The Zombie Zovels (Book 5): Pretty Dead

by Lake, D. K.

  Most of the towns we had traveled through had been quiet ghost towns, we had seen a few signs of life but whenever we saw a human they were quick to hide and we didn't stop to say hi, just stopping long enough to get what we needed and moving on.

  The journey had been an extra strain on me because on top of staying alive, getting up early and walking nearly nine hours a day I was really sick. I had managed to keep it hidden from the group, excusing myself to go to the toilet and then throwing up behind a tree. I still put it down to being stressed out, totally exhausted and my diet had changed yet again and we were surviving on whatever scraps of food we could find or whatever Drew could find to kill, but he didn't do it all on his own and Sully was really helpful when it came to stripping dead animals and Duke also knew how to hunt. We would have made it to Washington in two weeks if it wasn't for Lane. We had got caught out in a heavy thunderstorm and Lane had somehow developed the flu after, and we had to take shelter inside an abandoned hardware store while he recovered. Margo wouldn't leave his side even though we had told her not to get too close in case she caught the flu too. At first, we were worried he had contracted the virus but Nick assured us it was just the flu. Lane was still too weak to walk and we had to find a way to transport him and Duke found a push-bike with an attached buggy seat on wheels that was for kids. Lane had to squish his legs up to sit in it but it was a lot better than having to stop for a break every ten minutes because Lane was exhausted. The flu had really taken a toll on his body. We had searched everywhere trying to find proper medicine but all we could find was a couple of bottles of aspirin and some smelly stuff for him to clear his nose. And it wasn't like he just had the flu. He had the typical man-flu where he made it seem like he was dying every day and every five minutes he was complaining about how sick he was. By the time we reached Washington, he was back on his feet but he was still exhausted and the push-bike and buggy had turned into a luggage transport where we stored all of our stuff and we took it in turns to ride it.

  The tension between Lane and me only got worse. He spent every day with Margo attached to his hip. I wasn't exactly jealous but I really didn't like her and it just annoyed me every time I heard her giggling over something he had said. I still wasn't sure whether he was really into her or just trying to aggravate me. I was already looking forward to this trip being over so I wouldn't have to look at Margo's smug face ever again.

  The inside of Washington was nothing like I had been expecting. When Robin had been talking about Washington she made it sound as though it was a safe place to be minus the bit where there were armed guards collecting innocent people off the streets in what Robin referred to as a 'sweep', where they would sweep healthy humans off the streets and then send them off to be infected before they were passed onto scientists...And I got the feeling that not all scientists were as nice as Nick.

  Washington was divided into sections, it was very strange to me. Parts had been sealed off and streets boarded up with signs that said Keep Out! Quarantined Area! Other areas were sectioned off with armed guards that checked anyone for symptoms before they were allowed in. Of course, the White House was no doubt inside a safe zone. The only problem we had was Lane was getting sick again and was still running a high temperature so getting inside a safe zone was a problem, and Nick was worried about him developing pneumonia. I didn't know what pneumonia was until I asked Drew later on and he told me it wasn't good. Lane needed medicine and a proper place to rest and it wasn't like we could abandon him and leave him. We had found a safe area which was referred to as a neutral zone, where you weren't harassed by guards but there was still a chance that there could be deadbies lurking around the next corner. We had been walking for an hour trying to find a place to stay for the night, but everywhere we found looked dark and uninviting, and any people we saw to talk to were quick to run away from us. Every time I looked up at the tall buildings I could see blinds twitching where people had taken shelter but they weren't coming out. I found it oddly strange, we were surrounded by humans but they were all too afraid to come outside. We saw one woman and when Duke tried to speak to her she just bolted down an alleyway.

  It looked as though we would have to enter one of the abandoned stores and try to find somewhere safe for the night. I didn't feel too afraid, we had guns and there were a lot of us to take turns to keep watch during the night. But we were stuck here until Lane recovered and that wasn't going to happen without medicine.

  "What about in there?" Alice suggested, turning to look at the group.

  "We need to find somewhere for the night so we might as well look in there." Duke said.

  "Ok. You guys stay back and we'll check it out first." Alice ordered.

  She had been ordering us about for weeks. I didn't know who put her in charge. Sure she was in charge back at Eden but we weren't in Eden anymore and she was still telling us what to do. Alice, Duke, and Hutch entered the building through the broken window and the rest of us stayed outside. Margo walked Lane across the street and they sat down on a bench and the others wandered the street, guns in hand keeping an eye on the buildings.

  Nick crossed the street and went to join his brother and I leaned against the wall next to Drew as he lit a cigarette.

  "This place gives me the creeps." I said, scanning the windows of the building that was in front of us.

  "Me too. There's a guy in the top window of that building looking at us with his binoculars."

  "What? Where?"

  "3 o'clock." Drew said, cupping a hand around the lighter as the wind suddenly picked up.

  "What? I don't know what that means."

  "It means to your right. But don't look straight at him."

  I looked up and saw the guy he was talking about that was watching us.

  "That was very subtle." Drew laughed under his breath.

  "So? The guy is holding a pair of binoculars, he's not exactly being subtle either."

