Zombie Overload (Book 3): Learning To Live Read online

  I look at her and can't help but laugh.

  "I assume you mean Sara. What's the matter with her? I found her to be most delightful!" I tease her.

  Rose rolls her eyes, "Yeah, I heard she almost put a bullet in your head. We all heard about that. Miss Popular, she isn't! Our brothers keep giving her dirty looks. Our sisters-in-law are doing their best to make her feel unwelcome. She could be shot. It could be fun."

  I laugh. "What would I do without my family?"

  "You'd be curled up in a ball in the corner of a dark room, crying for your mommy."

  Bite me, little sister!

  Chapter Three

  Rose and I walk around the back of the property, checking the fence, making sure it's still secure. As we walk, we catch up on each others lives. Mine-until recently-not very interesting. Hers-way too busy. It felt good being able to talk to her about absolutely nothing important, nothing serious. Even though we know that life has just become the mother of all seriousness, we can pretend for a few minutes that this is just another family get-together.

  We come to a heavily wooded area of the property and I hear feet shuffling in the scattered fall leaves. I grab Rose and cover her mouth, pulling her behind a fat tree. Her eyes are wide with terror. This is the same girl who freaks out over little bitty mice and avoids scary movies like the plague, so this whole thing has to be pure hell for her. Kind of like if I were to be locked in a room full of spiders. EEK! Shoot me, please!

  She stays quiet though, and I push her gently against the tree, motioning for her to stay there. She nods, but as I turn to sneak back around the tree, she grabs and tugs on my shirtsleeve-shaking her head furiously. I grin at her. She's gotta be kidding!

  Apparently, she has no idea what I've been through already if she thinks one decaying zombie can kick my ass. I jerk my shirt out of her grasp and she attempts to follow and stop me. Until she hears a moan, that is. Then she flattens against that tree hard enough that I wonder if I will see a Rose-sized imprint in the poor thing.

  I shake my head, grinning at her. Turning my attention back to the zombie, I slowly creep toward the next tree. Looking around the trunk, I see him. Big fat guy with a bald head, wearing pajama bottoms and black dress socks, no shirt. What's with the dress socks, Dude? Really?

  I look at his face and see patches of skin missing. His forehead has a flap of skin hanging down over his nose. On his right arm is the bite mark that probably ended his life and began his journey as a walking corpse.

  He stumbles over a fallen limb and almost goes down. Other limbs that are still firmly attached to their trees whack him in the face, but he pays them no mind. I start to move out from behind the tree when he's about twenty feet from me, but jerk back in a hurry. I saw way more than just him back there! With the very quick peek I'd had, I'd say at least a dozen. There is no way I can take down that many alone. We have to get the hell outta here!

  I run back to Rose and put my finger to my lips, letting her know to be quiet. I grab her arm, give her a yank, and mouth "Hurry!"

  Pushing her in front of me, we run as fast as my fat ass can go. Nearing the barn, I see all the men-except Greg and Sam-standing in front of the building. Waving my arms in the air to get their attention, Rose and I keep running until we get closer to the house. I stop and bend at the waist, gasping for air. I lift my head and watch Rose run into the house. Once she's safely inside, I turn and watch the woods. It's not long before I hear the undead.

  The guys come up beside me, guns ready. Dad tries to get me to go inside with the other women. As if! After all I've been through? Whatever! Jake laughs as he sees the look I shoot my dad.

  We spread out in a long line, guns up and ready to fire. Slowly, the zombies stagger out of the trees. As soon as they are within firing range, we take them down. When the last one falls, we all start forward to do a sweep through the woods to find the breach in the fence where they got through. We spread out and I hear a few more gunshots, telling me there are still more in here. I carefully go around each tree, alert for danger. I hear a shout, which sounds like Ryder, and I move in that direction. The shout didn't sound distressed or in a way to make me think he was in trouble.

  I finally find Ryder standing next to a section of fence that had been knocked over from the outside, shooting the undead as they come toward him. The rest of the men show up and we all help Ryder keep the zombies back, except Dad and Kurt, who work on the fence.

