The Eva Series Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Wilde, J. M.

  Elliot could see we were all struggling with the terrifying news he just gave us, and began to explain in more detail. “The virus spread too quickly to be contained. It went from Australia all through Asia and was due to hit Africa and Europe yesterday. In fact, it will be hitting North and South America as we speak. I saw it all on CNN just before the storm cut off the feed. They say it was terrorists. A co-ordinated attack in every major city. But I know what’s really going on. I say it was military testing, funded by some fat cat money hungry corporation.”

  “Sharon was telling the truth,” I whispered.

  Ben threw his hands in the air. “Why the hell would the military do this to billions of people?”

  “Plenty of reasons,” Elliot replied matter-of-factly. “To cut the world’s population, leave more resources for a much smaller amount of people—rich people with power. Or to attain complete control of survivors, or release a new vaccine and charge hundreds of dollars for it, making them filthy rich. Perhaps they’ll blame all this on some poor nation with untapped oil resources and use it as an excuse to go to war with them. Or, simply because they can. I haven’t figured out all the details yet, but I will.”

  Ben shook his head. “I don’t believe it. There’s no way the virus could spread that fast, even if it was a planned attack. All over the planet in less than a week? No way.”

  Elliot slammed his fork down onto the table, pushed his chair back and stood over Ben threateningly. Hunter growled at him from the other side of the room, but he didn’t even flinch. “Whether you believe it or not, mate, it’s happening. The world is falling apart all around us,” he said through gritted teeth. “And you better get used to the way things are done here and live by my rules. Unless, of course, you’d rather take your chances out there in a world full of starving zombies.” Ben stared angrily at the dining table, not saying a word. “That’s what I thought,” Elliot snapped as he grabbed his plate, threw it in the sink and disappeared down the hallway.

  “Ben, what the hell is wrong with you?” Jo whispered.

  “Me?” Ben asked, hurt. “What’s wrong with you? Acting like a giggly schoolgirl, saying you’re free as a bird? He may be one of the last men on earth but he’s an asshole!”

  “Easy, Ben,” Wyatt said. “He’s my brother, and he’s giving us safety, food, shelter and protection.”

  Ben scoffed. “I don’t need him to protect me.”

  “Whatever,” Wyatt said, rolling his eyes. “But it looks like we’re all going to be living under one roof for a long time, so we need to get along.”

  “Wyatt’s right, Ben,” I said. “We’re lucky to be alive, especially after what he just told us. The whole world is gone. Surely our survival is more important than some petty ego battle between you and Elliot.”

  “Screw this,” Ben said as he stood up from the table and disappeared down the hallway, slamming his bedroom door behind him.

  “Well, that was a great start to our first day in paradise,” Jo said sarcastically.

  “They’ll be okay,” I said, even though I didn’t quite believe it myself. “But what about you?”

  “What do you mean?” Jo asked, a confused expression on her face.

  “Aren’t your parents in Europe?” I asked, thinking she had surely put the connection together by now that her parents may be in the exact same horrifying situation as us.

  “Oh, yeah,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “But my dad works with the UN, they’ll be locked down in a bunker somewhere. They had much more notice than we did, so they’ll be safe. I’m sure of it.” Her words caught in her throat, and I knew she was just trying to convince herself, but I nodded anyway. “I need to be alone,” she said, avoiding eye contact with me. She stood up and took her plate over to the sink and disappeared into her bedroom just like the others.

  I took in a deep breath, struggling to comprehend the fact that the rest of the world was in just as much strife as us. I turned to Wyatt. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m alright,” he said, looking down at his breakfast, which he had hardly touched. I could see in his eyes that he didn’t believe what he was saying, either.

  I leaned closer and held his hand tight. “It’s okay to not be coping right now, you know?” I said. “You don’t need to put on a brave face for anyone.”

  Wyatt looked up at me with sadness in his eyes. “I know. I’m not coping, not really. I just hate knowing that my parents were on their way here, they were so close to safety and they just never made it. If I had have been there with them, maybe they would be here now.”