  I hugged my arms around my body, the chilly wind causing me to shiver. Lane started coughing into his hand and we all looked over in his direction.

  "We need to find Lane some medicine, antibiotics, something. That cough is getting worse." I sighed.

  "I know but the sun will be going down soon and we can't wander around unfamiliar territory in the dark, so we won't be able to stay out for long." Drew said, glancing across the street at Lane as Margo held the water bottle for him. "He's not that sick that he can't hold a bottle of water to his lips." Drew snorted.

  I just shook my head and laughed. "She'd be wiping his ass if he let her."

  "I don't get what he sees in her." Drew said randomly.

  "Really? You don't think she's pretty?" I asked, looking over at Margo.

  She was what I called a natural beauty when she didn't cover her face in makeup. Perfect shaped lips, rosy cheeks, gorgeous eyelashes. It was annoying she was so pretty. It kinda made me hate her that little bit more because only Lane would choose the prettiest girl to wind me up. I had never been jealous of anyone's looks but Margo made me feel like Shrek.

  "Nah. She looks like a raccoon with all that shit on her face." Drew said, sidestepping over to me and hooking his free arm around my neck and kissing my forehead. "She's got nothing on you, Pretty."

  "You think?"

  "She's all about her looks but she has no brains."

  "So you do think she's pretty?"

  "No, I think she's high maintenance and spends too much time brushing her hair and applying eyeliner in the mornings."

  "I know, it's a little unnecessary, right?"

  "Her use of words is like totally whatevs, and that laugh she does, it's so totally annoying." Drew said mocking Margo's whiny voice before breaking into a laugh. "She's not my cup of tea." he assured me. Drew finished his cigarette and looked up at the sky. "Looks like a storm is coming." he said.

  "What? No, it doesn't. There's not a cloud in sight."

  "Just wait and see."

  "Nope, I don't believe you. You can't be rig
ht all the time."

  "Wanna bet?" The corners of his lips lifted into a slow grin, making my tummy feel all woozy.

  How was it that in the middle of all this Drew still had a way of making my legs go weak? Or maybe it was the constant walking and my legs were soon going to give out under me and I was going to collapse. Either way, I would kill for some alone time with Drew.

  "Ok. Mr. Know-it-all, what do you wanna bet on?"

  "You." Drew leaned closer and tilted his head toward me but kept his eyes on the others.

  "Me?"

  "Yeah, if it rains you have to say yes."

  I folded my arms. He was so random sometimes.

  "Say yes to what?" I asked and he turned to me with a full on smirk plastered across his face.

  "Can't tell you. It's a secret."

  "Of course it is. Everything is a secret with you." Always Mr. Mysterious. He spoke in riddles and had more secrets than I'd had hot dinners.

  "Ok, so if it rains and I lose I have to go along with this and just say yes to whatever it is no questions asked?"

  "Yup."

  "What if I don't like it? What if I don't agree with it?"

  "Then you'll break my heart." Drew said and gave me a little wink.

  Half of me thought he was messing with me and the other half thought he was being serious. I could never tell with Drew. And there was a part of me that thought this had something to do with getting the hell out of here...so if we delivered Nick safely then I'd have to say yes to leaving with Drew and not put up a fight. Leaving with Drew wouldn't be so bad. Leaving Lane would. He was still my friend even if we weren't on speaking terms right now. But if I was honest and searched deep inside of me I knew that I would go anywhere with Drew if it meant the alternative was losing him.

  "Well, we can't have that." I smiled, breaking the strange tension that had suddenly surrounded us.

  Drew turned to me and leaned against the wall and I had to tilt my head to look up at him.

  "Good. 'Cause you're the only one that can put it back together if you break it." Drew said casually but honestly, his eyes locked on mine.

  I swear the air left my lungs. He left me breathless sometimes. I placed my hand on his chest where his heart was.

  "That goes both ways just so you know." I told him honestly.

  I looked somewhere else and quickly blinked away my blurry eyes. Drew had made me all emotional. Drew reached up and stroked the side of my cheek with the back of his fingers, and I could feel his heated gaze focused on my face but I couldn't look at him just yet. The idea of us hurting each other and anything coming between us made my insides churn up.

  "So what if I win?" I asked, finally looking back at his face.

  "You won't" Drew said, sounding so sure.

  "But if by some miracle it doesn't rain..." I teased. "What do I get?"

  "What do you want?" he asked with a dark smoldering look that made my legs go all weak again.

  You. Always you. I want to leave this horrible city and never look back when we're done here. I want to spend every day with you, and every night with you holding me in your arms. I want to make a life with you...if that's even possible in this world, but if it is I want it with you.

  I didn't say that, though. Lane was glaring at us between his coughing fit and Sully had just broke wind that sounded like an air horn it was so unusually loud and it killed the moment.

  "I guess I'd be happy with that chocolate bar I saw stashed in your bag that you found last week and you still haven't eaten it."

  "You've been peeking in my bag?" Drew cocked an eyebrow.

  "No, I was just looking for a bar of soap and happened to see it."

