Claws of Doom

by Peebles, Chrissy

  “I’ll toast to that,” Tahoe said.

  Val even opened her eyes. “How can anyone toast in this day and age? I’ve lost so much and so many people I cared about.” The pain was evident in her whisper.

  “She makes an excellent point,” Lucas said. We all nodded as he continued, “Death lurks around every corner, making every breath a choice. We fight to live another second, another minute, another day. All of us come from different backgrounds and walks of life, but we all have one thing in common.” His lips pressed into grim lines. “We’ve all experienced the loss of a loved one. Let’s stop making toasts and just live to see another day.”

  There was a moment of silence as we all contemplated his words. Somehow, he hit home with every single one of us. I wrapped an arm around Jackie to draw her close, and she snuggled into my shoulder.

  “I can’t argue with that,” Nick said, “not after losing countless friends and even my childhood girlfriend.”

  “I’ve lost friends too,” I managed to choke out.

  Nick lifted his chin. “This one goes out to Sam Moalny, who was killed last month in the line of duty. He was a great patriot, humanitarian, and loyal friend. And this also goes out to all those who have died in vain to this wicked epidemic that has taken place all over our world. Our loved ones are gone but never forgotten. This thought goes out to them. May you rest in peace.”

  “Thanks, Lucas,” Val said quietly.

  He smiled. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “You understood what I meant.” She leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes again. For a moment, silence ensued, and I believed she had drifted off to sleep, but then she opened her eyes again and smiled. “Hey, if I said anything crazy to you, just forget it, okay? I wasn’t thinking straight. Also, I think I might’ve attacked you. It’s all fuzzy. I’m trying to put the pieces together.”

  “Then you’re not going to eat me?” Lucas asked.

  Her face blushed. “No way. Did I really say that?”

  He smiled.

  I chuckled. “That…and a little more.”

  “Yes, with a very descriptive cursing vocabulary,” Claire added.

  “I’m sorry, Lucas,” Val said. “I talk like that in front of the guys on the police force to blend in, ya know?”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Lucas said.

  “That shot took a while to work, but it finally kicked in. I can’t thank you enough. Nick filled me in about how I fought you over it. I’m sorry I was such a bear. Also, thanks for breaking me out of that medical prison.”

  He threw his arms up in the air. “Well, it’s about time you gave me some credit for that great escape.”

  “You did a fantastic job of planning it.” She shot him a tiny grin. “You’d be kind of cute if Uncle Sam would let you grow your hair out.”

  “What? You don’t like the buzzed look? What do you expect? Are you looking for some brooding sap or some Fabio from the cover of one of those romance novels?” He made a fist and the huge muscles bulged in his arm. “I’m a born and bred soldier, and this is a soldier’s hairdo.”

  She grinned. “If you’re ever interested in going out with me, you’ll have to grow out your hair.”

  He grinned back. “Are those your final terms?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll grow out my hair for one date with you.”

  She smiled. “Deal. Hopefully, by the time that happens, I’ll be back to normal too.” She walked back to her bed. “I’m going to rest over here for a bit.” She pulled the cover up to her chest and closed her eyes.

  “Get some rest,” Lucas said, carrying over a second pillow and propping it under her head.

  Tahoe approached. “Hey, Lucas, I need a minute with Val, okay?”

  Lucas cocked a brow.

  “It’s okay,” Val said. “I want to hear what he has to say.”

  Tahoe apologized for Earl and even his own involvement. His words were mumbled, but whatever he said, it seemed to make Val smile. I regarded her from the corner of my eye, unable to believe what I was witnessing. A few times she just nodded, and then she raised her arm to touch his shoulder, as though all was forgiven and forgotten. He said something under his breath, making her giggle and then laugh, reminding me of the old Val I’d met not long ago. He irritated me, but I let him chitchat with my sister because he seemed harmless. I knew Val could handle him, but I couldn’t help inching closer to tune in.