  My heart ached for him. I placed the palms of my hands on either side of his face and held it close to mine. “Wyatt, don’t do that to yourself. There was nothing you could have done. Thinking like that will only drive you crazy. It will tear you up inside. Get angry, be sad, grieve, but please don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”

  He lifted my hand from his cheek and kissed it softly. “You’re right.” He looked exhausted.

  “Why don’t you go get some rest?” I asked. “You drove almost the whole way up here and haven’t given yourself a moment’s peace.”

  He nodded his head lightly before leaning in to kiss me.

  The touch of his soft lips on my own took my breath away. For a few moments, I completely forgot that the world was coming to an end all around us. Our lips parted and a smile spread across his face, but I could still see sadness in his tired eyes.

  “Go get some sleep,” I said again.

  “Okay,” he replied as he stood up from the table. He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “Hopefully Ben’s sulking won’t keep me awake,” he joked before walking down the hallway to his bedroom. I let out a tired yawn and stretched my arms out wide. My eyes locked onto the bathroom door. A nice hot shower was just what I needed.

  I walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind me, feeling happy to have some privacy again. Within seconds, my clothes were stripped off and I stepped under the steaming hot stream of water.

  The rest of the day was quiet. Wyatt and Ben slept for hours and Elliot had disappeared again, so Jo and I did some washing up in the kitchen and hung out on the couch with Hunter.

  “Can you believe that this time last week we were working at the diner and serving food and complaining about rude customers?” she asked, resting her feet on the coffee table.

  “I know,” I nodded. “Now we’re the food.”

  She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Eva! I’m being serious! I can’t believe how quickly everything has changed. It doesn’t seem real.”

  “I know,” I said again, seriously this time. “It’s a lot to handle, but I’m proud of us. We made it across the country when the whole world was ending. We made it to safety when so many didn’t even have a chance.”

  “We found paradise,” she smiled.

  I smiled back, but I had a hard time believing this was the paradise it seemed to be. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but something just didn’t feel right. I pushed that thought out of my mind, convincing myself that I was overreacting.

  “So, Eva,” Jo said, grinning. I knew exactly where our conversation was going. “How’s it going with you and Wyatt?”

  “Fine,” I said, not giving her an inch of what she wanted.

  “Oh come on, Eva! That’s not fair! We’ve hardly spoken at all. You’ve gotta give me more than that. Please? Can we just pretend everything is normal and not falling apart, just for a little while?” She batted her eyelashes at me.

  “What do you want me to say, Jo?” I said, stifling a laugh.

  “Is he a good kisser? Are you guys officially a couple? Are you gonna ... you know? You’re only in the next room, after all!”

  I held my hand up to stop her questions. “Jo, calm down. Getting involved with someone was hard enough before, but now we’ve got zombies to contend with too. Besides ...” I paused, looking around to make sure we were alone. “He just found out his parents
are probably dead, not to mention that the rest of the world is being eaten alive right now. I’m sure making it ‘official’ is the last thing on his mind. It’s not ranked that high on my list of priorities, either.”

  Jo looked at me like I was from another planet. She had always been a hopeless romantic, often to her detriment.

  “It’s okay,” I laughed, squeezing her hand. “We’re safe here, we don’t have to worry about zombies or anything else now. Wyatt and I have all the time in the world to figure out what’s going on between us. And so do you and Ben, for that matter.” I winked at her, trying to move the conversation away from me.

  She raised her eyebrows at me. “You’re kidding, right? All we do is fight.”

  “Hey,” a voice said from behind us. I turned to see Ben appearing from the hall. “Sorry I blew up at you like that, Jo,” he said, looking at his feet.

  “You’re forgiven, Benjamin,” she replied. I didn’t want to be around in case they started arguing again, so I excused myself and went into my bedroom.