  At last, the undead stop coming and the fence is temporarily fixed. Dad and Kurt decide a trip into town is needed for supplies.

  Dad informs me I'm not going and that's that!

  I grin and shake my head. He's known me how long? If I want to go, I'll go.

  But I think this time I'd rather stay and protect the others―and hope it will be quiet and uneventful. So I nod and let him think he's won. Apparently, he really wasn't expecting that, if his jaw-dropping, bug-eyed expression is anything to go by.

  I walk away still grinning, thinking how silly some people can be. I'm really not that difficult!

  Chapter Four

  Jake stays behind to help me watch out for the others in our group-after all, we still have a weak fence to worry about. When the other men are ready to leave, Jake and I go inside and sit in the kitchen in front of the windows facing the backyard.

  "Jake?"

  "Yeah?"

  "I think we need to train my sisters to shoot."

  "I think that's a smart idea."

  "I never have stupid ideas." He bursts out laughing...hard. Too hard.

  You are an ass, Jake!

  I tell Jake I'll keep watch and he can teach them-after all, I only know how to load, aim, and shoot. Well, I guess that's the most important part, huh? But you know what I mean. I can't teach them to clean a gun...and I think that's important. Can't they jam or blow up or something if you don't? And he can also teach them the best way to stand and hold the guns. I don't think about it when I do it, I just do it.

  So Jake gathers all the women-except Mom, Ma, and Sara-and explains to them what he wants to do. They all seem relieved at being able to have a way to protect themselves, except Rose. She is adamant about being afraid of guns, until I remind her that the zombies will get her. I remember scaring her when she was little saying the monsters will get her if she isn't good or whatever. Always worked then, still works now! Ha ha! She's so funny!

  Jake takes the girls out to the side of the house. I have a clear view of them through the large bay window to my right. I turn my attention to the woods. Before long, the two stools beside me are occupied by Bo and Ash. They ask me what happened earlier when we all went in the woods and I tell them. They decide they're going to help watch the yard with me-and that lasts a whole two minutes.

  Mom brings the reheated plate of food she had saved for me and I eat while keeping watch. She sits next to me and we talk. She asks me how I'm feeling and lets me know if I need to talk about Will, she'll listen. I tell her thanks and give her a hug, but I don't talk about Will. I just can't talk about Will. I'm not sure I can deal with the emotions right now. I've got to keep my head in the here and now and keep us alive.

  After she leaves, Ma takes her place. I give her a hug, just now realizing I haven't even said a word to her since we picked her up. Ugh! I suck as a granddaughter!

  She rubs her hand in a circle against my back and I clamp my teeth down on my lip to keep from screaming from the pain. I love her so much and the comfort she gives me is worth the pain...until about the sixth complete circle. Unable to stand it any longer, I cry out and jump away from her hand.

  She gives me a startled look and I explain the whole pain-in-the-back issue.

  "Well, why didn't you just say so? I could have rubbed your hand―" I cut her off with an "I don't think so" look.

  "Your arm?" I give her another look.

  "Your head, then!" I give her a final look.

  She shakes her head in astonishment, her eyes wide. "Didn't any of those men do a
nything to protect you? Or were you the one protecting their butts?" Haha! Damn, I love this woman!

  I put my arm around her and give her a brief account of what had happened before we picked her up. When I'm finished, she shakes her head once more. After a few more minutes, she gets up to help Mom make something for everyone to eat.

  I take a few seconds every once in awhile to see how the Annie Oakleys are doing, but otherwise, I'm watching the back. Nothing exciting happens for about the first hour-then suddenly, that changes. A woman is coming out of the trees wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a pair of boots. Her long blond hair is matted and a few patches are missing from her head.

  I pick up my gun, go out the back door, and walk toward her. When she's close enough, I put a bullet in her head and watch as she drops. I hear the other girls scream as the sound of my gun going off startles them. I turn and look back as they curse me and yell at me to at least give a warning first. Coco informs me I almost made her shoot Jake. And?

  Kidding! Really.