  Val was telling him about the cure and that there was hope for her life. He squeezed her hand and gave her words of encouragement. Even though she seemed tired, her mind was clear, and it had been hours since she last growled, hissed, or said any off-the-wall things. I was happy the shot had worked after all. If it hadn’t, she would have been taking down Lucas or Claire and trying to bite their necks at that very moment —or else she would have been trying to arrest me, thinking she was a cop hot on a case. I chuckled to myself at the thought.

  “Hey, Lake Tahoe,” my brother said, “I’m watching you.”

  “Love the nickname,” he said. “I guess I’m stuck with it, right?”

  Lucas and Nick started telling us Army stories about their narrow escapes with death and zombies. Tahoe even joined, sitting at Val’s side as he told some stories of his own. I used to think my brother was an exaggerator, but after all I’d seen, I knew the stories were true. I wondered if the guys back home would believe me when I told them about the glass house or the multitude of zombies that surrounded the semi-truck we stood on top of. Those were the crazy kind of stories Nick used to come back and tell us, and we’d always thought he was full of it. Of course, I had never said that to his face.

  Nick squashed the beer can he was drinking from and threw it across the room, making the basket. “Yes!”

  “Woo-hoo!” Claire squealed. “He shoots; he scores, and beats the buzzer at the last second to win the game.”

  “He’s so getting a championship ring,” Jackie said.

  Nick laughed, then grabbed another beer and took a swig. “So, Claire, what’s your story?”

  Jackie almost spat her drink out in a fit of laughter. “Dean used that line on me earlier, back at the house. Is that some kind of brother pick-up line?”

  We all laughed, and I elbowed her playfully.

  “I just want to know more about you, Claire,” Nick said. “I don’t know a darn thing except that you’re twenty-one, smokin’ hot, and gorgeous.”

  “That’s the corniest thing I’ve ever heard,” Lucas said.

  I laughed. “It is, isn’t it? But he gets so daring once he’s had a couple of beers.”

  Jackie chuckled. “Yeah. He’s not beating around the bush now, is he?”

  Nick stumbled over and wrapped his arm around Claire as he slumped down next to her. “I like the direct approach.”

  “If he gets on your nerves, Claire, just let me know,” Lucas said. “I can throw his butt on the other side of the room.”

  “I’m fine, Lucas.” Claire grinned and turned her attention to my brother. “I’m from New York City. Jackie and I aren’t only cousins, but also roommates.”

  “Cool,” I said. “Nick and I are originally from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. When all this happened, we got relocated.”

  “Did you like it there?” Jackie asked, chiming in.

  I nodded. “I miss the ocean big time. My buddies and I used to surf all the time. We had fun, but we also had goals in life.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. “I really wanted to be a broadcast sports reporter. I wish we could all go there. I’d love to show you the beach and how to ride a wave.”

  “Oooh, I would love that,” Jackie said. “By the way, sports journalism is a cool career choice.”

  I pointed at her. “Thanks, but back to you.”

  “We used to attend Parsons before the zombie thing went down,” Claire said.

  I cocked a brow. “Never heard of it.”

  “Fashion school,” Jackie
elaborated, brushing a strand of hair back. “It’s not what you think. It’s more than pattern-making and sewing courses. I was taking classes in fashion photography and journalism.”

  “Yeah,” Claire said. “It’s one of the oldest institutions of its kind offering undergraduate and graduate degrees. We were taught valuable industry knowledge while designing innovative clothing and products. Parsons is credited with launching the careers of various fashion legends like Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, and Tom Ford, and so many more.”

  Jackie seemed quite enthusiastic about it, and I wished I knew more about her career choice, but given that I’d grown up among boys with absolutely no fashion sense, I was glad to even know what fashion school was.

  Nick grinned, probably getting as little out of it as I was. “Well, that explains the cute outfits.”

  Claire nudged him and batted those long eyelashes of hers. She really liked my big brother, and she wasn’t embarrassed to flirt with him.

  I met Jackie’s gaze. “I think you’d make a wonderful fashion photographer.”

  My heart began to race as Jackie flashed her bright smile. “Thank you,” she said. “I started taking pictures at ten. I thought about the great adventures I could have taking beautiful pictures all over the world. But as a teenager, I began to love fashion, so I thought I’d just combine my two great loves.”

