Dead Friends Series (Book 2): Dead Friends Running

by Carlisle, Natalie

  Everyone near me glanced back at him, except for Missy. She was still looking at me like I had three heads. Yeah, I know this request was really strange and if he said no, I didn’t know what the heck to do.

  Say yes, please say yes.

  “Well?” Meg pressed, after about thirty seconds passed with no answer. I’m assuming she was really eyeballing him because he didn’t seem pleased.

  “Sure, of course.” Dropping his hands to his side, he sidestepped away. “I have to head that way anyway. Just, uh, just give me a moment to start up the Jeep.”

  “Thank you,” I mumbled, trying to sound grateful and like I really meant for this.

  I focused really hard to make sure my motor skills were on point. Each minute that passed I was feeling more with it.

  “Did she eat?” I asked, pointing to my best friend.

  The waitress beside me shook her head.

  I glanced at the table of food in front of me. Besides the small bowl of nuts, there was a roast beef sandwich, some chips, a pickle and a grilled cheese.

  “Can you bag that up to go for her then? I don’t know how long I’ll be there and this looks way better than hospital food.”

  “Actually I don’t eat m—” Missy began, but quickly stopped as I glared at her. I knew she was about say she didn’t eat meat and she knew I knew that. “I don’t eat meat without a drink,” she corrected, cringing at even saying the words. Missy was finally picking up on something, I’m just not sure she and I were on the same page yet.

  “Of course.” The waitress quickly leaned around Meg, grabbing the plates off the table. “I’ll be right back. Anything in particular you like to drink?”

  “Water is fine.”

  She nodded, and quickly hurried away as Meg stood, slipping immediately into the chair adjacent to me.

  “Dee, are you sure you don’t want me to take you? I really don’t mind.”

  Bless her. She really was a good woman. “Thank you, Meg. But I know the twins are staying with you right now. I would rather you get home to them.” I winced immediately when I mentioned the twins.

  “So you do know,” she said, the tone of her voice changing. Shit. Here we go. The gate had opened, and it was my dumb ass mouth that started the sudden flow of questions that immediately followed. “Then where is Jason? Why are you with Lew? Why are you here? What happened? Why are you so sick? Why are you both injured? Why are you even back?”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw customers leaning their heads closer, as if trying to hear my answers.

  Wonderful.

  Snatching another handful of nuts, I tried thinking of something to say, anything.

  Just then Lew walked back into the diner. “You ready?”

  Yes. I stood up so fast, I started choking.

  Meg and Lew immediately rushed to me.

  Coughing I waved them off. “I’m okay.”

  “Here,” Meg snatched the last of the juice off the table.

  Willingly I finished off the glass of warm apple juice in an attempt to suppress my coughing fit.

  I coughed a few more times after, my eyes tearing up.

  “Wrong pipe,” I mumbled, as a few teardrops leaked out.

  I cleared my throat, just as the waitress came back holding a takeout bag.

  A momentary crease formed between Lew’s eyebrows, but he didn’t question it, he just took the bag from her and handed it to Missy, who had slid next to him in the midst of my gagging.

  Then he placed his arm around my bicep in a brotherly fashion. “Alright. You good?”

  I nodded, swallowing. My throat was a bit scratchy now. That’s what I get for purposely trying to avoid her questions after she just helped me.

  Lew must have been reading my mind. “Meg, thank you so much for helping her. We were really lucky you were here. Whatever you want is on the house.”

  “Nonsense, Lewis,” she replied. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “It’s on the house,” he repeated, leaving no room for argument.

  “Well, thank you. And thank you for taking her. I feel so much better knowing that she’s going to the hospital.”

  “Yeah.” A muscle popped in Lew’s Jaw. “Me too.” His grip tightened.

  I took a final glance around. Some customers were already back to eating now that the worst of it was over. I took relief in that. The diner itself was a small joint. Nature wallpaper on the walls. Vinyl floors. About twenty tables. There was one old school jukebox by the back wall. A half-bar area was beside it with red plastic stools. Through two swinging doors I could see a kitchen. One chef and from what I already gathered, only two waitresses.