  I laugh at them and they start screaming even more at me. Insults I'm sure, but I've stopped listening. Turning back to the woods, I find out why they were really screaming. I jerk my body back just in time to avoid a pair undead filthy hands.

  The hands are attached to a freakin' nun! This just ain't right!

  I raise my gun and pull the trigger...but nothing happens! Oh, holy shit!

  I trip over some-damn-thing and the Sister is on me. Flat on my back, I hold her up and away from me with my arms while she's snapping and moaning at me. As she leans a bit to the right, I see more movement coming from the woods. Ah, shit!

  Suddenly, I hear a gunshot over my head and the nun goes limp. I have blood and God only knows what sprayed all over me. Damn it! Now I have to shower again.

  In disgust, I shove her body off me and get to my feet.

  I look back at Jake as I lift my shirt and wipe off what I can of the gore, "Thanks. But do you mind getting them off me before you blow their brains out? Think maybe you can manage that, you jackass?"

  "Jackass? I just saved your life!" he says with a grin.

  "I said thanks," I snap at him and turn, readying my gun for the mob coming at us. I hear the other girls coming up behind and Jake tells them practice is over, now they get to show us what they got. I step back so that all these barely-trained chicks can shoot without putting a bullet in me. I watch them, surprised at how good they all are-even my baby sister, Rose. I had pictured her holding the gun like she was terrified of it. Maybe holding it with two fingers on the handle, screaming "Ew, ew, ew" and jumping from foot to foot. I picture her that way because that's what she does with everything else that freaks her out. But to my shock, and relief, she looks like a Charlie's Angel...uh... Jake's Angel? Whatever!

  The only one who didn't really surprise me was Kally, being a farm girl and all. I figure she'd had some shooting experience. Feeling a little more confident that I won't be killed by friendly-fire, I step back into line and start shooting. There are so many of the damn things!

  I know we don't have enough ammo out here with us, so I tell Jake I'm going to the truck to get more. He nods to let me know he hears me and I run to the front of the house. Grabbing the bag of ammo and as many extra guns as I can, I run inside the front door of the house, doing a quick check on the kids and Psycho Sara. Unfortunately, she's still unturned. That's really too bad. I have a gun ready and everything!

  I ask Sam if he would help keep an eye on the kids-and on Sara-and he agrees. I find Mom on my way through the kitchen and quickly warn her in case the undead get past us. I see her grab her gun from a high cabinet and walk to the window as I exit the back door.

  I notice Lindey is out of ammo so I go over to her first. Handing her another gun that's loaded and ready, I take her first one, reload it, and lay it at her feet. Showing her it's there, I move to the next. When everyone has two guns, I get back in line and start shooting. Eventually, we get them thinned down to stragglers.

  When those are gone, Jake tells the others to keep watch while he and I go check the woods. We run toward the woods on the far right edge of the property, slowing to a slow and cautious walk as we enter the dense trees and follow the fence line. We take down the ones we find until we get to the part of the fence that was down earlier. It's down again, but worse than that, an even larger section is down. I hope the guys hurry, the sun won't stay up forever!

  Jake has me call my sister and tell her we're staying here by the fence, and that we will call if there are more zombies than we can handle. If so, the girls will need to line back up again. She says "ok" and we hang up.

  Chapter Five

  Jake and I sit and make ourselves comfortable as we watch the trees and land beyond the fence. After a half hour with no action, my eyes start drooping. My eyes and head drop a few times as I struggle to stay awake. When my head drops far enough to wake me, my body jerks and I force my head back up where it belongs. Embarrassed, I look over at Jake to see if he's noticed, but he's not looking at me. He had been, though. I don't think looking out at a boring landscape would have normal people grinning like an idiot. Then again, it's Jake. I watch him grin for a few seconds, then I reach over and punch him hard in the arm.

  "Ow! Damn, woman! What the hell was that for?" he cries out, rubbing his arm.

  I give him a look of disgust and then a pointed look at the arm he's still rubbing, "You're letting your girly-side show." I sniff and lift my chin as I turn my head forward.