  “You gotta do what you love,” I said. “Did you work as well?”

  Claire cut in. “Yeah. Jackie and I worked as wedding gown models in some of those wedding shows. We got to wear beautiful gowns and have our hair all pinned up in some elaborate up-dos.”

  Nick reached for her hand. “I bet you made the most beautiful bride.”

  “Thank you, Nick,” she said. “We weren’t allowed to move one muscle or even blink.”

  Jackie chuckled. “Yeah, and Claire kept giving me this silly look, and we’d end up busting out in laughter. She always got me in trouble.”

  I shot Lucas an amused look.

  “What were you doing when all of this happened?” Lucas asked.

  Jackie looked off, as if remembering a horrible event in her life. “We were actually on a photo shoot as wedding models for a fashion magazine in Hershey, Pennsylvania when the virus broke out.”

  “Why would you leave New York City to go to Pennsylvania?” Nick asked.

  “The title of the article was ‘Chocolate, Wine, and Weddings’,” Jackie said, “so they chose to do it in the chocolate capital of the world. Everything turned to chaos. We couldn’t get back to New York City. There was gunfire everywhere. People started killing and eating their friends and neighbors, and there Claire and I were in these fluffy wedding dresses.”

  “We hid out in the basement of a pet store,” Claire said. “The poor animals were going nuts. The glass door was shattered, so we let them go so they’d have a fighting chance. Leaving them locked up in those cages would have been a death sentence for sure. I watched the parrots squawk and fly off into the sky, and I envied them.”

  “I remember where I was too,” I said. “I was stuck at the top of a Ferris wheel with a date. Innocent people were being killed below, and I couldn’t do anything to help them.”

  “That’s awful,” Jackie said.

  “It was like something out of some B-grade horror movie, and I thought maybe I was dreaming. Hours later, Nick and my dad let me down. My date ran in the other direction and I haven’t seen her since. Nick then flew our parents and me to Kelleys Island where my grandma lived.”

  “So you’re a pilot?” Claire cut in, her gaze meeting Nick’s. “I dig pilots.”

  A soft hue of red covered his cheeks, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol in his blood or the compliment from a pretty girl.

  I cleared my throat. “Anyway, my grandma owned a bed and breakfast and a small cottage. About 200 residents lived there before the outbreak.”

  “My best friend from school went to Kelley’s Island two years ago,” Jackie said. “She went fishing, sea kayaking, and hiking. And even took a trip to that amusement park, Cedar Point in Sandusky. I remember all the pictures she showed me. It looked like a lot of fun. Kelley’s Island is a tourist attraction, right?”

  I snorted. “It used to be. It was the perfect place to hole up, considering we were completely surrounded by water. It’s a great island and we love it. I just wish Nick was around more.”

  “And where’d you take off to, Nick?” Claire asked.

  “I was home on leave from the Army, but when this zombie thing happened, I chose to fight over here in Ohio,” Nick said. “With everything happening, the Army was cool with it. I wanted to give back, to save the people who weren’t dead yet.”

  “Me too,” Lucas said. “I had lots of connections so I got stationed at Kelley’s Island too. Nick and Dean’s family…well, they’re like the family I never had.”

  Claire gripped Nick’s hand. “That’s very honorable to serve your country.”

  He leaned in and whispered something in her ear that made her laugh.

  Jackie squeezed my hand and I smiled. We talked about everything, and I learned so much about her. She’d been born and raised in New York City, and family and friends meant everything to her. She also loved burgers with all the fixings, and she demanded gobs of mustard, just like me. She used to jog Central Park every morning at six a.m. with her brothers, and she loved cats. She’d always wanted a dog, but her landlord wouldn’t allow it. She wore pajamas and pink slippers every night—or at least she had before the zombies took over.

  “I’ve got one question,” said Val, looking at Jackie and Claire.

  “Val!” I said.

  “You’re awake,” Jackie said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like a zombie is eating my intestines.” She cringed. “Well, you asked. Anyway, here’s my question.”

