Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (55 page)

Dinner
came and
went.
Nothing.
When the
guard
came
in
and
told us it was
lights
out,
I
began
to wonder if
anything
was
going
to happen
at
all.
Pearl
wasn’t
exactly
specific
on
when
to expect
anything.
She
just said to be
ready. For all
I
knew, she
could
have
meant in two
days.

I
laid on
my
cot
and
stared
at
the
ceiling.
Maybe
it
was
too much
for
me to
get
my
hopes
up.
Maybe
Private
Lamb
Chop told Mrs. Johnson
about
Pearl’s
visit
and
Pearl
was
in custody.
Maybe
she
was
dead.
Maybe
she
changed
her mind. Either
way,
I
needed
to
figure
out how
to
get
us out.

I
was
drifting
to
sleep
when a
loud clunk
echoed
through
the
hallway.
It
wasn’t
a
something-was-dropped
clunk,
but one
of those
sounds
you
hear
right
before
the
power
goes
out.
Like
a
circuit
breaker
clicking
off.
Of
course,
it
was
hard to tell
since
the
lights
were
off for
night
time
anyway.
I
looked
at
the
door
for a
while,
waiting
for
something else
to
happen.
Maybe
shouts
coming
from the
other
side
of the
door,
or
moans
sounding
from
zombies. But
there
was
nothing.
There
wouldn’t
be
zombies,
we
were
in
Florida,
but
I
expected
some
type
of
ruckus.
Still, it
was
too
weird.
I
got
up and
headed
to the
door. Curiously,
I
placed
my
hands
on the
bars
and
pushed.
To
my
amazement,
the
door
slid
open.
I
had to be
dreaming.
I
glanced
into the
hallway. Bright
white
emergency
lights
illuminated the
floor.
I
stepped
across
the
hall
to
Bill’s
cell. He
laid on his
cot,
his
back
to
me.
I
pushed
open
his
door.
He
turned
and
looked
at
me
over
his
shoulder.

“What’s
going
on?”

“I
don’t
know,”
I
whispered. “But
let’s
not question
it.” I
moved to Kyle’s cell.

He
was
already
at
his door, pushing
it to the
side.

The
three
of
us
proceeded
with
caution
to the
main
door. I
glanced
through the small window. The
corner
of
the
guard’s
desk
was
barely
visible. Nothing
moved.

Silently,
I
turned the handle
and
peered
through
the
crack.
Private
Lamb
Chop stood
behind
the
desk,
her
arms
folded
over
her
chest.
She
smiled
at
me.

“We
haven’t
got
all day,”
she
said
quietly.
“The
night
shift will be
here
any
minute.”

My
stomach
tingled.
My
first
inclination
was
to
head
back
into
my
cell,
crawl
into
bed,
and
pretend
like
nothing
had
happened.
It
all
seemed too
convenient.
Too
easy.
We
were
walking
into a
trap, we
had to be.
Lately,
things
hadn’t
been
going
my
way.
I
was
about
to turn around
too, but
Bill
and
Kyle
pushed
me
through
the door.

Private
Lamb
Chop
hurried
us to the sally
port
and into
the
van.
We
drove through
the
streets
to Tanya’s
storage
yard.

“Head
to row
Q,”
the
private
instructed. “Shed
eight
will be
unlocked.”

Without asking
any
questions, we
climbed
out of
the
van
and
looked for
row
Q.
The vehicle
drove
off,
and
I
stared
after
it for a
long
time. Any
minute, she was going
to
turn
back
around
and
climb out,
laughing.
She’d
have
a
gun
in her
hand
and
tell us it
was
all a
joke.
The
taillights
disappeared
on
the
horizon.
We
found
shed
8
and
lifted
the
door.
It
was
empty,
except
for
a
bare
light bulb that barely
illuminated the
room.

“What
now?”
Kyle
asked.

I
shrugged.
“I
say
we
make
a
break
for
it.
Why
are
we
hanging
out in a
shed
waiting
to be
captured?
No one
knows
we’re
gone,
we
can hot wire
a
car
and
head
for
the
border.”

“You
don’t
want
to do that,” a
familiar
voice
spoke
behind
us.

We
turned
to the
door. Pearl
ducked
under
it, hidden
mostly
in shadows.

“And
why
not?”
My
defenses
went
up.
If
she
was
planning
on doing
something
treacherous,
I
wanted to be
ready.

“Because
then
you
won’t
be
able
to take
down The
Families.”

I
glanced
from
her
to the
brothers.
How
did she
know
what
we
planned? And why
was
she
willing to
help
us?
She
stepped
up to me
and
embraced
me in a
hug.
It
felt
good
to be in her arms, but she
squeezed
a
little too
tight,
causing
pain
to burn
through
my
shoulder.
I
let
out
an
involuntary
squeak.
She
pulled
away.

“Sorry,”
she said as she
wiped
tears
away
from
her
eyes. “And
I’m
sorry
I
didn’t
help
you
sooner. I
had
no
idea
what
Mrs. Johnson
and
the
others
were
doing.
I
heard
the
story
she
told
you
earlier
today,
and
I
heard
what
happened
in
North
Platte.
Liet
is one
angry
individual.”

I
still
felt
like
I
was in a
dream.
I
willed
myself
to
fly,
even making
slight
hops to see
if
I
could
get
airborne.
Pearl
stared
at
me
in confusion.