Life After The Undead (Book 1) (83 page)

“What
do
you
want
to
do?”

“I
don’t
know.
I’d
like
to
attack
now.
We
have
enough
guns
to
equip
the
majority
of
the
workers
in
town.”

Quinn
shook
his
head.
“It
won
’t
work.
Like
I
told
you
before,
even
if
we
get
rid
of
Liet,
Florida
will
send
someone
to
replace
him.
We
have
to
attack
simultaneously.”

I
sighed.
“Maybe
things
will
change
when
we
take
Wilks
back.
I
mean,
how
many
soldiers
do
you
think are
going
to
volunteer
when
they
find
out
Anderson
was
killed
on
her
first
time
out
and
Wilks
has
turned
into
a
raving
lunatic?”

He
scoffed.
“I
doubt
they
volunteered.”

“Either
way,
this still
might
work
in
our
favor.
Liet
has a
finite
pool
of
humans
to
send
out. Someone
has
to
stay
behind
and
watch
the
workers.”

“Let’s
see
how
it
works
out.”
He
stepped
forward
and
wrapped
his
arms
around
my
waist. “Perhaps
after
we
fill
these
trucks,
you
and
I
can
spend
some
quality
time on
the
ranch.”

I smiled
and
placed
my
arms
around
his
neck.
“I
would
enjoy
that.”

He
leaned
forward
and
kissed
me.

We
walked
back
to
join
the
others.
Wilks
sat
on
the
step
to
the
cab,
rocking
back
and
forth
and
staring
into
space.
Quinn
looked
at
Bill.

“Don
’t
you
have
a
sedative
you
can
give
him?”

“I sure
do.”
He
grabbed
the
first
-aid kit
out
of
the
truck and
handed
a pill
to
Wilks,
who
took
it
without
question.

After
an
hour
passed,
we
jumped
into
the
trucks
and headed
to
the
hospital.
The
sedative
took
effect,
and
Wilks
lay
in the
sleeper
cabin,
watching
his
hands. Quinn,
Kyle,
and
I went into
the
hospital.
Most of the zombies had cleared out, and it didn’t take us long to fill
half
the
truck
with
supplies.
The few
zombies
that
still
milled
around were
easily taken care
of.
I
thought
about
looking
for
Anderson
’s
body,
thinking
maybe
that
would
help
Wilks,
but
then
I
thought
better
of
it.
Wilks
was
already
dangerously
close to
the
edge.
I
didn’t
need
to
push
him
over.

CHAPTER
21

We
filled
the
truck
with
supplies
from local
pharmacies
and
the
other
truck
with
food
without
incident.
After
we
finished,
we
headed
toward
Quinn’s
ranch.
There
was
some
concern
Wilks
would
remember
the
way,
so
Bill
gave
him a
sleeping
pill so
we
wouldn’t
have
to
worry.
As
we
pulled
into
the
canyon,
a
sense
of
peace
washed
over
me.
I
loved
not
having
to
worry
about
anything. Quinn
and
I
headed
into
the
house
while
the others
stowed
guns
on
the
truck.
I
sat
at
the
table
and
composed
the
instructions
for
Tanya
while
Quinn
made
us
some
coffee.

“How
long
do
you
think
it
will
be
before
we
’r
e
ready
to attack?”

He
sipped
his
drink.
“I
don’t
know.
A
couple
months,
at
least.
I
want
to
make
sure
everyone
is
properly
armed.”

I
scribbled
the
notes
on
the
paper.
“I
hope
it’s
sooner
rather
than
later.
I
don
’t
know
how
much
longer
we
’r
e
going
to
be
able
to
keep
Liet
in
the
dark.”

Quinn
pulled
a
chair
up
next
to
me
and
sat.
He
leaned
forward
and
placed his
hands
on
my
knee.
“Then
stay
with me
now.
The
more
times
you
go
back,
the
more
chances
he
has
of
keeping you
there.”

I
placed
my
hands
over
his. “I
’d
love
to
stay
here
with
you,
but
I still
have
a
lot
of
work
to
do.
Who’s
going
to
pass
out
the
guns?
I
have
to
go
back
to
make
sure
they
’re
in
the
right
hands.”

“What
about
Pam?
She
seems
trustworthy.”

“I
don’t
know
about
that.
I
think
that
if
it
came
down
to it,
she’d
do
anything
to
save
her
own
butt.”

He
touched
my
cheek.
“I
hate
to
see
you
have
to
go
through
all
that
crap
with
Liet.”

“It
won
’t
be
for
much
longer,
I
promise.
Like
you
said, it
should
only
take
a
few
more
months
before
we
’r
e
ready
to
attack.
After
that,
I’ll
follow
you
to
the
ends
of
the
earth.”
I kissed
him
on
the
tip
of
the
nose,
then
finished
my
letter
to
Tanya.

As
early
evening
fell
over
the
ranch,
Quinn
and
I
took
the
horses
for a
ride.
We
came
back in
with
the
cowboys
and the
herd
of
cattle.
After
a
light
dinner,
we
cuddled
in
front
of
the
fire.
When
it
was
time
for
bed,
Quinn
let
me
have
his
room,
and
he
settled
onto
the
couch.
It
didn
’t
take
long
for
me
to
fall
asleep.
It’d
been
a
long
day.

***

A sliver
of
light
pierced
through
the
curtains
and
hit me
right
in
the
face.
I
slowly
opened
my
eyes
and
smiled
as
I
took
in
the
surroundings
of
Quinn
’
s
room.
I
extended
my
arms
over
my
head
and
arched
my
back in
a long
stretch.
When
I
finished,
I
looked
at
a
picture
of
him
kneeling
next
to
a
calf and smiled,
then
got
dressed.
I
headed
downstairs
to see
him
in
the
kitchen,
cooking breakfast.
I
walked
up
to
him
and
stood
next
to
him,
my
butt
resting
on
the
counter. He
leaned
over
and
gave
me
a
quick
kiss.

“Ho
w’
d
you
sleep?”

“Great.
I
haven
’t
slept
that
well
in
months.”

“It’s
the
country
air.
It’ll
do
that
to
you.”
He winked.

I
wrapped
my
arms
around
his
waist.
“I
love
the
fresh
country
air.”
  I
kissed
his
chin.

The
back
door
opened
and
then
closed
with
a
bang,
and
I
quickly
released
Quinn.
I
glanced
up
. It
was
Kyle,
and
he
smiled
at
us
knowingly.
He
continued
through
to
the
living
room.

“Hey,
what
happened
to
Wilks?”

Quinn
nodded
toward
the
couch.
“He
woke
up
about
midnight,
freaking
out
because
he
didn
’
t
know
where
he
was
and
screaming
about
zombies.
I’m
surprised
you
didn
’t
hear
him.
Bill
gave
him
another
sedative
and
sleeping
pill.
He’s
awake
now,
but
he’s
not
all
there.”

I
walked
to
the
couch.
Wilks
stared
at
the
ceiling
and
mumbled about
zombies
under
his
breath.
I
took
a
seat
in
the
chair
across
from
him.
I’d
been
around
a
lot
of
people,
and
everyone
reacted
to
the
undead
differently,
but I’d
never
seen
anyone
freak
out
as
badly
as
Wilks. Fear
was
a
powerful
emotion,
and
it
had
the
power
to
drive
someone
insane,
but
it
usually
took
more
than
one
incident.