Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (45 page)

Mrs. Johnson wouldn’t
be
surprised
to see
us.
The
minute
we stepped
through
the door,
someone
was on the
phone
informing
her of
our
approach.
As the
lights for
each
floor lit up,
I
chuckled
to
myself.
I
imagined
Mrs.
Johnson
scurrying
to
prepare
for our
arrival,
yelling
orders
at
the
servants,
clapping
her
hands
to hurry
them
up.
But
when
we
walked
through
the door,
she’d
be
sitting
on the
couch,
like
she’d
been
lounging
all
day.

The
door
dinged
open
and we
stepped
into
the
hallway.
Mrs. Johnson’s
bodyguard,
the
same
one
who
made
the
trip
to
North
Platte
and
put zombies in
the back
of
the
semi,
stood in
front
of the
suite
door,
smirking
at
me.
He thought
he
was
so
superior,
like
he
single-handedly
brought
our rebellion to
an
end.
I
contemplated
spitting
on him
as
I
walked
by,
but
why
give
him the
satisfaction
of
knowing
he
got
to me?
Instead,
I
put on
the
cheesiest,
sweetest
smile
I
could
muster.

“I
see
Liet
got
his justice,”
the
bodyguard
commented
as
he
opened
the
door.

“Maybe. But
I’m
still
alive.”

The
man
chuckled.
“Probably
not for
long.”

I
shrugged.
“Until then.”

We
stepped
into the
suite.
As
I
suspected,
Mrs.
Johnson rose
from
the
couch
to
greet
us.

“General
Liet!
It
is such
a
pleasure
to see
you
alive.”
She
held
out
her
hands
to
him but stopped
short,
delicately
covering
her
nose
with
her
fingertips.

“Sorry,”
Liet
apologized. “It’s
been
a
while since
I’ve had
running
water.”

She
waved
her
hand
through
the
air.
“I
understand.
Perhaps
we
should postpone
this
meeting
until
you’ve had
a
chance
to freshen
up.”

“With
all
due
respect,
ma’am,
I’d
like
to have
a
decision
made
about
Krista
now.”

Mrs. Johnson
stared
at
me,
hard,
her lips
pressed
into
a
thin
line.
“She could
stand a
shower, too.
And
a
doctor
should look
her
over.”

Liet
stared
from
her to
me
and
back
again. “You
can’t
be serious!
She
doesn’t
deserve special
treatment!”

Mrs. Johnson
folded
her
arms
across
her
chest.
“Do
you
want to risk making
her
a
martyr?
We
have
a
delicate
balance
of
power
and
sympathy
down
here,
General. There
are
those
who could use
her
mistreatment
to
their
advantage.
I
will not give
them
fuel
for
their
fire.
If
you
don’t like
my
method,
you
should
have taken
care
of
her
yourself
when
you
had the
chance.”

Liet
scowled, his face
turned
red.
“I
still
have
that
option.”

She
huffed.
“I
dare
you
to
try
it.
She’s
in our
possession now.”

Liet
leaned
forward.
“What
are
you
going
to do?
You still
need
someone
on
the
outside,
someone
who
knows
where
the
others
are.”

Mrs. Johnson
pursed
her
lips.
“Assuming
we’re
going
to
waste
our time
looking
for
the
other
survivors.
They’re
gone.
What do we
have
to
worry
about?”

“They
hid next to a
cave,
an
old
Army
base.
There
are
crates
of
guns
in
there.
You really
want
to risk them
coming
down here?”

She
waved
her
hand
through
the
air. “We
can take
care
of
them,
we
outnumber
them. There’s
no way
they’ll
come
down
here.”

“You
don’t
know. They
might.”

“Liet.”
Mrs.
Johnson
had
an
edge
to her
voice.
“We
can
take
care
of ourselves down
here.
We’ve
been doing
it
for
years. I’m
not discounting
what
you’ve
done
for
us,
but
you
have
no
say
in the
day-to-day
activities
of
Florida.
That
is The
Families’
job.”

Liet
scowled.
“You
wouldn’t be
here
if it weren’t
for
me.
You
would
have
been
overthrown
years
ago.
I
took
care
of
your
problems.”

Mrs. Johnson
clicked
her
tongue. “Yes.
We
all
know how
well
that
worked
out.”

Liet’s
face
took on a purple
hue.
“I
could
have
left
them
here.
Then,
where
would
your
delicate
balance
of
sympathy
and
power be?
In
your
own
uprising? Dealing
with
your
own
rebels? Be thankful
there
are
just a
handful
of
them
you
have
to
deal
with,
and
they’re
kids.”

“I’m
well
aware
of
what
could
have happened
were
you
not willing
to take
the
rabble
to North
Platte. But
you
must
realize,
you’re
no longer in
North
Platte,
you’re
in
my
town.
Different
rules
govern
down
here,
and
you
are
expected
to
follow
them
just like
everyone
else.”

Liet
opened his mouth to
speak
but
was
interrupted.

I
laughed.
I
couldn’t
help it.
Seeing
the
two of
them
fight
like
children
was
the
best
show
I’d
seen
in weeks.
It
was
better
than
a
soap
opera. Both
Mrs. Johnson
and
Liet
glared
at
me
in anger.
It
was
never a
good
idea
to show
weakness
in front of
your
enemy,
and
that’s
exactly
what
they
did. There
was a
power
struggle
between
the
two,
one
that
could
easily
be
exploited.
Liet
scared
Mrs. Johnson, I
saw it in
her
eyes. But
she didn’t want him to
know.
Like
he
didn’t
already.
He
couldn’t
do
anything,
though.
Mrs. Johnson
had
bodyguards
and
soldiers to
back
her
up if
Liet
tried
to
harm
her,
so he
had
to
be
on
his best
behavior,
much
to
his
distaste.
If
given
enough
time, those
two would probably
destroy
each
other.
Too
bad
we
didn’t have
more time, it would have
been
an
entertaining
show.