  The décor was tacky at best, but there was also something homey about the place. Perhaps it was the way everyone seemed to know each other, and care so much about me.

  Or, they were just nosey.

  And I couldn’t blame them for that. I was a hot mess.

  Lew started nudging me toward the exit.

  “Dee, wait, I know you need to go, but please, can you answer any of my questions? Jason was supposed to be back last night, and I can’t get him on his cell.”

  “I’m sorry,” is all I mumbled, hurrying out of Lew’s grip and out the door. I am so very sorry.

  Lew had thankfully pulled the Jeep right up to the entrance. It was running, even better. I threw open the back door and jumped in.

  My legs didn’t even wobble.

  I awkwardly reached for the door to close it. Don’t look at her, don’t look at her, don’t look at her. It took everything in me not to glance back at her. I didn’t want to see any expression on her face that would haunt me with guilt the rest of the day.

  The front door slammed, and I peered up front at Missy. She was holding the takeout bag on her lap, glaring at me, with impatience, like she wanted to know this instant what all this was about.

  I could hear Lew mumbling something outside, but I couldn’t hear what and since I wouldn’t turn my head to peer out the window, I couldn’t figure out who he was talking to.

  “Is he talking to her?” I whispered to Missy.

  I saw her eyes do a quick shot in their direction. “He’s talking to her and that waitress.”

  My stomach knotted. Oh man. What was he saying to her? Come on, Lew, let’s go…let’s go.

  To my relief, in less than a minute he was climbing into the driver’s seat.

  “That was a bit rude,” he said, placing his hands on the steering wheel.

  I flinched. “I’m sorry, I have my reasons, and I truthfully have no idea where Jason is. I didn’t know how to tell her any of it.”

  He put the car into drive. “No. I meant it is rude to make me drive you to the hospital when Meg was offering. I have shit to do.”

  Oh.

  He was pissed.

  “Well then, lucky for you we aren’t going to the hospital.”

  The Jeep suddenly rocked to a stop, and I flung forward, back, grasping the driver’s seat to steady myself. I didn’t have a seat belt on.

  I forgot.

  Lew turned in his seat, snapping, “What?”

  “Just drive,” I pleaded, worried somebody would come running up to us before we got out of this parking lot. “I’ll explain, if you drive.”

  He narrowed his eyes.

  “Please.” I waited ten seconds. He didn’t move. “Please.”

  An inaudible grunt followed.

  “What?”

  “Put your seat belt on.”

  I held up my broken hand, cautiously. “Uh, kind of can’t. Remember.”

  “I’ll do it,” Missy said, unclasping her belt. She shoved the bag of food onto Lew’s lap before he could object then leaned forward between the seats.

  She fumbled to reach me, but managed, clicking the belt securely into place, but then struggled to get back into the passenger seat.

  Lew blew out a breath, grabbed her by the shirt and helped tug her back.

  “Thank you,” she said sarcasticall
y, sinking back against the cushion. He tossed the food at her.

  “Speak, and it better be a short ride,” he ordered, accelerating the car once again. “Because I’m not your damn chauffeur.”

  Yikes. He was really pissed.

  I thought about this. Maybe it was just his way of dealing with stress. You know excessive anger. Like Missy.

  Some people used inappropriate humor.

  “How much time do you have until you’re supposed to meet Nathan?” I asked. “Can we make it?”

  The Jeep started to slow again, but not so forcefully. “We?” Lew sounded bewildered. “What does that mean?”

  “How much time?” I repeated, leaning forward.

  “No, I can’t make it on time. Even if I was already at the trail, it would take me at least a half hour to get up that path.”

  “Well, we can at least try. Missy, hand me that food.”

  She didn’t hesitate.

  “What the hell are you talking about? You are not coming with me.”