  “Yes?” Claire said.

  “This zombie thing has been happening for a year now. Why were you dressed so fashionable when we met?”

  “We ran until our group found an abandoned mansion,” Jackie said. “We got comfortable and didn’t see more than a handful of zombies for over eight months.”

  “There were giant closets filled with the most gorgeous designer clothes,” Jackie said, “so we started relaxing and letting our guard down. We dressed up every day and did our hair and makeup. All the girls in our group did. We were led into a false sense of security. I know now that it was a big mistake. We should’ve been training to fight, but the men treated us women like china dolls. They took care of us, and I guess we let them.”

  “At three o’clock one afternoon, a window shattered,” Claire said. “I’ll never forget it to this day.”

  Jackie sipped her beer. “That was the end of our group…and our time together. A herd broke in and killed everyone else.” Her voice wavered. “We barely escaped.”

  I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. It had to be awful. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what that night must have been like for them, mourning the loss of their protectors and running for their lives with no supplies or weapons.

  “I’m sorry,” Val said, looking out the window.

  “Isn’t the sunset gorgeous?” Jackie asked, changing the subject.

  “Yes. And I want to watch it one last time before I…before I die,” she said between breaths.

  “How can I deny my wonderful sister her last wish?” I rushed over to help her up. “Technically though, you’re not really dying, Val.” I scooped her up in my arms and brought her next to Nick. We all sat together and watched the sun sink into the horizon.

  “That was beautiful,” she said and looked up at me, then at Nick. “Hey, guys, what if the cure doesn’t work?”

  I gripped her hand tightly. “Don’t even think about it.”

  A tear ran down her face. “I don’t want to die, Dean. I want to live to see another sunset.”

  “Shh.” I wiped her tear away and pulled her into my arms. “You’re m
y sister, and Nick and I are going to do everything in our power to save you.”

  “You’ve got to trust us,” Nick said.

  She smiled, but I could see the hopelessness in her eyes. “I’m not giving up yet.”

  Nick touched her hand. “That’s my girl.”

  “Just promise me one thing,” she said.

  “Anything,” I said, meaning it.

  “If the cure doesn’t work, I want you or Nick to…one of you have to put the bullet in my head—nobody else!”

  Tears welled in my eyes as I met Nick’s gaze— he was choking up too. I tried to compose myself because I didn’t want to cry in front of everyone. “I…we promise.” It was the hardest promise I’d ever had to make to anyone, and I hoped it wasn’t one I’d have to keep.

  She sniffled. “Thank you.”

  I squeezed her hand. I prayed against all odds that the cure would work, but if it didn’t, I knew I’d have to keep my promise, no matter how much it hurt.

  Val let out a sigh. “I wish we could’ve been a real family, that we could have grown up together.”

  “Well, we’re a real family now,” I said, “and that’s what counts.”

  “Tell me about Mom and Dad,” she whispered.

  I laughed. “You remind me a lot of Dad, with that temper of yours. I think that’s a family trait.”

  Nick chuckled. “I’m the worst. I punch walls when I get pissed off.”

  “My adoptive parents were as sweet as can be. I knew I didn’t get my temper from them.”

  “You’re funny and sarcastic like Mom, but tough like Dad,” Nick said.

  “And you’re a fighter, just like Mom,” I said. “When she had cancer, she never gave up. She beat it years later.”

  “Mom almost died?” she said.

  Slowly, the word came out. “Yes.”

  A tiny gasp escaped her throat. “Why didn’t she tell me about it?”

  I sucked in a deep breath as I considered my words. “Even though the ordeal was over and done with, maybe she didn’t want to worry you.” I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.”

  “I’m glad she made it,” Val said softly.

  “Me too.” I nodded. “Imagine if she didn’t. Then I might never have met you, and she would’ve died without having a chance to meet her only daughter.” I met her gaze. “During chemo, she said she only had one regret about life. She wanted to meet Valarie again. Yeah, she called you by your formal name. I thought she was talking about an old high school friend.”