Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (64 page)

“Hey,
man,”
she
had
her
hands
out to her
sides to
show she
wasn’t
a
threat. “Can
I
bum a
cigarette
off
y
o
u
?
”

The
man
hesitated
for moment,
eying
her
suspiciously.

“Hey,
if
you
don’t
have
any,
that’s
fine.”
She
went
to
turn
around.

“No,
here.”
He
reached
into his shirt
pocket.

“Thanks.
I
appreciate
it.”
She
took the
stick
from him.
“Can
I
borrow
your
light
too?
I’d
use
mine,
but it’s
in
my
pocket
and
I
don’t
want
to make
you
nervous.”

He
pulled
it out and lit
the cigarette for
her.
“Thanks.”
She
took a long
drag. “So,
what
ya
doing out
here
this
early?”
The
smoke
billowed
out of
her
mouth.

“Patrol,”
he
responded.

“Ah. Do
you
want
me
to
move
along?
Am
I
bothering
you?”

The
guard
shrugged
one
shoulder
and
opened his
mouth to
speak.
He
never
got
the
chance. Kyle
approached
him
from
behind and
smacked
the back of
his
head
with the
butt of his
gun.
The man
crumpled,
but they
didn’t
let
him hit the
ground.
Pam
relieved
him of
his M4
before
dragging
him to a bush
and
placing
him
under
it. They
quickly
scanned
the
area
again
before
heading
to the
Hummer.

Pam
approached
the
driver’s
side
door
and
placed
her
hand
on the
handle.
It
was
going
to be locked,
I
knew it.
Liet
wasn’t dumb enough to
leave
a
vehicle
containing
guns
open
to
anyone and
everyone.
She
lifted,
but the
door
didn’t
open.
She
walked to the
back
passenger
door.
It
popped
open.
I
let out
the
breath
I
held. I
didn’t know
if it
was
a
good
thing
or
a
bad
thing
that she
got
into the
vehicle
so
easily,
but it did make
it
faster.
The
pair
disappeared
into the interior.

Time
slowed
down,
and
everything
moved in slow
motion.
Sweat
dripped
down
my
forehead
and
back,
my
vision
blurred.
I
wiped
the
moisture
on the inside
of my
shirt and blinked
furiously.
How
long
did it
take
to
hotwire
a
car? A
Jeep
drove by,
slowly.
It
turned
into the
parking
lot.

Oh, no! I
thought.
The
jig
was up. We
were
gonna
have
to shoot
someone.
It stopped
behind
the
Hummer.
My
chest
felt
tight,
the
sweat
dripped
more
intensely.

Quinn
raised
his rifle
over the
top of the
wall
and
lined up
his
sights.

A
woman
jumped out, dressed in
jeans
and
a
white T-shirt. She
blew
a
kiss
to the
solider
behind
the
wheel
before
turning
and
heading
into the
school.
Neither one of
them
gave
the Hummer a
second
glance.
The
Jeep
drove off.

I
sighed
deeply, black dots
danced
in
front
of
my
eyes.
I
looked
at
Quinn.

“That
was
close,”
he
commented.
“They’d
better
hurry
up.”

As if
they’d
heard him, the
Hummer
roared
to life
and
backed
out of the
space.
It
traveled
across
the
road
to
the
coffee
shop.
Tanya
and
Bill
emerged
from
the
building,
guns
in hand.
Pam
jumped out,
and
they
formed
a
line.
Gun
after
gun
was
loaded
into the
vehicle.

Minutes
passed. More sweat
dripped
into
my
eyes.
Eventually,
they
finished
and
climbed
into the
Hummer.
They
slowed in
front
of the
store,
and
a
hand
waved
at
us
before
they
disappeared
down the
street.
Quinn and
I
looked
at
each
other.

“Well,
that
part
is done.”
Relief
flooded
through
me.
“Now
we
wait
for
the signal.”

“Where
are
we
going
to
wait?
If
I
stay
on this roof
any
longer,
I’m
going
to
melt.”

I
bit
my
lower
lip
and
glanced
around. Then,
it hit
me.
“We
can
stay
in Tanya’s
apartment.
No one
will
think to look
for
us
there.”

“Unless
they
go
looking
for
Tanya.”

“Why
would
they
look for
Tanya?
They
have
no
idea
what
she’s
doing.
They
think she’s on
their
side.”

“Is
she?”

The
question
caught
me
off
guard.
I
wanted
to
believe
she
was
helping
us, but
what
if she
didn’t? What
if she
double
crossed
us
again?
I
wanted to put Quinn’s
fear
at
ease,
along
with
mine,
but
I
couldn’t. I
honestly
didn’t know.

“If
she
tries
anything,
you
know
Bill
will
take
care
of
it. Or
Pam
or
Kyle.
She
won’t
get away
with
anything.”

“Let’s
just hope
she’s
not
stupid.”

“I
agree.”

We
walked
across
the
rooftop
to the
ladder
and
proceeded
down. There
was
about
a twenty
degree
difference
from
the
roof
to the
ground,
and
I
was
never
more
thankful
to be
out
of
the
sweltering
heat.

Cautiously,
we
headed
toward the
coffee
shop
and
tried
the
door. Tanya
locked it.

“Let’s
head
back
to the
alley,”
I
suggested. “Even
if
Tanya
locked
the
back
window, we
can
break it
open.”