  “Sure we are,” I insisted, tearing open the first container. It was the roast beef. “I’m going to eat this, and we are going to get up that mountain. And I am going to finish this dumb ass escapade we started.”

  He stopped the Jeep again, but this time, not so abruptly. Still, the food container slid across my lap onto the seat beside me.

  I made a face, but left it. I was already holding the sandwich anyway. I took a large bite, chewing gratefully. It was delicious. “Mm, this is really good.”

  I was aware he was staring at me, and aware we were stopped in the middle of the road.

  If he didn’t care, then I didn’t care.

  I continued to eat my lunch.

  “You girls make my brain hurt. Do you have a death wish?”

  “I’m starting to think so,” I mumbled.

  “Damn it, Dee,” he slapped his hands on the steering wheel, glancing forward out the windshield. “Jason will kick my ass if I take you back up that mountain.”

  “Don’t worry about Jason, I’ll handle him. Seriously, Lew, this sandwich is awesome.”

  “This isn’t a joke,” he snapped. “Talk some sense into her, will ya.” He was glaring at Missy now. “She’s obviously delusional from her hypo-whatever thing.”

  “No.” She was clearly suppressing a smirk. “Dee knows exactly what she’s saying. And if that’s what she wants to do, that’s what we’ll do, as long as she’s feeling up to it.”

  “That’s what this food is for.” I held up the last half of the sandwich the way I’d have toasted a champagne glass at a wedding.

  “No this is a joke. This has to be a joke. You girls can’t simply be this mad.”

  “Mad as in angry…or …”

  “Insane! You two are absolutely insane if you think for one minute I am going to even humor the idea of taking you back up that mountain, especially after what she just went through. She could die up there. And I’m not even talking about by Buck.”

  I sighed, lowering my sandwich onto the container next to me. “Look…truth is, whether we go with you or not, we are going back on that mountain. My boyfriend is somewhere out there. Two people we met are lost out there. A dog that Missy will never forget about is injured somewhere out there…and our friend, our friend Spencer, he’s in New Jersey and he’s counting on us to come home and save him.”

  The smirk on Missy’s face faded. No doubt the thought that was popping in my mind now was the same as hers.

  What if it was too late? What if Spencer already turned?

  “We can’t go home without figuring out what the hell is happening with this virus. And being in a hospital might help bandage me up and assure me I’m okay, but this isn’t about me. I’ll risk my life to save those I care about. Even if I know I’m being stupid. Because truth is, if we don’t figure out what is going on with Buck and the others, there might not be much life left around here. And if that virus is still spreading, then there’s a good chance, New Jersey is about to be inflicted with this disease too.”

  “Did you say Spencer? As in Spencer Reign?” Lew’s mouth was completely agape.

  “Yeah…” I raised an eyebrow. “What about him?” Did he miss everything I was saying?

  He looked horrified. “He has the virus? Shit. But he’s so young.”

  “The boy Dee shot was even younger.”

  “Wait… what? Rewind.”

  Leave it to Missy to bring up the one image that I fought so desperately to keep from my mind.

  “I was saving Jason’s life,” I said, feeling sick. “It’s not like I wanted to shoot him. It was fight or flight. And it happened a while ago.”

  “Wait, you shot this kid?” Lew seemed intrigued, as disturbing as that was. “But you look so helpless.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Missy snapped. “Dee is ballsy as shit. And she has a mean shot. Ask how she broke that hand, if you don’t believe me.”

  Really, Missy? This is what she wants to talk about. How many times I shot or fought a zombie-wannabe as she referred to them.

  An expression I couldn’t decipher appeared on Lew’s face.

  “And you really want to go back on that mountain?”

  “Uh, yeah, hello,” Missy said. “Did you not hear her?”

  “Oh I heard her.” Suddenly Lew put the car into drive, and made a U-turn.

  “Where are you going?” I looked out the window, confused, and panicking. Was he bringing us back to the diner after all?

  “Back to my place for a moment, I need to grab a few things.”

  “But what about Nathan?”

  “You just worry about eating that food.”