  I hear him mumbling under his breath but I can only make out a few words, most of them calling someone a bitch. I ignore him and continue watching.

  "You know, I kinda preferred you in the fatigues. Why'd you change?" he asks me.

  I shrug. "Wanted something different, I guess." He watches me for a few moments and I keep my eyes straight ahead, although I can see him out of my peripheral vision. He lets it go and I slowly, and as naturally as possible, release the breath I've been holding.

  By the time Rose calls and tells us the guys are back, we have taken down at least a dozen undead, usually one zombie at a time. The most at one time we had to shoot was three, nothing more exciting than that. Jake and I wait for the guys. Finally, we hear a big engine getting close and I stand to look through the trees. I can see a semi so hopefully they got some good stuff. After a lot of noise, they start bringing in large metal security panels. They're about ten feet high and each panel is about eight feet long-obviously meant for businesses and not residential homes.

  The men dig holes, pour cement, and install the panels while I keep watch. Eventually, Kally and Lindey come out to help me. We have enough fencing to do the whole back, but not enough for the entire property. They tell us they have another truck up by the barn to bring back here, and after they get those panels up, they will go back tonight for the rest before someone else gets them.

  I suggest they just unload the second truck and then go back, since the weak part of the fence is now secure.

  The guys look around at each other and then Dad says, "Maybe we should just unload the truck and get the rest of them now since the broken fence is secure."

  Yeah. Great idea, Dad. Geez!

  Jake grins at me. I roll my eyes and walk back toward the house.

  It's dark now and I'm exhausted. Coco and Lindey offer to watch the back window for any trouble so I can get another shower and get some sleep. I gladly take them up on it. I go to the truck and get more clothes, this time my sleep clothes.

  As I'm stripping off my jeans in the bathroom, I hear a thunk as they hit the floor. Pulling my phone out of the back pocket, and then Will's phone from the other pocket, I suddenly remember Bianca was supposed to be calling. Frantically, I slide his phone open and see twenty-seven missed calls-all from Bianca-and five voicemail.

  I dial voicemail and all five are from Bianca, whose panic increases on each one. But the last one, sent thirty minutes ago, sends chills through my body. She had made it about three hours from us
and was in the middle of telling me that she was out of-something-when she screamed. Then the sound of the phone clattering to the ground fills my ear.

  I race into the shower, washing and scrubbing as fast and as hard as I can until I'm clean. I jump out and throw my sleep clothes on, irritated because I'm going to have to change again when I get more clothes from the truck. I hate changing so much! That's why I have to take so many new clothes back-I won't try them on before I buy.

  I hurry out of the bathroom but stop suddenly when Will's phone rings in my hand. I see "Bianca" on the screen and slide it up.

  "Bianca!"

  "Canada! I've been trying to call. I'm so scared. I need help!" Bianca says something else but it's distorted by her fear.

  "Bianca, calm down so I can understand you! First, where are you?" I notice Jake standing next to me, watching with concern as I talk to Bianca.

  "I'm in Snowden, but I ran out of gas. I dropped my phone when some zombies came after me and I had to run. I finally made it back and grabbed it and now I'm hiding inside a house near my car."

  "Ok, stay there if you can. We'll be there, but it's going to take awhile. You're three hours from us on a normal day, but who knows how long it will take us now."

  I look at Jake and he nods that he'll go with me. I give him a grateful smile and watch as he walks outside to get the truck and weapons ready.

  "Ok. I'll be here," Bianca tells me.

  "Tell me everything you can that will help us find you."

  "I'm in a two-story green house with white trim and a large white porch on the north side of the road. I know I should just find another vehicle, but I'm too scared to go back out there by myself, especially since it's dark."

  "Bianca, it's ok. I wouldn't want to, either. See if you can find food and drinks and go upstairs. Find a door that locks and stay there. Um, I recommend a room with a bathroom."

  "I'm already upstairs, there are some of those dead people downstairs, so be careful."

  I tell her I will and we hang up after I reassure her we will be there as fast as possible.