  Closing the door behind me, I saw something outside through the window. I stepped closer and saw Elliot dodging in and out through the trees in the distance, wearing his camouflage gear again. He ran incredibly fast, speeding through the perimeter of the rainforest like an animal.

  He stopped in his tracks, staring straight ahead. I moved closer to the window, scanning the area to see what he was looking at, but saw nothing. Turning my gaze back to Elliot, I gasped. He was looking straight at me. As soon as we locked eyes, he backed away deeper into the trees, vanishing from my sight. A shiver ran down my spine.

  I locked my door and lay down on the bed to rest. I had a feeling this safe haven wasn’t as safe as we all wanted it to be.

  A loud creak woke me from my deep sleep. It was dark, and I could see the moon high up in the sky through my window. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I realised I must have slept through dinner. Another creak echoed through the room.

  Sitting up straight, I searched the room, but saw no-one. “Who’s there?”

  A loud thud that sounded like a door shutting came from near the window, making me jump. I quickly switched on the lamp, but there was no-one to be seen.

  Slowly, I crawled out of bed and walked over to the door. It was still locked from the inside, no-one could have come in. I turned the lock and opened the door, peering out into the hallway. It was pitch black, everyone must have been asleep.

  I was about to close the door when I heard scratching coming from the front of the house. “Dammit, Elliot,” I muttered to myself, thinking he locked Hunter outside again. I quietly made my way to the front door and listened again. “Hunter?” A growl and more scratching came from the other side of the door. “It’s okay, boy, calm down. I’m letting you in.” I unlocked the door and swung it open, expecting him to jump up on me with his tail wagging.

  Another growl rumbled from the doorway. It was dark, but there was enough moonlight for me to see a tall, lop-sided figure standing in front of me.

  A zombie.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The figure shuffled towards me, its menacing moans rumbling in the shadows. In a snap reaction, I ran towards the kitchen to look for a knife. Scrambling around in the dark, I could hear it getting closer as I searched the benches and through drawers, but I couldn’t find anything. Soon, it had me cornered. It swung its rotting arm towards me, narrowly missing my face. I grabbed hold of the edge of the kitchen counter, lifted myself up and kicked it in the chest with both legs. I heard something crack as my feet made contact with his fragile bones, and knew I had bought myself another second or two of survival.

  “Help!” I yelled, praying for someone to hear me. The zombie came back with full force. I braced myself, preparing to kick it again. It let out a loud screech as it jumped at me. I swung my legs out hard, ready to send it flying, but my feet never made contact. The figure was just standing there, motionless. I heard a loud crack and the zombie fell to the floor in front of me. Light enveloped the room and I sighed in relief as I saw Elliot standing there, a bloody axe in his hand. Wyatt, Ben and Jo ran into the kitchen behind him, their eyes wide in fear.

  “Are you okay?” Wyatt asked as he pushed past Elliot and stepped over the corpse to hug me.

  “I’m fine,” I replied, the shakiness of my voice betraying me. “Thanks, Elliot.”

  He beamed. “That was terrific! Are there any more?” He darted around the room, cupping his hand against the windows to look outside.

  “I don’t think so,” I replied, surprised at his enthusiasm.

  “Damn,” he said, the axe dropping to his side in disappointment. He turned to face us, grinning like a child on Christmas morning. “That was my first zombie kill!”

  We all gawked at him, not knowing how to react to his warped excitement.

  “Elliot,” Wyatt said through gritted teeth, trying to communicate the seriousness of what just happened. “Eva could have been killed.”

  That seemed to make him even more excited. “I know!” he said, throwing his arms up into the air, blood splattering on the floor from the axe. “We all could have been killed! Torn to shreds by a rotting, flesh-eating zombie! But I saved the day. It was brilliant!”

  We watched as he made his way down the hall, smiling to himself as he disappeared into his room. “Brilliant!” he called again before closing the door.

  Ben stared down at the body on the kitchen tiles. “I don’t know what’s scarier,” he said, “the fact that a zombie got in, or his excitement that a zombie got in.”

