Life After The Undead (Book 1) (36 page)

What
had
I
been
thinking?
A
vendetta
against
the
zombies?
I
shook
and
felt
nauseous.
We
were
lucky
to
make it
out
alive.

Pam
took
a
deep
breath. “Well,
I
guess
that
explains
why
we
’r
e
not
supposed
to
go
to
the
border.”

CHAPTER
9

I
actually
threw
up
when
I
stepped
out
of
the
semi
and
examined
the
tires.
Part
of
it
was
from
the
smell
and
fluids
that
covered
me
from
head
to
toe,
but
part
of
it
was
from
fear. I
glanced
over
my
shoulder
to
make
sure
the
zombies
hadn
’t
followed
us.
They
were
probably
on
our trail,
and
even
though
they
were
slow,
the
less
time
we
lingered,
the
happier
I’d
be.
Pam
walked
up
beside
me.

“Good
thing
we
altered
these
things
so
they
could
drive
on
flats.
Otherwise,
we
’d
be
stuck
out
here.”
She
smiled
and
slapped
me
on
the
shoulder.
“It’s
okay.
We’re
clear.
The
re’s
nothing
to
worry
about.”

I tried
to
smile.
It
was
one
thing
to
stand
on
a
tower
and
shoot
down
at
the
zombies. If
you
missed,
someone
was
always
there
to
back
you
up. It
was
completely
different
to
be
right
in
the
middle
of
a
horde.
I
couldn
’t
believe
I’d
kept
my
cool
the
way
I
had.
All
I could
think
about
at
the
time
was
how
much I
hated
the
zombies.
I
hated
what
they
did to
my
family
and
friends
and
the
world.
I
wanted
them
to
pay.
Every
bullet or
slice
of
my
sword
was
justice.
When
I
was
away
from
them, all
I
could
think
about
was
that I
could
have
been
killed. It
freaked
me
out.

“We’ll
need
to
get
a
vehicle
up
here
to
tow
us back.
There
are a
couple
four wheelers
in the
back
we
can take
to
the
next
station.”

“Can
’t
we
drive
it
the
way
it
is?”

Pam
shook
her
head.
“No,
too
many
tires are
damaged.
If
we
’d
blown
one
or
two,
we
’d
be
fine.
It’s
all
right.
We’ll
get
the
stuff
back.”
She
walked
to
the
trailer
and
then
opened
the
door.

We
jumped
onto
the
four wheelers
and then
headed
down
the
road.

***

It
took
two
days
to
get
the truck
towed
to
the
nearest
station.
I
spent
the
time
replaying
the
scenario
in
my
head
and
becoming
more
comfortable
with
my
decisions.
Yeah,
I
could
’v
e
died,
but
I
didn
’t.
That
said
a
lot
about
my
luck
and
skill.
Plus,
I
couldn
’t
change
it,
so
why
worry
about
it?

The
soldiers
weren
’t
too
optimistic
the
truck
could
be
repaired
since
only
a
few
people
had
the
equipment
and
know-how
to
change
a semi
tire.
While
we
waited,
it
gave
Pam
and
me a
chance
to
take
inventory
of
the
goods.
We’d
only
had
time
to
fill
up
half
the
truck,
but
we’d
loaded
several
crates
of
building
supplies
(boards,
bags
of
concrete mix,
wire),
some
canned
goods,
and
Pam had found
a
crate of
exotic
nuts.
In
the
end,
it
turned
out
they
couldn
’t
fix
the
vehicle,
so
we
transferred
the
goods
to
a
smaller
truck.

“We’ll
have
to
send
some
guys
back,”
Pam
said,
her
hands
on
her
hips
as she
stared
at
the
semi. “We
have
the
ability
to
do
it
in North
Platte.”
She
turned
to
me.
“
We
should
get
the
supplies
back
now.”

I
nodded.

The
trip
went
well
until
we
crossed the
Nebraska
border,
then
I
became
nervous. Liet
had
been
nice
when
I’d
left,
but
I
wasn
’t
sure
how
he
’d
react
when
we
pulled up
without
the
semi. I
mean,
supplies
were
already
short,
and
we’d
lost
an
entire
truck.
He’d
told
us
not
to
go
to
the
border,
and
even
though
he
didn’t
tell
us
specifically
why,
I
still
had
a
feeling
he
wasn
’t
going
to be
happy.

We
pulled
into
North
Platte
and
took
the
truck
to
the
storage
yard.
A
few
soldiers milled
around,
and
I
noticed
one
of
them
run
off.
I
assumed
he
went
to
tell
Liet
we
were
back.
The
blood
and
ooze
from
the
undead
had
dried
into
my
clothes
and
hair,
and
they
were
crunchy.
I wanted
desperately
to
take
a
shower,
and I
thought
about
sneaking
back to
the
courthouse,
but
if
Liet
was
going
to
be
mad,
I
didn
’t
want
Pam
to
have
to
face
him
alone.
I
paced
the
grounds
until
he
showed
up.

He stared
at
the
truck,
his
hands
on
his
hips.
His
jaw
muscles
tight.
“Whe
re’s
the
truck
I
sent
you
out
with?”