Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (71 page)

“You
all
right?”
Quinn
bent
down to help
her
sit up.

“Yeah. Fine. But
I’ve
got a huge
headache.”
She
blinked
a
few
times
and
looked
around
the
room.
“What
did
I
miss?”

I
tried to get to
my
feet,
but
I
was still
weak.
My
knees
buckled.
I
reached
out and
caught
myself
on the
back
of the
couch.
Quinn
rushed
to
my
side,
easing
me to
the
floor.

“You
get
a hold of
the doctor?”
he
asked
Abby
over
his
shoulder.

“No.
I
didn’t
get
the
chance.”

“Well,
you
might
want to try
again.”

“Where
were
you?”
My
voice
squeaked
out,
my
throat
was
on fire. “I
could’ve
used
some
help.”

He
frowned.
“I
know.
I’m
sorry.
I
went
over to help
the
bodyguard
sit up, and
he
grabbed
my
pant
leg.
He
did
a
great
job of
feigning
weakness.
I
heard
you
fighting
with
Liet.
Trust
me,
I
would have
been
there
if
I
could.
Took me
forever
to
get
that
man
away
from
me.”

“What
are
we
going
to
do
with him?”
I
nodded
toward
the
bodyguard on
the
floor.
My
voice
came
out as
a
harsh
whisper.
It
hurt
to
talk.
My
head
felt
light and
started
to spin. I
thought
for
sure
I
would
pass
out.

“You
don’t
need to worry
about
him.
He’s not
an
issue.”

“You
sure?
I
could
stab
him.
Just
to make
sure.”

Quinn
laughed.
“I
think
there’s
been
enough
death
for
now. Why
don’t
you
lay
down?”

I
didn’t
fight
him.
My
body
wouldn’t
let
me.
He
placed
a
pillow under my
head
and
leaned
on his shoulder
next to me.
He ran
his
fingers
through
my
hair.

“How
are
you
feeling?”
I
asked.

“I’m
fine.
Just a
few
bumps and
bruises.
My
throat’s
a
little
sore.”

I
smiled
and
averted
my
gaze.
They
fell
on his
midsection.
Red
soaked
through
his shirt.

“Quinn!”
My
voice
screeched. “You’re
bleeding!”

“Shh,
shh, shh.
I’m
fine.
Just
popped
some
stitches.”

I
wanted
to
protest,
to lift
his shirt
and
see
how bad
the
damage
was, but
I
couldn’t
move.
Tears
ran
down
my
temples
and
dripped
into
my
ears. I
tried
to speak
again,
but nothing
came
out.
Quinn
settled
in
closer and
nuzzled
against
my
neck.

“The
doctor
will be
here
soon. We’ll be
just
fine.”
He
kissed
me,
then
slowly
got to his
feet.
He
fixed his
attention
on
Abby. “You
have
anyone
you
can
call? Help
you
take
care
of these
guys?”

I
glanced
up
at
Abby,
who stood
at
my
feet.
Her
hand
was
on the
back of the
couch
for
balance.
She
nodded.

“Get
them
here
as
fast as
you
can. We
both
need
medical
attention.”

“They’re
on their
way.
And so is the
doctor.”

“Why?”
I
whispered.
“Why
are
you
doing
this?”

Abby
looked down
at
me,
her
eyebrows
pushed
together
in
confusion.
“Why
am
I
doing
what?”

“Helping
us.”

“Why
wouldn’t
I?
I
don’t
want
to be
trapped
in
Florida
for the
rest
of
my
life.
I’m
originally
from
Colorado.
I
miss the
mountains.
The
cool
air.
The
snow.”
She
took a
seat
next to me.

“But
you
were a
border
guard. How
did
you
know
what
was
going
on down
here?”

“I
only
became a
guard
a
couple
of
weeks
ago. Before
that,
I
did
patrol for
the
high
school.
Pearl
and
I
were
friends,
and
she
told me
what
happened
with
Tanya
and
your
other
friends.
It
wasn’t
fair.
It
angered
me. We
shouldn’t be
trapped
down
here.
I
asked
to be
transferred
to the
border
so
I
could
wait
for
you.
We
knew
you’d come
back,
one
way
or
the
other.”
She
smiled
at
me.
“You’re an
inspiration,
Krista.
None
of this would
have
happened
without
you.”

A loud
“Hah!” sounded
from the
couch.
It
was Mrs. Johnson.

Abby
stood. “You’re
not really
in
any
position
to
criticize,”
she spoke
between
gritted
teeth.

“You
really
think
your
little
stunt is
going
to
change
anything?
The
Families
have friends,
you
know. And
most of the
population is
happy
where
they
are.
They’re
safe.
You won’t
get
them to
leave
the state
and
fight
the
zombie
hordes.”

It
was
Abby’s
turn
to
laugh.
“You
are
so out of touch
with
reality.
You spend
all
day
up here
in
your
tower,
believing
you
are
doing
what’s
right
for
the people.
You’re
not.
People
aren’t
happy.
Some of
them
are
content
living
out
their
existence here,
but the
vast
majority
are
scared
to death.
Scared
to
say
the
wrong
thing,
scared
to
breathe.
They
don’t
want
to look
over
their
shoulder,
they
want
to be
free.
They
want to take
back
what’s
rightfully
ours.”