  “We better get rid of this,” Wyatt said. “We’ll dump it over the fence.” He and Ben found some disposable gloves in a cupboard and started moving the body out of the house. Jo and I led the way with flashlights.

  “There are footprints here,” I said, shining light on the dirt driveway.

  We paused to examine the muddy tracks. “Let’s follow them,” Wyatt said. “Maybe we’ll find out how this guy got through the fence.”

  Jo and I shone the lights on the ground as we followed the trail. After a few minutes of walking, we reached the front gate of the property. It was wide open.

  Ben dropped the zombie’s legs. “Shit!”

  “Quick!” Wyatt said. “Let’s throw him out there and shut the gate.” He and Ben shuffled quickly through the gate, dumped the body in the trees and ran back inside, slamming the gate shut behind them.

  “Is the lock broken?” I asked, trying to figure out how a mindless zombie could pick a lock.

  “No,” Wyatt said, confusion in his voice as he inspected it. “It’s been unlocked.” He tightened the chains around the gates and clicked the padlock closed. Ben stood next to him, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “We all know who’s crazy enough to do that,” he said.

  Wyatt inhaled through his nose and pushed his hands through his hair. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked defensively.

  “He’s the only one with a key.”

  Wyatt shook his head and started storming back towards the house. “He wouldn’t do that. He’s my brother.”

  Ben followed, throwing his arms in the air. “Yeah, well, your brother is a few beers short of a six-pack, mate.”

  “Ben!” Jo scolded. “Shut up! What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Eva,” Ben said, ignoring Jo. “You’re smart; surely you can see that something weird is going on in this place?”

  Wyatt stopped then, waiting to hear what I would say. I opened my mouth to answer, but hesitated. I slid my hands in my pockets, not wanting to hurt Wyatt, but I knew I had to tell the truth. “Honestly? I don’t know. Something feels ... weird.”

  “Eva!” Jo gasped, surprised that I was siding with Ben. Wyatt’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but Ben has a point. Elliot is the only one with a key, and he was disturbingly excited about that zombie almost ripping my throat out. Something ju
st doesn’t add up.” I paused, waiting for the backlash.

  “I told you guys before we got here,” Wyatt said quietly. “He’s eccentric. Yes, he’s a little nuts, but he’s not a psychopath. He wouldn’t deliberately invite zombies into his own house. Maybe he just forgot to lock the gate.”

  Ben grunted, unconvinced. “I’ll be sure to ask him in the morning.”

  Wyatt started marching up the driveway again. “You do that, Ben. I’m going to bed.”

  We followed Wyatt back to the house, and I made sure to keep a few steps behind him, knowing he must be furious with me. It was unbearable to know that I had wounded him like that, but I couldn’t deny my worries about Elliot. I hoped more than anything that I was wrong, and felt just as eager as Ben to hear his side of the story in the morning.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Elliot shrugged casually as he chewed on his toast. “It must have slipped my mind.”

  “See?” Wyatt said, glaring at Ben.

  “But what about the beeper?” Ben asked, narrowing his eyes at Elliot. “Didn’t it vibrate when the zombie wandered in?”

  “Yes, it did,” Elliot replied. “That’s why I came and saved the day. Remember that, Ben? When I killed the zombie and saved Eva?”

  Ben scoffed. “The guy who carries a zombie beeper around with him just forgot to lock the front gate? Do you really think I’m dumb enough to believe that?”

  “Thinking you’re dumb has nothing to do with this,” Elliot smirked. “I’m telling the truth. I went out yesterday to do a check of the outside perimeter, and your stupid mutt ran after me. I had to grab him and pull him back inside. I must have forgotten to close the gate after that.”

  I opened my mouth to defend Hunter, but Jo spoke before I could.

  “Well, that settles it then!” she clapped, pleased with Elliot’s explanation.

  I could see from the way Ben was still glaring at Elliot that he still wasn’t convinced.