Life After The Undead (Book 1) (90 page)

“Of
course
you
do.
Where
would
you
be
if
it
weren
’t
for
me?
Still
in
Florida?
Waiting
on
the
Johnsons?
Maybe
married
to some
loser.
I
gave
you
this life,
and
I
can
take
it all
away.”

I
grabbed
the
chain.
“I
can
guarantee
I
wouldn
’t
be
chained
to this
bed!”

“I
didn’t
want
it
to
come
to
this,
Krista,
but
you
left
me
no
choice.
I
tried
being
nice, I
tried
grounding
you,
but
nothing worked. You
either
physically
attacked
me
or
ran
away.
This
was
my
last
option.”

I
shook
my
head.
“You
’r
e
crazy.
Why
didn’t
you
just kill
me?”

“You
know
I
can’t
live
without
you.
We
have
to
take
care
of
each
other.
You
can
’t
do
that
if
you
’r
e
in the
West
with
him.”
He
stood
and
caressed
my
cheek.

I
turned
my
gaze
to the
kitchen
to
keep
from
spitting
in his
face.

“You
’l
l
come
back
around
eventually.”
He
turned
and
headed
out
the
door.

I threw
myself
back
onto
the
bed
and
placed
my
fists
on
my
forehead.
If
only
I
could
get
a
hold
of
Quinn,
but
he
thought
I
was
going
to Florida.
He
’d
be
suspicious
when
he
didn’t
hear
from
me
in
a
couple
days,
but
he
wouldn
’t
come
looking
for
me.
He
couldn
’t.
Liet
told
him
that
they
no
longer
needed
his
services. If
he
came
back
to
the
city,
he
’d
be
killed,
and
he
knew
that
too.

I
had
to
escape.
That
was
my
only
way
out, but
how?
I
was
chained
to
the
bed,
and
the
only
key
was
with
Liet.
I
could
try
to cut
through
the
metal,
but
with
what?
There
was
nothing
in the
house
I
could
use,
and
I
was
sure
no
one
would
help
me.
My
only
chance
was
to
appeal
to
his
sentimental
side.
I
was
screwed.

Weeks
passed.
Well, it
felt like
weeks,
but
it
might
have
only
been
days.
I
didn
’t
have
a
calendar
so
I
wasn
’t
really
sure.
I
was
completely
miserable
and
convinced
I
was
going
to die
chained
to
the
bed.
Liet
never
came
to
see
me
again,
but
Pam made
sure
I
had
food
and
water.
The
chain
was
long
enough
to
allow
me
movement
around
the
house,
but
I
couldn
’t
get
out
through
the
door
or
windows.
My
ankle bled
from
where
the
chain
rubbed.
The
only
thing
that
kept
me
going was
knowing
Quinn
and
his
people
would
attack
any
day,
but
that
hope
was
slowly
dwindling. From
my
calculations,
they
should
have
been
there
a
week
ago.

I
was
surprised
when
Pam
came
to
the
house
with
the key
to
my
chain.

“What’s
going
on?”

“Liet
wants
to
see
you.”

“Why?”

“The
trucks
we
sent
out
haven
’t
come
back.”

“So
send
out
some
more.”

“No
one
else
will
go.”

I
scowled.
“So
he’s
expecting
me
to
clean
up
his
mess.”

That
pretty
much
clinched
it
for
me.
Liet
was
insane.
That
was
the
only
way
to
explain
his
actions.

Pam
unlocked
the
chain,
then
escorted
me to
the
courthouse.
As
I
stepped
through
the
threshold,
I
took
a
deep
breath.
Pam
stayed
behind
at
the
door.

Liet
looked
up
from
his
work
and
smiled
as
I
approached
the
bench.
I
stopped
a
few
feet
from
his
desk
and
tucked
my
hands
into
my
back
pockets.

“Liet.”

“Ah,
Krista,
I’m
glad
you
could
make
it.”
He
stepped
around
his
desk
and
wrapped
his
arms
around
my
shoulders,
gently
kissing
the top
of
my
head.

I
suppressed
the
shiver
that
ran
down
my
spine.
“What
do
you
want?”

He
pulled
back
and
went
to
his
desk.
He
shuffled
through
his
papers
until
he
found
what
he
looked
for.
He stared
at it
for
a
moment
before
placing
it
back
on
the
desk.

“Looks like
we
need
fuel.”

I
sucked
in
a
deep
breath
and
pulled
my
hands
out
of
my
pockets.
I
wanted
to
ask
him
what
his
problem
was,
if
maybe
he
’d been
dropped
on
his
head
as a
child,
but
I
knew
that
moment
might
be
my
only
chance.
I
didn
’t
want
to
anger
him.