  "Pretty, you can't lie for shit. You start smiling before you even finish the lie."

  "Whatever. If it doesn't rain tonight I get dibs on that chocolate bar."

  Drew shrugged. "I was gonna give it to you anyway. I was keeping it for when you got mad at me and I was going to dangle it in front of you to try and calm you down."

  Duke appeared and waved us over to him and told us it was safe to finally go inside.

  I stepped over the broken glass and into the store that used to be some kind of vintage clothing store. There were clothes strewn all over the floor and some of the clothes racks had been knocked over. I followed Duke into the back room where there was a small bathroom and a little break-room set up for staff with a kitchen area, table and chairs, and a couch with a TV. We all piled into the room but Sully and Duke stayed on guard. There was a fire exit but it only opened one way so nothing would be coming through that way tonight. Everyone left the couch free for Lane, and Margo helped him onto the couch and made sure he was comfortable, lifting his legs up and snuggling up next to him.

  The others wandered around the room and found seats and Pope pulled himself up onto the kitchen countertop and started sharpening his knife with a knife sharpener he found in a drawer.

  Drew remained in the front of the store, keeping watch near the windows.

  "Do you think it's safe to go out?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

  "Not really but I don't think we have a choice." Drew said, loading his crossbow ready.

  "I'm just going to let Alice know we're going out for a bit and then we'll leave." I said and walked back into the break-room and caught Lane coughing up phlegm and Margo was sat next to him rubbing his back.

  "We're gonna head out to look for meds." I informed Alice.

  I didn't like reporting to her but I knew she would get into a row with me if I didn't tell her where we were going.

  "Yes, that's a good idea. Pope will go with you."

  Pope stood up and we were just about to leave when Margo jumped to her feet.

  "I'm coming too." she said.

  I pinched my lips together. I didn't want her to come, she would only slow us down and get distracted as we searched for meds.

  "No, it's ok. Drew, Pope and I will go on our own." I said and nodded my head at Pope to follow me and we met up with Drew at the front of the store.

  "Ready?" Drew asked.

  "Yep, Pope's coming with us."

  "Ok, stay close and keep quiet, we don't know who's out there and I get the feeling there are eyes watching our every move." Drew said.

  "I've had the same feeling since we set foot inside this zone." Pope said, checking his gun was loaded and peering out a gap in the broken window.

  "Should we be worried about the guy with the binoculars?" I asked.

  "Nah, he's probably just keeping an eye on us. I doubt he's going to bother us, he wouldn't be in plain view if he was." Drew responded.

  "Ok, all set?" I said and they both nodded.

  "Wait up!" Margo called and Drew grunted something inaudible and hopped out the broken window and waited out on the street and Pope followed.

  "What is it?" I asked, annoyed she was slowing me down before I had even left the store.

  It was going to be dark soon and we only had a little time before we would have to return and we needed to look for meds.

  "I want to come." Margo said firmly and hitched the bag strap higher up her shoulder. "I want to help."

  "There are already three of us going. You need to stay here and look after Lane." I said, trying to make her feel useful so she wouldn't want to come with us.

  "I said I want to help."

  "I know, I heard you, but if you want to help you can help by staying here. You'll only slow us down. Like right now." I gritted out and ducked under the broken glass pane trying not to snag my hoodie on the jagged edges.

  Margo scrambled through behind me and jumped onto the street.

  "What are you doing?" I snapped.

  "Helping. I want to help Lane, and there's not much I can do for him in there. I can help you guys look for medicine. Four pairs of eyes are better than three pairs. Anyway, Alice said I could go with you guys so you don't get a choice."

  I sighed and rubbed my eyes, the contacts made my eyes tired and they itched w
hen I'd had them in for too long. I wanted to take them out but I couldn't until we came back. We didn't need to draw any more unnecessary attention to us and my strange eyes would definitely do just that.

  "It's ok, she can stay with me." Pope said and took Margo's elbow and they started walking.

  I glanced at Drew and he just shook his head and pulled me along with him. I scuffed my boots along the street and we soon caught up with them.

  Chapter 14

  We walked the streets, searching for any place that looked like it could have meds, but all the stores we came across were all commercial retail stores and getting Margo to walk past the high fashion clothing stores was like asking a pig not to roll in the mud. She had snagged some pretty shawl with flowers on she had seen hanging inside a store on a sales rack and had wrapped it around her head and over half her face to cover her nose. She had been complaining nonstop about the rotting garbage bags that were lining the streets and causing a stink, and the number of rats was disgusting. I hated to think what kind of disease they were carrying.

  All the other buildings we passed were tall houses and apartments and I felt on edge as we wandered the streets, a feeling of uneasiness washing over me as shadows appeared in the windows but quickly disappeared again. No one wanted to be seen so we couldn't even ask anyone to give us directions or point us in the right direction of a doctor or anyone that could help us. We came to a walled-off street that was the edge of the zone, and we had to turn around which took longer and wasted a lot of time. We needed to go deeper in our search for a veterinary clinic, a dentist, any place that could have meds but the light was starting to fade and we were running out of streets to search. We would need to turn around soon and we had nothing to take back with us.