Jim was dead.
Thankfully, Derek woke up on his own while I was looking for another shirt.Other than some nasty bruises, Derek was okay. What worried me most was the giant lump on Derek's forehead. Jenson had pistol-whipped him, and I was concerned Derek might have a concussion.I had no regrets about killing Jenson and Crazy Eyes. Maybe one day I would have to deal with what I'd done, but tonight I was just grateful we were all alive.Derek helped me get Thomas to my bed, and Thomas fell into a fitful sleep after I gave him some ibuprofen for the pain.Derek said he wanted some alone time in the garage. I didn't know much about concussions, but I knew sleep was bad. Derek promised to stay awake, so I didn't protest when he disappeared. I knew I would have to check on him regularly.Grant silently agreed to stay with Suzie for the night, so I could stay awake and keep watch.There were still five dead men in the house plus Jim, but everyone was too exhausted toSuzie"Psst. Squirt," Thomas whispered from across the room. "Psst. Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey."I rubbed my eyes, trying to get them to open. Once they obeyed, I was happy to see the sun was finally up.I stretched before searching for Mindy. That baby girl was the best way to make me smile in the morning."There's my little sis," Thomas said in a quiet voice.I rolled to face Thomas, forcing myself not to say anything about how awful his nose looked.Thomas waved me over to the side of the bed. Since everything happened last night we hadn't done anything, but go to sleep.My night had been hell.I needed to apologize to Grant. Again.My brain had started playing crazy tricks on me at night. It all started the night Mom nearly took a bite out of my face. It was difficult to figure out what was real and what wasn't.Last night, I had a hard time falling asleep knowing Jim and those men wer
CaseyWaiting for the dead to attack ended up being the longest twenty minutes of my life.Unsure of what to expect, I was practically hyperventilating when the shambling horde of hungry biters was only a few houses away. Zombies couldn't throw rocks through our windows or use weapons of any kind other than their own bodies, but it didn't make our circumstances any less terrifying.When the group finally made it to the road in front of my house, it surprised me to see they were somewhat docile, at least for now. It appeared as if they were moving just to move with no designated stopping point.The decaying skin on their faces wasn't easy to look at especially around their eyes and mouths where the heaviest rot had set in. Their red eyes were void of any white and appeared to be sinking further into their skull, making their eye sockets and cheekbones extremely dominant.So
For two days we did our best to stay invisible.We didn't know how many biters were in the area and since that huge group moved through, we all thought it was better to lay low and prepare to leave. Since Thomas was healing, it was best to wait a couple days, anyway. I didn't want to disrupt his recovery.As luck may have it, Derek was able to move Jenson's vehicle into the garage before the biters took their morning stroll through my front yard. So if Jenson had any friends that come looking there would be no sign of exactly where his crew went. I wasn't so sure that moving their vehicle would deter Jenson's friends, but I hoped it would.The best I could figure was that Jenson and his people most likely had access to the high school's record system. I could only assume that was how Jenson found me. He'd probably seen plenty of my pictures on the trophy shelves. I had to hope his crew of five were the only people trying to take over the school.I couldn't stomach the th
"Locked and loaded?" Derek curled his hand over my shoulder, moving his thumb back and forth."Yeah." The seatbelt bit into my neck when I turned to face him. "I'm scared. What if we don't all get there in one piece?"Derek rested his elbows on the door and bent to look me straight in the eyes. His eyes were a warm blue in the sunlight. "We'll take this slow and steady. You stay on my tail and stay close. If anything happens, and we get separated, head to the trailer. That's home base. Okay?"I tapped my thumb on the steering wheel and gave him a nod. "Okay."Derek moved his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a hard kiss."Gross!" Suzie said. "Get a room."The laugh that came from me eased my nerves a little.A smile tugged at Derek's lips as he pulled away to glance at Suzie. "If anything happens, you and Mindy stay out of sight.""Okay." Suzie bit her lips together and stared at Derek."Everything will be fine. Thank you for taking care
When we finally made it to the trailer, the weight on my shoulders eased considerably."We're here." I parked next to the green monster truck."Case, I'm scared. What if those girls change and hurt us?" Suzie held Mindy tight, protecting her."I know, Su. I'll talk with the guys and make sure you, Grant, and Mindy stay far away, okay?"Suzie wouldn't look at me. "I'm terrified.""That makes two of us." I twisted, encouraging her to make eye contact with me. "Just stay in the car for now, and I'll come get you in a minute. I'll send Grant over.""Okay." Suzie sucked in her bottom lip and nodded.Climbing out, I made my way to Thomas. He used to hop out of his truck, but jumping wasn't an option for him now. Grant was trying to help him down, but he was having a hard time. Thomas let out a loud yell when he stretched to reach the ground and fell to his knees.I ran to Thomas's side, wrapped my arm around his waist, and helped him to stand. "I go
Smoke wreaking of death and sickness filled the air as I stared into the fire.No one said anything to me after I killed Kim and Tanya.Everyone had been surprisingly helpful after my horrible murderous behavior. Suzie had given Celia and Andrea some of our clothes, and they'd cleaned up well, but on the flip side, they used way too much of our water.Derek and Andrea remained attached at the hip during unpacking duty. Everyone helped unload, which was nice.My hands were sore as hell. I'd washed them relentlessly as soon as I realized I'd created open wounds right next to two infected girls. How could I have been so stupid?"What's going on between you and Thomas?" I twisted to find Derek standing beside me without his plus one. It was the first time I'd seen him alone since we left my house."Are you kidding me right now?" I scoffed. "I just murdered two girls, and you're asking about Thomas and me?"Derek's eyes blazed as he stared into me. "I s
The next few days were a little strange.We had a couple dozen biters come onto the property one by one, and I started working on my stabbing techniques.Thomas started teaching Suzie how to shoot. At first, my sister was scared, but when she took her first biter down, her attitude changed. Now Suzie was excited when a biter came into the yard. She wanted to be the first one to shoot at it.We began work on some significant upgrades to the property and the trailer. We were purely focused on making our home secure.Derek and I stayed out of each other's way for the most part. If he was inside, I would find something to keep me busy outside or vice versa. It was hard being so close to him without being able to talk to him.For the first couple of days, my evading strategy worked, but after two days of not speaking, I felt his eyes on me. Frequently, I would catch him watching me longingly, and unlike most people, Derek refused to look away when he was caught.
Over the next couple of weeks, things didn't quite go as planned.Two huge groups of biters came through, forcing us all to stay inside for days at a time, which screwed up life for a while. Luckily, all the windows were boarded up, tight and secure, and we reinforced the doors. We'd even managed to strengthen the skirting of the trailer a little before they came through.It was a relief to know we'd completed some critical tasks before the biters came through, but we still hadn't built the fence which was something I badly wanted to do. It just wasn't an attainable goal yet.Even though we relied heavily on battery-powered lanterns, I liked living in a somewhat safe structure. Mitch had thought of batteries and solar chargers, but one day the chargers would break, and we needed to be ready.On the bright side, Thomas was healing really well, and he promised to take me looting soon. It wasn't easy being inside so much, especially with Mindy's needs, but we made d