“You should try the one I got,” Daisy said. “It will change the way you drink alcohol. I promise!”
“Daisy, what you got sounds really weird,” Sara replied. “Like, I’m sure you think it’s God’s gift to the liquor cabinet, but…”
Darrell placed the drinks before them. Benjamin immediately grabbed his. It was bright pink with a cherry and a slice of pineapple hanging on the rim, and when he took the first sip, his senses were all submerged in a tropical paradise. This had been a very good choice.
Daisy downed her picklebrine, and so did Elijah. Then, Elijah threw his hands over his mouth. It looked as though it physically pained him to swallow. Slowly, he removed his hands. “That was the grossest thing I’ve ever put in my mouth,” Elijah said.
“I bet you wish you’d gotten the girly drink now, huh?” Benjamin asked. “It tastes like cherries and pineapple.”
Elijah shuddered and pulled his chair back. “I’m going to ask Darrell for something else.”
Benjamin watched as Elijah walked further down the bar. Alex followed, taking his drink with him. Suddenly, Benjamin realized that he was the only guy at their end of the bar, and he was surrounded by three incredibly beautiful women.
“So, Sara,” Benjamin said, “Would you like to try a sip of mine?”
Sara shook her head and took a swig of beer. “No, I’m good,” she said.
“Are you sure? It’s really good,” Benjamin replied. “Really good.”
And while Benjamin tried to persuade Sara to try his drink, which was quite possibly the most cliché way to ever hit on a woman at a bar, Elijah was facing down his own problem: Darrell, Elijah’s newly dubbed mortal nemesis.
“So,” Elijah drawled, dragging out the word. “How do you feel about a lock-in? Darrell? Buddy? Pal?”
Elijah was certain that only Darrell—and perhaps, the apartment chairman—could resist his many charms.
“I think it sounds great,” Alex said.
“I do, too,” Darrell replied, “Assuming you have money, of course.”
Elijah winced. “Come on, now. You aren’t really going to throw us out if we don’t, are you?”
Darrell crossed his arms. “Considering the amount of that bar tab…”
“We told Ted to come back and pay it,” Elijah said.
They hadn’t, but it was really easy to blame Ted for things. Especially now that he was dead and couldn’t call anyone out for lying about him. Elijah wrinkled his nose. Vaguely, he knew that he ought to be sad about Ted’s demise, but Ted really had been more useful dead than he had been alive.
Nicer. Dead Ted was nicer than alive Ted. This was, of course, aside from the newly zombified Ted trying to kill them all. That had been more terrifying than it had been nice.
“But you’re not really going to throw us out in the street with the Teds, are you?” Alex asked.
“Teds?” Darrell echoed.
“It’s what we’re calling the zombies,” Elijah clarified. “See; we felt so bad about what Ted has done—not paying bar tabs, eating all the Pop-Tarts, refusing to tip the pizza delivery guys—that we thought the best way to memorialize his memory was to name the zombies after him.”
“Also, it’s kind of funny,” Alex added. “In a morbid, Edgar Allan Poe kind of way.”
“That sounds more like Flannery O’Connor than Edgar Allan Poe,” Darrell said.
“Who?” Elijah asked.
Darrell pinched the bridge of his nose and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, why couldn’t I have been trapped in my bar with just the hot girls?
But Elijah was sure he must have misheard; Darrell would never speak so unkindly to him. “I know you, though,” Elijah said. “You aren’t going to throw us out.”
“I will in a heartbeat,” Darrell countered. “I’m running a business here.”
“It’s literally the apocalypse!” Elijah argued.
“That’s all the more reason to make sure I’m getting money. Business is down! The Ted’s are driving everyone away!”
“That’s not fair,” Alex said.
“Don’t lecture me on what’s fair,” Darrell replied.
So how were they supposed to get money? It wasn’t as if Elijah and Alex could just take a leisurely stroll to the bank. Elijah rubbed his chin and tried to remember if anybody owed him money. Then, he remembered.
Elijah grinned. “I’ll be right back, Darrell,” he said.