  He accelerated the Jeep and with increasing apprehension I realized I hadn’t a clue what in the world this guy was suddenly thinking.

  24

  “So how long has Spencer had the virus?” Lew asked. We had been driving about ten minutes or so. “That could really clear some questions up.”

  “What questions?” I asked, as I screwed the top off one of the water bottles in the take out bag. I had already eaten everything in the bag, except one half of the grilled cheese I gave Melissa. She was currently picking at it. She wasn’t really a fan of cheese or bread.

  I felt pretty much back to my normal self.

  “For starters if this virus wasn’t spread by infected mosquitos, because this town is under the assumption it was.”

  “I don’t have any reason to believe it wasn’t.”

  “But Spencer, if he has the virus, that’s implying that either there were more infected coyotes near you guys and the odds of that are low or it’s not from mosquitos, which is higher odds.”

  “No, not necessarily. Doctors said he’s had it for a while. He just developed immunities toward it. Spencer lived out this way for six months.”

  “Yeah, I know. The guy used to eat at the diner almost daily with Jacob. I was always curious what he was running from.”

  Shrugging, I took a sip of water. I wasn’t getting into that. “Missy and I are fine. We never contacted it. And no one else we know of in New Jersey has it. At least not yet.”

  “Yet?” Lew peered over his shoulder.

  “Well, I thought everything was cleared up back here. I thought they had found a cure, but then Jason called.”

  “Buck.”

  “Right.” I slowly screwed the lid back on. “If they didn’t find a cure after all, then there’s a good chance an outbreak might start in New Jersey. That hospital staff is under the impression this treatment was a cure. They’d be ambushed if it isn’t.”

  “How bad was he when you left?”

  “He wasn’t well, but he was holding on well enough.”

  “You don’t sound too confident in that.”

  “We just haven’t talked to him in a day,” Missy chimed in, pulling a piece of the crust off the sandwich. “Anything is possible.”

  Lew pondered that for a moment, turning the Jeep onto another dirt road. “How much do you
know about Buck?”

  “We know he was dead.” She popped the piece of bread into her mouth. “Like apparently, dead. Except now he’s not dead, well kind of dead. He’s a zombie wannabe.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I got too. This is me.” He turned the Jeep into a long driveway leading up to a small wooden cabin with a nice front porch. “And that Buck just took off and was running wild on the mountain.”

  I furrowed my brow. “So you guys, just uh, jumped at the opportunity to go chase him?” That seemed ridiculous. “Who called you? What did they say?”

  “Kyle called to apologize for cancelling his order and asked me if I wanted to join the hunt for his cousin.”

  “Look,” he slowed the Jeep to a stop. “Out here, we are all family. We grew up together. We don’t ask much from each other, but when someone does call asking for help, you do it. We just been through the mill with this virus, the whole town was evacuated. I lost a lot of business. If this was just some fluke thing, some odd reaction Buck had to the treatments then we didn’t want to cause a scene for nothing.”

  “But I don’t get it,” I almost whined. “Jason threw a fit at Kyle and Missy for not calling the cops immediately. He said he was doing it himself.”

  “I guess he changed his mind.” Yeah, I considered that already, but it just didn’t seem like Jason would do that. I must have looked upset because Lew added, “I’m sure he had a good reason. Jason is a pretty level-headed guy. Now that he’s responsible for his siblings, he’d never do something without putting a lot of thought into it.”

  I thought of how he risked his life to save me and Missy and help us find Spencer. Level-headed or not, Jason also did dumb shit.

  Just like me, I reminded myself.

  “Well, you said you saw him last night. When? Was he okay?”

  “Yeah, I saw him in passing. He was with Kyle. We ran into each other about ten o’clock last night when Nathan and I were calling it quits. He seemed okay. Looked a bit tired. Nice bandage on his head.”

  “Car accident,” I mumbled, worrying.

  “Yeah, he said that. Didn’t mention you guys though. So how do you know he’s out here, but he doesn’t know you are too?”