”

  “You don’t want me to come with?”

  She nodded to the rifle in the foot well. “Can you actually use that?”

  Sebastian shifted in his seat and scowled. “Sort of. I mean, I can if I need to. Just point and aim, right?”

  That was hardly what she wanted to hear, and Jackson was seriously doubting the wisdom of her actions. Where the hell was Luke when she needed him? Luke… They’d only been apart for a few hours and already she missed him… She grimaced and gripped Mandy nice and tight before checking the Glock’s position—now fully loaded courtesy of Nancy—on her waistband. Now was not the time to go all Juliet.

  “Wait here,” she told Sebastian. “Keep the gun aimed and ready. I’ll give you a shout when all is clear. Then you can open up for me and I’ll do a sweep inside. If I’m not back out in five minutes, leave.”

  Sebastian paused for a moment before shaking his head. His hair sort of bounced as he did so. “No. I’m going to come with you. You might be startled by what you see and you’ll need me to explain so you don’t…upset things.”

  “What’s in there for me to be startled about?” she asked, the curiosity burning.

  “Best you see rather than me tell you.”

  “Geez, come on then.”

  Jackson led the way as they did a check around the outside perimeter of the area. Sebastian strode along and muttered to himself. She couldn’t help but compare him to Luke—who would be alert, treading with sure footsteps, probably planning how to get her out of harm’s way.

  Once she was assured of the buildings zombie-freeness they went in through the small locked door by the parked car, Sebastian fumbling with the key and fumbling again as he relocked it behind him. The smell of lemons hit immediately and Jackson frowned. It wasn’t fresh, clean, zingy lemons, but ever so slightly rancid. She held a hand to her mouth as they moved inside and she wasn’t even sure what she expected to see, but wasn’t massively surprised to see the whole inner space had been opened up into one huge laboratory—all apart from one small room at the end. Sebastian was a doctor, so a lab was a given. Only thing she didn’t understand was why it was so far from camp.

  “What gives with this place?” she asked. “Why isn’t it in camp? Surely that would be easier?

  Sebastian smiled and gestured her forward. Skylights gave them plenty of light as they strode through the lab, though the metal bars spaced a half inch apart sort of sent it in shafts, giving the room a checkered look. “Easier in some ways,” he said. “But not in others. Come on.”

  The smell got stronger as they made their way through the room, and Jackson exhaled on a whistle. “Why can I smell lemons? Old lemons?”

  “Waker defense,” Sebastian replied. “Citrate interferes with their sense of smell. Or it used to. Doesn’t seem to work on the smarter ones anymore.”

  “Yeah, we noticed something like that too,” Jackson said, her heart leaping at the first of what were sure to be many answers. “Do aftershaves have citrate in them?”

  “Indeed they do.”

  So that explained it all. Jackson wondered how people had known in the beginning, how Tye had known, and felt a pang. He would so have loved this setup. She could easily see him striding alongside next to Sebastian breathing it all in with a smirk and a swing of his ax.

  “It’s in here that I need you for, Jack,” Sebastian said, picking a key from the bunch and pulling her thoughts from her lost friend. “Mostly you just stand guard and keep an eye on the situation. Plus, if any wakers should come here you’ll need to take care of them, though that’s never happened before, so I wouldn’t worry about that.”

  Something in his tone alerted Jackson and she hefted Mandy into position, ready and waiting. A shaft of light glinted off the machete and Jackson frowned. The blade needed sharpening—soon.

  “I don’t like surprises, Sebastian,” she said. “Like, really don’t.”

  He laughed and tugged at his hair. “Jackson, that is a damn lie. I barely know you, but I know that much already. You thrive on surprises. You need the adrenaline. It’s part of who you are now. Admit it. You’re a bit excited to be here. I am too. It’s how we work.”

  “No,” she began to say but paused when he gave her another laugh and pushed the door open.

  Jackson didn’t know what was going to be inside but she knew it was going to be something she was not going to like. Damn it, Sebastian was right. It felt weird, it was weird, and she was almost… excited? Her heart was pumping hard and her hand was twitching on her blade.

  They’d spent just a night in the camp. Only yesterday she’d escaped the zombie trap, and yet here she was, out and about, and it felt almost normal to her. An image of her
nice, clean room came to her. She could be sleeping on that wonderful bed, sitting on the comfy couch, even showering, but none of that appealed as much as this. Doing something, contributing in a small way…being back in the thick of things, finding answers. It was what she’d come all this way for and yet…she couldn’t help wondering what the hell was wrong with her.

  “You ready for this?” Sebastian asked and moved inside. Jackson followed, opening her mouth to ask what she was supposed to be ready for. But she never got the chance. The smell hit her instantly, making the rancid lemons seem almost sweet, and then the sounds. Both were horribly familiar and as Jackson moved forward, she gasped, because right there, strapped on the table in the very middle of the room, was something Jackson had hoped to see, but never expected in a million years, or two if she wanted to be accurate.

  “Is that…?”

  Sebastian smiled with obvious enthusiasm, rolled his sleeves up his arms, and grabbed a lab coat. “It is indeed. Jackson meet patient two hundred and three. Or as I like to call him, Two-h-ee.”

  She stepped forward, halted, and then took a step more. Her heart was racing, and every cell in her body was tingling. It was unbelievable. Exciting. Amazing. Christ.

  “You’re not fucking serious?” she gasped.

  Sebastian glared at her tone, perhaps taking her words of surprise in completely the wrong way, but then Two-h-ee glared too, and he had no way to understand nuances. Two-he-ee…or as Jackson would call it, the fucking zombie.

  Chapter Thirty

  The camp was not that fucking big! Where the hell was she? Luke growled as he made his way across the courtyard for probably the hundredth time, wondering where the hell he could possibly check next. It was half past twelve, well past their agreed time to meet, and yet no one seemed to know where Jackson was, except for the fact that she was with Dr. Sebastian—the resident medical man and zombie expert. A few people thought Nancy might have more information. But Nancy was nowhere to be seen either.

  Luke passed by one of the housing clusters—waved back absently to an elderly woman who was in one of the upstairs windows—and took a deep, trying-to-be-calming breath. If Jackson was late because she was busy working on something with the doctor, fine. It was inconsiderate of her, but he could suck it up if she was doing something that made her happy. What concerned him was where she was doing it.