Elijah sauntered back to the bar, where Benjamin was talking to Sara.
“I’m telling you, Sara. You should try this one next. You’ll absolutely love it,” Benjamin said.
“You keep saying that,” Sara replied, “And again, I will tell you that I am perfectly happy with my beer.”
“Yo,” Elijah cut in. “Benjamin, buddy, pal.”
Benjamin raised an eyebrow. “What have you done?”
“Nothing!” Elijah replied. “Alex and I just need your deposit on Ted’s room, so Darrell doesn’t throw us out with the Teds.”
Benjamin shook his head and pulled out his wallet.
“How did you get in a fight with a fire extinguisher?” Amber asked.
Elijah rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I’d had a little too much to drink.”
“Clearly,” Sara chimed in.
“What? Like you’ve never almost tore apart a pub,” Alex said.
Right. Because everyone had done that.
“I was banned from a Target once,” Daisy said.
“Why?” Sara asked.
“Licking the salt lamps.”
Benjamin raised his eyebrows so high that they nearly disappeared into his hairline. “What?”
Daisy shrugged. “I wanted to make sure they were real salt lamps and not just a rock lamp masquerading as a salt lamp. It seemed like a solid plan.”
Benjamin distractedly handed over the cash for his deposit. Elijah cheered as he grabbed it. “Welcome to the family, Benjamin,” he said.
Benjamin shook his head as Elijah rushed back down to the opposite end of the bar. “I have the money,” Elijah said, slamming the bills onto the counter.
Darrell scooped them up and counted quickly through them. “Fine,” he said, “But if you so much as look at my fire extinguisher—”
“That will not happen,” Elijah replied. “After all, I’ve just had my dream come true. I’m locked in a pub full of booze and women. The only way this could be better would be if a talent scout swooped in. Nothing can go wrong now…”
Hopefully, a talent scout of the non-Ted variety. Elijah ordered another drink and returned to his seat beside Sara. As he did, he met Benjamin’s gaze. They both liked Sara. Elijah realized it in an instant, and he grinned. More than beautiful women, sometimes, Elijah just liked a challenge.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Hey guys, Hayley here,
I hope you enjoyed Beer Run; the story came to me when I was at home having a few sneaky cocktails on a Saturday with my husband and I ran out of drinks. I was thinking what would I do if there was a zombie apocalypse, would I leave my house for a drink?
Hell no!
I’d say indoors and hope the apocalypse ended before next Saturday came. But to be safe we’d plan that they were still around and prepare for a Beer Run! No zombie can stop me from having my Saturday cocktail.
What would you do in preparation to leave your house with Ted’s outside?
Add your answer along with your review (smiley face) I love reading reviews, and they are really great for other readers to learn about awesome stories, like The Fog Series.
Off to work on book three in The Fog series, Lock in! Nothing could go wrong, right? A lock in, with Ted’s waiting outside.
Thank you
Hayley
MORE FROM HAYLEY LAWSON
If you loved, The Fog try out, Madness Unleashed: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (Live Free Or Die Book 1)
Ryder has been held against her will for twenty years … Now it’s tim
e for some payback!
Two hundred years ago the earth was destroyed by the World’s Worst Day Ever. Keeping his head down for the last few centuries, a mutated vampire has taken advantage of the new post-apocalyptic normal.
Now, Ryder is provided an opportunity to escape his tyrannical rule… But she won’t stand for simply disappearing, it’s time for justice.
Taking one mutated vampire down should be no problem, right?
Wrong!
Throw in a newly developed herd of zombies, and Ryder is facing a full recipe for disaster.
Get ready to enjoy the ride!
BOOKS BY HAYLEY LAWSON
LIVE FREE OR DIE
Madness Unleashed (1)
Madness Rising (2)
Escaping Madness (3)
THEY ARE ZILLIONS
Zapacolypse (1)
Zurrounded (2)
INVASION SURVIVOR
Contamination (1)
Inhabitable (2) Coming Soon
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The Fog (Book 2): Beer Run Page 4
